Volume One, Chapter Fifty-Nine: "Think about something indescribable."

Xu Zhi learned from Liang Jinmo that Old Master Liang's surgery had been successful and he had been transferred to the intensive care unit. Her heart was finally at ease, at least halfway. Liang Jinmo seemed very busy, spending most of his morning in the study, typing away at his computer and occasionally making calls to the company.

Xu Zhi was quite bored. She borrowed a spare phone from Liang Jinmo, logged into WeChat, and chatted with Yang Xue while pondering what she should do in the future.

Xu Heping probably wouldn’t give up on forcing her to marry Liang Muzhi. With things so strained between father and daughter, she suspected that if she brought up her wish to study abroad, not only would she not get support, she might even get beaten. If she’d planned earlier, she could have applied for scholarships and such, but now it was all too late. She began seriously considering whether she should do as other classmates did and find a job first.

That way, she could break free from her family.

Her first thought was the translator position Liang Jinmo had once mentioned, but she quickly dismissed it. Liang Jinmo worked at Liang Corporation, and she didn’t want to get entangled with it any further.

Perhaps because she’d always lived a peaceful and comfortable life, this upheaval in her world that she had to face alone left her agitated and entangled, unable to find an answer.

At that moment, Yang Xue replied to her WeChat message.

Yang Xue: I’m heading back to the city with Zhou He and the others this afternoon. You’re at Little Liang’s place, right? I’ll come find you!

Xu Zhi remembered something and quickly asked Yang Xue: Did you bring any extra clothes? Could you lend me some?

Yang Xue: What kind of clothes do you need?

Xu Zhi: Anything. I had a fever last night, my body’s sticky and uncomfortable. I’ve wanted to shower, but I have nothing to change into.

She’d stormed out of her house wearing just this set of clothes, hadn’t even changed for sleep. She sweated all night, woke up wanting to shower, but was embarrassed to borrow clothes from Liang Jinmo again.

She hadn’t returned the last shirt she’d borrowed yet, and now, the idea of wearing his clothes felt even more awkward, making her blush just thinking about it.

Yang Xue: Didn’t you borrow from Little Liang?

Xu Zhi: He’s a man, it’s inconvenient.

Yang Xue: I remember you once wore a man’s shirt. Why the sudden shyness? It’s different when he’s your ambiguous crush, huh? *smirking image*

Xu Zhi really couldn’t bring herself to say that the shirt she’d borrowed last time was Liang Jinmo’s. She cut straight to the point: Are you lending or not?

Yang Xue: Of course, leave it to us big sisters! We’ll take care of it for you!

Xu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

But when Yang Xue and Zhou He arrived that afternoon, she soon realized she’d relaxed too soon.

Yang Xue greeted Liang Jinmo, then dragged Xu Zhi into the guest bedroom, pulling from her tote the clothes she’d brought.

Xu Zhi stared in shock at the wine-red camisole nightdress, scant and revealing.

Yang Xue looked smug. “How about it?”

She held it up against Xu Zhi, sizing her up. “Perfect. You wear this, you’ll definitely win him over…”

Xu Zhi clamped a hand over Yang Xue’s mouth and quickly shut the bedroom door.

Only then did she let Yang Xue go and demanded, “What are you thinking?!”

Yang Xue answered frankly, “Some things that can’t be described.”

Xu Zhi: “…”

Xu Zhi: “Forget it, I’d rather stay dirty.”

Yang Xue was utterly unreliable. The nightdress was bold in color, deep-V cut—forget that she was living with Liang Jinmo, she’d never worn anything so sexy before.

Yang Xue: “Come on, don’t be such a killjoy… I brought something else for you too.”

She pulled out two more items from her tote.

Finally, Xu Zhi saw a proper set of loungewear: pale blue, of moderate thickness, with an open-collared long-sleeved top and matching pants.

She was satisfied. “Let me borrow this one.”

Yang Xue was generous. “I’ll leave you both.”

Xu Zhi said, “Take the nightdress back with you. I don’t need it!”

Yang Xue replied, “You never know when you might need it.”

Xu Zhi didn’t bother arguing anymore.

Yang Xue asked about the events of the previous night, and Xu Zhi gave her a brief account.

Yang Xue’s focus was off. “Cheng Yu was with a woman? Who? What does she look like, were they intimate?”

Xu Zhi: “…”

She said, “They seemed like friends. I don’t really know, I haven’t seen her before. She looked a bit older than us.”

Yang Xue deflated, and after a while asked, “When are you going home?”

Xu Zhi was silent for a moment. “I don’t know.”

Later, Yang Xue chatted with Zhou He and Liang Jinmo about work, then left. Liang Jinmo was busy, so Xu Zhi took the loungewear Yang Xue gave her and went to shower.

While bathing, she recalled the time Liang Muzhi ran away from home.

Liang Muzhi was a true young master—his disappearance threw the Liang household into chaos. The servants went out searching, Liang Zhengguo stopped working to look for him, Fu Wanwen was so worried she nearly cried, even Old Master Liang lost his composure and almost called friends at the police station.

Of course, she’d been searching for him too.

Now she’d left home, and wondered if anyone would look for her.

After her shower, Xu Zhi put on the loungewear—and was struck by the realization.

Damn Yang Xue…

The loungewear was missing three buttons on the front!

She hadn’t noticed all afternoon, but now, glancing down at the loose collar and the exposed glimpse of her chest, then back at her old clothes, tossed unprepared into the laundry basket and dampened by steam, she closed her eyes in despair.

With a friend like this, she really wanted to cut ties.

Xu Zhi opened the bathroom door and cautiously peeked outside.

Good, the living room was quiet. Liang Jinmo was probably still in the study. The guest bedroom wasn’t far—she could make a dash for it and figure things out later.

She pulled open the door, raced to the guest bedroom, and closed the door behind her in one swift motion.

But turning around, she froze in place.

Liang Jinmo looked at her, puzzled. “Why are you running?”

As he spoke, his gaze landed on her chest.

He couldn’t really be blamed—the neckline was so open, the soft curves were impossible to miss.

Xu Zhi quickly covered her chest. “Why… why are you here?”

Liang Jinmo was silent for a few seconds, his Adam's apple bobbing as he handed something to her. “I came to remind you to take your medicine before bedtime.”

He paused. “Your clothes…”

“They’re Yang Xue’s!” She hurried to explain. “I wanted to shower, borrowed clothes from her, but didn’t realize the shirt was missing buttons.”

Liang Jinmo was silent.

Xu Zhi grew anxious. “I’m telling the truth.”

Would he think she was trying to seduce him? She felt utterly unable to explain herself.

Liang Jinmo responded with a quiet “Mm,” his dark eyes unreadable. He cleared his throat. “Remember to take your medicine and get some rest.”

The atmosphere was strangely awkward. Xu Zhi, still covering her chest, nodded sheepishly, her cheeks flushed.

Liang Jinmo walked out, closing the door behind him and returning to his study. He sat in his chair for a long time, unmoving.

Finally, his gaze dropped.

Perhaps this was how men were—faced with such vivid temptation, it was hard to feel nothing.

That night, he dreamed once again the dream he’d had countless times before. In his dream, Xu Zhi was soft and delicate, letting him arrange her in all sorts of poses…