Cheng Sisi excused herself to find him slippers and fled the room.
Jiang Zhuo leaned against the door, watching her panicked retreating figure with amusement.
This time, it wasn’t deliberately planned by him!
Glancing back at the slippers by the bed, they were clearly fine, with no bite marks anywhere.
She was just shy, that’s all!
He wanted to see if she would actually bring new slippers in later.
Cheng Sisi, who had fled all the way back to her room, was so nervous that sweat beaded on her face. The puppy in her arms, oblivious to the situation, began nibbling on her hand. She pulled her hand back and gently tapped its little snout.
“It’s all because of you, you little troublemaker!”
Pouting, she looked as if she were about to cry.
Slowly walking over to the dog bed, she set the golden retriever puppy down.
She had already forced herself to let go of the things in her dream and could face Jiang Zhuo normally again.
But now, what should she do?
She patted her cheeks, trying to keep her mind clear.
What had happened had already happened, and since they would inevitably run into each other, how could she keep avoiding him?
She’d just have to brace herself and face it!
With that, she left her room and went downstairs, remembering that there were unopened slippers in the shoe cabinet by the entrance.
Kneeling behind the door, she searched intently.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of the door opening. Thinking it was Jiang Xin, she eagerly prepared to tell her about the embarrassing situation that had just occurred.
She stood up, ready to greet her.
“Xin Xin, do you know what I just saw? Your big brother’s body…”
She was too eager, blurting it out before the door had even fully opened.
So, when she finally realized that the person outside wasn’t Jiang Xin, she felt as if struck by lightning.
The person who had returned wasn’t Jiang Xin—it was Jiang Si!
Leaning on his crutches, he looked equally bewildered, furrowing his brows as he tried to recall whether Cheng Sisi had just said she saw his big brother’s body.
The two stared at each other for a long time until Jiang Si cleared his throat softly. Only then did Cheng Sisi snap out of it and quickly step aside.
“Why… why are you back? Didn’t the doctor say you still needed some time before you could be discharged?”
Jiang Si hobbled inside on his crutches, answering as he went, “The hospital was too stifling. I couldn’t stand staying there any longer.”
That was indeed in line with Jiang Si’s personality.
“Let me help you!”
Seeing Jiang Si struggling to walk, Cheng Sisi immediately stepped forward to support him.
After they sat down on the sofa, the two looked at each other again, this time with an added layer of awkwardness.
Cheng Sisi wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt that Jiang Si’s gaze toward her today was different. Yet, she couldn’t quite pinpoint how it was different.
“Um…” Jiang Si searched for a topic. “I heard you started working at my brother’s company?”
“Yes!” Cheng Sisi stood in front of him, her demeanor noticeably unnatural.
Jiang Si smiled and replied, “That’s good, that’s good.”
But aside from “that’s good,” he seemed unable to say anything else, making the atmosphere even more awkward.
“It’s… it’s getting late!”
Finally, unable to bear the awkwardness any longer, Jiang Si stood up from the sofa and said, “Well, you have work tomorrow. I won’t disturb your rest any longer.”
Cheng Sisi caught the underlying meaning in his words and quickly nodded.
Perhaps Jiang Si found her boring. Although he was warm and outgoing by nature, whenever they were together, he rarely had much to say. Ultimately, it was because her personality was too dull to spark his interest in conversation.
She knew that she and he were simply incompatible in terms of personality.
“Let me help you upstairs, then!” she offered.
Jiang Si thought for a moment, frowning as he looked at the staircase.
It had only been a few days since his fracture. Relying solely on himself to climb the stairs probably wouldn’t work!
He did not decline. With Cheng Sisi’s help, he slowly made his way upstairs and returned to his own room.
As the two figures disappeared behind the door, Jiang Zhuo, who had been hidden in the shadows, gradually emerged.
His eyes seemed veiled with frost.
His face was dark and sullen, his brows furrowed so tightly they almost met.
The moment Jiang Si appeared, Cheng Sisi had eyes for no one else!
Hmph!
Soon, Cheng Sisi emerged from Jiang Si’s room, having completely forgotten about finding slippers for Jiang Zhuo. She didn’t even remember as she passed by his room, instead heading straight back to her own.
When she returned, the puppy wagged its tail and circled around her feet.
She didn’t even have the mood to play with it anymore.
Only one thing was on her mind: to move out of here as soon as she got her paycheck.
Seeing how awkward Jiang Si had been earlier, she knew that staying here would only cause trouble for others. She wasn’t part of this family, and staying too long would make people uncomfortable.
But waiting for her paycheck still felt too far away.
So she picked up her phone and sent a message to her father, asking him to lend her some money first, which she would pay back later.
Her parents had only one daughter and had always doted on her since childhood.
So, upon receiving her message, they immediately transferred her a sum of money.
Only after receiving the money did she finally feel at ease!
She then went to freshen up, and after coming out of the bathroom, she went straight to bed.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard the puppy whimpering restlessly by the bedside. Worried that the puppy might be struggling to adjust to the unfamiliar environment, she rolled over and got out of bed.
“Why do you like lying on slippers so much? You didn’t chew…”
Suddenly!
She froze.
Her eyes widened more and more, filled with regret.
How could she have forgotten about that?
She quickly threw on a jacket and rushed out of her room.
Hurrying downstairs, she grabbed a new pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and dashed back upstairs, panting heavily as she stood outside Jiang Zhuo’s door.
“Brother Jiang Zhuo?”
She called out while knocking.
“Brother Jiang Zhuo, are you asleep?”
“Brother Jiang Zhuo!”
After calling several times, there was no response from inside.
She guessed he must already be asleep, and it would be impolite to wake him.
So, she could only leave the slippers by the door.
“I’m sorry!” she whispered apologetically, her heart aching.
Even though the slippers in his room hadn’t actually been chewed up, she still felt inexplicably guilty toward him. She couldn’t explain the sour, bitter feeling in her heart, attributing it only to shame—shame for having seen him completely exposed.
After that, she stood up and turned to leave.
But just after she returned to her room, Jiang Zhuo’s door opened from the inside.
He hadn’t been asleep at all, or perhaps he had already been standing behind the door the moment she knocked.
His expression remained as cold as a frozen mountain.
He bent down to pick up the slippers and closed the door again.
“Cheng Sisi, can’t I be the most important person in your heart?”
Instead, she fawned over someone who didn’t even like her. Should it be called deep affection, or was it just foolishness?
But on second thought, did he really want to play games of affection with Cheng Sisi?
He merely enjoyed her dependence, reveling in the feeling of her submission!
So why did he feel this sourness in his heart now?
Surely it couldn’t be the pangs of jealousy from falling for her!
Clutching the slippers tightly, he walked into the Secret Chamber. After tossing them on the floor, he took a blowtorch from the shelf and aimed it at the cotton slippers, watching with a hint of madness as they slowly turned to ashes.
Finally, with a fierce swing of his hand, the pistol in his grip smashed into a jar containing a preserved liver.
The force was so great that the jar shattered instantly.
A large amount of liquid flowed down from the shelf, slowly pooling at his feet, filling the air with the pungent smell of Formalin.
“No matter the reason, as long as you remain in my sight, you are not allowed to entangle yourself with other men.”
“I want your heart and eyes to be only on me!”
“Otherwise, I will preserve you and keep you forever in my room!”