Chapter 14 All the affection was just an act.
Shen Huai'an looked slightly flustered and avoided eye contact, then coughed softly and said, "It's getting late, you should go to sleep."
"Then tomorrow?" Bai Zhenzhen was still unwilling to leave when she didn't get a definite answer from him. When she saw him deliberately turning his head away, she thought he didn't want to go, so she glared at him with her beautiful eyes.
"I understand. I'll take tomorrow off and go back with you to see your father-in-law." Shen Huai'an agreed, then stood up and walked to a cabinet to rummage through some things.
Bai Zhenzhen glanced at the thin blanket and pillow he took out, immediately pouted, stood up and left the living room.
Calling her a blockhead is absolutely true. She's already said all that and she still wants to sleep on the sofa. Could it be that she has some kind of problem in that area?
Thinking of this, Bai Zhenzhen stopped in her tracks and looked back suspiciously at Shen Huai'an's tall figure.
After taking a shower, the man was wearing simple gray pajamas. The loose-fitting clothes didn't reveal much about his appearance, but he looked like a clothes hanger, making even the simplest pajamas look like those of a male model in a magazine.
Bai Zhenzhen thought she was being discreet, but before she could see anything, the man turned slightly to the side, leaving her with only a cold back view.
Could there really be something wrong with him? Bai Zhenzhen glanced at his back suspiciously a couple more times. Just as Shen Huai'an was about to lose his composure from her gaze, she turned away, went back to the bedroom, closed the door, and went to sleep.
The living room quieted down again. Shen Huai'an breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief, placed a thin blanket and pillow on the sofa, and lay down on his side.
He raised his right arm and pressed it against his forehead. Shen Huai'an closed his eyes, completely suppressing the fleeting desire in his dark eyes. Only his chest, which was rising and falling slightly more rapidly than usual, revealed that his heart was not as calm as it appeared.
He is a normal, mature man. Moreover, Bai Zhenzhen is his legally recognized partner, having registered their marriage and held a wedding ceremony. It is perfectly normal for him to have certain impulses towards her.
However, he was also an extremely calm and self-controlled person. That little bit of desire did not cloud his judgment, and he could not bring himself to have a relationship with the other person when their feelings for each other were not yet clear. That would be disrespectful to himself and even more so to the other person.
He wasn't unaware of what Bai Zhenzhen meant, but Shen Huai'an was unsure whether Bai Zhenzhen really wanted to be his wife after two years of turmoil.
He wouldn't have any intimate relationship with Bai Zhenzhen until he was completely sure she had made up her mind. Sleeping on the sofa wasn't just about drawing a line, but also about respect and protection. After all, in that kind of situation, it's never the man who suffers.
The next morning, Aunt Wang unlocked the gate to the courtyard with her key, and quietly walked into the living room carrying a full bag of groceries.
Shen Huai'an got up early and had already tidied up the sofa, putting away the blankets and pillows. So even Aunt Wang didn't know that the couple hadn't slept together at all during the night.
Aunt Wang looked up and saw the man coming out of the bathroom after washing up. She quickly lowered her voice and asked, "Shen, are you up, sir? This morning I prepared corn and shrimp wontons, crab roe soup dumplings, barbecued pork buns, and millet and lotus seed porridge. Is there anything else you'd like to eat, sir?"
"No need to call me sir, just call me by my name," Shen Huai'an nodded to the person. "Thank you, Aunt Wang. I'm fine with whatever I want for breakfast."
He knew that Aunt Wang was the maid who had taken care of Bai Zhenzhen since she was a child, and Aunt Wang had never done anything disrespectful to Shen Huai'an because her young mistress didn't like her husband. The two were quite polite to each other when they met.
Hearing that he had no requests, Aunt Wang smiled and went into the kitchen.
Today is Saturday, and Shen Huai'an did not leave early as usual. His young mistress always loves to sleep in, so Aunt Wang quickly served him breakfast.
A bowl of seaweed and shrimp wontons, delicate soup dumplings and char siu buns in a small steamer, a bowl of thick millet porridge, and two or three other side dishes to accompany the porridge and main course.
After thanking him again, Shen Huai'an sat down at the table. Usually, when he was rushing to the procuratorate, he would just buy something to eat on the roadside. This was the first time he had eaten such a variety of exquisite breakfasts.
Because Bai Zhenzhen was worried about taking Shen Huai'an back to see her father, she didn't stay in bed for long this morning and got up just after eight o'clock.
When Aunt Wang saw her get up, her smile became even brighter. While she was washing up, Aunt Wang quickly went into the kitchen to prepare a breakfast and brought it out.
Shen Huai'an had almost finished eating, so he got up, cleared away the dishes, and went into the kitchen to help her. Aunt Wang said "Oh," and told him to leave the dishes there and she would clean them up later.
After Bai Zhenzhen finished eating breakfast and changed her clothes, Uncle Liu was already waiting at the door in his car.
While Bai Zhenzhen was putting on her shoes at the door, Shen Huai'an took out a bottle of high-end liquor and a can of tea from a cabinet in the corner of the living room and carried them over.
"No need for alcohol, my dad can't drink right now," Bai Zhenzhen said casually.
Shen Huai'an glanced down at the wine he was carrying, but in the end he listened to her and put it down, only carrying the tea leaves as he walked out.
After getting into the car, Shen Huai'an asked Uncle Liu, who was driving, to take a detour to a nearby shopping mall later.
