The next day.
By the time Ji Ran woke up, Fu Jingyuan had already left for the office.
In the kitchen, a pot of lean meat porridge had been prepared for her at some point, along with several crab roe-flavored fried dumplings and boiled eggs—all her favorites.
With a ding, a message from Fu Jingyuan arrived.
“Ranran, heat up the food before eating.”
“What would you like for breakfast tomorrow morning? You can send the menu to Uncle Fu in advance.”
So, did Fu Jingyuan make all this?
In all her years living with the Fu family, Ji Ran had never seen this man cook.
She couldn’t imagine this powerful man wearing an apron and cooking for her.
But what she found even harder to imagine…
Was that the clothes she had placed in the laundry basket after her shower yesterday were now washed and hanging on the balcony!
This included her intimate underwear…
Right now, those delicate garments were fluttering in the breeze on the balcony.
The young girl’s face flushed bright red in an instant!
Hmm, did Fu Jingyuan wash these?
Ji Ran’s mind immediately conjured up the scene: a grown man, with his large, well-defined hands, scrubbing her underwear by hand… Ahhh!
This was too embarrassing and mortifying!
Her face still flushed, she quickly sent Fu Jingyuan a message to ask.
“Uncle Fu, um, did you wash my clothes for me? Thank you… but you don’t have to do that in the future, especially not the… intimate ones.”
After typing the message, Ji Ran rolled around on her bed in embarrassment several times.
So shameful! So utterly shameful!
After all, they were a man and a woman living alone. If word got out… how would she ever find a boyfriend in the future?
And Fu Jingyuan, as a prominent and powerful figure in the capital, how could he wash a girl’s underwear?
If his employees found out, wouldn’t that be humiliating for him?
But Fu Jingyuan, who was in a meeting at the time, simply replied with a “?”
Even through the screen, it didn’t stop the man from curling the corners of his lips. “Is our Ranran feeling shy?”
“Who’s shy?”
Ji Ran immediately retorted angrily, “Uncle Fu, we’re not that close. We need to keep our distance, understand? There should be boundaries!”
Ji Ran’s words—”not close,” “keep our distance,” and “boundaries”—instantly darkened Fu Jingyuan’s expression!
A wave of intense, almost manic gloom and obsessive possessiveness surged in his eyes. What distance did they need between them?
“Uncle Fu?”
Seeing that he suddenly stopped responding, the young girl worried she might have gone too far.
She quickly tried to smooth things over with an excuse: “Besides, Uncle Fu, it’s getting cold now. I heard your wrist was injured by an enemy in the past and shouldn’t come into contact with cold water. I don’t want to trouble you.”
“So, Ranran, are you worried about me?”
Fu Jingyuan’s expression softened instantly at Ji Ran’s words, and the corners of his lips curled upward again—this time, even higher!
As expected, his Ranran still cared about him.
She didn’t want him to wash her clothes because she was afraid his old injury would flare up. Where else could he find a wife who cared for him so tenderly?
Only he had found her, and only he was this fortunate!
Ji Ran ??
She had a feeling Fu Jingyuan was letting his imagination run wild and wanted to correct him. “Um, Uncle Fu, that’s not it, I…”
“Don’t worry, Ranran!”
Fu Jingyuan shamelessly cleared his throat.
“Since Uncle Fu promised your parents to take good care of you, I’ll naturally look after every aspect of your life. Even if washing causes my old wrist injury to flare up! Even if my hands tremble so much I can’t hold anything! Uncle Fu will still keep his promise!”
So, was he only taking care of her like this because of her parents?
Ji Ran instantly felt very guilty.
She had been judging a gentleman’s heart with her own petty measure—Uncle Fu clearly didn’t have any other unsavory thoughts.
This was simply the meticulous care of an elder toward a younger generation!
Deeply moved, Ji Ran’s voice choked with emotion and guilt: “Thank you, Uncle Fu.”
“Mhm, you’re welcome, Ranran.”
After ending the chat with Ji Ran, Fu Jingyuan immediately turned cold-faced and called the butler at the old mansion.
“Tell Nanny Zhang she did very well today. Have her continue going over tomorrow to wash clothes and cook for Ranran.”
Fu Jingyuan was too busy with company affairs every day.
Of course, today’s laundry and cooking were done by Nanny Zhang, but that didn’t stop him from taking credit.
Because this way, his Ranran would definitely grow more and more fond of him!
It would be even better if his wrist got a little injured…
Fu Jingyuan thought and thought, then a shadowy, playful glint flashed in his eyes as he coldly ordered Secretary Zhang: “Go get me a roll of medical bandages immediately.”
Secretary Zhang was immediately puzzled: “President Fu, but you haven’t been injured recently?”
Fu Jingyuan immediately shot him a cold, fierce glare: “Just do as I say!”
Secretary Zhang didn’t dare delay in the slightest: “Yes, President Fu. I’ll go handle it right away.”
Half an hour later.
Fu Jingyuan looked at his thickly bandaged wrist, growing more and more satisfied the longer he looked.
This was all because he washed the little girl’s underwear in cold water, causing his old injury to flare up!
He couldn’t wait to go back in the evening and make Ji Ran feel sorry for him!
…
On the other side, however, the more Ji Ran thought about it, the more something felt off.
Although the little girl wasn’t very bright, even her slow-witted thinking eventually led her to sense something wasn’t right.
Was it really just an elder caring for a younger generation?
Unable to figure it out, Ji Ran posted a thread online: “If a man voluntarily washes a girl’s intimate underwear, what is he thinking?”
@XiaomiWhoLovesDurian: “Isn’t it obvious? He definitely sees her as his wife.”
As soon as Ji Ran posted, it instantly sparked heated discussion.
@MissSherlock: “Right, that man is definitely interested in that girl. Otherwise, he’s a pervert! It depends on which one the OP is asking about?”
@ColaNoIce: “What the person above said is correct. Eighty percent chance he sees her as his wife. Washing his dear wife’s intimate clothing might even feel like a reward to him!”
“Sees her as his wife +1.”
“+1”
Seeing these replies, Ji Ran was almost scared to death.
No way?
Could that big bad guy really be interested in her?
Ji Ran’s little face paled with fright, and her first instinct was to run away!
But she was still studying in the capital—where could she run?
The little girl racked her small brain for a whole day before finally coming up with a genius idea!
Whatever Uncle Fu liked about her, couldn’t she just change it?
So, she immediately searched in her browser: How to make a man grow tired of a woman?
The little girl naively thought that as long as she acted up, behaved like a bad child, and opposed Fu Jingyuan at every turn, he would definitely start to dislike her!
The first step was nagging.
Online sources said men hated it most when women nagged.
Especially repeatedly nagging about some trivial matter—it would wear him down, and he would quickly lose patience and grow irritated.