Wen Yuan seemed to be in a bad mood after coming out of the shower.
Huo Shengye was handling work on the sofa nearby. When Wen Yuan emerged, he glanced at her, but the young lady immediately turned her face away, refusing to look at him.
Huo Shengye thought she was just shy, but as time went on, things seemed increasingly off.
When he spoke to her, he could clearly sense that Wen Yuan didn’t want to engage with him. Thinking she might be tired, he didn’t push the conversation further.
Now, as Wen Yuan truly claimed she was sleepy and wanted to sleep, Huo Shengye finally realized that his little rose seemed to have some misunderstanding about him.
“Yuan’er, have I upset you?” Huo Shengye’s voice was low, tinged with cautious probing.
If Lu Ming, Qiu Ye, or others had been present to hear this, they would have been shocked speechless.
They thought Huo Shengye had already spoiled Wen Yuan enough, but it turned out he could be even more indulgent in private.
However, being “in the thick of it” and having been pampered since childhood, Wen Yuan’s mind was now overwhelmed by sleepiness. Coupled with her thoughts about Huo Shengye possibly having had numerous past relationships and intimate encounters with many women, Wen Yuan was filled with anger—she simply didn’t want to acknowledge Huo Shengye!
And so it was now: Wen Yuan said she wanted to sleep, and Huo Shengye went to turn off the main room light.
Seeing her blanket wasn’t properly tucked in, he tried to adjust it for her, only to be slapped on the hand by the fierce, red-eyed little rabbit.
Honestly, when the little rabbit got fierce, she really meant it. Huo Shengye’s skin, inherited from his mother’s genes, was fair and prone to redness.
Now, the back of his hand was flushed red from Wen Yuan’s slap.
But even after hitting him, the young lady looked as if she were about to cry.
This left Huo Shengye utterly bewildered, as Wen Yuan’s expression clearly suggested she had suffered some great injustice at his hands.
“No,” Wen Yuan spat out the two words, pulling the blanket over her head.
Huo Shengye’s breathing grew slightly heavier. In over twenty years, Wen Yuan was the only person he had ever coaxed like this.
“Yuan’er, is there some misunderstanding between us?”
Misunderstanding?
Wen Yuan didn’t think it was a misunderstanding. Aside from Huo Shengye’s extensive experience in that area, she couldn’t think of any other reason why he would know her underwear size.
After all, she had only ever been in contact with Huo Shengye for this long.
Could it be someone around Huo Shengye? But how was that possible? Those people were always very discreet, rarely making eye contact with her for more than three seconds.
The servants in a chaebol household, especially those around Huo Shengye, knew their boundaries well and understood what they shouldn’t look at.
So, it had to be Huo Shengye—no one else.
Wen Yuan didn’t want to think about it anymore. The more she thought, the more upset she felt, and the more she wanted to cry.
What was this? They were all scoundrels, all bad guys!
Wen Yuan turned over, wrapping herself up like a little caterpillar.
This refusal to communicate left Huo Shengye feeling stifled, but he could also tell that Wen Yuan didn’t want to see him right now.
This reluctance temporarily made Wen Yuan forget that she still needed to maintain her relationship with him.
But perhaps she was just genuinely tired. It was normal for a little princess to have a bit of a temper before bed.
Huo Shengye coaxed Wen Yuan gently, “Alright, Yuan’er, sleep well. Goodnight.”
After saying this, he picked up his tablet, stood up, and walked out of the room. Click—the sound of the door closing soon followed.
The room plunged into darkness, with only a dim, warm bedside lamp glowing softly.
Wen Yuan closed her eyes for a while, her ears keenly attuned to the surroundings. She was someone who had trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds.
The reason she had slept so well outside that night was probably mostly because she had thought Huo Shengye was a good person at the time.
But today…
After dozing off in bed for a while longer, Wen Yuan pushed herself up and sat.
