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After hanging up the phone, Shen Mi took out her suit from the closet and put it on, applied a layer of lipstick, tied her hair into a ponytail, grabbed her bag, and went downstairs.
Xie Rongzhuo’s car was parked on the empty road. Shen Mi wrapped her scarf tightly and ran towards it. Xie Rongzhuo was sitting in the driver’s seat, the window was half-lowered, and he turned his head to signal her to get in.
Shen Mi opened the passenger door, slid into the seat, and turned to meet Xie Rongzhuo’s eyes behind his glasses.
“Not asking where I’m going?”
Shen Mi knew his schedule well. If he wasn’t on it, it meant he was making a spontaneous decision. Today was New Year’s Eve, Shen Mi smiled, “Your home.”
Xie Rongzhuo’s eyebrows rose slightly, he turned the steering wheel and reversed.
This was the first time Shen Mi had seen him drive. There were few cars on the road, and Xie Rongzhuo drove fast, reaching his home in fifteen minutes.
The elevator went straight to the top floor. Xie Rongzhuo reached out to open the door, and without stopping, went straight to the living room. Shen Mi followed behind him. She was familiar with his house, but before she had only been there for work. This time it felt more like a visit.
Xie Rongzhuo stood by the wine cabinet, took a wine glass, and carried a decanter over, “Want some?”
“Okay.” Shen Mi unconsciously entered the guest mode.
Xie Rongzhuo poured her a glass of red wine, took off his jacket and threw it on the sofa, stood by the island counter, rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, lowered his head and started unpacking the ingredients. He looked up, “Can you cook?”
Shen Mi took a sip of wine, “I can.” She habitually picked up his jacket and hung it up.
Xie Rongzhuo put a few cloves of garlic on the table, “Peel them.”
Shen Mi: “Okay.”
The broth on the stove was bubbling with the aroma of red wine. Xie Rongzhuo, wearing a shirt and trousers, moved slowly and gracefully. Even though he was cooking, he was so elegant and pleasing to the eye that it seemed like he was creating a work of art.
But, doesn’t Xie Rongzhuo dislike eating steak?
He dislikes it, but he can cook it. Normal people wouldn’t put themselves through that, especially someone as picky as Xie Rongzhuo.
He must like it.
It’s unexpected that Assistant Zhang, who is usually so meticulous, would get it wrong.
“Why aren’t you going home for the New Year?” Xie Rongzhuo lowered his head and cut the steak.
Shen Mi replied, “I don’t have the habit of celebrating the New Year.”
Xie Rongzhuo: “Are you in a bad mood today?”
Shen Mi: “I was in a bad mood before I came here.”
Xie Rongzhuo asked, “Why are you in a good mood now?”
Shen Mi: “Because the beef is delicious.” The overtime pay is very high. Food, money, can help her temporarily forget her troubles.
Xie Rongzhuo gave her a portion as well.
Shen Mi wanted to politely decline, but seeing him take another piece and start cutting it, she picked up her fork and ate it without hesitation.
After finishing the steak, Xie Rongzhuo took the baked lobster out of the oven and put the abalone in to steam. Shen Mi divided the lobster into two portions, and when he sat down, she handed him the one with the shell removed.
After finishing the shrimp meat, Xie Rongzhuo went to get the abalone. Shen Mi cleaned up the shrimp shells on the table. There was always only one dish on the table, and the two enjoyed the food quietly, unconcerned with formalities.
After a big meal, Shen Mi was in a better mood.
Thinking back to the morning when she was crying over the rotten vegetables, she suddenly found it funny.
“What are you laughing at?” Xie Rongzhuo looked down at her.
With half a glass of red wine, her cheeks were already flushed, her eyes were filled with affection, and her smile was particularly charming.
She stood up, not wearing a coat. Her slender high heels outlined her mature curves, but her eyes were innocent and harmless. She pulled out a bunch of things from her bag: “Boss, let me help you cut window decorations.”
She said she didn’t have the habit of celebrating the New Year, but she had prepared all these things.
If it were the usual Shen Mi, she wouldn’t expose herself like this.
It was obvious she was a little drunk.
Xie Rongzhuo didn’t expose her: “Is there anything you can’t do?”
Shen Mi squatted beside his table, tilting her head to look at him: “Whatever you can do, I can’t.”
He chuckled: “Learn slowly.”
She clapped her hands and stood up: “I’ll go get the scissors.”
Xie Rongzhuo reminded her: “The tool room is on the left.”
Shen Mi walked to the right.
Xie Rongzhuo got the scissors for her, pointing the sharp end towards himself, he doubted: “Are you sure you’re not drunk?”
“Drunk.” Shen Mi knew her own drinking capacity, she was only slightly tipsy at this point.
“Seems not.” Xie Rongzhuo handed her the scissors, picked up his notebook and sat down beside her.
The spacious living room was quiet, only the occasional sound of paper cutting and keyboard tapping.
Shen Mi put the cut window decorations aside. When she came, she saw people in the neighborhood putting up couplets, guessing that people here probably had the habit of putting up couplets. Xie Rongzhuo’s house didn’t have any, she wanted to give him a pair. But she wasn’t sure what kind of couplets he liked.
She turned her head to look at Xie Rongzhuo.
Xie Rongzhuo was sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, leaning back in the sofa, one hand swiping the touchscreen, the other holding a water cup, a rare relaxed posture.
He happened to look at her, glancing at the brush in her hand.
“Write what you like.”
“Okay.”
Shen Mi bent down, her elbow pressing on the paper, she picked up the brush and started writing.
After a while, Xie Rongzhuo closed his laptop, got up and walked over. He looked down at the couplet and asked, “Have you put yours up?”
“Not yet.”
