When Song Tinghuan received the notification that her bonus had been deposited into her account, she also received the next assignment issued by Shen Heng.
“You must make sure my brother eats a proper dinner.”
“I have high hopes for you. Keep it up!”
Song Tinghuan flopped onto the soft bed and happily rolled back and forth.
After counting the string of zeros behind the bonus amount, she became so excited that she wrapped herself in the blanket and rolled around several more times.
Good heavens, with that much money, her parents would have to give massages for an entire month to earn the same amount.
And she had earned it after only half an hour of massage work.
What people said online was indeed true. Working for a wealthy family made earning money as easy as picking it up off the ground.
Just then, her aunt Xu Nan called.
“Huanhuan, how are things at the Shen Family? Has anyone bullied you?”
“No, no.” Song Tinghuan replied while lying on her stomach on the bed, kicking her legs back and forth. “Young President Shen treats me really well. When I do my work properly, not only does he give me bonuses, he even praises me!”
“That does sound pretty good. Bosses like that aren’t common. What about Shen Yuqing?”
“Him? He’s pretty good too.” Song Tinghuan rested her chin in thought. “Pretty easy to handle.”
Xu Nan said: “That’s a relief. This is your first job, so you must take good care of yourself. If anyone mistreats you, tell your aunt right away, okay?”
Xu Nan continued giving her all sorts of advice. By the time dinner approached, Song Tinghuan finally ended the call and went to prepare Shen Yuqing’s dinner.
Shen Yuqing was downstairs watching financial news—
His battery had been installed, and he had regained his freedom of movement.
Song Tinghuan walked over.
“What would you like for dinner?”
“Anything.”
So Song Tinghuan searched through the refrigerator and made braised chicken drumstick pieces and stir-fried spinach.
After preparing the meal, she placed it in front of Shen Yuqing.
He only spared it a brief glance.
“Too greasy. Not eating it.”
For the second attempt, Song Tinghuan made steamed sea bass.
“I don’t eat fish with bones.”
For the third attempt, she cooked a light fish ball soup.
“Too bland. No appetite.”
The fourth attempt…
The fourth dish was still in the pot when Shen Yuqing had already maneuvered his wheelchair upstairs.
“Hey, aren’t you eating dinner anymore?”
Shen Yuqing casually tossed out a sentence.
“You’ve taken this long just to make dinner. I’m not eating anymore.”
As the elevator doors closed, Song Tinghuan turned off the gas stove.
Three dishes and a soup still sat on the table. Not eating them would just be a waste.
Song Tinghuan served herself a bowl of rice, sat down, and began eating heartily.
“My cooking is really good.”
That was her assessment as she started serving herself a second bowl of rice after finishing the first.
Halfway through her meal, Shen Heng returned.
“How’s my brother? Did he eat today?”
Song Tinghuan shook her head.
“It seems like everything I made wasn’t to President Shen’s taste.”
So he still hadn’t eaten.
Shen Heng could not help feeling disappointed, but he still comforted her.
“He’s been especially picky these past few days. It might not even be your fault.”
Song Tinghuan nodded.
Of course it wasn’t her fault.
“There’s still rice in the pot. Young President Shen, would you like some?”
Shen Heng had not planned on eating. He had only come because he was worried and wanted to check on the situation. Later, he still had to return home, where his parents were waiting.
But when he saw the three dishes and soup on the table—the glossy chicken drumsticks, the fragrant sea bass, and his favorite fish ball soup—
“Just serve me a small half bowl.”
After finishing half a bowl of rice, Shen Heng sighed.
“This definitely isn’t a problem with your cooking.”
Smiling, Song Tinghuan served him another bowl and asked,
“Then does President Shen have any food restrictions?”
As Shen Heng shoveled rice into his mouth, he said,
“My brother has a lot of them. He doesn’t eat scallions, ginger, or garlic at all. He won’t eat greasy fatty meat. As for pork and beef, he’ll only eat rib cuts. He doesn’t eat chicken skin or fish skin. Oh, and he doesn’t eat fish with bones. He likes green vegetables but only eats the leaves, not the stems. He won’t eat fruits that need peeling or have pits. Pre-cut fruit is another matter…”
Song Tinghuan interrupted him.
“Wait a second, let me get a little notebook and write this down.”
Shen Heng listed a whole bunch of restrictions before finally adding,
“Recently he’s also been eating very little. Like a cat.”
Looking at the two pages of notes she had filled, Song Tinghuan thought that wasn’t unlike a cat at all.
Delicate and difficult to serve.
