Watching Wen Xi storm away, Fu Yi felt a little guilty.
He should have been faster and gotten her something to eat sooner.
After all, they had been out shopping for so long. Wen Xi must have been hungry for quite some time.
Getting scolded was only fair.
Looking at the food that was still steaming, Fu Yi couldn’t bear to waste it. Besides, this was a perfect opportunity to learn more about Wen Xi’s tastes and preferences.
And so, a scene that caught the attention of both the restaurant staff and diners appeared in one corner of the restaurant.
Fu Yi tasted each dish while writing notes in a small notebook.
He wasn’t writing anything complicated—just the names of the dishes, whether they were salty or bland, soft or firm, and things like that.
The restaurant employees who kept glancing over had no idea what he was doing. They assumed he was an undercover food critic, so they immediately sent the manager over.
“Sir, may I ask if there’s anything you’re dissatisfied with regarding our service?”
Fu Yi looked up from his careful notes and calmly answered,
“No.”
“Then you…”
The chubby manager knew better than to push too far. He didn’t finish the question. Instead, his eyes drifted toward Fu Yi’s notebook.
Fu Yi raised his hand and closed it.
His dark eyes lifted slightly.
“Are we not allowed to write?”
His tone was perfectly calm, but the chubby manager nevertheless felt an overwhelming pressure from him. He immediately pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sudden cold sweat from his forehead.
Only after seeing the man wipe his sweat did Fu Yi realize that he might have frightened him.
But he hadn’t even frowned, much less raised his voice.
Still, he decided it would be better to return to the hotel.
Once the food cooled down, its texture and flavor would change, and then his notes wouldn’t be accurate.
So Fu Yi stood up, placed the money for the meal on the table, and left.
Watching his tall figure disappear, the chubby manager finally felt the oppressive presence fade away. He wiped away another layer of sweat and then waved the employees over, telling them to carry on as usual.
The next day, Wen Xi’s father went to the chamber of commerce, while her mother went out with her close friends for some leisure time.
Aside from Wen Xi, who was busy working on something important in her room, there were only a few servants in the house.
And that was how Fu Yi successfully managed to enter the house under the excuse of having brought the wrong flowers the day before.
The servants had seen Miss Wen get into this gentleman’s car yesterday. Surely there was no problem letting him into the house.
Besides, this gentleman was so much more handsome and imposing than that ungrateful Lin An. He was clearly a much better match for their young mistress.
The servants thought they had prepared a pleasant surprise for Wen Xi.
They had no idea…
When Wen Xi finally emerged from her room after spending all morning working on chemical formulas and headed to the dining room, she froze for a moment when she saw Fu Yi sitting there as straight as a ramrod.
Before she could even ask what was going on, Auntie Wang, the nanny who had raised her since childhood, suddenly appeared and pulled her back into the room.
Wen Xi was dragged inside against her will as Auntie Wang began lecturing her.
“My dear young lady, how can you meet a man who’s pursuing you looking so careless? Sit down quickly. Auntie Wang will fix your hair for you.”
The comb gently moved through her hair.
The soothing sensation against her scalp finally brought Wen Xi back to her senses.
“Auntie Wang, why is Fu Yi in our house?”
Auntie Wang didn’t stop combing her hair as she explained,
“He said you didn’t like the flowers he brought yesterday, so he deliberately brought the kind you like today.”
Wen Xi: “…”
When she returned to the dining room, the servants had already set out tableware for two.
Wen Xi couldn’t very well come up with an excuse to throw Fu Yi out immediately, so she had no choice but to eat with him.
Of course, eating together was all there would be.
The moment Wen Xi put down her bowl and chopsticks, she said to Fu Yi,
“I’m sorry, but I have something to take care of and can’t entertain you, Mr. Fu. Please make yourself comfortable.”
Then she turned around and went upstairs without the slightest hesitation.
Fu Yi didn’t pursue her.
After finishing his meal, he simply left.
