What? A boyfriend?!
Shu Wan’s eyes widened in shock, sparkling like two suddenly illuminated carnival lights.
Within moments, her fair cheeks gradually turned red, the flush spreading all the way to her ears. She looked utterly bewildered and adorably flustered.
“II don’t have a boyfriend. Of course it isn’t a boyfriend.”
There was something inherently embarrassing about discussing these things with an elder. Whether she had one or not, Shu Wan would never admit to it.
Besides, she genuinely had never been in a relationship at such a young age!
Meng Huaijin watched her panic and stumble over her words. Without making much of it, he stubbed out his cigarette and gave a faint “Mm” before getting up and heading into the study.
That’s it?
Shu Wan: “…”
He always had a way of using the most direct and brutally straightforward words to pull Shu Wan from one kind of sadness into another state of confusion and surprise.
Just like the day he had gone to Nancheng to pick her up.
A casual remark about whether she could be sent to an orphanage had frightened her so badly that she had temporarily forgotten all about her grief and pain.
And tonight was the same.
What had she been sad about earlier?
She couldn’t remember anymore…
The study door was left open.
From her spot on the sofa, Shu Wan could see Meng Huaijin sitting behind the desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Under the reading lamp, his hard, handsome features finally revealed a trace of exhaustion.
.
When he heard sounds coming from the kitchen, Meng Huaijin paid them little attention.
A while later, a cup of liquid was quietly placed in front of him.
He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
It was clearly hangover soup.
And unlike the blackened disaster she’d produced in the trash earlier, this bowl actually looked quite presentable.
“Drink it while it’s hot.”
After leaving those words behind, Shu Wan quietly slipped out of the study.
Cooking was definitely her weak point.
But hangover soup?
That was something she was good at.
Her father often had to attend social dinners and would sometimes come home drunk. If he returned late and the housekeeper had already gone to bed, Shu Wan would make him hangover soup herself.
But now…
Shu Wan quickly cut off the thought.
The apartment was too quiet, so she didn’t go into the bedroom to sleep.
Instead, she lay down on the sofa.
The soft rustling of Meng Huaijin flipping through documents drifted out from the study.
Accompanied by that steady sound, she soon fell asleep.
The next morning, Shu Wan woke up in bed.
Sunlight streamed through a gap in the curtains, warming both her blanket and her feet.
She was only dazed for two or three seconds before quickly turning over and getting out of bed.
She slipped on her shoes and opened the door.
Her gaze swept across the apartment, which was over a hundred square meters, before finally settling on the balcony.
Meng Huaijin hadn’t left.
He was lazily sitting in a single armchair beneath the window, talking on the phone.
His free hand idly toyed with the lid of a porcelain teacup.
“Mm. She’s with me.”
“I’ve been busy lately. I’ll come back when I have time.”
Hearing the voice, Meng Huaijin glanced casually in her direction.
He looked away for only a moment before his gaze returned to her.
She was wearing the pajamas he had asked a sales assistant to choose for her at the mall that day.
He hadn’t noticed it before.
But now that he looked more closely, the clothes were obviously too small.
Shu Wan assumed that the phone call must be something he didn’t want others to overhear.
She immediately withdrew her head and returned to the bedroom.
After getting properly dressed and washing up, she came back out.
It was the first time she had seen Meng Huaijin cooking.
The sleeves of his black shirt were rolled up to his elbows.
From behind, his shoulders were broad, his waist narrow, and his silhouette clean and powerful.
As he tossed the food in the wok with one hand, his other hand rested casually in his pocket.
His movements were so practiced that it looked almost like he was flipping a pistol.
Before being transferred back to Beicheng, he had spent years stationed at a highly classified base.
He carried both the refined nobility of a distinguished family and the ruggedness of a battlehardened military officer.
Now, with his position of authority, there was an additional depth and calculation to his presence.
“Good morning.”
Shu Wan leaned against the doorway and greeted him.
Her gaze fell upon the cup that had held the hangover soup the night before, now washed clean.
A faint smile curved her lips.
Does this mean he’s moved back in?
She wondered silently but didn’t ask.
With a personality like his, he probably wouldn’t give her a straightforward answer anyway.
Meng Huaijin had his back to her.
He replied with a casual “Morning,” then turned around and handed her breakfast.
Shu Wan took the sandwich and carried it to the table.
She waited until he sat down before starting to eat.
The egg and toast had been fried to perfection, crisp on the outside yet soft inside.
It tasted excellent.
“Was that grandpa’s call?”
She was even less familiar with that elderly man.
So far, she had only met him once, when she was eight, and she could no longer remember what he looked like.
She had only asked because she wanted something to talk about.
Meng Huaijin, however, answered a completely different question.
“Why didn’t you tell me the clothes were too small?”
Shu Wan froze.
Wasn’t that simply basic courtesy?
Someone had gone out of their way to buy something for her. Complaining about it afterward would be incredibly rude.
“They’re fine,” she replied.
Meng Huaijin put down his utensils and wiped his hands with a wet tissue.
His gaze was direct.
“Shu Wan, since I brought you here, this is your home from now on.”
“Whatever standard of living you had before, you’ll have the same here.”
“If you need anything in the future, just say so. Don’t hide it or hesitate. You don’t strike me as the kind of person who flatters people just to get ahead.”
For a moment, Shu Wan’s heart was filled with complicated emotions.
Yet at the same time, it felt as though a warm breeze had swept across her shattered heart, soothing the unease and anxiety that had plagued her for days.
Before she left, Grandpa Chen had repeatedly warned her that she would be living under someone else’s roof now.
She would have to watch other people’s expressions.
Whenever possible, she should endure.
Whenever possible, she should give in.
That was why she had been suppressing her natural personality, carefully trying not to make anyone dislike her.
“Now, is there anything you want to tell me?”
Meng Huaijin asked again, his voice still low and indifferent.
“The pajamas really are a little small.”
Shu Wan raised her eyes toward him.
Not only did she tell him the truth, she decided to confess everything.
“Actually… the underwear is too small too.”
Meng Huaijin’s hand stopped while reaching for his water glass.
A moment later, he calmly picked it up and took a sip as though nothing had happened.
“Finish breakfast, then come out with me.”
After breakfast, Meng Huaijin drove Shu Wan to the mall and went straight to the third floor.
He waited in the lounge area and told her to go inside by herself to choose whatever undergarments she needed.
She could buy anything she liked.
Shu Wan had always had her clothes, from head to toe, chosen and purchased by her mother.
So, she actually wasn’t even completely sure what her own size was.
The female sales assistant only needed to glance at her chest before accurately picking out several larger sizes.
She even casually complimented her.
“Miss, you’re quite welldeveloped for your age.”
Hearing that, Shu Wan genuinely had no idea how to respond.
She wished she were a little flatter. Clothes would be much easier to wear that way.
But every time she said something like that, her friends would beat her up and accuse her of humblebragging.
.
When had Meng Huaijin ever accompanied someone shopping?
Even when it came to his own mother and younger sisters, he had always simply paid the bill.
After sitting there for barely ten minutes, he was already bored enough to smoke two cigarettes.
“Huaijin?”
A woman’s voice came through the noisy music of the shopping mall.
Meng Huaijin looked over casually and gave her a slight nod.
“It really is you.”
Jiang Jie’s face carried an unmistakable smile.
“You’ve been transferred back to Beicheng for a while now, haven’t you? We should get together sometime.”
Meng Huaijin looked directly at her and replied indifferently,
“We’ll see when I have time.”
Jiang Jie finally noticed which store he was sitting outside.
Her smile stiffened.
“What kind of person could actually get you to accompany her to a lingerie store?”
Meng Huaijin remained expressionless.
Before he could answer, a bright, crisp voice came from inside.
“I’m done! Let’s go.”
The man stood up, took the shopping bags from Shu Wan’s hands, nodded toward Jiang Jie, and strode away.
“Wow, the Devil himself is finally back?”
Jiang Jie’s friend linked her arm through hers.
“With him back in Beicheng, won’t your Jiang family be able to rise another level?”
Jiang Jie withdrew her gaze and curled her lips.
“That’s about the only use he has.”
.
As they walked, Shu Wan turned around several times to look at the beautiful, tall, sophisticated woman behind them.
In less than a minute, she had already woven at least five different stories in her mind.
The first love who had returned from overseas.
An old flame.
Childhood sweethearts.
A broken relationship waiting to be rekindled…
“Shu Wan, are you planning to see which one of you is harder—the pillar or you?”
Meng Huaijin’s icy voice snapped her out of her wandering thoughts.
Only then did she realize she had nearly walked straight into a pillar.
She tilted her head and called out to him, then hurried to catch up with his long strides.
“You said this morning that I shouldn’t keep my needs to myself. Can I ask you a question?”
Meng Huaijin gave her a sidelong glance and mercilessly refused.
“No.”
“Why? You said…”
“I told you to state your needs. I didn’t say you could pry into my personal affairs.”
“…”