I See Roses

I See Roses – Chapter 48

Right at that moment, Ming Si’s phone vibrated. In their small group chat, Cheng Yu had sent a picture.

Ming Si was in an inconvenient position to handle her screen, so she directed Liang Xian, “What did he send?”

Liang Xian picked up her phone and opened the message. It was a late-night airport photo taken by Cheng Yu, accompanied by the caption:「Hey, brothers and sisters, I’ve arrived!」

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen Cheng Yu. It feels a bit strange,” Ming Si pondered for a moment and said, “Could you send him a cute emoji to comfort him?”

Liang Xian glanced at her, then placed her phone back down.

He picked up his own phone, casually chose a cute emoji from the messages that Ming Si had sent him, and forwarded it over.

Thus, in the group chat, following Cheng Yu’s message, Liang Xian unexpectedly sent a ridiculously adorable wave emoji.

Cheng Yu was quite startled by this:「Brother… Xian? You, you have a hobby of collecting these kinds of emojis?」

Liang Xian chuckled lightly, not bothering to reply.

However, Ming Si was quite adept at taking advantage of the situation.

Adjusting her posture, she freed her other hand from behind his waist, opened Liang Xian’s chat window, and sent him an image while typing, “Xian Xian, if you like these kinds of emojis, why didn’t you say so earlier? I have a lot of them, I can share them with you!”

Before the trailing tone of the word “you” even ended, her gaze fell on Liang Xian’s nickname on her WeChat, and her hand suddenly trembled.

She hurriedly tried to close the chat, but sometimes things can get quite weird. The more flustered you are, the more imprecise your actions become. She pressed the screen several times in a row but couldn’t lock it.

By this time, Liang Xian’s gaze had already shifted over.

His tone was slightly lower, sounding oddly dangerous, “Tinfoil hat?”

Ming Si: “…”

Liang Xian wasn’t a stickler for traditionalism. He must have heard of the term scumbag tinfoil hat1 before.

The nickname had originally been set in a fit of impulse that day, and she hadn’t paid it much attention. She occasionally thought about changing it back, but it always got delayed for various reasons…

Who would have thought that he would catch her in the act.

“Uh,” Ming Si felt guilty for a couple of seconds, then turned off the screen with a light cough, “Nickname?”

Liang Xian looked at her from the corner of his eye, his tone teasing yet not, “Do you think I’d believe that?”

“…”

She couldn’t deceive him. Ming Si tapped her phone against him and turned around, pouting, “Can’t you let me off just this once?”

Liang Xian caught her phone, held her from behind, his chin resting perfectly in the curve of her shoulder.

He chuckled, “I’ve been lenient with you.”

That was a lie.

Ming Si let out a light hum, and thinking of the Weibo post that Lin Xijia had forwarded to her in the afternoon, she coincidentally pulled it up to give him an example of a couple showing affection, “Look at other people’s boyfriends, they can console and pamper their girlfriends. You only know how to expose my faults and argue with me.”

“Boyfriend?” Liang Xian raised an eyebrow, seemingly dissatisfied, “You’re still calling me a boyfriend after we’ve gotten married?”

“Am I discussing the issue of titles with you right now?” Ming Si extended a finger and poked his cheek, “It’s not important.”

“It’s very important,” Liang Xian let go of her hand and picked up her phone that had been discarded on the bed. He pulled her into his arms, “Come here, let’s change the nickname.”

“What do you want to change it to? I think Tinfoil Hat is pretty good. It’s quite trendy,” Ming Si resisted while saying.

Liang Xian lightly scoffed and held her finger to unlock her phone, “Trendy my ass.”

“…”

Ming Si pretended to resist on the surface, but she didn’t actually struggle much. She half-pushed and half-allowed Liang Xian to hold her finger and type on the keyboard.

…She was actually quite curious about what he would change it to.

In the input box, letter by letter appeared: Lao Go…2

Ming Si understood it almost immediately and quite uncooperatively pulled her hand back, “Don’t change it to that!”

“I’m still a young girl, so don’t remind me of the fact that I’m married!”

