Chapter 12: Morning
Fu Sizhuo was caught off guard. Looking at the girl’s tangled expression, he still nodded, his voice a little low, “How long do you want to sleep in separate beds?”
Shen Zhuying thought for a moment, then held up one finger: “A month, okay? Just one month?”
She was going to use one month to fix her sleeping posture!!
Then confidently and gracefully win him over!!!
“At your pace.” Fu Sizhuo didn’t say more.
“My room is right next door. If you need anything, call me anytime.”
“Okay.”
Fu Sizhuo glanced down at his watch.
“Then tonight… good night first? Take your time to get used to the new place.”
“Okay.” Shen Zhuying waved at him, her smile dazzling. “Good night.”
Shen Zhuying was picky about beds, and right now she was too excited.
So she tossed and turned for a long time, unable to fall asleep.
More importantly…
She touched her growling stomach. She was hungry.
She had no choice but to get out of bed and head for the fridge to scavenge something to eat.
As soon as she came downstairs, she noticed the living room light was still on.
Fu Sizhuo was wearing black pajamas, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. The blue glow from the computer cut across the shadow of his face, making him look ascetic and aloof.
Shen Zhuying swallowed her saliva, weak-willed.
Being married was great.
Maybe noticing the noise upstairs, he lifted his head. His sharp gaze swept over, but when it landed on the girl standing on the staircase steps, it slowly softened.
“What is it?” His voice was gentle.
“I…” Shen Zhuying touched her stomach and confessed honestly, “I’m hungry.”
“Mm, come sit.” Fu Sizhuo closed the computer and took off his glasses.
Shen Zhuying was a little disappointed. She walked over. “Do you wear them because you’re near-sighted?”
“Blue-light blocking, no prescription.” He cleared his throat and took a sip of water from the coffee table. “What do you want to eat?”
“Do you know how to cook everything?” Shen Zhuying was ready to admire him again.
“No.” Fu Sizhuo looked slightly puzzled. “But delivery is fast.”
“……”
“You won’t starve.” he added.
“……”
“I… I’m not that much of a glutton.” Shen Zhuying grew embarrassed, trying to cover it up.
And indeed, delivery was quick. In less than half an hour, the doorbell rang.
The two of them set the table together.
“Eat together?” Shen Zhuying sat at the dining table, tilting her head up to ask him.
Fu Sizhuo had intended to refuse, but when his gaze landed on the girl’s expectant eyes, his words inexplicably shifted. “Alright.”
He lowered his head, ladled a bowl of corn and pork rib soup, and handed it to her.
To maintain her ladylike image, Shen Zhuying deliberately sipped it in tiny mouthfuls.
Sure enough, Fu Sizhuo’s eyes fell on her.
Shen Zhuying smiled slyly.
But after a few seconds of pause, Fu Sizhuo asked her, “Does it not taste good? Or is it too hot?”
Shen Zhuying: “……”
“It’s very good.” She buried her face deeper.
So good she wanted to ask the restaurant name, but she was afraid of solidifying her foodie image.
——
After hunting for food last night, Shen Zhuying still tossed and turned, unable to sleep until late, because she wasn’t used to the bed.
Naturally, she overslept the next day.
Luckily, her shop always opened late, and she hadn’t needed to restock recently.
Yawning, Shen Zhuying stumbled toward the bedroom door, half-asleep. But something suddenly struck her, and she froze.
She spun around to glance at her reflection in the full-length mirror, hair sticking up like a bird’s nest.
Good thing you were born smart and quick-witted, Shen Zhuying.
If you went out looking like this to meet Fu Sizhuo, your goddess image would be ruined!
She spent ten minutes quickly putting on a cleverly “bare-faced” makeup look, innocent yet alluring, and finally felt reassured enough to head downstairs.
Unexpectedly, she didn’t see Fu Sizhuo downstairs. Instead, there was an auntie, about forty years old, busy in the kitchen.
The auntie turned around and smiled at her. “Madam is awake? What would you like for breakfast?”
Shen Zhuying glanced at the breakfast table, already covered with both Chinese and Western dishes, and hurriedly said, “All this is more than enough. Thank you.”
“No trouble at all.” Auntie Li walked over and looked her up and down carefully.
“Madam, my surname is Li. You can just call me Auntie Li.”
“Mhm.” Shen Zhuying stuffed a soup dumpling into her mouth. “Hello, Auntie Li.”
“No wonder the old madam likes you so much,” Auntie Li said. “You really are someone people can’t help but like.”
Shen Zhuying nodded with a smile.
She also thought she was quite likable.
“Did Fu Sizhuo already leave for work?”
“Yes, sir always leaves early for work. Before he left, he even reminded me that since you went to bed late yesterday, I should move quietly and not wake you.”
“But…” Auntie Li paused. “Did you and sir not sleep together?”
“We… aren’t quite used to it yet. Just adjusting for now, haha.” Shen Zhuying gave an awkward laugh.
Inside, she was utterly scolding herself.
Shen Zhuying, you’re going to be the first stupid Zhu in history to miss out on her dream guy just because of sleeping posture!!!
But Shen Zhuying was still in an excellent mood, so good that she gave a 10% discount on the flowers in her shop.
Xiao Chun and Xiao Tao felt even worse about her money than she did.
They angrily gestured at her: “Boss, what’s the reason for the discount this time? At this rate, you won’t make any money!”
Shen Zhuying especially loved discounts.
When her luck was bad, she gave discounts, calling it “accumulating virtue and doing good.” When her luck was good, she gave discounts too, that meant the heavens had eyes.
They sold flowers, but Shen Zhuying even gave discounts on Singles’ Day, because she said that even if someone lived alone, they still deserved the freshest, most beautiful flowers.
But this time…
Xiao Chun and Xiao Tao asked her angrily, “And this time? What’s the reason this time?”
“This time—” Shen Zhuying sat on a high stool, patiently gesturing—“this time it’s because your boss just got married.”
Xiao Chun: “!!”
Xiao Tao: “!!!”
“Boss!!! What are you doing!!!” The two girls flailed their arms at the same time, almost losing their nervous systems in the process.
But Shen Zhuying had been through big scenes before. She calmly sipped a mouthful of water. “The one you know, it’s that person who’s been coming by these past few days.”
“The man you secretly peeked at several times?”
“Mm.” Shen Zhuying raised a brow. “Met him on a blind date.”
Xiao Chun and Xiao Tao looked at each other and came to the conclusion—
The fights they’d been having the past few days had been for nothing.
This man was both her blind-date partner and the boss’s husband.
——
During these first few days of living together, Shen Zhuying discovered that Fu Sizhuo went to work very early, so early that…
No matter how hard she tried to get up, she never once managed to see him in the morning.
On the first day, Shen Zhuying wore full makeup to breakfast.
On the second day, she only put on lipstick for breakfast.
On the third day, she just combed her hair before breakfast.
On the fourth day… she slept until she woke naturally, then picked up her phone to check the time.
Mm, Fu Sizhuo had already gone to work.
So, with no psychological burden whatsoever, she went downstairs with her bird’s-nest hair.
And very smoothly… she…
met Fu Sizhuo’s eyes???
“You…” Shen Zhuying was struck speechless.
For once, Fu Sizhuo wasn’t in formal wear. Instead, he was dressed in a simple, casual white tracksuit, which made his tall, lean frame look even more slender and refined.
His skin was cold and pale, his head slightly tilted back as he drank water, sweat clearly sliding down across his Adam’s apple.
