Chapter 23 023 "Good night."

Meng Ran looked down and saw that the sweet fermented rice balls in the bowl were round and plump, with a few goji berries on the surface and sprinkled with osmanthus petals.

If you smell it carefully, you can detect a sweet aroma of wine and a faint scent of osmanthus. Its appearance is just as good as the ones she has eaten in the store.

Meng Ran was speechless for a moment before finding her voice: "This really... you did it?"

Chen Sulin: "Who else could it be?"

Meng Ran: "..."

The way this person spoke was still not very pleasant, but fortunately, perhaps because of the darkness, the man's expression and tone were quite gentle, so it wasn't unpleasant to listen to.

There was a spoon in the bowl. Meng Ran picked up the spoon and put a dumpling into her mouth.

It has the perfect texture—soft yet firm—and just the right amount of sweetness.

Meng Ran looked up: "Thank you."

Chen Sulin: "How does it taste?"

Meng Ran replied truthfully, "Very good."

The night is already quiet, and remaining silent will only make the atmosphere more eerie.

After thinking for a moment, Meng Ran started a conversation: "When I was little, I loved eating this, and my mom would often make it for me."

Chen Sulin looked at her calmly.

Perhaps it was because she hadn't talked about her mother with anyone for so long, but under the man's calm gaze, Meng Ran inexplicably felt an urge to continue talking.

“My dad doesn’t like my mom doing that,” Meng Ran said. “He said it’s not good for children to eat too many sweets, and he also said he shouldn’t spoil me too much and make me a picky eater.”

“Sometimes my mom will say a few words to my dad, and sometimes she will simply ignore him and whisper to me not to pay attention to my dad, but actually my dad can hear her even if he is next to me.”

At this point, Meng Ran chuckled softly.

Strangely, after her mother's death, her memories of her father were almost entirely negative, and she had long since stopped expecting any so-called fatherly love.

But even after all this time, this memory remains vivid in her mind, as if it had never faded.

Humans are probably such complex and contradictory creatures.

Meng Ran let out a soft breath, then changed the subject: "And you? When you were little... were there any foods you really liked to eat?"

Chen Sulin's eyes flickered slightly, and he remained silent for longer than she had expected.

Meng Ran wondered: Is this a difficult question to answer?

Or was he a meticulous "standard child" from a young age, who was not picky about food and had no favorite foods?

Judging from Chen Sulin's current state, it's not impossible.

During these past few days of meals together, Chen Sulin did not show any obvious preference. However, Chen Miaoying was a picky eater and did not like leafy green vegetables, and sometimes Chen Sulin would correct her.

After a moment, Chen Sulin replied, "I don't remember."

Meng Ran wasn't too surprised by the answer: "It seems you're not picky about food, Mr. Chen."

Chen Sulin glanced at her.

Meng Ran was somewhat puzzled.

Chen Sulin: "We are husband and wife, you don't need to call me that."

Meng Ran suddenly realized: she hadn't noticed the issue of how to address her.

But she still hadn't figured out what to call him, so she just gave a perfunctory smile and said, "Okay."

Chen Sulin: "You asked me the same question before."

Meng Ran didn't follow his train of thought: "What?"

Chen Sulin: "What do you like to eat?"

Meng Ran blinked: His thinking is really quite unpredictable.

So his silence just now was because she asked the same question as before?

"Really?" Meng Ran smiled. "It seems I don't have much to say when I chat with people; I always end up talking about the same few topics. Did we have a similar conversation back then?"

Chen Sulin: "Hmm."

Meng Ran looked at him and felt that he seemed to have something left unsaid.

Chen Sulin: "Go on, it's good that you're not picky about food. That way, I can eat whatever you like with you."

Meng Ran: "..."

Even though the person in front of her spoke these words calmly, for some reason, her cheeks inexplicably felt hot.

Is this really something she used to say?

Meng Ran: "Chen... cough, you have a really good memory, you still remember after all these years."

Chen Sulin stared at her silently without saying a word.

The air seemed to thicken and become more viscous. Meng Ran's face tightened, and she lowered her head to scoop a large mouthful of glutinous rice balls with a spoon and put them into her mouth.

My intention was to do something to ease my embarrassment, but I moved too fast and accidentally choked.

