Chapter 49

The dim, warm light from the incandescent bulb cast a soft glow over Cheng Jingmo, making his usually stern and cold expression appear gentle.

His brows were slightly furrowed, his thin lips moving as he spoke, “Didn’t I tell you to call me if you needed anything?”

Perhaps Cheng Jingmo was especially charming tonight, or perhaps Yu Xiangnian was still not fully awake…

This time, without hesitation, she tilted her face up and pressed her red lips against his thin ones.

The kiss was sudden and unexpected.

Cheng Jingmo was momentarily stunned. He remained still, holding Yu Xiangnian in the same intimate position.

At that moment, time seemed to freeze.

They stared at each other, their eyes reflecting an unspoken emotion.

After a while, Cheng Jingmo was the first to react. His pupils constricted sharply, and he looked flustered as he abruptly pushed Yu Xiangnian away.

Yu Xiangnian fell hard to the floor and quickly came to her senses.

“Sorry,” they both said at the same time.

Yu Xiangnian was apologizing for her impulsiveness, while Cheng Jingmo was apologizing for pushing her away.

“I’ll help you inside,” he said, avoiding her gaze as he extended his hand.

“No need.” Yu Xiangnian also avoided looking at him. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she got up from the floor and hopped back to her room.

Both of them lay in their beds, unable to sleep.

Whether it was her moment of impulse or something else, Cheng Jingmo’s subconscious reaction had made everything clear.

He disliked her touch!

Of course!

If Cheng Jingmo wanted to touch her, he would have done so long ago, and there wouldn’t have been an opportunity for the original owner to get involved with Ding Yunfei.

His recent concern for her was purely out of politeness and responsibility. She had overthought things!

Yu Xiangnian harshly wiped her lips with the back of her hand and kept berating herself: “Infatuated fool! Good-for-nothing! Go dig wild vegetables!”

In the other room, Cheng Jingmo licked his lips, still feeling the lingering warmth from Yu Xiangnian’s kiss.

Everything from just now felt like a dream, so unreal.

Yu Xiangnian clearly disliked him, so why did she kiss him?

He recalled the Soviet films where people greeted each other with hugs and kisses.

Yu Xiangnian had been abroad for almost a year. Maybe her kiss was just her way of greeting him, like a handshake.

Cheng Jingmo was somewhat irritated as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Yu Xiangnian didn’t know when she fell asleep. When she woke up the next morning, Cheng Jingmo was already in the kitchen making lunch, and Xiao Jie was at home.

“Xiao Jie, why aren’t you at school?” she asked.

“It’s a holiday today, so we have a half-day off.”

Yu Xiangnian took a moment to realize it was Dragon Boat Festival.

But nothing had been bought for the occasion, not even a rice dumpling!

Cheng Jingmo had finished cooking and came out of the kitchen holding the steamer.

Their eyes met, and Cheng Jingmo averted his gaze with no apparent emotion.

Yu Xiangnian couldn’t read his thoughts from his face, but she felt he was somewhat unhappy.

In reality, since the kiss had already happened, there was no way to undo it.

If Cheng Jingmo disliked her touch, she would simply avoid touching him in the future.

If it came to that, when they divorced later, she might as well give him a bit more of the assets.

During dinner, Cheng Jingmo took the initiative to talk to her.

“My parents heard about your sprained foot and want us to come home for dinner tonight. My mom wants to check it for you.”

When Cheng Jingmo said this, he didn’t look at her.

Yu Xiangnian thought to herself, “It was just a kiss. Does he have to be so dramatic about it?”

She pursed her lips and said, “Oh.”

“I’ll head into the city later.”

Since it was a festival and it would be inappropriate to return empty-handed, she said, “Just buy some meat and vegetables. Don’t buy any alcohol; we have some at home.”

After dinner, Cheng Jingmo went into the city.

On festival days, the market was crowded with people buying groceries.

By the time Cheng Jingmo arrived, the meat had already sold out, leaving only some offal.

It wouldn’t be suitable to send offal as a festival gift.

Cheng Jingmo searched around and found that fish and shrimp were still available.

