After sending Shi Ying home, Shang Chenyan never went back to the company.
Instead, he took Shang Nian to Ji Huanzhou’s hospital for a thorough examination. Shang Nian was perfectly healthy physically. There was nothing wrong with her body at all—her inability to speak had always been psychological.
Although he hadn’t personally heard Shang Nian call out “Mom,” Shi Ying would never lie to him.
When he carried Shang Nian back home, the house felt empty and silent. Only the faint trace of Shi Ying’s fragrance still lingered in the air.
Shang Chenyan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before sitting down in the exact spot where Shi Ying had sat that morning.
Shang Nian wrapped her arms around his neck. After a full day of examinations, she was exhausted.
“Can Shang Nian say something again?” Shang Chenyan coaxed softly. “Daddy wants to hear Shang Nian talk too.”
Shang Nian blinked her big eyes, but her lips didn’t move.
A faint soreness stung Shang Chenyan’s eyes. He closed them briefly before slowly reopening them, then gently rubbed Shang Nian’s head.
“If you don’t want to talk, then don’t. Daddy will carry you upstairs to sleep.”
Shang Chenyan carried her upstairs, but just as he took a step forward, he heard an extremely tiny voice beside his ear awkwardly call out—
“Daddy…”
Shang Chenyan froze in place.
Standing in the shadows, his silhouette stretched long beneath the light. A sudden ache rose in his nose, and complicated emotions churned within his deep black eyes.
After that single word, Shang Nian stopped speaking again. She tightened her arms around his neck and drooped weakly against his shoulder.
It took Shang Chenyan a long time to find his voice again.
“Nian Nian…”
After settling Shang Nian back in her room, he walked out, exhaustion weighing heavily on him.
Next door was the room Shi Ying had stayed in the previous night.
Shang Chenyan pushed the door open and walked inside.
The traces of her presence still remained everywhere. She still hadn’t changed her habit of never properly straightening the blankets, and the pillows lay scattered messily across the bed.
The entire room was filled with her scent. Shang Chenyan closed his eyes and breathed it in almost obsessively.
He lay down where Shi Ying had slept, pulling the blanket she’d used into his arms. Her fragrance surrounded him from every direction, as though he were holding her in his embrace.
Emotion surged wildly in the man’s eyes.
He could no longer endure Shi Ying leaving his side again.
He had to think of a way to make her live with him.
“Yingying…”
In the silent room, the man’s low, desire-filled voice occasionally sounded out, enough to make anyone blush and their heart race.
***
After returning home, Shi Ying only realized while showering that she’d left something behind at Shang Chenyan’s house.
After bathing the night before, she hadn’t had any clean underwear. Shang Nian had found her a disposable set, so Shi Ying had washed the underwear she’d changed out of and hung them up in the bathroom connected to the guest room.
Shi Ying let out a miserable groan and rolled around on the bed.
What was she supposed to do now?
If Shang Chenyan saw them, how was she ever supposed to face him again?
“Ahhh!”
Shi Ying suddenly sprang upright.
Then she remembered she’d added Shang Nian on Green Bubble, so she hurriedly grabbed her phone and sent a voice message:
“Nian nian, I left my clothes in the bathroom. Can you help me put them away?”
Meanwhile—
By the time Shang Chenyan saw the message, the two pink pieces of underwear were already laid out in front of him.
Only a single table lamp was on in the room. Half-lit shadows outlined the sharp contours of the man’s handsome side profile.
Leaning back against the sofa, Shang Chenyan tightly gripped a tiny piece of fabric in his hand. His refined face was tense, restrained sounds slipping past his lips.
Shang Nian had forgotten her phone in his room.
Normally, she rarely used her phone except for occasionally sending him messages.
The moment the screen lit up, Shang Chenyan had already guessed who it was from.
And as expected, it was her.
Unfortunately for Shi Ying, she was too late. Earlier, when he’d woken up, he had already discovered the things hanging in the bathroom.
The subtle movement of his hand finally stopped.
Shang Chenyan leaned back against the sofa with his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling violently for a long time before he gradually calmed down.
Only after taking a shower did he pick up the phone again.
His long fingers moved slightly as he replied with a single word:
“Okay.”
When Shi Ying received the reply, she finally let out a long sigh of relief.
She could just quietly take them back when she visited again over the weekend.
***
On Saturday, Shi Ying happily slept in.
When she woke up, she saw a message from Shang Chenyan saying he would come pick her up.
Shi Ying replied that there was no need—she could head over herself.
After casually eating something, she carefully dressed herself up before heading out happily.
The location of Shang Chenyan’s home really was exceptional. Hidden within the mountains and forests inside the city, it was secluded despite being near the bustling urban area. Cars weren’t allowed past the main gate at the foot of the mountain, and Shi Ying couldn’t be bothered asking someone to come down and pick her up. It wasn’t far anyway—she could just treat it like a walk.
The forest path was extremely quiet. Occasionally, birds chirped among the trees. Snow clung to the dead branches overhead, and when the wind blew, it fell right down the back of her neck.
Shi Ying, who rarely saw snow, was far too excited to feel cold.
She kicked at the little snowballs beneath her feet, completely failing to notice the car slowly approaching behind her.
Inside the car, Xia Qian spotted Shi Ying’s figure from a distance through the window and nudged the person beside her.
“Shuyan, who’s that?”
Meng Shuyan opened her eyes and looked over, her brows slowly knitting together.
Xia Qian said, “This is President Shang’s private residence. How did she get in here? Is she someone President Shang knows?”
Meng Shuyan stared at the bouncing figure ahead of them. It was obvious she was a young woman.
How could a stranger appear outside Shang Chenyan’s villa?
When Xia Qian received no response, she continued guessing on her own.
“President Shang is such a catch—young and successful. You really need to keep an eye on him. Didn’t that girl from the Lin family sneak in last time trying to get close to him? Don’t tell me this one slipped in while security wasn’t paying attention too?”
Meng Shuyan’s expression darkened.
She looked coldly at the driver.
“Hit her.”
The driver was startled. “Miss Meng, this…”
Leaning back against the seat, Meng Shuyan said icily, “If you can’t do it, then get out.”
The driver didn’t dare say another word. He slammed on the accelerator and drove straight toward Shi Ying.
Shi Ying had been walking peacefully when she suddenly heard the sound of tires crushing snow behind her. The moment she turned around, the headlights blinded her eyes.
Before her brain could react, her body had already instinctively thrown itself sideways into the woods. The car brushed past her shoulder as she crashed heavily onto the ground.
Thankfully, she was wearing thick winter clothing, so nothing hurt too badly. Only her palm had been scraped raw against the gravel.
“Can’t you watch where you’re going?”
Before Shi Ying could even speak, Xia Qian rolled down the window.
“Do you even know how to walk? Where did you come from? Who allowed you in here?”
Shi Ying was utterly baffled.
“I don’t know how to walk? Are you blind instead?”
“I was walking at the side of the road. There’s such a huge road in front of you, yet you drove right at me?”
Xia Qian sneered.
“This is private property, not somewhere someone like you should be. Get lost before I call the police and have you arrested.”
Shi Ying nearly laughed from anger.
“Is this your house?”
Xia Qian raised her brows arrogantly.
“It’s not my house. It’s the future Mrs. Shang’s house.”
Only then did Shi Ying notice another woman sitting inside the car.
The woman didn’t even spare her a glance, sitting there coldly with an aloof expression.
Future Mrs. Shang?
Just then, another car drove over and stopped nearby.
Pei Yanchuan stepped out of the car. The moment he saw Shi Ying sitting on the ground in such a miserable state, he hurried over.
“Shi ying, what happened to you?”