Fu Jichen turned on the stove, throwing the chopped tomatoes into the pan to fry. The sizzling sound of hot oil drowned out Shen Jianian’s voice.
But Shen Jianian knew he had heard her; he just was unwilling to respond.
The tomatoes in the pan started to release their juices. Fu Jichen picked up the kettle and added water, and after it boiled, he asked Shen Jianian, "Do you want so?"
Unnoticeably changed the topic.
Shen Jianian shook her head, "No." The restaurant Zhou Ruo had booked was good, and the dishes matched her taste well. She had eaten quite a lot for dinner.
Fu Jichen cooked just enough for one person, adding eggs and greens, and served it in a bowl.
"Take your ti to eat, I’ll go take a bath."
As Shen Jianian turned to leave, Fu Jichen grabbed her waist and lifted her onto the kitchen counter, the movent was swift, and Shen Jianian didn’t even have ti to react.
Next to her thigh was the sink. Shen Jianian stayed still, afraid she’d topple into it: "What are you doing?"
Fu Jichen placed his hands on either side of her: "Spend the New Year with tomorrow."
First it was Bai Changxia, then Zhou Ruo, and now Fu Jichen—all of them wanted to spend the New Year with her. Shen Jianian felt touched, ward, and loved.
Shen Jianian felt that this position was inconvenient for conversation and tried to jump off the counter but was stopped by Fu Jichen holding her waist: "Don’t want to?"
"I’ve already promised Aunt Zhou to celebrate at her house." Shen Jianian looked calm, "Besides, aren’t you going to the old house to accompany the elders?"
Fu Jichen frowned, having planned already: "I’ll take you to the old house for lunch, and in the evening, we’ll return to Yunding Palace."
Shen Jianian also frowned, eting the family already? She wasn’t ntally prepared yet.
"Can I refuse?" She asked cautiously.
"Reason."
Shen Jianian organized her thoughts: "I think things are progressing too fast. Does your family know about us? I’m not sure about their attitude, it might not be appropriate to go abruptly."
Without mories, Fu Jichen found it hard to explain his family situation to her. He thought for a mont, giving her a brief understanding first and would explain in detail later: "My father passed away, my mother..." he hesitantly referred to Wei Ronghua as his mother, "My mother is hospitalized. You’ve t my brother, Fu Feibai. My grandfather is old and no longer in charge. As for those uncles and aunts, they don’t ddle in my affairs."
"I rember your family is in favor of the Xu family’s heiress, right?" Shen Jianian bit her lip. She had read the news about the impending union between the Fu and Xu families.
Because the Xu family’s heiress later got caught up in a scandal, the marriage talks ca to nothing.
Fu Jichen gave her a light kiss, telling her not to harm her lips: "That wasn’t my intention."
"That’s why I said it was your family’s intention." Shen Jianian wasn’t dull, considering soone of Fu Jichen’s status, a match would certainly be with an heiress from a socially comparable family, not soone like her.
"Didn’t you understand?" Fu Jichen said solemnly, "My family won’t interfere in my affairs."
Although the old man wanted to intervene, due to age and limited energy, the reality was that apart from him, no one could shoulder the responsibilities of Jun Mountain. The old man, better than anyone, understood the stakes involved.
"You should eat first." Despite saying so much, Shen Jianian still chose to avoid the topic, "The noodles are getting soggy."
Fu Jichen no longer pressed her, set her down, gave her a lingering kiss, and then let her go to shower. He took the nearly soggy noodles to the dining room to eat.
*
After dinner, Fu Jichen didn’t leave Shen Jianian’s ho.
Shen Jianian finished her shower, changed the water in the cat’s drinking fountain, and Fu Jichen walked past her with a suitcase, entering her bedroom.
Her eyes were wide open: "You..."
Fu Jichen stopped in the doorway: "What about ?"
Shen Jianian pointed at his suitcase, dumbfounded: "Are you... planning to stay here?"
"I’m too busy." Fu Jichen said helplessly.
Shen Jianian didn’t understand his aning: "So?"
"To make the most of our ti together, to help you get more familiar with ." Fu Jichen left out one thing—if he weren’t worried she’d be unable to adapt, the mont they redefined their relationship, he’d have taken her to the marriage registry with their household registration books, to avoid overthinking the night away.
He kept reminding himself that she was moryless now, not to scare her, to give her a bit more ti.
After explaining, Fu Jichen paid no mind to Shen Jianian’s reaction and pushed the suitcase into the wardrobe, taking out his clothes and hanging them one by one in her closet, next to her light-colored clothes.
His black shirts and her white sweaters, tightly nestled together, the contrasting colors appeared remarkably harmonious to him.
