Nineteen-year-old Jiang Li’s biological clock was as punctual as a rooster’s crow.
At the first light of dawn, she got up to practice the cello.
Jiang Li wore a light yellow chiffon dress, tapping the rhythm barefoot on the floor, her back straight as a rod.
She closed her eyes, feeling the pulse of each note, her wrist lifting slightly as the bow glided slowly over the strings.
Unlike the sharp emotional release of the violin, the cello possessed a unique, deep, and mellow quality.
Like aged wine flowing down the throat, it required slow, careful savoring—a sense of steadiness.
Its inherent narrative quality was not as sorrowful as the violin’s, yet it could instantly pull one back into the past.
Jiang Li thought again of yesterday afternoon, when Professor Zhu had spoken to her.
Zhu Zhentian: “Jiang Li, you’ve been slacking off for a year now. Are you going to keep wasting your talent?”
At the time, Jiang Li silently clutched the “Aegean Cup” performance flyer and left the office.
She knew this was the last chance Zhu Zhentian would give her.
If her careless attitude continued, the professor would no longer bother with her.
Should she give it her all?
Jiang Li thought about it all night—she would!
Today was Saturday, every student’s favorite day.
After practicing the cello for an hour, Jiang Li felt thirsty and went to the kitchen for water, only to spot an uneaten cup of instant noodles on the table.
She touched the side of the cup—still warm.
Had Jiang Fan stayed up all night gaming?
She cracked the door open a sliver to peek, and the thunderous sound effects of the game rushed into her ears. Seeing the small figure, Jiang Li felt a sudden pang of disorientation.
Six years ago, when her sister-in-law died in a car accident, Jiang Fan—who should have been nurtured in love—had to be delivered by emergency C-section in the middle of the night. Jiang Lintian, devastated by the loss of his beloved, didn’t know how to handle the little life his wife had left behind and chose to bury himself in work.
For a child, lacking a mother’s love in childhood was already a torment, but he didn’t even have a father’s love either.
Gradually, Jiang Fan slowly retreated into the world of video games.
He resented Jiang Lintian and despised her, his aunt, for doing nothing.
After being reborn, Jiang Li cherished every relationship, including the one with Jiang Fan.
But how could she get him to break his habit of being obsessed with gaming?
Talk to him heart-to-heart?
Most likely useless.
A six-year-old brat, rebellious enough to climb onto the roof and tear off tiles—would he sit quietly and listen to her?
Jiang Li turned and went back into the kitchen. She took fresh milk from the fridge and heated it in the microwave, then rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a bottle of melatonin.
Last year, when she was stressed about her art school entrance exams, the doctor had prescribed it for her. It probably hadn’t expired yet.
Without hesitation, she tossed a few white pills into the milk, poked them with chopsticks until they dissolved completely, then carried the milk over.
“Jiang Fan, your dad says you’re too short—you’re at the very back of the boys’ line in class. He told me to make sure you drink a glass of milk every day.”
Jiang Fan had just finished a round of the game. Irritated, he took the cup and gulped it down in one go, slamming it back on the table with a thud.
His tone was sharp. “Happy now?”
Jiang Li raised an eyebrow and reached out to ruffle his hair. “Happy. Now that you’ve finished, hurry up and sleep.”
Jiang Fan dodged her hand, frowning and glaring at her. “I’m wide awake. I’m not sleeping. Mind your own business.”
“Oh.” Jiang Li picked up the cup and left.
As it turned out, melatonin punishes every brat who claims they don’t want to sleep.
In less than five minutes, when Jiang Li came back in, Jiang Fan was sprawled out on the bed, limbs splayed.
She set an alarm, held it by the bedside, and let it ring at full volume for a few seconds before turning it off.
“Hmm, still asleep. The medication’s effect is holding up.”
Then she took out her phone and made a call. “Mother Wang, send two bodyguards over with tools. I’m going to tear down a room.”
Mother Wang and the bodyguards lived in the staff quarters attached to the villa, so they arrived quickly.