Seeing Liang Xian’s eyebrows slowly lift, his expression lacking any emotion, she suddenly shifted closer and pinched his face, “I’ll change it myself.”

“Alright,” Liang Xian didn’t object, but he paused for a moment. He looked at her with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “Why don’t you change it to Scumbag?”

“…”

His gaze practically screamed: I’ll then show you how I’m a scumbag.

Considering the current situation they were in, one could easily guess the kind of scumbag behavior he might exhibit. Ming Si crawled out from his embrace, adjusting her position. When she did, she slyly kicked him with her foot. By the time Liang Xian looked over, she was innocently leaning against the bedhead, holding up her phone.

“Don’t look,” just like the last time, she turned to the side, blocking Liang Xian’s view.

She was probably acting coy now. It took quite a while before she turned back.

He asked her, “Have you changed it?”

Ming Si, with her lips slightly curled, seemed to be suppressing a smile, but she quickly concealed it and nodded.

Having grown up together, Liang Xian could easily read her expressions, especially the mischievous or prankish ones.

He reached out his hand towards her, gesturing, “Let me check.”

However, at this moment, Ming Si playfully dragged on the suspense, hiding her phone and not letting him see.

Fortunately, Liang Xian wasn’t the type of guy who adhered to the when a girl says no, she really means no principle. He simply reached over her, extending his arm to effortlessly retrieve her phone.

The screen was still lit; it wasn’t locked.

On his WeChat’s nickname field, there was a rather lengthy nickname:

Ming Fairy’s Sweetie.

The next day, Ming Si slept until close to noon before gradually waking up.

She fumbled around in the blankets for a moment, instinctively reaching for something to hold, but she couldn’t find it. This made her increasingly irritated.

Later, she remembered that Liang Xian had probably already gone to work at the company.

Last night, they had stayed up a bit late, and with their current relationship, there didn’t seem to be much need to sleep in separate rooms. So, under an unspoken understanding, Liang Xian had directly slept in the master bedroom.

—Essentially announcing the end of the frustrating month of sleeping in the guest room.

Ming Si sat up and hugged a pillow, lost in thought for a moment; she could still recall the scent of his body after his shower.

A very pure and refreshing masculine fragrance, different from hers.

Wait a minute, it was early morning, what was she thinking about irrelevant things for!

Ming Si lightly patted her own face and pushed aside the covers as she got out of bed.

While brushing her teeth, she opened her phone and opened Liang Xian’s chat box, sending a curious emoji.

By the time she sat at the breakfast table, Liang Xian’s reply had come in:「Awake?」

Ming Si replied with an obedient nod.

She remembered something else and put on an inquisitive tone:「Did you forget that you’re supposed to have someone accompany me to choose the location today?」

Liang Xian:「The person should be there by now.」

Almost at the same time, the housekeeper led a woman in. She was probably in her thirties, dressed in a black and white dress, with very light makeup. She had the kind of warm and friendly look that made people feel comfortable at a glance.

“Hello, Madam, I’m Guan Xin.”

After being married for so long, everyone around Liang Xian and Ming Si knew their relationship wasn’t good, and no one would ever openly refer to them as a married couple. Even Shi Tai, who often addressed her as Miss Ming, would be surprised to hear this assistant address her as Madam. Ming Si also found it quite unfamiliar.

Amidst the unfamiliarity, there was a tiny spark of delight in her heart.

The driver took them to several storefronts. In addition to the two mentioned by Ming Si yesterday, the assistant had provided several sets of information about available storefronts.

By the time they had finished visiting these places, it was already approaching evening.

When Ming Si returned home, she kicked off her slippers at the entrance and buried herself in the sofa. Looking at storefronts was much more tiring than shopping, and even though she was back home now, her mind was still occupied with thoughts of the locations of those storefronts, considering various conditions.

When Liang Xian came back, he saw Ming Si curled up on the sofa, fast asleep.

Her sleeping posture couldn’t exactly be described as good. She had rolled off most of his blanket last night, and now, even the sofa cushion had been pushed down. Si Si, coiled elegantly into a little ball, was nestled on the other end of the single seat.

