Chapter 49
Xie Zhang looked at Song Jingmo.
Song Jingmo blinked.
Xie Zhang smiled, then hummed in agreement.
Song Jingmo cheered, throwing his arms around Xie Zhang, kissing him.
Xie Zhang instinctively resisted, then gave in.
Song Jingmo pulled away, staring at his hands.
“I feel… stronger…?”
He tried to lift Xie Zhang, who firmly refused.
So he went around the room, lifting and touching various objects, then concluded: “I guess… I’m still not very sensitive to weight, like when I was a shadow.”
Just then, the phone rang. Song Jingmo answered it.
“It’s the front desk, breakfast is ready. Are you going down?” he asked Xie Zhang.
Xie Zhang nodded: “I’ll wash up first.”
He wanted to bring some breakfast up to see if Song Jingmo needed to eat.
Song Jingmo followed him into the bathroom, clinging to his back, his chin resting on his shoulder.
Xie Zhang, seeing him in the mirror, smiled and asked: “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Song Jingmo said, nuzzling his shoulder. “I just… haven’t seen you like this in a while.”
“By the way, the receptionist sounded… strange.”
Xie Zhang, squeezing toothpaste onto his toothbrush, replied calmly: “Because I checked in alone.”
And Song Jingmo’s voice was clearly different from his.
Song Jingmo: “Whoa, what if he asks you to register your… companion?”
“He might not. Xu Yi told me a story about Mr. Li, who always checks into hotels alone, then his… friend… joins him later, without registering. Apparently, it’s quite common.”
“Oh, so we’ve been having a secret affair for seven years, Mr. Xie.”
He chattered away while Xie Zhang brushed his teeth.
Xie Zhang, however, was focused on the weight against his back.
He looked at Song Jingmo in the mirror.
Now that things had calmed down, he was finally processing everything.
The weight wasn’t heavy, but it was… real, warm, and tangible.
He rinsed his mouth, then turned off the faucet, his movements slow and deliberate.
It wasn’t a shadow.
It was Momo.
He turned around, pulling Song Jingmo into his arms.
Song Jingmo’s fingers were slightly cold and damp from playing with the water. His long, slender fingers, calloused from playing the violin, brushed against Xie Zhang’s palm.
Xie Zhang held him close, unwilling to let go, savoring the feeling of his warm, solid presence.
Song Jingmo, cupping Xie Zhang’s face, teased: “You don’t need to eat breakfast, do you, Mr. Xie?”
Xie Zhang hesitated, then said: “I’ll bring some up.”
This wasn’t a luxury hotel; there was no room service.
He didn’t want to leave Song Jingmo.
But he wanted to see if he needed to eat.
Song Jingmo, looking at his shadowless self, sighed.
Xie Zhang going out alone wasn’t a problem, but he, without a shadow, would be… unsettling.
If they went out, they’d have to stick to the shadows, wait until nightfall.
…
Xie Zhang returned with breakfast, ignoring the receptionist’s strange look, and found Song Jingmo asleep on the sofa, the TV on, his phone displaying a novel website.
He placed the breakfast on the coffee table, knelt beside the sofa, and gently touched Song Jingmo’s hair, his face, his nose, his lips, his neck… finally shaking him gently.
He’d only been gone for ten minutes; it was strange that Song Jingmo had fallen asleep so deeply.
But no matter how he tried, even carrying him to the bedroom, Song Jingmo wouldn’t wake up.
Xie Zhang sat on the edge of the bed, his lips pressed into a thin line, and began calling the master.
One call, two calls, three calls…
Finally, after half an hour, the call connected.
“You’re persistent! This constant contact isn’t good for you, you know!”
“I can’t tell you any more. Fate is supposed to be a mystery—”
“One million yuan.”
Xie Zhang’s voice was firm.
“I’ll donate one million yuan to the temple, cash or transfer.”
The master, after a long silence, finally succumbed to the allure of money: “Treat his soul as you treated his shadow.”
“I’ll send you something. Study it carefully.”
“Cash is preferred; leave it under the offering table.”
The call ended, and Xie Zhang received a message: a link to a cloud storage file.
He downloaded the file, its name a string of random characters.
He opened it, and his eyes widened in shock.
…
Song Jingmo dreamed of tiny Xie Zhangs falling from the sky and landing in his arms.
He stretched, his body stiff from sleep, yawning, his hand instinctively reaching out.
His fingers found the buttons on Xie Zhang’s pajamas, then slipped inside, his hand resting on his firm abs, his head nestled against Xie Zhang’s thigh.
Mm, comfortable.
Being human was definitely better.
He yawned again, then opened his eyes, realizing why he wasn’t resting against Xie Zhang’s chest.
Xie Zhang was sitting up against the headboard, reading something on his phone.
He hadn’t even noticed Song Jingmo waking up. His expression…
Song Jingmo pressed down on his abs.
Xie Zhang’s muscles tensed, and he quickly turned off his phone screen.
Song Jingmo’s eyes narrowed.
Secrets already? After just agreeing to marry him?
Xie Zhang, realizing his mistake, hesitated, then handed him the phone.
Song Jingmo unlocked it, and his eyes widened in shock at the words on the screen.
A human-ghost romance, explicit, the current chapter featuring a bathtub scene—seriously?!
Seriously!!!
Under Song Jingmo’s incredulous gaze, Xie Zhang closed his eyes.
Perhaps he finally understood why Momo had been so against him translating… that kind of material.
Some things, even between lovers, were best kept private
