The light unscrupulously scattered on the man on the sofa.
His black hair slightly damp, ink-like pupils landing without focus on the cat in his arms.
On the already cold and stern face carried a faint cold color, slender fingers absentmindedly stroking Qiuqiu’s little chin that was lifted up.
Qiuqiu stretched out its tender pink little tongue to rub against his fingertip.
The whole cat stuck against his lower abdomen through the clothes, looking completely lazy and content, fat head resting on its little paws without moving.
Until Wen Xian came out after showering, both Shen Lingge and Qiuqiu maintained this state.
Wen Xian walked in front of Shen Lingge, bent down and stared at him for a while, then stretched out her hand and waved it in front of his eyes. The man sitting on the sofa didn’t even spare her a glance.
Wen Xian muttered in a low voice: “What are you dazing out about?”
Shen Lingge finally mercifully lifted his eyes to look at her, he frowned, “Why are you so worrying?”
Wen Xian looked at him in complete confusion, “Gege, what are you saying?”
Just as Shen Lingge was about to say something, Wen Xian’s phone ringtone rang.
The two of them simultaneously looked toward the tea table, the screen on the phone clearly displaying the characters Xu Chuwei.
Wen Xian pouted, she didn’t want to answer.
But Shen Lingge couldn’t bear to see her shrinking inward like this, he picked up the phone and directly pressed speaker.
The next second, a woman’s gentle voice came from the phone, her tone carrying slight hesitation, “Xian Xian, I… I heard from Qin Song about what happened at the Qin house at noon, this matter I can explain to you.”
Shen Lingge expressionlessly handed the phone to Wen Xian.
Wen Xian pressed her lips together, she didn’t want to keep watching Xu Chuwei act like this, Xu Chuwei might not feel tired, but she didn’t want to accompany anymore. “Chuwei, that day at the airport wasn’t it that you wanted me to see? Even deliberately sprayed the same scented perfume, hinted to me for so long, how come now you’re not admitting it instead?”
After a short silence, Xu Chuwei sighed softly, “Actually I was also very conflicted, wanted you to discover, but even more wanted to personally see your expression at that time.”
“I didn’t get to see, it’s really such a pity.”
Xu Chuwei chuckled lightly, “Now still want to marry Qin Song? The man I played with and don’t want anymore, Wen family’s little princess still looks up to him?”
Little princess, these two words carried blatant sarcastic meaning.
Hearing Xu Chuwei mention the Wen family, Wen Xian couldn’t help but lower her voice coldly, “The scene you wanted to see, the future you imagined, I will personally shatter them all.”
“Xu Chuwei, between us, let’s end it here.”
After speaking, Wen Xian hung up the phone.
Shen Lingge just watched as she, from her previously imposing and powerful appearance, the moment she hung up, turned into a pitiful little coward.
Wen Xian drooped her little face and walked toward the room, Qiuqiu also following her with little trots behind.
She walked very slowly, looking like she had no strength, thin and weak shoulders making her look lonely and pitiful.
Shen Lingge called out to her: “Wen Xian.”
Wen Xian slowly turned her head to look at him, a pair of deer-like eyes without much light, she mumbled toward him: “What?”
Shen Lingge’s gaze paused slightly, black pupils patrolling for a moment between her brows and eyes filled with sadness. He suddenly asked: “Do you want to eat barbecue skewers at midnight, and beer?”
Wen Xian turned her steps, she rubbed-rubbed-rubbed and ran to stand in front of Shen Lingge. She blinked her eyes, “Will you eat with me?”
Shen Lingge: “……”
He took a step back as a compromise, “I’ll order delivery, we’ll eat at home.”
Wen Xian nodded, “Okay!”
So the little girl bounced and jumped her way into the room.
Wen Xian didn’t close the door, Shen Lingge could see the scene inside the room.
After changing the bedsheets and duvet cover, she carried the quilt and pillow out to put them on the sofa. After going back into the room, she lay on her stomach with her little legs stretched out, playing on the bed.
