PSMD – Chapter 144

After lunch, Shen Ningruo prepared to go home. This time, Qiu Yang didn’t say she would go along, instead saying she needed to stay home to edit photos and post on Weibo, as it had been a while.

Shen Ningruo knew Qiu Yang wasn’t going because she felt it would be inconvenient and might further strain the relationship between Shen Ningruo and her father. But she didn’t expose Qiu Yang, just hummed in acknowledgment, leaned over to kiss her, and then turned to leave.

The last time she went back to the Shen family home was after the May Day holiday ended. Another month had passed, but the road home was still familiar.

However, this Shen family home was new. When Shen Ningruo went to university, Shen Yuankai had changed houses, and there was no longer any trace of the atmosphere where Shen Ningruo’s mother had lived.

After that, Shen Ningruo visited home even less frequently.

After meeting Shen Yuankai at the hospital last time, Shen Ningruo had found a housekeeper to take care of his three meals a day. When she arrived today, she happened to see the housekeeper about to leave with her things. Seeing Shen Ningruo, the housekeeper paused, then smiled and said, “You must be Miss Shen?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Auntie.”

The housekeeper quickly waved her hand, “It’s no trouble. Well, I’ll be heading back now. You take care.”

“Okay.”

Shen Ningruo closed the door, looking at the empty and cold living room with a sigh. She glanced towards the door of Shen Yuankai’s bedroom, first getting him a glass of water before walking to his door.

She pursed her lips and raised her hand to knock.

A weak voice from inside said, “Come in.”

Shen Ningruo turned the doorknob and walked in. She saw Shen Yuankai leaning against the pillow with his eyes closed. He probably thought it was the housekeeper from earlier, as he spoke without opening his eyes, “If there’s nothing else, you can go back now.”

“It’s me.” Shen Ningruo placed the water glass on the table in the room and called out to him, “Dad.”

The moment Shen Yuankai heard her voice, he opened his eyes, but then remembering their unpleasant argument last time, he quickly closed them again, letting out a single sound, “Mm.”

Shen Ningruo walked to his bedside. What caught her eye was the lunch placed nearby.

It was a balanced meal with one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and soup, looking quite appetizing, but Shen Yuankai had only eaten a few bites.

Shen Ningruo opened her mouth again, “Why aren’t you eating?”

“…No appetite.” Shen Yuankai finally spoke, but his eyes were still closed.

Shen Ningruo pulled up a chair and sat down, “Still feeling nauseous?”

“Mm.”

Shen Ningruo’s brows furrowed, “Then let’s go to the hospital today.”

At this, Shen Yuankai immediately looked at her, his face full of refusal, “I’m not going.”

“It’s just a temporary loss of appetite, nothing serious. Why go to the hospital and smell that disinfectant?”

Shen Ningruo met his gaze, saying with some concern, “But you’ve had these symptoms for a while now.”

Shen Yuankai snorted softly, “I still don’t think there’s anything to check.”

“Then I’ll contact a private doctor.” Shen Ningruo was very calm and even picked up her phone, opening her contacts, “I happen to know someone.”

Shen Yuankai: “…”

Shen Yuankai was also afraid of going to the hospital, “Next week, wait another week.”

Shen Ningruo put away her phone and nodded at him, “Okay.”

“If it hasn’t improved by next week, and you still refuse to go, then I’ll ask my friend to come and see you.”

Shen Yuankai silently turned over, presenting his back to Shen Ningruo, attempting to express his resistance with this childish attitude.

Shen Ningruo blinked, “Then you rest well, I’ll head back now.”

“You…” Shen Yuankai spoke the next second, “Go peel me an apple.”

Shen Ningruo: “Oh.”

Her attitude was slightly cool, but she still obediently went to the living room, peeled and sliced the apple, arranged it on a plate, and then went back into the bedroom.

Shen Yuankai had quietly changed his position to lean against the headboard. He watched Shen Ningruo approach, his lips moved, and then he attempted to speak, “I scolded Guo… Guo Ming’an thoroughly last time.”

“You should have done that long ago.” Shen Ningruo opened the small table, placed the fruit plate on it, and showed no surprise at Shen Yuankai’s words.

Over the years, the father and daughter had lacked communication, and coupled with Shen Yuankai’s attitude and handling of the Guo Ming’an matter, their relationship had become increasingly stiff and awkward, making it difficult to even be in the same space.

But Shen Ningruo knew her father actually wanted to talk to her more.

However, knowing was one thing, and doing it was another.

It required a process.

Shen Yuankai turned his head and coughed twice, then continued after recovering, “I was confused before, only focusing on superficial conditions and not paying attention to the inside, which is why he had an opportunity.”

He forked a piece of apple, looked at Shen Ningruo, and said with a somewhat sad expression, “Don’t blame me.”

Shen Ningruo didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she lifted her eyelids and asked the question she cared about, “What about Qiu Yang?”

She knew Shen Yuankai definitely knew Qiu Yang’s name.

Shen Yuankai’s state of mind hadn’t been good for many years, and his face looked a few years older than his peers. Hearing Shen Ningruo’s question, his eyes became even more weathered, but he didn’t answer Shen Ningruo’s question, choosing instead to change the subject, “Want to have dinner together tonight?”

