Chapter 72: Honeymoon (2)

The note had no date or signature, but it probably wasn’t left when he came last year to pick up the windmill oil painting.

Back then, the rift between them was still deep; he wouldn’t even make her coffee, let alone call her “baby.”

The “Happy Newlyweds” must have referred to the second wedding.

“When did you write this? A few days ago?” Zhōng Yì turned around and asked the person behind her.

Zhōu Shíyì placed his suit and her bag on the sofa, unclasping his cufflinks as he replied, “It was written at the beginning of this month. The butler brought it over when he came to set up the house.”

With such a cheesy term, the butler must have had no choice but to stick it on the fridge without a second thought.

Zhōng Yì peeled off the fridge magnet and put it together with the note into her bag, planning to take them back to her home in Beicheng.

She had collected three of his confessions: the officiating speech at their first wedding, the marriage proposal vow, and now this promise calling her “baby” on their new marriage.

Zhōu Shíyì took off his cufflinks and placed them into her bag. “I’m going upstairs to catch up on some sleep. If you’re tired, you should sleep too.”

“How can you put things in my bag without asking?”

Zhōng Yì grabbed the collar of his shirt, laughing and playfully kissed his lips without restraint.

Zhōu Shíyì leaned back on the sofa, letting her mess around as she pleased.

“These cufflinks won’t be needed for the next couple of days, so I’m leaving them in your bag for now.”

Zhōng Yì teased, “You can put them in your suitcase.”

“My suitcase is full of your things.”

Her lips traced down to his chin. He had shaved before the flight, so besides a faint cool scent, there was none of the sharpness from last night.

“You go get some rest.” She kissed his jaw twice more before letting go.

“Not sleeping?” he asked.

Zhōng Yì pointed toward the door. “I’m going to check on the flowers.”

Four years had passed since she’d been here, but the vast hydrangeas were thriving with life.

After watering the garden, she cut some to arrange in a vase.

Knowing they were coming to vacation today, the butler had prepared fresh flowers early in the morning.

She arranged the fresh flowers with the hydrangeas in the vase. It had been three or four years since she last arranged flowers, so her hands were a bit rusty.

Among a pile of roses, she picked out one vivid red rose to place separately—a gift from an Explorer from Ecuador.

Finishing the arrangement, Zhōng Yì held the rose, ready to go upstairs when footsteps came from the stairs.

Only the two of them were home today; she turned her head to look.

The man, already showered, came down wearing a black bathrobe.

Zhōng Yì pointed at the vases on the table. “Pretty, right?”

She had always liked flower arranging and was quite good at it. He once asked if she had formally studied it.

She said no, explaining that her father loved planting all kinds of flowers in the yard.

When spring came, the whole yard would bloom, and she’d fill every vase at home with flowers, waiting for her mother to come home.

Back then, he didn’t understand the deeper meaning behind “waiting for mom to come home.”

He hadn’t given it much thought either. Children growing up in the town had many playmates; there was never enough time to play, let alone have patience to arrange flowers.

Zhōu Shíyì came down the stairs and walked over to admire the arrangement. “Pretty.”

Noticing there was still one flower in her hand, he asked, “Why didn’t you put this one in?”

Zhōng Yì handed it to him. “Borrowing flowers to offer to the Buddha. Happy newlyweds.”

Zhōu Shíyì smiled and accepted the flower. “Thank you.”

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” she asked.

“Just watching what you’re doing.”

“I’m about to go upstairs.”

He gave the flower back. “Hold this for me.”

Saying that, he turned, back facing the chair.

Some old habits and tacit understandings still remained.

Zhōng Yì slipped off her slippers, stood on the chair, and wrapped one arm around his neck, resting against his back.

Zhōu Shíyì steadied her and carried her upstairs.

Zhōng Yì leaned her cheek against his shoulder.

After they parted, she had countless times missed his broad shoulders, missed clinging to him, lingering in those fragmented moments on his shoulder and in his arms.

At Yu Laoshi’s art exhibition celebration banquet, she saw him across the crowd, and the moment their eyes met, all her longing surged forth.

He would never know how much she longed for him at that instant.

She could barely hear the laughter and chatter in the banquet hall; all she could hear was the roar in her heart.

Even with all the barriers and grudges between them, seeing him made her heart race uncontrollably.

