Qin Yinan's fingers hesitated from flipping through the document. He kept his eyes on the words, but his gaze started to wander. Memories that seemed to be from several lifetimes ago fluttered into his mind.
"Yinan, let me help you with this. I'm familiar with them."
"Also, Yinan, this couldn't be simpler to me. I've dealt with plenty of such documents when I was under ST Empire; I can take care of them even with my eyes closed."
"Yinan, I'm done with these, are you done yet? Is there anything else you need my help with?"
"Yinan…"
When they just got married, she always referred to him as Mr. Qin or Qin Yinan. It was not until much later than it just became natural for him to refer to her as Qingchong. When that happened for the first time, both of them were stunned, and the atmosphere had turned ambiguous. Her face had burned probably from shyness, and she had stood up to escape. Before she could do so, he had suddenly reached out his hand to grab her wrist and pull her back to stand before him. Then he told her, for the sake of fairness, she should call him Yinan from then on.
When she heard him, her face had burned even redder. She had lowered her face and didn't say anything.
At the time, his mind had been filled with the plot for revenge, so to try out the influence he really had over her, he had urged her gently to get her to call him Yinan. In the end, she had relented and called his name very softly. He had chuckled when he heard that. He had looked happy on the surface, but internally when he saw how he had managed to make the woman all flustered over something as simple as this, his heart had been filled with a mocking smirk.
It was probably from then on that her term of reference for him change; the term Yinan would sound all over the apartment, and she had started to become more talkative in his company. She had even started to share with him some of her daily complaints.
He had pretended to listen patiently every time like he didn't mind being her rock to lie on, but internally, he knew how calculating he was at the time as he watched how the woman fell into his trap step by step.
Qin Yinan was quiet for a long time, and Cheng Qingchong assumed this was because he didn't her help. The good feeling that she got from having him speak in a kind tone and smile at her disappeared without a trace. She bit on her lips awkwardly before taking a step back to utter in a whispered tone that was laced with disappointment, "…Then, I shall not disturb you anymore. I will go rest for the night."
Qin Yinan was pulled out his reverie by what Cheng Qingchong said. He turned unconsciously toward her, and the woman happened to be turning around. Her figure that was heading toward the door was exceptionally lonely and lost.
For some reason, Qin Yinan felt his heart twitch with pity. Before he could understand what was happening, he picked up a few documents and said, "Thank you in advance."
Cheng Qingchong stopped moving and turned around with disbelief. She stared at the documents that Qin Yinan was holding toward her for a few seconds before turning back to his desk with a bright smile on her face. She accepted the documents and carried them to a round chair she liked and started to work on them.
About five minutes later, Qin Yinan raised his head to look at Cheng Qingchong.
There was a floor lamp beside her to provide the source of light. The light fell on her, casting her feature in an exquisite glow.