"What's wrong with your foot?" Lin Zhenxin asked Li Yanan to sit down quickly, crouching on the ground as she reached out to take off his slippers.
"It's nothing," Li Yanan replied, but Lin Zhenxin didn't believe it at all.
Ignoring his attempts to evade, Lin Zhenxin took off his slippers anyway.
Only then did she see that his soles were full of blisters, blackened with dirt, very dirty.
"..." She originally wanted to say sothing, but she couldn't get any words out.
Looking up at Li Yanan's face, Lin Zhenxin realized that ever since she t this man, her tear ducts seed to grow increasingly sensitive.
"Don't touch, it's too dirty."
Li Yanan had left in such a hurry, with such anxiety, that he had called her all the way there with no answer, his mind a blank.
Lin Zhenxin acted as if she hadn't heard, gently brushing his sole with her fingers.
It was really dirty, but she didn't care at all.
"Wait till we get ho, I'll wash it for you." Lin Zhenxin knew they should go ho first, but as she spoke, her eyes couldn't help but grow moist.
She hurriedly turned around, using the motion of tidying up to conceal her own embarrassnt.
Unintentionally touching her phone, the screen lit up, showing more than eighty missed call records.
It felt like sothing was stuck in her throat.
For a long ti, Lin Zhenxin said nothing, her back turned to Li Yanan.
Until a warm embrace wrapped around her from behind, that undeniably real feeling made her finally turn around...
and willingly bury her face in Li Yanan's chest!
Sothing seed to be swirling and flowing in the air, and Lin Zhenxin didn't know, she only knew...
the warmth of this man's embrace was just too comforting...
Li Yanan's car slowly drove out of the radio station.
Only after it had gone far did a black Bentley, hidden in the darkness, turn on its headlights.
"Mr. He, should we follow them?" the driver asked the man sitting in the backseat.
The black cotton shirt highlighted He Bainian's cold and lonely deanor.
He remained silent for a long ti, so long that the driver thought he wouldn't get an answer.
Finally, He Bainian spoke.
"No need, return to the hotel."
His gaze turned towards the dark night outside the window, eyes gloomy, lost in thought.
The driver said nothing, starting the engine.
In fact, he didn't know why Mr. He had asked him to drive here.
They had waited for hours...
For what exactly?
It was already late at night when they returned ho.
Grandma surprisingly wasn't asleep, the TV was on, and she was crying her heart out, while Aunt Xu was trying to comfort her.
Seeing Lin Zhenxin return, Grandma rushed over, holding her tightly.
"Xinxin... Xinxin... hurts..."
Lin Zhenxin hurriedly comforted Grandma.
After finally coaxing Grandma to sleep, Aunt Xu had already left.
Coming out of Grandma's room, Lin Zhenxin went straight to the bathroom, filled a basin with hot water, and returned to her room.
Li Yanan had just changed out of his clothes when he saw her walk in with a basin of water, montarily stunned...
"What are you standing there for?" Lin Zhenxin smiled, rolling up her shirt sleeves.
Seeing that Li Yanan was still standing there, she pulled him to the bed to sit down, squatting in front of him.
"Don't!" He initially thought she was just saying it, not expecting she'd actually do it.
Moreover, how could he possibly let her help him... wash his feet?
"I'll do it myself!" Li Yanan was persistent, but Lin Zhenxin was stubborn too, and the two remained at an impasse.
"Li Yanan, if you don't let help you today, then from now on, those things in your nightstand drawer can just sit there collecting dust!"
The things in his nightstand?
When Li Yanan realized what she was referring to, his face went half black.
Absolutely not!
Seeing Li Yanan's expression, Lin Zhenxin gave a teasing smile.
Once she touched his foot and he no longer avoided, Lin Zhenxin finally felt satisfied.
"It's too dirty." In his heart, Li Yanan was still sowhat resistant; he couldn't bear to let her do such things.
Lin Zhenxin ignored him, simply placing both his feet into the basin.
"Is it too hot?" Tucking her long hair behind her ears, Lin Zhenxin's fair neck was exposed, faint scars still visible.
Li Yanan shook his head, saying nothing, as the heat was within a tolerable range.
Seeing him nod, Lin Zhenxin began kneading his large feet in the water.
The water quickly changed color.
And Li Yanan's feet soon returned to their usual cleanliness.
She patiently helped him massage them; it was her first ti doing this and she couldn't really find the right spots.
Yet, it provided Li Yanan with an experience he had never had before.
He swore, this would be the only ti in his life that he'd let Lin Zhenxin do this for him. There would never be a second ti!
"Finally clean," Lin Zhenxin looked at Li Yanan's clean feet, feeling sowhat relieved.
"Then can I use those things in the nightstand drawer tonight..."
Looking at Lin Zhenxin's bright smile, Li Yanan couldn't help but open his mouth.
Until he saw her eyes widen in shock, like a startled little animal, he curled his lips.
"I'll pour the water!" She decided it was best to pretend not to understand.
"I'll take that as a yes..."
