LGSG Chapter 16
by VolareXia Ran subconsciously released Xie He’s hand, his face flushed as he staggered back a few steps. After managing to steady himself, a strange feeling of guilt crept into his heart. But the problem was, Xia Ran didn’t even know what he was feeling guilty about.
He instinctively glanced to the side, only to realize that even the butler had quietly left at some point.
In the rose garden outside the bamboo pavilion, only the two of them remained, speaking softly.
“I… I can…!” Xia Ran stammered, “Stay as long as you want.”
Xie He’s eyebrows curved slightly, “Of course you can stay as long as you want. That guest room was prepared just for you.”
Ah.
So it wasn’t sharing a bed.
Xia Ran abruptly slapped his burning cheeks.
No, what are you thinking!
Xia Ran’s feelings for Mr. Xie were somewhat complicated. Mr. Xie’s setting as a two-dimensional NPC really struck a chord in Xia Ran’s heart. He was good-looking, gentle but not promiscuous in his interactions. In short, he met all of Xia Ran’s ideal requirements. However, Mr. Xie was ultimately just a two-dimensional character! It was impossible for him to actually break through the dimensional barrier. Therefore, Xia Ran just worked diligently every day, enjoying Mr. Xie’s looks, and didn’t dare to think about a deeper relationship.
Now that he realized he had almost misunderstood, Xia Ran felt a bit relieved in addition to his disappointment.
He was a standard science and engineering single-celled thinking organism, and complex emotional states were too taxing.
He should just let things take their course.
After all, it was just a game.
Without physical contact, Xie He couldn’t hear the young man’s inner voice. He watched Xia Ran’s expression change in a short period of time without showing any emotion, and found it amusing.
Before meeting Xia Ran, Xie He would never have imagined that one day he could simply observe a human and derive pleasure from it.
Feeling ignored for a bit too long, Xie He coughed twice: “I want to go back to the study.”
Xia Ran quickly stopped his wild thoughts and pushed Mr. Xie’s wheelchair back to the bamboo pavilion.
As they were going up the stairs of the bamboo pavilion, Xia Ran inadvertently looked up.
He saw the long, straight-haired girl again.
Because he had seen her so often, he wasn’t as afraid anymore. Besides, the girl hadn’t appeared in front of Xia Ran for the past two days. Upon seeing her suddenly, Xia Ran gave her a smile.
“What are you looking at?” Xie He asked.
After being distracted by Xie He, Xia Ran looked up again, but the girl had disappeared. However, he didn’t intend to hide such a small matter from Mr. Xie, so he told Xie He everything from when he was first led to the staff dormitory by the girl to the frequent encounters later on.
“Does she often enter Mr. Xie’s bamboo pavilion?” Xia Ran asked curiously.
Although Mr. Xie’s words were gentle, anyone could tell that he was inherently aloof and indifferent. Apart from the butler and himself, Xia Ran had never seen Xie He talking to a third person with such composure. Therefore, the girl’s status was likely not what Xia Ran had initially imagined, just an employee of Sui Yuan Ju.
Xie He: “My younger sister, Xie Qiao.”
Xia Ran: “Oh, younger sister… Ah? Mr. Xie actually has a younger sister?”
Because Mr. Xie was alone, Xia Ran always had the illusion that his family ties were weak. He was already shocked to learn that Mr. Xie’s biological father was in the ancestral hall. Mr. Xie actually had a younger sister?
Xie He lowered his eyes: “Not close. My mother died in childbirth after giving birth to me. After she died, my father married another one. Xie Qiao is their child.”
Xie He’s expression and tone were indifferent when he said these words.
He glossed over life and death lightly.
Xia Ran listened blankly, but he vaguely sensed some shocking past hidden in the tone.
He touched Xie He’s cool fingertips and whispered, “If Mr. Xie doesn’t like her, I’ll try to avoid her in the future.”
Xie He smiled: “You’re showing that you’re unreasonably standing on my side.”
From childhood, because his younger sister Xie Qiao was young, no matter what wrong she did, Xie He, as her older brother, was always admonished to tolerate everything about his sister.
No one had ever shown him such unconditional support, a near-protective attitude.
“I don’t care,” Xia Ran said, “I like Mr. Xie. It’s never fair to extend love to someone’s surroundings.”
Xie He’s fingertips were warmed by Xia Ran’s palm.
Even though he had heard the young man reveal his feelings many times, he was still shocked by this straightforward emotion, his heart trembling.
Xie He clearly thought he had grown up, experienced many years of displacement in the secular world, and nothing would be influenced by genuine feelings anymore. But Xia Ran’s protectiveness made it seem like those suppressed dissatisfactions and grievances hadn’t dissipated at all, but were instead clamoring and complaining along with the blood vessels and pulses.
He should be performing the persona of a magnanimous and well-rounded person, because that’s what the future head of the Xie family should be like, that’s what the young master of Sui Yuan Ju should be like, that’s what the unremarkable inhuman monster should be like.
But at this moment, Xie He muffled a low hum, “Okay, stay away from her in the future.”
“I don’t like this younger sister.”
After pushing Xie He into the study, Xia Ran immediately noticed the red garment on the table that had been cut into its initial shape. Next to it were needles and threads, as well as some simple embroidery patterns that could be added, replacing the elegant tea set and ancient books that were previously on the table. It had a unique and novel feel.
