The Substitute Life of Shen Shuishui - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Who did you say you missed?”

Xie Xuan asked in return.

He had already landed with me in his arms.

But my arms were still looped around his neck, and I refused to let go.

“Didn’t hear me? Then I’ll say it again. I said I miss Young Master Xie, also known as Heir Xie, also known as Xie Xuan, also known as you-I missed you.”

He had probably never met anyone as blunt and shameless as me.

He was stunned on the spot.

Very soon, a soft laugh slipped from between his thin lips.

“Heh. What a bizarre method you have, miss. You even dared to jump from that high up. How long have you been plotting this?

“I’m betrothed. Did you not know, miss? Or did you know and still decide to flirt with me?

“If you keep clinging to me like this, I might have to cry molestation.”

Everyone said that Young Master Xie always seemed to be smiling, but when his tongue turned sharp, he could be downright vicious.

Whenever a young lady mustered the courage to approach him and show her affection, he always managed to send her away smiling and return crying.

With just a few words, he could grind a girl’s tender heart into dust.

But I happened to enjoy teasing him.

And I had to do it in new and creative ways.

In my previous life, I had curled up in his arms and cried.

In this life, I stayed in his arms and laughed.

“I haven’t been plotting against you for that long. Only a century or so.

“If you’re betrothed, you can break it off. If you can’t, I can always steal you away.

“As for the third point, since Heir Xie wants to cry molestation, wouldn’t I be losing out if I didn’t actually molest you a little?”

With that said,

before he could react, I leaned in with a bright smile and pressed my lips to his…

Xie Xuan’s lips were warm and soft, very nice to kiss.

But how could he be so easy to bully?

He was terribly unruly. I had only brushed against him once before he came back to himself, glaring at me with a fierce look in his eyes.

So I settled for second best. Under his shocked gaze, I began reciting a love poem.

“At dawn I watch the light, at dusk I watch the clouds… ah… um… the rest is…”

After being forcibly kissed, Xie Xuan’s face had been tinged with faint anger.

But the moment I got stuck on the poem-

his expression went from furious right back to one of concern for the mentally deficient.

So I shamelessly asked him,

“Do you still remember it? How does that line go again? The general meaning is: I look at the sky and think of you, I look at the clouds and think of you, I think of you while walking, I think of you while sitting, and I’d even think of you if I got hemorrhoids.”

Young Master Xie was astonishingly talented, so naturally, he could not tolerate such a crude description from me.

Right there and then, he recited it to me.

“At dawn I watch the light, at dusk I watch the clouds; walking, I think of you; sitting, I think of you.”

His cadence rose and fell, his voice magnetic and alluring.

I curved my lips, revealing a smile of triumph.

“Mm. All right, all right. You miss me very much. I know. No need to keep reciting it.”

Xie Xuan: “…”

His expression was a wonder to behold.

…

At the same time,

miserable sobs drifted over from the other end.

“Shen Shuishui! How are you?”

“Shen Shuishui! Are you still alive?”

“Shen Shuishui! You died so tragically… Waaah…”

From the sound of it, Li Shizhen was running down the cloud ladder in a panic.

The tower’s cloud ladder was rather far away.

Between us stood a lush grove of fringe flower trees.

So Li Shizhen couldn’t see me for the moment.

She probably thought I was dead.

So she decided to start mourning first, just to be respectful.

I had long since grown numb to it.

After all, in every life, once this moment arrived, she would wail over my corpse at least once.

You got used to it.

Xie Xuan had also heard Li Shizhen’s funeral wailing.

He lowered his eyes to look at me, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

“You’re called Shen Shuishui?”

I nodded and asked with a smile,

“What about it?”

A flicker of teasing crossed Xie Xuan’s eyes.

“Miss Shuishui has such a distinctive name. Could it be that you especially enjoy sleeping?”

I lifted my eyes to him, my smile blooming like a flower.

“I do. Would Young Master Xie like to try it with me?”

“…”

For once, he froze, as if he had forgotten to be angry.

Then I saw-

on that cold, flawless, pale face of his, an unnatural flush actually began to creep up…