She glanced around, confirming that she hadn’t misheard earlier—Huo Shengye had left the room.
But wasn’t this the master bedroom?
Wasn’t he going to sleep with her?
What did that mean?
Playing hard to get?
Wen Yuan hummed softly, fumbled around, and found her phone on the bedside table.
Opening WeChat, she saw that Qiu Lening had sent her many messages, several of which were voice notes.
Worried about eavesdroppers, Wen Yuan tapped to convert the voice messages to text:
[Yuan Yuan, Yuan Bao! Oh my god, tonight was so amazing!]
[Yuan Yuan, wait, didn’t Huo Shengye take you home? Where are you sleeping tonight? Are you safe?]
[Yuan’er, reply to me, are you okay, sis?]
Seeing this last message, Wen Yuan quickly replied that she was fine.
But thinking of Qiu Lening’s gossipy nature, Wen Yuan didn’t mention she was at the Huo family’s old residence. Instead, she said:
[Yeah, I’m staying out tonight, not going home. I told my mom, they know. It’s safe, don’t worry.]
Just as she sent this, a new message from Qiu Lening popped up, still a voice note:
[That’s good, that’s good. Alright, then get some rest early, Yuan Bao. Oh, how’s your hand? Is it swollen? Remember to apply some ointment, your skin is sensitive.]
Seeing Qiu Lening mention her hand, Wen Yuan paused as she was about to type a reply.
Her hand…
Wen Yuan couldn’t help but recall the scene in the lounge of the K District hotel, where Huo Shengye had held her in his arms, gently comforting her and even letting her kiss him.
Her heart felt both sweet and sour.
Finally, it turned into an overwhelming sense of frustration and confusion.
[Yuan’er? Yuan Yuan? Are you asleep? Not replying again?]
Qiu Lening’s new message exploded onto the screen, and Wen Yuan hurriedly indicated she was about to sleep.
[Yeah, I know. I’m getting ready to sleep now. Ning Ning, you should rest early too. Goodnight, sweet dreams.]
Qiu Lening replied with two cute stickers for Wen Yuan:
[Yes, Your Highness the Princess.gif]
[Goodnight.gif]
Wen Yuan finished reading the earlier messages Qiu Lening had sent, all expressing worry because she hadn’t replied. After a moment’s thought, Wen Yuan set an alarm and then turned off her phone.
Lying back under the covers, she still felt something was off.
After a while, Wen Yuan sat up again and finally realized what was strange.
This was a double bed!
Everything on the bed was light gray, including the pillowcase on the pillow beside her, which was undoubtedly Huo Shengye’s pillow.
But the pillow she was currently sleeping on had a light pink pillowcase, which stood out starkly against the bed and was clearly added later.
Huo Shengye carried a faint scent of woody, cool fragrance, somewhat like cologne, but… it probably wasn’t cologne.
The ensuite bathroom must have been overlooked in preparation, as there was only one bottle of shower gel, so Wen Yuan had used Huo Shengye’s shower gel tonight.
She now carried that scent on her, which matched the fragrance on the pillow.
So… if this was where Huo Shengye usually slept, where was he going to sleep tonight?
Wen Yuan frowned slightly. Could she have misunderstood Huo Shengye?
She felt a bit uneasy. Although she had only known him for a few days, she had a feeling—as if she had met Huo Shengye long ago, and she could sense that he treated her differently from others.
It couldn’t be because of her appearance—a man like Huo Shengye could have any woman he wanted.
Wen Yuan simply couldn’t fall asleep.
After pondering for a while longer, she thought of the Wen family and realized she had to keep Huo Shengye happy now—she couldn’t afford to lose her temper. She unlocked her phone, opened WeChat, and tried calling Huo Shengye via voice chat.
Unexpectedly, after just two rings, the call was answered.
Huo Shengye’s voice followed immediately, filled with pleasant surprise, gentle and pleasing to the ear, “Yuan’er?”