Ning Zhiyuan had a feeling.
Cheng Ye would contact her soon enough.
She instructed someone to keep an eye on his recent movements, then stopped worrying about it.
Instead of heading home, she happily spent the afternoon shopping, buying one thing after another. By the time she returned to the villa, the sun had long since set.
The moment she stepped through the door, Wang Ma, who had been looking gloomy all day, froze for a second before lighting up with delight.
“Miss Ning!”
Ning Zhiyuan barely paid attention. As she changed her shoes, she casually asked,
“Has Shen Li come back yet?”
“Mr. Shen came home early today. He seemed to be in a bad mood. He didn’t eat dinner and went upstairs to rest.”
Wang Ma eagerly accepted the mountain of shopping bags from the driver, stealing glances at her the entire time.
Ning Zhiyuan frowned slightly and hurried upstairs.
“I’ll go check on him.”
Not eating dinner was unacceptable.
She’d only brought him soup once, not some miracle medicine.
If Shen Li kept neglecting his meals and ruined his stomach, what would happen to his health?
Watching the girl’s anxious figure disappear upstairs, Wang Ma shook her head in confusion.
When Mr. Shen learned Miss Ning hadn’t come home, the disappointment on his face had looked as though he’d been abandoned.
She had asked,
“Would you like to wait and have dinner with Miss Ning when she gets back?”
And the man’s eyes, filled with desolation, had lowered as he murmured to himself,
“So that’s how it is. Zhiyuan isn’t coming back anymore…”
At first, Wang Ma hadn’t believed it.
But when the girl who’d happily declared that morning she wanted sweet-and-sour pork still hadn’t returned by dinner time, she started to believe it too.
That was why seeing Ning Zhiyuan now felt so shocking.
…
Ning Zhiyuan remembered how Shen Li had gone to work the morning after staying awake all night.
She’d assumed he was overworking himself again.
Worried, she checked the study first.
No one there.
Then she went straight to the bedroom.
As she walked, memories of his collapse that night resurfaced one after another, making her more and more uneasy.
Her pace quickened.
Pushing open the door, she found him sitting alone in a single armchair, a file spread open in his hands.
Hearing the sound, he slowly looked up.
Ning Zhiyuan strode over immediately and bent down in front of him.
“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”
Her soft hands landed on his shoulders before moving to his arm as she checked him over.
Shen Li stared blankly at the person he’d convinced himself had already left.
He let her touch him.
Let her grab his arm.
The numb ache in his chest stirred back to life.
As though his soul had finally returned to his body.
Only when he heard her voice and saw her face did he feel alive.
Without her, he became nothing more than a walking corpse.
So this was how greedy he’d become.
Ning Zhiyuan crouched before him and carefully reached toward his leg.
“Is your leg hurting again?”
Her voice was cautious and gentle.
The scars on his leg were ugly.
He didn’t want them to frighten her.
Coming back to himself, Shen Li caught her wrist and asked in a hoarse voice,
“Are you here to say goodbye?”
He understood perfectly.
Sharing a bed with him.
Bringing him soup.
Showing concern.
All those unusual acts of kindness were simply her final tenderness before leaving.
She wanted him to keep silent before her father.
Zhiyuan had found a new target.
Soon she would never come back.
Never see him again.
His gaze lingered on their joined hands.
“Then why did you come back?”
He had only just begun accepting the reality that she’d quietly left.
Why return only to drive the knife deeper into his heart?
How cruel.
His expression remained calm and unreadable.
Yet no matter how one listened to it, it didn’t sound like he was welcoming her home.
It sounded more like resentment.
Ning Zhiyuan immediately caught it.
“You’re driving me away?”
Shen Li pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth.
His silence was an answer.
Better to let her go himself than spend every day fearing the moment she’d leave.
Let her pursue the happiness she wanted.
And somewhere in a forgotten corner of the world, he would continue loving her in silence.
Ning Zhiyuan couldn’t understand why he suddenly wanted her gone.
In her previous life, she’d wanted nothing more than to stay as far away from Shen Li as possible.
Never see him.
Never have anything to do with him.
But after watching him die for her once…
After seeing the depth of a love that consumed his entire life…
She couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.
Without hesitation, she threw herself into his arms and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I’m not leaving.”
“We’re going to get married someday.”
“This is my home.”
“If I don’t come back here, where else would I go?”
The girl in his arms was light.
Yet at that moment, the weight pressing against Shen Li’s heart felt heavier than the entire world.
“Brother Shen Li…”
Her arms slid around his neck.
Her cheek pressed against the hollow of his shoulder.
Warm breaths brushed against his ear.
“Please don’t send me away, okay?”
Her voice was sweet and pleading.
Half a pout.
Half a prayer.
He knew she was coaxing him.
Knew those words might not even be true.
Yet he couldn’t refuse.
In fact, a shameful part of him thought—
If she was willing to deceive him a little longer, then every extra moment was a gift.
At last, he lifted his arms and gently hugged her back.
“Okay.”
…
Ning Zhiyuan shamelessly remained in his embrace for quite some time.
Until her stomach growled loudly.
Only then did Shen Li let go.
Since Wang Ma hadn’t prepared dinner, he headed into the kitchen himself.
Having nothing better to do, Ning Zhiyuan followed him inside to help.
Everything in the kitchen fascinated her.
The colorful ingredients.
The various appliances.
And Shen Li, who was currently slicing pork tenderloin so thin it was practically translucent.
Curious, she leaned closer and reached toward the cutting board, wanting to see whether the slices were really thin enough to see through.
Before she could touch them, Shen Li calmly lifted both the cutting board and the meat and carried them elsewhere.
Her hand froze in midair.
Immediately she defended herself.
“I wanted to help!”
“You’ll get your hands dirty.”
Shen Li handed her a basket of bok choy.
“Then help me sort the vegetables.”
Ning Zhiyuan readily agreed and accepted the basket.
At first, she’d never done this sort of thing before.
Nor did she know how vegetables were supposed to be sorted.
She separated the bok choy into individual leaves.
Then decided that seemed too easy.
So she tore every leaf into long shredded strips.
After finishing her masterpiece, she proudly carried the basket over.
“That was so much work. Sorting vegetables is really difficult.”
Shen Li looked at the basket full of mangled green strips.
Then at the floor and countertops littered with vegetable remains.
The corners of his lips twitched upward.
“You worked hard, Zhiyuan.”
“Go rest for now.”
Once she left, he quietly cleaned the kitchen.
Then cleaned it again.
Thoroughly.
…
Meanwhile, Ning Zhiyuan sat at the dining table swinging her legs.
She’d helped.
Therefore, resting now felt completely justified.
Just then, her phone rang.
It was her father.
After exchanging a few pleasantries and asking about her recent life, he finally got to the point.
“How are things between you and Shen Li?”
Ning Zhiyuan glanced toward the figure moving around in the kitchen.
“Pretty good.”
Silence followed.
For a moment, she thought he’d hung up.
“Dad? Are you still there?”
A long sigh came from the other end.
“Zhiyuan…”
“I ran into the Bai mother and daughter recently.”
“They’re having a hard time.”
“Bai Cuilan isn’t in good health. Xiaoxiao is working several jobs by herself. I even saw her handing out flyers at the International Trade Center today…”
Ning Zhiyuan instantly knew where this conversation was headed.
She cut him off before he could continue.
“Dad, that was their choice. We don’t owe them anything!”
Another sigh.
“I know.”
“But they’ve worked for our family for decades.”
“Whatever happened, they’ve still helped us for many years.”
“If they’re truly struggling… perhaps we should leave them a way back.”
His voice softened.
“What do you think if I personally bring them back?”