Inextricable

Rays of morning sunlight crawled from the window sill to land on the slender white hand on the bed. Xu Xingxing, who was now awake, lazily lay on the bed, hugging the quilt, before turning over. As she felt soreness surge up from all over her body, she remembered the madness of the previous night, causing her body to flush red. While she was wandering in her own thoughts, she heard the sound of the piano coming from downstairs.

She got up from the bed, got dressed and was ready to go downstairs when she saw a big red sock hanging on the head of the bed. White snow patterns were woven into the top of the sock, a green Christmas tree was in the middle, and a red-hatted Santa Claus appeared at the bottom. It looked very delicate, like something  used to coax children. 

With a smile on her lips, she took the sock and found out there was something inside it. Stunned, Xu Xingxing looked inside. 

It was a pottery Xun. 

Black clay had been used to create this xun. It contained ten holes. A stone-age phoenix totem was carved on its front, and Chinese characters were imprinted on the twin holes at the back.

The characters said “starry sky,” which was the meaning of Xu Xingxing’s name.

After giving it some thought, she hurriedly ran downstairs with the xun.

As she climbed down the steps, the piano’s sound gradually became clearer and she halted as soon as she entered the room.

The floor to ceiling windows were wide open, inviting the sunlight and plenty of fresh air inside. The sea breeze was playing with the white gauze curtain by the window, and lightly swept over the piano shining in the sun.

The man sat in front of the piano, his back slender and straight, like a tree stretching high, noble and flawless. His fingers flew over the black and white keyboard, and he suddenly stopped playing the piano, as if he had heard her footsteps. He turned around and looked up to meet Xu Xingxing’s eyes.

Huai Jing looked very handsome under the golden sunrays, making Xu Xingxing’s heart skip a beat.

“Have I woken you up?” Huai Jing’s voice was pleasing to the ear. 

“No. Did you give this to me?” Xu Xingxing asked, showing the xun in her hand and moving closer to him.

Huai Jing thought that the musical instrument looked very delicate in Xu Xingxing’s hand. He looked deeply into her eyes while replying, “Santa Claus gave it to you.”

“Don’t joke. I know you gave this,” Xu Xingxing said seriously.

Seeing her serious look, Huai Jing snorted and asked, “Why are you so sure?”

“Santa doesn’t know that I like to play the xun,” Xu Xingxing whispered looking at Huai Jing, “But you know…”

The woman stood in the light, her ears, eyelashes, and lips illuminated, giving her the appearance of a child who was happy after receiving a gift.

Huai Jing’s heart seemed to collapse on seeing such a cute appearance, and he nodded and admitted that he gave her the present.

Xu Xingxing’s eyes lit up as she said that she likes it. Her current mood was a bit complicated, it felt as if a missing piece of her heart had been restored, making it whole again. At this moment, Xu Xingxing suddenly gained courage, and she decided to perform at the annual meeting. As for what to perform, she asked Huai Jing.

“Of course I will teach you to play the piano.”

Xu Xingxing: “…”

Huai Jing helped her choose the piano piece. It was a simple yet beautiful classical piano piece called “Bach’s first prelude in C major.” Although it was suitable for beginners, Xu Xingxing looked at the piano sheet and felt no confidence in herself.

[TL Note: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frxT2qB1POQ]

As if understanding what she was thinking, Huai Jing looked down at the music score, played a series of notes with one hand, and said, “Huai Wan performed this piece for her first recital. If she, a stupid girl, can learn, then you will be fine.”

Xu Xingxing: “…”

She recalled that Huai Wan had grumbled about her brother’s teaching methods, saying that he frequently did not give her in-depth explanations but instead encouraged her to come to her own conclusions.

Despite the fact that one sibling thought the other was foolish and the other believed the other was not careful in teaching, Xu Xingxing could tell that the two of them had a great relationship. It also seemed that Huai Jing believed that Huai Wan was the only person who could have a true relationship with him after his mother became a monk following his father’s death.

But Xu Xingxing didn’t understand, if that was the case, then why did he let Huai Wan go abroad to study, so that she rarely had the chance to come back?

When her phone rang, Xu Xingxing briefly lost focus and once Huai Jing gave her a quick glance, Xu Xingxing returned to her senses, pulled out her phone, and answered the call.

The call was from the pet hospital. After two days of treatment and observation, Mimi’s health was deemed fine and she could be discharged from the hospital.

Mimi had always been in good health, but Xu Xingxing was taken aback by Mimi’s abrupt loss of appetite and rushed her to the hospital. When she learned that everything was now good, she felt relieved and walked upstairs to change, getting ready to bring it home.

When Huai Jing watched the woman hastily change clothes, he raised his eyebrows and said, “I will accompany you out.”

“No need, I can just take a taxi,” Xu Xingxing remarked as she pulled her hair back into a low ponytail and brushed a lock of hair from her cheek.

She was unwilling to bother him.

“I have a duty to watch over my student as a teacher.” Huai Jing spoke bluntly as he made his way to the bedside and slowly removed the knot in the nightgown from his stomach using his long fingers. The man’s exquisite and lovely abdominal muscles and the lovely mermaid line beneath the abdominal muscles were exposed when the nightgown drooped down.