Shen Ningruo wouldn’t let him off the hook, repeating, “What about Qiu Yang?”

“Ruoruo, don’t make things difficult for me.” Shen Yuankai’s tone even carried a hint of pleading, “I’ll just pretend this person doesn’t exist.”

“You can pretend she doesn’t exist, but you can’t control me being with her. Just manage to ignore it.”

Shen Yuankai was startled, then let out a long sigh, “Let me think about it.”

Shen Ningruo brought up what Zhao Mingfen and Wu Xiaoqiong had said earlier, “Dad, when I came into this world, you just wanted me to live happily and healthily, didn’t you? But why has your thinking changed after nearly thirty years?”

“After meeting Qiu Yang, I rediscovered the emotions I had lost before. Being with her makes me feel very comfortable and happy.”

Shen Yuankai’s eyes closed again when Shen Ningruo said the first word, listening quietly as Shen Ningruo continued, “I’m not a child anymore. I can make my own decisions about my own affairs. Therefore, I don’t need your opposition, nor do I need your support. Regarding her, it’s enough for you to just ignore it.”

Being with Qiu Yang was their business, and nothing else would make Shen Ningruo waver in the slightest.

Shen Yuankai still didn’t directly address the topic, “I’m tired. Put away the small table, I’ll sleep for a bit. You can go back yourself.”

Shen Ningruo didn’t know if everything she said had any effect. She let out a heavy breath, then obediently put everything away and closed Shen Yuankai’s bedroom door.

She wasn’t in a hurry to leave the house. Instead, she went back to her own bedroom, which she hadn’t stayed in for a long time.

This was her home, and she would stay here, but perhaps only once or twice a year.

The housekeeper still came to clean the room, but because she hadn’t lived there for so long, the bed was covered with a cloth.

There was nothing on the desk. The bookshelves had doors, and inside, many books were neatly arranged.

Shen Ningruo casually opened a section, took out a book, and flipped through it. These were books she had bought during university. She was very focused on reading back then and would make annotations. Looking at her slightly immature handwriting from the past, the corners of her mouth curved up.

She took out two more books she had found interesting before, deciding to take them back for Qiu Yang to read.

She didn’t stay in the bedroom for long before opening the door and leaving. In the living room, she turned to look in the direction of Shen Yuankai’s room again, then after two seconds, she withdrew her gaze and left without saying goodbye.

Qiu Yang stayed home and edited the photos she took at the Realm of Micro-powder. After posting on Weibo, she lay down on the bed for a nap. About ten minutes after she woke up, Shen Ningruo returned.

The first to greet Shen Ningruo was Pingzi in the living room. It was just eating cat food when it heard movement outside the door. It was contemplating whether to hide when it saw Shen Ningruo’s familiar face.

Pingzi: …

Okay, I’ll keep eating then.

It buried its head and continued eating its cat food happily.

Qiu Yang came out of the bedroom and saw Shen Ningruo squatting in front of Pingzi, looking utterly speechless, “Eat, eat, eat, you’re going to get fat again.”

Pingzi ignored her and ate happily.

Qiu Yang squatted down beside Shen Ningruo and watched Pingzi eat cat food with her. Perhaps feeling embarrassed about being watched, Pingzi cautiously glanced at Qiu Yang, then without thinking, dashed towards the cat tree, quickly finding a relatively safe corner to stay in.

It didn’t want to lose weight; it was just eating normally.

Qiu Yang found its behavior a bit funny, “I wasn’t talking about you. Why are you so afraid of me?”

Shen Ningruo tilted her head and looked at Qiu Yang’s profile, “Of course it’s afraid you’ll cut its cat food like before and tell it to lose weight.”

Qiu Yang met her gaze and asked with concern, “How is your dad?”

“He’s even more stubborn than me. He doesn’t want to go to the hospital. I think my dislike for hospitals might be genetic.”

Qiu Yang put her hands together in a praying gesture, “Then let’s not go to the hospital in the future if we can avoid it.”

“You,” Shen Ningruo simply sat down on the rug and pulled Qiu Yang closer, “I mentioned you to my dad today. He tried to change the subject, but I didn’t agree.”

“Mm.”

“I told him I don’t need his support, nor do I need his opposition.”

Qiu Yang leaned against Shen Ningruo, listening to her speak softly, and smiled, “That’s for the best.”

Since meeting Qiu Yan, Qiu Yang had a more open view on family relationships. She didn’t need Shen Yuankai’s blessings or anything like that. If he could manage to ignore her, it suited her perfectly.

Dealing with elders is difficult, isn’t it?

Qiu Yang didn’t want to deal with Shen Yuankai, but as the new week arrived, she really wanted to go to the company.

Not for anything else, but simply because she was going to the company for work handover; her countdown to leaving had begun.

She still attended the morning meeting, but at the same time, she was explaining her work duties to another employee who was taking over from her.

Wen Yuan probably felt too ashamed to appear in front of Qiu Yang and didn’t show up in the meeting room either.

This was perfect, and Qiu Yang also breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn’t have any issues with Wen Yuan, but ultimately, he still sided with Qiu Yan, and there wasn’t much affection between the siblings anyway. So, not meeting was for the best.

However, what surprised her was that in the afternoon, she received a call from her aunt—

“Qiu Yang!”

“You ungrateful wretch!”