Where was there still the appearance of being downcast just now?
Shen Lingge: “……”
A bit too easy to coax.
He sighed inwardly, but this was good too.
At ten o’clock in the evening, Shen Lingge finished handling Shen Group’s documents. Tomorrow morning he still had an international video conference.
He lowered his eyes to glance at the time, then silently took out his phone.
[Shen Lingge: Two servings of barbecue skewers and beer, deliver at twelve o’clock.]
[Butler: Young Master, do you need anything else?]
Shen Lingge frowned and thought for a while, what does the little girl like to eat?
[Shen Lingge: Ice cream or desserts.]
[Butler: Young Master, your brother’s taste is not quite the same as yours.]
[Shen Lingge: …]
Forget it.
Letting the butler misunderstand like this was fine too, he would also need a reason to come to Licheng in the future.
—
Wen Xian lay on the bed playing for a while then hugged her computer and continued working.
She sat on the carpet, looking at the computer screen placed on the tea table, the cool air from the air conditioner blowing slowly on her body.
But she hadn’t sat quietly for even a minute before getting up again, da-da-da, running to the refrigerator.
A minute later, she carried a pile of snacks bought a few days ago back to the living room and sat down. Just as she put down the snacks in her arms, she met Shen Lingge’s disapproving gaze.
She tilted her head and thought for a moment, very generously shared a bag of lime-flavored potato chips with Shen Lingge, “Gege, you definitely haven’t eaten these delicious things before. Don’t worry, in the future I’ll definitely work hard to earn money so that you can eat all the delicacies in this world!”
Shen Lingge indeed hadn’t eaten these snacks before. He stared at the white-and-green colored packaging bag in Wen Xian’s hand for a while, “I don’t eat these. You should eat less too.”
Wen Xian muttered in a low voice and pulled her hand back.
Wen Xian privately believed that one must not do any work while eating, because one needed to maintain a heart of reverence toward food.
So she opened a video website and started watching variety shows.
This was a kind of life Wen Xian had never experienced before.
In Wen Xian’s past eighteen years, the only thing she needed to worry about was whether today was happy or not. The only thing she felt troubled about was what to wear when getting up the next day. She did not know how difficult life and survival actually were.
Now she had merely caught a glimpse of it.
When Wen Xian finished eating a bag of potato chips and wanted to open the spicy strips, Shen Lingge knocked on the tea table with his pen with a cold face. He reminded: “Are you still going to eat barbecue in a bit or not?”
Wen Xian touched her stomach, then reluctantly put down the spicy strips.
She quietly glanced at the brush pen in Shen Lingge’s hand and said in a small voice: “Gege, be gentler. It has gone through wind and frost to last until now. Don’t bully it anymore, if you break it, you won’t have a pen to use.”
That’s right, earlier Shen Lingge had searched all over Wen Xian’s house and only found this one old fountain pen.
Shen Lingge had always used custom-made fountain pens. He had never even used ordinary ones from the market, let alone one that looked this old.
But the hand feel was not bad, so Shen Lingge did not dislike it.
Shen Lingge glanced at the pen in his hand and asked: “You really don’t have any other pens at home? You earn so much money, can’t you buy yourself a new fountain pen?”
Upon hearing this, Wen Xian let out a faint sigh.
In the past, her home also had many pens. She had even bought colored pencils to learn drawing.
But Yu was extremely petty. Not a single one of those pens escaped being destroyed by it.
Wen Xian’s face was full of solemnity, “Gege, you don’t understand. Raising cubs is not easy.”
Shen Lingge: “……”
At twelve o’clock midnight, the doorbell at Wen Xian’s home rang right on time.
The administrator downstairs called saying her delivery had arrived. Shen Lingge stopped Wen Xian, who was about to go downstairs to pick up the delivery, “You sit. From now on, when you’re alone, try not to order delivery.”
Wen Xian explained: “The delivery is always placed at the management office. The delivery guy doesn’t come up.”
Shen Lingge stood up and changed his shoes, speaking in a calm voice: “From now on, if you want to eat something, send me a WeChat message. I’ll prepare it for you.”
