"Sure, sis. My wife and I live in Building A1 too." Yun Xiaoran smiled and agreed to escort the middle-aged woman to Building A1. It was hardly any trouble, as long as these middle-aged women didn't act as though the whole world owed them something.
Yun Xiaoran was still more than happy to help others.
At his words, Ning Xian's eyes narrowed into smiling crescents, and she felt an immediate warmth toward him.
He wouldn't have been far off calling her auntie, given her age. Yet despite his awkwardness, this young man had still remembered to ease her worries and make her feel closer to him. He really was quite nice.
"Sis, which floor does your daughter live on?" Yun Xiaoran asked Ning Xian as they stood in front of the elevator.
"I think it was the eighth floor."
Yun Xiaoran was a little curious. He hadn't expected this middle-aged woman's daughter to live on the same floor as Shen Jin.
"That works out nicely. My wife and I live on the eighth floor too. Maybe we've even helped each other out before."
"That's certainly possible. She lives here alone. She's busy with work, leaving early and coming home late, but having a girl live by herself does worry her family." Ning Xian got a headache whenever she thought of her daughter's rebellious streak.
"It really is too dangerous for a girl to live alone." Yun Xiaoran nodded slightly in agreement. When he had first moved here, someone had inexplicably knocked on Shen Jin's door.
He also remembered that Shen Jin seemed to have lived alone before he moved in. He would have to ask her another day when her parents were coming.
He also needed to buy some Chunghwa cigarettes, tea, jewelry, and the like ahead of time. Whatever else happened, he couldn't skimp on etiquette.
When they reached the eighth floor, the entire hallway was especially quiet.
Ning Xian tried to recall which apartment her daughter lived in, but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't remember. She also began rummaging through her expensive handbag for the keys, yet she simply couldn't find the villa key marked Dragon Lake Blue Shore.
"Sis, it's afternoon now, so your daughter's probably at work. This isn't a good place to wait. Why don't you rest at my place first?"
The middle-aged woman felt inexplicably familiar to Yun Xiaoran, giving him the sort of fondness a younger person felt toward an elder. Since he happened to have nothing to do, inviting someone over for a visit sounded nice.
Ning Xian hesitated, then looked around the hallway again. Her daughter was probably at the company practicing her singing or filming right now anyway, so she might as well sit at this young man's place for a while.
"All right. My daughter's probably at work right now."
Yun Xiaoran poured the middle-aged woman a cup of tea. The atmosphere was a little stiff, and Ning Xian looked over the room's layout. People her age particularly liked asking young people just starting out in society, like Yun Xiaoran, about their marriages.
"When did you and your wife register your marriage? I imagine you'll be holding the wedding soon?" Ning Xian asked him with a smile.
"Well..." A trace of hesitation crossed Yun Xiaoran's face, which Ning Xian caught immediately. After a few seconds of silence, he took a sip of tea and said:
"We registered two weeks ago. As for the wedding, her career is taking off right now, and I'm working hard..."
After speaking, Yun Xiaoran rose from the sofa and went straight to the kitchen to wash some apples, grapes, green seedless grapes, and strawberries. To keep the middle-aged woman from finding fault, he even rinsed them several extra times to wash off any pesticide residue.
Seeing how practiced he was at washing fruit, Ning Xian raised her eyebrows.
"You must be good at cooking at home. You look very practiced at washing fruit."
"What can you do? These days, whether girls can cook or not, they all expect their partners to know how. Besides, cooking for yourself gives you a sense of accomplishment."
"That's true. My daughter is incredibly picky about food. Sometimes, if a meal isn't to her taste, she won't eat it."
Their conversation also woke Fu Bao. He came out with his tail swaying to investigate, only to discover that a new member had joined the original pair of two-legged creatures.
"Here, kitty." Ning Xian couldn't resist cats. Seeing the cat looking at her, she reached out to him. Fu Bao seemed to have taken a liking to the person in front of him.
He went over, climbed onto Ning Xian's lap, and narrowed his eyes.
"My daughter was especially clingy when she was little. She begged us to get a cat and even named it Universe Big Flower Pear."
Ning Xian narrowed her eyes and slowly stroked the cat as she began talking about her daughter's childhood.
"Have some fruit." Yun Xiaoran listened attentively.
"She especially loved peeled apples. She was always asking her favorite person to peel an apple for her. Unless I peeled it, she wouldn't eat it."
Wasn't that exactly his situation now? Yun Xiaoran had started volunteering to cook, and two weeks later, Shen Jin would only eat his cooking, even though the dishes from upscale hotels clearly looked, smelled, and tasted better.
Yun Xiaoran gave a sheepish smile, drawing a puzzled look from Ning Xian. "What is it? Did you think of something happy?"
"Yes, my wife is the same. She only eats what I cook. We can order meals from upscale hotels right from here, but she won't eat them. If I'd known, I would've just ordered takeout with her from the start."
Yun Xiaoran wore a bright smile as he talked about himself and Shen Jin. He didn't even realize how happy his smile had become.
"Oh, you still don't understand." Ning Xian's eyes narrowed into smiling crescents. "Speaking as someone who's been there, your wife definitely likes you a lot."
"Really?" Yun Xiaoran found that hard to believe. At first, he had only been fulfilling his duties as a husband. When he later noticed this habit of hers, he had simply assumed Shen Jin had grown used to his cooking.
After thinking for a few minutes, Yun Xiaoran shook his head and smiled quietly, but didn't argue. If Ning Xian knew that he and Shen Jin also had an agreement, she wouldn't think that way.
Ning Xian quietly studied the subtle changes in Yun Xiaoran's expression. She knew he didn't believe her, but she said nothing.
"Yun Xiaoran? Peel an apple for me."
Shen Jin had just reached the entryway and changed from her high heels into slippers. Even in slippers, her black stockings showed off the full length of her slender legs.
She also put her bag and coat on the coat rack. Only when she slowly walked into the living room did she notice Yun Xiaoran talking to a middle-aged woman.
"Sure." Yun Xiaoran had just started peeling when he heard Shen Jin's utterly puzzled voice:
"Mom? Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
"Huh?"
Still peeling the apple, Yun Xiaoran looked up and met Ning Xian's incredulous expression and startled gaze. He stared straight at her, stunned and at a loss for words. "You're my mom?"
He'd just been calling her sis, and in the blink of an eye, she was Mom...
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