After taking the medicine, drowsiness began to devour my consciousness.
As a persistent sweat broke out across my skin, my headache started to ease, and I drifted into a deep sleep with An Zhi by my side.
I don’t know how long I slept, but when I opened my eyes, it was already night.
The curtains were drawn, and moonlight seeped through the gap in the balcony door, casting a healing glow of white across the floor.
The headache was almost gone, and the soreness in my body had faded significantly, though my limbs still felt weak.
Finally, I could feel warmth normally again.
The covers were so cozy…
Wait!
Lifting the blanket slightly to peek inside, I realized that in the darkness, my body was in close contact with a small, soft presence.
Had I been this “blessed” without even knowing it for the past few nights?
What a waste!
An Zhi’s face was pressed against my chest.
Her gentle breath, almost imperceptible, brushed against my skin.
Her black hair perfectly covered the places where our skin met.
Tiny as she was, she was lying right on top of me, sleeping completely defenceless…
I didn’t dare lift my hand for fear of waking her.
I just stayed there, feeling her presence, savoring this precious moment.
Savoring it—
And I was instantly defeated! My not-yet-recovered body reacted immediately.
Well, obviously!
Even though we’d been dating for nearly three years, we had never lived together, let alone shared a bed.
The most intimate we’d ever been was that kiss last Tuesday.
I had never held her this close, and even our clothes…
She is wearing clothes, right?
Maybe I just couldn’t feel them because of how much I’d been sweating.
I want to cherish her.
My heart thudded wildly.
I was spiraling into the kind of fantasies any man would have; sleep was now impossible.
Ironically, the long separation seemed to have brought us even closer.
Had a girl like An Zhi—who used to blush just from holding hands—really become this bold?
Maybe she’s just been under too much pressure.
I finally couldn’t resist raising my hand to stroke her smooth, long hair.
It seemed to make her sleep a little lighter.
“Mumble… Minshan… I miss you… gibberish…”
She murmured in her sleep.
We’ve really reunited.
That reality settled in my heart again.
As I repeatedly confirmed the sensation of her in my arms, I kept telling myself: she’s really back.
Thank God.
My eyes grew moist.
Only in the dead of night did I dare to cry like such a loser.
After so much loneliness and waiting, after nearly giving up, I found her.
I finally found her.
As her hair flowed through my fingers, her body seemed to possess a healing power, steadily channeling into me and soothing my scarred heart.
Amidst the sentimentality, my physical reaction gradually faded, and I fell back into sleep.
In the morning, when the sunlight grew strong enough to pierce through the curtains, An Zhi finally poked her head out from under the covers.
Her round eyes stared calmly at my face.
Having overslept, I had been awake for a while, using my phone to distract myself.
As for why…
“…Are you feeling better?”
An Zhi gave a sweet smile, her eyes sparkling.
“I still don’t have much strength… but, can you get off me first? It’s… a bit uncomfortable.”
“Why… eh?”
She seemed to notice the “anomaly” under the blanket.
Her eyes widened, and it looked like a loading bar was processing in her pupils as she remained frozen.
In the world beneath the quilt, the sky was pressed against the ground in total chaos.
A certain hero, much like Pangu, had split the chaos to hold up the heavens, but it was a desperate, solitary struggle…
“It’s uncomfortable… but it’s okay, really!”
I patted An Zhi’s head.
She finally snapped out of it and hurriedly scrambled off the bed.
“I’m sorry! I thought… I didn’t think… it would make you feel bad…”
She threw on my button-down shirt and sat on a wooden stool, looking down and peeking at me.
I wasn’t sure why she was apologizing.
“It’s because you’re very charming, An Zhi… you don’t need to apologize.”
“Ugh… you big pervert. I… I’m going to wash up.”
She cursed lightly and fled into the bathroom.
Perhaps this was still too early for her…
I should probably exercise more self-control.
I picked up my phone to apologize to Mo You again.
Ever since I saw her missed calls from two days ago, I’d felt a wave of guilt.
“Your health is your foundation. Be more careful next time, okay?”
Mo You was as stern as ever.
Through her communications with the client—likely via Jiang Lulan—she had probably sensed that something had gone wrong.
The client hadn’t explicitly mentioned An Zhi running away, but the project had been temporarily halted.
She must be quite worried about losing such a massive contract, yet she didn’t complain to me at all.
She simply kept me updated and asked why I wasn’t at work and if I knew what was going on.
I told her I was sick without revealing anything about An Zhi.
The situation had already affected my company, but judging by the client’s reaction, they didn’t seem ready to give up on An Zhi yet…
“I’ll be back to work as soon as possible,” I replied.
