Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Why Do You Keep Sitting on My Lap?

At eight o'clock in the evening, Zhao Qingshi was woken up by a cat. There was a floor lamp on in the huge master bedroom and the curtains were half drawn. He opened his eyes and saw a cat standing by the bed, rubbing its face against the palm of his hand from time to time.

Zhao Qingshi withdrew his hand in disgust, propped himself up and sat up drowsily. He looked around but didn't see her figure. He had no choice but to look at the cat sitting upright. Her cat was staring at him. Meow~, he has always been indifferent to this kind of furry animals. He lifted the quilt and got out of bed to wash his hands.

Cake kept meowing behind him, but he didn't even look at it. If it was someone else's cat, he would have thrown it away impatiently. He walked out of the bedroom, and Cake followed him downstairs in disappointment. Downstairs, back to his own little room, Ruan Xiangyi made a cat climbing frame for it, and it jumped on it with a drooping face.

Failed to act cute ~ meow, my status is no longer secure ~ meow.

Zhao Qingshi walked towards the dining room and frowned when he didn't see Ruan Xiangyi. Aunt Cui, having set the table, saw him and said, "Sir, are you looking for Madam? Madam is in the kitchen. She cooked all the dishes tonight."

Hearing this, Zhao Qingshi glanced at the dishes on the table. Most of them were home-cooked dishes. He walked to the kitchen. In the kitchen, Ruan Xiangyi, wearing an apron, was arranging the dishes. She was about to take the last dish herself, but she turned around and saw Zhao Qingshi standing at the door.

His hands almost trembled: "You're awake."

Zhao Qingshi nodded, walked in, and took the porcelain plate from her hand. Ruan Xiangyi took off her apron and went to the dining room. Seeing Aunt Cui helping them serve rice, she said, "Aunt Cui, sit down and eat together. It's a good opportunity to try my cooking skills."

"No, no, I'll eat later." Aunt Cui said with a smile, "I won't bother you here anymore."

Zhao Qingshi said, "Aunt Cui, please sit down and join us."

Aunt Cui looked at Ruan Xiangyi and said, "Then I won't be polite."

Ruan Xiangyi pulled out a chair and sat down. She took a small bowl and poured a bowl of soup for Zhao Qingshi: "Try this chestnut chicken soup."

Then he took the bowl in front of Aunt Cui and filled it with water.

A light layer of chicken fat floated on top. Zhao Qingshi picked up a spoon and took a sip. It tasted very fresh and the saltiness was just right. He was pleasantly surprised by the taste. He looked up and saw Ruan Xiangyi looking at him expectantly. "How does it taste?"

Zhao Qingshi put down his spoon and praised without reservation: "It tastes very good."

Ruan Xiangyi smiled with her eyebrows curved.

Aunt Cui smiled and said, "Sir, you don't know, but my wife put a lot of thought into this dinner. She personally went to the supermarket this afternoon to pick out this chicken."

Zhao Qingshi looked at Ruan Xiangyi: "When did you learn this?"

She followed Lin Manshu into the Ruan family when she was a teenager. Although the Ruan family treated her badly, they did not treat her too badly in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation.

"I learned this from my mother when I was little," Ruan Xiangyi said. "My mother is a good cook, but since she married into the Ruan family, I rarely see her cooking."

"After Mom married into the Ruan family, did she not care about you?" Zhao Qingshi asked.

Ruan Xiangyi paused. Seeing her hesitation, Zhao Qingshi immediately said, "Just asking casually. It's okay if you don't want to answer."

Ruan Xiangyi shook her head. "It's not that I don't care. She has her own difficulties. I can understand her. It must be very hard for her to live with me in the Ruan family. Grandma Ruan has never liked me. And Ruan Lingyu has always treated me like the daughter of her enemy. Uncle Ruan has a strong desire to control my mother. I can see that he doesn't like me either."

During the years she lived in the Ruan family, she could see that they didn't like her, which meant that her life was even more difficult than she had imagined.

Zhao Qingshi suddenly felt a little distressed.

