BANCB 04

Chapter 04

Water droplets rolled down from the tips of his hair, tracing across his straight collarbones and the distinct, well-defined contours of his muscles. The crisp, woody scent of the body wash blended with his masculine presence, slowly diffusing into the air.

After taking a shower, Bian Xu always did whatever made him feel most comfortable. He would never wrap an extra piece of cloth around himself just because there was an additional person like her in the room.

Liang Yuxuan used to think this was just a lack of inhibition. It was only later, through hearsay, that she learned this was actually a subconscious manifestation of a man’s absolute control and extreme self-confidence within a relationship.

She didn’t know if there was any psychological basis for this theory.

Placing the sleeping dog in her arms down by her feet, Liang Yuxuan stood up as she watched him approach.

Bian Xu came up to her, bent his index finger, and gently grazed her lower lip with his knuckle. “What are you looking at?”

She tilted her head away to dodge his hand.

“If you don’t want to use your mouth, then don’t just stare blindly.” Bian Xu arched his brows and casually tossed the towel onto the sofa. “Still not sleeping?”

Liang Yuxuan forced her heavy eyelids open and shook her head.

As she had calmed down and thought about it just now, let alone the fact that Bian Xu had been cooped up in the recording studio for ten consecutive hours, his phone barely had a few apps on it. Even when he was idle, he never looked at gossip.

Since he didn’t know about the news, she obviously wouldn’t get an explanation.

But since she had already come all this way, she should at least ask clearly before sentencing this relationship to death.

Liang Yuxuan lifted her head. “I want to…”

“I’m not sleeping. I’m going to the recording studio.”

Before Liang Yuxuan could finish her sentence, the word “talk” stalled in her mouth.

“Didn’t you just come out of the recording studio?” She frowned slightly.

“I just got some new inspiration. Go to sleep first, someone will deliver breakfast later.” As if soothing a puppy or a kitten, Bian Xu raised his hand to stroke the back of her neck. He rubbed it twice before letting go, picked up his bathrobe, and walked out of the room.

Just like every single time in the past.

Whether they were eating together, sleeping, or attending a concert, his unexpected flashes of inspiration always came first.

He could drop whatever he was doing at any time or place, heading to his piano, his musical scores, and his recording studio without a hint of reluctance.

One second they would be intimately intertwined, and the next second he would detach himself with complete indifference.

Then, she would wait from the first light of dawn until nightfall, only to watch the light break again as a new day arrived.

When he would leave behind a casual “Return date uncertain” and shut himself away on this isolated island for a whole month, she would plan to end this abnormal relationship after a long period of lost contact. Yet, she would then find him dropping from the sky, feeding her a piece of deep, sweet candy—

There would also be those few days where he went nowhere, staying only with her, acting as if he wanted to be permanently attached to her body.

As a result, she would be numbed by the sugar, managing to endure the next agonizing stretch.

As someone who had danced ballet for fifteen years, she truly had immense patience and was well-practiced in enduring pain.

Tonight, she was even thinking that if Bian Xu really had crossed that ultimate line, it might not entirely be a bad thing.

At the very least, she could collect a story of “who didn’t love a jerk or two in their youth?” and turn around to leave. That would be much better than always yielding to his career, feeling sad while constantly doubting herself, wondering if she was just being unreasonable.

Thinking up to this point, Liang Yuxuan suddenly didn’t want to wait a single moment longer.

After standing frozen for ten minutes, Liang Yuxuan opened the bedroom door and stepped into the elevator.

She was currently in a three-thousand-square-meter detached villa at the top of the mountain. Bian Xu’s recording studio was located in the adjacent, structurally complex single-story building.

That place was equipped with the world’s most cutting-edge recording technology and equipment, hundreds of priceless antique musical instruments, and it could accommodate a massive hundred-piece symphony orchestra playing live. Through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of the recording studio, the lush, green forest and the seamless view of the sea and sky could be seen in their entirety, naturally nurturing creative inspiration.

Unfortunately, she had only ever stolen a few glances at it from a distance outside the door.

When Bian Xu was in his working state, he could not tolerate any random people. Although he never lacked money and no client ever dared to set a deadline for him, it was precisely because his music-making was entirely for self-gratification that he poured his entire soul into it.

Reaching the first floor, Liang Yuxuan walked out of the elevator. Following her memory through the corridor lined with oil paintings, she caught the sound of a familiar male voice at the corner.

“The boss has been locked away and hasn’t checked his phone. I’ve been living with 2G internet on this island myself, and I only just heard the news.”

“No one from domestic contacts us here, probably because they’re afraid of bringing bad luck to the boss…”

“How should I know if that’s true or not? I’m just a housekeeper taking care of the island, and I didn’t follow the boss to Amsterdam that day… Anyway, just clarify it to the public.”

“Does this kind of minor fuss really require the boss to speak up himself? If you say that right to his face, he’ll definitely just reply with: ‘Do I look like I’m idle?'”

“Right, I just confirmed with Bei Ying’s management team, they’re handling it.”

Lu Yuan finished the phone call all in one breath. The moment he turned around, he saw Liang Yuxuan standing dazed at the end of the corridor, unsure of how long she had been listening.

“Miss Liang, you heard everything…” Lu Yuan slapped the back of his head, approaching her nervously.

Liang Yuxuan let out a soft “Yes.”

“Could it be that you had already seen the news before coming here?” Seeing that she wasn’t surprised at all, Lu Yuan’s head throbbed with increasing panic. “And here I was, playing that song in the car… I’m so sorry, Miss Liang, I really lacked tact…”

“No,” not wanting to make things difficult for an innocent bystander, Liang Yuxuan smiled slightly, “I was also busy today.”

Lu Yuan let out a sigh of relief. Remembering the ambiguous words he had spoken over the phone, he quickly added, “Sigh, it’s no big deal. It’s just the paparazzi making up stories based on pictures. I showed the news to the boss just now, and he didn’t care at all. You don’t need to mind it either.”

Liang Yuxuan blinked hesitantly. “After he saw the news… he went straight to the recording studio?”

“Yes, just ten minutes ago. The boss just said it was boring and told me to handle it. One look at his attitude and you know it’s not real! The boss went to Amsterdam back then to meet a lyricist, he completely failed to notice that day was Qixi. He probably ran into Miss Bei while she was drinking heavily outside, so he casually gave her a ride. See, the car he drove was also Miss Bei’s.”

Lu Yuan explained a great deal, but Liang Yuxuan’s attention had long been pulled away.

“You’re saying… he didn’t know that day was Qixi, he went to Amsterdam for work, and everything else was just a casual favor along the way?”

Lu Yuan nodded repeatedly like a chicken pecking at grain, recalling Bian Xu’s exact words from a moment ago: “The boss even asked just now—’That day was Qixi?’ You see, the boss was absolutely unintentional. What secret rendezvous with Miss Bei to spend Valentine’s Day together? It’s complete nonsense!”