Chapter Twenty-One

That string of numbers twisted and rotated.

The faint light from the screen flickered gently in Mo Wansheng's moist eyes.

She didn't look up at Huo Yuzheng; her phone was turned off.

Mo Wansheng took a deep breath, her tone distant, "Mr. Huo, you should leave. I don't want to go."

She prepared to close the door and ignore him.

Huo Yuzheng reached out and stopped the door from closing. "Why?"

A brief silence.

She blinked back the tears that were about to spill from her eyes and gasped.

"Mr. Huo, what is this all about?"

One moment enthusiastic, the next indifferent.

After arousing her inappropriate thoughts, he pushed her away a thousand miles away.

Huo Yuzheng explained rationally, "You said I rarely come home. This is the first time I've heard that you have a problem with this. I'm sorry, I overlooked that before. Work does prevent me from going back to the suburban villa for a lot of time. If you'd like, you can live with me in the downtown apartment."

"Okay." Mo Wansheng suppressed her dissatisfaction and resentment, replacing them with a fake smile.

“Mr. Huo, I agree with you.”

Mo Wansheng said casually, "However, I don't want to live in your apartment; the decor is too depressing."

Huo Yuzheng: "I can have someone change it according to your requirements."

She shook her head. "No, I have an idea. You can live with me in Jingyuan."

She opened all the doors, revealing the entire apartment.

Sunlight streamed into the living room through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing everything in warm, inviting colors.

This is her territory; every corner bears her mark. Living here, she only feels more free and unrestrained.

"How is it?" Mo Wansheng asked him tentatively.

She felt that Huo Yuzheng was someone who liked to be in a dominant position.

Such a demand would place him in a territory controlled by her.

Therefore, he will not agree. Even if it's to maintain the image of a couple, there's no need to go to this extent.

Huo Yuzheng's gaze swept over the living room behind her. He nodded slightly and said calmly, "Okay."

He took a step forward, drew closer to her, and whispered, "However, Mrs. Huo, I have one request. While I'm staying here, I'm not a guest; I'm still your husband."

Mo Wansheng retorted angrily, "I didn't say you weren't."

She cursed inwardly, thinking that this marriage was no different from having a fake husband.

She turned away from him and went into the bathroom to wash up.

Huo Yuzheng carried the suitcase behind him in and pushed it all the way to the bathroom door.

"Mrs. Huo, which room will I stay in?"

Mo Wansheng was brushing her teeth, her mouth full of bubbles, like a cat that had been provoked.

She glared at Huo Yuzheng, who looked completely innocent.

Her gaze lingered on the suitcase beside him, and she almost couldn't help but roll her eyes.

She hadn't even noticed he was carrying a suitcase when they were at the door.

She made a mistake.

She seriously suspected that this guy had planned this all along, just waiting for her to nod so he could pack her up and bring her over with her bag.

For a moment, she felt a strong urge to ask him for rent.

She spat the foam from her mouth into the sink and pointed with her toothbrush toward the guest room, saying, "You'll stay in the guest room next to the master bedroom. There are four bedding items in the closet; take them yourself."

Then he added, "There's a study in the attic; you can work there if you find it too noisy."

"Okay, thank you, Mrs. Huo." His gaze lingered on the foam at the corner of her mouth for a moment before he dragged his suitcase into the guest room.

After washing up, Mo Wansheng returned to the master bedroom to change her clothes.

As she passed the guest room, she secretly glanced at Huo Yuzheng; he moved very quickly.

The sheets and duvet covers are all neatly arranged.

Even the suitcases were empty, and all personal belongings were neatly arranged.

That's his efficiency.

Mo Wansheng closed the door, gestured for a while, and finally took out a set of clothes from the wardrobe.

After she changed, I waited for her to leave the room.

It smelled wonderfully of bread.

Golden toast and steaming hot milk were laid out on the restaurant table.

Huo Yuzheng sat quietly at the dining table, holding her mug and drinking freshly ground coffee.

"I saw some toast in the refrigerator, so I toasted it and ate it while it was still hot."

Mo Wansheng said bluntly, "Huo Yuzheng, don't you have to go to work today?"

"No, not today."

"Didn't you say last time that you only take a vacation once every month and a half? Is the company going to go bankrupt?"

Huo Yuzheng met Mo Wansheng's scrutinizing gaze and shook his head, "It won't go bankrupt. There haven't been that many things going on lately."

"Oh..." she drawled, clearly not believing.

"What are you planning to do today?" he asked casually.

"It's none of your business." Mo Wansheng finished the rest of the milk and returned to the master bedroom.

With a soft "bang," the door was closed, neither too hard nor too soft.

Huo Yuzheng sat alone in the restaurant. He didn't rush to leave, his gaze fixed on the empty glass.

The coffee in the mug was slightly cold; he picked it up again and slowly drank it all.

Mo Wansheng, who had retreated to her room, collapsed into the blankets and turned on her phone.

Without realizing it, I opened the chat interface with "Blueberry Cake".

She shouldn't be here at this time.

"I'm so frustrated. I understand my marriage partner less and less."

"He's so annoying, he even followed me to my house."

Immediately afterwards, a question mark appeared.

"?"

Rarely seeing that "Blueberry Cake" had replied during the day, Mo Wansheng quickly got out of bed.

Is she off today too?

She was surprised at first, then started to complain all at once.

"Dude, I really have no idea what he's thinking!"

"He didn't explain anything clearly, and then he just ran over."

"He even said he wanted to live at my house, and I can't get rid of him no matter what I do. Seriously, I'm so embarrassed I could dig my toes into the ground."

"Tell me, how do we punish this kind of person?"

"Aren't you two married?"

"This has nothing to do with whether we're married or not, he doesn't like me anyway."

Mo Wansheng lay down on the pillow and gently massaged her forehead with her palm.

"So, do you like her?"

She stared at the question sent by "blueberry cake" and froze.

She didn't know the answer to that question, nor did she know how to answer it.

When "Blueberry Cake" saw that she didn't reply, it continued to send messages.

"If you're not even sure if you like her, then you shouldn't worry about whether she likes you."

"I think that since she has already entered your life, you can treat her as a variable in your life and observe her."

Mo Wansheng's fingertip hovered in front of the screen, observing?

Treating life as a testing ground, observing a sudden variable from the sidelines—she had never considered this perspective. She's right; rather than engaging in self-destructive struggles, it's better to step back and become a detached observer.

She would treat him the way he treated her.

"You're right, I don't want to think about him anymore!"

"Hey bro, you're rarely online today, got some time to play games together?"

"Sorry, my computer hasn't been with me these past few days. Let's meet up another time."

"Okay, okay! I won't bother you any longer! Have a great weekend!"

"have a good weekend."

Mo Wansheng turned off her phone, got up, turned on her computer, and played a single-player game until noon.

It was already midnight, and she was getting a little hungry, so she decided to find something to eat.

She walked out of the room and saw that the food was laid out on the dining table.

Huo Yuzheng was still sitting in the same spot as in the morning, waiting for her.

"Want to eat?" he asked.

After Mo Wansheng nodded, Huo Yuzheng went to the kitchen and served her a bowl of rice.

She pulled out her chair, smiled at him, as if nothing had happened, and said, "Thank you."

The restaurant was quiet as the two ate. The only sounds were the occasional clinking of cutlery.

No one bothers anyone.

After finishing her meal, Mo Wansheng looked up at Huo Yuzheng and asked, "Want to go to the supermarket together? I need to buy some things."

Huo Yuzheng's gaze lingered on her face for a moment before he finally gave an answer.

"Can."

When I lived with Mo Ningchuan, the housekeeper was responsible for purchasing everything in the house.

Mo Wansheng only needs to make a list.

After moving out, she sometimes wanted to experience the thrill of grocery shopping.

She was actually just looking for a hardworking laborer to help her carry things.

After the blueberry cake comforted her, she instantly realized that she had been overthinking things.

Since he insisted on revealing his identity as her husband, she would let him do so.

At the entrance of a large, comprehensive supermarket.

She stood beside the carts, watching them with a leisurely air.

Huo Yuzheng walked past her with remarkable ease and deftly pushed a car out with one hand.

Huo Yuzheng: "Let's go."

Mo Wansheng took a step forward and put the things she wanted to add into the cart that followed behind.

The small carts quickly piled up into a small mountain.

Arriving at the fresh produce section, in front of the chilly freezers, she turned to Huo Yuzheng and asked, "Do you have any recommendations?"

From the moment they entered the supermarket, he barely uttered a word, simply pushing the shopping cart silently behind her.

"What would you like to eat?" Huo Yuzheng asked her again.

Mo Wansheng browsed through the dazzling array of freezers, her wrist twirling slightly, "This one, and that one."

"besides……"

Salmon, steak, Wagyu beef...

She took seven or eight kinds of ingredients and put them all into the cart.

While placing the merchandise, she secretly glanced at Huo Yuzheng a few times, trying to observe his expression.

However, she made no new discoveries.

He didn't seem angry; he just looked calm.

When it was time to pay, the scanner beeped for a long time, and the receipt it spat out was surprisingly long.

Three large bags of goods.

Huo Yuzheng stepped forward and, without any hesitation, picked them up, his arm muscles tensing instantly.

"Do you need my help?" she asked as she walked beside him.

"Need not."

The two walked to the underground parking lot, where Mo Wansheng helped open the trunk and put the purchased items inside.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Huo Yuzheng seemed to be carrying the load quite easily, which meant he must have been exercising regularly.

However, I still bought too much stuff.

Mo Wansheng glanced at his palm and saw several thin red marks left by the bag.

She softened her heart and spoke to him in a gentler tone.

Huo Yuzheng sat in the driver's seat, and she would occasionally turn her head to look at his large hands gripping the steering wheel, the marks on his palms slowly fading.

Mo Wansheng's lips curled up. She hadn't realized before that he was so shameless and insisted on moving into someone else's house.