"Cough, cough—" Meng Ran coughed suddenly, choking so hard that tears welled up in her eyes. She hurriedly reached for a tissue on the table.

The next second, a tissue was handed to her.

At this moment, Meng Ran didn't care about anything else. She grabbed the tissue the man handed her and wiped her tears.

After finally catching his breath, Chen Sulin handed him a water glass.

Meng Ran took it: "Th-thank you..."

After drinking some water, I finally fully recovered.

The good news is that the tense atmosphere has been broken; the bad news is that she now feels very ashamed.

I can choke on my food.

Meng Ran abruptly changed the subject: "Thank you for the late-night snack, it tastes really good. How did you learn to make it?"

Chen Sulin: "You said you wanted to eat it, so I went to learn how."

Meng Ran: "..."

She almost choked again if she hadn't already swallowed the water in her mouth.

It wasn't until tonight that she realized she and Chen Sulin had so much in the past, something she couldn't escape no matter what.

Meng Ran: "I see..."

She silently scooped up another spoonful of glutinous rice balls, this time carefully eating only one at a time.

Perhaps sensing her discomfort, Chen Sulin did not continue the topic.

He watched quietly as she finished the dumplings in her bowl, one by one. There was only a small bowl to begin with, so it wouldn't take long for her to finish them all.

After she finished eating the last one, Chen Sulin said, "You should get some rest after your midnight snack."

This meant the conversation was over, which Meng Ran was more than happy to accept.

Meng Ran put down her spoon and stood up: "Okay, you too."

After hesitating for a second, she whispered, "Goodnight."

—This is to make up for what she couldn't say last time.

After speaking, she awkwardly looked away.

A deep male voice came from beside him: "Wait."

Her heart skipped a beat, and Meng Ran looked up at him: "What?"

Chen Sulin's gaze fell on the tip of her nose, lingered for a few seconds, and then moved down to her lips.

Meng Ran involuntarily held her breath.

Chen Sulin raised his hand, his fingertips carrying a slightly cool temperature, and gently brushed across the tip of her nose.

"A little bit got on me." The man withdrew his hand after a brief touch with his fingertip. "It's fine now."

Chen Sulin went upstairs before her.

Only after seeing his figure disappear around the corner did Meng Ran finally begin to breathe again, albeit slowly.

What was she nervous about just now, and what was she expecting?

Meng Ran shook her head in frustration.

That kiss was just an accident, nothing more. There won't be a second time!

...

Over the next two days, Meng Ran focused most of her energy on designing sketches for the cat tree.

She has some basic skills in drawing, and she also tried to design some things herself during her free time in college.

But she wasn't a professional after all, and she was figuring things out as she went along in many ways.

Meng Ran searched online for information and tutorials, and researched the structure and materials of most cat trees on the market.

She also sent her first draft to Jiang Yuqing, asking for her feedback.

Jiang Yuqing herself doesn't own a cat, but most of the people in her company are young, and many of her colleagues keep cats at home.

After receiving Meng Ran's photos, Jiang Yuqing helped by asking many colleagues in the company who owned pets, and collected a lot of advice.

Although most of them were not needed for the time being, Meng Ran still wrote them all down in the document.

On Thursday afternoon, the pen shop sent me a message saying that the lettering had been engraved and I could pick it up anytime.

Meng Ran replied that she would pick it up on Friday during the day.

The next day, Meng Ran told the housekeeper and went out alone.

These past few days, she has often gone out to stroll around the nearby commercial area. Since it is close by and she does not have a specific destination, she has always taken a taxi by herself and has not asked a driver to take her.

The housekeeper was no longer as alarmed as she had been the previous times she went out; she simply asked her when she would be back and whether she needed Uncle Dong to pick her up.

Upon arriving at the mall, Meng Ran went straight to the store to pick up her pen.

There were more customers in the store on Friday than last time, and the three employees were a bit overwhelmed.

Seeing this, Meng Ran took out her phone, intending to send a message to the shop assistant who had contacted her earlier, saying that she had arrived.

As soon as I opened WeChat, a woman approached me.

"Miss Meng, you've arrived!" the person greeted warmly. "Are you here to pick up the fountain pen you ordered earlier?"

Seven years after she arrived, no one has called her "Miss Meng" for a long time.

