Chapter 95: Her Knight Has Come to Save Her

Bai Xu had already given her a heads-up in advance. Though Lin Xi’s heart pounded wildly, she was prepared, and on the surface, nothing seemed amiss. She had always possessed this air of calm detachment; when Qin Yu first glanced at her, he thought nothing of it. But when he saw the tea she had prepared, he understood at once. Bai Xu had already called her.

Heh. Qin Yu closed the door and walked over to the sofa to sit down. Bai Xu, that slippery fellow—selling information to him one moment, then betraying him the next, running off to warn her. If there was ever a spy within a spy, it was him. Bai Xu simply had no loyalty to anyone.

Qin Yu was used to it by now.

Once he was seated, Lin Xi poured tea for him without betraying any emotion, then handed it over.

The atmosphere was subtly tense—not as awkward as one might imagine, but certainly not friendly either.

Qin Yu did not reach for the cup, so Lin Xi held it steady, unmoving. After a few silent seconds of stalemate, she pulled her lips into a faint smile, lowered her eyes, and set the teacup on the table in front of him.

“Third Brother, you called me here because…” As she began to withdraw her hand, the man opposite her stirred, and in the instant she lifted her hand, his warm palm pressed hers back down onto the table.

Lin Xi’s eyes narrowed. She looked up at him, her brow furrowed, questioning.

“Third Brother, is there anything between us that can’t be discussed properly? Must you resort to this?”

By rights, her words should have been enough for Qin Yu to loosen his grip. But this time, he did no such thing, as though her meaning had slipped past him entirely. More than that, he upped the ante, shifting from simply holding her hand down to gripping it tightly, his actions so forceful she had no chance of breaking free.

Her palm was hot, a little damp. From the moment she’d gotten Bai Xu’s call, she’d begun to sweat with anxiety. And now, her hand was still clammy with nerves.

Qin Yu’s hand was even warmer than hers, almost scalding. He seemed like a blaze, and even the way he looked at her was openly, audaciously intense.

Their eyes met. Lin Xi drew a breath, looked away first, and murmured, “What exactly are you doing? Let go.”

At first, she could still force a polite smile, speak to him calmly. But Qin Yu insisted on pushing further. If gentleness wouldn’t work, she’d have to be firm.

“I said, let go.” This time, she had no patience left. She was just about to wrench her hand free when he anticipated her move and caught her hand before she could pull away.

From holding, it turned into entwining their fingers.

Her heart gave a violent shudder.

All her life, she had disliked having her hand held. She never liked the warmth that passed between two palms; it made her uncomfortable.

Whenever she went out, she preferred to walk alone—even if her brother tried to take her hand, she’d do so most unwillingly. So, when she was little, her brother would usually just carry her. As she grew older, he indulged her less, letting her walk in front while he followed silently behind.

But Qin Yu, contrariwise, always liked holding her hand. He seemed to enjoy that gesture immensely. It was that way when they were young, and again when they were older, when he accompanied her to Lin City. Even now, nothing had changed.

Every time she habitually shoved her hands in her pockets and strode ahead alone, Qin Yu would call her back, then catch up and take her hand.

It happened every time—without fail. Eventually, she grew used to it.

——

Snapping back to the present, Lin Xi noticed her palm was even hotter than before. Her breaths came quick and shallow. “What is it that you want? This is absurd.”

Qin Yu was only afraid she’d run, so he made sure to “capture” her first.

After locking eyes again, he finally spoke. “There are things about the past that are complicated. I need you to listen carefully.”

Lin Xi now understood why he was restraining her. She could already guess much of the truth. She had no patience for his explanations—and he knew it.

Hence, this little scene.

Tch.

Lin Xi was annoyed. She suddenly realized that perhaps Qin Yu understood her even better than she’d imagined.

Sometimes, she hadn’t made any move or shown any expression at all. Yet he could still guess her next action, even her current thoughts, with uncanny precision.

She didn’t like this feeling at all. It was as though, in front of Qin Yu, she was always exposed—laid utterly bare.

“I don’t want to hear this part.”

“But I insist on telling you.”

At that, Lin Xi let out a short laugh.

It was fate, really, that she and Qin Yu hadn’t ended up together back then. They were simply ill-matched. In a relationship, personalities should complement each other.

Yet, plainly, she and Qin Yu were both equally stubborn. To put it bluntly, they were cut from the same cloth.

“All right,” she conceded. “Let go, and I’ll listen.”

He didn’t budge, clearly not trusting her. Seeing this, Lin Xi smiled mockingly.

“I live here—where else could I possibly go? Jump off the balcony?”

That remark made Qin Yu frown.

Of course, he’d never liked hearing her speak that way.

Back when she’d first arrived in Lin City, she had no motivation, was uninterested in anything, drifting through her days like a ghost.

For a while, she often posted gloomy words online. Every time Qin Yu saw them, he’d call her immediately. If she missed his call, he’d worry so much he’d drive through the night from the capital to see her.

She remembered vividly the image of him standing beneath her grandmother’s apartment at three or four in the morning, under that old, dim streetlamp.

He would always stand there, looking up at her window on the second floor, their eyes meeting across the distance.

It was like a scene from a fairy tale.

She was the princess trapped in her castle, her world no larger than a single window.

And the moment Qin Yu appeared, she knew her knight had come to rescue her.

“Lin Xi.” In the deep silence of night, he’d call her name in a hushed voice. She would open the window and hear him clearly.

Her room at her grandmother’s house had a bay window. She would always sit on it, staring blankly down at Qin Yu below.

She never turned on the light, never made a sound, but he always knew she was there.

He would wave gently up at her, and stand motionless in the cold wind until dawn.

With a Qin Yu like that, how could her sixteen- or seventeen-year-old self not fall for him?

His kindness to her—even after all these years, and despite the many problems now between them—still made her heart race whenever she thought of the past.

For the rest of her life, she would always love the Qin Yu who appeared beside her that year.

Just as she once said—that year’s Qin Yu was irreplaceable in her life.

——

“I’m not done living yet.”

She took a deep breath, her tone calmer. “Let go. I’ll listen carefully.”

Qin Yu gave her hand a firm squeeze, then, after two seconds, finally released her.