The next day, Ni Yang slowly opened her eyes. The warm-toned wall lamp in the room was still on.
A sliver of light squeezed through the gap in the curtains, generously casting itself onto the dark reddish-brown wooden floor.
She reached out on the bed to look for her phone. She remembered that last night she had brushed her teeth, lay on the bed, held her phone, and was about to play on it when she suddenly fell asleep.
This sleep felt strangely exhausting. The corners of her lips were sore, and her tongue felt slightly numb.
She found her phone under the pillow on the other side.
She pressed the screen on—7:13 a.m.
The milk He Siyu gave really had too strong a sleeping effect. Not only did she fall asleep instantly, she didn’t even dream and slept straight through until morning.
Without thinking much, she unlocked her phone and opened a music app. Pure instrumental music in her playlist flowed gently and smoothly. Ni Yang got up, frowning as she shook her sore neck.
She slipped on her pink slippers and slowly walked to the bathroom vanity.
Turning on the mirror light, she touched her lips, which were unusually red, with confusion.
It was strange. Normally when she just woke up in the morning, her lip color would be lighter than during the day.
With doubts in mind, she brushed her teeth and washed her face, then applied a light makeup. After that, she changed into a white French-style long-sleeved dress with a draped neckline in the walk-in closet.
She picked up the milk cup from last night and had just stepped out of the room when He Siyu also came out from the next-door guest room.
Ni Yang turned toward the sound, her lips curling into a gentle smile.
“Good morning, He Siyu.”
He Siyu’s gaze quickly swept over the cup in Ni Yang’s hand, a deep, dark color churning in the depths of his eyes.
He looked at Ni Yang’s delicate face, his eyes slowly tracing over her rosy lips.
“Good morning, Mrs. He.”
Ni Yang slightly lifted her upper eyelids in surprise as she watched the man walk to her side and take the glass from her hand.
“Let’s go eat breakfast.”
A trace of gentle tenderness lingered in He Siyu’s brows, seeping into Ni Yang’s eyes like threads.
She turned and followed him toward the staircase.
She spoke casually, “Was the milk you gave me last night from the house?”
He Siyu’s temple twitched. His narrow eyes looked at her beside him in confusion, his tone also carrying doubt.
“Yes, it was from the house. What’s wrong?”
Ni Yang looked ahead, dimples faint on her cheeks.
“Nothing. It’s just that after drinking the milk you gave me last night, I fell straight into bed and fell asleep. The effect was a bit too good.”
He Siyu chuckled lightly.
“Is that so? Maybe you were too tired yesterday. Uncle Zheng said the dessert at dinner was made by you.”
“Yes. While you were away, I learned a lot of Chinese pastries. I’ll slowly make them for you in the future.”
“Alright.”
As she spoke, she lifted her eyes to glance at He Siyu, who was much taller than her.
The man’s hair had been carefully styled, and his tailored suit perfectly outlined his excellent figure.
His nose was straight, his lips were lightly red, and his long swan-like neck carried an Adam’s apple that moved slowly as he swallowed.
He really had an extremely excessive face.
With a face like this, He Siyu must have had many girls liking him when he was in school.
If it weren’t for his strict family upbringing, perhaps he would have been a refined, elegant, and gentle man.
He Siyu naturally noticed Ni Yang’s gaze but pretended not to, helping her watch the road ahead.
His lowered eyelashes concealed his slightly pleased emotions.
“Watch the steps.”
Ni Yang quickly looked away and lifted the hem of her dress.
The two of them walked unhurriedly to the dining room downstairs. Uncle Zheng and the maid had already placed the food on the table when they came down.
After breakfast, before leaving, He Siyu told Ni Yang that he would return early for dinner at the Ni family.
After He Siyu left, Ni Yang sat on the sofa in the living room chatting with Min Yan. Beside her, Cotton Candy was playing with its new toy on the carpet—a limited-edition doll that He Siyu had brought back from abroad.
Min Yan: [Nothing happened on your first night living together?]
Min Yan: [ghostly grin.jpg]
Ni Yang leaned lazily against the sofa back, her whole body relaxed and languid.
Ni Yang: [No. He moved to the guest room to sleep, and before sleeping he even brought me a glass of milk.]
Min Yan: [That’s it?]
Ni Yang: [That’s it. What you’re expecting wouldn’t pass review.]
Min Yan: [As a 24-year-old single girl, what I want to read isn’t pure love, it’s smut.]
Min Yan: [Once you two get familiar, remember to pace it like smut novels—go hard!]
Ni Yang curled her lips and sent her a string of ellipses.
In the morning, she unpacked a pile of deliveries, all newly arrived trigger sound tools.
Before lunch, she brought them into her studio, disinfected and organized everything, and recorded a short audio to test all the tools.
Most of Ni Yang’s sleep-aid videos were situational ASMR. Over time, viewers would get aesthetic fatigue, and because production took a long time, many people were constantly urging updates.
So she planned to record pure trigger sounds or read fairy tales in between situational sleep-aid videos, so she wouldn’t go too long without updating.
All her videos and audio were free. She occasionally even held giveaways for her fans.
Of course, Ni Yang’s prepared gifts were Chanel lipsticks, bags, Van Cleef & Arpels, Dior, and similar luxury items.
Her videos also had negative comments, but every time she hadn’t even arrived yet, those commenters would already be mocked into deleting their posts by her fans.
She treated every listener sincerely, and the listeners’ return was to protect her as much as possible without harming others.
In the afternoon, after taking a short nap, she changed into casual clothes and took Cotton Candy to play on the lawn.
At 3:30 p.m., He Siyu’s car drove into the villa. As he walked into the hall, he heard Ni Yang’s voice.
“Cotton Candy, be good, don’t move. Do you like the little gold lock I bought for you?”
He Siyu walked toward the sofa, and what came into view was Ni Yang sitting sideways on it, smiling brightly as she coaxed Cotton Candy into wearing the small gold lock she had bought.
Around the dog’s short neck was a braided red string, and beneath its chin was a delicate custom-made gold lock engraved with its name.
A gentle, lingering smile was embedded in He Siyu’s eyes as he looked at the scene before him—something he had never even imagined.
Perhaps in other families this kind of scene was normal, but for him, it was the first time.
Cotton Candy sensed a familiar scent and turned its fluffy head toward He Siyu standing behind the sofa.
Ni Yang followed its gaze, turning her head and lifting her eyes, innocently and boldly meeting He Siyu’s gaze.
Her smile deepened, dimples lifting, as if infused with intoxicating alcohol, the corners of her eyes slightly curved.
“He Siyu, look at the little gold lock I had made for Cotton Candy. It even has both of our names on it.”
Her voice was sweet and hook-like. He Siyu only felt his breathing grow heavier, his heartbeat disordered. His hand hanging by his side went slightly numb, fingers curling tightly, veins rising on the back of his hand.
One person and one dog were both looking up at him from the sofa.
Their bright eyes were completely filled with him.
“Good-looking.”
He looked into Ni Yang’s eyes and said those two words with a smile.
Suddenly, Ni Yang’s chest gave a faint tremor. Her slightly parted lips slowly pressed together. She turned her head down, then said confidently and brightly:
“I know I’m good-looking, but thanks for the compliment.”