He nodded, unfolded a new sheet of couplet paper, reached out, and Shen Mi understood, putting the brush in his hand.
“What do you want to write?”
“Whatever you like.”
Xie Rongzhuo wrote the couplet, Shen Mi went to paste the window decorations.
Shen Mi’s handwriting was considered very good, but seeing Xie Rongzhuo’s handwriting, she was still amazed: “Did you practice?”
“My mother loved calligraphy, and she taught me.”
Xie Rongzhuo’s mother was a calligrapher before her death. He rarely saw girls who could write well with a brush, Shen Mi was one.
“No wonder your handwriting is so beautiful.” Before this, Shen Mi always thought Xie Rongzhuo had practiced his signature separately, only his name was written beautifully.
The two stood by the table waiting for the ink to dry.
Xie Rongzhuo looked at the newly pasted window decorations: “Do you like red?”
“Green.” Shen Mi smiled: “But many people would make fun of green, those who like it slowly dare not like it anymore.” When she was a child, she wore a green hat and was laughed at by her classmates for a long time.
Xie Rongzhuo didn’t laugh at her: “Why do you like green?”
Shen Mi said: “When I was a child, there was a large bamboo forest behind my house. Every time it rained, the bamboo leaves looked like they had been washed, very beautiful.” Later, the bamboo forest was gone, and the house was gone too.
The ink was dry, Shen Mi carefully rolled up the couplet Xie Rongzhuo had written, put it in her bag, and took the one she had written to paste it up.
Xie Rongzhuo stood behind her, handing her the double-sided tape.
“The left side is a bit high.”
Shen Mi stood on the stool, raising her hands to press down the couplets, and turned to ask, “How about this?”
Xie Rongzhuo looked up, “A bit lower.”
She adjusted the height slightly, “How about this?”
“That’s good.”
After attaching the couplets, Shen Mi got down on one leg, but the stool suddenly wobbled. She instinctively let out an “ah,” and Xie Rongzhuo was quick to react, grabbing her waist with one hand and lifting her up with one arm, placing her back on the ground.
Once her feet were firmly on the ground, Shen Mi felt a bit dazed.
She doubted if her weight of over ninety pounds was somehow lighter; how could she feel like a little chick when in Xie Rongzhuo’s hands?
Xie Rongzhuo remained calm, and Shen Mi didn’t even have time to feel embarrassed before he turned around, stool in hand, and walked away.
“……”
The afternoon seemed to pass particularly quickly. After tidying up the living room, it was time for dinner.
Shen Mi didn’t expect to be having the New Year’s Eve dinner with Xie Rongzhuo this year.
The New Year’s Eve dinner was pre-ordered by Xie Rongzhuo, and it was very sumptuous. Shen Mi took out her phone to take a picture, intending to post it on her Moments, but she noticed Xie Rongzhuo’s hand in the frame, so she gave up.
After dinner, Shen Mi helped clean up the dishes and sat next to Xie Rongzhuo, waiting for instructions.
The Spring Festival Gala had already started, and a chorus was playing. Xie Rongzhuo asked, “Don’t you want to know why I asked you to come?”
Shen Mi turned to look at him, “You didn’t want to spend the holidays alone.”
“Come over for dinner tomorrow.”
Xie Rongzhuo looked at the TV, his glasses reflecting faint blue light, “Same as today, triple overtime pay.”
He saw through her thoughts.
Shen Mi readily agreed, “Okay.”
Xie Rongzhuo shifted his gaze to her face.
“Don’t go back tonight.”
The reflection in the glasses made it hard for Shen Mi to see his eyes, but she knew Xie Rongzhuo didn’t mean it that way.
Actually, it didn’t really matter if she went back or not. Working overtime would still earn her a considerable amount of overtime pay, but she wasn’t alone anymore.
She gave him a professional smile, “Sorry, boss, I have something to do tonight.”
“Hmm.”
Xie Rongzhuo didn’t insist.
Back at her place, Shen Mi put up the couplets Xie Rongzhuo had given her. It actually felt like it brightened up the place.
Zhang Zhiqing sent a video call, and Shen Mi answered it. Seeing the young lady in a red cape, she laughed, “Hello, Lucky Baby.”
Zhang Zhiqing was amused by her greeting and complained softly, “My grandpa said girls should wear red clothes during the New Year. I’m over twenty, and he still treats me like a child. It’s all my uncle’s fault. He’s not coming back for the New Year, so my grandpa keeps nagging me.”
Even someone like Xie Rongzhuo, a wealthy tycoon, can’t go home to be with his family for the New Year.
Shen Mi suddenly didn’t feel so sorry for herself anymore.
She opened WeChat, and her Master’s profile picture was buried under a mountain of unread New Year greetings.
Shen Mi found him and pinned his chat to the top.
Seeing the message he sent earlier that morning, Shen Mi felt a pang of guilt.
She had completely ignored him all day just to earn overtime pay…
Would he be angry?
If it were her, she would be lost in thought all day if she didn’t get a reply from him.
She started typing an explanation in the chat box about why she didn’t reply to him.
She wrote and rewrote, then deleted everything.
Actions speak louder than words.
The clock on the wall pointed to ten o’clock.
Shen Mi went to take a bath first, then sat down to prepare a New Year’s gift for her Master.
The moment the New Year’s bell chimed, Xie Rongzhuo received a message.
Shen Mi: Happy New Year!
Shen Mi: Look! I wrote this for you.
[Image]
[Image]
Xie Rongzhuo looked at his phone, a faint smile playing on his lips.
The “something” she had to do…
It turns out she went home to celebrate New Year’s Eve with someone else.
Author’s Note:
“Someone Else”
Happy New Year!! Wishing all you lovely people a beautiful new year, good health, financial freedom, and smooth sailing!
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