Since the afternoon, the part of her mind dedicated to Mu Shanyi kept updating: Mu Shanyi read picture books, had a cat and a dog, had brought her not to a “golden house” for trysts but to her fixed home, and now, Mu Shanyi ate simple dinners in ordinary settings too.
Stripped of her prominent family background, this was Mu Shanyi’s most everyday side.
Miao Zhu multitasked, updating her mental database on Mu Shanyi. Under the table, Princess suddenly jumped onto her lap. Miao Zhu’s wrist jerked; Princess circled a few times on her legs, meowing softly, then settled with paws tucked.
“…” Miao Zhu held her chopsticks still, afraid to move and scare the cat, her face full of flattered surprise. “Why’d it come to my lap?”
Ye Yi chuckled. “Princess is used to sitting on this chair during meals.”
Miao Zhu immediately patted the cat’s head. “Sorry, Princess—borrowing your chair today.”
Mu Shanyi laughed softly, and Princess twitched its ears at its name, flicking its tail in response.
After dinner, Miao Zhu played ball with the dog and cat—from indoors to the aerial garden and back. All three seemed satisfied. Sometimes Grace even fetched the ball for Princess first and let it eat the treats first. Miao Zhu marveled, “How is Grace such a smart little dog!”
“Princess was one Grace picked up outside. Grace thinks it’s the one raising it.”
Hearing that from Mu Shanyi, Miao Zhu found it even more miraculous, watching their interactions with wide eyes.
All her attention was on the two little ones when Mu Shanyi crooked a finger at her.
“Hm?” Miao Zhu turned.
“Look at the glass,” Mu Shanyi said.
Miao Zhu obediently looked.
Outside the glass curtain wall, the landscape lights around Cloud Tower had come on, stretching endlessly. Lights reflected in the water, brilliant above and below the banks.
On the nearby glass, their intimate figures reflected. Mu Shanyi turned her face and kissed her.
They played until nearly eight, when Ye Yi took Grace out for a walk. Miao Zhu followed Mu Shanyi downstairs, still reluctant to stop.
“Do you usually walk Grace?” she asked Mu Shanyi.
“Occasionally. Grace needs a lot of exercise. Ye Yi usually rides an e-bike with it. I haven’t learned yet.”
Those four words—”I haven’t learned yet”—struck Miao Zhu right in the heart. She giggled, hugging Mu Shanyi’s arm. “I can.”
Mu Shanyi nodded. “Want to take her for a walk? Ye Yi probably hasn’t gone far yet.”
“Not now.”
“Then what do you want now?”
“…” Miao Zhu choked. What did she want? She couldn’t exactly admit that she wanted to know when the gift would be unwrapped, could she?
It was Mu Shanyi who had teased her with words first, and Mu Shanyi who kept kissing and hugging her from time to time. Miao Zhu wasn’t in a hurry, but was it fair for Mu Shanyi to be so calm and reasonable?
Mu Shanyi’s gaze fell on Miao Zhu’s face, which had flushed red.
The doorbell rang. Mu Shanyi rubbed Miao Zhu’s heated cheek with her fingertip before walking away to answer it. It was the housekeeper, saying that some vegetables and produce had arrived at the manor and asking if it was convenient to send them up now.
Mu Shanyi said it was.
In one or two minutes, the housekeeper wheeled the items out of the elevator.
“Help me out?” Mu Shanyi lifted the bags and invited Miao Zhu to sort them together, so Miao Zhu followed her to the kitchen.
They took the items out of the bags and placed them on the island counter—seasonal fruits and ingredients, not too much, all very fresh.
“Want some fruit?” Mu Shanyi picked up a box of figs. “They’re very sweet.”
“I’m too full.” Miao Zhu shook her head regretfully.
Mu Shanyi curved her lips slightly. She opened the fridge and methodically put everything away in different sections.
Finally, there was a box of fresh milk. Mu Shanyi took out the expired one and disposed of it, and a spark of realization flashed in Miao Zhu’s mind.
This fresh milk—today’s, including the expired one—wouldn’t all be prepared for her by Mu Shanyi, would it?
Whether she came or not, Mu Shanyi had prepared it in advance?
In that instant, more than one question swirled in Miao Zhu’s heart. How many people had Mu Shanyi brought here? How many had eaten Ye Yi’s cooking? How many had befriended the dog and cats?
And had she overlapped in time with any of them? Like Xiao Hui, who had waited for Mu Shanyi to come home over the phone?
Miao Zhu had no answers, but one thing was certain: she wasn’t the first to come here, nor would she be the last.
But thinking about it was pointless and ruined the mood. The atmosphere tonight was so good; she just needed to focus on enjoying Mu Shanyi’s special treatment toward her.
“What are you thinking about?” Mu Shanyi noticed Miao Zhu zoning out.
Miao Zhu wrapped her arms around Mu Shanyi’s waist from behind and tilted her head with a captivating smile. “I’m thinking about when you’ll remember there’s still a gift to unwrap.”
Mu Shanyi calmly closed the fridge door, turned around, and straightened the bow at Miao Zhu’s neck.
Miao Zhu: “…”
Mu Shanyi pinched one end of the ribbon and twirled it around her fingertip. “Longlong, want to play a game?”
Now that was more like it.
This was the nature of their relationship.
The sound of the shower pattered steadily as dense foam circled over Miao Zhu’s snow-white skin. Mu Shanyi meticulously applied her own body wash all over Miao Zhu’s body.
“What’s the curfew at home?” Mu Shanyi suddenly remembered to ask.
“…Eleven.” Miao Zhu’s breathing quickened. She lowered her head, a water droplet hanging from her nose tip. “I’m not going back tonight.”
The droplet trembled, trembled, and finally dripped onto Mu Shanyi’s wrist.
Mu Shanyi smiled. “Of course.”
She noticed the change in Miao Zhu’s breathing, but for now, this was just the prelude to unwrapping the gift.
Miao Zhu sat on the edge of the bed.
Mu Shanyi fetched a jewelry box containing two identical ankle chains. She knelt down, slipped one end of the chain onto Miao Zhu’s second toe, and wrapped the other end around her ankle, fastening both sides in turn.