That pounding heartbeat was impossible to suppress.

At that time, she was eating the cheesecake Yuan had given her. After that, she never tasted its flavor again.

When Yuan found out Zhōu Shíyì was her ex, she wanted to comfort her but, seeing her calm expression, hesitated to say anything.

But how could she ever be calm?

Zhōng Yì lightly brushed his cheek with the rose. “You said after we were married I could settle scores with you anytime. So, shall we settle now?”

“Sure,” Zhōu Shíyì asked, “What scores?”

“At Yu Laoshi’s exhibition banquet, you messaged me to come out. Then when I asked if there was anything else, you just nodded without saying more, so I went in by myself.”

Zhōng Yì bit his earlobe gently. “Years without seeing each other, you didn’t miss me? Didn’t want to say more? Didn’t want to stay a bit longer?”

Once inside the bedroom, Zhōu Shíyì laid her gently on the bed.

Zhōng Yì lay at the edge, her legs dangling off.

Zhōu Shíyì leaned down, his hands on either side of her. “How could I not miss you? Otherwise, why would I message you to come out?”

He wanted her close.

He lowered his head and kissed her. “You remember every little slight I give, don’t you? Tell me, what other scores do you have stored up?”

Zhōng Yì: “Lots! I’m an adult, I don’t hold grudges.”

“Not today. The second day of our honeymoon, you can be unreasonable.”

Zhōng Yì put the rose aside, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “You said that. No regrets.”

Zhōu Shíyì smiled. “I said it, and I won’t regret it.”

Like before, Zhōng Yì started being wildly unreasonable. “If I say break up, do you really break up? Can’t you reflect on whether you hurt me too much?”

Zhōu Shíyì kissed her, coaxing softly, “Alright. Even if we argue in the future and you want a divorce, I’ll pretend not to hear it. I’ll keep kissing you until you don’t want to separate from me.”

His kisses, of course, were not just on her lips.

Zhōng Yì hugged him tightly, burying her face in his neck.

Earlier, when she mentioned the art exhibition banquet reunion, Zhōu Shíyì asked her, “Do you know why I photographed Yu Laoshi’s painting for you?”

Zhōng Yì didn’t hesitate. “It was a betrothal gift.”

Zhōu Shíyì knew she had long forgotten his promise to gift her a painting by Yu Laoshi.

“One time I accidentally knocked over your Canvas Bag, and you kept tallying it up for half an hour. I said I’d get you a real Yu Laoshi painting to make up for it someday.”

You have no recollection of that? You only remember how badly I treated you.

Zhōng Yì was surprised to learn this was another reason.

“I often acted irrationally with you and then forgot about it.”

Back then, their quarrels were part of their playful affection.

Maybe she went straight to work after the quarrel; who would remember the teasing and flirting of the day?

“The night Yu Laoshi arrived in Beicheng, when you messaged my dad, I was right there. You said you’d get a painting as the first meeting gift. That sentence made me upset for a long time.”

Zhōng Yì scolded him, “You clearly kept your promise; why call it a meeting gift then?”

Zhōu Shíyì: “I was mad because you hadn’t come to see me for three years.”

Zhōng Yì coaxed him, “I declare, you’re right.”

Zhōu Shíyì suddenly laughed.

That was the end of the matter.

***

The bathtub was already filled with bathwater, and he urged her, “Go soak first. When you wake up, I’ll go eat with you.”

Talking about those past matters reminded Zhōng Yì of something.

She wanted to ask if the company he originally registered had changed its name.

The company was registered under her English name with her surname as a suffix.

At registration, he wanted to give her shares, but she refused.

After their breakup, she thought about checking whether the company name had changed.

Later, she gave up.

She figured whether the name changed or not didn’t mean much. Sometimes it wasn’t changed simply because it would complicate the projects that depended on it.

Zhōu Shíyì didn’t know what she was thinking now and loosened his hold. “Go soak.”

Zhōng Yì planned to ask after the bath.

Forgetting the sleepwear he had prepared on the bed, she went straight to the bathroom.

Even after four years, everything here was as familiar as ever.

The cream-white Constant Temperature Bathtub was covered with overlapping rose petals, almost completely blanketing the water surface.

The sweet aroma of essential oils mixed with the faint scent of roses filled the entire bathroom.

Since the project started, Zhōng Yì hadn’t soaked properly.

