When Jiang Baiwan woke up the next day, the weather outside was gloomy. She hesitated for a moment before sending a WeChat message to the college student waiter, telling him that she would not go to the shop today, so please take care of it with Wei Dao. After sending the message, Jiang Baiwan dumped her phone on the bedside table and fell back on the bed again.

For some reason, Jiang Baiwan was feeling dizzy. It was probably because she was too emotional yesterday and then slept too late when she came back, which caused her to feel a bit lethargic.

Jiang Baiwan didn’t think much of it and just turned over and went back to sleep again.

Although Ji Chen also slept very late yesterday, he still sat in his office on time today. The only thing was that the dark circles under his eyes seemed a little heavy. Assistant Xu didn’t dare to ask any more questions but just reported to Ji Chen honestly. After Ji Chen finished dealing with the things at hand, he took the time to send Jiang Baiwan a message.

Yesterday, it looked like her mood had calmed down, but it was obviously only temporarily suppressed. He wondered how she was now.

However, Jiang Baiwan, who usually replied in seconds, did not answer Ji Chen’s message after a long time. Ji Chen waited for an hour, but seeing that Jiang Baiwan still hadn’t replied, he simply picked up his cell phone and called her.

Jiang Baiwan was lying on the bed with her head still feeling dizzy. She felt the faint vibrations coming from her phone so she stretched out her hand in a daze trying to find it from the bedside table. After finally locating it, she pressed the answer button and wanted to say hello, but she was surprised to find that her voice could hardly come out.

Ji Chen only heard a breathy “Hello” from the other end of the phone and his brow immediately furrowed. “What happened to you?”

“I…… I’m just a little sleepy.” Jiang Baiwan wasn’t even finished with her sentence yet when she coughed twice. She blinked stupidly and smiled. “Oh, I seem to have caught a cold.”

“All right, don’t talk.” Ji Chen cut off Jiang Baiwan’s words. “You rest first, I’ll be right there.”

Jiang Baiwan followed Ji Chen’s instructions and hung up. She pressed her uncomfortable throat as her temples throbbed. She turned over under the covers and quickly drifted off to sleep once again.

When Ji Chen arrived at Jiang Baiwan’s house, he waited for a long time before Jiang Baiwan opened the door. She was wearing pink pajamas with a pair of plush slippers on her feet. Her eyes were still blurry as she stood at the door and her face flushed red. Jiang Baiwan sniffed, and it took a long time for her sluggish brain to realize who the person at the door was. “Ji Chen, you’re here.”

“You’re sick.” Ji Chen said in an affirmative tone. “Go in, don’t stand at the door. It’s windy.”

Jiang Baiwan entered the room obediently. Seeing that she obviously looked different from usual, Ji Chen couldn’t help sighing. He hesitated, but still grabbed her hand and led her into her bedroom. “Go back to bed. I’ll pour a cup of water.”

“I’ve been sleeping for a long time. Not sleepy.” Jiang Baiwan tried hard not to sound so sleepy with her gruff voice.

“Then just stay in bed.” It’s rare for Ji Chen to talk so much. “I’ve brought medicine, but let’s take your temperature first.”

Watching Jiang Baiwan get into bed, Ji Chen went out to the kitchen. There was no hot water in Jiang Baiwan’s kitchen so Ji Chen found the electric kettle and while the hot water was boiling, Ji Chen dug out the thermometer he brought and walked back into Jiang Baiwan’s room.

“Open your mouth.” Ji Chen stood beside the bed, coaxing Jiang Baiwan in a gentle voice. “Take your temperature.”

Jiang Baiwan stared at the thermometer and suddenly said, “Ji Chen, you look like my mother now.”

“You called me Dad when you were drunk and now you’re calling me Mom?” Ji Chen scoffed. “Open your mouth.”

Jiang Baiwan put the thermometer in her mouth resentfully—— Ji Chen was already getting defensive with her teasing. This man was really no fun.

Ji Chen moved a stool and sat beside Jiang Baiwan’s bed. He waited for five minutes with straightened back, then took out the thermometer to check. It was 38.3. She really had a fever.

“Didn’t you even notice that you have a fever?” Ji Chen was a little angry. “Are you feeling uncomfortable?”

Jiang Baiwan pointed to her throat pitifully, expressing her discomfort with actions. Ji Chen had no choice but to honestly bring her the warm water and medicine. “Take the medicine. You have a fever so take a good rest.”

Jiang Baiwan took the glass and the medicine handed by Ji Chen. She originally wanted to swallow the pill boldly, but who knew that it seemed to melt halfway and became stuck in Jiang Baiwan’s throat. Her expression instantly changed and she coughed uncontrollably. Her body was devoid of strength due to fever and the water glass was about to slip.

Ji Chen hurriedly took the glass from her hand, wrapped his arms around Jiang Baiwan’s waist and supported her to sit up on the bed. Jiang Baiwan grabbed Ji Chen’s forearm with both hands and didn’t have time to pay attention to it. She was still coughing and tears were coming out of her eyes.

