The smile on Zheng Miaomiao’s lips gradually faded.
“I’m getting married soon.” Her tone was no longer deliberately warm but had turned noticeably cold. ”As you can see, I’m wearing the wedding dress my fiancé picked out for me. The person standing before you is already engaged.”
She held up the engagement ring that had long adorned her hand, its glint in the mild sunlight still sharp enough to sting Shen Xu’s eyes.
“Shen Xu, I was immature in the past and did a lot of ridiculous things. If I ever offended you in any way, I apologize. My fiancé and I are just ordinary people—I hope you won’t make things difficult for us.”
Zheng Miaomiao frowned. She truly despised the inequality of power. It was why, even when faced with Shen Xu’s offensive demands and intentions, all she could do was choose her words as tactfully as possible.
“In any case, we did know each other once. If you still consider me a friend, I’ll send you an invitation to my wedding.”
When she finished speaking, she didn’t wait for Shen Xu to respond. She simply stood up and left.
Shen Xu turned to watch her go, the wide, ornate skirt of her dress trailing a long, beautiful silhouette in the sunlight.
“Miaomiao.”
Zheng Miaomiao didn’t stop walking.
…………
After changing out of the wedding dress, Zheng Miaomiao hurried back home.
It was an apartment under Lin Qin’an’s name. Zheng Miaomiao didn’t want to live with her parents, so she stayed at Lin Qin’an’s place. Besides this apartment, Lin Qin’an had also bought a villa to serve as their marital home, though it was still under renovation and not yet livable.
Lin Qin’an wasn’t exactly wealthy, but he had saved up a sum of money in his early years and started investing, and now had a net worth of nearly a hundred million. So although they had no plans to continue living in this small county town after marriage, he had still chosen to purchase some property in Zheng Miaomiao’s hometown.
By the time she returned, Lin Qin’an was already home. Zheng Miaomiao heard sounds coming from the kitchen, along with the sweet aroma of food.
Lin Qin’an heard her come in too. He walked out of the kitchen with a smile on his face.
“Miaomiao, you’re back.”
His shirt sleeves were simply rolled up, revealing forearms with smooth, well-defined muscle, and two buttons at his collar were undone, hinting at his collarbone and the contours of his chest. A few droplets of water clung to the loose strands of hair on his forehead, and a pale yellow apron was tied around his waist.
“I stewed a sea bass. It’ll be ready to eat soon.”
Zheng Miaomiao crossed the room in a few quick strides and threw herself into his arms.
Lin Qin’an had just washed the vegetables, and his hands were still wet. Afraid of dirtying her clothes, he could only hold his hands awkwardly in the air.
Then he watched as Zheng Miaomiao nestled herself entirely against him, her cheek pressed to his chest, nuzzling back and forth like a cat.
“I pan-fried cola chicken wings earlier, so I reek of cooking fumes. Don’t rub against me and get dirty,” he said with a helpless smile.
Zheng Miaomiao pretended not to hear. Far from letting go, she wrapped her arms around his lean waist and nuzzled him even more insistently.
As if she were drawing some kind of energy from him.
Seeing this, Lin Qin’an couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. “What’s wrong? Did something upsetting happen?”
Zheng Miaomiao kept her face buried against his chest and shook her head.
“Trying on wedding dresses made me a bit tired,” she said.
In front of Lin Qin’an, she was a total slacker. She slept until noon every day and could manage at most one activity per day—if there were more than two, she would simply shut down completely.
Lin Qin’an had long since figured out her habits, and he was happy to indulge her. Back when the two of them had traveled and explored most of the planet together, he would take Zheng Miaomiao to at most one place a day.
And she had spent the entire afternoon trying on wedding dresses, so it was only natural that she’d be tired. Lin Qin’an didn’t suspect a thing; instead, he simply reached out and scooped Zheng Miaomiao into his arms.
The sudden feeling of weightlessness made Zheng Miaomiao cry out in surprise, but when she looked up, it was still Lin Qin’an’s face—that unfairly handsome face with a smile in his eyes.
“Your hands are cold! You’re freezing me!” Zheng Miaomiao complained.
“Then change out of it in a bit. I’ll be the one washing it anyway.” Lin Qin’an’s tone was casual, carrying the smugness and doting affection of someone teasing her.
He carried Zheng Miaomiao all the way to the living room, gently set her down on the sofa, brought her a small blanket, and served her the milk he had warmed up earlier along with the strawberries he’d bought on the way home, washed until they gleamed.
“Baby, rest here for now. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.” He pressed a kiss to Zheng Miaomiao’s cheek and tucked the remote control into her hand.
Zheng Miaomiao lazily curled up in the blanket. Lin Qin’an had set the air conditioning to a very comfortable temperature.
Zheng Miaomiao had always loved the cold; she liked setting the air conditioner very low and then covering herself with a thick blanket or comforter. Lin Qin’an didn’t quite approve, feeling it wasn’t very good for her health. But his way of dealing with it was merely to turn the air conditioner up a little and swap the comforter for a slightly thinner one.
She nuzzled against the blanket, made soft by the sun.
As soon as she returned to a space with Lin Qin’an in it, she relaxed completely. Though she still harbored some lingering worry over Shen Xu’s words, there was nothing she could do about it, so she could only push it to the back of her mind.
…………