Through the frosted glass of the bathroom, his tall, upright figure could be vaguely seen.
Broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs, the classic build.
Even among the women at the courthouse, who occasionally judged men among themselves, everyone had to admit: Although Tan Siyan had little humanity, his strikingly beautiful face was undeniably captivating.
His features were sharply defined, with a strong bone structure, deep-set and firm, handsome in a very tangible, rugged way.
And in uniform, he was even more impressive.
Song Shuangzhi found it hard to imagine that behind that layer of glass, he was already…
The man’s long fingers adjusted the shower temperature.
From the 42 degrees she liked, he turned it down to 38, then 32, lowering it all the way to 18…
Cold water ran over his body.
He lowered his head, looking at the uncontrollable reaction.
At twenty-seven, this sensation was not unfamiliar.
Only after consulting a doctor did he learn that it was a kind of addictive desire.
What he hated most was losing control.
When he immersed himself in work, he wouldn’t be dominated by such intrusive urges.
But today…
After seeing Song Shuangzhi, certain emotions and impulses seemed to have stirred desires he had suppressed for a long time with sheer force.
He took her eyebrow razor, pried out the blade, and dragged the sharp tip across the root of his thigh. Drops of blood fell to the floor, and the shameful, loathsome desire slowly subsided.
The water temperature dropped to freezing.
He shouldn’t have come back, nor should he have chosen to get so close to Song Shuangzhi.
He hadn’t married her because of something as trivial as love.
With a sigh, he instructed his assistant,【Book a flight back to The Hague for the day after tomorrow.】
After finishing everything, the bathroom door opened.
But his steps halted.
At the doorway, a young girl in a light sprout-yellow outfit lay sideways, asleep right outside the bathroom.
Asleep?
And she had somehow “grown” four cats on her.
The mischievous little cats clutched her slender ankles, their paws tugging at her collar, while two shameless ones…
were gently licking her collarbone.
Her delicate, almost fragile collarbone curved in a way that was unbelievably beautiful.
“Go away,” he waved his hand.
The cats, however, were not afraid of him at all.
Animals always size people up. They could tell he was allergic to cat fur and would avoid them, so they simply stood on Song Shuangzhi’s shoulders and bared their teeth at him.
Tan Siyan rarely encountered such a tricky situation. He bent down, intending to lift her directly out of the cats’ “guard.”
His fingers had just brushed against the soft fabric of her sleepwear—
“Hiss—” One of the cats stepped on her hair.
Song Shuangzhi woke up in pain. Her large, watery eyes were still hazy with sleep, her eyelashes clustered together as she looked at him.
Her soft, slightly aggrieved voice murmured, “Why are you stepping on my hair?”
“It wasn’t me…”
Already a man of few words, Tan Siyan found his tongue inexplicably tied in front of her.
【Tongbao, if you keep acting this cute, we really won’t complete the mission! You might get eliminated early!】
【Men like him, career-driven types, prefer an equal partner. They don’t like clingy, dependent women!】
Song Shuangzhi was truly at her wit’s end…
【Clingy supporting female task triggered. Kick him!】
Ah! So annoying!
Just woken up and already a little cranky, she still had the system yelling in her head:
【Kick him, kick him! Kick him! That big jerk, that scumbag!】
Her mind blanked, and she lifted her foot, kicking his calf.
“That really hurts!” she complained. “Do you know how much hair I lose every day? Do you know how precious hair is to a girl?”
After saying it, she immediately got scared.
“Tongbao… help—why isn’t he saying anything? The last time he sentenced someone to death, he had this exact expression!”
The system twitched like it had lost its mind:
【Ahhh! You don’t get it! He thinks your feet are small, your toes are crystal-like, soft like little cat paw pads, so cute!】
【And why is your voice all soft and whiny? He can’t hear clearly. He wants to kiss you!】
Song Shuangzhi thought the system had gone insane.
But her task was completed!
(＾－＾)V!
【Reward: Favorability of the true daughter of the Song family.】
Her little face instantly drooped.
Who was the real daughter? Was she the fake one? How did she not know?
“Tongbao, did you mess up the reward?”
