Pei Xu’s sleep schedule remained irregular. When he couldn’t sleep at night, he would sit blankly on the sofa.
Shen Zhiyi felt this habit wasn’t good, mainly because the living room sofa was positioned right where the draft from the window blew through.
He had fallen asleep on the sofa last night without covering himself and was already showing signs of a cold.
“It’s getting late, Pei Xu. Go back to your room and sleep.”
After buying the new television, Pei Xu had developed a habit of listening to TV.
He was particularly interested in financial news, and whenever the TV was on, he would always switch to the financial channel.
“I’m not sleepy yet.”
“Even if you’re not sleepy, you should go back to your room and lie down. Maybe lying there for a while will help reset your sleep schedule.”
Pei Xu’s current sleep schedule was especially chaotic. He often didn’t fall asleep until the early hours of the morning and would wake up either at noon or in the afternoon.
The time he woke up depended entirely on how late he had stayed up the night before.
If Pei Xu were living alone, this kind of schedule wouldn’t be much of a problem.
But Shen Zhiyi kept a disciplined, early-to-bed routine, always in bed by ten at night.
If she went along with Pei Xu’s schedule, even though they were both at home, they would go over ten hours without seeing each other…
“I might go out to buy groceries in the morning, but you’re usually still asleep then. If I get delayed while I’m out, you’ll think I left without a word again, just like you did today at noon, and end up making yourself some cold-water instant noodles.”
Mentioning this, Shen Zhiyi really felt like poking Pei Xu’s forehead with her finger.
“I didn’t…”
“Still arguing? If you hadn’t thought I’d left, would you have used the key to lock the door to the spare bedroom?”
Shen Zhiyi wasn’t foolish; she just hadn’t explicitly pointed it out to Pei Xu.
“I really do have to go out tomorrow morning. I’ll try to be back before lunch. You stay home and wait for me properly.”
Pei Xu acknowledged with a sound.
The next moment, he countered Shen Zhiyi’s words.
“I’m not a child.”
“Right, you’re not a child. I’m just worried that if I come back late tomorrow, you’ll lock the spare bedroom door again.”
“I won’t.”
When he woke up at noon today and realized no one was home, he had genuinely thought Shen Zhiyi had left.
“You can send me a WeChat message. I can use the screen reader to hear any messages you send.”
Shen Zhiyi glanced at Pei Xu’s phone on the table. Its screen was indeed different from hers.
“Go back to your room, wash up, and get some sleep. Oh, and… I left a pair of anti-slip slippers for you in the bathroom. I also added an anti-slip mat on the bathroom floor. See if you can adjust to them later.”
Shen Zhiyi helped Pei Xu to the door of the master bedroom and turned on the light for him.
Even though the light was of little use to him.
“Thank you.”
“In two days, I’ve heard you say ‘thank you’ no less than twenty times.”
“Besides ‘thank you,’ I don’t know what else to say.”
Shen Zhiyi stared at Pei Xu’s face, her lips curling upward uncontrollably.
“You could also say… you’ll earn money to support me.”
A hint of bitterness appeared on Pei Xu’s face.
“The me now will probably disappoint you…”
“The you now can do it too, Pei Xu. Don’t underestimate yourself.”
Even though Pei Xu was now blind and bankrupt, in Shen Zhiyi’s eyes, he was still the most capable.
“Are you trying to make me sell myself?”
It seemed Pei Xu had finally understood Shen Zhiyi’s actions over the past two days.
No wonder she was willing to stay here—she still didn’t think her current situation was miserable enough.
“Sell ginseng? Selling ginseng works too. How about I open a physical store for you?”
If selling ginseng, having a physical store would be best.
That way, online sales would be better supported by a brick-and-mortar presence.
“You want me to sell myself and even open a physical store? Are you trying to get yourself thrown in jail to eat steamed buns?”
Pei Xu frowned deeply.
He couldn’t quite describe the feeling in his heart.
Being deceived by Shen Zhiyi again and again—he deserved it…
“What do you mean thrown in jail to eat steamed buns? It’s not like I’m asking you to sell fake goods.”
Shen Zhiyi was genuinely confused by Pei Xu.
She vaguely felt that she and Pei Xu weren’t talking about the same thing.
But she wasn’t entirely sure…
“Aren’t you trying to make me sell myself? What else is there to say?”
“I’m asking you to sell ginseng! Which ‘shen’ did you think I meant?”
Shen Zhiyi was almost amused by Pei Xu’s misunderstanding.
Was she really so terrible that she’d ask a handsome blind man to sell himself?
Maybe in Pei Xu’s mind, she really was that terrible…
“Forget it, go take a shower first.”
Shen Zhiyi turned and walked out of Pei Xu’s room, closing the door behind her.
Pei Xu stood frozen in place for a long time.
He felt like Shen Zhiyi might be angry.
But then again, misunderstanding her good intentions and speaking coldly to her—it was only natural for her to be upset.
Pei Xu felt his way along the bedroom wall, slowly moving toward the bathroom.
Shen Zhiyi had placed the non-slip slippers by the bathroom door, and he nudged them lightly with his foot.
The non-slip mat in the bathroom felt soft underfoot, requiring little adjustment.
After finishing his shower, he felt he should take the initiative to apologize to Shen Zhiyi.
After all, he was the one who misunderstood first.
Pei Xu’s hair was still wet, water dripping steadily from the ends.
He opened his bedroom door, walked to the guest room, and knocked lightly.
“Coming!”
Shen Zhiyi hurriedly changed into her nightgown and rushed to the door.
“The door isn’t locked. What’s up?”
Shen Zhiyi smoothed her hair with her hand.
Seeing Pei Xu’s hair was still wet, she took the towel draped over his neck, stood on her tiptoes, and gently dried it for him.
“Your pajamas are all wet. Oh, right… I bought a new set of loungewear at the mall today, in your size. Remember to change out of those wet clothes.”
Once Pei Xu’s hair stopped dripping, Shen Zhiyi ran to the balcony, took the already-dried loungewear from the clothesline, and brought it back.
Pei Xu had originally planned to find a way to apologize to Shen Zhiyi, but he hadn’t even gotten a word out.
“Pei Xu, I put the loungewear on your pillow. Remember to change, and you need to dry your hair properly.”
Shen Zhiyi had initially intended to take Pei Xu to the living room to dry his hair, but seeing him standing right outside her bedroom door, she simply pulled him inside.
Shen Zhiyi stuffed the bra she had just taken off under the blanket, cleared her throat lightly, and pulled Pei Xu to sit down.
Thank goodness he couldn’t see—otherwise, how awkward would that be?
“No need to dry it. My hair is short; it’ll dry on its own soon.”
Hearing Shen Zhiyi clear her throat, Pei Xu thought his presence in her room might have made her uncomfortable.
“If you don’t dry it, you’ll catch a cold. And if you do, I won’t buy you any medicine.”
Once Pei Xu sat down by her bed, Shen Zhiyi turned on the hairdryer, adjusted the temperature, and began drying his hair.
Her fingers gently combed through Pei Xu’s hair as she worked.
“Is this a scar?”
She gently touched it twice, not daring to use too much force, worried she might hurt Pei Xu.
“Yes, it’s from a car accident before.”
Shen Zhiyi paused for a moment.
“Does it still hurt now?”
“It’s already healed.”
Shen Zhiyi turned off the hair dryer, walked around behind Pei Xu, lifted her hand to part his hair, and glanced at the scar left on the back of his head.