Bai Zhenzhen could guess what he was going to do without even thinking, and said directly to Uncle Liu, "No need to go to the mall, go directly to my dad's place."
Turning to Shen Huai'an, she said, "Don't waste money buying anything; he has everything he needs."
Uncle Liu glanced at the couple in the back seat through the rearview mirror. Seeing that Shen Huai'an didn't say anything more, he finally listened to Bai Zhenzhen and drove straight to the farm.
Bai Chuxiong was overjoyed when his beloved daughter brought her son-in-law to visit him. "Oh my sweetheart, why didn't you sleep in today and came so early? Huai'an, you're so busy with work during the week, you should have rested properly on the weekend."
"Dad, I'm just letting you meet your precious son-in-law sooner, so you won't keep nagging about him every day." Bai Zhenzhen blinked halfway through her sentence, then suddenly grabbed Shen Huai'an's arm and turned around to continue, "I'm just letting you meet your precious son-in-law sooner, so you won't keep nagging about him every day."
When Shen Huai'an was hugged by her, his body stiffened slightly. He looked down at her, and when he looked up, he still had a polite and gentle smile on his face. "Dad, it's my fault. I've been too busy with work lately and have neglected you. I should have accompanied Zhenzhen to see you earlier."
Bai Zhenzhen is fearless except for her father cutting off her allowance. As a college graduate who has never worked a day in her life and is a freeloader, she usually squanders money and can't save a penny. Therefore, whenever the couple appeared in front of Bai Chuxiong, Bai Zhenzhen would first threaten Shen Huai'an to make him cooperate with her in playing the role of a loving couple.
He then realized that he had found the reason for Bai Zhenzhen's unusual behavior in the past few days.
She moved to the family compound with great fanfare, repeatedly saying she wanted to be his real husband and wife, but perhaps it was just at the behest of Bai's father.
Similar incidents had occurred before, but back then Bai Zhenzhen absolutely refused to move into the simple house in the family compound and demanded that he move to the Cuihu Bay Villa. Shen Huai'an refused because it was too far from the procuratorate, and the matter was dropped.
Shen Huai'an felt he had guessed the truth. As he sat on the sofa exchanging pleasantries with Bai Chuxiong, he couldn't help but sigh at the slight ripple that had just stirred in his heart. Then, the deep lake returned to calm once more.
In the years since Bai Chuxiong left the company to recuperate, his imposing manner has become much more subdued. When he sits on the sofa and asks about Shen Huai'an's daily work and life with a smile, he is as kind as an ordinary elder.
"Yes, I have been quite busy lately, and sometimes I don't have time to eat properly. It's okay, I've always been healthy..." Shen Huai'an always respected this elder and answered all his questions.
Not only because Bai Chuxiong was his father-in-law, but also because the charitable foundation he established had been supporting Shen Huai'an from junior high school until he graduated from university, a debt of gratitude he had always kept in mind.
While the two were exchanging questions and answers, Bai Zhenzhen kept observing Bai Chuxiong's complexion and physical condition. She hadn't forgotten what Dr. Zhao Yongchang had said last time, and was always ready to find an opportunity to persuade her father to get proper treatment as soon as possible.
"Zhenzhen, have you not seen your father for so long that you don't remember what I look like, or is your allowance running low again?" Bai Chuxiong was exasperated by his daughter's gaze, so he coughed lightly to remind her to be more frugal.
Although Shen Huai'an was a son-in-law he greatly admired, he didn't want Shen Huai'an to know about his illness so soon. He hadn't had time to arrange everything for his precious daughter yet, so naturally, the fewer people who knew about it, the better. Apart from his daughter, he couldn't fully trust anyone else.
"Since you're here today, I'll have Secretary He invite the head chef from Huicui Restaurant to cook a good meal so I can enjoy a delicious meal with you." Bai Chuxiong waved for his subordinate to call the restaurant.
The restaurant's chefs are top-notch, but they won't come out just because someone calls them. Of course, Bai Chuxiong is an exception.
At noon, the three of them enjoyed a sumptuous seafood feast prepared by the chef. After the meal, Bai Chuxiong called his daughter into the study to talk, while Shen Huai'an stayed downstairs to read.
Upstairs, after only the father and daughter were left, Bai Zhenzhen couldn't wait to ask her father how his health had been lately and whether he had relapsed.
“As long as you behave, I’m perfectly healthy,” Bai Chuxiong said. His health had indeed been quite good recently. After Bai Zhenzhen sat down, he asked, “I heard from Lao Liu that you moved to live with Huai’an. It’s good that you’ve thought it through. As long as husband and wife get along well, their feelings will gradually develop.”
Bai Zhenzhen knew her father would say these things. "We're doing very well now. I'm so beautiful and my family is rich. He must be blind to not like me."
“You’re such a grown-up, and you still can’t control your temper,” Bai Chuxiong said, shaking his head helplessly as he looked at his daughter with her head held high and a proud expression. “It’s all my fault for spoiling her.” “Alright, go out and call Huai’an in. I have a few words to say to him alone.”
The daughter and son-in-law only appeared to be loving on the surface. How could Bai Chuxiong possibly hide the true nature of their relationship from him? If he were so easily fooled, he would have been cheated countless times long ago, and he would never have accumulated his current wealth.
Alas, it's just that his body is too weak. If he could live another twenty years, why would he need to entrust his precious child to someone else?
A note from the author:
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Here it comes~ [dog head with rose in hand]
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