After changing his clothes, he asked in a deep voice, “After you pick up Mimi, what if you don’t want to come back?” 

Xu Xingxing: “…” 

………………………..

Xu Xingxing brought Mimi out of the pet hospital. The little guy had become much more lively after receiving treatment. She carried the pet carrier and walked towards the gate of her apartment. When she reached the gate, she glanced sideways at the side of the road, and saw that a familiar car was still parked there, with Huai Jing watching her from the inside. 

Xu Xingxing felt that Huai Jing was like a child vying for favour, and that he was afraid she would neglect him by playing with others. But why was he competing for favour against a cat?

Xu Xingxing ignored Huai Jing and took Mimi directly home, and after closing the door, she knelt on the carpet and carefully opened the door of the pet carrier. After not seeing Mimi for two days, Xu Xingxing also missed it a lot. She turned to Mimi and called softly, “Mimi, you’re home.”

Mimi meowed in response to her voice, glanced up at her, and took a few steps. It called out once again, approached Xu Xingxing, and hurled itself into her arms after first looking up at her. It seemed Mimi had clearly missed “mom” a lot after staying in the hospital for two days. People’s hearts could be warmed by such a fuzzy dumpling, but Mimi’s behaviour caused Xu Xingxing’s heart to soften even more than usual.

“Mimi, you stay alone for now, and I’ll return to be with you this evening, alright?” Xu Xingxing gently coaxed Mimi while giving it a childlike hug.

Mimi also hugged her, and seeming to understand what she meant, meowed aggrievedly, rubbing its head against Xu Xingxing’s face.

She recalled that the vet had explained why Mimi had been refusing to eat for the previous two days— perhaps the owner was spending too little time with it, which made it feel lonely and manifested as a lack of appetite.

Holding the thick hair on Mimi’s neck, Xu Xingxing felt a little sorry for it. At this moment, Mimi also looked up at her, its eyes full of reluctance.

Xu Xingxing had come home after picking up Mimi, because she had to leave it there before going back with Huai Jing, so he was waiting for her, with little patience now, but who would have expected that she would come back with the cat in her hand.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Huai Jing looked at the woman who was wearing her seat belt, and then at the cat in the pet carrier in her arms. Mimi seemed to be looking at him too, its beautiful eyes full of indifference.

The expression on the man’s face was not a good one, making Xu Xingxing feel a little guilty. She said apologetically, “Mimi has just recovered and I can’t leave it alone at home. Can I take it with me?”

Huai Jing withdrew his gaze, met Xu Xingxing’s eyes, and replied briefly, “Can’t.”

“Ah.” Xu Xingxing was a little annoyed that Huai Jing refused her so straightforwardly since she couldn’t leave Mimi alone at home. She considered it and then stated, “Then I won’t practise the piano today.” With that said, she reached out to unbuckle her seat belt.

Before her hand could touch the seat belt, the man suddenly started the car and drove out.

Xu Xingxing: “…”

When Mimi arrived back at its former home, it thought that Xu Xingxing was sending it back, and was afraid that she would leave it there. So it clung to Xu Xingxing the entire time. Even when she was practising the piano, it had to be in the middle of the piano bench to separate Huai Jing and Xu Xingxing.

Being continuously disturbed by such a third wheel, Huai Jing’s complexion got worse and worse, but Xu Xingxing was very happy that both of them could accompany her.

However, what Huai Jing had said a while back was true. With Mimi by her side, Xu Xingxing actually kept being distracted, her eyes watching it while playing the piano. Mimi had snuggled into her lap, looking very well-behaved.

As Xu Xingxing looked at Mimi and got a little distracted, the man’s eyes drooped, and he stared at this owner and cat pair who were looking into each other’s eyes. He heard Xu Xingxing play a wrong note, so reached out and pressed her hand.

Xu Xingxing looked up guiltily, but the man was focusing on the sheet music, pressing his fingers against hers as he said in a flat tone, “You didn’t play this note well, play it twice with me.” Then his finger pressed her finger and flicked twice.

Xu Xingxing blushed slightly at being caught, and replied, “Okay.”

The man’s finger pressed her finger while remaining steady, and as the warmth slowly seeped into the fingertips, Xu Xingxing’s face became increasingly hotter.

Mimi, who was in the middle of the two, suddenly meowed during their interaction. This caught both people’s attention, only for them to notice that Mimi was glaring fiercely at Huai Jing. It then raised its front paw, and slapped Huai Jing’s hand on the piano bench.

The small cat was obviously very intelligent, it didn’t use its claws because it knew that Huai Jing was Xu Xingxing’s friend. Instead, it simply touched the back of his hand with its cold, soft pads as a warning.

The man’s eyes widened in response to this move of Mimi’s.

Xu Xingxing was shocked by this. After all, her cat was the one who had lashed out at someone. With some discomfort, Xu Xingxing glanced at Huai Jing before reprimanding it in a low voice, “Mimi!”

Just as she finished yelling, her jaw was pinched slightly, and before Xu Xingxing could understand what was happening, the man was already kissing her.