Li Yanan said as he rolled into bed, pulling the blanket over most of his face, leaving only his eyes visible as he watched her.
Seeing her look over, he even blinked twice, deliberately!
Lin Zhenxin was dumbfounded, wondering where all this high-handedness ca from.
The sky outside was gradually lightening.
Lin Zhenxin nestled in his embrace, completely exhausted, and as her intense heartbeat finally cald, she fell asleep.
In the dim room, Li Yanan, however, was wide awake.
His eyes were unusually bright, and the smile on his lips was unstoppable.
He carefully leaned toward Lin Zhenxin's face, kissing her forehead again and again, even finding the salty taste of sweat incredibly pleasant.
Li Yanan kept his eyes open, holding her in his arms.
His gaze settled on the room's floor-to-ceiling window which, at the ti of construction, was ensured to receive the first light of dawn every day.
Gradually, a sliver of light brightened along the horizon.
This process was slow, torturous perhaps if one lacked patience, they might have long given up waiting.
But Li Yanan's eyes remained calm as he watched that light.
—I've waited so long...
—Before despair...
—At the last mont, finally see a faint glimr...
Dawn broke.
"Zhenxin, it's dawn."
Lin Zhenxin woke up naturally, and when she opened her eyes, the bedside clock showed it was already past eleven in the morning.
Groggy, she sat up, and the thin blanket slipped off, revealing her cotton loungewear.
Feeling refreshed, she assud Li Yanan had cleaned her up.
The bed next to her was long cold, evidence of him having left a while ago.
Lin Zhenxin stretched, getting out of bed and heading to the living room where Aunt Xu was holding a mop, her eyes on the TV.
Seeing her co out, Aunt Xu appeared flustered, quickly turning off the TV with a large motion.
Suspicious.
"Aunt Xu, can you make sothing? I'm hungry,"
Lin Zhenxin rubbed her empty stomach, genuinely feeling hungry!
"Okay, I'll make it right away," Aunt Xu said and went into the kitchen, but it was too late to catch the TV being turned back on.
Radio station female anchor in post-marriage affair? Scandalous love quadrangle?
Any traces of sleep left in Lin Zhenxin were blown away by the exaggerated performance of the TV host.
What on earth was being said?
Aunt Xu stood nervously in the kitchen doorway; Li Yanan had instructed her not to let Lin Zhenxin see any of this.
"Madam..."
Lin Zhenxin heard Aunt Xu calling her, but she said nothing, holding the remote, her expression calm as she watched the TV.
The picture of that bouquet of yellow roses even appeared on TV, along with the card she hadn't even looked at before, clearly captured!
She had thrown the bouquet of yellow roses into the trash yesterday and hadn't thought much of it afterwards, given everything that had happened, but...
Soon enough, the questions in Lin Zhenxin's heart found their answers.
She saw the interview with the blurred figure on TV, their face pixelated and voice altered by a processor! But Lin Zhenxin recognized it imdiately!
It was Xiao Shen!
"Aunt Xu, make a bowl of noodles with two eggs, sunny-side up," Lin Zhenxin said with a steady voice.
Aunt Xu quickly agreed, and even Grandma went into the kitchen to lend a hand.
Though it was more play than genuine help.
Before long, the noodles were ready.
Lin Zhenxin went to the dining table, looking at the bowl of noodles that had been made into an art piece, aromatic and enticing.
Thin vermicelli noodles, cabbage hearts taken from the most tender part, fresh and appealing, placed atop the noodles, with crab sticks sprinkled on the cabbage, red and green in contrasting harmony, looking impeccably perfect.
With a poke of the chopsticks, the yolk flowed out of the egg, mixing with the cabbage...
Lin Zhenxin slurped away, and soon, the entire bowl of noodles was in her stomach.
Even the soup was completely consud.
With the al finished, her phone rang just in ti.
Glancing at the caller ID, Lin Zhenxin slamd the bowl down on the table.
As soon as she answered, the familiar voice ca through.
She gave a cold snort; she happened to be looking for him too!
Arriving at the agreed location, Lin Zhenxin was surprised to find it was a pottery shop.
Upon entering, she saw an old master teaching a child to make a cup; the little one's handiwork was naturally crooked.
The master was patient, only looking up when the doorbell chid as soone entered.
"I'm looking for..." should she just say she's looking for He Bainian?
"Miss Lin, right? Bainian is at the back, you can see him if you go inside," the master said kindly, smiling as he returned to teaching the child, helping adjust the lopsided cup.
Lin Zhenxin followed the direction indicated by the master's pointing hand.
Soon enough, she found He Bainian.
The inner room was designed in a simple Japanese style, and beyond the floor-to-ceiling window was a conservatory made of glass.
At that mont, hydrangeas of all colors were shyly blooming.
The greenhouse's temperature must be just right; even butterflies could be seen fluttering inside.
It was the first ti Lin Zhenxin had seen such a design, instantly falling in love with it.
The warm sunlight stread in, and for a mont, she paused, gazing at the view outside, montarily ignoring He Bainian.
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