Song Jinchuan stared at the woman standing dumbfounded in the doorway, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
So Liang Muxi hadn’t recognized him yesterday either.
But then again, he hadn’t recognized her either, so he suppressed that flicker of discomfort.
“Close the door.”
Liang Muxi, caught in those clear, cold amber eyes, suddenly recalled a tall, broad figure walking out of the civil affairs bureau with her.
It dawned on her who the cold, handsome man on the sofa was.
Her husband of one year whom she’d been secretly married to—Song Jinchuan.
Wait, Song Jinchuan was this handsome? She hadn’t noticed when they got their marriage certificate.
Was she blind back then? Or had Song Jinchuan worn ugly makeup just to avoid marrying her?
Liang Muxi closed the door, rubbed her hands together, and greeted him awkwardly: “Hello.”
Song Jinchuan: “…”
Liang Muxi asked again: “Want some water?”
Treating Song Jinchuan like a guest.
Song Jinchuan uttered two words: “No.”
Liang Muxi took off her shoes and padded barefoot toward the open kitchen.
A pair of slender, fair feet stepped across the porcelain-white floor tiles.
Song Jinchuan glanced at them, frowned slightly, but said nothing.
Liang Muxi opened the fridge and rummaged around inside.
A moment later, she pulled out a bottle of Yakult.
She turned to look at the man on the sofa: “Want some Yakult?”
Seeing that Song Jinchuan remained silent with an indifferent expression,
she turned back around and continued rummaging.
“How about yogurt? Strawberry flavor.”
“There’s also iced black tea…”
Song Jinchuan: “None of those.”
Liang Muxi awkwardly closed the fridge door.
Being alone with her husband in the same room was so awkward.
Why did he come here so late at night, and when was he going to leave?
Song Jinchuan stood up.
Liang Muxi’s face lit up: “Are you leaving? Take care, drive safe.”
Song Jinchuan gave her a cool glance and asked: “Which room do you stay in?”
Liang Muxi was confused, but she still raised a finger and pointed to the left side.
This apartment was five hundred square meters but only had two bedrooms.
She’d figured Song Jinchuan would never come to stay, so when she moved in, she’d directly chosen the largest master bedroom.
Before she could lower her hand, Song Jinchuan turned on his heel and walked toward the secondary bedroom.
Liang Muxi was stunned and asked in a trembling voice: “You… you’re going to stay here?”
Song Jinchuan stopped and turned to look at her.
“Grandma forced me to live here. I’ll make do for now.”
The old lady had learned that he’d gone to Shangjing No. 1 last night instead of Wanbo Haoting, so she’d gone to his office and nagged him for a long time, even threatening that if he didn’t move into Wanbo Haoting, she’d drag Liang Muxi to live at Shangjing No. 1.
Rather than live under the old lady’s surveillance, he’d rather move to Wanbo Haoting—at least this way he wouldn’t have to share a room with Liang Muxi.
Song Jinchuan went into the room and closed the door.
Liang Muxi stood there, dumbfounded.
Song Jinchuan was actually moving here to live with her.
Even though they’d be in different rooms, it was still so inconvenient.
She was used to living alone and didn’t want to share a place with anyone.
But the apartment still belonged to Song Jinchuan, so she had no right to say anything.
After sulking for a while, she went to the kitchen to boil water. She pulled a bucket of spicy beef instant noodles from the storage cabinet and tore open the packaging.
She used to like the pickled cabbage flavor, but after hearing that the pickled cabbage was made by stomping on it with bare feet, she’d never eaten it again.
She tore open the seasoning packets and dumped them into the bucket, poured in the boiling water, and sealed the lid.
While waiting, she sat on the bar stool, leaning over the marble countertop, scrolling through her phone.
…
The secondary bedroom door opened, and Song Jinchuan walked out.
He’d smelled a strong aroma in the room that made him feel a bit hungry.
When he came out, he saw Liang Muxi eating.
Liang Muxi heard the noise and turned around, a noodle still dangling from her mouth.
She sucked the noodle in and said: “I didn’t eat dinner, so I got hungry. Do you want some? I’ll make you a bucket.”
Song Jinchuan paused for a moment, then nodded.
Liang Muxi hopped off the bar stool, took a bucket of instant noodles from the cabinet, and prepared it with practiced ease.
After steeping it, she sat back down and continued eating her own noodles.
“It’ll be ready in a few minutes. Just wait.”
Song Jinchuan walked to the side, picked up a glass, and poured himself some water.
A few minutes later, Liang Muxi reminded him: “It’s ready.”
Song Jinchuan walked over, sat on the other bar stool, picked up the plastic fork, and twirled a few noodles before bringing them to his mouth.
Not bad.
Liang Muxi tilted her head to look at him. Song Jinchuan ate with such elegance, his movements like he was dining at a high-end Western restaurant.
Her mouth felt a bit dry, so she went to the fridge and grabbed two Yakults, placing one in front of Song Jinchuan.
“Yakult is really good. Have some.”
Song Jinchuan glanced at her, picked up the Yakult, tore open the packaging, and took a sip.
Too sweet. He didn’t like it.
He put it back down and continued eating his noodles.
Liang Muxi finished a bucket of noodles and drank a Yakult.
When she finally cleaned up the trash, she noticed that Song Jinchuan’s Yakult was barely touched—still mostly full.
She picked it up, a pained expression on her face.
Should she just drink it to avoid wasting it?
Ah, no, no—that was too unhygienic.
Bearing the heartache, she poured the Yakult down the sink and tossed the bottle into the trash.
Song Jinchuan had already returned to his room.
Liang Muxi cleaned up the kitchen island and went back to her own room.
She hesitated at the door, then locked it behind her.
Even though she knew Song Jinchuan wouldn’t have any ill intentions toward her, as a girl, she still had to protect herself.
She took a shower, lay down on the bed, and for the first time since moving into the big house, she couldn’t fall asleep. She tossed and turned, then simply pulled open the curtains and looked at the moon in the sky.
The moon tonight was very round and bright, and she could faintly make out a few stars.
In the secondary bedroom, Song Jinchuan couldn’t sleep either.
The room hadn’t been lived in for a long time and hadn’t been cleaned. Dust was everywhere, even the bath towels and bathrobes weren’t clean, and there were no bed linens. He wrapped himself in his bathrobe and lay directly on the mattress, extremely uncomfortable, unable to sleep at all.
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he went and knocked on Liang Muxi’s door.
Liang Muxi’s body tensed, and she looked warily at the door.
After two knocks, Song Jinchuan’s voice came through: “Liang Muxi, are you asleep?”
Liang Muxi: “I’m asleep. Whatever it is, we can talk about it tomorrow.”
There was no sound at the door for a long time, but she also didn’t hear the sound of Song Jinchuan’s footsteps leaving.
After a while, Song Jinchuan spoke again: “Do you have any clean bed linens over there?”
Liang Muxi paused.
She had thought no one would stay in the secondary bedroom, so she had never cleaned it or prepared any bed linens.
It really wasn’t fit for anyone to stay in.
She got up, took a quilt and a clean set of four-piece bedding from the walk-in closet, opened the door, and shoved the items at Song Jinchuan.
Song Jinchuan caught them, glanced over, and reminded her: “Pillow.”
Liang Muxi couldn’t find a pillow in the walk-in closet, then remembered there were two pillows on her bed.
So she walked over, picked one up from the bed, went to the door, and placed it in Song Jinchuan’s arms.
Song Jinchuan stared at the pillow in his arms for a moment, then looked at the pillow on Liang Muxi’s bed, which had the same pillowcase.
Liang Muxi explained: “There are no other pillows in the house.”