Whenever Shen Jin remembered that Yun Xiaoran had an ex-girlfriend, she felt uncomfortable all over. That discomfort stemmed from Li Qingxi's boasting, and now Shen Jin had quietly compared herself with Li Qingxi.
She realized that she really was quite similar to her in certain ways, and Yun Xiaoran's remark about his stereotype of the entertainment industry had left Shen Jin speechless. She had only just given his ex-girlfriend a thorough scolding last night, and he had no idea.
Morning came, and the sun rose as usual.
Shen Jin had kept forcing herself to sleep last night, but sleep had refused to come. She had eaten only a little in the private dining room, and now she was ravenous, waiting for Yun Xiaoran to cook for her.
Opening the door, Shen Jin looked toward the kitchen with bleary eyes.
Yun Xiaoran already had everything ready: a bowl of steamed egg custard and a small bowl of millet porridge. When he saw Shen Jin come out, he hurriedly called her over to eat.
"Have something light this morning. When you get back tonight, I'll make you some chicken soup to get your calcium up. Your foot still hasn't fully recovered."
Hearing Yun Xiaoran show such concern for her finally eased Shen Jin's complicated, troubled mood a little. She ate silently at the dining table, but all she could think about was what had happened last night.
Looking at Yun Xiaoran across from her, she realized that she really did not know him very well yet. After some thought, Shen Jin asked hesitantly, "Are there any dishes you like?"
"Why are you asking? Just tell me what you like to eat. I'm the one who does the grocery shopping anyway."
Yun Xiaoran was washing the dishes. He gave Shen Jin a curious look and smiled at her, surprised by her question. Ever since he had given her the Gold Bracelet, she seemed to have changed noticeably, though he could not quite put his finger on how.
In any case, it simply felt as though his icy wife had moved a little closer to the sunshine.
"Oh, then tell me what dishes you like. I get off work early today, so I'll have time."
To get Yun Xiaoran to tell her what he liked to eat, Shen Jin made up a lie. She could just have Sister Hua buy the ingredients later.
"I don't eat green peppers. Anything else is fine."
"No green peppers, anything else is fine?" Shen Jin murmured thoughtfully, committing those words to memory.
She even got up and, for the first time ever, took the initiative to put her plate in the sink. Looking at Yun Xiaoran, she felt delighted inside, though she still kept her tone stern.
"Even if you're staying home, you should dress better."
Yun Xiaoran was puzzled by this. He had already changed out of the expensive outfit he had worn last night.
Now he was wearing casual clothes around the house. The outfit had no style whatsoever; only his good looks kept it from being a total disaster. "Why?"
"Because even if this is a marriage of convenience, you're still my... husband. Otherwise, you'll embarrass me." Shen Jin watched him with an earnest expression that made it clear she was not joking.
"All right."
Shen Jin maintained her cool expression, but a barely perceptible smile slipped through. At Yun Xiaoran's reply, she pressed her lips together slightly, then turned to pick up the kitchen trash.
"All right, it's getting late. I should head to work. If you haven't fed the cat, you're dead..."
Yun Xiaoran's short urban novel, Wild Rush, was doing fairly well.
The whole book would only be 230,000 Chinese characters long, so he could finish it in under a month. If the market response was good, he might soon be able to sell the rights and earn a few hundred thousand yuan.
The book had now made it onto the Newcomer Rankings. Although it was already doing very well, it had not become as popular as Yun Xiaoran had expected. He had only written 100,000 characters so far, and the real climax had yet to arrive.
How well the book would truly perform would have to wait until after it was finished...
That morning, after writing and posting six thousand characters, Yun Xiaoran headed out for a walk to clear his head, mainly because being cooped up at home was getting too stifling.
He reached the path beside the residential complex's children's playground. An elegant middle-aged woman dressed in a Gucci outfit, with a handbag at her side, was sitting there peacefully.
Yun Xiaoran did not actually know much about designer brands. It was simply that this middle-aged woman's bearing was far too striking. A distinctive elegance radiated from within her, impossible to ignore.
Aside from being beautiful and poised, the woman wore sunglasses, and her face looked somewhat familiar, as though he had seen her somewhere before.
The woman's gaze met Yun Xiaoran's, and she soon turned and walked toward him, apparently wanting something.
Yun Xiaoran found this very odd.
Could this older woman have scammed people out of all those designer clothes?
"Hello, do you know which way Building A1 is?" When she reached Yun Xiaoran, she took off her sunglasses and asked him with a gentle smile.
Ning Yao had come to see her darling daughter.
Her daughter flew all over the place year-round and had a home in every city. Ning Yao had always been terrible with directions, and after separating from and divorcing Shen Cong, finding her daughter had become even harder.
She kept going back and forth between all her daughter's residential complexes and villas. Today, she had lost her bearings in Dragon Lake Blue Shore and had already been wandering around for quite some time.
So she was only asking for directions. Yun Xiaoran breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his guard, then began awkwardly explaining how to get to A1.
"Just walk to that sign up ahead, then turn that way, then this way, and finally turn over there. If you have a car, the underground garage is over there, and after you get out..."
"Young man, why don't you just take me there?"
Ning Yao could not help rubbing her temples as she gave him a kindly smile. Her first impression of this young man was quite good. There was nothing improper in his gaze, and he had the sort of face that grew more attractive the longer one looked at it, though he was a little introverted.
Still, he seemed like a decent person, and Ning Yao felt she could trust him.
Ning Yao could easily have called her daughter to come and get her, but this visit was a surprise inspection. She did not want her daughter to know she was here.
Over the phone, her daughter had insisted that she had found Ning Yao a son-in-law and had even married him. She said he was very handsome, just a little gloomy and rather clueless about women.
Married, my ass.
Ning Yao knew her daughter all too well.
That little brat had most likely hired a temporary husband under some contract, just like in those television dramas or novels. She would arrange everything in advance when Ning Yao came over, then use him to fool her. Her daughter was such an actress!
That was why Ning Yao had not told her daughter about this visit beforehand. Instead, she had decided to show up unannounced, leaving Shen Jin no time to summon her temporary husband. Then she could expose her lie and make her obediently come home and accept an arranged marriage.
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