The system hadn’t had time to answer.
“Sorry,” Tan Siyan said softly. “I’ll be more careful in the future.”
“There is no future,” Song Shuangzhi frowned. She only had three months left.
“Yes, there is no future,” Tan Siyan decided. He would not let her fall asleep outside his bathroom again.
“I’ll help—” he reached out.
“Good night~” Song Shuangzhi nimbly got up from the floor and ran off, grabbing the system by the neck to interrogate it about the true and fake daughter situation.
Tan Siyan’s outstretched hand didn’t even catch the edge of her clothes. A single strand of her long hair drifted down slowly in the air.
Landing on his fingertips.
He had intended to throw it into the trash.
But in the end, that soft strand of hair was tucked into his notebook.
Although Song Shuangzhi had made major renovations to the marital home, she had kept clear boundaries and hadn’t touched his room.
Black bed, table, and chair, white bedding, bare walls, a classic minimalist cold style.
It felt like stepping into an Eskimo ice house.
Very strong “workplace” vibes.
Early the next morning.
Song Shuangzhi was woken by the aroma of eggs, milk, and buttery croissants.
With her keen nose, she didn’t even open her eyes before following the scent and sitting down at the head of the dining table.
Coffee, sandwiches, bacon butter croissants, mmm~
So fragrant!
“Labubu,” her voice soft, “come here,”
“Sit on mommy’s lap,”
“Grandpa Niu, come here,”
“Sit on mommy’s shoulder,”
“Hututu, lie by my feet,”
“Qionghaha, open your mouth~”
When Tan Siyan came out carrying a soft-boiled egg, Song Shuangzhi was already picking the bacon out of his sandwich and feeding it to a calico kitten.
He had no choice but to sit at the side of the table.
As she fed her four little cats, she said, “Did I raise a Snail Princess or something? Wow, I actually get to eat such a lavish breakfast.”
She pinched a kitten, “Where is my Snail Princess? Where is she? Where is she?”
Pressing her head against the kitten’s belly, her breathing loud as she spoke in a cutesy tone,
“You’re my Snail Princesses, right? Right?”
Tan Siyan set his coffee cup down. “It’s me.”
“Huh?”
“I’m your Snail…”
He pressed his lips together.
Why did he even care about this? Just saying “Snail Princess” made him feel too embarrassed to continue.
“You want to eat snails?” she smiled. “I know a place that’s really good, spicy and fragrant. I’ll buy some for you tonight.”
After a long pause, Tan Siyan finally said, “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
【Clingy supporting female task triggered: Tell him, “I don’t want you to go back to The Hague.”】
Song Shuangzhi looked confused!
“Why is this triggering now?”
The system replied: 【You’ve been married for three months, and you’re still saying ‘thank you’ and ‘it’s nothing’? That’s way too distant!】
Rubbing her forehead, she didn’t bother thinking too much about it. A clingy ex-wife should cling to him, so naturally she wouldn’t support his ambitions. Stuffing a piece of bread into her mouth, she said,
“Chief Judge Tan.”
“Mm.”
“I don’t want you to go back to The Hague…”
“The Hague? What’s that?”
Song Shuangzhi paused. “Sorry, I mean The Hague.”
Tan Siyan froze. Just then, a message popped up on his phone from his assistant:
“Chief Judge Tan, your flight back to The Hague tomorrow has already been booked.”
Holding the cold phone, his deep, dark gaze rested on Song Shuangzhi.
She had just stuffed a dry piece of bread into her mouth and was chewing desperately like a little squirrel.
Four kittens bounced around on her.
His answer was so standard it didn’t require thought, as if his mouth automatically determined priority, “No.”
Song Shuangzhi only needed him to stay for the task. Even the system knew he would never stay for her.
So she wasn’t actually sad at all.
But the dry bread in her mouth was genuinely hard to chew.
Her face twisted in discomfort, and she wanted to spit it out…
From his thin lips came a drifting sentence, “Are you sad?”
“Huh?”
He lowered his gaze, the reflection on his glasses hiding his deep eyes, his voice indifferent, “Do you want to…”
“Step on me again?”