Awakening from a dream of the past, Li Yixun touched her cheek, still feeling the lingering, dried tear stains.
Checking her phone, she saw it was only seven o’clock, but the seat beside her was empty; she could still feel the faint warmth of the blanket.
Li Yixun was puzzled; Chen Nian usually slept for more than eight hours and rarely woke up this early.
She went into the dining room and saw Chen Nian, dressed in pajamas, slowly and deliberately eating porridge.
“Why are you up so early?”
Chen Nian frowned, gesturing for Li Yixun to look at her feet. “You’re not wearing shoes again.”
Then, he answered her previous question succinctly, “My stomach hurts.”
Li Yixun couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Who told you to drink so much last night?”
Chen Nian raised an eyebrow, as if recalling something amusing, his eyes crinkling with a smile. “But I had a pretty good night.”
Li Yixun was speechless at his shamelessness and didn’t want to discuss how her night had gone. She turned and went back to her room to put on her shoes and wash up.
When she returned to the dining table, Chen Nian had already finished eating and was comfortably sitting at his seat, scrolling through his phone.
On the table were steaming bowls of millet porridge and fried eggs that he had prepared for her.
Li Yixun pulled out the chair next to him and sat down to eat breakfast.
Chen Nian rarely ate at home because of work, let alone cooking. She hadn’t had a meal cooked by him in a long time.
It has to be admitted that smart people learn quickly, and Chen Nian certainly has a talent for cooking. He can make something look quite decent after looking at a recipe online just once. Unlike Li Yixun, who has been cooking since elementary school, but whose culinary skills are still just about getting food cooked through, far from being good enough to earn praise.
Because they both value their personal space, they didn’t hire a housekeeper after getting married, only having a part-time cleaner come every few days. Li Yixun doesn’t recall Chen Nian ever asking her how she manages to eat when he’s not home.
“New Year’s Eve is in a few days, Kai and the others have organized a gathering, do you want to come?” Chen Nian suddenly invited her.
Li Yixun hesitated for a few seconds, then didn’t agree. “We’ll see when the time comes.”
“You have plans?” Chen Nian looked up from his phone screen and turned to her. “If it’s with Yuan Yi and the others, you can invite them along; it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other.”
“Yuan Yi is probably busy… Didn’t I mention it? She’s getting married.” Li Yixun brought it up casually. “I haven’t finished my year-end report yet… I have my performance review after New Year’s Day, so time is pretty tight. I might have to work overtime.”
Chen Nian had no recollection of Yuan Yi getting married. “Really? Then give her a big red envelope at the wedding.”
Actually, she had mentioned it. Li Yixun was certain she had told him a few months ago that her best friend had been proposed to, and she had even complained to him about not knowing what other wedding gift to give besides a red envelope.
But clearly, Chen Nian hadn’t taken her words to heart at all.
Li Yixun remained noncommittal, only nodding casually, instantly losing her appetite. “I’m full, I’m going to work.”
Chen Nian glanced at the half-eaten breakfast Li Yixun had left, said nothing more, and let her take the rest away and throw it away.
When Li Yixun changed her clothes, put on makeup, and prepared to leave, Chen Nian was still lazily sitting in his seat,t looking at his phone, showing no intention of moving.
Only when he heard her preparing to leave did he lift his eyelids to look at Li Yixun.
Her shoulder-length hair was simply tied up, her delicate features were adorned with just the right amount of fresh makeup, a black fitted coat over a pure white Oxford shirt, and light blue high-waisted wide-leg pants that accentuated her slim waist and long legs. She carried a classic work tote bag.
Li Yixun wasn’t the kind of strikingly beautiful woman who would catch the eye immediately, but rather a refined and cultured beauty, a quality that only grew stronger with age. If Chen Nian hadn’t known that his wife’s favorite pastime was melodramatic, cheesy romance novels, he would have been completely fooled by her aloof demeanor, mistaking her for a cultured young woman with a passion for high art.
Li Yixun noticed the jewelry box on the shoe rack when she was getting her car keys. The logo belonged to a niche European jewelry brand, and as far as she knew, it was quite expensive.
Chen Nian didn’t mention it, and Li Yixun didn’t know if it was for her.
Li Yixun glanced at Chen Nian, who sat there like a meditating monk, hesitated for a few seconds, then took her car keys, opened the door, and left.
Chen Nian rarely gave Li Yixun gifts.
It wasn’t that he was stingy, nor that he didn’t know how to please people.
Li Yixun had seen how he tried to please girls before; she knew he was just too lazy to put in the effort for her, preferring to give her money directly.
He gave Li Yixun several supplementary credit cards when they got married, so she had always been very financially independent after marriage.
Love can betray you, but money won’t. Li Yixun was already thirty years old, so of course,se she understood this simple truth, but she still felt a pang of envy whenever she saw the flowers and gifts on her social media feed during holidays.
Love is where the money is. Someone who doesn’t give money definitely doesn’t love you, and someone who gives money doesn’t necessarily love you. But a husband who only gives money and doesn’t even show his face—Li Yixun felt pathetic.
The original intention was quite clear: “You can’t want both love and money, can you?”
Then, she stabbed Li Yixun in the heart, “Besides, your Chen Nian has absolutely no feelings for you.”
Li Yixun laughed heartily; her true best friend knew best how to hurt her.
“So we’re just using his card and spending his money, aren’t we!”
Li Yixun raised an eyebrow. “Today’s expenses are on Young Master Chen.”
It was Christmas Eve, and the mall was packed. After venting his frustration by ordering several bags at a boutique, Li Yixun took Yuanyi directly to a Japanese restaurant.
“Is Meng Yuran away on a business trip? Why isn’t he spending the holiday with you?” Li Yixun asked curiously, eating tamagoyaki.
“He has a project; he’s on a business trip to Beihai City.”
Yuanyi remembered, “Oh, right, he’s supposed to come with me to try on wedding dresses on New Year’s Day.”
“Are you really going to try on wedding dresses separately from Meng Yuran?”
“Of course! It’s the first look at the wedding; I want to see his expression.”
After a pause, Yuanyi smiled gently, “He’d better cry!”
Yuanyi’s features were already bright, and her eyes sparkled with happy anticipation, making her seem to glow.
Good relationships really do make people better.
However, Li Yixun couldn’t imagine what Meng Yuran, who always maintained a restrained and aloof style, would look like when he cried. But a handsome guy like that shouldn’t look bad when he cries, right?
Also a handsome guy, Li Yixun had never seen Chen Nian cry. He was the type who completely embodied the principle of “a man doesn’t easily shed tears,” but he was good at pushing people to their limits and making them cry.
In his second year of high school, Li Yixun and his friends set up a small stall on the roadside of a food street near the school, selling postcards, stickers, keychains, and other merchandise featuring K-pop stars like BIGBANG, Super Junior, and TVXQ.
Li Yixun’s stall was quite popular.
Because in those days, everyone was obsessed with song request programs, and even the school radio station mostly played songs by these wildly popular K-pop stars. Which girl in that era couldn’t hum “Lies” and “Sorry Sorry”?