Wen Xian blinked her eyes, “How will you prepare it for me?”
Shen Lingge threw down a sentence: “I’ll order it for you.”
After saying that, he closed the door and went to wait for the elevator, leaving Wen Xian sitting alone on the fluffy carpet, muttering in a small voice: “What’s the difference between him ordering and me ordering?”
Five minutes later, Wen Xian discovered an extremely obvious difference.
Besides the usual barbecue skewers, she also saw foie gras chocolate pie, truffle lamb chops, abalone, oysters, Spanish red shrimp, glutinous rice prawn cakes, caramel raspberry ice cream cake, and so on.
The cheapest thing was probably the few cans of beer in Shen Lingge’s hand.
Wen Xian: “……”
Wen Xian glared at Shen Lingge, “Did you waste money again?”
Shen Lingge had already thought of an excuse. His expression didn’t change as he said: “The owner of that restaurant the other day hopes to have a chance to hear me play piano again. He promised that from now on, whenever we go to his restaurant, it will all be free.”
Wen Xian was stunned: “It can be like that?”
Shen Lingge: “Mm.”
Wen Xian propped her cheek and thought for a while, “But if we keep eating French cuisine all the time, won’t it get a little cloying?”
Shen Lingge was silent for a moment and said: “Whatever you want to eat is fine, I will find a way.”
Wen Xian curved her brows and eyes as she glanced at Shen Lingge, “Just occasionally is fine, I’m still used to cooking by myself. You don’t have to worry about these things for me, just have fun outside.”
Wen Xian waved her hand at Shen Lingge, “Gege, sit down, let’s eat together.”
Shen Lingge had never had the habit of eating late-night snacks. He was always very strict with managing his figure.
But when he saw Wen Xian’s clear and expectant gaze fall on him, he thought maybe having such an experience once in a while wasn’t such a bad thing.
Wen Xian’s alcohol tolerance was not good, this Shen Lingge already knew.
After the little girl drank one can of beer, a faint blush appeared on her snow-white face. She held a small spoon scooping at the ice cream cake.
Shen Lingge ate some seafood then did not move his chopsticks again. He silently watched Wen Xian eat.
Even though it was a late-night snack, she wasn’t very serious. Her eyelashes trembled slightly like butterfly wings fluttering, her gaze couldn’t help but keep glancing toward the computer screen, from which men’s and women’s cheerful voices often came.
Shen Lingge didn’t recognize any of those people.
Originally Shen Lingge thought getting along with women would be very difficult. His mother was always worried he wouldn’t be able to find a wife in the future.
But after these days getting along with Wen Xian, he hadn’t felt unnatural.
Being with Wen Xian was very comfortable.
When Shen Lingge’s attention pulled back from his chaotic thoughts and landed back on Wen Xian, she had already drunk two more cans of beer. Her consciousness was already not very clear.
Because Shen Lingge could hear her mumbling in a dazed, whispering voice: “Can’t waste what isn’t finished… otherwise dad will scold me again… put it in the fridge.”
After mumbling, the little girl carried the unfinished food and walked toward the refrigerator.
Shen Lingge kept following behind her. She walked unsteadily, and he was afraid she’d fall.
When she groped into the bathroom to brush her teeth, Shen Lingge condescended to tidy up the messy tea table a little.
He sighed lightly, “You’re right, raising cubs really is hard.”
When Wen Xian finished brushing her teeth and came out of the bathroom, her eyes were already closed.
Her head felt dizzy, yet she wasn’t afraid of falling. With her eyes closed, she groped her way forward, almost stepping on Qiuqiu lying at the doorway.
Qiuqiu meowed once, then flexibly ran into the room.
But Wen Xian tripped on herself instead, her figure swaying slightly.
Just as she was about to fall down, she suddenly fell into a warm and broad embrace. In her haziness, she smelled a faint scent.
Cold cedar mixed with faint white musk suddenly burst in her breath.
And then her consciousness sank into chaos.