Chapter 0015 Mending

Chen Yan put his phone away, looking dejected.

"You had a fight with her? Girls need to be coaxed. If everyone were as stubborn as you, the whole world would be full of bachelors."

"Give her a little leeway, say some nice things, and give her some gifts she likes to show she cares. She'll be devoted to you for life..."

He was talking about a typical couple, but he and Xu Ruyi were not typical, so these tactics were completely useless.

Thinking of this, Chen Yan glared at his friend speechlessly.

"Why are you taking your anger out on me? If this doesn't work, it just means you've made a big mistake! If you don't change your dog-like temper, people will never be able to stand you again!"

He made a big mistake? What big mistake? He simply went public with their relationship, and she wouldn't let it go...

However, Chen Yan would never tell anyone this. As a man of great stature, Chen Yan has been unruly since childhood and has rejected countless girls. If word got out that he would actually be throwing himself at someone and still be rejected, he would probably be laughed at to death.

Chen Yan suddenly stood up. "You don't know anything. I'm not fishing anymore. It's boring. I'm going back to China to study."

Back at the hotel, he wanted to call Ruyi, but when he checked the time, it was 2 p.m. She was still in class. She usually didn't bring her phone to class during the week, so calling would be pointless.

Around 10:30 p.m., he arrived at the island villa in the eastern part of Lancheng. He had just finished showering when he couldn't wait to video call Ruyi.

The phone rang for a few moments before being hung up. Chen Yan called again, and it was hung up again.

He tilted his head, squinted at the two hang-up symbols on the chat interface, and a hint of ferocity flashed between his brows.

His patience has its limits.

As if by telepathy, the other end finally sent two words slowly.

Silly Cat: [What?] You're too lazy to even type a question mark.

Chen Yan smiled, the image of Ruyi reluctantly replying to his messages while hiding under the covers flashed through his mind. He thought to himself, so what if she's angry? No matter how angry she is, she still has to obey.

A tame pleasure surged up his spine like an electric current, and he continued typing with a smirk.

CY: [Haven't seen you for a few days, did you miss me?]

They didn't turn around.

Chen Yan disagreed and continued talking to himself.

CY: [If you don't tell me, I'll assume you're thinking about it, really thinking about it.]

Little stupid cat: […]

The ellipsis paired with Chen Yan's nickname for Ruyi created a charming contrast. Chen Yan was amused. Speechless was better than the two ignoring each other before.

His mood completely cleared up, and he decided to go to class as usual tomorrow.

CY: [I'll bring you breakfast when you go to school tomorrow. What do you want to eat?]

Silly Cat: [I'm at home]

CY: [What do you mean?]

Silly Cat: [I'm sleepy]

Ruyi had just finished sending that message when the video call came in again.

After staring at the screen for a moment, Ruyi still chose to answer. She knew that things shouldn't be done more than three times. Given Chen Yan's personality, it was already his limit if he could tolerate her hanging up twice.

The bedroom on the screen was dimly lit. Ruyi's hair was loose, and her bright, moon-like face was nestled in a cat-shaped soft pillow, making her look exceptionally adorable.

Why are you asking for leave?

"I suddenly feel tired, so I thought I'd treat you. Is there a problem?"

Ruyi's expression was calm, and Chen Yan felt that something was wrong, but after watching for a while, he couldn't find anything unusual.

Seeing the weariness in her eyes, he knew that he couldn't get any answers from her through the screen if she didn't want to talk about it, so he simply hung up and let her go to sleep.

The next morning at eight o'clock, He Caiyu was worried about Ruyi, who was sick at home. She entrusted the dumpling shop to Xiao Liu, who was working part-time, and rushed home to cook a bowl of Ruyi's favorite preserved egg wontons. After cooking them, she put them on the table steaming hot, arranged the chopsticks, and knocked on Ruyi's door.

Last Sunday evening, Ruyi suddenly came home with her schoolbag slung over her shoulder, her hair down, and a mask covering most of her face. He Caiyu was startled, quickly turned down the TV volume, and got up to ask her what was wrong and why she had suddenly come back.

