Even saying those words made Cen Xi feel a little embarrassed.
She rubbed the tip of her nose. The words she wanted to say lingered in her throat for a moment before she finally spoke.
“Well… I don’t live in our marital home.”
After they had gotten their marriage certificate, Grandpa Shang had gifted them a wedding apartment—a luxury flat spanning over a thousand square meters.
The location was excellent as well, situated in the heart of the city where land was worth its weight in gold, with beautiful surroundings.
But Cen Xi had only gone there once. She had stayed for less than three minutes before leaving.
The place was simply too large. Standing there alone made her feel cold and isolated. Besides, it wasn’t particularly close to the hospital, and Shang Hanzhou had been abroad anyway.
So she and Lin Xingyou had rented a two-bedroom apartment together in a residential complex near the hospital.
That was where she usually lived.
After saying it, Cen Xi was too embarrassed to look at Shang Hanzhou’s expression.
They were already legally married, yet she lived elsewhere with a friend. It really did seem somewhat inappropriate.
Then again, he hadn’t lived there either.
With that thought, Cen Xi quietly straightened the back she had unconsciously hunched.
Shang Hanzhou didn’t seem interested in pursuing the matter. He merely asked,
“The address.”
Then his well-defined fingers tapped open the navigation system as he waited for her answer.
Cen Xi lightly bit her lower lip. The nervousness she had felt moments ago now seemed somewhat ridiculous. Shang Hanzhou clearly didn’t care whether she lived in their shared marital home.
Taking a deep breath, she quickly brushed aside the faint disappointment in her heart and told him the name of the residential complex.
The Maybach immediately turned around.
Traffic was light at night. More than forty minutes later, the Maybach smoothly came to a stop downstairs at the complex.
Cen Xi lowered her head and unfastened her seatbelt. Before getting out, she thought for a moment and still said,
“Thank you.”
The dim yellow glow of the streetlights outside filtered through the car windows.
The light carved the man’s cold, handsome features into sharp relief. His brows furrowed slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only said,
“It’s getting late. Go upstairs.”
“Okay.”
Cen Xi waved politely at him.
The black Maybach turned around once more and disappeared into the depths of the night.
Cen Xi stood where she was, watching his car drive away into the distance. Only then did she pat her cheeks and turn to walk inside.
She lived on the seventeenth floor, but fortunately there was an elevator.
In less than a minute, the elevator arrived. She stepped out and placed her finger on the fingerprint lock. With a beep, the door immediately opened.
The moment she entered, Lin Xingyou’s face—covered in a pale white facial mask—suddenly appeared right in front of her.
Cen Xi was startled out of her wits. Fortunately, having spent enough time in hospital morgues, she managed not to scream.
“Xi Baby, why are you home so late today? And you hung up on me way too quickly this afternoon.”
Lin Xingyou hooked her arm around Cen Xi’s and pouted.
Cen Xi had just changed into her slippers. Upon hearing that, the image of Shang Hanzhou driving her home flashed through her mind.
The brief pause was enough for Lin Xingyou to sense something unusual.
As expected of a best friend of many years, she guessed the answer instantly.
“Is it because of Shang Hanzhou? You’ve already met him?”
Cen Xi didn’t hide it and nodded.
“Yeah. He was actually the one who drove me home just now.”
“Holy crap!”
Lin Xingyou was utterly shocked.
“Wasn’t he supposed to have been in a car accident? How could he still drive you home?”
Cen Xi briefly explained what had happened.
Lin Xingyou suddenly fell silent.
Feeling thirsty, Cen Xi stopped beside the water dispenser in the living room. Holding her usual pink cat-themed mug, she filled it with water.
Just as she was about to take a sip, Lin Xingyou’s uncertain voice sounded beside her.
“Darling, you haven’t seen him for two years. Do you still like him?”
The hand gripping the mug tightened instantly.
Without taking a single sip, Cen Xi set the mug back down.
She pressed her lips together and replied casually,
“You just said it yourself—we haven’t seen each other for two years. Of course I don’t like him anymore.”
Back then, when she had learned that Shang Hanzhou would be her marriage partner, her heart had soared with happiness.
But after obtaining the marriage certificate, he had immediately gone abroad and stayed there for two full years.
Throughout those two years, they had never contacted each other.
The feelings she once had had gradually cooled.
She and Shang Hanzhou were practically strangers.
Their lives should never have intersected in the first place.
Lin Xingyou clicked her tongue and pinched Cen Xi’s cheek.
“Xi Baby, you’d better not be lying to yourself. Shang Hanzhou isn’t a good man.”
Even now, she still couldn’t understand why Cen Xi liked Shang Hanzhou in the first place.
Cen Xi smiled.
“I know!”
She had spent the entire day at the hospital. The first thing she needed to do after coming home was take a shower.
…
Jingtang Garden.
Even though no one usually lived there, someone regularly came to clean the marital home.
When Shang Hanzhou entered, everything was spotless. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere.
The lights were brightly lit, and the floor-to-ceiling curved windows reflected the tall figure of the man with broad shoulders.
He tugged at his collar with one hand.
Cen Xi had been right.
There truly wasn’t the slightest sign that she had ever lived in this home.
After removing his casual clothes, Shang Hanzhou strode toward the bathroom on his long legs.
The wound was on his thigh.
Cen Xi had specifically instructed him not to let it come into contact with water for the next few days.
But it was summer.
And he was a clean freak.
He simply couldn’t tolerate not showering.
Warm water flowed over the wound, soaking through the dry bandages.
Shang Hanzhou didn’t even frown much.
He finished his shower as usual.
After drying his hair and briefly tending to the injury on his leg, he returned alone to the master bedroom of the empty marital home.
…
The next day was another day shift.
The hospital staff cafeteria had fairly good food, and Cen Xi usually ate all three meals there.
Today was no exception.
She ordered a bowl of millet porridge, a meat bun, and three dumplings.
She had just sat down and taken a bite of her bun when several head nurses who were on good terms with her sat down beside her.
“Dr. Cen, the rice noodles are pretty good today too.”
Head Nurse Chen, the oldest among them, smiled warmly as she recommended the fresh pork rice noodles available in the cafeteria that day.
Cen Xi smiled.
“I’ll try them tomorrow morning.”
“Ahem…”
Head Nurse Chen cleared her throat twice and casually said,
“My nephew is a doctor too. He’s in neurosurgery. He’s been busy studying all these years and hasn’t really dated much.”
“Dr. Cen, if I remember correctly, you’re single too, right?”
Cen Xi paused in the middle of taking another bite of her bun.
Head Nurse Chen continued,
“My nephew is thirty-four this year, and you’re already twenty-eight. How about it? When you have time, maybe the two of you could have a meal together?”
Cen Xi swallowed the last bite of her bun and shook her head.
“Sister Chen, I’m already married.”
“Huh?”
The women sitting across from her all stared at her with wide eyes in surprise.
Cen Xi didn’t elaborate.
Picking up her empty tray, she headed toward the return counter.
“You all enjoy your meal. I’ll be going first.”
After she walked away, Head Nurse Chen let out an unhappy snort.
“If you don’t want to meet him, then just say so. Why make up some story about being married?”
If she were really married, then in the two years she had worked at the hospital, why had no one ever seen her husband come to pick her up after work?
Forget picking her up.
She didn’t even wear a proper wedding ring on her hand!