Yun Xiaoran's Counterattack

Yun Xiaoran stared at the chocolate ball by his lips, then looked back at Shen Jin's sly expression as she waited for him to eat it.

"Let me hold the chocolate for now. You're driving, so don't get distracted."

Just as Yun Xiaoran reached for the chocolate ball, Shen Jin abruptly changed her approach. She casually steered with one hand while insistently bringing the chocolate closer with the other.

"Just eat it now. If you hold it, you'll only get your hands dirty."

All right, now Yun Xiaoran felt that he and she were getting a little too close.

But with things as they were, he had no choice but to take the chocolate ball into his mouth. Knowing this girl's temperament, Yun Xiaoran understood that she wouldn't let it go.

Besides, she willingly ate what I fed her. Why can't I willingly eat what she feeds me?

Yun Xiaoran mentally braced himself.

Shen Jin watched with satisfaction as Yun Xiaoran obligingly ate the chocolate ball. The only thing missing was a little fun. If he had resisted a bit longer, she would have enjoyed it more.

"All right, wipe my hand for me now that you've finished eating."

"Okay." Yun Xiaoran drew a breath and first pulled out a tissue to wipe his mouth.

Then he gently took Shen Jin's hand. It was smooth and soft, carrying a faint scent of cosmetics. Fair and beautiful, her whole hand looked like a work of art, something he only dared to handle delicately.

Yun Xiaoran cleaned it meticulously. After a while, not a trace of chocolate remained on Shen Jin's hand.

Once everything was taken care of, the car fell into another long silence. Still, Yun Xiaoran felt that, despite the awkwardness of what had just happened, the atmosphere had improved considerably.

"Why didn't you reply to my WeChat message this afternoon?" Shen Jin demanded, a hint of accusation in her voice.

Here comes the interrogation. Is this the fabled carrot followed by the stick?

"I was working on the accompaniment with a friend in a rehearsal room, so I left my phone outside and didn't hear it." Yun Xiaoran found her question a little strange, but explained anyway.

"Oh. Were there any women?" At this point, Shen Jin didn't sound as though she were interrogating a criminal and demanding every last detail.

"No..." Yun Xiaoran had been about to tell her the truth, but as he gave her an odd look, a very strange question hazily surfaced in his mind.

Is she jealous? Even Yun Xiaoran found the thought strange when it popped into his head.

"What are you looking at me for? I asked whether there were any women where you recorded the song." Shen Jin questioned him again, this time with a plaintive edge to her voice.

"No." Puzzled, Yun Xiaoran asked, "Why do you ask? We usually talk on the phone. What made you suddenly decide to use WeChat today?"

"WeChat is convenient. Besides, I was at work. Who makes phone calls while they're working?"

Shen Jin made up an excuse. But if Sister Hua had been in the car, she would certainly have stared at her in disbelief.

The National Goddess has an office all to herself, and she's worried about disturbing other people? She obviously just wanted to check up on him!

Some of Yun Xiaoran's doubts faded, though he still felt that something was off. He eased up on the subject and said with a sheepish smile,

"Oh, I thought you were checking up on me."

"Checking up on you?" Shen Jin's brows furrowed slightly. She couldn't help recalling how, whenever she went drinking with Sister Hua and her other friends, their boyfriends would call at certain times.

Although her girlfriends all claimed to find that sort of thing incredibly annoying, none of them could suppress their smiles when their phones rang.

Then she remembered how flustered she had been that afternoon.

Checking up on him?

She, Shen Jin, was checking up on her husband?

Impossible. She had only wanted to see what that cat got up to when she wasn't home.

"But this afternoon was an exception. If you want to use WeChat regularly from now on, or check up on me, that's fine too," Yun Xiaoran said with a smile, looking at Shen Jin.

Although hearing this improved Shen Jin's mood a little, she still silently rejected the idea that she had been checking up on him.

They returned home.

Carrying bags of groceries from the supermarket, Yun Xiaoran slowly followed behind Shen Jin. She turned back, saw all the bags he was carrying, and felt a little bad for him. Then she said,

"Are you managing all right? Do you want me to take some?"

Yun Xiaoran had indeed been considering it, but after looking over the bags, he smiled and said, "There isn't that much. With only twenty-odd days left, I won't be carrying them for much longer anyway."

Shen Jin: "..."

Why did he have to bring that up again? That single remark wiped out Shen Jin's good mood completely, leaving her to answer with deliberate petulance, "Fine. If you don't need me, I won't help."

Everything was going fine. Why bring that up?

Yun Xiaoran found her tone a little strange, but then remembered that this girl's moods had always been unstable. He could only shake his head with a smile and carry all the bags inside.

Once home, Shen Jin sat on the couch and sulked. As for why she deliberately chose the couch rather than going back to her bedroom to sulk-

It was because an emotion only counted as an emotion when someone else saw it.

After putting everything where it belonged, Yun Xiaoran took a bag of things over and sat down on the couch too.

"I'm going back to my room." Once Shen Jin saw that Yun Xiaoran had noticed the expression she was putting on, she stood up right in front of him and slowly headed toward her bedroom.

"Wait." Seeing that Shen Jin was leaving, Yun Xiaoran called her back.

"What is it? Do you need something?" Shen Jin smiled inwardly at his words, but turned back to regard him with an utterly emotionless gaze. He's finally starting to get a clue.

"You forgot your pads. I still have them." Yun Xiaoran slowly approached Shen Jin and, while she was still bewildered, placed the bag in her hand with a sigh of relief.

That bastard.

He was an absolute bastard.

I was all ready for you to ask me to stay or say something to cheer me up, and instead, all I got was you telling me I'd forgotten my pads?

Fuming, Shen Jin snatched the bag from Yun Xiaoran and hurried back to her bedroom, deliberately slamming the door behind her. Then she sulked alone in her room.

Yun Xiaoran felt certain that he must have done something wrong or said the wrong thing, but he had no idea where he had gone wrong.

Back in her room, Shen Jin felt angry and helpless. All she could do was send Sister Hua a message.

"Why is Yun Xiaoran such a clueless guy?"