Yan Jili held a book, leaned against the headboard, and his deep gaze swept over the person standing in front of him.

She hugged a large, soft pillow, completely blocking the view of her upper body.

The only visible parts, her arms and lower body, were covered by the nightgown.

It was a long-sleeved shirt and a long skirt that he was satisfied with.

It looks fairly tidy.

He didn't bother arguing with her about her nonsense earlier, and said in a deep voice, "If you're not feeling well, have Auntie change you into a new one. We have plenty of spares at home."

Shen Zhiyi even wrinkled her nose.

"It's already been replaced."

"I still don't feel well."

“I use the same one.” Yan Jili put down the book in his hand, his every move exuding an undeniable aura.

"It's very late. Be a good girl and go back to sleep."

"I don't want to." Shen Zhiyi stepped forward, touched his blanket, and then pressed the mattress.

She immediately pouted.

"This is softer than the one over there!"

Yan Jili: ...

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Don't be unreasonable."

Shen Zhiyi pursed her lips.

Tears welled up in her eyes and shimmered under the light.

Yan Jili's heart skipped a beat.

His breath hitched as he stared intently at the tears in her eyes.

He was afraid that the water droplets would fill up and, like a life sentence, fall with a thud.

Shen Zhiyi clutched the soft pillow.

Protesting regardless of the consequences.

"Even if the blankets are the same, I still don't want to sleep in that room."

"It's so dark and quiet there... I keep thinking about bad things, and I'm so scared I can't sleep..."

She sniffed. "Back home, there were pretty little nightlights in the room, lots and lots of plush toys and pillows, and the wallpaper was cute too. It wasn't so cold and impersonal."

"The aromatherapy smells wonderful too..."

"But there was nothing in that room..."

"Anyway, I don't want to be there alone, it's really too pitiful..."

Her shoulders trembled slightly, like a crumpled piece of paper in the darkness, and even the stray hairs on her cheeks clung listlessly to her face.

Her eyes were also incredibly pitiful, filled with accusation.

"Yan Jili, you're abusing your wife."

"You don't care about me, fine, but you also abuse me."

Yan Jili: ...

The word "wife" she uttered echoed in his mind.

Wife...

The lips open and close.

Finally, he blurted out, "I'll buy it for you."

"Tomorrow, I'll buy you a pretty nightlight, all kinds of plush pillows and dolls, and your favorite aromatherapy products."

"Change the wallpaper too."

"Go to sleep now."

He turned his head and stared at the book on the bedside table.

Thinking back to what I just read in the book about the struggle between "desire" and "self".

Long eyelashes drooped down.

The shadows cast by the brow bone made the dark pupils appear even deeper, like unburnt ashes.

Sparks could fly at any moment.

But Chen Zhiyi didn't back down at all. Instead, she took two steps forward and plopped down at the foot of his bed.

"I don't want to."

She shifted further in, and said with a somewhat rude huff, "I'm going to stay here."

"It smells nice here."

She shrugged.

The rich and gentle scent of cedar fills the nose, while the base notes are warm and comforting ebony, deep, expansive, and reassuring.

Yan Jili's eyes trembled.

Her buttocks were almost touching his feet through the blanket.

That soft, boneless little hand was also groping around near the blanket.

It seems that the focus will shift to him at any moment.

Yan Jili suddenly sat up and moved a little closer to the head of the bed.

He gripped the blanket tightly, his thick eyebrows furrowed.

His long, slender fingers were pressed beneath his long-sleeved pajamas, concealing the tense curves beneath and the subtle panic of his impending invasion of his territory, yet his inability to dispel the enemy.

Especially.

The enemy remains the same—a spoiled little beast with no offensive capabilities.

He tightened his lips, deliberately lowered his brow, and adopted his usual cold and hard demeanor, looking at her with an almost sharp gaze.

"Do I need to remind you?"

"This room, this bed, are my property."

"Then let's sleep together," Shen Zhiyi muttered. "I'm not kicking you out."

Yan Jili's pupils contracted violently, and he almost stopped breathing.

A moment later.

He suppressed his pounding heartbeat, his expression growing increasingly cold and hard.

"You seem to not understand human speech."

Before a flood breaches a dam, it often encounters the strongest resistance from the dam itself.

Yan Jili did not want to admit it.

I had long been teetering on the brink of collapse.

Shen Zhiyi turned to look at him, seemingly unaware of how outrageous her words were, even resorting to the most naive and straightforward language to attack him without warning.

"Didn't you say you don't talk about love?" she said. "What's wrong with me just lying here for one night?"

"Your bed is so big, and I don't take up any space, why are you being so stingy?"

"I'm not going to eat you."

"They won't just pounce on you for no reason, tear off your clothes, and kiss and grope you indiscriminately..."

Yan Jili's forehead throbbed violently.

"Shut up."

He really wanted to find something to shut her up.

He told her to stop saying things that challenged his bottom line.

"Or are you afraid?" Shen Zhiyi seemed not to hear his warning at all. She uttered more wanton words that rubbed against his reason.

"You're afraid you won't be able to control yourself and will kiss and hug me..."

"Hmm!"

Yan Jili leaned over and pressed his large hand firmly against her lips.

"I told you to stop talking!"

His eyes were bloodshot from glaring, and his breathing became erratic. He warned, "Shut up now, get on the bed and lie down properly, understand?"

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!