Chapter 2656 It’s raining in Nancheng tonight 17
For three or four days in a row, the southern part of the city was shrouded in continuous autumn rain.
The sky is always overcast, the clouds hang low, the autumn rain is annoying, and the crisp, cold air seeps straight into people's clothes.
Saturdays are free for working at the firm.
Xie Linzhou stayed at home, spending most of his time drawing design drafts. When he got tired, he would rest, drink the special drinks made by Jin Chen, and then naturally hug and kiss each other to keep warm in the damp and cold weather.
Xie Linzhou was so weak from the kisses that he felt languid from head to toe. He couldn't concentrate at his desk, so he simply curled up on the sofa with his laptop, pulled a soft blanket over half of his body, and continued revising the design draft he was preparing to submit for the competition.
Jin Chen sat next to him, a laptop on her lap, browsing the soft furnishings needed for the bar.
Suddenly, several message notifications popped up in the lower right corner of the computer screen, from Xie Shao.
Jin Chen clicked on it and took a look.
Xie Shao seemed to have forgotten the unpleasant ending of their last phone call, and his tone softened considerably.
Xie Shao: You should at least show me some sincerity.
Xie Shao: Xie Linzhou probably isn't so wary of you now, is he? You can't access anything on his work computer?
Jin Chen typed a reply with a blank expression: Yes, no.
Xie Shao: So what are you doing?
Jin Chen: I'm busy with dating.
Xie Shao: ...
Jin Chen slid his finger across the touchpad, randomly selected two files from an encrypted folder, dragged them into the dialog box, and clicked send.
Inside is a small portion of the evidence of Xie Shao's involvement in gray-area real estate transactions and illegal operations.
It wasn't fatal, but it was enough to give him a headache for a while.
Jin Chen: I'll show you something good.
Xie Shao: ? ? ?
Jin Chen immediately added him to her blacklist.
Almost simultaneously, Xie Shao called, but Jin Chen hung up after only two rapid rings.
This caught Xie Linzhou's attention.
He looked up from the screen, glanced at Jin Chen, but quickly returned his gaze to the design drawings.
Just then, his phone rang; it was Fang Ming calling.
Xie Linzhou stood up, answered the phone, and gestured to Jin Chen, pointing towards the balcony, indicating that he would go outside to talk about work so as not to disturb him.
Jin Chen watched him walk towards the balcony and casually close the glass sliding door.
Xie Linzhou's voice on the phone immediately became muffled, mixed with the continuous sound of rain outside the window, and isolated in another space.
On the sofa in the living room, Xie Linzhou's laptop was still lit up, the design software interface was not closed, and the detailed drawings, annotations and core design ideas of the competition entry he was revising were displayed on the screen.
Jin Chen's gaze shifted from the blurry figure on the balcony to the screen.
A short while later, he put down his computer, got up, picked up the folded blanket from the sofa, and went to the balcony.
Jin Chen opened the glass door, bringing the warmth of the room with her as she stepped out. She gently embraced Xie Linzhou, who was on the phone, from behind and draped a blanket over his shoulders.
"It's cold and windy outside."
Xie Linzhou was listening to Fang Ming on the other end of the phone rambling on about the details of the project when he felt the warmth behind him and the weight on his shoulders.
He lowered his eyes and stared at Jin Chen's arm that was wrapped around his.
“I know,” he said into the phone, his voice lower than before. “I’ll hang up now, we’ll talk about the details on Monday.”
He hung up the call before Fang Ming could finish speaking. Then he turned around, put his phone in the pocket of Jin Chen's bathrobe, hooked his arm around Fang Ming's neck, and leaned back to kiss him.
Outside the balcony, the sky and earth were a hazy gray, filled with moisture, and much colder than inside.
Their breaths sounded warm and moist in the cool, damp air, and their skin, pressed together, quickly became slightly damp, feeling wet and sticky during their kisses.
Xie Linzhou kissed her somewhat urgently. After a while, he loosened his grip slightly and buried his face in Jin Chen's neck. Soft strands of hair gently caressed the skin on Jin Chen's neck with his coquettish movements, and his breath was moist and hot.
He whispered, "I've designed a piece to submit for an award, Jinchen, you have to help me."
Jin Chen hugged him tighter. "Hmm, how can I help you?"
Xie Linzhou seemed mesmerized, placing several light, wet kisses on the side of his neck, his voice even lower, almost like a murmur.
"To make you love me."
"I love you," Jin Chen whispered in response.
His low, husky voice possessed a natural, affectionate quality, which calmed Xie Linzhou down, causing him to stop speaking. Xie Linzhou pressed his cheek against Xie Linzhou's neck, enjoying the intimate moment of their close embrace.
Jin Chen felt the slight trembling of the person in his arms. After a moment of silence, he still asked in a low voice, "Zhouzhou, are you...?"
Xie Linzhou's heart skipped a beat.
He composed himself, not letting Jin Chen finish her question, and tilted his head back to kiss the corner of Jin Chen's lips again, deepening the kiss.
Xie Linzhou's voice escaped between kisses, muffled and unclear, "I'm so cold..."
Once again, Jin Chen failed to ask that crucial question.
He didn't know how much Xie Linzhou had guessed, or whether that "help me" and the sudden kiss were tests.
If he really knew the truth, would he have this attitude?
But if we don't know what he's thinking or what's bothering him right now, we might wonder.
Jin Chen hugged the person in his arms even tighter, wrapping him up tightly in a thick blanket until they kissed, when no longer could he feel the chill from outside.
Xie Shao behaved himself for a few days and stopped sending messages to bother him as frequently as before.
Jin Chen finally understood why Xie Linzhou had been so restless these past few days.
Because of Song Qi's situation, Xie Linzhou had some concerns, worrying that he might also be turned against his own side by the benefits offered by Xie Shao or something else, just like Song Qi.
Just like Ren Xian in the past.
Jin Chen didn't expect Xie Linzhou to guess in this way, but this guess alone had already made Xie Linzhou depressed for several days. It wasn't until the last two days that he gradually recovered and returned to his usual self.
What if he knows the truth?
The more Jin Chen thought about it, the more she felt she couldn't delay any longer.
The evidence he now possesses is enough to get Xie Shao into serious trouble, and if things get complicated, he could even send him to jail.
These two days happen to be Xie Linzhou's holiday after his design passed the initial review. He should be in a good mood and have time to stay at home, which will also give him time to coax him.