“No rush. Things are still on hold over there. I’ve approved a few more days of leave for you. Focus on work once you’re fully recovered.”
“Got it, thank you. Sorry for the trouble.”
“Thank your red-haired friend; he came by to explain the situation. I’ll negotiate with the client to try and pivot the project. Don’t worry about work for these few days. Just spend some good time with ‘her’.”
Xiao Ji?
That guy told Mo You about me and An Zhi?
No, even if he didn’t say it explicitly, Mo You could probably guess the truth.
There was no point in hiding it.
I’m lucky to have such a good boss…
Someone who doesn’t grill me about my private life despite the professional setbacks and actually understands how I feel.
“Whew—”
I let out a long breath and sank back into my pillow.
After eating two bowls of salty porridge An Zhi had cooked and taking my meds, I felt exhausted again.
Before my vision blurred, I saw An Zhi in the small clearing by the desk, practicing her dance steps.
One, two, three, four; Two, two, three, four; Three, two, three…
She still danced so well, even more skillfully than back in school.
Even wearing nothing but my shirt, she was flawlessly beautiful.
She really does love dancing; she’d never give it up, no matter where she was.
Watching her dance, I drifted back into sleep amidst fond memories.
Saturday.
The sun and the cold wind were battling for dominance.
Almost fully recovered, I stood on the balcony retrieving the clothes An Zhi had “washed.”
The fabric still had a slight scent of sour sweat.
Even a beautiful girl’s sweat has a smell, huh?
I tried to lean in for a sniff, but An Zhi, who was trailing behind me, put up a fierce resistance.
I opened the suitcase and mixed my old clothes with hers.
I pulled out her underwear—like her cute white camisole and sheer panties…
Her gaze was piercing.
“Should we… separate them?”
“Yeah, it’s not very hygienic to wash them together.”
Hearing my explanation, she tilted her head skeptically.
“Okay,” she chirped obediently.
When she “washed” the clothes earlier, she hadn’t even added detergent; she just pressed random buttons on the washing machine and called it a day.
It was only because I’d ordered some daily necessities for delivery today that we could actually clean the mountain of dirty laundry.
Otherwise, she’d have nothing to wear.
She had brought nothing when she escaped—no ID, no bank cards, no keys.
It worried me.
I wondered if I should go out and help her report them as lost.
“Fill the cap, lock it… turn the knob… press ‘Start.’ Oh, it’s starting to fill with water! Wow, so that’s how it works…”
An Zhi stood beside me, narrating my actions with intense interest.
This is just basic life skills…
“Have you never used one before?”
“No. I usually just put dirty clothes in the basket, and the lady comes to take them away.”
“…Right.”
“The lady”?
Probably a maid or something.
Hearing her say these things didn’t shock me anymore.
Back in our student days, we’d talk about life, and she’d often have this look of total incomprehension.
The things she said were always beyond my reality.
Eventually, we stopped talking about it much.
At least until university, she and I lived in two different worlds.
We simply couldn’t relate to each other’s backgrounds.
Those topics gradually became a “forbidden zone” in our conversations.
Through my writing, An Zhi seemed to know that my past wasn’t pleasant, and she had awkwardly tried to comfort me a few times.
What she didn’t know was that as long as she was by my side, I was already satisfied—she didn’t need to force herself to say those things.
“Minshan… can the clothes dry automatically?”
She crouched down, staring at the laundry tumbling in the machine.
“It should have a drying function. Do you need to wear them right away?”
“Yes! After you’re done, I want to put them on… and dance for you. I learned a lot of dances during my livestreams. Besides classical dance, there are modern dances, trending dances… even some ’embarrassing’ ones I haven’t tried. I only want to show them to you…”
“Hahaha, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you dance.”
An Zhi turned to blink at me.
“Are you… happy?”
She had caught the slight awkwardness in my laugh.
“I am! It’s just… I haven’t written anything decent this past year. I’m afraid I’ll disappoint you.”
Caught up in the struggle to make a living, I hadn’t had much time to write freely.
I was basically standing still on the path to my dreams.
“It’s okay. I practiced all those dances while thinking of you… watching me dance will give you inspiration.”
“Then I’ll really look forward to it!”
An Zhi nodded, offering a smile that rivaled the brightness of the sun, sweeping away all previous gloom.
This is great.
I get to see her dance again—a dance meant only for me.43. Time Worth Cherishing43. Time Worth Cherishing43. Time Worth Cherishing43. Time Worth Cherishing43. Time Worth Cherishing43. Time Worth Cherishing43. Time Worth Cherishing43. Time Worth Cherishing