As dusk settled, Yu Jiuyuan pushed open the villa door, and the first scent she smelled was the rich aroma of bone broth.
Rong Shenghan, wearing her strawberry apron, was standing by the island in the open kitchen, serving soup.
The bandage on his left arm had been removed, leaving only a faint pink scar that was now gently undulating with the movement of his wrist.
Hearing the noise, he turned around, and the light fell right into his eyes, creating gentle ripples.
"You're back." His voice carried the warmth of a soup he had just finished making. His gaze lingered on her for half a second. There were bits of hay from the horse farm stuck to the ends of her hair, and a faint red mark on the side of her neck, like a little rose that had been secretly opened.
Yu Jiuyuan didn't pounce on him as usual. Instead, she changed her shoes, slowly walked behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her cheek against his back.
The steam from the bone broth, mixed with the scent of ebony on his body, strangely soothed her emotions, which had been disturbed by the wind at the horse farm.
"Baby, I miss you so much." Her voice was muffled, with a hint of barely perceptible dependence.
Rong Shenghan paused in his act of ladling soup, then put down the spoon, turned around, and hugged her back.
His hand gently brushed past the red mark on her neck, the movement as tender as if touching fragile porcelain: "Did you go to see Ji Luoqin?"
“Hmm.” Yu Jiuyuan didn’t hide anything, looking up at him, her cunning eyes covered by a layer of moisture, “He insisted on teaching me to ride a black horse, saying it runs faster than your white horse.”
She deliberately brought up Ji Luoqin, as if testing something.
The blue thread on his pinky ring had a faint black tinge, a color unique to him when he was jealous.
Unlike Ji Luoqin's somberness, or Xie Zhecheng's sharpness, it is only light, like the sky dyed by twilight.
“Black Horse is too fiery for you.” Rong Shenghan’s voice was calm, but he reached out and hugged her even tighter. “Next time you want to go to the horse farm, I’ll go with you.”
He didn't question or get angry; he simply asserted ownership in the gentlest of tones.
Yu Jiuyuan suddenly felt as if something had hit her chest; it felt a little numb and a little soft.
She had seen too many faces lose their composure due to jealousy: Ji Luoqin's sinister nature, Lin Yanran's arrogance, Xie Zhecheng's cold face. Only Rong Shenghan always accepted all her indulgences with the most tolerant attitude.
"Okay." She obediently replied, tiptoed and kissed his chin, "I'll only go with you."
The blue light from the pinky ring suddenly brightened, like a star being ignited.
On the system panel, Rong Shenghan's positive emotional fluctuation has jumped to 140, which is even higher than the value when the strategy was completed. Like a plant soaked by rain, it is growing wildly and silently.
Yu Jiuyuan suddenly realized that she seemed to be getting more and more used to letting her guard down in front of him.
She had to be prickly in front of Ji Luoqin, act obedient in front of Xie Zhecheng, and be assertive in front of Lin Yanran. Only with Rong Shenghan could she be a willful young lady, a spoiled child, or even a madwoman hiding behind a mask of innocence.
"The soup is getting cold."
Rong Shenghan led her by the hand to the dining table. The corn and pork rib soup in the bone china bowl was still steaming. The corn was stewed until golden brown, and the marrow in the pork ribs was gently swaying.
Like the first time she received a glass of warm water from him, it was always at the perfect temperature.
Yu Jiuyuan took a couple of sips of soup, then suddenly put down her spoon and moved closer to Rong Shenghan: "Baby, feed me."
Her voice carried a hint of coquettish sweetness, a stark contrast to her provocative tone towards Ji Luoqin at the horse farm.
Rong Shenghan's smile deepened. He picked up a spoon, scooped up the tenderest piece of pork rib, carefully removed the bone, and then brought it to her lips.
"Ah—" She opened her mouth, like a little animal waiting to be fed, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
As the warm ribs slid down her throat, Yu Jiuyuan suddenly felt that this moment might be more reassuring than the notification sound of a successful strategy.
The favorability numbers on the system panel are cold and precise, but the warmth of Rong Shenghan's fingertips and the comfort of the soup bowl are real and tangible tenderness.
"Xie Zhecheng came to deliver the flower show proposal this afternoon."
Rong Shenghan suddenly spoke, his tone as calm as if he were talking about the weather, "He corrected all your Latin annotations, and the handwriting is still so neat."
Yu Jiuyuan knew what he was talking about.
This seemingly mild-mannered vice president always expresses his concern in the most indirect way.
She put down her spoon, took his hand, and gently stroked the platinum ring on his ring finger with her fingertips.
She carved it herself; the letters on the inside were warmed by his body heat.
“I ignored him.” Her voice was soft, but it carried an unmistakable seriousness. “I told him that my baby makes the best soup and I don’t have time to look at any plans.”
Rong Shenghan's Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't speak. Instead, he took her hand in his own, brought her fingertips to his lips, and kissed them one by one, from her index finger with soup stains to her little finger with a pinky ring. His movements were as devout as if he were worshipping.
The blue light of the pinky ring remained stable at its softest level, like a sapphire bathed in moonlight.
Looking at his serious profile, Yu Jiuyuan suddenly remembered that when she was first bound to the system, she was certain that she would never be attracted to any of her targets.
But now, after seeing Ji Luoyuan, she would subconsciously want to come back and coax him.
When Xie Zhecheng handed over the proposal, my first thought was whether he would be jealous.
While increasing Ji Luoqin's favorability, she would also calculate how to make him happy.
Perhaps this is the backlash of domestication.
She thought she was in control, but unknowingly, this most obedient pet had woven a tight, impenetrable net of tenderness around her.
“Baby,” Yu Jiuyuan suddenly stood up, straddled his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck, “Shall we go upstairs?”
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