Occasionally, when trying to relax in the tub, her mind was filled with thoughts of how to adjust parameters.

She turned on the sound system, found some soft music, and leaned against the bath pillow to fully relax.

In this constant temperature bathtub, she and Zhōu Shíyì had once been endlessly content.

While she soaked, Zhōu Shíyì went to the study to reply to a few emails.

One was from Zhan Liang, reporting a breakthrough in new materials.

Another was from Shao Jin An, noting the model’s generalization ability in complex environments had qualitatively improved since the test earlier this year, especially in detection rate.

The last was from Du, congratulating him and Zhōng Yì on their happy marriage.

Du was staying in Beicheng to attend an industry forum on his behalf and couldn’t make it to the wedding.

[Many peers are looking forward to the launch of our intelligent driving model. After yesterday’s meeting, Shen Chi approached me and said his wife is very optimistic about Kuncheng’s intelligent driving system. I didn’t understand what he meant at the time, so I didn’t ask further.]

Zhōu Shíyì replied: [He probably just wanted to ask why I didn’t attend the meeting.]

“Zhōu Shíyì?”

“I’m here.”

The doors to the study and bedroom were both open in case he didn’t hear her call.

Zhōu Shíyì exited his email, shut the computer, and returned to the bedroom.

No one was on the bed; the sound came from the bathroom.

“Done soaking?”

“Mm.”

Zhōng Yì still leaned on the bath pillow, smiling at him. “Let’s test your arm strength today.”

After soaking, she suddenly didn’t want to move and wanted him to hold her.

Zhōu Shíyì rolled up the sleeves of his bathrobe a few times, took a towel from the rack, and unfolded it.

Zhōng Yì rose from the heap of rose petals, which clung to her shoulders, front, and arms.

They were also on her legs and back.

The bright red petals made her pale skin look even more dazzling.

All the roses used in her bath were food-grade. Zhōu Shíyì didn’t mind the petals sticking to her; he simply wrapped the towel around her.

Zhōng Yì tilted her head and watched his clean, slender fingers skillfully tie the towel at her side.

Once secured, Zhōu Shíyì swept her up in a princess carry from the tub.

“Splash—” Water dripped from his toes, and a few vivid rose petals fluttered off his instep.

As he moved, petals fell onto the bathroom tiles.

Two even landed on the rug by the bed.

It was eleven in the morning. The blackout curtains blocked all sunlight, and only the wall lamp was on, making it feel like eleven at night.

Zhōng Yì was laid down on the pillow, and as Zhōu Shíyì was about to straighten up, she clasped his neck with both hands.

“I want to ask you something.” She hadn’t forgotten even while bathing.

“What is it?”

“You have a company registered under my name. Has it changed names since?”

Zhōu Shíyì looked into her eyes. “Why don’t you just check online? You can find out easily.”

Zhōng Yì: “Because whether it changes or not doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

She hesitated, then spoke her true feelings. “Not checking leaves some room for imagination.”

Afraid it might have changed.

Sometimes, she deceived herself.

As if by not checking, she and he would always be connected.

Zhōu Shíyì said, “It hasn’t changed.”

“Because it’s too much trouble to change?”

“No.” He lowered his head, his lips brushing her neck. “Because I’m unwilling to.”

Registering the company under her name was a memory they once shared.

Zhōng Yì, still wrapped in the towel, tried to hold his waist but couldn’t.

The towel slipped off, and Zhōu Shíyì tossed it onto the bedside table.

Along with it fell a few scattered petals.

Wet petals were everywhere.

Zhōng Yì rolled over, lying on the pillow.

Zhōu Shíyì came down over her, wrapping her in his arms. He took one of her hands, warm palm covering the back of her hand, fingers interlacing and gripping firmly. His burning kiss landed on her back.

Short hair had its advantages. When she had long hair, he’d have to push it aside to kiss her back, sometimes accidentally kissing the strands.

On her beautiful shoulder blades lay two rose petals.

Full and dripping with dew.

Zhōu Shíyì kissed them away. The water droplets mixed with the sweet essential oils coated his lips.

Zhōng Yì’s shoulders trembled slightly as she buried her face in the pillow.

What she loved most was when he kissed her back, holding her hand tightly with interlocked fingers.

Strong, warm, and indescribably sensual.