Chapter 167 - Revolutionary Discovery
Just as Hyson had said, he did go to play chess with Grandfather Xiang and even Shui Koshing followed them to watch the game. He had been losing badly from the old man, so he wanted to see how badly Hyson would lose. It's not that he wanted Hyson to lose, after all, there was indeed a small hope in his heart to see the old man taking a loss. But then again, he knew how good Grandfather Xiang was at playing chess.
As for those two beautiful ladies who seemed to be up to no good for today, Mother Yue had dragged Mu Chenyan to her room. And although Mu Chenyan found Mother Yue's flustered appearance quite suspicious, she didn't try to be nosy. She knew if Yue wanted to share anything with her, she wouldn't hesitate to do so.
Besides, all these people there was a pair of newlyweds who seemed to be acting more like an old couple as they had stayed behind in the pavilion. Even after the servants cleared up everything, Shui Xian and Raelle were having a moment of their own as they drank wine while enjoying this beautiful night or more precisely, enjoying each other's presence.
As for why one might think that they acted like an old couple, it was not just because of how comfortable they had become with each other but it was also because of how instead of talking romantically, they both were discussing random stuff related to all kinds of fields. One might think that these two would have nothing to talk about with each other especially because of how Raelle didn't like random gossips and how Shui Xian was an emotional mess.
But surprisingly, they both always had way more topics that they could discuss together. Raelle was knowledgeable because of her practical knowledge, Shui Xian was understanding because of how deeply he understood human emotions. Although Shui Xian was an artistic person while Raelle was a practical one, they both still couldn't just sit in silence with each other.
"Wife, you really don't think that the rain is beautiful?" asked Shui Xian as he looked at her. The rims of the wine glass touched her soft naturally red lips and the red wine slowly poured into her mouth. There was a soft light illuminating her face with the backdrop of this night. The sight was enticing and alluring, making it impossible for Shui Xian to look away from her. Not like he was ever able to move his eyes away from her face.
"Rain is troublesome," replied Raelle in her usual manner with her most favorite words.
"How?"
Raelle held his gaze with her pure black eyes that seemed to be covered with a sheen of moisture. "So many of my flights got delayed or canceled because of rain. And that in turn wasted so much time. My whole schedule had to be rearranged. Isn't it troublesome?"
Shui Xian propped his chin on the heel of his hand, "Oh, now I get it. You never stopped to look at the rain. How would you find it beautiful?" Raelle looked at him and for some reason, Shui Xian could understand the question in her eyes while her face gave nothing away. "You always focused on the fact that your work was being delayed. You really missed out on one of the most beautiful things that nature has to offer."
He stood up and offered his hand to her. Raelle put the wine glass down and took his hand. He pulled her up to her feet and stood behind her. With her back pressed against his chest, he stretched out his hand to cover her eyes from behind.
"Close your eyes and focus," he instructed her in a deep husky voice with his lips almost caressing the tip of her ears.
Raelle didn't question him regarding what he was trying to play with her. She instead followed his instructions obediently, "What am I supposed to focus on?"
"On every single thing," replied Shui Xian.
Raelle did as she was told and tried to focus on everything. Since her eyes were closed, every single sensation was heightened. However, Raelle Xiang who never found it difficult to focus on something actually had some difficulty as she tried to experience what he wanted her to. Because all her attention was focused on the sound of his breath right beside her ear. That one sound seemed to have overshadowed everything else.
She could smell the remnants of the barbecue or the wine she just had. She couldn't hear the sound of the rain that seemed to have started falling with vigor once again creating a melody of its own. She couldn't feel the chill in the air but she could feel the warmth of his body that was pressing behind her.
There was so much she could have picked up on in this weather but the sound of his breath left her incapable of doing so. It seemed like that breath was engulfing all her senses and weren't letting even the scent of the earth reach her. It seemed like everything else around her had vanished into oblivion and all that was left was him that held her in his arms.
"Can you hear it?"
After a long moment of silence, Shui Xian finally broke this silence.
Raelle truthfully answered, "I can only hear your breath beside my ear. Am I supposed to hear something else?"
Shui Xian was momentarily left with nothing to say. He wanted her to hear the rhythm of the rain. It was his favorite weather and he wanted her to feel its beauty as well. He always found inspiration through the rain back in the day. Although it had been years since he had touched any musical instrument, his love for rain hadn't vanished or diminished over the years.
"Isn't there anything else you can hear?" inquired Shui Xian expectantly.
Raelle put his hand down and turned around to face him. She nodded her head saying, "I can hear your heartbeat." While Shui Xian was stunned, Raelle took his hand and felt his pulse. Then she placed her hand over his heart and added, "Your heartbeat is unusually fast. Why is that?"
Shui Xian breathed out through his mouth as he smiled at her and brushed the bridge of her nose, "Isn't it because I'm hugging you? How can my heart be at ease when you're so close?"
Raelle leaned her head over and purposely breathed against his ear, "So how close I have to be to get this effect?" Through the hand that she had placed on his chest, she could feel his heartbeat getting even faster and her eyes seemed to have sparkled for a moment. "I wonder..." she said before she kissed his lips.
Shui Xian was caught unprepared as he usually did but he had gotten used to her sudden amorous attacks as well. So, he kissed her back. As their tongues overlapped, Raelle could feel his heartbeat getting slower. As the kiss grew intense, his heartbeat came to a normal rhythm as well.
Wasn't it supposed to be the reverse of that?
When her lips were sucked swollen, she pulled away to catch her breath. Taking few deep breaths, she asked, "How come your heartbeat went to normal?"
Shui Xian smiled at her as he caressed her face with the back of his fingers saying, "It's because when you're home, you'd always be at ease."
"Huh?"
Shui Xian rubbed her head, "Baby, you won't understand it for now."
Raelle didn't care whether she understood it or not. What she focused on was... "Baby? How old do you think I am?"
Shui Xian raised his hand and showed her the five fingers of his hand.
"I'm not five!"
Shui Xian raised his other hand to show his other hand that had two fingers uncurled, "I meant twenty-five." He obviously won't tell her that sometimes she really made him feel like she was a five-year-old. Her innocence could definitely rival a child.
"I'm twenty-four though," she replied. "I'll only turn twenty-five next year."
Shui Xian made a face at her, "Right, you have an early birthday. So, your birthday passed even before our marriage. What a shame!"
"Why do you look so disappointed?"
"I couldn't spend this birthday of yours with you," replied Shui Xian.
"You didn't spend the last twenty-four birthdays with me, why does this one matter?"
Shui Xian thought about it and nodded at her, "You're right. So, let's make sure that we spend all the coming birthdays together."
"If you say so," replied Raelle. She didn't look like she was taking it seriously but since she said it, she was definitely taking it seriously. She took a pause to think something before muttering to herself, "I have to record your interesting heartbeat into my experiment log. It's a revolutionary discovery."
Shui Xian didn't catch what she said. He only heard the 'revolutionary discovery' part. But seeing how her eyes were all sparkly, he didn't bother to question her or spoil her mood. As long as she was happy, who cares what she was thinking about?