Upon hearing Ni Sitian's words, Xu Tingchuan's expression immediately brightened.

He knew her feelings for him were no less than his feelings for her. Just as he didn't care whether she could bear him children, she didn't care about his illness. Even though there might be regrets, the fact that they could overcome this difficulty together was more important than anything else.

"I miss you too." Xu Tingchuan gripped his phone tightly, wanting to go back right now and hold her in his arms.

Ni Sitian's lips curved slightly, but the smile slowly faded as she lowered her eyes. "You go ahead and work. I won't bother you anymore."

Xu Tingchuan wanted to say something more to her when there was a knock on the door, and Assistant Yu came in carrying a stack of documents.

He then told Ni Sitian that he would see her that evening and asked her to hang up the phone first.

After hanging up the phone, Ni Sitian sat there in a daze for a while before slowly coming back to her senses. She rubbed her stiff cheeks, stood up, and prepared to go to the bathroom to wash her face.

She couldn't let Xu Tingchuan see her like this; she was afraid he would overthink things.

He kept it from her for so long, he probably hadn't figured out how to tell her yet. He probably finds it hard to talk about this kind of problem, and perhaps he's not mentally prepared to let her know. For now, she should just pretend she doesn't know.

Ni Sitian turned on the tap, scooped up water and splashed it on her face. After washing her face a few times, her mind cleared up a bit. She sorted out her thoughts and took a towel to wipe herself.

She thought that the most important thing for her now was to act as usual, otherwise, with his keen perception, he would definitely notice that something was wrong with her.

After making her decision, Ni Sitian returned to her small study, set up her easel, and focused her attention on painting.

She didn't know what she was drawing, her hand kept moving, and the pen tip drew a bunch of messy things on the white paper.

The sun gradually set, and the light in the room dimmed, but she seemed not to notice and continued drawing on the paper.

The lights suddenly came on, and she snapped out of her daze, her blank gaze focusing as she slowly turned to look at the doorway.

Xu Tingchuan leaned against the door, looking at her with concern. "Why aren't the lights on?"

A pang of sadness welled up in Ni Sitian's heart; she felt sorry for him, but she couldn't show it even a little. She clenched her hands, trying to appear calm, and then forced a smile at him: "Didn't you say you were working late in a meeting today? Why are you back so early?"

She glanced at the wall clock; it was only 6:30, the normal time to leave work.

"Yes, that meeting was canceled at the last minute." He did have a meeting, but he didn't want her to be alone at home feeling sad, so he specifically canceled the meeting and rescheduled it for tomorrow.

"Oh, did you eat dinner? Are you hungry?" Ni Sitian put down her pen, stood up and walked towards Xu Tingchuan.

Before she could even get close, Xu Tingchuan impatiently reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly.

Ni Sitian hesitated for a moment, then raised her arms and hugged his waist.

Xu Tingchuan lowered his head and buried it in the crook of her neck, particularly fond of her scent.

Ni Sitian stiffened a little, afraid that he would notice her nervousness, so she said, "What do you want to eat tonight? I'll make it for you."

Xu Tingchuan opened his mouth and sucked on the tender flesh of her neck, saying in a low, husky voice, "I want to eat you."

Normally, Ni Sitian would blush and lightly punch him, scolding him to stop fooling around.

But today, she felt especially sorry for him, pursed her lips, and replied, "Okay."