Sweet Pear noticed the first signs

Xiao Yan just kept grinning and staring at Zayne.

Until Zayne noticed and cleared his throat. "About handing my income over to you, I brought the confirmation document. Have a look when you have a moment."

"Mm~" Only then did Xiao Yan come back to her senses. The tips of her ears instantly reddened, and she picked up her utensils again to hide it. "Eat up. There's dessert after the main course. Uncle Sang made it himself. He makes wonderful snow fungus soup."

Though his hair was white, Uncle Sang looked sprightly and healthy in his butler's uniform as he stood behind Zayne and chuckled.

Zayne turned back and gave Uncle Sang another polite nod. "That was thoughtful of you, Uncle Sang. Thank you very much."

"Please don't stand on ceremony with these old bones, sir." Uncle Sang's manner was kindly. "Making sure you're comfortable at home is my duty, Mr. Zayne."

Zayne turned his gaze back and met Xiao Yan's eyes again.

Xiao Yan was still a little shy. The redness at the tips of her ears hadn't faded, and that look made them redder still.

For some reason, Zayne's face felt a little warm too. He said gently, "Everything here is lovely."

Xiao Yan seized the opportunity. "Then come home more often when you have time~"

Zayne fell silent for a few seconds. "I will."

Zayne's salary was even more generous than Xiao Yan had imagined.

His annual salary had gone up again last year and was now close to three million.

Xiao Yan signed the confirmation document and slipped the bank card custom-printed with a snowflake pattern into the folder.

Like Xavier, Zayne didn't understand what the card was for.

After Xiao Yan explained, he looked slightly surprised and puzzled, just as Xavier had.

The two sat on the sofa with enough space for three people between them.

Xiao Yan turned to look at him. "Just stick to our agreement and keep living your life without worrying. I don't need you to support me, and I don't like taking everything from you only to put a pittance of spending money back into your account every month out of what you earned."

"But supporting the family after marriage is every man's duty. If you won't accept it, does that mean... you're planning to end the marriage?"

At that question, Xiao Yan decided she wanted to talk this through properly. "Then why did you attend my husband-selection banquet? Didn't you think you might get picked? What were you planning to do if you were?"

Zayne lowered his eyes, as though there was something he found difficult to say.

"Pressure from work?" Xiao Yan guessed.

Zayne sighed. "Yes. I'm not that young anymore. The director said that if I still haven't settled the marriage issue by the end of this year, I might face demotion and a transfer to a branch hospital next year as punishment."

"Then why come to mine? Did you do your homework on me?" Xiao Yan was genuinely afraid Zayne would tell her he had researched her.

The only person he could have researched was the original owner of this body, who had died so unfortunately. Xiao Yan would definitely find that troubling.

Zayne shook his head slightly. "No. It was simply that autumn had already arrived, and the year was almost over. I happened to have time, so I picked your husband-selection event at random."

Phew, thank goodness.

Random meant fate.

Xiao Yan brightened, and only then answered Zayne's question. "I'm not planning to end the marriage, unless you want to."

"I don't." Zayne denied it immediately. "But I'm also genuinely not ready to enter an intimate relationship with you as I would with a true wife."

Without memories or an emotional foundation, it would have been awful if Zayne had wanted to get all lovey-dovey with Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan waved a relaxed hand at Zayne. "That's fine. We have plenty of time. But what's your impression of me? Surely you can tell me that?"

Zayne took another appraising look at Xiao Yan.

Her T-shirt and little skirt were cute, and she had sweet features.

Through the girl's youthful, firm cheeks, he seemed to glimpse her inner tolerance and a maturity beyond her years.

"My impression is quite good," Zayne said honestly. "Apart from being a little hasty when choosing husbands... everything else is very good."

"Then aren't you curious why I picked you?" Xiao Yan asked again.

Zayne was even more honest. "Not particularly."

He knew how outstanding he was, and he was well aware of his appeal to the opposite sex.

