CHAPTER 6

Shi Li’s original plan was to use the “suffering tactic” to lower his hatred value while establishing a persona of kindness, thoughtfulness, and self-sacrifice. She hadn’t expected an unexpected bonus—Shen Jingyan actually allowed her to eat his leftovers. And what did that mean? It meant he was starting to accept her!

She recalled that during her first time inside the novel, the moment their relationship took a step forward was when Shen Jingyan voluntarily gave her his leftover food. A few days later, they even started eating at the same table. Although eating leftovers didn’t sound great, Shen Jingyan was reserved and awkward by nature. The fact that he was willing to share his food with her was already a significant step.

Shi Li’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him, thinking about how to properly express her gratitude. But before she could speak, she noticed his eyes narrowing slightly, and an ominous premonition arose in her heart.

“I left quite a bit of food before. You didn’t eat it?” Shen Jingyan’s voice carried a hint of suspicion.

Shi Li: “…I didn’t.”

“There are cameras in the cafeteria. You’d better not lie.” Shen Jingyan’s gaze sharpened.

Shi Li: “…I really didn’t. But I gave it to the dog in the backyard.”

“You were starving, yet you gave it to a dog?” Shen Jingyan clearly didn’t believe her.

Shi Li’s eyes reddened again. “It looked so old and pitiful. Every day, there was only mushy gruel in its bowl. It seemed like it never had enough to eat, so I gave it my leftovers.”
…Hopefully, there weren’t any cameras near the doghouse. If there were, she might as well just bash her head against the wall now.

Shen Jingyan was silent for a moment. “No wonder it’s had diarrhea for the past two days.”

Shi Li: “…Huh?”

“It has a weak stomach. Don’t feed it random things again.” Shen Jingyan’s tone grew colder.

Shi Li let out an awkward chuckle and cautiously suggested, “…Maybe the diarrhea wasn’t from the food? Shouldn’t you call a vet to check?”

“It’s already been checked. It’s improving,” Shen Jingyan replied indifferently, glancing at her before turning to leave the room.

Finally, Shi Li relaxed, slouching onto the bed. When she had been facing Shen Jingyan, she’d kept herself completely alert, not paying much attention to her discomfort. Now that he was gone, she finally noticed the dull ache in her head. No wonder she had passed out for so long—she must have been too mentally strained before.

She had no idea how much time passed before the IV finally finished. Shi Li pulled out the needle herself and lay there quietly, showing no intention of leaving.

When Shen Jingyan returned in the middle of the night, still busy with work, he saw her still in his bed. A vein in his forehead twitched. “Why are you still here?”

“…I’m too hungry,” Shi Li lied with a straight face.
She had indeed slept the entire day and was now hungry, but not to the point where she couldn’t get up. Honestly, she just wanted to linger around him a little longer and remind him of her presence.

Shen Jingyan stared at her, unblinking.

Feeling guilty, Shi Li shrank further under the covers, bracing herself for his hatred value to spike.

Male Lead Hatred Value: 91%

…Why did it drop again? Shi Li’s expression turned subtly confused.

Shen Jingyan, still expressionless, reached for the phone by the bed and called the kitchen. After hanging up, he said coldly, “Get up. Eat.”

This time, Shi Li didn’t dare push her luck. She quickly crawled out of bed. To make it more convincing, she deliberately wobbled slightly when standing, as if she were too weak to balance herself.

From the corner of her eye, she caught Shen Jingyan’s fingertips twitch—as if he had wanted to reach out and support her but held himself back at the last moment.

A spark of realization flashed through Shi Li’s mind.

Perhaps… the reason his hatred value dropped whenever he saw her suffering wasn’t because he enjoyed her misery… but because… he felt sorry for her?

Considering how much Shen Jingyan hated her, the thought was bold. But if her earlier assumption was correct—that his feelings toward her were tangled with both love and hate—then him feeling a bit of pity… didn’t seem all that strange, did it?

Shi Li had always been someone who took action the moment she had an idea. As soon as a thought came to her, she couldn’t wait to test it out. So, after just putting on an act of being too weak to stand, she simply took it a step further—collapsing directly in front of him.

She fell in a way that looked dramatic, as if she had taken a heavy fall, but in reality, she had positioned her hands just right to absorb the impact, ensuring she wasn’t actually hurt.

“Ugh…” She let out a soft groan, curling up like a shrimp, quietly waiting for Shen Jingyan’s reaction.

Just as she expected, Shen Jingyan immediately crouched down. The hand he had hesitated to extend before now suddenly grasped her wrist tightly, his voice harsh with an underlying trace of urgency: “What trick are you playing this time?”

“…I can’t get up,” Shi Li said ‘weakly.’

Shen Jingyan’s expression darkened. “I’ll call a doctor.”

“No need…” Shi Li hurriedly tugged at the hem of his shirt, looking up at him feebly. “Maybe I’m just dizzy from hunger. Can you help me up?”

Shen Jingyan remained silent.

Shi Li grew uneasy. Just as she was debating whether to find a way to back out of this situation, she suddenly felt his hand tighten around hers. Stunned for a moment, she quickly steadied herself by holding onto his waist and cooperated in standing up. The moment she was stable, his impatient voice rang out: “Let go.”

