Chapter 18: There is no trust between husband and wife.
It was Shen Huai'an who turned on the light. He was leaning against the headboard and wasn't asleep at all. He caught Bai Zhenzhen red-handed as soon as she moved.
The moment their eyes met unexpectedly, Bai Zhenzhen tried to pretend she hadn't seen anything and kept her eyes closed.
Shen Huai'an didn't give her that chance, "Not sleepy? Let's chat then?"
The man's voice was clear and cool, like water just taken out of the refrigerator, so Bai Zhenzhen had no choice but to sit up as well.
She refused to admit that she had been pretending to be asleep, covering her mouth and yawning in a mock manner, saying, "I was woken up by you, and I'm sleepy now."
Fortunately, Shen Huai'an didn't dwell on that and went straight to the point, asking, "Yesterday you said you wanted to live a good life, were you serious about that?"
"Of course what I said is true." Bai Zhenzhen was initially a little angry because she thought he doubted her, but she quickly realized that Shen Huai'an's question meant he had taken her words to heart.
Bai Zhenzhen sat up straight and stared at him without blinking.
Shen Huai'an didn't say anything more, only saying, "I understand. It's getting late, let's rest."
After he finished speaking, he lay down first. Bai Zhenzhen followed suit, not understanding why. Suddenly, everything went dark. Shen Huai'an had turned off the bedside lamp.
When he said "rest," he really meant just rest.
Bai Zhenzhen stared wide-eyed in the pitch-black room, not understanding what he meant.
She had Aunt Wang take his things away. Shen Huai'an wasn't angry or questioning her. He even asked her if she wanted to live a good life. Did this mean he accepted her or not?
The two lay on the two-meter-wide bed, one on each side, with a distance of more than one person between them. Bai Zhenzhen turned her head to look to her side, but could only see a blurry figure in her vision, and hear almost inaudible steady breathing.
Did Shen Huai'an just fall asleep like that?
Bai Zhenzhen turned over restlessly, her mind wandering, and she didn't know when she finally fell asleep.
The noise on the other side of the bed gradually subsided until it was completely quiet. Shen Huai'an opened his eyes again in the darkness, put one hand behind his head, and the blurry outline of the ceiling gradually appeared in front of him.
When he asked Bai Zhenzhen a question, he was actually asking himself the same question. His marriage to Bai Zhenzhen was initially to repay a debt of gratitude. At first, he had thought of treating her with respect, but some things happened that made him give up that idea.
Just when he was about to give up on the marriage, Bai Zhenzhen suddenly changed her mind and said she wanted to live a good life with him. Shen Huai'an didn't believe it at first, but her actions seemed to indicate that she really intended to repair their relationship.
Shen Huai'an wouldn't arrogantly believe that Bai Zhenzhen changed her mind because she liked him. He was more inclined to think that she wanted to use their relationship to achieve some purpose. Perhaps Bai's father persuaded her again, or perhaps something happened to the Bai family.
Both guesses are possible. Shen Huai'an analyzed the situation rationally and calmly, a habit he had cultivated over the years. But whatever the truth was, he decided to wait and see for the time being.
As the night deepened, Shen Huai'an closed his eyes again, preparing to fall asleep.
Bai Zhenzhen, who was lying on the other side, turned over in her sleep and kicked his leg with her slightly cool little foot that went across most of the bed.
Shen Huai'an moved to the side of the bed, but little did he know that this was just the beginning. Bai Zhenzhen seemed to be a restless sleeper, or perhaps the air conditioning in the room was set too low. She moved closer to the heat source next to her, and this time she not only kicked with one foot, but pressed both feet against his legs.
She not only applied the patch, but also seemed to find it quite comfortable, unconsciously stepping on it again, the soft touch traveling through the thin pajamas to her legs.
Shen Huai'an reluctantly opened his eyes, turned over and lay on his side, giving her some more space.
This time, it seemed that Bai Zhenzhen was far away and did not chase after him. Shen Huai'an waited for a while but there was no movement behind him. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a thin arm suddenly pressed against his waist.
Shen Huai'an quickly reached out and grabbed the small hand that was trying to slip under his clothes. Just as he was about to sit up to avoid it, his spine suddenly stiffened as Bai Zhenzhen pressed her entire body against him.
She draped one arm over him, her forehead pressed against the back of his neck, almost her entire body pressed against him.
With a snap, the bedside lamp turned on again. Shen Huai'an rolled out of bed and turned around to see Bai Zhenzhen had rolled from the other side of the bed to this side, and was now lying on her side in the spot where he had just been.
Her porcelain-white face looked as if it had been coated with a soft glaze under the light, and her delicate, upturned nose cast a slight shadow. With one hand resting on her lips, she was fast asleep.
This was actually the first time the couple had shared a bed since their marriage. Shen Huai'an didn't know if she rolled around like this when she slept alone, but at this moment he was obviously not used to sleeping so close together.
He could continue to spend the night on the sofa in the outer living room, but he was afraid that Bai Zhenzhen might do something else to achieve her goal.
Shen Huai'an looked at Bai Zhenzhen sleeping peacefully on the bed, his brows furrowing slightly. He had never had such a headache even when working overtime on cases.
Finally, he wrapped the summer blanket around Bai Zhenzhen, carried her back to the inside of the bed, turned off the light, and lay down on the other side of the bed.
Bai Zhenzhen was completely unaware of this while she was asleep. The next day, just after eight o'clock, she was woken up by a phone call. She struggled to get her hands out of the blankets and opened her eyes. She was a little puzzled when she found herself wrapped up in the blankets like a silkworm. She wondered when she had become such a bad sleeper, almost wrapping herself up like a mummy.
