That night, Xu Chengyi had a chaotic dream. At the end of the dream, she jolted awake with a start.
The man beside her—whether a light sleeper or not yet asleep—leaned over and switched on the bedside lamp, asking in a slightly hoarse voice, “What’s wrong?”
Xu Chengyi turned her head dazedly and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Nothing, just had a nightmare.”
“Mm.”
Suddenly, a heavy rain poured down outside the window.
“It’s raining,” she said.
“Mm,” he replied.
She lay back down. “I’m fine now.”
With a soft click, the light went out, and the room fell quiet.
Xu Chengyi tossed and turned, unable to sleep, so she picked up her phone and scrolled through her feed to ease her mind.
Who would’ve thought she’d lose track of time—before she knew it, her phone died.
She set the phone down, yawned, and drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, the knocking that had been absent for several days arrived right on schedule.
Aunt Wu knocked on the door while calling out, “Second Young Master, Second Young Madam, time to get up.”
Out of habit, Xu Chengyi pulled the blanket over her head, curling herself into a cocoon like a silkworm chrysalis.
Compared to her irritation, Song Wenzhou rose calmly and opened the door.
Aunt Wu informed him with a smile, “The Second Young Madam hasn’t gone to class for several days and has fallen behind on a lot of coursework. She should go to class today.”
Hearing this, Song Wenzhou inexplicably breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
If those classes wore her out, she wouldn’t have the energy to pester him at night.
“Mm,” he responded.
Turning back into the room, he saw the “silkworm chrysalis” on the bed and couldn’t help but reach out and give it a push.
Xu Chengyi rolled over. He pushed again. She rolled again.
A smile unconsciously tugged at the corner of his mouth—he’d never thought of himself as this childish before.
Xu Chengyi didn’t want him to keep poking at her, so she started rolling continuously.
Then—”Ah!”—her body went weightless as she tumbled off the bed, blanket and all.
Song Wenzhou rushed over, scooped her up onto the bed, and hastily peeled the blanket away.
“You…” Are you okay?
As the blanket came off, he saw the little girl’s pitiful face beneath her tousled hair.
“Honey, I think I got hurt falling. Ouch, my head is so dizzy… I probably can’t go to class today. Can you help me ask for leave?”
After all this time together, he knew this was her usual trick of playing coy—she wasn’t actually hurt at all.
Song Wenzhou let go of her. “Hurry up and get up.”
She pretended to faint. “Can’t get up…”
Watching her clumsy acting, Song Wenzhou laughed silently to himself.
“I know you’re not unconscious,” he said, ruthlessly calling her bluff.
Xu Chengyi sat up indignantly, furrowing her brows and glaring at him. “I can see you’re not stupid either.”
Song Wenzhou subtly averted his gaze. “I have eyes.”
Xu Chengyi huffed twice, then leaned over to grab her phone and sent Lin Rui a message: 【Sis’s good days are over.】
Lin Rui: 【？？】
Xu Chengyi: 【Back to socializing again.】
Only after she’d had her fill of lounging in bed did she get up and head downstairs.
The Old Master was also at the breakfast table.
Song Yuanya asked, “Going to class today?”
Xu Chengyi nodded obediently. “Mm, it’s not good to fall too far behind.”
Song Yuanya said, “It’s right to learn some skills to carry you through life. Once you’ve mastered them, you can go help out at the group.”
Xu Chengyi was a thousand times unwilling inside—being forced to marry Song Wenzhou was already bitter enough, and now she had to become a corporate workhorse… But she still smiled and agreed. “Mm, I’ll study hard.”
Ling Zhu glanced at Xu Chengyi, utterly puzzled. Why did the Old Master care so much about this girl—even more than his own flesh and blood?
Actually, she’d been there yesterday too, watching the whole scene from the second-floor corridor.
When she first arrived at the Song family, it was the dead of winter. The camellia tree had been dusted with frost and snow, yet it bloomed against the wind, swaying gracefully, dazzlingly bright.
She’d once casually asked the Old Master if she could pick a bouquet, and he’d warned her with a cold, stern face—not to touch a single leaf of that camellia tree.
The Old Master’s look, as if he wanted to devour her, she still remembered to this day.
But Xu Chengyi had picked an entire vase full, and the Old Master hadn’t scolded her at all—just asked one serious question.
What a rare sight.
After breakfast, Xu Chengyi headed out.
She arrived at Peach Blossom Springs right on time and ran into Fang Kena and her little clique in the lobby.
Today, though, Wang Ling wasn’t there.
Lin Rui was crouched in a corner playing on her phone when she spotted Xu Chengyi. She immediately stood up and walked over.
The first thing she did was check her leg. “It’s healed up pretty well.”
Xu Chengyi raised an eyebrow. “Thanks to my idiot husband applying medicine on time every day.”
Lin Rui raised her brows and clicked her tongue twice. “Well, he treats you decently then.”
Xu Chengyi didn’t give too high a praise, just said matter-of-factly, “He’s not bad in some aspects.”
The morning session was tea ceremony class. They entered the classroom first, the two of them squeezing onto one long bench, leaning against each other while playing on their phones and chatting idly.
“Oh right, that video I gave you last time—how was it? Good, right?” Lin Rui asked.
Xu Chengyi’s face warmed as she said, “Not bad.”
Lin Rui put down her phone, looking utterly gossipy and shameless as she asked, “Come on, tell me—is Song Wenzhou big or not?”
As her words fell, the small group that had been chatting in the hall entered, with Fang Kena at the lead, her gaze sweeping lightly over Xu Chengyi.
Xu Chengyi received her look but pretended not to see it.
Lin Rui whispered in her ear, “By the way, what method did you use? Wang Ling and her brother are both grounded now, and the Wang family hasn’t been having a good time lately—who knows, it might be curtains for them.”
Xu Chengyi raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, “I have your timely voice message to thank for that.”
Lin Rui was puzzled. “Voice message?”
The process no longer mattered; the outcome was good. Xu Chengyi’s smile widened a little. “Grandfather said he would seek justice for me.”
Xu Chengyi hadn’t mentioned this before, and Lin Rui was quite surprised.
It was said that Elder Song was cold and unapproachable, not close to his children or grandchildren, so for him to personally back Xu Chengyi was truly rare.
Lin Rui raised her brow high. “So not everyone is a bad person after all.”
Xu Chengyi smiled without saying a word.
In truth, only she knew that she had used a little trick, and she wasn’t sure if Elder Song would realize later that she was quite scheming.
But none of that mattered anymore.
After the morning tea ceremony class ended, Xu Chengyi had drunk her fill of tea, so much that she barely touched her lunch.
Lin Rui picked up the topic from earlier and asked in a low voice, “You still haven’t answered me—how is Song Wenzhou in that department? Is it like the rumors say, that he won’t coax and won’t stop?”