“I don’t need you to. I can do it myself.”
Lin Shu snatched the bowls and chopsticks from his hands and lowered her head to continue cleaning.
She put all the dishes into the sink.
She added some washing soda to a basin filled with hot water, stirred it well, then lowered her head and scrubbed the dishes vigorously.
Perhaps because she was annoyed, she was using more force than usual.
“I’ll do it. Washing soda is bad for your hands.”
The man had no idea when he had returned. This time, he firmly took the dishes from her hands.
Lin Shu carefully observed him from the side, wondering if Shen Huai had run into some trouble at work and that was why he was acting so strangely.
“What did you do today?”
“Training, a meeting, and in the afternoon I went to another senior officer’s house as a guest.”
Lin Shu understood immediately. Either he had been angered by someone under his command, or he had been reprimanded by one of his superiors.
“Is the leader all right? Nothing happened, did it?”
“No. He simply invited Meng Fan and me to a private dinner.”
“Then why were you unhappy today? If there’s something bothering you, you can just tell me.”
Shen Huai’s hands stopped moving as he washed the dishes.
“Nothing.”
Lin Shu had been hoping she could help him get whatever was troubling him off his chest. Hearing that answer, she felt a little disappointed, but quickly came to her senses.
She had thought too highly of herself. It was true that Shen Huai had feelings for her, but they weren’t at the point where he would tell her everything.
“Sorry. I was being nosy. I won’t do it again. Then I’ll leave you to it. I’m going upstairs to take a shower.”
She had been out for half the day and was sweaty all over. Lin Shu could not stand it anymore and quickly ran upstairs.
Watching her hurry away, Shen Huai sped up his movements, desperately wanting to go after her and explain.
Half an hour later.
Lin Shu stepped out of the bathroom and was immediately met by a handsome face. She took a step back and almost lost her balance.
“If you’re in a hurry to use the bathroom next time, you can just call me loudly.”
“No.”
Shen Huai had come to a deep realization in that short period of time about just how hurtful his brief answer earlier had been.
That was why he had been waiting outside the door the entire time.
“You have something you want to tell me?”
Lin Shu sat in front of the vanity, letting the cool night breeze blow over her as she waited.
After a long while, the man still did not say anything.
“What exactly is wrong with you? Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?”
Lin Shu was almost out of patience. Shen Huai was acting nothing like himself.
“Where did you go this afternoon?”
After all that hesitation, was that all he wanted to ask?
Lin Shu could not understand this man’s thought process at all.
“I already said it at the dinner table. I went to see Cui Shu. Were you distracted and didn’t hear me?”
“No. I saw you.”
Shen Huai paused before continuing.
“I saw the two of you standing at the entrance of the government compound. What did you say to him? And why did you pull his hand?”
Lin Shu racked her brain trying to remember, but she could not recall ever pulling Cui Shu’s hand.
“Are you jealous?”
The corner of Shen Huai’s mouth twitched, but he did not answer.
It seemed he really was jealous.
But this was completely unfounded jealousy. She had not done anything at all.
“Show me. I can’t remember.”
Shen Huai immediately grabbed the sleeve of her pajamas and pulled her to the side.
“Was I doing this?”
Shen Huai nodded, looking a little aggrieved.
“This counts as holding his hand?”
If he found out that she and Cui Shu had played house when they were children, with one pretending to be the father and the other pretending to be the mother, he would probably be furious.
If it had been any other man acting so unreasonable, Lin Shu would have lost her temper and started cursing long ago.
But this was Shen Huai.
She still had to indulge him a little. Otherwise, how could she ask him to help her in the future?
“Mr. Jealous, don’t worry. I’ll be more careful next time. But thank you for what you said at the dinner table today. Thank you for being willing to help my family.”
She looked at Shen Huai and gave him a sincere smile.
Shen Huai had expected her to think he was being unreasonable after finding out he was jealous.
Instead, he was pleasantly surprised and immediately pulled her into his arms.
