Incurable Chapter 24 Part 1

Chapter 24 (1/2)

The woman in his arms did not answer.

Accompanied by the soft rush of rain, her breathing grew slower and more even, as though she had already drifted off again. Liu Qianxiu lowered his eyes, looked at her once, opened the door to the second bedroom, and lay her down on the bed.

No one had ever slept in that room before, but it had always been kept complete and spotless.

Liu Qianxiu switched on the small bedside lamp, then turned and left. The instant the door closed, it shut the faint glow of the living room out with it.

The woman on the bed opened her eyes.

She listened carefully to the footsteps outside. When she finally heard another door close somewhere farther away, she shut her eyes again, hugged the thin blanket, and curled herself tighter and tighter—then suddenly kicked both legs out hard.

Once she finished kicking, she let out the breath she had been holding and sprawled on the bed in the shape of a starfish, breathing great, delighted gulps of air.

Liu Qianxiu carried her in his arms like a princess.

He had agreed to let her stay at his place.

He had even said she could do whatever she wanted.

And most importantly of all—tomorrow morning, the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes would be him.

The woman wriggled in tiny, private excitement, hugging the blanket and rolling back and forth twice before burying her face and giggling to herself.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the rain whispered on and on, carrying all the happiness she could not hide.

Mu Wan had no idea how late she had stayed awake in her excitement the night before.

Very late, apparently.

Because when Li Nan’s phone call woke her the next morning, she had a little morning temper.

She sat up in bed, spent three seconds remembering where she was, and then her annoyance disappeared on the spot.

“Hello, Boss.”

She glanced at the time. It was not even seven yet.

Li Nan was an agent. He usually followed Mi Yu around on set, and his own schedule was wildly unstable. If Mi Yu shot all night, he stayed up all night with her.

“The premiere for City of Prayer is tonight at seven,” Li Nan said. “Go show your face.”

Mu Wan specialized in supporting roles. Events like this rarely landed on her. Usually, Li Nan only sent her when Mi Yu had no time, and he needed someone to stand in for appearance’s sake.

Showing face as a supporting actress meant little more than standing on stage for a while. The host would never ask her anything important. But after the stage event was over, she would get to watch the premiere screening.

Mu Wan actually liked these jobs. To her, it was basically a free movie.

But she could not go tonight—she was scheduled to shoot at seven. Li Nan might focus most of his attention on Mi Yu, but he was not careless enough to forget her schedule.

“I have filming at seven tonight. Snowstorm,” Mu Wan reminded him.

“Ah.” Li Nan made a sound of realization. “I was just about to tell you. That job got canceled.”

She had never played an important character. Scenes got cut all the time until her role nearly disappeared, so cancellation was hardly surprising. But the moment Li Nan said it, Mu Wan remembered what Aunt Wu had asked her yesterday morning.

Her eyes lowered as she looked at the little embroidered daisies on the blanket.

“What about tomorrow’s work?” she asked.

“Tomorrow is still normal.” Mu Wan had never been particularly ambitious about her career, and she rarely asked follow-up questions this carefully. Li Nan added, “The screenwriter trimmed some scenes. It’s nothing serious.”

“Got it.” Mu Wan relaxed and smiled. “Thank you, Boss.”

After hanging up, she was fully awake.

Leaning back against the headboard, she looked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. The curtains were drawn except for a slim gap, through which a single shaft of light slipped in. It was impossible to tell from there whether the day outside was cloudy or bright.

She climbed out of bed barefoot and pulled the curtains open.

The room filled instantly with midsummer sunlight.

It brightened her whole mood.

Mu Wan stretched lazily, slipped on her slippers, and went to wash up.

Liu Qianxiu had let her stay for the night. That made her all the more determined to wake early and cause him no trouble.

After freshening up, Mu Wan opened the door and stepped outside.

The living room was quiet. A faint scent of agarwood lingered in the air, grounding and calming. The door to Liu Qianxiu’s bedroom was shut, and she could not tell whether he was awake yet.

Just then, she heard a few meows.

They were coming from the cat room.

Mu Wan turned toward the sound and walked over. Zhouyi was sitting neatly at the entrance, licking one raised paw when she arrived. Mu Wan lifted her eyes into the room, and her lashes quivered.

Liu Qianxiu was already up.

He was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, a feeding bottle in hand, feeding the three little ones. Three kittens, one bottle of milk. He fed them in turn, and all three heads followed the movement of the bottle in perfect unison, swiveling from one side to the other.

The curtains in the cat room were wide open, and sunlight spilled in. The fine down on the kittens’ bodies shimmered almost transparent under the light. The man in a long shirt and trousers sat cross-legged on the carpet, his clean-boned fingers wrapped around a nearly empty bottle. The sunlight shone through his fingers, outlining them with a thin glow.