Over the next several days, with Wen Xi’s parents deliberately encouraging things along, Fu Yi kept finding all sorts of excuses to appear beside her.
Sometimes he brought flowers.
Sometimes he brought food.
Other times, he accompanied her while she went shopping for supplies.
During that time, Wen Xi accidentally caught sight of the little notebook in which Fu Yi had been recording her likes and dislikes.
A man that handsome, with such a great physique, so much ability, and such unwavering devotion…
It was seriously messing with her resolve.
No!
Her resolve absolutely could not waver.
If she couldn’t defeat him, surely she could at least hide from him, right?
And since she couldn’t escape him while staying in Haishi, she would go to the countryside!
Her fertilizer formula had already achieved some preliminary results. It was the perfect time to conduct some actual field experiments.
This time, Wen Xi had learned her lesson.
She didn’t tell her parents right away.
Instead, she called her grandmother, who lived in another province, and the moment the call connected, she said,
“Grandma, I miss you.”
Her grandmother immediately called Wen Xi’s father.
And before long, Wen Xi was on her way to her grandmother’s house.
Then, that very same evening at six o’clock, she arrived.
Looking at her grandmother’s house, lush with greenery yet unmistakably marked by the era, Wen Xi’s eyes stung.
It reminded her of the home she had in the mountains in the modern era.
Because there were too many people and too few rooms, that mountain home had never exactly been neat and orderly. If anything, it had been somewhat chaotic.
Yet the wooden boards, mud walls, stone floors, and dark gray roof tiles that made up her mountain home were exactly the same as those of her grandmother’s house now.
Before the ache in Wen Xi’s eyes could gather into tears, the wooden door opened from the inside.
An elderly woman with graying hair appeared.
The moment she saw Wen Xi, a loving smile spread across her face as she beckoned her inside.
“Grandma.”
Wen Xi stepped forward and hugged the old woman before taking the hand she held out to her.
The two walked into the house side by side, their shoulders pressed together.
When Wen Xi saw her grandmother reaching for the kettle to pour her some hot water, she quickly stopped her.
“Grandma, sit down. I’m your precious granddaughter. You don’t need to be polite with me. I can pour my own water.”
But when she finished pouring and turned around, her grandmother was already gone from the chair beside her.
She only caught sight of the older woman’s back disappearing into the side room.
This time, Wen Xi didn’t follow her to help.
She knew exactly what Grandma was doing.
Her grandmother must have gone to bring out the snacks she had treasured for a long time just for her.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before her grandmother returned carrying two red cloth bundles.
She placed them on the table and opened them.
Inside were two precious treats.
One bundle contained White Rabbit milk candies.
The other contained delicious fried broad beans.
Wen Xi accepted the candy and broad beans her grandmother handed her.
She popped a broad bean into her mouth and bit down, producing a crisp crunch, crunch.
As for the milk candy, she unwrapped it and handed it to her grandmother.
With both grandmother and granddaughter chewing on their snacks, their hands—which had separated for only a moment—naturally found each other again.
“Xiaoxi, don’t be sad over that An boy. Your good match simply hasn’t arrived yet.”
As her grandmother spoke, her free left hand gently stroked Wen Xi’s head again and again.
Then she sighed.
“What a shame about all that beautiful black hair of yours.”
Wen Xi rested her head against her grandmother’s shoulder and spoke seriously.
“Grandma, I’m not sad about Lin An. I’m happier than anything that I broke off the engagement with him.”
“As for my hair, it’s because I’ve finally figured out what kind of person I want to become!”
“Grandma, when I was little, you all loved teasing me by asking what I wanted to become when I grew up. A teacher? A businesswoman? A journalist? Or a carefree little fairy?”
“When I was young, I didn’t understand any of that. I only knew that fairies had to be beautiful, so I always chose ‘a little fairy.’”
“But I’m grown up now. I know what I want to become.”
Her grandmother continued gently stroking her hair and asked, following her words,
“What do you want to become?”