"Hello, who is this?" Bai Zhenzhen was not in a good mood when she was woken up early in the morning. She gradually woke up after realizing that the person on the other end of the phone was the assistant that her father had arranged for her.
The person on the other end of the line had no idea that she slept until she naturally woke up every day, which was why she couldn't wait to report the important information he had found so early in the morning.
"...Miss Bai, the people I found have located the supplier who provided the substandard building materials to Li Zhiqiang and his son."
Bai Zhenzhen sat up. "Is the person you found reliable? Has the information been leaked?"
“No, we investigated very discreetly and didn’t leak any information.” The other party repeatedly assured her, “They must have done this kind of business more than once. When the people I sent made contact, they didn’t suspect anything at all.”
He told Bai Zhenzhen over the phone that he had not only found the supplier, but also obtained a copy of the contract signed between Li Zhiqiang and the supplier through special means.
"That's great!" Bai Zhenzhen exclaimed with delight, her morning grumpiness completely dispelled by the good news. "Keep the copy of the contract safe for now, we'll discuss it in detail when we meet later."
Bai Zhenzhen hung up the phone and remembered what happened last night. She turned to look at the side of the bed, but it was empty. She didn't know if Shen Huai'an had gotten up early or if he had gone out to sleep again in the middle of the night.
She looked down at the blankets wrapped around her body. Yesterday, in order to force Shen Huai'an to go back to his room to sleep, she had Aunt Wang take away all the remaining blankets and quilts in the house. She thought that one night shouldn't make him catch a cold.
Bai Zhenzhen threw off the covers and got out of bed. She walked out of the bedroom in her slippers and ran into Aunt Wang. Aunt Wang seemed surprised that she was up so early and paused for a moment before asking her what she wanted to eat for breakfast.
"I'm fine with anything, Aunt Wang, you can decide what to prepare," Bai Zhenzhen said, peeking into the living room.
Shen Huai'an was sitting at his desk by the window reading a newspaper. He was wearing a shirt and black trousers, and bathed in the morning light, his temperament was as elegant as a pine tree and as refined as jade, and even the coldness in his eyes was softened.
"Last night after I got back to the villa, I cooked a pot of old duck soup. I brought it over this morning, and it's perfect for having duck blood vermicelli soup. I'll also steam some shumai and shrimp dumplings. What do you think?" Aunt Wang mentioned several dishes that Bai Zhenzhen liked to eat.
She nodded, turned around and went into the dressing room to change clothes and wash up. When she came out, Shen Huai'an was helping Aunt Wang put breakfast on the table.
Aunt Wang and Uncle Liu are still living in the Cuihu Bay villa area. They had already eaten before coming over this morning, so there were only the two of them at the table.
In addition to the items Aunt Wang had just mentioned, breakfast included tea eggs, crab roe soup dumplings, and a net bag full of live crabs in the kitchen. After preparing breakfast for them, Aunt Wang went back to the kitchen to continue processing the crabs, which she planned to cook for them at noon.
September is the season when fish, shrimp and crabs are at their fattest and most delicious. Bai Zhenzhen likes to eat seafood. After sitting down, she first picked up a crab roe soup dumpling and put it in her bowl.
The soup dumplings had just been taken off the steamer and were too hot to handle, so Bai Zhenzhen gently poked a hole in one of the dumplings with her chopsticks and used a spoon to catch the soup that flowed out.
"Aunt Wang's crab roe soup dumplings are even better than the ones sold in dim sum restaurants. You should try them." Bai Zhenzhen looked up at the person opposite her. She didn't dare to ask about last night directly, so she used this simple question to test his attitude.
"Hmm," Shen Huai'an responded, picked up a crab roe soup dumpling she recommended, and took a bite. The paper-thin skin wrapped around the delicate and smooth filling, and every bite was delicious. "It's really delicious."
Although he remained as taciturn as ever, Bai Zhenzhen noticed a change and immediately smiled, continuing her efforts.
"This shumai is also delicious, you should try some." Bai Zhenzhen blinked and picked one up and put it in his bowl.
This was the first time the young lady had served food to someone other than her father. Shen Huai'an only paused for a moment before eating the shumai in her bowl and continued to comment, "It tastes good."
Bai Zhenzhen rested her chin on one hand, her gaze fixed on the table, her right hand holding chopsticks as if deep in thought.
Shen Huai'an said, "Soaking the rice noodles for too long makes them taste bad. You should eat breakfast first."
She remembered that she had to rush out the door later, so she gave up.
However, after this simple test, Bai Zhenzhen guessed that Shen Huai'an must have agreed last night to live a good life with her and become a real couple.
Her mood instantly improved, her eyes crinkled into crescents, and she looked incredibly radiant.
After breakfast, Bai Zhenzhen picked up her handbag and was about to leave when she remembered to tell Shen Huai'an, "I have something to do and need to go out for a while. I'll come back to have lunch with you."
Shen Huai'an turned his head and looked over, nodding slightly in response, but did not ask her what she was going out to do as a normal couple would.
Uncle Liu was already waiting for her outside the door. Bai Zhenzhen didn't pay any attention and went out after changing into high heels.
She didn't really trust Shen Huai'an, and she had no intention of telling him about the things that happened at home.
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Author's Note: Today's inspection: I wrapped myself in the blanket and left my wife aside. [Question mark][Question mark]
Future inspection: Wife, could you move closer to me? [dog head with rose in mouth][clown]
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