Chapter 272: What You Like About Him

Zhiyi opened the bottom drawer while Jingwei set his ring case on the dresser.

The box she wanted was beneath a sweater, still wrapped in the scarf Hanchuan had put around it when they packed at Xiling. She carried it to the bed, and Jingwei sat beside her as she lifted the lid.

There wasn’t much inside.

She moved a ribbon and a packet of spare buttons before finding the small cloth pouch tucked into one corner. The silver hair clip slid into her palm, its curved back catching the lamplight.

Jingwei smiled when she offered it to him.

"I remember this," Jingwei said, pressing it open. "I thought you’d lost it."

"My hair got too long for it," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. She touched the shallow dent near one end. "It kept slipping, so I put it away."

He turned it over, checking the spring.

She remembered him doing much the same thing at Xiling before handing it to her across the kitchen table.

She had been reading with one hand holding her hair back, unwilling to leave the page long enough to find a tie.

"You said you found it in a drawer," Zhiyi reminded him.

"I did, but I was the one who put it there." Jingwei glanced at her, smiling a little. "I bought it for you before we left. Then I spent days trying to think of a reason to give it to you."

Zhiyi looked at the clip again. She had liked it because it held her hair without pulling, but she had never thought to ask why something like that had been in his drawer.

"You could have just given it to me," Zhiyi said. "I wore it almost every day."

"I noticed." Jingwei brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek. "That was probably why I never got around to telling you."

She leaned toward his hand, and he kissed her before gathering the hair near her face. He fastened the clip above her ear, leaving the rest loose around her shoulders.

"That should hold," Jingwei said, looking pleased as she touched it. "You don’t need to put all your hair up."

Zhiyi turned toward the dresser mirror. She liked how it looked, but she liked knowing he had chosen it for her even more.

"I’d like to wear it tomorrow," Zhiyi told him. "Would that be enough until we find a ring?"

Jingwei took her hand and kissed her fingers. "You don’t have to settle for it because we’re getting married here."

"I’m not settling for anything," Zhiyi countered, shaking her head as she looked back at him. "I kept it because you gave it to me."

He drew her close, his arm fitting around her waist as she rested against him. She had begun to close her eyes when a familiar knock came at the open door.

Hanchuan stood there holding her water glass.

"Zeyu wants you downstairs before he eats all the icing himself," Hanchuan said, coming in. He handed her the glass, then noticed the clip. "You found it."

Zhiyi smiled up at him. "Jingwei bought it for me. He is saying that he didn’t find it by accident."

Hanchuan looked at his friend, amusement showing in his face. "You let her think that for four years?"

"It worked at the time," Jingwei replied, keeping his arm around her and a half smile on his lips. "She wore it. Who was I to complain?"

Hanchuan laughed and bent to kiss Zhiyi’s forehead. "Drink that, sweetheart. Then come and tell Zeyu his cake is edible before he starts another one."

She drank while the men talked, comfortable between them.

When she had finished, Hanchuan took the glass and Jingwei helped her put the box away. They went downstairs together, following the smell of warm cake into the kitchen.

The afternoon passed with furniture being moved and Zeyu objecting whenever someone tried to taste the icing again.

Shichen cleared the small sitting room, keeping the chairs close enough that nobody would have to raise their voice.

Qinghe found a clean cloth for the table and persuaded Zeyu to leave the cake alone.

Hanchuan checked the room with Shichen, then brought Zhiyi in to see it.

"We’ll stand here," Hanchuan said, stopping near the doorway with her. "Jingwei will be by the bookcase. It’s a short walk, but I’d like to make it with you."

Zhiyi slipped her hand into his. "I’d like that too."

He kissed her temple before leading her back toward the kitchen. She kept hold of him, listening while he told Shichen where they could put the camera so everyone would be in the picture.

That evening, Zhiyi sat at the bedroom desk with her promises in front of her. She had written the beginning twice and crossed out most of what followed. Behind her, Hanchuan closed his book.

"Bring it here," Hanchuan said, moving the pillows so she could sit beside him. "You’ve been frowning at that page long enough."

Zhiyi took the paper to bed and settled against his side. He put an arm around her while she laid it across their laps.

"I know what I want to say," Zhiyi said, sounding more than a little frustrated. "But it sounds different when I try to write it down."

Hanchuan read what she had written, a serious look on his face as his hand stroked her waist.

Hanchuan read the page a second time. This woman was a force of nature when she knew what she was doing, but it was cute seeing her helpless when it came to her feelings. Somethings never changed, even if the circle was expanding.

"You don’t have to make it sound fancy, sweetheart. Tell me what you like about being with him," he said after a moment.

Zhiyi leaned her head against his shoulder, thinking about the afternoons she had spent beside Jingwei. "I like sitting with him," she said after a moment. "Sometimes we don’t talk for a long time, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He doesn’t get mad when I freeze and can’t think. He..."

Her voice trailed off.

"He what?" pushed Hanchuan.

"He makes me feel safe like you do."