Duan Yiheng, smelling the same as Lin Xi, walked to the bedside.
"I used your shampoo," Lin Xi replied instinctively. "It's okay."
Duan Yiheng chuckled. Lin Xi closed her eyes in annoyance. How did he know she was pretending to be asleep? Duan Yiheng went to the sofa and took out his laptop.
Lin Xi heard the noise and opened her eyes curiously. "Aren't you going to rest?"
Duan Yiheng: "Qin Yang sent a detailed business trip report. I'll take a look first and roughly determine the direction of the meetings when we get back."
Lin Xi: "Is there anything I can help you with?" Duan Yiheng shook his head. "You've been busy all day. You should rest."
Lin Xi's eyelids were heavy. The duties of a secretary and an assistant are worlds apart. If she rushed in, she was afraid she would displease her boss. She silently closed her eyes and fell asleep to the sound of the pouring rain and the faint tapping of the keyboard.
Half an hour later, Duan Yiheng closed the laptop.
He tilted his head back and turned his neck, then lay back on the sofa. Lin Xi was sleeping on the side closest to the sofa, and when he turned his head, he was met with that sleeping face.
Duan Yiheng slowly smiled and whispered gently, "Chloe."
There was no response. Duan Yiheng picked up his phone and opened a social media app with a unique logo that combined the letters M and W. The app was called MomentWhisper, abbreviated as MW.
Duan Yiheng clicked on it. His chat history with Chloe ended three months ago—"Ryan, I'm going back to China. I probably won't have much time to log in anymore. I wish you all the best in America."
Duan Yiheng scrolled back, spending over two hours scrolling through his three years of chat history with Chloe. They were separated by a screen, not knowing each other's Chinese names, and never asking about each other's family backgrounds.
It all started with a misunderstanding. During an exchange activity for international students, she forgot to type a letter and added Duan Yiheng, who hadn't logged in for a long time. This wasn't a mainstream social networking app; it was recommended to Chloe by someone at that event.
Initially, Chloe didn't realize she'd typed the wrong name and kept assuming he was a girl. Duan Yiheng was in a good mood at the time, having just celebrated his birthday and received a birthday greeting. Faced with her "harassment," he directly replied in English with a voice message that he was a man.
The other person immediately crashed, sending several strings of "sorry" and explanations. Then Duan Yiheng crashed, because the voice sounded familiar.
He went to her profile, looked at her basic information, and tentatively asked a few questions, finally confirming that the Chloe who had mistaken him was Lin Xi, who had grown up in the Duan family.
After that, he didn't reply with voice messages anymore, simply chatting with her as the person she had misunderstood. To this day, she still believes he's American.
As for himself, amidst her countless "good morning" and "good night" messages, his heart was captured; once released, it felt like it would leap out of his chest. At first, he didn't quite understand, but later he told Mu Zhao.
Mu Zhao's gaze changed instantly. He still remembered his words: "Damn, you knew it was Lin Xi, and you still fell for her?" Duan Yiheng suddenly realized, it was because the other person was Lin Xi that he was moved.
Every concerned whisper she uttered to him in MomentWhisper, he could imagine her expression and demeanor on the screen. He had always known that Chloe was Lin Xi.
Two years ago, there was a torrential rain in Philadelphia, and she sent him seven voice messages in a row on MW to remind him to be safe. She probably never imagined that two years later, they would be trapped in the same room because of a rainstorm. It wasn't even six o'clock, and it was already pitch black outside.
A burst of laughter came from the hallway. Lin Xi frowned and turned over. She gradually regained consciousness and slowly opened her eyes. It was dark all around. She sat up and saw Duan Yiheng sleeping on the sofa.
Without even a piece of clothing covering her, Lin Xi threw back the covers and sat up, nudging him worriedly, "Mr. Duan, wake up."
Duan Yiheng opened his eyes. "What did you call me?" Lin Xi didn't understand why he was always so fixated on how to address her, and was a little annoyed. "Then what should I call you?"
"Call me by my name," Duan Yiheng said.
Lin Xi: "...Isn't that a bit inappropriate? You're my elder."
"..." Duan Yiheng sat up. "I'm an elder?" Lin Xi looked innocent. "Aren't you?"
Duan Yiheng fiercely defended his age: "I'm only six years older than you."
Lin Xi: "Then...senior?"
Duan Yiheng glanced at her casually. "Call me by my name. When we're working, we address each other by our titles."
Lin Xi, ever the pragmatist, yet with a touch of rebelliousness in her heart, crossed her arms, bent down to look into his eyes, and deliberately emphasized, "Okay, Duan Yiheng~" drawing out the last syllable.
Duan Yiheng: "…Stop being so cutesy."
Lin Xi: "…" Not only is she old, but she also has hearing problems.
Oh well, she's beautiful and kind-hearted, she won't hold a grudge. "Why did you fall asleep here?" Not only did she not mind, she even showed concern, "What if you catch a cold?"
Duan Yiheng: "It's nothing, I accidentally fell asleep. What time is it?"
Lin Xi: "I just woke up too, I don't know." Duan Yiheng picked up his phone from the coffee table and glanced at it: "It's six o'clock, are you hungry?"
Lin Xi shook her head: "Not really." She had eaten lunch late.
Duan Yiheng said, "Why don't you go downstairs and grab a bite? The 11th floor doesn't offer 24-hour delivery service. If you order takeout after that, no one will deliver it to you."
"Okay." Lin Xi glanced out the window, "Is it still raining?"
Duan Yiheng: "The rain has lessened a bit."
Lin Xi: "Then I'll go change my clothes first, you can change here." She drew the curtains, so no one could see.
Duan Yiheng nodded, intending to agree as well. As a grown man in these circumstances, he didn't need to be too fussy.
Leaving the room, the two encountered a young couple who had offered them a room. They greeted each other and waited for the same elevator. As soon as the doors opened, all the men's attention was drawn to the woman in the red dress in the center.
She ignored everyone, casually raising her hand to give Duan Yiheng a "hi."
Lin Xi turned her head and whispered, "Do you know her?"
"No." Duan Yiheng turned his head, took her hand, and whispered in her ear, "Can I borrow it for a moment?"
Lin Xi saw the woman's gaze fall on their clasped hands and immediately understood. Duan Yiheng had attracted some attention. Seeing the young couple also looking at them, Lin Xi silently intertwined her fingers with Duan Yiheng's.
Duan Yiheng smiled, leading Lin Xi into the elevator.
Back in her room, things were awkward. Lin Xi had lingered in the dining room for almost two hours. Fortunately, she could take a shower, apply body lotion, and do her skincare routine in her room… and the time slowly slipped away.
She stayed in the bathroom alone until ten o'clock, until a knock came at the door.
Lin Xi finished getting ready and was about to open the door when Duan Yiheng stopped her: "I'll open it."
She took a step back, disappearing into the bathroom doorway.
Duan Yiheng opened the door, a fiery red dress and wavy hair flashing a seductive smile at him: "Good evening, sir."
Lin Xi shuddered; that seductive, silky voice gave her goosebumps.
Taking advantage of the fact that women couldn't see her, Lin Xi gave Duan Yiheng a thumbs-up, praising his boundless charm.
Duan Yiheng chuckled, exasperated: "Baby, are you done showering?" Lin Xi's heart skipped a beat, her almond-shaped eyes widening as if accusing him.