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墨書 Inktalez
After having breakfast, she followed him downstairs, sharing the elevator with several hotel staff members. Zhou Xuanyu stood at the front, focused on the changing numbers on the elevator display, completely unaware that the female employees were stealing glances at him and giggling.
Perhaps it was because Junxi and Zhou Xuanyu's Eastern features led them to mistakenly believe that they couldn't understand Italian; the female staff spoke freely among themselves.
"Look, that's the Chinese man Mansa was talking about."
"The one who borrowed the hotel kitchen to make breakfast for his girlfriend this morning? How sweet!"
"Yes, just look at how handsome and charming he is."
"If a man like that dotes on her, his girlfriend must be quite something too…"
"Of course! There's a saying in China: a good horse deserves a good saddle, and a good boat deserves a good sail."
Suddenly, Junxi turned around with a cheerful smile and interjected, startling the girls. They immediately apologized, saying they shouldn't discuss such gossip. Junxi graciously waved her hand, saying that her boyfriend often found himself the subject of such discussions, and she was used to it by now.
The girls laughed.
"Ding!"
The elevator doors opened.
Zhou Xuanyu stepped out alongside her.
"What did you say to them?" he asked, looking at her radiant smile.
"Complimenting the breakfast at their hotel, huh?" Junxi said without batting an eye.
If it weren't for hearing such gossip, she wouldn't have known that those elaborate breakfasts, which clearly required a lot of effort, were all made by him.
"You're lying again."
"How do you know? Can you really understand Italian?"
"Even if I can't understand, I know that complimenting someone doesn't require hand gestures."
Junxi clicked her tongue; Zhou Xuanyu was indeed not easy to fool with his keen perception.
"You’re amazing."
"It's your lies that have too many holes."
He raised his hand and pinched the back of her neck. The pressure was light, almost like a massage.
Junxi took the opportunity to grab his hand, pulling it around her shoulder. The entire process felt so natural, as if they had repeated this intimate posture countless times before.
He looked down at her.
Junxi deliberately avoided his gaze.
"Actually, they were just complimenting you earlier, and then I turned to tell them that my boyfriend is simply unmatched in excellence!"
As she said "unmatched," she accompanied it with a hand gesture.
Zhou Xuanyu couldn't help but laugh at her quirky demeanor.
Junxi hadn't seen him smile like that in a long time. His cool, thin lips curled slightly, as if they held the weight of the entire world.
She smiled back, confidently straightening up in his embrace. "You said it yourself, I can brag however I want for these three days. This isn't too much, right?"
"What else do you want to do that would be too much?"
She stroked her chin thoughtfully.
"Nothing comes to mind for now. I'll think of something later."
After all, she had three days. If they counted separately, he belonged to her for a full 72 hours. Why rush?
As she wished, their first stop was Santa Maria del Fiore.
Every girl has a dream of wearing a white gown, and that dream is often connected to a sacred church. There are many solemn and grand churches in the world, but few are as beautifully enchanting as the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
This beautiful church, adorned with white, red, and green granite, recorded the brilliance of an era. Junxi stood in the narrow street, almost able to hear the glorious hoofbeats from the Renaissance period.
Zhou Xuanyu, being a man, naturally didn't let emotions overwhelm him like a woman might when facing a church. He felt a twinge of nostalgia; once upon a time, he had almost settled down with someone in a church... but in the end, God played a joke on them, and their perfect union became one of life's fleeting illusions.
"Let's go inside."
Zhou Xuanyu walked ahead.
Junxi couldn't see his face, but his solitary figure blending into the crowd made her wonder if they had come to the wrong place.
Because it was the weekend, there were quite a few people around, including some Eastern faces like theirs.
Zhou Xuanyu held Junxi's hand wherever they went, which was somewhat inconvenient. When someone approached them, they had to let go to make way. As soon as the person passed, he would take her hand again. This cycle repeated several times, and Junxi's palm was almost damp with sweat, yet he remained unfazed.
She teased him for being clingy.
He replied seriously, "This place is unfamiliar, and I can't communicate well. How would I get back if I lost you?"
So he still saw her as a translator, which made Junxi unhappy, and she refused to let him hold her hand any longer.
Full of energy, she looked around curiously, darting through the crowd like a nimble little fish. Zhou Xuanyu had never been particularly interested in sightseeing, so they resembled a strange food chain—she observed the scenery while he kept an eye on her.
