CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: SNOW SCENE

When Lan Shan first received Ye Xinluo’s message, she didn’t think much of it. But when she opened it, she found it was a picture.

A picture of a snowy landscape.

Lan Shan had wanted to see snow for a long time, but she’d never had the chance.

She grew up in Z City since childhood and didn’t even know what snow looked like. She had once planned to see it with Xinluo, but after Xinluo disappeared, this plan was shelved.

Isn’t Xinluo on a business trip? Shouldn’t she be with the CEO dealing with work? This photo doesn’t look like it’s from the internet. Could it be she’s out having fun?

Curious, she sent two messages to her.

Ye Xinluo glanced at her responses. Her fingers tapped a few times on the screen.

"Luoxia Peak."

This time, Lan Shan replied quickly. She must have been holding her phone.

"What, you’re at Luoxia Peak?"

"Is it the Luoxia Peak you told me about before?"

"Xinluo, you heartless person, you ditched me and Jingxi to see the snow by yourself?"

Looking at the long string of messages on the screen, she couldn’t help but smile, and continued to edit her message.

"I’m innocent, I didn’t know I’d have time to come to Luoxia Peak until last minute. If I had known, I would’ve invited you and Jingxi too."

"The CEO said last night that there was nothing scheduled for today, so I could take a walk."

"Come on, I’m a model employee, I don’t take time off for no reason.

Besides, you’re only telling me now, that’s not sincere."

A couple of seconds later, another message came in.

"I’m not going to chat with you now, you have work to do there. Remember to take lots of photos and show them to me. Make sure they’re pretty."

After replying with a "Okay," Ye Xinluo exited WeChat and placed her phone back on the table.

The food was served quickly.

The two of them finished their meal and then continued walking towards the peak of the mountain.

There was a large snowy area, with a thick layer of snow cleared away. A few kids were making snowmen.

Many people were taking selfies with their phones.

Ye Xinluo also took out her phone and snapped two selfies with the snow. She usually doesn’t like taking photos.

But today she was in a good mood, and the snow scene was so beautiful, she couldn’t help herself.

The weather today was excellent, with a clear, bright blue sky. The sunlight reflecting off the glaring white snow was dazzling.

After taking the photos, Ye Xinluo turned to Beichen Rui and said, "I’ve wanted to come here for years, and today it finally happened."

"Hmm." Beichen Rui responded, his gaze fixed on the distant clouds. "The scenery here is indeed not bad."

Beichen Rui often traveled across the country and had seen many landscapes. This place could only be considered just okay.

"Since you wanted to come, why are you only coming now?" he asked, redirecting his gaze back to Ye Xinluo.

Ye Xinluo lowered her head, smiled, and said, "It’s not like you can just come whenever you want."

She wanted to visit, but there was never enough time.

Seeing her looking a bit dejected, he didn’t ask more. After all, the trip was supposed to be light-hearted, and carrying negative emotions wouldn’t do any good.

"The wind on the mountaintop is strong, don’t catch a cold."

Ye Xinluo had a strange feeling. Today, the CEO seemed a bit different, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly.

Forget it, she decided to let it go.

Unable to figure it out, she simply gave up.

She walked up to a pile of snow, crouched down, and picked up a handful. She had only ever seen snow on TV or on her phone before.

Now she was seeing it for real.

Playing with the handful of snow, even though her hands turned red from the cold, she didn’t care.

She looked exactly like a playful child.

Standing to one side, Beichen Rui silently watched her, momentarily entranced by this version of Ye Xinluo.

He had seen Ye Xinluo’s cold demeanor and her moments of sadness, but this was the first time seeing her so genuinely happy.

Like a child, playing in the snow at her age.

He gave her a slightly disdainful look.

Yet, his lips curved slightly upward, hinting at a barely visible smile.

When Ye Xinluo finally tired of playing, she dusted the snow off her clothes. Then she stood up and walked towards Beichen Rui.

Seeing her small hands red from the cold, he raised an eyebrow, "Had enough fun?"

Ye Xinluo laughed. Why did it feel like the CEO was talking to a child?

But the way she had just been playing in the snow was indeed a bit childish. "Yes, I’ve had enough fun."

Ye Xinluo rubbed her hands together, as if that would warm them up a bit, but she had played so much that she felt cold all over now.

A pair of large hands clasped over hers, bringing a warm feeling, leaving Ye Xinluo taken aback. She looked up at Beichen Rui.

He was standing right in front of her, his hands holding hers. She was a bit embarrassed and tried to pull her hands away.

Noticing her movement, Beichen Rui tightened his grip, bringing Ye Xinluo’s hands closer to him, lowered his head, and blew a breath of warm air.

A warm stream spread through her body, and Ye Xinluo felt as though she had been shocked by something.

She struggled to pull her hands back, but Beichen Rui’s strength was too great, and she couldn’t break free, only causing her hands to hurt.

She looked at him in disbelief, not expecting him to do that, and never thought he would warm her hands.

Yes, he was warming her hands.

Beichen Rui held her small hands, exhaling warm air on them and rubbing them a few times. Her hands were small, with well-defined joints and slender fingers.

Her fair hands were flawless, feeling very comfortable to the touch.

He also didn’t know why he was doing this, it was just an instinctive reaction seeing her rub her hands together.

The warmth in the palms made Ye Xinluo feel this wasn’t real.

It was so unlike the normally cold CEO to do such a thing.

To her surprise, the CEO was quite thoughtful and knew how to care for others. For a moment, she felt a bit inexplicably moved.

After a while, Ye Xinluo felt her hands weren’t as cold as before and she withdrew her hands.

This time, Beichen Rui didn’t hold onto her hands again. He let her pull them back.

"Do you want to go see over there?" he said, pointing to a spot not far away. There was a large fish pond with all kinds of fish.

A lot of people were standing around, some feeding the fish.

Ye Xinluo glanced over and nodded.

They walked that way, with Ye Xinluo following behind, "Thank you, CEO."

The CEO had just warmed her hands, she ought to say thanks. Beichen Rui turned back, looking at her somewhat puzzled, "Thank me for what?"

"Thank you for warming my hands just now."

Though warming someone’s hands could be seen as rather intimate, the big CEO had done it for her, she couldn’t not thank him.

"Hmm." Beichen Rui replied, acknowledging her thanks.

Ye Xinluo wanted to say more, but Beichen Rui spoke first, "No need to thank me, it was the right thing to do."