Chapter 79: The Reason Behind The Blindfold
"Is this..." Wang Gege’s voice was barely above a whisper. "The reason Husband has hidden your eyes all this time?"
The room remained completely silent.
The black blindfold lay quietly upon the floor between them, while neither of them made the slightest move to retrieve it.
Xie Rong stood where he was, his gaze resting upon Wang Gege without the familiar strip of black silk concealing it.
At that moment, Wang Gege saw him exactly as he was.
One eye was the deep brown she had always imagined.
The other...
It was an extraordinary shade of sapphire blue. It did not resemble the clear blue of the summer sky, nor the tranquil surface of a lake.
Instead, it was deep and luminous, almost as though a fragment of a precious gemstone had been placed within his eye.
Unfamiliar?
Yes, but it suited him strangely well.
Wang Gege continued looking at him quietly. There was surprise in her eyes, but her lips parted as she softly said,
"They are beautiful..."
Wang Gege rose onto her tiptoes once again, raising both hands to gently cup his cheeks.
"What happened?" she asked, her brows knitting together slightly. "Were you born with this?"
Xie Rong’s eyes remained locked on hers.
For a few moments, he silently searched her expression, as though trying to discern the emotions hidden within her gaze.
"Furen." His voice was unusually quiet. "Are you not afraid?"
Wang Gege furrowed her brows slightly.
"Why should I?" she replied without hesitation. "They are beautiful."
She continued looking into his sapphire eye before softly adding, "Back in my hometown, we called this heterochromia."
She smiled faintly. "It simply means a person has two different eye colors."
Xie Rong’s brows drew together, "Hetero... chromia?"
Before he could ask another question, Wang Gege suddenly pointed toward the space between his brows.
"Ah!"
Xie Rong paused, seeing her reaction.
"Now I can finally see Husband frowning." She chuckled. "Husband is far more good-looking than I imagined." "
The room became quiet once more.
Xie Rong looked at her for a long while before finally answering, "I lost this eye a year ago."
Wang Gege’s smile slowly disappeared, "How? In a war?"
"Mm." His voice remained calm. "When I woke up... it had already become like this."
Even as he spoke, his eyes never left Wang Gege’s face. He watched every change in her expression, every flicker in her eyes and the slight movement of her brows as though searching for something.
Yet... Wang Gege merely nodded in understanding.
"No wonder..." She softly touched the eyelid of his sapphire eye with the tip of her finger. "So, Husband has been hiding it from everyone because you were afraid they would be shocked?"
Xie Rong remained silent. His gaze continued resting on Wang Gege’s face.
"Mm." It was a simple answer.
Wang Gege slowly withdrew her hand.
"Then..." She lowered her eyes in thought. "Husband has been wearing the blindfold ever since?"
"Mm."
"No wonder everyone thought Husband had lost your sight." Wang Gege smiled helplessly.
Xie Rong did not deny it, "It was more convenient that way."
Wang Gege blinked, "Convenient?"
"It prevented unnecessary questions." As he spoke, Xie Rong leaned a little closer to her face. "Otherwise..." His tone remained as calm as ever. "The Taoist Master might come again."
Wang Gege blinked twice, "Huh?"
"Young Master has ominous eyes... Young Master’s eye is cursed or perhaps..." He paused briefly. "They would think this Young Master has been possessed."
Wang Gege stared at him for a few moments.
"Pfft." She quickly covered her mouth. Unfortunately, it was already too late.
"Hahaha..." The laughter she had been trying so hard to suppress finally escaped.
She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling as she laughed.
"Husband..." She raised a hand and pointed at him, still unable to stop laughing. "You were joking just now, weren’t you?"
Xie Rong remained silent. His expression was as calm as ever, making it impossible to tell whether he admitted it or not.
Wang Gege laughed even harder.
"Husband..." She wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "You shouldn’t tell jokes with such a serious face."
"Really?" His eyebrow arched.
"Of course!" She nodded repeatedly.
"For a moment, I almost believed the Taoist Master would actually come running over to catch Husband."
Hearing that, the corners of Xie Rong’s lips curved upward ever so slightly.
It was only for an instant but Wang Gege caught it.
Her eyes widened, "Husband!"
She immediately pointed at him again, "You smiled!"
Xie Rong’s smile disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, "You saw wrongly."
"I definitely didn’t!" Wang Gege folded her arms across her chest, looking unusually confident. "I saw it clearly this time."
"And..." She stepped a little closer before tilting her head from one side to the other, studying his face without the slightest intention of being subtle. "Husband should smile more often."
Xie Rong remained standing where he was, allowing her to examine him. "Why?"
"Because it suits you." Her answer came so naturally that it caught him off guard once again.
"You’re already so good looking." She pointed at his face with a satisfied nod. "When you smile, you look even better."
Xie Rong found himself unable to answer but Wang Gege didn’t stop when she suddenly circled around him.
"Hmm..." She stopped behind him before leaning to one side, peeking at his profile. "Husband really has no flaws."
Xie Rong looked at the cheerful smile on her face before letting out a helpless sigh that was almost impossible to hear.
"Furen..." He leaned down until they were at eye level. "There is a question that has been on this husband’s mind for several days..."
He paused before quietly correcting himself, "Or perhaps... since our wedding day."
As he spoke, he slowly raised a hand and gently rested it against her cheek. "Has Furen always been this talkative... this honest... and this cheerful?"
Hearing his question, Wang Gege’s eyes slowly widened, and she swallowed hard.
Xie Rong quietly watched every change in her expression.
"Or perhaps..." His voice remained calm. "This husband asked the wrong question."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Perhaps the question should be... Was Shen Taotao always like this?"