“What did you say?”
Leng Feng looked at her mistress in surprise. Her cool, detached features seemed even colder today, and for some reason, her mood appeared particularly foul.
“Is that not allowed?” Wen Lan asked, her elegant brows knitting slightly. Her amber eyes were as cold as shattered ice, making her beauty seem even more aloof beneath the sunlight.
Leng Feng quickly nodded.
“Of course it’s allowed. I’ll arrange for people to replace them tomorrow.”
Only then did Wen Lan nod lightly before taking another sip of her coffee and quietly finishing her breakfast.
After Wen Lan had finished eating, Leng Feng spoke again.
“Master, Master Lu and Little Miss will be back the day after tomorrow.”
Wen Lan froze.
Her mind went completely blank.
She wasn’t mentally prepared to meet her husband and child. Was there something she was supposed to do? How had the original owner behaved? Leng Feng’s words stirred up enormous waves in her heart, catching her completely off guard.
After breakfast, Wen Lan returned to her room and sat there in a daze.
Across from her stood a luxurious wardrobe filled with her personal clothing. Most of the outfits were gray or black, matching the minimalist style she had always preferred. The original owner probably had a personality very similar to hers.
Only the world had changed.
Wen Lan tried to imagine it.
If she really had a husband and a child, and they had been away on a business trip but were finally coming home, what should she do?
She spent the entire day thinking about the question without arriving at an answer.
Sitting on the sofa, she watched the television. Onscreen, a petite man was swept into a princess carry by a tall woman as tragic music began to play.
It was obviously a third-rate romance.
Ordinarily, Wen Lan would never have watched something like this.
Yet she had somehow sat through it until well past midnight.
In the middle of the night, the familiar heaviness in her chest became unbearable.
Unable to stay seated, she walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked outside.
The villa’s landscaping was exquisite. Towering trees stood lush and green, broad lawns stretched across the grounds, and shaded pathways wound through them. Unknown flowers and shrubs had been planted neatly along both sides, filling the air with the faint fragrance of blossoms and the fresh scent unique to trees.
Farther away stood a gigantic fountain that bubbled ceaselessly, sending water surging up from underground day and night.
After watching quietly for a while, Wen Lan returned to her bedroom.
She slipped beneath the cool silk comforter, her eyes filled with uncertainty.
She had no idea how much time passed before she finally drifted into a deep sleep.
Because she had gone to bed so late the previous night, Wen Lan overslept for the first time in a long while.
By noon, she was still wearing black pajamas. Her fingertips absentmindedly traced the spine of a book while she stared blankly at the television across from her.
Her thoughts, however, were elsewhere.
Perhaps she should go buy a bouquet of flowers and some toys that afternoon.
Men in this world seemed to be especially fond of Mist Tea roses, bouquets with delicate pink-tinged blooms.
As for her child, she was still young, so she probably liked toys.
Thinking about it made Wen Lan inexplicably nervous.
Tomorrow she would finally meet her husband and daughter.
And yet, she still had no idea what either of them looked like.
Seeing her mistress absentminded and listless, Leng Feng quickly poured her a cup of warm tea. She looked at Wen Lan with concern while placing her medicine beside the cup atop a folded soft cloth.
Looking at the small round white pill before her, Wen Lan tilted her head back and swallowed it anyway.
Once she had become more familiar with this place, she planned to visit a hospital on her own to find out exactly what illness she suffered from.
After lunch, whether because of the medicine or not, Wen Lan felt overwhelmingly drowsy.
She waved Leng Feng away, signaling that she no longer needed to be watched, then dozed fitfully on the sofa.
She had no idea how much time had passed when the front door quietly opened with a faint sound.
Wen Lan immediately snapped awake from her light sleep, instinctively looking toward the entrance.
To her complete surprise, standing in the doorway was a tall man and a little girl who barely reached his calves.
The backlighting made it difficult for her to see them clearly.
She slowly stood up, focusing her gaze on the man as he stepped inside.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He felt both unfamiliar and strangely familiar at the same time.
He was taller than every man she had ever seen, almost exactly matching the height she associated with men from her previous world. By her estimation, the top of his head reached about the level of her nose. His complexion was a warm, fair shade. His features were ordinary, only just handsome enough to be considered attractive. His eyelashes, however, were thick, casting dark shadows beneath his eyes whenever he lowered them. His nose was neither especially high nor low, but delicately shaped. In the center of his pale lips was a distinct cupid’s bow that added charm to his face.
