Shen Xi stayed in the attic all afternoon. After Mrs. Zhang finished cleaning the house, she took Chu Wu out for a bath. It was only when she finished making dinner that Shen Xi came down from the attic.
When Mrs. Zhang saw Shen Xi come down the stairs, she noticed that her expression didn't seem right. But when Mrs. Zhang opened her mouth, she wasn't able to ask her what was wrong.
"Bark!" Chu Wu, who was full of grievance, ran towards his mother. He felt wronged because his mother hadn't played with him today.
Shen Xi crouched and rubbed Chu Wu's fluffy head. Eventually, her expression softened.
"Stupid." Shen Xi laughed as she scolded. She didn't know whether she was scolding a certain man that was very similar to Chu Wu, or the dog himself.
"Bark!" All Chu Wu understood was that his mother was patting his head. Loving the attention, he squinted his eyes and wagged his tail even harder.
Mrs. Zhang felt relieved when she saw this scene. This household finally managed to be a regular, loving home, ah. She really hoped nothing would disrupt this harmony.
Mrs. Zhang continued to prepare dinner, and Shen Xi took Chu Wu to sit on the sofa and read a book.
"Woof." Chu Wu laid quietly on the carpet. After a while, he suddenly raised his ears and barked.
"Hm?" Shen Xi lifted her gaze from the book, puzzled.
After seeing Chu Wu's posture, Shen Xi had a guess as to why he was suddenly alert. And sure enough, the sound of a car engine was heard outside.
Su Hang was back.
Shen Xi put down her book, wrapped her shawl tighter around her shoulders, then walked out the door.
Su Hang parked his car, opened his door, and was about to pat Chu Wu's head when he saw a slim figure from the corner of his eyes.
The hand that was about to pet Chu Wu immediately froze. With his other hand still on the car, he turned his head and looked at the beautiful Shen Xi standing at the front door.
"Welcome back." Shen Xi smiled and casually greeted.
"Yes!" The stupefied Su Hang could only reply with a single word. This was the first time Su Hang had ever felt so ecstatic over these two simple words. He was so happy that he couldn't help but giggle like an idiot.
"What are you laughing about, ah? Get in the house." Shen Xi was speechless.
"Nn." Feeling like he was in a dream, Su Hang closed his car door and floated towards the house. He walked until he was right in front of Shen Xi, seemingly forgetting about the excitable dog running around his feet.
"What's the matter?" Shen Xi saw that Su Hang didn't enter the house and instead stood in front of her. She thought that Su Hang had something he wanted to say to her.
"I'm back," Su Hang repeated softly with a grin.
"I know. Didn't I greet you just now?" Shen Xi was confused.
"Nn." Su Hang gave her an awkward smile. "I just wanted to say it again."
"Bark!" Seeing that he couldn't get his dad's attention, Chu Wu slotted himself between the two people, trying to force them to look at him.
Su Hang finally remembered Chu Wu's existence and kneaded the dog's head. "Chu Wu, let's go. Let's go in."
Shen Xi watched Su Hang walk in the house with Chu Wu in tow. She felt like today, Su Hang was being particularly foolish. The minute he came back from work, he started repeating his words like a crazy man.
Shen Xi shook her head with a smile, then walked into the kitchen, intending to see how dinner was going.
"Madam, is Sir back?" Mrs. Zhang saw Shen Xi come in and asked.
"Yes." Shen Xi nodded.
"Ever since you two got married, your husband has been coming home on time, ah. I've just finished dinner," Mrs. Zhang said with a smile. "When Sir lived alone, I could never guess when he would be home."
Shen Xi, who had been setting the table, froze. Mrs. Zhang's words were like a splash of cold water. It jolted her mind and made her understand the man's foolish behavior just now.
To other people, the simple phrase 'Welcome back' was a normal, everyday greeting. When she was a child, she would often greet her father this way when he came home from work. She would sweetly call out: 'Dad, welcome back.' She said it every day and eventually, it became a random, casual habit. But for an orphan like Su Hang, this simple greeting was something hard to obtain.
"Madam, if there isn't anything else, I'll be leaving now." Mrs. Zhang didn't realize what she had done and was simply prepared to leave.
"Yes, thank you." Shen Xi nodded.
Mrs. Zhang untied her apron, packed her things, and left.