Xiao Yan's expression changed, and she pouted. "You really are good at keeping people at arm's length, but you're so sincere about it that I can't even scold you."

Zayne felt that, after staying away from home for so long, not just a scolding but even a beating would have been normal.

He sighed. "Scold me if you want. I'll listen."

Xiao Yan couldn't bear to. "Forget it. Scolding you would only give me a moment's satisfaction. Making you angry would be a much bigger problem for me."

Zayne disagreed. "I wouldn't get angry over that."

"Well, I would. I would, all right?" Xiao Yan was truly at a loss. "Fine, if we're agreed, hurry up and go if you're heading home."

Hurry? Zayne was puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"It's not safe to drive on mountain roads too late at night. There are so many sharp turns. What if a car comes at you on the wrong side..." Xiao Yan spat twice. "Me and my jinxing mouth. Anyway, get going. I'll be waiting for you at three tomorrow afternoon."

So she was worried about his safety.

That worked very well on Zayne. Feeling warmed, he looked at Xiao Yan a few more times. "I'll stay safe and drive carefully."

"Then, goodbye?" Xiao Yan waved at him.

Zayne remained seated.

Xiao Yan said, "We can deal with the assets tomorrow."

Zayne still didn't get up.

Xiao Yan said, "Is there something else?"

Zayne took out his phone. "Could we take a selfie together? I need to post it on Moments to get the director off my back."

The background was the luxurious, spacious living room of their home.

Zayne deliberately bent down to accommodate Xiao Yan's height, and both tried to smile as naturally as possible.

But they were still a little too far apart.

So Zayne used his free left hand to hold Xiao Yan's head, moving it over until her temple touched his.

Just as Xiao Yan turned to stare at Zayne in surprise, the shutter clicked.

"Done." Zayne immediately let go of Xiao Yan and took a step back. "Sorry for being impolite just now. It would look strange if we were too stiff with each other. I hope you understand."

"Then send me the photo." Xiao Yan pouted and glared.

Zayne seemed quite receptive to this sulky little look of Xiao Yan's too. He gave an indulgent smile. "I'll send you the original. If you know how to edit pictures, please add some pink bubbles and little hearts, then send it back to me."

He certainly knew how to fool his superiors.

Xiao Yan gave him a thumbs-up and finished editing the picture in no time.

When Zayne received the picture and looked at it again, his smile widened considerably.

Xiao Yan had actually edited her startled expression so that little red hearts were coming out of her eyes, making her look like a little pervert.

He posted it on Moments right away, with the caption, [Didn't you eat your fill? Why are you still saying you're hungry?]

Holy crap. Dr. Zayne, you really do live up to your name. That was some skillful driving, Xiao Yan thought when she saw the post.

She was terribly curious about how Zayne's social circle would respond.

She ran over to Zayne and stood on tiptoe to peer at his phone.

Zayne was very open about it. There seemed to be no secrets on his phone.

He moved the screen in front of Xiao Yan.

Likes poured in.

Someone saved as Director Zhao replied, [Little Li, even young people need to take it easy. You have a major operation on Monday morning. You'll be standing for five hours straight.]

Zayne's cheeks flushed, and he cleared his throat. "Older people do like to make risqué jokes about us youngsters. Please don't mind."

Xiao Yan gave Zayne a suspicious look.

Zayne's throat seemed very dry, and he gave another dry cough. "If I'm going to make a post like this, of course it should achieve the best possible effect. If I've offended you, I apologize."

"Have you considered the possibility..." Xiao Yan smiled slyly. "That I really am hungry?"

Zayne froze.

The instant his ears and cheeks reddened together, Xiao Yan walked away from him. "Uncle Sang! I'm still hungry! Give me another bowl of your snow fungus soup~"

Zayne opened his mouth, but in the end, no words came out.

He turned and walked out of the house, hurriedly getting into his car in the courtyard.

For a long time, the car didn't start.