Wen Lan’s gaze shifted to the long red birthmark stretching across the right side of his face near his ear.
For some reason, her heart tightened.
She was still staring absentmindedly when something gently bumped against the leg of her pants.
Lowering her eyes, she saw a short-haired little girl standing beside her.
A startling thought suddenly flashed through her mind, causing her to instinctively take a step backward.
A man.
A little girl.
Leng Feng had said that Master Lu and Little Miss would return the day after tomorrow.
Wen Lan stared at the little girl looking up at her in utter shock.
The child’s face was practically a miniature copy of Wen Lan’s own when she was young.
She looked again at the silent man, who simply watched her quietly.
Suppressing the turmoil in her heart with all her strength, she finally spoke.
“…My principal husband?”
Lu Zhixing removed his coat and draped it over his arm. Hearing her question, he simply nodded, seemingly not bothered in the slightest by the step she had instinctively taken back.
His voice was as gentle as warm jade, soothing like a spring breeze.
“Good day, Wife.”
Wen Lan nodded stiffly before sitting back down on the sofa.
Lost in the chaos of her thoughts, she failed to notice the fleeting look of disappointment that crossed the little girl’s face beside her.
Lu Zhixing’s fingers twitched slightly. He crouched down and gently patted Wen Wu’s head, his voice becoming even softer.
“Dudu, do you want to go back to your room and rest for a while?”
“No, I’m not tired.”
Wen Wu blinked. She had the same narrow eyes as Wen Lan, though at her age they still looked adorably round. Her babyish voice was filled with unwavering determination.
She walked over to the small sofa beside the main couch, sat down with her back perfectly straight, and quietly watched the television.
Wen Lan finally came back to her senses.
Seeing the little girl’s delicate face wearing the same cool, impassive expression as her own, she pressed her lips together.
The sofa beside her suddenly dipped.
The man’s warm body seemed very close.
Out of the corner of her eye, Wen Lan caught sight of the prominent Adam’s apple at his throat, tightly concealed beneath his collar. Her heart skipped a beat. She hurriedly turned her head away, not daring to look again.
For a while, only the tacky family melodrama playing on the television filled the room.
Wen Lan’s thoughts were in complete disarray. She couldn’t focus on the show at all, her eyes merely resting blankly on the screen.
What was she supposed to do now?
She hadn’t even bought any gifts.
Would her husband and daughter be upset?
And her daughter didn’t seem to like her very much.
Had her earlier assumptions been wrong?
Meanwhile, the man sitting beside her behaved as naturally as ever.
He picked up an orange from the fruit bowl and began peeling it.
His fair fingertips looked unexpectedly beautiful against the vibrant orange peel. Before long, he had removed the peel completely, even stripping away every bit of the white pith. He neatly arranged the plump orange segments on a white fruit plate and thoughtfully placed a fork beside them.
“Wife, please have some.”
Looking at the plate of oranges placed before her, Wen Lan felt somewhat conflicted.
Her principal husband gave her the impression of being almost overly formal.
Lu Zhixing wiped the remaining orange juice from his fingertips with a handkerchief before looking straight ahead again.
His wife suffered from delusions and autism. Her condition fluctuated between better and worse. Occasionally, she would recognize them, so he was not surprised by the unfamiliar way she had addressed him just now.
She often forgot who they were.
She often sat alone by the window, silent and lonely, staring outside.
No one knew what she was thinking.
She was like a lone star drifting beyond the world, forever beyond anyone’s reach.
With a tranquil heart, Lu Zhixing accepted that his wife had once again forgotten them.
Later, he would ask Leng Feng to report on how she had been these past few days.
Lost in thought, he suddenly noticed a plump, juicy orange segment appear before him.
It was held between a pair of pale fingers, close enough that he could smell its sweet citrus fragrance.
Then came his wife’s cool voice.
“You eat first.”
Lu Zhixing’s heart trembled violently.
He turned to look at his wife.
This was the first time she had ever voluntarily offered him something to eat.
Even if it was only a single orange segment.
As though completely oblivious to the shock she had caused, Wen Lan picked up another segment and held it out toward the little girl, who had been secretly watching them the whole time.
After that, she calmly resumed eating her own orange.
Halfway through, the sofa to her right sank slightly once more.
With her head lowered, Wen Wu quietly reached over to the fruit plate beside Wen Lan and began eating.
Wen Lan’s sharp eyes immediately noticed that the little girl’s ears had turned completely red.