Inside the church, the dome was adorned with Vasari's fresco "The Last Judgment." Junxi walked while gazing upward, stopping intermittently. Before long, she became dizzy and stumbled.
A tourist accidentally bumped into her, knocking her down.
Zhou Xuanyu was caught off guard and watched helplessly as Junxi fell to the ground.
She let out a small "ouch," causing his pupils to constrict in alarm.
Zhou Xuanyu's face darkened instantly.
"Junxi! Are you okay?"
He rushed over to help her up, instinctively placing his large hand on her waist. That was one of her more sensitive areas; even a light touch from Xue Waiwai and the others would send her into fits of giggles.
Junxi couldn't help but shiver slightly.
"Does it hurt?"
Zhou Xuanyu lowered his head, rubbing her waist as he checked for any injuries from above.
The Male Tourist who had bumped into her was momentarily stunned and didn’t react until the surrounding people began to murmur about his lack of manners. Only then did he repeatedly apologize.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
As he apologized, the Male Tourist even reached out his hand towards her, seemingly wanting to check on her.
“What are you doing!”
Zhou Xuanyu frowned, instinctively protecting Junxi as if guarding against a lecher. Just as the man's hand was about to touch Junxi, Zhou Xuanyu pushed him away.
It was unclear whether Zhou Xuanyu was strong or the Male Tourist was simply unprepared for the shove, but the man fell to the ground with a thud.
“I’m a doctor; I just wanted to help check on your girlfriend. Why are you being so aggressive?” The Male Tourist explained quickly in Italian, his tone now tinged with annoyance.
Zhou Xuanyu couldn’t understand the explanation, and his expression remained tense.
People around them whispered among themselves, suggesting that since he had already apologized, he should show some grace.
The situation quickly turned against Zhou Xuanyu; he felt justified in his anger.
He wouldn’t allow any harm to come to her, and Junxi felt a sweetness in her heart like melting honey.
She patted Zhou Xuanyu’s arm and tilted her head to hold his face gently, coaxing him, “Don’t be angry; I’m fine. That person just made a mistake. Besides, he didn’t mean any harm; he’s a doctor who wanted to help me.”
“Are you really okay?”
“Really okay.” She exaggeratedly shook her arms and wiggled her legs like a schoolchild doing morning exercises.
"Are you going to let me hold your hand or not?" he said irritably.
"I promise I won't let go of your hand again," she replied with a playful smile.
Zhou Xuanyu's expression finally softened a bit.
"I'm sorry," he turned and apologized to the person in simple Italian.
She wasn't surprised that he could say a word of apology in Italian; she could manage simple conversations in over a dozen languages herself. He wasn't any less capable than her.
The person seemed still annoyed, letting out a disgruntled huff.
"I'm really sorry. I'm pregnant, so my partner is just a bit anxious. He means no harm; he's just worried about me."
Junxi deliberately spoke loudly so everyone could hear.
Immediately, understanding murmurs spread through the crowd, and the man on the ground stood up, dusting off his clothes. He nodded at Zhou Xuanyu as if to show he was no longer upset.
Everyone began to disperse.
This little incident felt like the most inconspicuous splash of color in the church, yet it left a vivid mark deep in her heart.
She had only seen him angry once before, nearly getting into a fight over someone making a sarcastic remark about Lin Jingming. At that moment, he had acted like a protective tiger, intimidating yet enviable for the woman behind him.
She thought that his only moment of losing composure would be reserved for Lin Jingming, but unexpectedly, one day, she too could witness his irrational side.
Even if this fall shattered her into pieces, she wouldn't feel any pain.
"What were you bragging about just now?"
Zhou Xuanyu rubbed her hair, and from her sly smile, he knew he had been schemed against once again.
"Nothing," Junxi blinked and pretended to look elsewhere.
How could she possibly tell Zhou Xuanyu what she had just blurted out?
Pregnant? What would he think...
"Not saying anything?"
"Really, it's nothing." Junxi denied it and took off running before he could reach out to catch her.
The way she ran confirmed to him that she was fine, and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Young man, tell your wife to slow down. The ground is slippery here, and if she runs around like that and falls again, what will you do? A pregnant woman can't handle that kind of trouble twice!" An elderly Italian-Chinese lady approached, kindly reminding him.
Pregnant?
Zhou Xuanyu pressed his temples.
Perhaps he shouldn't have let her boast like that.
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