What would Mr. Xie look like when he sewed and weaved?
Xie He: “Want to see?”
Xia Ran: “Huh?”
The black-haired youth’s inner voice was suddenly exposed by the person in question, and that little bit of secret fantasy seemed to spread like mist in the study.
His face immediately flushed with heat again.
“How does it feel,” Xia Ran said, “like Mr. Xie can really read minds…”
Xie He smiled without saying a word.
He turned his wheelchair to the desk, picked up a measuring tape and paper.
“Although I can probably estimate your size with my eyes,” Xie He said, “it’s not accurate enough.”
“It’s better to measure it myself.”
The Sui Yuan Ju master in his green shirt looked at the black-haired youth gently.
“Xia Ran, come here.”
Xia Ran was a little confused: “Mr. Xie, aren’t you sitting in a wheelchair?”
Xie He stood up.
Xia Ran: “?”
“I can stand,” Xie He said, “There’s nothing wrong with my legs.”
Xia Ran: “Then usually…”
Xie He: “Not enough energy, not conducive to standing for long periods.”
Xia Ran: “…”
Haha, Mr. Xie can actually say he’s lazy so elegantly.
Xie He had always been sitting in a wheelchair, so Xia Ran never had a concept of his height.
Now, suddenly standing in front of Xie He and realizing he had to look up, Xia Ran was shocked to find that the always gentle Mr. Xie might be 1.9 meters tall.
He couldn’t tell at all!
The tall height suddenly diluted that gentle aura.
Bringing a strange sense of oppression to Xia Ran.
He was just measuring his measurements, but he suddenly felt embarrassed.
“Or, I should…” Xia Ran hadn’t finished speaking when he suddenly smelled a faint fragrance.
Like fried green tea, lingering and ethereal.
Xie He’s expression was very serious, his arms wrapped around Xia Ran from behind, placing the measuring tape against Xia Ran’s chest little by little. Although there was a layer of clothing between his fingertips and skin, Xia Ran felt like he could already feel the unique coolness of Mr. Xie’s fingertips.
Mr. Xie smells so good.
At such a close distance, he could even see the number of Mr. Xie’s eyelashes when he lowered his head.
Xia Ran only felt his cheeks getting hotter and hotter. He even suspected that he had contracted a cold out of nowhere.
His body was stiff, afraid to make any extra movements, even holding his breath, afraid of the serious Xie He.
But Xie He seemed to have encountered some difficulties while measuring. His brow furrowed slightly, and his hand kept stroking back and forth between the measuring tape and his chest.
Xia Ran didn’t usually have so many requirements when buying clothes, he just sent a full-body photo and past clothing data to let the artificial intelligence analyze the size, and then bought them online and had the merchant ship them directly to his home. He had never experienced such an original process of measuring his measurements. If it were someone else, Xia Ran should have been passively triggered by social anxiety and developed a resistant emotion. But facing Mr. Xie, Xia Ran lost his composure and actually obediently cooperated with Mr. Xie.
“Is there a problem?” Xia Ran asked softly.
Their distance was too close, so close that the air involved in speaking seemed to have turned into a thick porridge.
Xie He’s movements paused, and then a soft chuckle rippled out: “No, because it’s the first time measuring someone else’s measurements, I’m a little unskilled.”
He released Xia Ran and quickly wrote a number on the paper.
“A little thin, you should pay attention to exercise.”
As a male college student in real life, Xia Ran subconsciously felt a little unconvinced. Although he was indeed a dead home who didn’t like sports and often stayed at home playing games, he hadn’t reached the point that Mr. Xie’s tone implied! When Mr. Xie spoke, his tone had a bit of teasing, as if he were some little chick.
But when he looked at Mr. Xie’s shoulder width and chest, Xia Ran paused strangely.
Usually looking at Mr. Xie as a weak person, how… actually seems quite toned?
Xia Ran’s brain loop turned a strange corner, successfully extinguishing his anger himself.
Xie He put down the paper and picked up the measuring tape again.
“Isn’t it over yet?” Xia Ran asked doubtfully.
“This is just the chest circumference,” Xie He said very seriously, “There’s also the waist and hip circumference.”
Xia Ran: “…”
Hip… hip circumference?!
This seems too much!
Xie He showed seemed helplessly: “The robe looks best when it fits closely and is slender, if the waist and hip circuitry are not clear, I won’t be able to make perfect clothes for you. If I can’t make perfect clothes , you won’t look good wearing them, and I won’t be happy…”
“Stop.” Xia Ran’s head was spinning, “Mr. Xie wants to measure, then let’s do it according to Mr. Xie!”
Maybe he was overthinking it.
Mr. Xie just wanted to make clothes, so he was so serious, right?
A cunning smile instantly appeared in Xie He’s eyes.
He placed the measuring tape against the black-haired youth’s waist along the fabric and pulled it tightly. The originally slightly loose employee uniform instantly became close-fitting, outlining the smooth curve of his waist.
Xie He stared at that arc quietly, his fingertips lightly touching it.
He thought, as expected, he’s too thin.
He opened his palm and gathered it in the air.
It was completely to the extent that he could hold it with one hand.