Nan Zhan had been following her closely, watching as she carefully selected items, checking the dates and shelf life of each product with great detail.
He rarely shopped in these regular supermarkets, even high-end malls were the sa, as he considered shopping a trivial waste of ti, so he delegated all such tasks to Hong Yuan.
Normally, Nan Zhan would beco impatient, but Jian Si’s slow and ticulous shopping kept him from getting angry. Perhaps this was what a typical housewife should do; personally washing clothes, cooking, making biscuits, preparing a packed lunch and backpack for the child, sending him to school, saying goodbye at the door, waiting at the school gate in the evening, and holding his hand while listening to his joys and sorrows of the day.
"All ready," Jian Si said, showing the items in her hand to him, "I’ll go pay now."
She looked around and spotted Zhengzheng still squatting in the toy section, "Zhengzheng, let’s go."
Although Zhengzheng was mature for his age, he was still a child at heart. Seeing the toys he liked, he found it hard to leave, but knowing his family’s financial situation wouldn’t allow for such expensive toys, he didn’t cling to what he couldn’t have.
He ran to Jian Si and Nan Zhan, carrying a bag of bread: "Let’s have this for breakfast tomorrow."
Nan Zhan glanced back at the spot Zhengzheng had been squatting, his eyes reflecting deep thought.
As Jian Si was about to pay, a hand, clean and elongated with neatly trimd nails, grabbed her wrist; its grip firm enough to make the knuckles stand out.
"I don’t have the habit of letting won pay," his voice coldly rang overhead, as he handed his wallet to the cashier.
"But I’m the one who shopped for these." He wasn’t accustod to won spending money, and she wasn’t used to spending a man’s money either.
Jian Si was attractive and even-tempered; there was no shortage of suitors over the years, one of whom was a wealthy second-generation who offered her an LV bag saying he could give her one every day, as long as she agreed to be his girlfriend.
Jian Si bluntly told him: "You might as well date an LV bag and skip the gifting step," leaving the rich suitor storming off and later seen with different won at the mall.
"What does it matter if you bought them?" the man seed sowhat unreasonable.
"If I bought them, I should be the one paying," Jian Si insisted.
"Didn’t I tell you that I would be eating biscuits too?" Nan Zhan said, placing his wallet heavily on the counter, hurrying the cashier: "Hurry up."
Seeing his determination, the cashier quickly printed the receipt, processed the paynt, and gave back the change all at once.
Jian Si looked helplessly at him; he responded with three words: "You’ve saved money."
Pfft, she really didn’t care about his money.
When they got back ho, Jian Si started making cookies. Since all the molds were in the sealed-off house, she could only make simple cranberry cookies, making a batch for Zhengzheng and another for Nan Zhan, purposely adding less sugar powder considering he was a man and might not like sweets.
Nan Zhan was reading a book when he suddenly heard a knock. He said "co in," but there was no reply. Frowning, he opened the door to find no one there, only a small box hanging on the doorknob.
He opened it and found it was cookies with a small note inside: Thank you.
Nan Zhan scoffed at the cliche gesture from the woman, but he took the box down and kept it.
He didn’t like sweets, so the cookies were just casually left on his desk untouched, until he felt a bit hungry in the middle of the night and reluctantly tried one. Unexpectedly, it wasn’t very sweet, just barely within his tolerance, and he ended up eating the whole box.
～
Jian Si lay on the unfamiliar bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Adapting to the new environnt was one thing, but mainly closing her eyes brought visions of dreadful images. Only people like Nan Zhan could remain indifferent to such sights as he was all too familiar with them, but she was just an ordinary person, and a woman at that.
Jian Si didn’t know when she finally fell asleep, yet she dread of a disheveled woman gazing at her with a resentful look. Suddenly, the woman opened her mouth, revealing a blood-red tongue: "Give back my life."
The woman lunged at Jian Si, pressing down hard on her chest. Jian Si tried to push her away but couldn’t muster the strength; she tried to scream but couldn’t make a sound.
She struggled desperately like a dying fish, shouting, "It wasn’t , it wasn’t , I didn’t kill anyone."
The blanket was kicked off, and Jian Si suddenly sat up as if a huge weight had been lifted, and the empty room had nothing but the curtains dancing with the night’s breeze.
She hugged her pillow and went into Zhengzheng’s room.
Zhengzheng was sleeping soundly, completely unaware that soone had suddenly joined him.
Jian Si lay down, wrapping her arms around his small body, listening to his light, rhythmic breathing, and slowly her frantic, fearful heart started to settle.
Due to her exceptional mory for faces, she often dread of horrifying events and frequently saw her deceased parents in her dreams, their faces so clear, yet she couldn’t grasp them.
All these nights and days, she had been holding onto Zhengzheng, getting through it all; though he was young, he could soothe her fears.
In the morning, two clear bird calls ca from outside the window.
Nan Zhan opened his eyes, picked up his house robe, and went into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.
He had only recently rented this place, and each ti he woke up, he felt dislocated, as if he were in a foreign land.
Exiting his room, he instinctively glanced into the adjacent bedroom. The door was open; the bed was empty of the woman’s presence.
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