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“Your wife is with me!”
Lu Shiyin woke up in a daze, her whole body weak. The first thing that caught her attention was the IV bottle hanging on the stand beside the bed.
She had never been fond of exercising, believing in the motto “life lies in rest.” In recent years, due to her busy studies and work, she frequently stayed up late. Staying up had become a habit, and the result was her increasingly weakened immune system.
Thirsty beyond measure, she was about to sit up for water when Cheng Jinghe walked in.
“You’re awake? Feeling better?”
“I want some water,” her throat was dry and sore.
Cheng Jinghe brought her some warm water and began unwrapping some pills.
Lu Shiyin took them without a word, swallowed them with the water.
He checked her temperature — it had gone down a bit. Then he asked if she was hungry.
Though she had no appetite or strength, she forced herself to eat and nodded.
He personally brought up a tray with shrimp congee, vegetables, and a bowl of chicken soup.
He set up a small table on the bed. She ate slowly with little appetite, showing no preference for any food. Each time she lowered her head to sip the porridge, her hair would fall forward and get in the way.
Finally, she had enough. “Get me a hair tie, it’s in the bathroom.”
Cheng Jinghe fetched it. Her left arm was still hooked to the IV and hard to move, and any lifting made the blood backflow.
“I’ll do it,” he said, taking the hair tie, kneeling beside the bed. He gently gathered her hair, his fingers brushing against her neck. He quickly withdrew and tied her hair in a low ponytail.
Knowing his skills weren’t great, he tried to redo it, but Lu Shiyin said it was fine, just needed it tied up for eating.
She didn’t eat much. Afterward, he cleared the food away.
Later, her IV finished, temperature returned to normal, and the doctor came by again to remind her to take her meds on time.
She had slept all day and now couldn’t fall asleep at night. Tossing and turning under the dim nightlight, she turned over and found herself locking eyes with Cheng Jinghe, who was lying on the floor nearby.
“You’re not asleep either?” she asked.
“Can’t sleep.”
“Thanks for taking care of me today. Grandma told me everything.”
He had gone to take a call when Grandma visited and didn’t hear what they talked about. Curious now, he asked, “What did Grandma say?”
“She said you were supposed to go to the office today to visit the staff who were working over the holiday, but skipped it because of me.”
He tried to explain, “Don’t listen to Grandma like that. That’s not true. I just wanted to slack off a little today anyway.”
She laughed, which triggered a few coughs.
Cheng Jinghe got up and handed her a glass of water, then returned to his spot on the floor.
“Still, thank you.”
“I want to ask you something. Be honest.”
Cheng Jinghe felt a bit uneasy, not sure what else Grandma had said. “Go ahead.”
“Why did you always run away when you saw me as a kid?”
He was silent for a while, reluctant to bring up the past. “…I wasn’t that little. I was 14.”
“I asked your sister why you ran from me, and she told me you had ‘puberty-induced girl-phobia’.”
“She said once you hit puberty, you avoided talking to girls completely. Even at home, you acted like strangers with her. There was this one boy you were close to—last name Xiao, I think—he came over a lot.”
“Your sister said you only hung out with boys. Every time she saw you two together, she’d ‘ship’ you guys.”
Cheng Jinghe didn’t quite follow the slang: “What does ‘ship’ mean?”
“She thought you two were a cute couple—CP. As in, she shipped you two.”
He gave a slight smirk, totally believable that Cheng Jingzhi would say something like that. After a moment, he muttered, “Nonsense.”
Lu Shiyin chuckled and then asked, “What’s that Xiao classmate doing now?”
“I think he immigrated.”
“Do you miss him?”
He was about to answer when he suddenly realized something was off. He looked up and saw her face filled with expectation.
He was flustered. “Of course not! I don’t even remember what he looks like!”
“You could look him up. What’s his full name? Search engines are amazing now. Don’t you want to see what he looks like?”
Cheng Jinghe turned his back to her. “No. I’m sleeping.”
Though he said that, his eyes remained open, staring at the wall, zoning out.
Not long after, he heard her get out of bed and walk barefoot toward him. The glow from her phone lit up his face, and her voice was right beside his ear.
“I knew you weren’t asleep. I found him — Xiao Bo’en. Look, here’s what he looks like now.”
The screen showed a candid photo of Xiao Bo’en, smiling brightly.
When he didn’t react, Lu Shiyin poked his back. “He used to be your best friend. Aren’t you going to react?”
Cheng Jinghe took a deep breath and turned around, not expecting her to be kneeling behind him. The sudden movement closed the gap between them.
Lu Shiyin froze. His breath brushed her face. Their eyes locked for a long moment.
She pushed him away. “If you’re going to sleep, just sleep! Why the sudden moves? You scared me!”
She returned to bed, back facing him. Her phone lit up — a message from Cheng Jingzhi:
[So? What did he say when he saw his CP?]
Lu Shiyin recalled how close they had just been — almost kissed — and her face flushed red.
She replied: [No reaction. He really seems to have forgotten.]
Cheng Jingzhi: [Ugh… my CP is officially dead 💔]
Lu Shiyin: [It was never alive. Your brother is already married.]
Cheng Jingzhi: [Sounds like someone’s jealous.]
