Only One That Matters

"You should take a bath, it'll help with the sore muscles," said Shui Xian. His expressions were still strange. How would it be not? She even talked to her grandfather in a difficult way. He truly had a newfound respect for her grandfather and Mu Chenyan. They must have had a hard time raising someone like her who had the urge to question almost everything in her own way.

Raelle put her phone aside and was about to walk past him but stopped as she looked at her husband up and down with an appreciative gaze. Shui Xian's shoulders were broad. His biceps were bulging with ripples. Even his chest, his abs, and waistline hugging his shirt real tight. Without a doubt, her husband was really handsome.

"No matter how I look, I really think you're handsome," she said without thinking, taking him by surprise once again. He should really get used to this mouth of hers. Anything could come out of it and anytime as well!

"And how did you come to that conclusion again?" he questioned.

Raelle tapped her chin and said, "Technically, all the proportions..."

He placed his finger on her lips and said, "Let's not delve into technicalities for today."

"Oh," she responded. "Then how about this? You're like a piece of art."

"Huh?"

"You know the one that is not only beautiful to the eyes but it's so exquisite that you want to keep looking. Because every time you look, you'd find something unique and intriguing."

Shui Xian looked into her black eyes that had a sheen of moist making them look even more sensational under the fluorescent lights. "There is definitely something wrong with what you said but I can't tell for now what it really is."

Lifting her hand, tracing the fabric, she touched his rippling muscles and used her strength to press them as he was talking. As if she wasn't even listening to him at all. So, to confirm whether she was listening or not...

"Wife, do you want me to take off my shirt to see more? To get a better view?"

Raelle looked up to stare back into his eyes and nodded, "Why not?" Honestly, an elegant man looked good at any angle. So one should look when one is given the opportunity. Why refuse?

Shui Xian held her shoulders and turned her around before literally directing her towards the bathroom saying, "Stop wasting time. Don't you want to have dinner?"

Raelle went in and stood before the mirror as she said to herself, "It's not every day I find something beautiful. Why can't I just look for longer?" She was staring at her reflection in silence and added, "Right, how would you answer? You're my reflection and if I don't know the answer how would you know? How troublesome!"

Outside, Shui Xian gave the instructions to prepare the dinner before he stood where she had been standing earlier. It wasn't his intention but he only noticed it after standing there for a while lost in his own thoughts.

Today, when they met Xu Jinglei unexpectedly, he noticed something. Even though he knew her for years, he wasn't able to act natural around her. And then there was his wife, whom he married just yesterday. Practically, she was still like a stranger to him since they both didn't know each other that well. Then how come he was able to act naturally before her?

But Raelle was a stranger that didn't feel like a stranger. He was able to be himself before this stranger. Maybe it was because she neither questioned his pain nor did she pity him. There was no judgment in her eyes.

"What are you doing standing there?"

Shui Xian turned when he heard her voice. She was wearing a loose trouser with a full-sleeved monochrome shirt. She stepped closer to him and looked out the window asking, "Is there something interesting outside?" His eyes turned to her face that was quite near him. "I don't see anything though. It's just as it was before I left." She looked up at him, "Then what are you looking at so intently?"

Shui Xian shook his head, "Nothing. I was just thinking about life."

She gave him a blank look, "Already?"

"Huh?"

She rubbed the nape of her neck as she said, "I know I make people question life but I don't think I've done anything to you yet. Why are you thinking about life already?"

Shui Xian covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he smiled helplessly at her words. Not even for a second did he think she was kidding. She really had the ability to make someone question life and he had seen it firsthand! But it amused him seeing that she knew she had this ability herself!

"Master Xian, the dinner is served."

Shui Xian nodded at the maid and said to Raelle, "Let's continue this conversation over the food. I believe even you need the energy to keep up with your brain processing speed."

Raelle agreed as she followed him, "Right. I need to eat so that both my brain and body work in sync." But looking at the dining arrangement she questioned, "But why does it have to be a candlelight dinner?"

Shui Xian helped her with her chair like a gentleman before sitting across from her. The lights around them went out and only the warm and soft glow of candlelights was left surrounding them. Everything looks particularly pleasant in the soft light of the candles. The current scene also looked quite pleasant.

"Now I know why that classmate of yours said earlier that you're like a moon surrounded by a myriad of stars[1] back in school. You sure are a romantic person."

Shui Xian feigned a gasp, "And here I thought you wouldn't figure that out." Raelle's eyes narrowed ever so slightly and he added, "Maybe they all liked me because I'm handsome. You said it yourself."

Raelle nodded, "Everyone likes pretty things. So, it's understandable."

"You really make it sound like that's the only quality I have."

Raelle looked at his face in this warm and soft light of the candles and found it even more pleasing to look at. Her lips raised slightly as she said, "No, I'm sure you have other qualities. I just mean..." she pointed at his face, "That's the only one that matters to me."

[1] 'Moon surrounded by a myriad of stars': surrounded by admirers