And even after serving him, she still wouldn’t get a pleasant expression in return.
“Take it slowly.” Shen Heng let out a full-bellied burp. “My brother even accepted your massage today. That’s already progress. I believe you can do it.”
After Shen Heng left, Song Tinghuan cleaned up the dining room and kitchen before returning to her luxurious nanny room.
After soaking in the massage bathtub, her whole body felt much more relaxed.
Lying on the two-meter-wide soft bed, she could see the bright moonlight pouring down through the balcony.
Before falling asleep, Song Tinghuan counted the extra zeros in her account once more and drifted off to dreamland with a smile on her lips.
The next morning, when Song Tinghuan got up and went downstairs, Shen Yuqing had already finished washing up, dressed neatly, and was downstairs.
Full of energy, Song Tinghuan greeted him.
“Good morning, President Shen!”
Shen Yuqing glanced at her.
“Mm.”
Walking over to him, Song Tinghuan bent down and asked,
“You didn’t eat dinner yesterday. Are you hungry?”
Shen Yuqing calmly turned a page of his newspaper.
“Not hungry.”
“Then what would you like for breakfast?”
“Anything.”
Those two words again.
After thinking for a moment, Song Tinghuan decided to make something different.
While reviewing the food restriction notes from the previous night, she mixed up a whole-wheat batter and made a jianbing. Inside, she wrapped lettuce leaves and chicken breast, using low-fat salad dressing as the sauce.
When she placed it in front of Shen Yuqing, he said,
“I don’t eat street food.”
Song Tinghuan was not discouraged.
“Okay, then I’ll make something else for you.”
She set down the jianbing and returned to the kitchen.
Shen Yuqing’s gaze landed on the jianbing.
His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed.
For a street food item, it unexpectedly looked rather good.
Forcing himself to look away, he instead looked toward Song Tinghuan.
She was dressed much like she had been yesterday, except her dusty-pink overalls had been replaced with light blue ones. An apron was tied around her waist as she busily worked in the kitchen.
Like a cute little spinning top that never grew tired.
The little spinning top soon brought over a latte and a French sandwich filled with egg and ham.
Grrr.
A very faint sound.
It came from Shen Yuqing’s stomach.
Silently, Shen Yuqing lowered the newspaper onto his abdomen and carefully observed Song Tinghuan’s expression.
Mm.
She probably hadn’t heard it.
“Not eating it.” Shen Yuqing said.
The uplifted expression on Song Tinghuan’s face finally drooped. Her eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed tightly.
Seeing her frustrated, Shen Yuqing said calmly,
“If you think I’m difficult to take care of, then leave—”
Before he could finish the rest of the sentence, Song Tinghuan suddenly seemed to confirm something. Straightening up, she waved.
“Young President Shen, it really is you! I’m nearsighted and forgot to wear my contact lenses. I thought I was seeing things.”
Shen Heng jogged over.
“I didn’t miss breakfast, did I?”
Heaven knew how long it had been since he had voluntarily gotten up early. After returning home last night, he had been thinking about Song Tinghuan’s cooking the entire time. Today, he had deliberately woken up an hour earlier than usual just to come eat breakfast.
Song Tinghuan smiled brightly.
“No, you’re right on time. President Shen isn’t eating this breakfast, so see if you like it. There’s also jianbing over there.”
Shen Heng’s eyes lit up.
“Jianbing is my favorite!”
Shen Heng happily bit into the jianbing, stuffing both cheeks full.
Seeing him eat so enthusiastically made Song Tinghuan even happier.
“Young President Shen, slow down. Have some freshly ground soy milk.”
Shen Heng enjoyed this breakfast immensely.
So much so that he completely forgot he had come to check on his brother.
By the time he remembered, the look Shen Yuqing gave him resembled the look someone gave another family’s younger brother.
Shen Heng froze and held out the last bite of jianbing.
“Brother, do you want it?”
Shen Yuqing said nothing. He simply rubbed the controls of his wheelchair and entered the elevator to go upstairs.
“My brother still isn’t eating.”
Song Tinghuan placed a fried egg in front of Shen Heng.
“He’ll definitely eat. It’s only a matter of sooner or later.”
Shen Heng looked at her in admiration.
“You even know that?”
“I used to have a cat. The cat was perfectly healthy, but it just wouldn’t eat anything. No matter what kind of food I prepared, it refused. So I stopped paying attention to it. After a few days, it came asking for food on its own and would eat whatever I gave it.”
Shen Heng said: “Amazing. How did you manage that?”
Song Tinghuan replied,
“By letting it get hungry.”