Shi Li immediately released her grip, noticing that his cold, brooding gaze seemed to carry something else as well.

Her emotions became somewhat complicated. As she sat on the couch and started eating, she found herself constantly sneaking glances at him. At first, Shen Jingyan remained expressionless, but as she kept looking over, his mood visibly soured. By the third time he caught her staring, he scowled and snapped, “What are you looking at?”

Tsk, so fierce. Shi Li pursed her lips and focused on her meal. The room fell into an unusual silence—it was rare for the two of them to be this peaceful while fully awake.

The food from the kitchen was quite good, definitely better than anything she could cook. In just over ten minutes, she finished everything on her plate.

Watching her eat, Shen Jingyan’s expression grew a little complicated. He seemed momentarily dazed, as if something was stirring in his mind.

When Shi Li finished eating and glanced at her status, she noticed the hatred value had dropped again—down to 89%.

…So what exactly happened while she was eating?

Even after returning to her dorm, she couldn’t figure it out. In the end, she decided not to dwell on it. There was plenty of time to find out in the future.

The next morning, Shi Li brought breakfast to find Shen Jingyan. For once, he wasn’t working but sitting at the table, lost in thought.

“Jingyan, time to eat,” Shi Li said softly.

Shen Jingyan paused for a moment before looking up at her calmly.

Male Lead Hatred Value: 87%

Shi Li: “???” Why did it drop again?!

“What are you staring at? Did you lose your mind?” Shen Jingyan asked impatiently.

Shi Li quickly regained her composure and walked over to place the meal in front of him. Shen Jingyan glanced at the dishes before indifferently pushing two into one plate, then filled the now-empty plate with half a portion of rice and scooped half of the dishes onto it.

Realizing what he was doing, Shi Li’s expression turned a little strange. “Is this… for me?”

“Obviously,” Shen Jingyan retorted without even looking up, continuing to evenly divide the meal. “Next time, just bring two portions directly. Saves the trouble.”

After finishing, he waited for her response. When Shi Li didn’t react immediately, he looked up—only to find her staring at him in amazement. A flash of embarrassment crossed his face as he snapped, “Don’t overthink it. You don’t deserve to eat my leftovers.”

“Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right,” Shi Li quickly agreed.

Her obedient response somehow made Shen Jingyan even more displeased. His eyes faintly reddened from frustration as he snapped, “Take your food and get lost.”

“Alright, alright.” Shi Li hastily picked up her plate, ran to the doorway, and simply sat down on the floor to eat.

She had stopped just inside the threshold, meaning she was still under the same roof as him. Shen Jingyan shot her a cold glance but ultimately didn’t tell her to leave entirely. Instead, he focused on his own meal.

To create more opportunities to spend time together, Shi Li deliberately ate slower than usual. Surprisingly, Shen Jingyan didn’t rush her. In the end, when she could delay no longer, she got up to clean up the dishes.

“Huh? You finished everything today?” Shi Li asked, a little surprised.

Shen Jingyan’s fingers twitched slightly as he gave her a cold glance. “Is that a problem?”

“Of course not! Eating more helps you grow taller,” Shi Li blurted out, instantly regretting it.

She still remembered their first meeting—back when he was sixteen but barely taller than a grade schooler. She had used the same words to comfort him back then, but he wasn’t a child mentally, and he had held a grudge over it ever since.

…She knew he hated that, so why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut?!

Shi Li anxiously checked his reaction. Seeing that the hatred value hadn’t increased, she let out a sigh of relief and quickly gathered the dishes. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now.”

Without waiting for a response, she bolted.

In the following days, the two continued their strange “meal companion” arrangement. Although the hatred value didn’t decrease much, their interactions remained fairly harmonious. Compared to their tense reunion, Shi Li was already satisfied.

When the butler returned from a short leave, he was surprised to discover that Shi Li and Shen Jingyan had progressed to the point of sharing three meals a day together. He immediately felt the need to reassess Shi Li’s position.

“Sir, Miss Shi’s current living space is quite small. There are available rooms in the employee dorms. Perhaps she should move there?” the butler suggested politely.

“No need,” Shen Jingyan replied flatly.

Seeing how firm his answer was, the butler didn’t press further, though his curiosity about their relationship deepened. However, before he could investigate further, another matter took priority—

Shen Jingyan fell ill.

His condition was congenital. Even with careful maintenance, he would still suffer from episodes from time to time. It wasn’t a serious issue as long as he took his medication and received regular therapy. However, for some unknown reason, every time he had an episode, he would shut himself in, refusing medicine, refusing visitors—choosing to endure it alone. He had even come close to a life-threatening situation several times before.

No one knew why he insisted on doing this, but Shi Li did.

After all, she had left him when he was sick.

To prevent the hatred value she had painstakingly lowered from shooting back up, Shi Li decided to play it safe—hiding in her tiny dorm and staying out of sight for a few days.

But even if she didn’t seek trouble, trouble would come looking for her.

“Miss Shi, please stay in Mr. Shen’s room and take care of him for the next few days,” the butler requested, his expression solemn.

Shi Li froze. “…Me?”