Lu Shiyin was speechless. She didn’t reply. Cheng Jingzhi was nuts.
The last day of the holiday, Lu Shiyin woke up refreshed, most of the virus gone, her breathing much clearer.
The bedding on the floor had been packed away. Cheng Jinghe wasn’t in the room.
She washed up, changed, and went downstairs for breakfast.
Cheng Jinghe’s mother was already at the table. Seeing her come down, she invited her to eat together.
Lu Shiyin politely greeted her: “Good morning, Mom.” A helper from the kitchen brought over snow pear soup. “Xiao He said you’re still coughing, so I made this specially.”
“Thank you, Auntie.”
Aunt Li smiled, “Don’t thank me, it was Xiao He’s request.”
Lu Shiyin gave an awkward smile. Meeting Xiang Wan’s eyes, the two exchanged polite glances.
Xiang Wan asked, “What are your plans today?”
Lu Shiyin remembered she was scheduled to try on wedding dresses: “I was planning to go for a fitting today.”
“Better not. You just got over a fever. Changing clothes might make you catch cold again. Go another day.”
Lu Shiyin nodded, but Xiang Wan continued, “You were sick for a whole day. Cheng Jinghe had to delay his work for a day. Most company affairs rely on him now. If he slacks off, the board won’t let it slide.”
Lu Shiyin paused mid-spoon. She heard the subtext.
It was her first time alone with Xiang Wan. She had long sensed that Xiang Wan didn’t fully approve of her, but this was the first time it felt so direct.
Clearly, Xiang Wan didn’t like her much.
She smiled but didn’t take it to heart. She kept quiet for most of the meal. Xiang Wan, on the other hand, casually shifted to other topics.
Though the breakfast didn’t starve her, it left her feeling a bit uncomfortable.
She had never been good at talking with elders — even speaking with her own grandfather felt like an unbridgeable gap.
After breakfast, she slipped away to find Cheng Jingzhi and chat.
Cheng Jinghe didn’t return until noon, in a sharp suit — obviously having gone to the office.
At that moment, she and Cheng Jingzhi were chatting on the balcony.
Cheng Jinghe walked straight ahead toward the house. Cheng Jingzhi saw him first and leaned over the rail, shouting:
“Cheng Jinghe! Your wife is with me!”
He paused, looked up. Lu Shiyin was curled up in the rattan chair, both legs tucked under her.
She quickly slapped Cheng Jingzhi. “What are you doing?!”
She looked down and met his gaze. Remembering the night before, she sunk deeper into the chair, avoiding eye contact.
Cheng Jingzhi muttered, “Why’d he just walk away? So boring. Did you two fight?”
Lu Shiyin denied it. Fight? They barely had any real emotional interaction.
After the Mid-Autumn holiday, Lu Shiyin returned to work. No sooner had she sat down when Qian Mu walked in and dropped into the chair across from her.
“Got one good news and one bad news. Which do you want first?”
She quickly checked the internal company system on her phone. Everything looked normal.
“Is it about me?” she asked, pointing at herself, thinking she hadn’t done anything wrong recently.
Qian Mu considered it. “Sort of, but not directly.”
Lu Shiyin gave a resigned smile. “Then give me the bad news first.”
“The bad news is that the pharmaceutical company we’ve been working with long-term has had financial issues. Authorities are investigating, and they’ve been shut down. You’ll need to find a new partner.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “I thought it was something huge. That’s manageable.”
She took a sip of coffee. “So what’s the good news?”
Qian Mu leaned in with a grin. “The good news is — that company belongs to Wu Zihan.”
Lu Shiyin perked up, setting her cup down. Eyes wide: “When did she take over that company? I thought her family was in furniture?”
Qian Mu had already done his research. “Her father is in furniture. But her mother’s side has always been in pharmaceuticals. That company rose quickly in recent years and got on track. Her dad prioritizes his son and never gave her much.”
“So her mother handed the company to her instead.”
“I see…” Lu Shiyin propped her chin on her hand.
“But still, it happened so suddenly. Didn’t she just attend a summit recently? I even saw her there. And now this mess — the Wu family must be in chaos.”
Qian Mu said, “The Wu family also has a stake in it, so yeah, they’re affected. But Wu Zihan’s mom seems calm.”
Lu Shiyin chuckled, “Every family has their struggles. Maybe her mom isn’t as simple as she looks. But who knows, I used to meet her a lot — always seemed serene and composed.”
Qian Mu shrugged and reminded her to take her medicine when she coughed.
At the end of a busy day, just before clock-out, Cheng Jinghe texted:
[We’re trying on wedding dresses tonight. I’ll pick you up. Grandma arranged a meeting with a French wedding dress designer — we can’t miss it.]
Lu Shiyin bit her lip and replied:
[Okay.]
She remembered a few weeks ago, Cheng Jingzhi had sent her photos of a famous French designer, known for dreamy, luxurious gowns. She had thought they were beautiful.
Now it seemed she’d be meeting that designer tonight.
She also remembered that when she came home yesterday, Cheng Jinghe hadn’t returned with her. His assistant had driven her home.
This morning, she hadn’t seen him either. Aunt Zhang said he had left early.
She thought that was fine — less awkwardness.
But now… they were going to meet again.