*

After dinner, Zhao Qingshi went into the study to hold an online meeting. Ruan Xiangyi came out of the shower and dried her hair, thinking that he probably wouldn't come to sleep in the master bedroom tonight.

Just as she was thinking, the door was pushed open from the outside and Zhao Qingshi walked in. He was wearing home clothes and his face was not looking good. Seeing that she was still awake, he paused.

Ruan Xiangyi stood up and asked, "Are you done?"

Zhao Qingshi nodded and went to the bathroom. After taking a shower, he came out wearing a bathrobe, with water still dripping from his hair. Ruan Xiangyi was lying on the bed, and when she saw him come out, she didn't move.

Zhao Qingshi was rummaging through the drawers in the bedroom. Hearing the noise, Ruan Xiangyi got out of bed and walked out. She saw him sitting on the sofa with a medical kit in front of him.

"Are you hurt?" She walked over.

"Maybe I have a slight fever." Zhao Qingshi said lightly, found an ear thermometer, pointed it at himself, and took it out after hearing a "whoosh" sound. It showed 38.2 degrees.

Ruan Xiangyi squatted down and looked at the number displayed: "You have a fever."

"I saw it." Zhao Qingshi spoke straightly.

“…”

"What I mean is, do you want to take some fever-reducing medicine or go to the hospital?" Ruan Xiangyi said.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Qingshi skillfully took out two pills, put them in his mouth without blinking, and took a sip of water from the cup. Ruan Xiangyi noticed that there were a few pills missing from the aluminum plate he was holding.

He had been working non-stop these past few days and hadn't adjusted to the jet lag on the first day back. His body finally couldn't take it anymore, so Zhao Qingshi leaned his head back on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest.

Ruan Xiangyi stared at his jawline for a long time, her legs growing numb. She stood up, wanting to get him some hot water. Suddenly standing up after squatting for so long, she nearly fell on him due to a lack of blood flow to her brain. She breathed a sigh of relief, but seeing that he wasn't awake, she turned around and someone grabbed her wrist. When she came to her senses, someone had already sat on Zhao Qingshi's lap.

Zhao Qingshi lowered his head to catch her gaze: "Can't you stay a little longer?"

Her hips were pressed against his thighs, and she didn't dare move. He still held her wrist in the air. Hearing this, she moved her fingertips and pointed outside: "I wanted to get you some hot water."

Zhao Qingshi lowered his eyes: "Oh."

After a while, he muttered, "I don't want to drink."

The air was silent for a moment. Ruan Xiangyi moved her wrist to free her hand and took the initiative to bring up the topic before he looked over: "I saw that you were missing a few cold medicine pills just now. Didn't you go to the hospital when you were sick so often before?"

"Yeah." He answered perfunctorily.

“…”

Ruan Xiangyi thought for a moment and said, "I thought people of your status would have a family doctor come over if they got sick."

Zhao Qingshi was amused by her serious look.

After saying this, Ruan Xiangyi regretted it. Would he think she was unsophisticated and ignorant? She puffed her cheeks slightly and said, "What are you laughing at?"

"What are you thinking?" Zhao Qingshi laughed. "How can a grown man be so fragile? It's just a fever. Just take some medicine and it will be fine."

Ruan Xiangyi: "..."

Zhao Qingshi smiled and said, "I've lived on my own since I was ten years old. After I became an adult, I generally don't need a family doctor."

Ruan Xiangyi was puzzled: "Why did you live alone at the age of ten? Don't you live with your parents?"

"Why live together and listen to them quarreling every day?" Zhao Qingshi curled his lips.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask." Ruan Xiangyi apologized subconsciously.

Zhao Qingshi put his arm around her waist, leaning down, his head resting on her left shoulder. "There's nothing I can't tell you. My parents had a business marriage and didn't have any romantic feelings for each other. In the first year of their marriage, my mother became pregnant with me. That was also the year my father learned that his ex-girlfriend had given birth to a child for him. He was often away from home during those years. That woman and my father were in love with each other. If my family hadn't stopped us and disliked the woman's birth, I'm afraid nothing would have happened to me. After that woman died, my father took Zhao Yaozi back to the Zhao family, and only then did he slowly return to his family."