Meanwhile, Su Hang was standing in the second-floor closet, dazedly looking at his clothes that were next to Shen Xi's. It seemed that Su Hang still couldn't believe that he and Shen Xi were finally together.
Fortunately, Su Hang still had enough reason to know that Shen Xi was waiting to eat dinner with him downstairs. So not long after, Su Hang changed into his house clothes and went to the dining table.
When Su Hang arrived, he saw Shen Xi fiddling with the vase that was in the middle of the dining table. The vase was filled with a bouquet of Baby Breath, and it's fresh and elegant white flowers look like scattered stars. Shen Xi had a thin shawl around her shoulders, and as her head lowered, her hair shifted, revealing a slender white neck. She looked more beautiful and elegant than the flowers next to her.
He had just seen her this morning, yet somehow, Su Hang felt like Shen Xi had changed since then.
"You're here?" Shen Xi stopped her hands and looked at the frozen Su Hang.
"Un," Su Hang replied, his face silly.
"Welcome home." Shen Xi tilted her head and smiled. Her soft black eyes reflected the man in front of her.
Su Hang was stunned, his eyes slowly lighting up. His face was slack in disbelief. Soon, the warmth in his heat spread throughout his body and soothed his limbs.
Shen Xi was responding to him? She greeted him when he came in? She understood?
For the first time, Su Hang accepted that this wasn't a dream or a fantasy. For the first time, Su Hang believed that Shen Xi was concerned about him and genuinely cared for him.
"Come and eat." Shen Xi was exasperated at this fool of a man.
"Oh, yes." Su Hang quickly walked to the table and sat opposite to Shen Xi.
Shen Xi looked at Su Hang, wondering if he was even cognizant enough to eat properly. In the end, she didn't say anything and started to eat. Overall, the dinner table had a warm and happy atmosphere, despite the slight silliness emanating from one half of the table.
After dinner, despite Su Hang's reluctance, he headed to his study to work. The good news, though, was that the company was very efficient today, so he wouldn't have to work till late.
Before, such things didn't matter to Su Hang. But now, Su Hang was very unwilling. He and Shen Xi were now officially living together. If he ended up sleeping late, Su Hang was afraid that Shen Xi, who usually slept early, would end up kicking him out of the room for disturbing her sleep.
So Su Hang was in his study using three laptops at the same time. What's more, he was also in the middle of a video call with Fang Yu. Seeing the background in the video, Fang Yu seemed to still be in the company.
"Boss, I've just sorted out the latest evaluation report. I've sent it to your email." Fang Yu said.
Su Hang checked his mailbox, opened the report, scanned through it, then asked: "Is this all? What about the budget reports? Why isn't it here?"
"It's still in progress," Fang Yu replied. "It'll take another twenty minutes."
"Twenty minutes? Why do you need so much time?" Su Hang asked. "Give it to me in ten minutes."
"Yes," Fang Yu replied while secretly complaining about why the Boss and his wife couldn't eat dinner for half an hour longer. If it was just half an hour longer, he wouldn't have been scolded, ah.
Perhaps she had felt Fang Yu's complaints, but soon after, Shen Xi knocked on the door. She entered the study with a cup of wolfberry tea.
"Xiao Xi!" Su Hang's soft voice made Fang Yu slip.
"Am I bothering you?" Shen Xi walked to the desk.
"No!" Su Hang abruptly closed the laptop that had Fang Yu’s video call.
"The air's much drier because of the heater. Remember to drink more." Shen Xi put the tea she was holding next to Su Hang's hand.
"Thank you." Su Hang immediately picked up the cup and took a sip. "I was feeling a little thirsty."
Shen Xi glanced at his desk, which was filled with several laptops and papers. She understood that Su Hang must be very busy with work right now. Not wanting to disturb him, Shen Xi simply told him not to stay up too late and left.
Don't stay up too late. So she wanted him to go back to their room as soon as possible? Realizing this, Su Hang opened the laptop he had closed. The moment the video call reconnected, he said: "The budget report?"
"Boss, it's only been five minutes." Fang Yu weakly reminded him.
"So slow, hurry up!" Su Hang frowned.
Fang Yu didn't dare complain and simply sped up his movements. After a while, he finally managed to send Su Hang the budget report. Fang Yu figured that he could finally go off duty for the night.
