Lin Wangxi rubbed her nose and gave an awkward smile. “I’m hungry. I’ll flip for you after I eat.”
Zhou Jinyuan let out a helpless sigh. “Go eat first.”
Lin Wangxi responded with an “oh” and slowly made her way to the dining table with her crutch, sitting down carefully.
Zhou Jinyuan went into the kitchen, reheated the leftovers from her lunch, and brought them out.
She noticed that in his bowl, he had mixed all the reheated dishes together into a kind of hodgepodge.
A strange feeling stirred in her chest—something sour and difficult to describe.
In the past, leftover food had always been handled by the housemaid. She had never thought about waste.
Nor had she ever imagined that someone would so naturally eat her leftovers.
And that person was Zhou Jinyuan—the same man she had once forced into a relationship.
“Um… is it good?” she asked.
Zhou Jinyuan paused, looking up at her in confusion. “What?”
Lin Wangxi pointed at his bowl. “That… mixed-up thing. It looks kind of tasty. I want to try some.”
He lowered his gaze and looked at the contents of his bowl—chunks of braised pork, wilted greens, and tomato scrambled egg sauce all blended together.
“It’s not good. Eat this instead.” He pushed the two freshly cooked dishes toward her.
But Lin Wangxi insisted. She reached out and snatched his chopsticks. “I want to try it. Let me try!”
Zhou Jinyuan stared at her intently, as if trying to see through her thoughts.
Under his gaze, Lin Wangxi began to feel uneasy.
“Lin Wangxi,” Zhou Jinyuan suddenly said, “you don’t have to do this.”
She glared back at him, masking her discomfort. “Do what?”
“If you don’t eat it, it’ll just become leftovers again tomorrow.”
Her grip on the chopsticks tightened slightly.
She didn’t actually want to eat it—she just didn’t want him eating her leftovers.
“I… I’m just curious,” she said stiffly, her voice dropping, tinged with embarrassment at being seen through. “Is that not allowed?”
Zhou Jinyuan didn’t respond. He simply looked at her quietly.
That calm, unreadable gaze pressed down on her until she instinctively looked away.
After a few seconds of stalemate, Lin Wangxi finally gave in. Somewhat dejected, she placed the chopsticks back into his bowl.
“Forget it. I won’t try it.” She lowered her head and poked at the freshly cooked green pepper stir-fry in front of her.
Zhou Jinyuan glanced at her, his lips moving slightly as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he simply picked up his chopsticks again and continued eating the mixed leftovers.
The meal ended in an oddly quiet atmosphere.
As before, Lin Wangxi didn’t finish her portion. Her appetite was small, and she couldn’t eat much.
Once again, Zhou Jinyuan took what remained and finished it himself.
She had wanted to stop him several times, but since he had already eaten her leftovers at lunch, trying to stop him now would only feel unnecessary.
After washing the dishes, Zhou Jinyuan went into the bedroom and took out a few sets of his clothes.
Lin Wangxi watched as he moved back and forth, folding and organizing them into a box and placing it in the corner.
Was he… planning to give her the entire room?
Finally, he grabbed a set of pajamas and went into the bathroom.
Listening to the sound of running water, Lin Wangxi picked up her phone and checked WeChat.
There were no messages—just a couple of friends sharing irrelevant gossip.
She opened her balance: 53,800 yuan.
Silently, she calculated how much rent she should give him. Her leg would take time to heal, and she didn’t know if fifty thousand would be enough.
If she rented a place on her own, it definitely wouldn’t be.
While she was thinking, Zhou Jinyuan came out of the bathroom.
He was wearing a black set of pajamas. The style looked old, and even from a distance she could see the fabric was pilling. The pants were a bit short, ending above his ankles.
Lin Wangxi couldn’t understand it—he was clearly highly educated, so how could he be this poor?
Even the housemaid in her home dressed better than him.
Fortunately, his good looks carried him—he could probably wear a sack and still look handsome.
Sensing her gaze, Zhou Jinyuan paused mid-motion while drying his hair and turned to look at her. “What is it?”
Lin Wangxi quickly looked away and brought up the real matter. “I’m going to stay here for a while. How much rent should I pay? Is fifty thousand enough?”
Zhou Jinyuan froze for a moment.
“You don’t need that much.”
“Then how much?”
He opened his mouth, hesitated, then said, “Two thousand is enough.”
“That cheap?” Lin Wangxi looked surprised. “What about food? You don’t have to feel awkward, I have money.”
Zhou Jinyuan clearly didn’t want to continue this topic.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, “What are we now?”
The question caught Lin Wangxi off guard.
It sounded oddly familiar.
She quickly responded, “Are you asking for a title?”
Zhou Jinyuan frowned. “What do you mean?”
Lin Wangxi said seriously, “I’ve been seeing those videos online where spirits in human skin ask for recognition—it’s exactly like how you just asked.”
“…”
Zhou Jinyuan’s eyelid twitched. He turned his head away. “Go to sleep.”
Lin Wangxi looked confused. Why did he suddenly seem upset?
Originally, Zhou Jinyuan had only been forced into the relationship. Now that she no longer had leverage over him, she had automatically considered the relationship over and hadn’t thought much about it.
“You still haven’t told me how much rent.”
“Two thousand.”
“Really just two thousand?”
Zhou Jinyuan took a deep breath, then exhaled heavily.
He looked at her and said in a low voice, “Then give me two hundred thousand.”
Lin Wangxi blinked and met his gaze for two seconds.
Then she silently lowered her head, took out her phone, and transferred two thousand to him.
“Then two thousand it is.”
Zhou Jinyuan ignored her, walking over to sit on the sofa. “You should go to sleep.”
Lin Wangxi glanced at the time. It was only a little past seven. “Isn’t that too early?”
“Sleep early. Tomorrow morning I’ll take you to the hospital,” he said, plugging in the hairdryer and starting to dry his hair.
“Didn’t I say I’m fine? Why go to the hospital?”
“I have something to do there anyway. I’ll take you for a checkup on the way.”
“Oh… okay then.” She nodded.
She felt a little guilty about troubling him, but since it was on the way, there was no need to refuse.
Lin Wangxi grabbed her crutch and hopped back to the bedroom.
Zhou Jinyuan watched her hopping away on one foot. He wanted to tell her she was using the crutch wrong.
But the way she bounced around like a little rabbit made him swallow the words.
With the new mattress, Lin Wangxi finally slept comfortably. She fell asleep within half an hour.
The next morning, she woke up early at seven.
But Zhou Jinyuan had woken up even earlier—breakfast was already prepared.
She went to the bathroom on her own, hopping toward the doorway.
When Zhou Jinyuan came out of the kitchen, he saw her stuck at the bathroom entrance.
The threshold was a bit high, and she had tried jumping several times but still couldn’t get over it.
She looked like a glitched character in a video game, stuck in place and unable to move forward—oddly amusing.
After watching for a while, Zhou Jinyuan couldn’t take it anymore. He put down the plate in his hand and walked over.
“I’ll help you.”
Lin Wangxi froze for a moment. Before she could react, her body was already lifted into the air.
Startled, she dropped her crutch and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.