The man was tall with long legs and a slender build. Around his waist was a pale pink apron.
He looked somewhat surprised as well.
But after only a brief moment, he returned to his usual refined, reserved expression.
Wen Lan suddenly felt her cheeks grow warm.
She had been caught red-handed sneaking in to look at the little girl.
“When Dudu wakes up, she’ll definitely be very happy.”
The man simply said that much.
He seemed to have just come from the kitchen.
Wen Lan caught the faint scent of cooking lingering around him.
“What would Wife like for dinner?”
Watching the man walk closer, the warm aroma of the kitchen became even more noticeable.
Her principal husband spoke to her naturally, never treating her like a patient the way Leng Feng and Uncle Xiao did.
Instead, he spoke to her as though she were a perfectly ordinary person.
Wen Lan’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
She couldn’t quite figure out what this man’s feelings toward her actually were.
Logically speaking, he had lived with “her” for so long.
They even had a child together.
He should have been the person closest to her.
Yet Wen Lan’s first impression of him was that he was wrapped in layers of mist.
She couldn’t understand him.
Nor could she see through him.
“Wife?”
Lu Zhixing called to her again.
His wife had drifted off into thought once more.
Wen Lan snapped back to reality, inwardly annoyed with herself.
They had only just met today, yet she had already zoned out twice in front of him.
That felt… dangerous.
Although her thoughts remained tangled, her expression became even cooler.
“The same as before.”
She decided to answer vaguely and move past the subject.
The more she said, the greater the chance of exposing herself.
It was better to speak as little as possible.
“Very well.”
Lu Zhixing nodded.
His manner remained respectful and courteous, yet even the simple gesture of inclining his head carried an understated elegance.
Only after the man had disappeared from sight did Wen Lan leave the room herself.
She sighed inwardly.
Just how had the original owner interacted with this man?
Should she be warmer toward him?
Or should she remain distant?
Wen Lan had no idea.
For now, all she could do was take things one step at a time.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhixing stood concealed behind a section of the second-floor wall, his breathing so light it was almost imperceptible.
He slowly unclenched his hand.
His palm was damp with cold sweat.
Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he quietly wiped it dry before carefully putting it away once more.
In the silence, he could hear the violent pounding of his own heartbeat.
It roared in his ears, deafening enough to drown out everything else.
His wife really seemed to be getting better.
Lu Zhixing had imagined countless possibilities.
Perhaps Wen Lan would need a very, very long time to recover.
Perhaps she would never recover for the rest of her life.
She would simply continue gazing quietly out the window. Occasionally, her eyes would drift to him for a fleeting moment.
Even that had always felt like an extravagant luxury to Lu Zhixing.
It captivated him.
It made him greedy for more.
But never, not once, had he imagined that Wen Lan’s condition would improve so quickly.
It was as though, overnight, the fog clouding her mind had parted, allowing her to finally see the world around her.
She saw him.
She saw Wen Wu.
Lu Zhixing clenched his teeth tightly.
Only by doing so could he keep himself from losing composure.
Joy welled up from deep within his chest, flowing through him until every part of his body was filled with it.
He closed his eyes.
The birthmark beside his right ear appeared even more vivid, an unsettling crimson, like fresh blood slowly dripping from the edge of a cold blade.
In the past, whenever he spoke to her, his wife rarely responded.
More often than not, she gave no response at all.
Her gaze always lingered somewhere no one else could reach.
Only Wen Wu had ever stirred any emotion within her.
But the little girl was still too young.
She couldn’t understand the meaning hidden in her mother’s gaze.
She had simply believed that Mommy didn’t like her.
Just now, when Lu Zhixing had asked what she wanted for dinner, the truth was that he had no idea what his wife liked to eat anymore.
He had only been testing her.
The answer he received forced him to pretend to remain calm and leave immediately.
Otherwise…
He wasn’t sure he would have been able to hide his emotions.
Lowering his gaze, Lu Zhixing looked at Wen Lan downstairs, quietly eating strawberries.
Only after a long while did the corners of his lips slowly lift into a smile.
Wen Lan paused midway through picking up another strawberry.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
Yet when she had casually looked around a moment ago, she hadn’t found anyone.
Swallowing the sweet juice in her mouth, she wiped her fingers with a wet wipe.
Maybe it was Uncle Xiao, she thought.
After all, ever since she had come here, Uncle Xiao had always watched over her quietly as though she were a child.