"Isn't it ridiculous? For the sake of profit, two people who don't have much feelings for each other have been tied together for so many years." He laughed mockingly. This is their circle, and everything is based on profit.

If he hadn't met Ruan Xiangyi, he would have almost become a puppet.

Ruan Xiangyi didn't know how to comfort people. She raised her hand awkwardly and patted his shoulder gently. The next second, he grabbed her hand again.

She wanted to retract her hand, but he held it tightly. She asked softly, "Did your mother really want you to marry Li Wenyin before?"

"Perhaps."

"ah?"

"Do you think Li Wenyin is the first one? I have already pushed several before her."

"Is it because they can all help your career?"

"The benefits are mutual, but they value matching."

"Then you seem to have lost a lot. You know me. I'm nothing in the Ruan family. I can't help you at all in this regard. If it were Ruan Yuling..." Before she could finish her words, Ruan Xiangyi was shocked by his gaze and shut up honestly. Wasn't what she said true? If she hadn't followed Lin Manshu into the Ruan family, she would just be an ordinary small town girl.

"I don't like you comparing yourself to Ruan Lingyu. She's nothing like you," Zhao Qingshi said. "Besides, I'm marrying a wife. If everything is about profit and money, then what's the difference between my life and my parents'?"

"Oh..." Ruan Xiangyi gradually became distracted.

"Tsk." Zhao Qingshi noticed that she was not in the right state, so he pinched her face with his bare hands to bring her back to her senses.

Ruan Xiangyi didn't listen carefully to what he said. He held her chin and she opened it slightly: "Hmm?"

"Don't you want to ask about what happened when you met me in the hotel that day?" He stared at her and asked suddenly.

"Hasn't he apologized?" She misheard and thought he was asking her for an explanation, so she murmured.

"What are you apologizing for?"

"This dinner tonight." Ruan Xiangyi reasoned with him, "You can't be angry with me after you eat it."

At this moment, Zhao Qingshi finally figured out why she suddenly wanted to cook tonight. It turned out to be this reason. He was angry and amused at the same time.

Ruan Xiangyi saw the corners of his mouth suddenly raise, and suddenly realized what he was asking. She quickly explained, "I didn't mean to follow you to the hotel that day. I went there with my friend because of her work, but I didn't expect to run into you. Because of that video, you were posted online and scolded for two days. I'm really sorry."

Zhao Qingshi stopped laughing and suddenly wanted to cover her mouth. She only said unpleasant things, and none of her words were satisfactory.

"Don't you even ask who that woman is?" he interrupted her.

"Which one?"

"The one standing outside my room."

"I know, she's your secretary."

He stared at her expression without blinking, not missing a single detail. She asked, "Where's the male secretary who was with you earlier?"

"I fired him."

"Why did you fire him?" At this moment, her face showed a different expression, one of confusion. It was just for another man. Zhao Qingshi sneered: "He betrayed me and reported my personal schedule to Li Wenyin. Do you think I can keep such a person?"

That person had helped her before, and Ruan Xiangyi wanted to argue further, but after listening to his words, she felt that they made sense. She assured him, "Don't worry, I won't bribe this sister."

Zhao Qingshi felt very strange when he heard her calling her secretary "sister". But when he thought that she was only 23 years old this year, he sighed in his heart and thought that it was not wrong to call Xia Li "sister".

He's almost 30.

Suddenly changing the subject: "When is your birthday?"

Ruan Xiangyi replied: "March 13th."

Zhao Qingshi calculated his own due date and found it was six months later than hers, which was not so bad.

Back to the question just now: "Do you want to know my daily schedule?"

A question mark popped up above Ruan Xiangyi's head. What did he mean?

Seeing her reaction, Zhao Qingshi knew that he was a little self-indulgent. He rubbed her hair and picked her up: "No more talking, go to bed."

Ruan Xiangyi said shyly: "Put me down and I can walk."

Zhao Qingshi curled his lips: "Oh, really? Then why do you always sit on my lap?"

“…”

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The author has something to say: I've added more chapters today! The plot is very clunky later on, so please don't scold me when I stop updating [Please][Please][Please]