Wen Xian didn’t know what time she fell asleep last night. The last scene in her mind was still her curling up in Shen Lingge’s arms, watching a foreign movie together with him. But when she woke up again, it was already daylight.
A small gap was left in the curtain. As Wen Xian opened her eyes, she saw the towering green pines outside the window.
Behind her was Shen Lingge’s warm chest. He seemed not yet awake, faint breathing sounds lightly sounding by her ear.
Wen Xian glanced at the bedside, where the displayed time was 7:31.
Ever since she stopped having nightmares, Shen Lingge’s sleep had gotten a little better. At this moment, Wen Xian attempted to quietly get up and go to the balcony to take a look outside, but as soon as her hand touched the arm he had placed around her waist, he moved slightly.
The man’s low and hoarse voice sounded behind her ear, carrying slight worry: “Xian Xian, did you have a nightmare again?”
Wen Xian turned her body and kissed his chin. The fine stubble made her a little itchy. She softly answered: “I want to go to the balcony to look outside, you said there are rabbits.”
Shen Lingge, eyes still closed, gave an ‘en’ in response, hoarsely reminding: “Remember to wear shoes.”
Wen Xian lifted the blanket, put on her shoes, and ran to the balcony. From here looking into the distance, she could still see the early morning mist. She stared into the forest for quite a while but did not see the wild rabbits Shen Lingge spoke of.
The weather had already begun to turn cool. The morning was much colder than before.
Wen Xian hugged her shoulders and shivered slightly.
Just as Wen Xian was about to return to the room, she saw that middle-aged man who delivered red wine last night. He was completely different from yesterday. Now he was wearing a silver-gray suit, with an expensive wristwatch on his wrist.
By his side followed a young man looking like an assistant.
After a moment, the man noticed her gaze, suddenly raised his head and looked in her direction.
Wen Xian saw him gently smile at her. His gaze did not linger on her face for too long. After only a few seconds, he moved his eyes away and continued listening to the person beside him speaking.
For some reason, at this moment, she had a strange feeling in her heart.
Wen Xian pressed her lips together, turned around, and ran back into the bedroom. She lifted the blanket and burrowed into Shen Lingge’s arms, not moving.
She placed her hand on her own chest. Her heartbeat was very fast.
Shen Lingge reached out to hold her, again patting her head. He let out a low laugh: “Xian Xian saw a rabbit? Running as fast as that little thing Zanzan, why run so urgently?”
Wen Xian hugged him and rubbed against him, not mentioning seeing that man, only softly muttered: “There were no rabbits, not even little squirrels on the trees.”
Shen Lingge held her and changed direction, letting her not see the window: “Sleep a little more, when you wake up I’ll take you horseback riding. After lunch, we’ll go home, go back to see Mama, okay?”
Wen Xian nodded her head.
At eleven o’clock noon, Shen Lingge helplessly looked at Wen Xian, who was still clinging to the bed. Her whole person was holding onto the blanket without letting go, her black hair was also messy from sleep, and she kept muttering in her mouth: “Just let me sleep a little longer, it’s so cold outside.”
Shen Lingge really couldn’t bear to scold her, so he had no choice but to call someone to have lunch delivered to the room.
So that morning, Wen Xian didn’t get to see any rabbits, nor did she get to go horseback riding. After being carried up by Shen Lingge to wash up and finish eating lunch, it was time to leave. When she stood at the door carrying her bag, she still looked a little dazed.
Wen Xian held her phone unhappily and asked: “Shen Lingge, why didn’t you wake me up!”
Shen Lingge: “……”
Shen Lingge was silent for a moment, then walked to Wen Xian’s side, pinched her face, and said in a low voice: “Because I usually get up very early for work, so today I wanted Xian Xian to accompany me and sleep a little longer.”
He looked so innocent. Actually, he had already gotten up at eight o’clock.
Only after hearing Shen Lingge say this did Wen Xian barely forgive him: “Then fine, you’re not allowed to be so willful like this next time.”
A faint smile appeared in Shen Lingge’s black eyes. He held her and walked outside: “Okay, I won’t be willful next time.”
After the car left Lanshan, it directly drove to the outskirts of Mingcheng, to where Shen Lingge’s parents lived. Wen Xian took advantage of the time on the road to put on light makeup — after all, when meeting people, one still needed to look presentable.
As soon as Shen Lingge entered the house, he was called away by Shen Rongsheng, while Song Mingxi pulled Wen Xian to the dressing room. She had bought Wen Xian many new clothes, as well as many beautiful and exquisite accessories.
Inside the study.
Shen Rongsheng took out a file from the drawer, raised his eyes and glanced once at Shen Lingge, whose expression didn’t look very good: “These years Xie Lin has always been abroad, no one in the circle has heard of him returning.”
Shen Lingge slightly knitted his brows: “Which Xie?”
Shen Rongsheng’s gaze, in a certain instant, became distant. He let out a long sigh: “The Xie family in Mingcheng has long been a thing of the past. Twenty years ago, Xie Lin’s parents were sent to prison, the Xie family fell apart completely, he was sent abroad by his parents before things happened.”
Shen Rongsheng took off the glasses he was wearing: “The first few years after he went abroad, he didn’t even know that shortly after his parents went to prison, they both committed suicide. It’s said that he returned to the country once in between, it was only at that time that he found out his parents were already gone.”
Shen Lingge flipped through the file Shen Rongsheng gave him, his gaze pausing on one line: Xie Lin studied at Licheng University.
This was the only connection he could find between Xie Lin and Wen Xian. When he investigated Chang Shuang, he had learned that during her university years, Chang Shuang had an obsessive pursuer.
