Shen Zhiyi couldn’t help but reach out and touch it again.
“Does it really not hurt anymore? No sensation at all?”
Shen Zhiyi leaned in very close, and the faint scent of her body wash inadvertently drifted into Pei Xu’s nose.
“Hiss…”
Hearing Pei Xu inhale sharply, Shen Zhiyi quickly withdrew her hand.
“What’s wrong?”
“It seems to hurt a little.”
In truth, after so long, the scar no longer had much feeling, but after being repeatedly touched by Shen Zhiyi just now, he felt a slight itch on the scar.
“I’m sorry, do you want me to apply some iodine for you?”
Shen Zhiyi straightened up, not daring to lean in close to him again.
“No need, it’s already healed.”
Pei Xu stood up from Shen Zhiyi’s bed and walked to the door, suddenly stopping in his tracks.
“I’m sorry about earlier, I misunderstood.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one apologizing earlier?”
Wasn’t it her who had touched Pei Xu and caused him pain? Why was Pei Xu apologizing to her instead…
“Never mind, as long as you’re not angry.”
When did Shen Zhiyi’s memory become so poor?
In the past, if he had made her angry, she could ignore him for half a month.
It wasn’t until Pei Xu returned to the master bedroom that Shen Zhiyi realized why he had apologized to her.
Pei Xu was apologizing for misunderstanding the matter of “selling herself.”
Shen Zhiyi truly hadn’t taken this matter to heart.
It was just a misunderstanding.
Early the next morning, Shen Zhiyi made steamed buns and brewed two cups of soy milk using a soy milk maker.
After preparing breakfast, she went to wake Pei Xu.
“Pei Xu, time to get up for breakfast.”
Shen Zhiyi reached out and knocked twice on the door.
Hearing the sound at the door, he got out from under the covers, fumbled his way to the entrance, and opened it.
“What time is it now?”
Shen Zhiyi thought Pei Xu was asking her and was about to answer when she heard his phone begin announcing the time.
“Today is June 2nd, 8:15 AM, sunny weather…”
“I’ll go wash up.”
Seeing the tuft of hair sticking up on Pei Xu’s head, Shen Zhiyi chuckled and responded.
“Do you want soy milk or coffee?”
Shen Zhiyi sat on the sofa, waiting for Pei Xu to finish washing up.
“Coffee, do we have any at home?”
“No, only soy milk this morning. Are you wondering why I asked you to choose when there’s only soy milk?”
Pei Xu didn’t say anything, but Shen Zhiyi knew that was what he was thinking.
“You haven’t been sleeping well lately, so it’s best to avoid coffee and tea as much as possible.”
Shen Zhiyi pushed the soy milk toward Pei Xu’s hand, held his wrist, and guided him to feel the position of the cup.
The soy milk had cooled to a warm temperature, just right for drinking.
“The buns are on the plate to your left.”
Shen Zhiyi had made fresh meat buns this morning and also prepared a refreshing cucumber pickle.
The cucumbers at home were almost used up, so she needed to buy more when she went out today.
Shen Zhiyi only ate two small buns and finished the soy milk in her cup before preparing to leave.
Her appetite wasn’t great in the morning, so a little something to fill her stomach was enough.
“Pei Xu, I need to go out. You can go back to your room and rest a bit more after eating. Don’t worry about the dishes on the table—I’ll wash them when I get back.”
Shen Zhiyi picked up her bag, and her gaze swept over the document folder on the bookshelf. After a moment’s thought, she stuffed it directly into her bag.
“Alright.”
Pei Xu raised his hand and “looked” toward where he thought she was sitting across from him.
Shen Zhiyi felt it was a bit eerie for him to be talking to thin air like that, so she walked over to him, cupped his face, and made Pei Xu speak directly to her.
“I’m right here.”
“Okay…”
Shen Zhiyi was amused by his dazed expression and reached out to ruffle his hair, smoothing down the stubborn tuft that stuck up.
“I’m heading out now. If anything comes up, just message me. If I’m running late, I’ll call you.”
Shen Zhiyi really wasn’t comfortable leaving Pei Xu alone at home, so she gave him a long list of reminders before leaving.
Finally, when Shen Zhiyi started repeating herself for the third time, Pei Xu couldn’t help but interrupt her.
“It’s almost nine. If you don’t leave now, you probably won’t make it back before lunch.”
Shen Zhiyi glanced at the time and hurriedly got up, rushing to the door.
“Alright, I’m off then, Pei Xu. You must remember—”
“Maybe I shouldn’t wait for you after all. I’ll just make do with cold water and instant noodles for lunch.”
“Fine, I’m leaving now.”
Shen Zhiyi gave a slight smile, picked up the keys from the entryway cabinet, and left.
Today, she planned to check out the two large apartments Pei Xu had given her and sell off some of the handbags and luxury items.
Since they were living here now, it made more sense to turn those bags gathering dust into cash rather than letting them sit unused.
Shen Zhiyi had arranged for several vintage luxury shop owners to come and appraise the items.
Whoever offered the highest price would get the goods.
Even if she might be criticized behind her back, she’d get more money this way.
Compared to earning a bit more cash, a few whispered comments were nothing.
After selling all the handbags and luxury items in the house, she tallied up the total amount.
Two million one hundred sixty-eight thousand yuan.
Pei Xu had truly been very generous to the original owner.
“Please transfer the money to this card. The recipient is Pei Xu.”
Originally, the closets and safes at home had been packed full.
Now that everything had been sold, the space felt much more open.
After seeing off the vintage luxury shop owners, Shen Zhiyi didn’t linger there for long.
Driving from the city center back to the old residential area where Pei Xu now lived took at least forty minutes. If she took the subway and transferred to a bus, it could take nearly two hours.
Her desire to buy a car grew stronger.
Having her own car would be much more convenient than relying on taxis.
The main issue was that the area they lived in now wasn’t very well-equipped.
If they wanted to go to a large supermarket, they had to take a taxi to the city center.
On her way back, Shen Zhiyi bought some fruit and a carton of milk.
Instead of heading straight home, she knocked on Aunt Jiang’s door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Aunt Jiang.”
Aunt Jiang opened the door and, seeing it was Shen Zhiyi, quickly invited her in.
“Aunt Jiang, these are for you. Consider it an apology.”
Although Shen Zhiyi didn’t enjoy dealing with social niceties, that didn’t mean she couldn’t handle them.
“You didn’t have to bring anything! You and Xiao Xu aren’t well-off either. Take these back with you.”
“Aunt Jiang, we have everything we need at home. These were bought especially for you. If I take them back, they’ll just go to waste.”
Hearing this, Aunt Jiang didn’t refuse any further.
“I just didn’t recognize Xiao Xu. If I’d known it was him, I wouldn’t have gone upstairs to complain.”
Aunt Jiang sighed, a hint of guilt on her face.
“Please don’t say that. If you hadn’t come up yesterday, I wouldn’t have known that you, Pei Xu, and my… my mother-in-law were old acquaintances.”
Shen Zhiyi felt a bit unnatural when saying the word “mother-in-law.”
After all, this form of address was quite unfamiliar to her.
“I was in a hurry yesterday and didn’t get to ask your name. I can’t keep calling you ‘Little Xu’s wife.'”
“My surname is Shen, Shen Zhiyi. You can just call me Xiao Shen.”
Aunt Jiang nodded. “Xiao Shen, I’m cooking right now. Why don’t you stay and have a bite to eat?”
Shen Zhiyi stood up.
“No, Aunt Jiang. When I left this morning, Pei Xu was the only one at home. I’m a bit worried. I’ll come another day to try your cooking.”