Fu Jichen hadn’t had a proper birthday celebration for several years. On the day they registered their marriage, Shen Jianian saw the information on his ID card and knew that his birthday was September 22nd.
Not long from now, she was going to Sydney with the symphony orchestra for a performance, and she wanted to celebrate his birthday before leaving the country.
As for the birthday gift, Fu Jichen seed to lack nothing, and she really didn’t know what to give him.
For this reason, she even specifically consulted Bai Changxia, asking for her help to think about it, and also inquired what she gave her husband for his birthday, hoping to get so ideas.
Bai Changxia’s answer was very simple: open her husband’s shopping cart and secretly buy the things he desired but hadn’t ordered yet...
So, taking advantage of the mont when Fu Jichen went to the bathroom to shower, Shen Jianian glanced at his phone, which was charging on the bedside table. She stepped lightly over, picked it up, and occasionally peeked at the direction of the bathroom to prevent him from suddenly coming out.
It was her first ti snooping on Fu Jichen’s phone without his permission, and inevitably, she felt a bit nervous, akin to the mindset of a thief.
She knew Fu Jichen’s phone password. She entered it digit by digit, unlocked it, and went straight to the hopage. There were pathetically few downloaded apps, and there wasn’t a single shopping app in sight.
As expected, Fu Jichen couldn’t be judged by common sense.
He didn’t need to shop for himself. Whenever he wanted sothing, he just had to ntion it, and his assistant and secretary would handle it for him.
Shen Jianian pursed her lips in disappointnt and was just about to put the phone back when the bathroom door clicked without warning. She thought she was hearing things due to being overly nervous and jerked her head around.
Fu Jichen ca out in disarray, and as soon as he raised his eyes, he saw Shen Jianian holding a phone.
She wasn’t mistaken; it was his phone. Her hand was reaching above the bedside table, not sure whether to put his phone back or having just picked it up.
"Y-you finished showering so fast?" Shen Jianian said with a lack of confidence, accidentally stuttering. She didn’t even know why she felt so guilty since she hadn’t done anything wrong.
Fu Jichen raised an eyebrow: "I hadn’t showered yet, forgot to get my pajamas."
Shen Jianian’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she glanced at his shirt, which indeed didn’t look like he had finished showering. It looked more like he had unbuttoned everything, realized he hadn’t taken his pajamas, and ca out.
She withdrew her gaze from his well-defined abdon, and her mind blanked out. After several seconds, she feigned nonchalance, put his phone back on the bedside table, and then awkwardly explained, "My phone is out of battery, I was just using yours to check sothing."
"Oh——" Fu Jichen’s dark eyes were filled with teasing amusent as he drew out his words, "Did you find it?"
Since he said it like that, Shen Jianian could only forcefully carry on with the lie. She sat properly at the edge of the bed, her hands pretending to be relaxed on her knees, yet her expression was serious and solemn, making her seem incongruous: "I did."
The laughter escaped through the corner of Fu Jichen’s eyes. He stood there with his shirt open, exposing a large area of skin. He walked to the bedside, picked up his own phone, and glanced at it.
Shen Jianian thought he was checking for traces of her looking through his phone and wanted to explain but didn’t know where to start.
What she didn’t know was that Fu Jichen was simply checking the battery level. Having confird it didn’t need charging, he unplugged it and handed her the phone: "If you want to look, just look openly. No need to be sneaky. Feel free to look."
From his words, Shen Jianian perceived a different implication, feeling that he misunderstood sothing, and she spoke with an aggrieved tone, "You don’t think I’m investigating you, do you?"
Fu Jichen: "Investigating what? To see if I’m chatting with other won?"
"I..." Shen Jianian took a deep breath, almost choking herself—he really had misunderstood!
"It’s okay to check whatever you want." Fu Jichen, seeing that she was reluctant to take the phone, grabbed her hand and placed it in her hand. His lashes drooped, his gaze was deep, and the humor in his eyes never faded. His tone was low and slow, as if deliberately coaxing, "To be honest, when you do this..."
Shen Jianian was led off track by him and asked, "What about when I do this?"
"When you do this, I can only say that I am amused." Fu Jichen pondered for a mont, unable to find a suitable description, but he indeed felt amused, so saying "amused" wasn’t wrong.
Shen Jianian’s lips parted slightly as if she wanted to say sothing, but didn’t, unsure whether to clarify that she wasn’t investigating him or to remark that he was too easily pleased.
Fu Jichen hadn’t finished his words and continued: "It ans you care about ."
His wife cared about him; how could he not be happy about that?
Shen Jianian, unable to explain, placed the phone he stuffed into her hands back on the bed and tried to change the topic to move past this: "Weren’t you going to shower? Why haven’t you gone yet?"
She could hear the water still running in the bathroom.