Shen Rongsheng’s expression slightly tightened: “You’ll have to investigate the details yourself, but this man is very dangerous. The people who caused his parents to go to prison, over the past few years, have either died or fled. His hands aren’t clean.”
Shen Lingge closed the file, raised his eyes and met Shen Rongsheng’s gaze once: “I understand, Dad, thank you.”
While Shen Lingge and Shen Rongsheng were shut in the study talking business, Song Mingxi was softly coaxing Wen Xian.
Song Mingxi had long wanted a daughter, but after giving birth to Shen Lingge, she really didn’t have the energy to raise another child.
Song Mingxi held a uniform in her hand and softly said: “Xian Xian, just change into it and let Mama take a look. In another two weeks, once you leave, Mama won’t be able to see you often, so Mama will just take one photo.”
Wen Xian awkwardly looked at the clothes in her hand. She felt a little embarrassed.
But she still couldn’t resist Song Mingxi’s enthusiasm. After fidgeting for a while, she still went into the dressing room and changed into the uniform.
Her slender fingers clung to the doorframe, peeking her head out to take a look. Song Mingxi was sitting on the sofa in the middle of the cloakroom, fiddling with her camera.
Wen Xian softly called out: “Mama.”
Song Mingxi quickly looked up at her, smiling with narrowed eyes as she waved her hand toward her: “Xian Xian, come out quickly, Mama will braid your hair for you.”
Ten minutes later.
Wen Xian looked at herself in the mirror with twin ponytails, then nervously pressed her lips together. She secretly raised her eyes to glance at Song Mingxi, whose face was smiling like a blooming flower. Song Mingxi was fiddling with tying bows on her braids.
The pleated skirt Song Mingxi gave her was very short, a beautiful sky-blue plaid. Wen Xian couldn’t help but tug at the hem of the skirt.
After Song Mingxi tied Wen Xian’s twin ponytails, she nodded in satisfaction. She turned around to get the camera. It was just at that moment that the door of the cloakroom was knocked on.
Shen Lingge’s voice came from outside: “Mom, where’s Xian Xian?”
As soon as Wen Xian heard Shen Lingge’s voice, she hurriedly ran towards the door. Without even lifting her head, she hugged him and buried her face against his chest: “Shen Lingge, I don’t want to change clothes, wuwuwu.”
Shen Lingge paused, silently sweeping his gaze over Wen Xian’s twin ponytails, slender and beautiful nape, below was a waist that couldn’t be encircled with one hand, the exposed legs were both white and thin, from the calves to the knees all wrapped in white socks.
“Xian Xian, come over here to Mama and take a photo.” Song Mingxi saw Wen Xian holding onto Shen Lingge but didn’t plan to let her off. She could finally play real-person Nuannuan [reference to a dress-up game], “Lingge, let go of your wife.”
Wen Xian quickly raised her head to plead with Shen Lingge for help. She softly begged: “Gege, I don’t want to change, I’m really tired.”
Shen Lingge’s gaze deeply watched the person in his arms who didn’t know the danger. His jawline slightly tightened, then he reached out to hug Wen Xian. He looked toward Song Mingxi and spoke in a calm voice: “Mom, I’ll take Xian Xian to sleep for a while. Today she didn’t take a nap.”
Song Mingxi picked up the camera and took a photo facing the doorway, then waved her hand: “Take Xian Xian home, it’s already five o’clock. Your dad and I are going out to eat tonight, there’s no dinner at home for you two.”
Shen Lingge lowered his eyes and patted Wen Xian’s black hair: “We’re going home, Xian Xian.”
Wen Xian bit her lip, not even realizing that her cheeks had a faint blush: “Shen Lingge, I want to change clothes before going home. I also don’t want braids.”
Shen Lingge held her hand and walked out the room door: “Xian Xian looks good wearing anything, no need to change.”
Wen Xian tugged at his sleeve, still wanting to struggle a bit longer: “Then my clothes are still in Mama’s room, my bag is still inside, Yu is also locked in there.”
Shen Lingge didn’t respond, only pulling her downstairs.
By the time Wen Xian was pushed into the back seat of the car by Shen Lingge, she hadn’t reacted yet. It wasn’t until Shen Lingge reached out to press the partition button that she belatedly realized and tried to escape: “Shen Lingge, you…”
Shen Lingge let out a light laugh, his slightly hot gaze swept across her face. He reached out and pressed down on the back of her neck to pull her close.
Wen Xian nervously glanced at him, still thinking about Yu: “Shen Lingge, Yu is still upstairs.”
Shen Lingge didn’t expect that even at a time like this, this little girl was still thinking about that arrogant pen. He tilted his head and whispered beside her ear: “Do you think it’ll come save you at a time like this?”
Wen Xian: “……”
Shen Lingge pinched her small chin and kissed her directly.
Wen Xian was pressed and kissed for a long time. By the time Shen Lingge let her go, she was already almost out of breath. She leaned against his shoulder for a while to recover, then unhappily said: “You only kiss and don’t do, in the end you’re the one suffering.”
Shen Lingge: “……?”
At this moment, Shen residence.
Duoduo stood at the door, completely dumbfounded, looking at the short-legged horse inside the delivery truck. Maybe because it had arrived at an unfamiliar place, or maybe from the long journey, this snow-white little horse shrank uneasily into a corner.
Duoduo stammered a question: “Is this what Young Master shipped over from Lanshan to give to Miss?”
The truck driver didn’t know who the employer was. He was only responsible for delivering the horse on time. He took a postcard out from his pocket and handed it to Duoduo: “This is also for that Miss.”
After speaking, the truck driver did not wait for Duoduo to react and directly drove away.
Duoduo looked at the champagne-colored postcard with a strange expression. On it was printed the image of a rose. She flipped over the postcard and saw the two lines of words written on the back.
To my princess.
——X.