"Go through the materials for tomorrow morning's meeting and send me the key points." Su Hang told him.
"Don't you usually read the meeting materials yourself?" Fang Yu was puzzled. Wasn't the Boss much faster at grasping things than him? The Boss could read a five or six-hour report in an hour and a half, ah.
"What, you can't do it?" Su Hang coldly asked.
"No, I can do it." Fang Yu held back his tears and watched as his Boss mercilessly ended the call. It looked like he was in for another sleepless night.
Su Hang speedily finished his work, then looked up at the clock. It was ten minutes from 9:00 p.m. He nodded in satisfaction. Fang Yu had been with him for so many years, so Su Hang figured it was time to give him more opportunities to grow. (Fang Yu: No, Boss, I don't need something like that.)
When Su Hang went into the bedroom, Shen Xi had already taken a bath and was currently in bed, reading. Compared to Su Hang's anxious appearance, Shen Xi was a lot more casual. After waiting for two minutes, Shen Xi smiled at Su Hang and asked: "What are you doing, standing there like a fool? Shouldn't you go take a bath?"
"Oh." Before his brain caught up, Su Hang realized he was already walking towards the bathroom.
It was only until Shen Xi heard the sounds of water splashing in the bathroom that she let out a chuckle. The scene just now made her feel like a wealthy woman using certain unspoken rules to take advantage of a small, struggling pretty face.
(T/N: Like those cliches where small-time actors sleep with directors/powerful men to get jobs, connections, etc.)
When Su Hang first entered the room, he was so excited he ended up with a dumb expression on his face. It was only when he was at the bath, smelling Shen Xi's soap in the air that he gradually calmed down. Such happiness came too suddenly, ah. For Su Hang, who had struggled all his life, this kind of joy seemed so unreal.
Su Hang came out of the bathroom, then looked around the empty room.
"Xiao Xi?" Su Hang shouted, but there was no response. For some reason, this made Su Hang panic. He opened the bedroom door and went out, looking for any sign of Shen Xi. He stood by the stairs, anxiously looking down towards the first floor.
He saw Shen Xi walk into the kitchen with a glass in her hand.
She was only getting a glass of water. Su Hang breathed a sigh of relief. Satisfied, he went back into the bedroom and grabbed a towel to wipe his hair. However, when Su Hang happened to look at the double bed in the middle of the room, the tips of his ears became red.
He left the bedroom and looked downstairs again. Seeing that Shen Xi still hadn't come out of the kitchen, Su Hang quickly walked back into the room, into the closet, and took out a box of condoms from the coat he used today.
Yes, that's right. After work, Su Hang had specially gone to the supermarket to buy some condoms. After living for so many years, he was finally qualified to buy such a thing. (Author: You need to be qualified??? )
Taking advantage of Shen Xi's momentary absence, Su Hang stealthily brought this box of condoms into the bedroom. However, he soon hesitated. Which bedside drawer should he put it in?
His side? Is it easier to put it there?
No, if you think about it, you're the one approaching Shen Xi. It would be more convenient to put it in the drawer on her side.
While Su Hang was foolishly going back and forth, Shen Xi had come back. Because she was wearing slippers, Su Hang didn't hear her footsteps. By the time he realized, Shen Xi was already opening the bedroom door.
"What are you doing?" Shen Xi asked suspiciously.
"Nothing?" Su Hang turned around to face her while putting his hands behind his back.
"What are you hiding?" It would be really hard for Shen Xi to pretend not to notice Su Hang's obvious actions.
Su Hang froze.
"Let me see." Shen Xi walked up to him and held out her hand.
Su Hang hesitated for a moment. But in the end, with ears red and heart expectant, he placed the box on Shen Xi's open hand.
Shen Xi didn't expect Su Hang to be holding a box of condoms. Suddenly, her face turned even redder than Su Hang's ears.
"You...you...hooligan." Shen Xi threw the box onto the bed.
"You're only a hooligan if you aren't married to them," Su Hang retorted in a low voice.
The author has something to say:
In their last life, Su Hang bought a box of condoms and also hesitated which bedside table he should place it in. However, he had better luck in that life, and Shen Xi hadn't discovered him. In the end, he put the box in his side drawer.