Chapter 24: Daily Life at the Old Residence

In the bathroom, Mo Yichen splashed his face with water and looked up at his reflection in the mirror.

His face was pale, with the corners of his eyes reddened, water droplets clinging to his black bangs. He looked nothing like the immaculate and noble Mo Yichen everyone knew.

Lately, he’d been losing control more frequently, and it was all because of this woman.

Mo Yichen had never experienced such feelings before. Maybe she was special—after all, special women always had a way of intriguing people.

But that didn’t mean anything. Any normal man would feel the same way when seeing her like that. It was just a natural physical reaction.

Straightening up, Mo Yichen ran a hand through his damp hair.

He looked at his reflection once more. The obsession and harsh desire in his eyes had faded, replaced by the calm indifference he was known for. After changing clothes, he left the bathroom.

..

Zhu Jia lay on the bed, her energy drained, receiving a check-up from the doctor. Her head was heavy, and her eyelids felt like they could barely stay open.

When news spread that Mo Yichen’s wife had fallen into the pool, the Mo family’s private doctor rushed over, fearing something serious might have happened.

The doctor wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Fortunately, she had been rescued in time. “There’s no major issue, no obvious external injuries. However, her temperature is a bit high. She might develop a fever tonight. If that happens, call me anytime; I’ll be staying here for the next few days.”

After giving his instructions, the doctor packed up and left.

The room was left with just Mo Yichen and Zhu Jia, and a silent, awkward atmosphere filled the space.

Mo Yichen walked to the bedside and glanced at Zhu Jia. Her complexion had improved a little, though when she saw him, she quickly avoided his gaze.

“Young Master, Madam, the ginger tea is here,” a servant knocked and brought in two bowls of warming ginger tea.

Zhu Jia slowly sat up, sipping the warm tea, feeling her body relax.

She glanced at Mo Yichen, who was sitting on the sofa, quietly drinking his own tea. From the side, she could see his long eyelashes slightly lowered, his elegant hand resting on the cup.

Zhu Jia’s doubts eased significantly. After all, he was still the familiar Mo Yichen.

He had saved her life, after all. And he probably wasn’t trying to take advantage of her, right?

In the original setting, Mo Yichen was portrayed as an aloof, cold, and aristocratic young master, admired by all the women in the book, whether the protagonist or the supporting female characters. He wouldn’t be scheming against her.

Zhu Jia nodded to herself, convinced her analysis was correct. Seeing Mo Yichen appear so composed, without any hesitation or awkwardness, made her realize she was the one being overly cautious.

Besides, back in college, she had no problem wearing a bikini when going to the beach with classmates. The material of the bikini couldn’t be much more revealing than this set of undergarments.

Today’s situation was special. She was drenched, and that white dress was ruined. He was just trying to help her change clothes, and she could understand that.

With her mind set at ease, Zhu Jia relaxed and eventually drifted into a deep sleep. However, as the doctor had warned, she developed a high fever around 2 AM.

She felt a warm hand on her forehead and heard people walking back and forth, talking. Then she felt a needle pricking her arm.

She didn’t know how long she had slept, but when she woke up, the warmth of the morning sun was on her. She stretched lazily, feeling a bit of a headache and a stuffy nose, clearly having caught a cold.

There was a glass of water on the nightstand, still warm. She took a sip.

Just then, the bathroom door opened, and Mo Yichen emerged in a black bathrobe.

His expression was as neutral as ever, but with his damp hair hanging over his forehead, his usually sharp appearance softened, making him look almost gentle.

Seeing that Zhu Jia had woken up, Mo Yichen wasn’t surprised. “You’ll stay here for the next few days and recover before going home.”

Zhu Jia didn’t say much but asked, “What about Xiao Wen?”

“Xiao Wen is in the next room. Aunt Liu is taking care of him.”

Zhu Jia nodded, satisfied with the arrangement. Now that she was sick, she couldn’t take care of Xiao Wen, so it was better that Aunt Liu stayed with him while she rested in the old residence.

While she sipped her water and let her thoughts wander, Mo Yichen had already changed into a slim-fitting dark gray suit and a dark green patterned tie, wearing a black watch that Zhu Jia had never seen before.

He glanced at her from head to toe. “I’m going to work.”

Zhu Jia nodded obediently.

As Mo Yichen was about to leave the room, he turned back and looked at her. “Call me if you need anything.” Zhu Jia waved her hand at him with a smile.

After watching him leave, Zhu Jia wanted to take a hot bath. After her fever had broken in the middle of the night, she was drenched in sweat and felt sticky.

Just then, the door knocked, and a servant entered. “Madam, Young Master asked me to check if you’d like to have breakfast downstairs or in your room?”

Zhu Jia thought for a moment. “I’ll have it downstairs.”

The servant nodded softly and closed the door behind them.

Zhu Jia finally had a chance to look around Mo Yichen’s room in the old residence. This should be the place where he had lived since childhood.

The furnishings and furniture weren’t as new as those in her home, but everything was of excellent quality.