“Careful.” Ji Chen said softly as he gently patted Jiang Baiwan’s back in an effort to soothe her breathing.

After Jiang Baiwan finally calmed down, Ji Chen realized how inappropriate his posture of supporting Jiang Baiwan was. President Ji blushed and then took advantage of Jiang Baiwan’s inattention to secretly retract his arm.

“It must be because I got too worked up yesterday and was exposed to the wind when I came back.” Jiang Baiwan’s throat became more comfortable after drinking water and was able to speak. “I’ll add this account to Jiang Zhishu’s head.”

When Ji Chen heard her mention Jiang Zhishu, he hesitated, wondering if he should talk to her about him. Jiang Baiwan’s head had already cleared up quite a bit by now and seeing Ji Chen’s rare tangled appearance, she said generously, “It’s okay. I know what you want to say, so just say it.”

“Are you still angry?” Ji Chen took a soft pillow and tucked it behind Jiang Baiwan’s head so that she could lie down more comfortably. “I actually……”

Jiang Baiwan smiled. She turned over and lay on her side so that she could easily look at Ji Chen. Because of her illness, Jiang Baiwan’s eyes looked misty, but they were still bright. “All right, if you want to say sorry again, you’ve already said it.”

“Of course I’m still angry.” Jiang Baiwan cleared her throat. “He ran abroad with his parents, leaving me alone here. It’s obvious that they didn’t want me, this daughter, anymore. Do you think I can forgive him so easily?”

Ji Chen nodded silently. What Jiang Baiwan said was right. No one could possibly forgive this kind of abandonment by ones family that easily.

“So it’s up to him.” Jiang Baiwan said. “If he wants to get my forgiveness, he has to let me see his sincerity first before giving me a proper reason.”

Jiang Baiwan was a bit cold when she said this. She tugged the quilt up, covering the lower half of her face and only revealed a pair of eyes. She stared at Ji Chen as she said with a muffled voice, “I know you took him in, but Ji Chen…… you don’t have to do this. You don’t have any responsibility in this matter.”

Ji Chen roughly understood what Jiang Baiwan meant, and he nodded. “I know.”

“What do you know?” Seeing Ji Chen’s serious appearance, Jiang Baiwan smiled instead. Because of the fever, she couldn’t hold back some things that she had kept in her heart all along. Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, Jiang Baiwan asked directly, “Ji Chen, I’ve always been curious about one thing. Back then…… why did you agree to get engaged with me?”

With a background and a family like the Ji’s, they could have found a better fiancée, right? How could such a good thing fall into Jiang Baiwan’s lap?

When Ji Chen heard this, he gave Jiang Baiwan a deep look. He thought for a while and lightly said, “I don’t know.”

Jiang Baiwan: “???”

What kind of answer was this?!

“This matter was decided by your parents and mine.” Ji Chen added, “It was probably when you and I were young. I have no recollection of it, and I guess you don’t either.”

It turned out to be like that. Jiang Baiwan patted Ji Chen’s leg sympathetically. “It’s betrothal at birth. It’s been hard for you. I reckon you didn’t agree with this marriage alliance either.”

Seeing Jiang Baiwan’s broad-minded appearance, Ji Chen felt a little uncomfortable. He frowned, grabbed Jiang Baiwan’s arm and stuffed it back under the quilt. He said in a bad tone, “You don’t like me?”

“Who wouldn’t like you?” Jiang Baiwan’s mouth was faster than her brain. “Handsome and wealthy, looks cold on the surface, but is actually a good person. You’re young and promising, the future of the society.”

Once again sent a good person card, Ji Chen was even more unhappy for no reason. He interrupted Jiang Baiwan and said softly, “I’m not this nice to everyone.”

Jiang Baiwan was stunned. She raised her eyes to look at Ji Chen, but ran right into those eyes. There seemed to be flames burning in them and Jiang Baiwan couldn’t move her eyes away for a while.

Ji Chen approached Jiang Baiwan a little. He lowered his head, not giving Jiang Baiwan a chance to dodge, and repeated the sentence he had said once again, “I’m not this nice to everyone.”

Jiang Baiwan was flustered. She wanted to reach out and push Ji Chen away, but he took the opportunity to hold both of her hands. Ji Chen got closer again and Jiang Baiwan couldn’t avoid him, so she could only raise her voice a little, “Ji Chen, Ji Chen, just be calm. It’s improper for men and women to hold each other’s hands!”

“The two of us had been engaged so it’s not applicable to us.” Ji Chen continued, “As it happens, there’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.”

Jiang Baiwan felt that the situation seemed out of control, but as if possessed, she followed along Ji Chen’s words, “What is it?”

“Back then, no one knew of our engagement and its dissolution.” Ji Chen stared into her eyes. “I originally thought I wouldn’t regret it, but now……”

“I do.”