Nowadays, it was considered a luxury for an average family to eat fish or shrimp, as they were quite expensive, and most people were reluctant to buy them.

Cheng Jingmo bought two large yellow croakers, weighing six and a half pounds, for nineteen yuan.

It was quite expensive!

He remembered Yu Xiangnian liked shrimp, so he bought five pounds of shrimp for twelve yuan.

Finally, he bought two pig’s feet and some vegetables.

The Yu family’s chauffeur came to pick them up.

Cheng Jingmo helped Yu Xiangnian into the house, while the chauffeur carried the groceries.

When Zhao Ruozhu saw the two yellow croakers and some shrimp, she knew Cheng Jingmo had spent quite a bit of money. She reproached him unhappily, “Cheng Jingmo, I asked you to come for a family reunion, not to splurge. I’ll be really angry if you spend money like this again.”

In fact, Yu Xiangnian had already seen these items when Cheng Jingmo came home.

It was unclear if he didn’t see himself as part of the family or if he was trying to please Yu Jiasun.

Anyway, since it had been bought, they might as well eat it!

Seeing Zhao Ruozhu’s dissatisfaction, Yu Xiangnian could only cover for Cheng Jingmo, “I wanted to eat these, so he bought them.”

Zhao Ruozhu stared at her, “Pig’s feet? You also want to eat those?”

Zhao Ruozhu didn’t know that Yu Xiangnian didn’t eat offal at all.

Yu Xiangnian raised an eyebrow, “Of course! You eat what you want to supplement your body! Cheng Jingmo specifically chose the pig’s right foot.”

Cheng Jingmo’s eyelid twitched.

When he bought them, there was only one right foot left, so he took a left foot as well.

Zhao Ruozhu sighed in resignation, “How did I end up with such a wasteful daughter!”

Cheng Jingmo helped Yu Xiangnian sit on the sofa. “Comrade Zhao Ruozhu, your choice of words isn’t accurate. I admit to being extravagant, but I haven’t been indulging!”

She only kissed Cheng Jingmo once and ended up falling so hard she almost broke into pieces!

Yu Jiasun saw his daughter’s foot swollen up high. Although he knew Yu Xiangguo was handling official business, he couldn’t help but blame him.

“Xiangguo, you should have been more accommodating. Nian Nian wants to earn some pocket money; you should have made an exception. With so much goods, it’s hard to handle, what do you expect her to do?”

Yu Xiangguo knew that Yu Jiasun favored Yu Xiangnian. If he insisted on sticking to regulations and principles in front of him, he would be scolded.

He could only agree with Yu Jiasun, “Dad, indeed, handling so much goods is a bit tricky.”

Then he turned to Yu Xiangnian and said, “Nian Nian, many people have contacted the factory privately before, but they all feared there were too many goods and might end up with unsold stock. Tomorrow, I’ll have someone contact these people and see if they can take some from you.”

Yu Xiangnian waved her hand, “No need. I’ve already found buyers.”

Everyone present looked at her in surprise, including Cheng Jingmo, who widened his eyes.

Last night, Yu Xiangnian was still selling them one by one, and today she found buyers?

“Who did you find?” Yu Xiangguo asked.

Yu Xiangnian didn’t want to reveal anything about Brother Ping, so she played coy, “You don’t need to worry about it. I have good connections; I have people who can help me.”

Cheng Jingmo’s lips twitched.

Yu Xiangnian has good connections?

Aside from the three families in the compound, no one else even spoke to her!

“Then what about the batch of goods that was confiscated?” Yu Xiangguo said, “I contacted the police today and they said I should go handle it tomorrow.”

Yu Xiangnian said, “No need. If I need your help, I’ll come to you.”

Yu Xiangnian didn’t ask Yu Xiangguo for help?

Cheng Jingmo immediately thought of Brother Ping.

But Brother Ping’s condition was to treat her child’s illness. Could it be that Yu Xiangnian found an expert in this area?

Yu Jiasun interrupted Cheng Jingmo’s thoughts, “Cheng Jingmo, keep an eye on Nian Nian. Don’t let her get involved in these matters in the future! Others might do business privately, but our family should not engage in such things!”