Ruyi said, "I have the flu and I'm afraid of infecting my classmates, so I asked the teacher for leave and went home to rest for a few days."

He Caiyu understood and advised again, "Then take off your mask. What are you afraid of? Wearing it is so stuffy..."

Ruyi shook her head and said in a muffled voice, "The doctor said my condition is a bit serious. If I infect you and then the customers, it will be troublesome."

He Caiyu thought it made sense, so she stopped trying to persuade her. She then asked if the doctor had prescribed any medicine. Ruyi said that she had all the medicine the doctor needed at home, so she didn't take it.

She answered fluently, her logic was rigorous, and her expression was impeccable. He Caiyu, who only had a junior high school education, had no suspicions. When she learned that she had already eaten dinner, she urged her to wash up quickly and go to bed early.

"Ruyi, are you awake? Are you feeling better today? Get up and eat something, then take your medicine."

When He Caiyu called out from behind the door, Ruyi was combing her hair in front of the mirror, one stroke at a time. She responded and looked at her face in the mirror. After two days of rest and applying medicine, the swelling had basically subsided. There was only a small bruise about the size of a fingernail near her ear. Because of her long hair, it was completely hidden when she covered it in front of her.

She went to open the door and smiled gently, "Auntie, I'm much better."

"That's good. Come over quickly and eat it while it's hot."

Ruyi sat down, took a deep, greedy sniff, and exclaimed, "It smells so good! The school doesn't even sell preserved egg and lean pork filling. If you opened a stall at No. 1 Middle School, you'd definitely make a fortune."

He Caiyu smiled broadly at the compliment and said, "Then I'll go to the shop. Business is busy in the morning, and I'm afraid Xiao Liu won't be able to manage it all by himself. I've set the rice cooker to make corn and pork rib stew. If I don't come back for lunch, you can serve yourself some soup."

"Okay, you can go ahead and do your work!"

After He Caiyu left, Ruyi ate slowly and carefully, finishing a bowl of wontons and even drinking the soup, not wanting to waste a single drop.

After washing the bowls and hanging them on the drying rack, Ruyi returned to her bedroom and found the school uniform with the torn collar.

After careful examination, she found that the school uniform of No. 1 Middle School was of good quality. Despite being pulled so hard, the buttons had popped off, and the fabric was only slightly deformed, so it could be salvaged.

She went to He Caiyu's room to get her sewing kit, picked out two white plastic buttons, slightly larger than the originals, but still usable.

Ruyi held the button in one hand and deftly threaded the needle with the other, sewing one in no time. Just as she was biting off the thread with her teeth, her phone suddenly rang. She looked down and frowned.

After the call connected, Chen Yan got straight to the point: "Open the door, I'm at your door."

What are you doing here?

"Either open the door immediately, or I'll have someone pick the lock; the person is right next to me."

"Chen Yan, you are truly suffocating."

"To open or not to open?"

Ruyi finally opened the door. Chen Yan looked at her with a smug smile and gestured to the locksmith next to him that he could leave. He wondered how much money he had paid the locksmith to help him commit illegal trespassing.

He treated the people and the house in front of him as his own property, carefully examining them to make sure there seemed to be nothing unusual before stepping inside, as naturally as a wild beast surveying its territory.

He stepped straight into the bedroom with a calm and unhurried gait. Although there was nothing unusual at the moment, he had a beast-like intuition that something must have happened during the few days he was away, but Xu Ruyi refused to tell him.

This feeling of not knowing everything about her is truly—

That's terrible.

Soon, he saw the school uniform and needle and thread by the bed.

He raised an eyebrow with considerable curiosity. He changed his clothes every two weeks, so there was no chance that they would wear out. Therefore, upon seeing this somewhat old-fashioned combination, he couldn't help but smile with interest.

He showed no regard for appearances, picked up the clothes, looked them over, put them down again, and then gestured for Ruyi to ignore him and continue sewing.