“A-Shu, your problems are my problems. I love you… We’re going to be together for the rest of our lives.”
Suddenly pulled into the man’s arms, Lin Shu was held so tightly that she could not move at all.
His low, gentle voice sounded somewhat strange to Lin Shu.
“Mm, me too.”
Lin Shu instinctively lied.
Clearly, her intuition had been right. The moment she said those words, Shen Huai loosened his grip slightly.
However, he still did not let her go.
For some reason, Lin Shu suddenly felt a little uneasy.
“Shen Huai, go take a shower. I’m going to wash my face first.”
“Are you disgusted with me?”
“Of course not. Won’t you sleep better after taking a shower? Go on!”
Lin Shu pushed the man into the bathroom, then found his pajamas and handed them to him.
She sat down and stared at her reflection in the mirror, slowly coming back to her senses.
Shen Huai was way too jealous.
His words today had also been strange, giving Lin Shu an inexplicable sense of danger.
Her suspicions were confirmed after the lights went out.
Shen Huai was unusually forceful that night, giving Lin Shu the distinct feeling that he wanted to crush her into his very bones.
No matter how much she refused, he ignored her this time. At one point, because of her resistance, the man even bit her shoulder resentfully.
Lin Shu was too exhausted to question him and eventually passed out.
The next day.
With her hair looking like a bird’s nest, Lin Shu sat silently on the edge of the bed with her eyes lowered.
When she checked the time, it was already ten in the morning.
Once she was fully awake, she lowered her gaze and saw the marks on her shoulder.
Her anger immediately flared.
Shen Huai was such an old-fashioned, conservative man! She had merely spoken to another man a few times, and he had gotten this jealous.
He was being completely unreasonable!
Furious, Lin Shu punched the edge of the bed.
But when she tried to get up, the sore muscles in her arm were pulled, causing her to grimace in pain and collapse back onto the bed.
After struggling for a while, she suddenly remembered that she still had important business to take care of today!
She had almost let that old-fashioned Shen Huai ruin her plans.
Not daring to waste any more time, she was glad she had prepared some of the ingredients the night before, so she did not have to spend too much time getting everything ready.
During that time, Cui Shu called several times.
There was no one at home, so she only managed to answer on his third call.
After she explained that she had overslept, Cui Shu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Once he was reassured, he urged her to hurry. Obviously, his friend could not wait that long.
Lin Shu hung up and sped up her work.
She thought that because she was rushing this time, the taste would definitely not be as good as the flower cakes she had made the day before.
More than two hours later, Lin Shu arrived at the place she had arranged to meet Cui Shu, carrying the imperfect batch of flower cakes she had made.
Unfortunately, she did not see him.
“Little Comrade, are you looking for Cui Shu?”
“Yes. Comrade, may I ask where he went?”
The person standing guard at the entrance could not say much and simply pointed toward the registration office.
Lin Shu walked over.
Cui Shu had left a note telling her to go to the daily chemical factory to find him.
If she remembered correctly, Cui Shu did not work there.
Why would he have gone there?
After thanking the guard, Lin Shu boarded a bus.
She held the flower cakes in her arms and casually found an empty seat.
The moment the bus started moving, someone asked curiously,
“What smells so good?”
“I smell it too. It really smells good. It’s sweet, so it must be something to eat, right?”
“Hey, Little Comrade, is it that paper package you’re holding? What did you buy?”
Lin Shu had wanted to make a name for herself today, so she had made a much larger batch than usual. Naturally, the fragrance was also twice as strong.
“I’m sorry, Auntie. I didn’t buy them. I made them myself.”
The aroma had stirred up everyone’s appetite, but after hearing that she had made them herself, the woman gave up on asking for any.
It wasn’t rush hour, so there were only a few people on the bus.
Lin Shu took out a small box containing ten flower cakes.
“Auntie, why don’t you all have a taste?”
The moment she finished speaking, several people immediately reached over and snatched the flower cakes from the box.
It wasn’t that they had no manners.
The things simply smelled far too good.