“Young Miss.”
The two bodyguards stood at attention in the living room, ready for orders.
Jiang Li said, “Go upstairs to Jiang Fan’s room and dismantle his gaming console, computer setup, and soundproofing foam.”
The two bodyguards exchanged glances.
Weren’t these just installed a few days ago?
And surely the young master wouldn’t agree to this.
“He’s sleeping like a log right now. Just go ahead and dismantle everything. If Jiang Fan gives you any trouble, tell him to come straight to me.”
Jiang Li sat on the sofa, teasing the hamster with a small wooden stick.
This was Jiang Fan’s little treasure.
Supposedly his soulmate.
Hehe, Jiang Li was going to ‘hold the hamster hostage to command the little brat’!
Whenever Jiang Fan could eat and sleep properly, study diligently, and communicate well with her, Jiang Li would feed the hamster.
[He’s here.]
Shen Muran stood at the door right on time, holding four lunch boxes.
Jiang Li ran out in her slippers. “You’re here.”
The girl was still smiling brightly, taking his hand to pull him inside.
“I have a part-time job at the sports center today, so I won’t come in.” Shen Muran stood still, his light brown eyes watching her.
She had said that even as a follower, she wouldn’t interfere with his part-time work schedule.
Would Jiang Li keep her word?
Or would she throw a tantrum, drag him inside, and if he dared refuse, revert to her old attitude and humiliate him again?
“Mhm, okay.”
Jiang Li agreed readily.
She bent down and took a few boiled eggs and two imported snake fruit from the bag in his hand.
“I’ve picked my breakfast. You’ll have to help finish the rest.”
Jiang Li’s appetite was clearly small—just a few bites could get her through a meal—yet she insisted on preparing four lunch boxes’ worth each time, only to push the rest onto him afterward.
All these signs seemed like Jiang Li thought he wasn’t eating enough and was finding excuses to give him food.
Shen Muran didn’t understand her purpose in doing this.
Out of pity or guilt?
“No need, I’ve already eaten.” The man still didn’t accept the breakfast, handing the bag back to her.
Jiang Li put her hands behind her back, tilting her chin up slightly. “Then throw it away.”
She knew Shen Muran wouldn’t throw it away.
A young man who had been chronically underfed couldn’t bring himself to waste food.
Jiang Li thought she was truly clever.
Catching sight of fried rice in one of the lunch boxes, she said, “Wait a moment.”
She turned and dashed back to the kitchen to grab a bottle of milk. Eating something so dry without a drink would be choking hazard.
“Take this too. I don’t drink milk produced more than three days ago.” Jiang Li casually placed it in the bag. “Please throw this away as well.”
Just as Shen Muran was about to say something, a bodyguard came out carrying a pile of gaming equipment. “Young Miss, where should we put this?”
“Put it in the storage room.”
As items were carried out one after another, Shen Muran stepped aside to make way. When Jiang Li was about to close the door, she noticed he hadn’t left yet.
She glanced at her watch. “It’s 7:30 now. Will you make it to the sports center on time?”
Suddenly, the image of that failed physical fitness test notice flashed in her mind.
An idea sprang up.
“Hehe, how about I give you a ride? I failed my physical fitness test, so I could use some practice at a sports facility anyway.”
Jiang Li’s strategy towards Shen Muran was essentially shamelessly sticking to him like glue, though most likely he would coldly toss out a phrase, “Not needed.”
Even though chasing after a guy was quite undignified.
But at this moment, Jiang Li wished the time alone with Shen Muran could last even longer!
Before she traveled back, they had always been in the honeymoon phase.
Although Shen Muran didn’t mean it intentionally, the sudden change in her lover’s attitude gave Jiang Li a sense of being abruptly broken up with, like falling off a cliff.
The bodyguard and Mother Wang had already returned to their small house, leaving only the two of them at the door.
Shen Muran still appeared indifferent but, surprisingly, nodded and said, “Then I’ll trouble you.”