Fu Jichen glanced at the phone she casually tossed on the bed and didn’t follow her lead to change the topic but asked, "Aren’t you going to check my phone anymore?"
"I never intended to look!" Shen Jianian took a deep breath, "Why don’t you believe ?"
"Oh."
Hearing the slightly low "oh" in his voice, Shen Jianian looked up at his face. She hadn’t checked his phone, and he seed disappointed?
Fu Jichen picked up the pajamas he had left behind and went to the bathroom.
After he left, Shen Jianian let out a weary sigh, took her phone, and lay on the bed. About five minutes later, Bai Changxia sent her a ssage.
Bai Changxia: "Did you get it done?"
Seeing these words, Shen Jianian felt even more exhausted. She covered her eyes with her hand, stayed silent for a while, then picked up her phone, typed a few words, and sent them: "Better not to ntion it."
Bai Changxia quickly replied: "What do you an?"
Shen Jianian described the twists and turns of checking Fu Jichen’s phone. Bai Changxia sent a voice ssage, bursting into an unkind laugh: "How did it turn out like this? Hahaha."
Shen Jianian was helpless, she also wanted to know how it turned out like this.
The idea of "emptying the shopping cart" didn’t work. Shen Jianian silently crossed it off. With Fu Jichen’s birthday approaching, she hadn’t prepared a gift, and it was stressing her out so much she couldn’t even play her instrunt well.
*
In the blink of an eye, Fu Jichen’s birthday arrived. September 22nd was a Thursday, a weekday.
Early in the morning, while Shen Jianian was helping Fu Jichen with his tie, she asked casually: "Do you have any social engagents tonight?"
Fu Jichen’s mind was sharp, nearly the second she asked, he realized sothing: "Do you have plans? Want to make ti tonight?"
Shen Jianian slightly pursed her lips. Communicating with soone too smart was troubleso; it was easy for her thoughts to be seen through, making it harder to create a surprise.
After straightening the tie, Shen Jianian gently patted it, then slowly lifted her gaze to et his eyes, trying to be as calm and natural as possible: "No, just asking casually."
Fu Jichen replied: "I don’t have any social engagents."
Afraid of being discovered, Shen Jianian didn’t continue. They went downstairs together, had breakfast, waved off Fu Jichen as he left, and Shen Jianian stayed at ho for another half an hour before leaving.
However, she didn’t go to the symphony orchestra’s studio but went to a small theater instead.
Her departure couldn’t be hidden from Xiao Zheng who was driving her, so when she got in the car, Shen Jianian instructed him: "If Fu Jichen asks, just say I’m practicing at the studio."
Xiao Zheng was taken aback, not understanding her intention.
Knowing he was employed by Fu Jichen, Shen Jianian realized she had to be honest to ensure his secrecy: "Today is Fu Jichen’s birthday."
Xiao Zheng imdiately understood. She wanted to prepare a birthday surprise for Mr. Fu and needed it to be secret. He assured her, "Don’t worry, I won’t say anything."
Shen Jianian was foresighted. During lunchti, Fu Jichen indeed called Xiao Zheng to ask what Shen Jianian was up to. Xiao Zheng said she was at the studio and would have lunch with the orchestra mbers, continuing rehearsals in the afternoon.
Xiao Zheng never lied, so Fu Jichen didn’t suspect a thing.
At 5:30 in the afternoon, Fu Jichen left the office, took the elevator to the underground parking lot, and heard his phone chi in his pocket. He took it out to see that Shen Jianian had sent him a ssage on WeChat.
It was a location.
Fu Jichen hadn’t realized anything was amiss at this point. He typed with one hand in response: "Is your orchestra rehearsing here?"
Shen Jianian sidestepped the question with a few words: "Co pick up."
Fu Jichen didn’t ask about Xiao Zheng’s whereabouts or why she hadn’t asked Xiao Zheng to drive her, simply replied with an "Okay," put away his phone, got into the car, and told Qu Mo the address of the theater.
After a drive of more than half an hour, Fu Jichen arrived at the location Shen Jianian had sent, took out his phone, and ssaged her: "I’m here. How much longer will you be?"
Shen Jianian replied: "Co to Music Hall 6 and wait for ."
Fu Jichen got out of the car and walked into the theater alone. It was an older theater, the venue was small, and the decor was simple. After asking a passing staff mber, he learned Music Hall 6 was on the second floor, so he took the carpeted stairs up.
At the top of the stairs, a left turn showed a door marked as 4. Faint opera music could be heard from within, but the soundproofing was good, making it not very clear.
Fu Jichen walked down the corridor, passing Music Hall 5 until he reached Music Hall 6. The door was tightly closed, with no sound coming out, which made him doubt if he had found the right place.
Fu Jichen hesitated for two seconds, then reached out and pushed the door open.
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