Fu Jichen took a bathrobe to her bathroom for a shower while Shen Jianian, with a blank look, walked into the bedroom. Only the sound of water from the bathroom could be heard, as if a fire had ignited from her head to her toes; her entire body felt hot.
How could he be like this?
The kind of relationship she imagined wasn’t like this.
"Jianian, are you outside?" Fu Jichen’s voice ca through a layer of frosted glass, "Where did you put the towel? I couldn’t find it."
Shen Jianian’s expression was too complex to describe.
"Shen Jianian? Jianian?" Fu Jichen called her again, his voice sounding cheerful.
Shen Jianian succumbed to him, standing outside the bathroom door, telling him that the towel was in the cabinet above the sink, and he could see it by opening the mirror.
After a mont, Fu Jichen ca out. He had also shaved, using his razor, and had a refreshing, handso vibe. His washed hair was dried and appeared fluffy, almost covering his eyebrows.
He lifted the blanket and naturally lay down, pulling Shen Jianian, who was half-leaning against the headboard reading a book, into his embrace, as if performing a familiar routine done countless tis before.
Since Shen Jianian couldn’t rember, she often felt strange in certain situations. For instance, at this mont, she wondered if the person who was once close and shared a bed with him was really her. Could he have found the wrong person?
Fu Jichen noticed that she hadn’t turned a page in a while and pressed his thin lips to her ear and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"I can’t read with you like this." Shen Jianian turned her face away. She still couldn’t let go, feeling shy. Her face turned red easily, especially when he suddenly got close.
"Then stop reading." Fu Jichen took the book from her hands, thoughtfully inserted a bookmark at the page she was on, closed it, and placed it on the bedside table.
"Can’t you go back to sleep at your own place?" Shen Jianian mumbled. His house was just next door, a few steps away.
Fu Jichen: "You don’t want to be with ?"
Shen Jianian didn’t want to lie to him: "I’m not used to it."
"You’ll get used to it over ti."
"You’re really domineering."
"Am I?"
"Don’t you feel it yourself?"
"No."
"Then you don’t know yourself well enough."
The two chatted intermittently. Fu Jichen felt sleepy. He had been on a long-haul flight for more than ten hours, his body a bit weary, and his left leg ached slightly, but he didn’t want to sleep.
Shen Jianian could feel the warm, reassuring large hand on her waist and abdon, unlike the cold touch she felt right after she got ho. She turned her head to look at the man she shared a pillow with. That strange feeling surfaced again: "Do you like a lot?"
Fu Jichen’s sleepy brain instantly woke up, and he looked at her: "Why do you ask that?"
"Are you sure the person you like is ?" Shen Jianian lightly fluttered her eyelashes, unintentionally showing vulnerability, "I can’t rember anything about you; everything is told to by others - you, Aunt Cheng, Xiaxia told , I..."
"I’ve told you, even if your appearance changes and you never rember those past things—" Fu Jichen gave her a clear answer, "As long as you’re Shen Jianian, the person I love is you. I’m very sure."
Shen Jianian’s heartbeat beca a dense drumbeat. She licked her lips and said, "The doctor said I might really never rember."
"It’s okay." Fu Jichen stroked her hair, "It’s enough that I rember."
"Can I not go to the old house with you tomorrow?"
"..." Fu Jichen didn’t expect her to change the subject so quickly, almost not keeping up with the emotions. After a long ti, he sighed, "If you don’t want to go, then don’t. Can we go back to Yunding Palace in the evening?"
To avoid being called domineering by her, Fu Jichen’s tone was negotiable.
Shen Jianian thought, since he had taken a step back, she also took a step back and agreed, "Okay. I’ll bring the cat over."
"Hmm."
"Jixiang won’t fight with the original residents in the villa, right?"
"Original residents?"
"It’s Coal Ball and the others."
Fu Jichen silently sighed. She had a lot on her mind. He wished she could focus a bit more on him.
Shen Jianian’s bed set was made of milk velvet fabric, fluffy, making Fu Jichen sweat after lying for a while. Sticking together made it hotter. She said she wasn’t ready yet. Sleeping here tonight was a self-imposed suffering, but the "culprit" seed oblivious, already asleep.
The phone on the bedside table vibrated, and Fu Jichen, a bit irritable, picked it up to answer.
"Jianian! Sothing big happened!" Bai Changxia’s voice was particularly loud in the silent night, "Take a look at the blog post I sent you. Do you think it’s indirectly talking about you? I suspect it’s posted by Ni Yiqiong! I really didn’t see it coming; this person..."
"What blog post?" Fu Jichen kept his voice low, eyes on the person in his arms, afraid to wake her.
On the other end of the line, Bai Changxia paused for a mont, checked his phone to make sure he had called Jianian, confirming he hadn’t got it wrong.
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