It wasn’t as luxurious as she had imagined; the spacious room wasn’t filled with many items. There was a large bed, a sofa set, and a set of work tables and chairs.

The most striking feature was a tall bookshelf wall, filled with an entire wall of books.

Curious, Zhu Jia walked over. The shelf really had all kinds of books—economics, mathematics, detective novels, history, foreign languages… it was like a mini library!

Among the dense rows of books, there were a few golden trophies. Zhu Jia, with a touch of curiosity, took a look—they were all math competition trophies from over a decade ago.

So, the domineering male lead had been a top student when he was young, Zhu Jia thought, smiling with a touch of admiration for every academic achiever.

After taking a shower, Zhu Jia noticed several new sets of women’s clothing and underwear in the walk-in closet, probably prepared by the servants after she decided to stay the night. She picked a comfortable cotton dress and went downstairs for breakfast.

The old residence was so vast that it took Zhu Jia a while to find the dining hall. It was empty, as most people had already eaten by this time.

When the servants saw Zhu Jia, they brought out her warm breakfast.

Perhaps because she was still unwell, the breakfast was very light—thick, soft, salty pork rib congee, accompanied by a few small side dishes.

Zhu Jia, who didn’t have much of an appetite, felt warm all over after finishing her meal, and it was quite comforting.

The dining room had a large window that overlooked the back garden’s lawn. After finishing breakfast, Zhu Jia noticed Aunt Liu was sitting in the sun, holding Xiao Wen, who was curled up like a little dumpling. Zhu Jia smiled softly, her eyes gentle.

She took a mask from the servant, put it on, and headed out to the garden to find Xiao Wen.

It was the first time since she crossed over that she hadn’t slept with Xiao Wen. Although she had been unhappy about sleeping with him before, now she actually found herself missing him a little.

Aunt Liu noticed that Zhu Jia looked much better than the night before. “Xiao Wen woke up twice last night. He woke up at midnight and drank 150 ml of milk, then woke up again at 5:30 AM and drank another 150 ml.”

Zhu Jia nodded in satisfaction. Xiao Wen’s sleep was gradually getting longer at night, and he was almost ready to sleep through the night.

But it was still not the right time to stop his nighttime milk feed. Once he turned six months, they could gradually reduce the amount and frequency of nighttime feeds, helping him wean off them.

Zhu Jia gently touched Xiao Wen’s cheek. He stared at her without blinking, raising his little hand to touch the mask on her face.

“Xiao Wen, this is a mask. You should wear a mask when you have a cold,” Zhu Jia said with a smile. “You can’t touch the mask, it has bacteria.”

Xiao Wen seemed to understand, lowering his hand and gazing at Zhu Jia with big eyes.

“I can’t hold you for the next few days, wait until I feel better,” Zhu Jia said, her voice still nasally.

Aunt Liu quickly patted Xiao Wen, “Young Master, wait for Mama to rest before playing with you.” Then she turned to Zhu Jia and said, “Madam, you should go back and rest now. I will take good care of Xiao Wen.”

Zhu Jia stroked Xiao Wen’s hand again, reluctant to leave, and returned to her room.

She spent the entire day in her room, but it wasn’t boring at all.

In the morning, the doctor came to check on Zhu Jia and prescribed some medication.

Later, Lin Lin and her husband visited. Lin Lin’s eyes welled up when she saw Zhu Jia and kept thanking her. Her husband stayed by her side the whole time, worried that something might go wrong again like the night before.

After Lin Lin and her husband left, Mo Qingqing and Mo Chengxin, Mo Yichen’s siblings, came over. Since it was the weekend, they didn’t need to return to school. Mo Qingqing was still shaken by last night’s incident, but her biggest fear was that Mo Yichen would be angry with her. Mo Chengxin, as usual, looked timid when he saw Zhu Jia.

Finally, Zhu Jia’s mother-in-law arrived. She pulled Zhu Jia into a series of caring questions. Now the lady of the house, she was eager to make sure Zhu Jia and her family had everything they needed. She was particularly worried that she might inadvertently offend Mo Yichen, who already seemed to dislike her.

Zhu Jia hadn’t expected so many visitors in the morning, and it left her feeling quite tired by the afternoon. She ended up sleeping until 6 PM.

After having dinner downstairs, she returned to her room and picked up a detective novel from Mo Yichen’s bookshelf. She curled up on the sofa and became engrossed in the story.

She was so absorbed that she didn’t even notice when the door opened, until a pair of long legs appeared in front of her.

Zhu Jia looked up and met Mo Yichen’s gaze. Still lost in the novel, she rubbed her eyes, “You’re back?”

Mo Yichen gave a slight nod and walked towards the bathroom to shower.

Zhu Jia’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of water from the bathroom. It wasn’t until then that she realized she hadn’t noticed where Mo Yichen had slept the night before.

But now, how were they going to sleep tonight? Zhu Jia bit her lip, feeling a little dilemma.