One could say they presented quite a contrast.

Liang Xian’s lips curved slightly as he took off his suit jacket, wrapped it around Ming Si, and lifted her into his arms.

Ming Si hadn’t actually fallen asleep. She was aware of someone approaching her; she had intended to clear away her drowsiness and speak up, but the next moment she found herself being covered by a suit jacket and lifted up.

She adjusted her position in his arms, opened her eyes, and hooked her hands around Liang Xian’s shoulder, “You secretly carried me again.”

“Tired today?” Liang Xian kissed her forehead.

“A little. But I’ve found a place I like,” Ming Si turned her head and nuzzled into his embrace, “Can I borrow your assistant for tomorrow as well? I want her to accompany me to negotiate the price.”

Human thoughts were sometimes strange. She could easily order a dress worth millions without batting an eye, but once she liberated herself from her usual spending habits and stepped into the role of a businesswoman, Ming Si found herself becoming more meticulous about expenses.

Moreover, the prospects for starting a jewelry business in China weren’t very optimistic. She had spent a lot of money over the years and hadn’t managed to save up a significant amount.

“Learning to negotiate prices now?” Liang Xian chuckled lightly.

“Hmph, which businessman doesn’t consider costs?” Ming Si raised her head, “If you don’t lend her to me, I’ll kick you to the ground tonight.”

When he heard this, Liang Xian’s steps paused, and his gaze lowered, “You think you didn’t kick me enough yesterday?”

Ming Si: “…”

Feeling uncertain, she asked, “Did I kick you too?”

Liang Xian arched an eyebrow, his arm around her waist tightening, his tone turning dangerous, “Too?”

“It’s Lin Xijia, what are you thinking?” Ming Si poked his cheek and continued, “Actually, I have a pretty good sleeping posture. It’s fine when I sleep alone; I’m just not used to having extra people around.”

“Really?” Liang Xian hummed. He stepped onto the staircase and sidestepped, allowing Ming Si to look at the two cushions that had fallen onto the carpet, “Why don’t you ask them if they agree?”

Ming Si: “…”

She had no memory of kicking the cushions herself, but that didn’t stop her from swiftly pulling out the cat, Si Si, as the scapegoat, “It wasn’t me.”

A slight smile tugged at the corners of Liang Xian’s lips.

“It was Si Si,” Ming Si turned around solemnly, urging him to go upstairs, “When it used to live at my villa, it liked scratching the sofa cushions and dragging the pillows down to play.”

“Who knows, maybe it was the one that kicked you off last night.”

Liang Xian chuckled softly, “It doesn’t matter.”

Ming Si: “?”

He lifted his foot and hooked the bedroom door, making a bang sound.

“I’ll settle the score with its owner.”

Back Table of Contents Next

“渣男锡纸烫” (zhā nán xī zhǐ tàng) is a humorous internet slang phrase in Chinese that combines two terms: “渣男” (zhā nán) and “锡纸烫” (xī zhǐ tàng). Let’s break down the meanings of each component:
渣男 (zhā nán): “渣男” is a slang term that refers to a “scumbag” or a “jerk” in the context of romantic relationships. It describes a man who is dishonest, unfaithful, manipulative, and lacks integrity when dealing with women. 渣 (zhā) means “dregs” or “sediment,” implying a low quality or undesirable character, while 男 (nán) means “man.”
锡纸烫 (xī zhǐ tàng): “锡纸烫” is a playful term that literally translates to “tin foil perm.” This term became popular on the Chinese internet as a humorous description of a particular type of hairstyle that is characterized by the use of tin foil during the hair perming process. It’s often used to mock or make fun of someone’s appearance or fashion choices.
The phrase “渣男锡纸烫” combines these two concepts to create a humorous and exaggerated description. It suggests a guy with the negative qualities of a “渣男” (scumbag) who also happens to have a hairstyle reminiscent of the distinctive “锡纸烫” (tin foil perm). The combination of these two terms creates a comical image of an undesirable and visually striking character. ↩︎Lao Gong was written in English in the original novel. It means Husband. ↩︎