Chapter 62: A Terrible Dream

For a moment, Jiang Li completely forgot that Assistant Wang had told Xu An’an about his hand, that he was not supposed to move it carelessly just yet. Feeling unbothered, he even performed a one-handed phone spin for her.

“So it’s already healed,” she remarked.

But because several layers of skin had peeled off, both his palms were still red and raw, looking quite severe. Xu An’an could only assume Jiang Li was just as muddle-headed about his own condition. She decided not to press the matter, considering that he’d been injured because of her.

Stretching out on the sofa, Xu An’an pulled a light blanket over herself, closed her eyes, and said, “It just so happens I have other things to do tomorrow, so I won’t be coming over.”

Jiang Li clicked his tongue. Although not pleased, he didn’t say anything more. He glanced at Xu An’an, then withdrew his gaze indifferently, closed his eyes, and let the events of the day replay in his mind.

A woman had been in a terrible car accident, her body covered in blood; after hours of emergency treatment, she still, sadly, did not survive. Her son, still in high school, looked as though the sky had fallen as he collapsed helplessly to the floor, his face pale, the life drained from him.

In that daze, Jiang Li seemed to see his younger self—just as helpless and desperate. The guiding light in his life had been extinguished without warning.

His mother, on the brink of death, had tried to smile at him, her words breaking off and resuming, urging him to live well, to…

As fragments of memories he refused to face surfaced, Jiang Li suddenly opened his eyes. He sat up and looked over at Xu An’an on the sofa.

She was already fast asleep, the blanket half slipping onto the floor. Her skirt had ridden up to the tops of her thighs, exposing a pair of fair, beautiful legs, alluring yet entirely unconscious of their effect.

Jiang Li pressed his fingers to his brow, then walked over and scooped her, blanket and all, onto the hospital bed, tucking her in tightly. He pulled open a drawer, took out a bottle of sleeping pills. Every time he remembered his mother, insomnia would haunt him through the night.

After swallowing a pill, Jiang Li lay back down, wrapping the small woman in his arms as he drifted to sleep.

Thunder rumbled. In the middle of the night, lightning and thunder crashed outside the window.

The noise woke Xu An’an. Groggy, she opened her eyes to find herself in Jiang Li’s arms, confusion clouding her mind.

Hadn’t she fallen asleep on the sofa? Was this a dream?

“Mom…don’t go…” came Jiang Li’s murmured plea.

Xu An’an’s mind cleared a little. She looked up and saw Jiang Li drenched in sweat, his brows deeply furrowed, his face contorted in pain. He was holding her tightly, as if desperately searching for a way out of his nightmare.

Realizing he was trapped in a bad dream, Xu An’an tried to wake him by patting his face. But it was no use.

“Jiang Li, Jiang Li, wake up!” she called softly. “You’re just dreaming, none of it is real!”

She didn’t know how long she repeated herself, her throat nearly parched, before Jiang Li, after much distress, finally began to calm down. Still, he wouldn’t let her go, pressing his face into her embrace, as if only this could give him a sense of security.

Xu An’an let out a long breath, feeling a bit stifled. This troublesome man—could it be he was mistaking her for his mother?

She stifled a laugh. Well, fine then. “Good…my dear son, call me mom and let me hear it.”

Of course, there was no reply. Xu An’an amused herself in silence.

Once she was sure Jiang Li was no longer plagued by nightmares, Xu An’an let herself drift off again.

After the rain, the first light of dawn shone through the curtains, casting a gentle sheen over the small woman’s hair as she lay on the bed—a cool, lustrous glow. Her lips, slightly parted, were as tender and pink as the first peach blossom.

Unable to resist, the man leaned down and brushed her lips with a gentle kiss.

Like a prince waking his princess, Xu An’an slowly opened her drowsy eyes to see his handsome face looming above her.

She smiled, reaching up to caress his cheek. “Good boy,” she teased.

With those three words, the tender morning atmosphere was utterly ruined.

Jiang Li’s face darkened. He pinched Xu An’an’s cheek a little harder than necessary, gritting his teeth. “Good boy? Who are you talking to?”

Xu An’an flinched from the pain. Damn, so it wasn’t a dream after all!

“What good boy? Who’s the son here? If anything, I’m the daughter, aren’t I?”

“Oh? You mean me, then?”

“Second Master, you’re mistaken. Even if all the men in the world were dogs, you would never be one. If anyone dared say such a thing about you, I, Xu An’an, would be the first to object!” she declared solemnly, seizing the moment to leap out of bed and dash into the bathroom.

Jiang Li was speechless. The first to object? Wasn’t she the first to say it?

Just as they finished washing up, Assistant Wang thoughtfully brought breakfast.

Xu An’an grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of milk. “Thank you, Second Master. I’m off to work now!”

“Come back,” Jiang Li called.

“What for?” she asked, munching her sandwich, cheeks puffed out like an adorable little hamster.

“Sit down and eat slowly. Assistant Wang will drive you to the magazine office afterward.”

“Really? Then I won’t be shy!” Xu An’an pulled out a chair and, picking up her chopsticks, reached straight for the soup dumplings she’d been craving.

Who doesn’t want a hot breakfast in the morning? But catching the bus every day, she usually had to make do with whatever she could grab quickly—otherwise, she’d be late and get her pay docked.

Watching Xu An’an eat so heartily, oil dribbling down her chin, Assistant Wang looked away in dismay. “Miss Xu, do have some regard for your image.”

He’d never seen any woman be so…uninhibited in front of the Second Master.

Xu An’an froze.

Jiang Li said unhurriedly, “You can leave.”

Xu An’an wiped her mouth with a napkin and awkwardly stood, only to be pressed back down by Jiang Li. Assistant Wang instantly understood and slipped out.

So it wasn’t her he wanted gone!

Xu An’an was very surprised. As she turned to Jiang Li, he stuffed a soup dumpling into her mouth.

“Don’t talk while you eat,” he said.

Yet she couldn’t help but feel that someone was embarrassed.

After breakfast, Jiang Li had Assistant Wang drive Xu An’an back to the magazine office, a luxury she’d never enjoyed before.

She could even catch a nap in the car!

If only every day could be like this.

“An’an?” A colleague spotted her getting out of the Bentley and hurried over, hoping to catch a glimpse of the driver.

But Assistant Wang was sharp; as soon as Xu An’an stepped away, he floored the accelerator and sped off.

Xu An’an didn’t even bother lifting her eyelids. The woman was Li Caixia, notorious in the office for her love of gossip, good or bad.

Seeing Xu An’an ignore her, Li Caixia was livid. “Just wait until Nini becomes department head—you’re finished!”

…

Following the address Fang Nini had given her, Xu An’an found that every single eatery was deserted—no customers at all.

The owners sat inside, sighing in despair.

Xu An’an had barely paused at one doorway when the proprietor greeted her with a forced smile. “Miss, what would you like to eat? Come in and have a look. Our place is spotless, nothing like what they said on the news.”

“Nonsense!” A fierce-looking woman barged in.