Standing in the doorway, Mu Wan saw him notice her at once. He glanced sideways, his features still cool and pale, but the lingering softness at the corners of his eyes had not quite faded yet.

Mu Wan’s heartbeat sped up in an even, steady way.

“Good morning,” she said, drawing her thoughts back in. She lowered her eyes briefly to the carpet, the tips of her ears warming, then walked in and sat down beside him. “You’re up early.”

“They were hungry,” Liu Qianxiu replied in a low voice, eyes lowered to the kittens again.

Kittens were hard to raise, not only because they were fragile, but because they demanded constant attention and effort. They had to be fed every few hours. The fact that the three little ones had grown this much already had everything to do with Liu Qianxiu’s care.

Thinking of that, Mu Wan remembered Li Nan’s phone call from earlier. She lifted her face and looked at Liu Qianxiu.

“Liu Qianxiu, let me take you to a movie.”

He looked up.

Mu Wan smiled, bracing both hands behind her as she sat.

“It’s a movie I’m in. Just a tiny supporting role. The premiere’s tonight, and I have to attend the opening ceremony. We can watch it together.”

She kept her eyes on him as she spoke. The hope on her small face was impossible to hide, and her eyes were bright.

Liu Qianxiu withdrew his gaze and asked, “What time?”

“Seven-thirty.”

Mu Wan felt immediately that she had already succeeded halfway.

She answered quickly.

In truth, she knew very little about Liu Qianxiu. But what about him? He could not know much about her either. Today’s movie could count as time alone together—and a chance for him to know her better. Though, really, there was not all that much to know. She was only a small-time actress with no father and no mother. Liu Qianxiu could probably guess most of it already.

“I have surgery tonight,” Liu Qianxiu said evenly. “I may be late.”

“It’s okay.” Mu Wan smiled again, already certain that his answer meant yes. “No need to rush. Just come. I’ll wait for you.”

Knowing he had agreed, she lowered her head and looked at the kittens.

“Let me do it. They’ve grown this much and I still haven’t fed them breakfast once.”

She lifted both hands from the carpet and stretched them out toward him, posture full of determination.

There was only about a third of the milk left anyway, so the feeding would be over soon. Liu Qianxiu did not refuse. He passed her the bottle.

Mu Wan tried to lure the kittens over, but none of them followed the bottle. Instead, they looked up and mewed toward Liu Qianxiu.

She came to see them often, and they were affectionate with her too, but whenever both she and Liu Qianxiu were present, the three of them always chose him first.

In the end, Liu Qianxiu simply picked the kittens up and settled them into her arms one by one.

With the bottle there to soothe them, they stopped crying.

Mu Wan poked Zhongfen’s little ear with one finger. The downy softness under her fingertip was addictive. She looked up at Liu Qianxiu, who had already stood, and joked,

“They’re so attached to you now. When they grow up and I take them away, what if they can’t bear to leave you?”

Then she answered herself, tapping a finger against her own chest.

“If they can’t leave you... can I stay too?”

In the shaft of sunlight, Liu Qianxiu stood there, the light passing through his pale brown shirt so that the line of his waist was faintly visible beneath it. He lowered his eyes to her, lashes casting a ring of shadow. His voice, when it came, was low and clear as spring water in the mountains.

“What do you want for breakfast?”

The smile on Mu Wan’s face paused.

Looking at his clear, transparent features, she felt her heart miss one beat.

“Sandwiches and orange juice,” she said.

“Okay.”

Liu Qianxiu answered and left the cat room.

Mu Wan watched his back and then laughed again.

Sandwiches were quick to make.

By the time Mu Wan finished feeding the three little ones and went into the kitchen, breakfast was already done. Liu Qianxiu was standing by the dining table, taking a call.

“Yes. I’ll be there right away.”

Mu Wan had only caught the end of it, but she understood immediately that he had to leave soon. Instead of sitting down, she looked at him and said, “You’re leaving? Then I’ll go too.”

“No need.” Liu Qianxiu put away his phone and looked at Mu Wan, who was clearly preparing to leave with him. His lips pressed together once before he said, “Stay here. Eat first, then go.”

There was breakfast laid out on the table, along with a glass of orange juice.

He must have known he would need to go out, because he had made only one portion.

Mu Wan’s lashes trembled. She looked at his back and followed him a few more steps.

The sunlight in the living room was gentle. From the cat room came the high, healthy cries of the three kittens, milky and bright.

Liu Qianxiu turned to look at her.

She was standing there stiffly, alone, her eyes fixed on him.

He paused, then confirmed, “The movie starts at seven-thirty?”

“Mm?”

Mu Wan snapped back to herself and smiled, nodding. “Yes. It’s okay if you come late.”

“Got it.”

After saying that, Liu Qianxiu opened the door and left.

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