From Yan Hechuan's perspective, it was completely invisible, of course.
He could only sense a fragrant breeze brush past, followed immediately by the warmth of skin pressing against his chest.
The sound of a woman's voice reached his ears.
Witnessing the scene before him, Meng Xiang swiftly raised his hands to cover his own eyes.
See no evil, hear no evil.
"Junior brother, you can go do your own thing now."
"I'll take Hechuan for a stroll."
That was the original plan, yet for some reason, hearing these words, Meng Xiang actually felt a twinge of disappointment.
He quickly adjusted his mindset, however, and nodded, saying, "Alright, Senior Sister. Call me anytime if you need anything."
"Mhm, go on."
"Remember to check your phone."
The next second, seeing another 1888 transfer notification pop up on his phone, Meng Xiang's expression immediately brightened with delight.
All that disappointment, all that gloom, instantly vanished into thin air.
Yan Hechuan frowned slightly, giving the woman nestled in his arms a little push, and said,
"Why did you send Meng Xiang away?"
Xia Liuyue not only wasn't pushed away, she even turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck like an octopus, her tone coquettish as she said,
"What do you think? Should we have kept him here to watch us be all lovey-dovey?"
"I don't mind, but I was mainly afraid you'd be shy."
Yan Hechuan felt an itch on his arm and said sternly,
"Stop fooling around. Let go, it seems like an allergic reaction."
"Hmm, really? Let me see." Xia Liuyue lowered her head earnestly to examine his hands.
The skin was its normal color.
No fine rashes like last night.
She spoke again,
"Hechuan, a large part of your condition is actually psychologically induced. You just felt an itch on your arm?"
"But in reality, there's nothing. Everything is perfectly fine."
Yan Hechuan was incredulous. He raised his hand, about to check his own arm.
Unexpectedly, Xia Liuyue took the opportunity to grasp his hand again.
This time, not separated by a phone.
Their fingers interlaced tightly.
"Come on, I'll take you to the private hot spring."
"Oh, Hechuan, where did you put your phone?" This sentence was the real focus of Xia Liuyue's question.
One moment Yan Hechuan was contemplating whether to break free from this overly intimate hand-holding, the next his train of thought was interrupted again.
Phone?
Yinyao seemed quite concerned about his backup phone?
Why.
"It's in the locker. It's inconvenient to bring it into the hot spring, it could get wet."
"Mhm." Xia Liuyue nodded.
Got it, the locker.
She'd message Meng Xiang later.
Tell him to go put the backup phone in water at the locker.
The two of them walked hand in hand to the central room on the left. After sliding the door shut, it became a completely private space.
Outside in the courtyard, the water of the private spring was clear, surrounded by artfully arranged rockeries and greenery, with a faint mist rising from the surface of the hot spring.
Yan Hechuan, who had been silent, suddenly posed a soul-searching question out of the blue.
"Yinyao, I feel like you're not yourself."
This nearly gave Xia Liuyue, who was just about to test the water temperature by dipping her hand at the pool's edge, a fright.
Are a blind person's senses always this sharp?
Or was her way of speaking today not like Tang Yinyao's?
Nevertheless, she remained composed, shaking their still-joined hands, her tone light and cheerful as she said,
"Hechuan, did you not sleep well after getting that IV drip late last night? Is your head a bit foggy?"
"If I'm not me, then who could I be?"
Yan Hechuan hesitated for a moment, then shook his head slightly.
"I don't know either. Sometimes you feel like her, but other times you feel like a completely different person, a stranger."
Xia Liuyue continued her unfazed deception, without blushing or her heart racing:
"If I were a stranger, would Assistant Chen not have noticed?"
"And Meng Xiang, calling me 'Senior Sister' every other word."
"Before you lost your sight, I introduced you once at a cocktail party, don't you remember?"
Fortunately, she had investigated Tang Yinyao's past fairly thoroughly beforehand.
Otherwise, she really might have been scared by Yan Hechuan.
Yan Hechuan responded, "I remember."
But that made it even stranger. Clearly it was a familiar person, so why did the feeling she gave off feel so different?
Especially in the car earlier, holding hands through the phone, fingers interlocked in the pocket—his usually steady emotions had actually fluctuated uncontrollably.
It was a feeling he had never experienced before.
Very unfamiliar, and also very novel.
So, did he actually only truly start liking Tang Yinyao recently?
Yan Hechuan was somewhat confused by his own emotions, could only label them as 'strange.'
Xia Liuyue patted his head.
"Alright, it must be because you haven't rested well lately, that's why you're overthinking."
"If I were a stranger, why would I pretend to be your fiancée to get close to you? For your good looks, perhaps?"
Her tone carried a hint of teasing and nonchalance.
Hearing this, the sliver of doubt and worry in Yan Hechuan's heart gradually dissipated a little more.
Perhaps he really hadn't rested well.
This was Yinyao's voice.
She was his fiancée. Even though he was blind now, how could he possibly fail to recognize his own fiancée's voice?
Xia Liuyue tested the water temperature—just right.
She then prepared to lead him into the hot spring, saying, "Be careful, there's a step here. Mhm, walk slowly."
In reality, there were two steps.
Xia Liuyue immersed her whole body in the warm, enveloping spring water, a hint of a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yan Hechuan miss a step as he walked down.
"Careful."
Simultaneously with the sound of a splash, she called out hypocritically.
Yan Hechuan tumbled into the pool.
The warm water, carrying the weight of a grown man, cascaded down, and a heavy weight pressed against her chest.
The waistband of Yan Hechuan's swim trunks brushed against her side, his firm abdominal muscles pressed tightly against her skin.
Without any barrier, their bodies met, skin scalding hot.
"Yinyao, I'm sorry."
Yan Hechuan frantically tried to push himself up, but being unable to see, his knuckles knocked against the stone edge of the pool with a dull thud as he searched for support.
His wet bangs hung over his forehead, tiny droplets of water clinging to his long eyelashes.
In the steamy haze, his misty pupils held an amber glow.
Looking at the scene before her, Xia Liuyue suddenly felt a mischievous urge to tease him.
She reached out and hooked her arm around the back of his neck, hot spring water trickling from her fingertips down his chest.
"Hechuan, do you know how you look right now makes me... really want to kiss you."
Yan Hechuan froze completely.
The corners of his lips pressed into a straight line.
Restrained and serious, he said, "You mustn't."
Xia Liuyue's fingertips wandered, carrying a current-like sensation that traveled from the nape of his neck down to his tailbone.
He tried to pull back, but the back of his head bumped against the pool wall. With no retreat possible, something soft suddenly wound around his calf.
Xia Liuyue's foot was hooked around his calf, her toes lightly tracing circles on his skin.
"Don't worry." Her nose almost brushed against his trembling Adam's apple. "I'll just kiss you. I won't do anything else."
These words sounded exactly like a scoundrel coaxing a naive and innocent young girl.
