Chapter 11 What bad habit?

Jin Huan went from being stunned to being utterly shocked in just two seconds.

Her mouth was slightly open, and she blinked nervously, trying to recall what she might have said when she was out of her mind. There was nothing she could do; she had no self-control and knew best what kind of mess she was in.

Jin Huan was trying to figure out how to explain it to him.

This is probably a kind of quirk that can't be seen in the light of day, and she would be regarded as some kind of oddball. Jin Huan didn't want Zhong Yan to think of her this way so soon after they became husband and wife, so she racked her brains to think of an explanation.

She said she dreamed about her daddy?

Good heavens, her father, who only donated one sperm and then never cared about her again, she could at most still respectfully call him "father". Zhong Yan also knew her situation. She was essentially a person without a father, and only her aunt was her family.

So you're saying she wasn't actually calling out "daddy"?

What else could there be?

puppy? baby?

Zhong Yan noticed Jin Huan's thoughtful expression and found her reaction quite adorable, so much so that he chuckled softly. Then, he suppressed his laughter and slowly asked, "What bad habit have you developed?"

Jin Huan completely froze.

Yes...it's a bad habit...she knows it herself.

She didn't dare look at Zhong Yan anymore. Her heart was pounding like a bunch of popping candy. Just as she was about to say "I'm sorry," Zhong Yan's voice came again.

"You always say vulnerable things in your dreams, don't you?" he asked gently, without any reproach in his tone. "It's okay. If you're in a better mood, you can treat me however you want."

Zhong Yan didn't mind this. When Jin Huan looked up after hearing this, she met his gentle and tolerant gaze. He had one hand on the table and leaned back slightly. His curved eyes told Jin Huan that he wasn't angry.

Jin Huan opened her mouth, almost blurting out, "Can I call you that in the future?", but she couldn't help it and swallowed the words back.

She gave a forced smile.

Zhong Yan still has to go to the company today. After yesterday's accident, there are many things waiting for him to deal with, and he has already wasted a lot of time.

Before leaving, he put all the medicine on the table, told Jin Huan to take it on time, and told her to keep warm if she was going out today.

Zhong Yan will fulfill his responsibilities as a husband, but he won't treat her like someone who stays at home and does everything for her. It just so happens that the weather is nice today, so it would be better for her to go out and get some sun.

Fang Jinhuan seemed to enjoy listening to him.

She listened attentively to what he said, and nodded in agreement when he finished. Zhong Yan would occasionally smile at her, and she would shyly purse her lips.

The slight annoyance I felt last night was easily wiped away by his words.

Jin Huan pondered that what she and Zhong Yan needed most right now was to get to know each other better. Mr. Zhong took care of her like he was taking care of a child. Jin Huan thought that she was his wife, not his daughter, and she needed to get closer to him.

After finishing her breakfast, she went back to bed and slept for a while, waking up around 10 a.m. She slept very well, and her head no longer felt throbbing. Jin Huan stretched, got up to wash and get ready, and then prepared to go to school.

Zhong Yan had already instructed the driver to take her. Jin Huan got into the car and sent a message to Zhong Yan, saying that she was going to school now and would let him know when she was going home.

Zhong Yan was in a meeting when his phone rang. He saw it was a message from Jin Huan and replied, "Okay."

Jin Huan mainly went back to the dormitory to pack her things today.

She doesn't have much stuff in her dorm room; one suitcase is enough to hold all her essentials. The rest of her belongings are still at home. For example, she cleans out all her clothes in the dorm and at home every time the seasons change. Although she lives alone in the dorm, the space is only so big, so she can't fit a lot of things in.

She has already applied to the department to withdraw from the dormitory and has also told Teacher Tan that she will no longer live on campus.

The only problem is that she'll need to get up earlier to go to the lab, which will be inconvenient. Otherwise, it's fine as long as it doesn't interfere with her studies. It doesn't matter whether she lives on campus or not.

Jin Huan quickly packed up and carried her suitcase downstairs. She hadn't gone far when she ran into Du Qingxu.

Seeing her carrying a suitcase, Du Qingxu was taken aback and asked her if she was going on a trip.

The research group's experiment was nearing completion, and they had a short break before starting the next phase. Jin Huan had mentioned wanting to go out and play several times in the lab, so Du Qingxu naturally assumed she was going on a trip.

Jin Huan shook her head and said, "No, I moved out of the dormitory."

Du Qingxu asked, "Are you going home to live?"

Jin Huan was about to deny it, but then she remembered that it was her home now, so she nodded: "Yes, I live at home."

Jin Huan's family lives locally, and she often goes home on weekends when she's not busy with her experiments. Du Qingxu didn't think much of it, only reminding her that there's a meeting next Monday and that she should remember to be there on time.

This is the last meeting before winter break. It's important to prepare for the next semester. Teacher Tan said that no one can be absent or late.

Du Qingxu was worried that Jin Huan wouldn't make it if she didn't live in the dormitory, so she specifically reminded her.

"Okay." Jin Huan smiled. "I'll be there on time."

Du Qingxu glanced at the suitcase in her hand; it was quite large and looked very heavy. He offered, "Let me help you carry the suitcase out."

"Cars can't get into the school, and it's quite a distance to get out. Going up and down the stairs is inconvenient," Du Qingxu said, already reaching out to help her with her suitcase.

Du Qingxu was rarely so enthusiastic and proactive, and Jin Huan didn't even have time to react. Seeing the box in his hands, she couldn't very well take it away. She could only say "thank you" and then walk beside him toward the school gate.

