Sitting in the passenger seat, Xia Qingtian draped the clothes originally on her shoulders over her knees and said, "Thank you for coming today."
"No need to thank me," Mobius replied with a slight smile. "Mr. Gu asked me to come."
Xia Qingtian didn't respond, but she knew in her heart that an assistant like Mobius must be very busy. Mr. Gu could have easily sent someone else to handle this.
Mobius coming in person was out of concern for her.
"I heard about what happened at Wanqing Entertainment," Mobius said. "It's a good thing Mr. Gu sent Wen Jiu to protect you. Otherwise, today..."
As he spoke, Mobius's grip on the steering wheel tightened.
That scoundrel, Yu Yueqiang, had done many wicked deeds, relying on the Yu family's influence.
He deserved to be struck by lightning!
Xia Qingtian gave a dry laugh, "It's okay, I'm fine, it's just..."
Xia Qingtian lowered her head, feeling the greasy, disgusting sensation on her wrist again, and her brows furrowed involuntarily.
"What's wrong?" Mobius asked, noticing Xia Qingtian's discomfort while waiting at a red light.
"He grabbed my hand..." Xia Qingtian raised her slightly trembling hand. "I've washed it many times, but... but it feels like it's still not clean... I feel disgusted just thinking about it..."
Mobius looked at Xia Qingtian's reddened hand, his gaze shifting.
Her wrist was visibly red and swollen, a clear result of excessive scrubbing.
Reaching out, Mobius took Xia Qingtian's hand, interlaced their fingers, and held her hand firmly.
"!" Xia Qingtian was slightly startled. As her warm hand was held by Mobius, she felt his slightly cool touch. In that moment of interlaced fingers, she was enveloped in a profound sense of security.
The light turned green. Mobius drove with one hand on the steering wheel, the other holding Xia Qingtian's.
It wasn't until they reached the underground parking lot of Xiaoyao Pavilion and parked the car that Mobius said, "We're here."
"Mhm," Xia Qingtian replied, feeling her throat tighten slightly, and she coughed twice.
Hearing Xia Qingtian's cough, Mobius released her hand and then also coughed lightly. "Let's go upstairs first."
"Mhm," Xia Qingtian responded again and followed Mobius upstairs into his apartment. Only then did she say, "I... I have to go back to the set this afternoon. I only took half a day off today."
"Wen Ning has already requested leave for you at the set. You can go tomorrow afternoon," Mobius said, washing his hands and putting on an apron. "There's not much in the fridge, I'll just make something with whatever I find."
With that, Mobius immediately disappeared into the kitchen. The familiar sounds of chopping vegetables and boiling water reached Xia Qingtian. She lay on the edge of the sofa, gazing in the direction of the kitchen, feeling an unexpected sense of familiarity, a long-lost feeling of [home].
The touch of Mobius's palm still lingered on her hand. His hand was a little larger than hers, cool to the touch, and felt very comfortable when held.
It was a grounding sensation.
Three dishes and one soup, with a pot of rice already cooked.
When Mobius called Xia Qingtian for lunch, he found her asleep on the sofa.
Mobius reached out and touched Xia Qingtian's hair, lifting a strand with his fingertips to examine it, only to meet her blurry, sleepy eyes.
"Hair fetish?" Xia Qingtian mumbled, her voice still groggy and husky.
"!" Mobius froze, his eyes momentarily flustered, before quickly finding an excuse, "Uh, your hair got into your mouth while you were sleeping, I was just helping you move it."
"Huh?" Hearing this, Xia Qingtian instantly sobered up, her cheeks flushing. Did she eat her own hair in her sleep?
"You must be starving. The food is ready," Mobius said, clearing his throat and standing upright. "Wash your hands and come to eat."
Xia Qingtian lowered her head and went to the bathroom. She turned on the faucet, looking at the clear stream of water, then glanced at her hand.
She didn't want to wash it.
She didn't want to wash away that feeling...
In a moment of daze, Xia Qingtian quickly regained her senses and muttered to herself, "What am I thinking! Am I crazy!"
Squeezing some hand soap, Xia Qingtian washed her hands clean before reappearing in Mobius's sight.
They sat on opposite sides of the square table, just as they often had when dining together.
"Delicious," Xia Qingtian gave her highest praise. "Your cooking is truly the best."
"Eat more if you like it," Mobius said. "I cooked extra rice today. If there's any left, it'll be good for fried rice tonight. There's still bacon in the fridge."
"Mhm." After eating, Xia Qingtian's mood improved considerably. It was then that she seemed to remember something and looked at Mobius. "Did we forget something?"
"Did we?" Mobius refilled Xia Qingtian's soup bowl. "No, I don't think so."
"Really?" Xia Qingtian still felt something was amiss.
Only after finishing lunch and letting out a satisfied belch on the sofa did she suddenly slap her hand and exclaim, "Oh no, we forgot about Wen Jiu!"
"It seems so." Mobius, having finished washing the dishes, also remembered the person.
He brought the washed fruit to the coffee table in front of Xia Qingtian and said, "It's fine, she's a grown woman, she won't get lost."
"That's true," Xia Qingtian nodded and ate the fruit with peace of mind. Only when their fingers occasionally brushed in the fruit bowl would Xia Qingtian recall the indescribable ambiguous atmosphere in the car earlier.
The residual touch on her palm became particularly vivid.
Meanwhile, Yu Linwan, who was at the hospital, also knew the seriousness of the situation. After hearing the doctor's definitive answer, she immediately contacted her father's second brother.
She dared not mention the specifics of Yu Yueqiang's injuries, only saying that she had heard from a client that Yu Yueqiang had been beaten and sent to the hospital.
As Yu Yueqiang was the only son of the second uncle of the Yu family, the couple rushed from Kyoto to Z City that very day.
"That brat is always causing trouble, he deserves to be taught a lesson." Uncle Yu knew his son was not a good person and was aware of the constant trouble Yu Yueqiang caused Yu Linwan. He put on a show of scolding his son in front of Yu Linwan.
"What's the use of saying that now! Hurry up and go see Yueqiang!" Yu Yueqiang's mother, Yue Lan, was notoriously indulgent of her son. If not for her spoiling him, Yu Yueqiang might not have ended up this way.
Chu Qi has something to say: Driving with one hand on the steering wheel is not a violation of traffic laws, but it does pose a safety hazard. Good children, don't learn from this~