Meng Ran paused for a moment before replying, "Yes."

“The shop assistant surnamed Wang contacted me via WeChat before,” Meng Ran said. “He said the characters had already been engraved.”

Having also worked as a laborer, Meng Ran knew the importance of sales performance for shop assistants, and specifically mentioned the young female shop assistant who had served her before.

The shop assistant was professional and enthusiastic from the very beginning, and Meng Ran had a good impression of her.

The man smiled and said, "You mean Xiao Wang? Yes, she was in charge of your order before. I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm the store manager, my surname is Zhang."

Meng Ran was slightly surprised.

Store manager?

This store targets high-end business professionals, and its products are not cheap.

Although the pen she had chosen was relatively expensive, it wasn't enough to warrant the store manager personally coming out to greet her for this order.

She never revealed that she was Chen Sulin's wife, only telling him that her surname was Meng.

Because it was a gift for Chen Sulin, she paid for it with her own bank card.

Given that she had been missing for five years, it should have been impossible for anyone to recognize her identity.

Meng Ran: "The one who received me before—"

The store manager quickly chimed in, "We have a lot of customers today, and Xiao Wang is busy attending to other guests, so I'll serve you instead, okay?"

Meng Ran: "...Okay."

The store manager led Meng Ran to the innermost VIP room.

Seeing Meng Ran hesitate, the store manager explained, "Our handwritten engraving service is a recent product. To survey customer satisfaction with this new service, customers who come to pick up their pens will be invited to the VIP room."

Meng Ran nodded.

After sitting down in the VIP room, the manager brought over some coffee and asked her how it tasted, saying she could change it if she didn't like it.

After receiving Meng Ran's "It's fine" answer, the store manager brought over the fountain pen that Meng Ran had previously ordered.

The pen was placed in a beautifully packaged box.

Meng Ran opened the box, took out the fountain pen, and examined it.

"The engraving is on the inside of the pen cap, so it's clearer when you hold it up to the light," the shop manager said from the side.

Meng Ran replied "Okay" and opened the pen cap.

The store manager kindly handed me a small flashlight.

Meng Ran looked at it in the light and saw the four characters "Peace and Prosperity" handwritten inside the pen cap.

As expected of a high-end brand, the four small characters are engraved with great care, and even the strokes of the characters are perfectly replicated.

The store manager asked from the side, "Are you satisfied?"

Meng Ran: "Yes, thank you."

The store manager beamed: "That's good, Ms. Meng. Please check it carefully again. You can tell me if there are any problems."

Meng Ran agreed.

Since it was a gift to be given away, she carefully checked the appearance again, and after confirming that everything was in order, she asked the store manager to help put it into the gift box.

The store manager said "please wait a moment" and left for several minutes, seemingly to take a phone call in the next room.

When she returned, the store manager handed Meng Ran a packaged gift box with a smile.

"By the way, Miss Meng," the store manager said, "we're having an anniversary sale right now. Every customer who orders a fountain pen can enter a lucky draw. Would you like to join in and try your luck?"

Meng Ran: "Okay."

She had no reason to refuse a free event.

After receiving an affirmative answer, the store manager brought over a small box: "Ms. Meng, please just draw any slip of paper. The corresponding prize is written on the slip, and you can redeem it on the spot."

Meng Ran reached into the box and pulled out a neatly folded pink cardstock.

Opening the card, the words "Special Prize" were written inside.

Meng Ran raised an eyebrow in surprise, almost thinking she had misread it.

Her luck has always been average. She remembers participating in lotteries of all sizes before, and her luckiest time was winning a pack of tissues at a university event.

Could it be that seven years have passed, and even fortunes have changed?

Meng Ran handed the card to the store manager, who exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, congratulations, Ms. Meng! You've won our grand prize, a bracelet!"

Before Meng Ran could react, the store manager took small steps to the side and spoke a few words with another staff member.

Two minutes later, a velvet jewelry box was placed on the table in front of Meng Ran.

Inside the box, a pearl bracelet gleamed with a soft, lustrous sheen under the spotlight, clearly indicating its high value.

"Ms. Meng, you are really lucky," the store manager said with a smile. "This is our store's only grand prize, and you won it."

"Would you like to try it on now?"