Du Qingxu is over 1.8 meters tall, but he is much thinner than other people his age. Even though it was sunny today and the temperature was only a few degrees, he didn't wear a slightly thicker coat. He carried his suitcase downstairs, but he walked very steadily.

Du Qingxu handed her the suitcase from the dormitory building all the way to the school gate, asking, "Have you gotten a taxi yet?"

Jin Huan kept her eyes on the road ahead. She saw that Zhong Yan's car had stopped at the intersection, so she smiled before answering Du Qingxu's question.

"No need, someone from my family is coming to pick me up."

She thanked Du Qingxu again, telling him to go home if he was busy, and then she went home right away.

Jin Huan remembered that she had told him she would treat him to a meal. She had left last time because of Mr. Zhong, and they had agreed that she would treat him next time. She thought about it and decided to invite him to a meal after the group meeting next week, and also invite Teacher Tan to join them.

Jin Huan walked towards the car.

Zhong Yan was sitting in the car waiting.

I promised to pick her up, and I'll come no matter how busy I am. Today, I'll take her home first before going to the company, since a sick child needs more care.

After Jin Huan got into the car, Zhong Yan's gaze slowly swept over her face.

She looked alright, with a healthy rosy complexion. She had put on a down jacket, hat, and scarf as he had instructed, but after getting into the car, she took them off herself.

The driver started to turn around and go around. Zhong Yan's gaze swept across the school gate. He paused, looked away, and asked gently, "Did your classmate drop you off?"

Jin Huan replied, "Yes, he's a classmate from my research group."

It's been a long time since they were sent out, and they were still looking at the car after seeing the person get in. It's not that I'm talking about anything else... Zhong Yan smiled.

"What's wrong?" Jin Huan blinked curiously.

"It's nothing." Zhong Yan didn't take it seriously. He leaned back in his seat and said indifferently, "Let's go home."

Jin Huan never expected Zhong Yan to be this busy.

After dropping her off at home, he went to his company, simply because he had promised her yesterday that he would pick her up. He took some time out of his busy schedule to come and drop her off at home before going to his company.

Zhong Yan wasn't sure how long he would be busy today, so he told her to eat dinner by herself if he didn't come back.

After he left, Jin Huan started packing her things by herself.

She started filling the walk-in closet little by little. The space Zhong Yan had left her was so big that it couldn't possibly hold all her clothes. Jin Huan stared at the remaining space and thought to herself, "It seems this is a reminder that I should buy some new clothes."

I'll go buy it tomorrow; I must fill the place he left for her with it.

There were also some of her little things, which were not very eye-catching and seemed out of place in the room. Jin Huan was thinking about where she should put them.

Jin Huan wandered around the house while packing her things. When it was time for dinner, Zhong Yan still hadn't returned, so Jin Huan didn't send him any messages to bother him and just ate by herself.

It was almost ten o'clock when Zhong Yan returned.

He ate something quick at the company that evening, too busy to have any appetite. He went into the dressing room to change and saw that the space he had left empty was almost completely filled.

The girl's clothes were mostly light-colored, which contrasted sharply with his clothes, just like the color of the bouquet of flowers she gave him... Zhong Yan glanced over and could imagine how carefully she had categorized and put her things away according to his storage methods.

Zhong Yan looked around and smelled a unique fragrance that only girls have.

He changed his clothes and saw that the bedroom light was on and the door was not closed. He pushed the door open, and the person sitting on the bed turned around when he heard the sound.

Seeing Zhong Yan return, Jin Huan subconsciously glanced at the time on the screen and realized that she had been writing until so late. She looked around and saw that the bag of cookies she had just eaten was still on the bedside table. She quickly rushed over, grabbed it, and threw it into the trash can. She then saved the file on her computer, closed it, and put it aside.

Zhong Yan stood at the door, watching her bustling around. He didn't say anything, just waited quietly for her to "finish".

“Mr. Zhong.” Jin Huan was still sitting on the bed when she called out, and quickly explained, “I didn’t eat in bed, I ate before coming up.”

Zhong Yan nodded lightly: "Mm."

Jin Huan pointed to her computer again: "I was about to go to sleep, but then I remembered I still had some things to write, so I brought the computer over."

That's how she was when she was in the dorm. Sometimes when she was about to go to sleep, she would suddenly remember that she had something to write, so she would just bring her computer over. Beds are magical things; it seems that it's more comfortable to write on them than to write in other places.

Zhong Yan walked over, but instead of saying anything to her, he asked, "What are you writing?"

“It’s a paper that Professor Tan asked me to publish before.” Jin Huan remembered that she and Professor Tan were friends, so of course she told him what she wanted to say. Because her major had a long experimental cycle and slow data output, she needed a lot of time and data support to write a paper. Professor Tan did not have strict requirements for the students in the group, but at least during this period, a journal article was required.

Jin Huan felt ashamed that she was always lagging behind and could not keep up with her classmates in the same research group.

Zhong Yan didn't talk much about her studies at home, and didn't ask any further questions. He simply said gently, "It's okay, you can write anywhere."

He paused, then sighed, "Be careful not to let your legs go numb."

Zhong Yan keeps his work and rest separate, but he doesn't think Jin Huan's behavior is a bad habit; it's probably just a generation gap.

Jin Huan glanced down at her legs and didn't notice that they were indeed slightly numb. She moved forward with her legs crossed, looked up at Zhong Yan and asked, "Can I ask you about the things I don't understand?"

Zhong Yan nodded: "Of course."

Just as Jin Huan was about to ask, Zhong Yan went to get his underwear and said slowly, "I'll take a shower first, and then I'll tell you slowly when I get back... okay?"

A note from the author: