The next day, Bai Tao was still sleeping when Pei Shi left. When she woke up, she didn’t waste any time and started working on her manga.

After drawing for over an hour, her alarm clock went off.

Bai Tao turned off the alarm and immediately texted Pei Shi:

“Honey, what are you busy with? Miss you miss you miss you…”

Now that they were a loving couple and she had said she thought of him every moment he wasn’t around, Bai Tao naturally had to act accordingly. So, she deliberately set an alarm to regularly check in with Pei Shi, creating the image of an affectionate wife missing her husband.

Pei Shi was probably busy, as it took him a long time to reply with a brief message: “At tea break.”

Look at this man. Though it was only three words, Bai Tao understood his hint. Tea break—well, that implied he wasn’t busy at the moment. Wasn’t this hinting for her to call him? A love genius like Bai Tao wouldn’t miss such ordinary clues.

So, she promptly dialed the number.

Despite Pei Shi himself dropping the hint, he still acted surprised when he answered the phone, “Is something wrong?”

Such an act.

But Bai Tao didn’t expect to fall for it. She huffed, “Do I have to have a problem to call you?”

Pei Shi hesitated for a moment, then awkwardly denied, “No.” He paused and added, “You can call even if there’s no problem.”

That was more like it!

But the atmosphere seemed a bit lukewarm!

To maintain their marriage, they needed to inject passion into it from time to time!

While flipping through the “Marriage Freshkeeping Guide” she had secretly bought a few days ago, Bai Tao learned that she should ask playfully, “I’m very well behaved at home, is my husband well behaved?”

According to the book, men were usually shy at such moments. But deep down, every man had a little boy inside him. Smart women could win a man’s heart by awakening that inner child and giving subtle psychological hints.

Pei Shi’s response to Bai Tao was silence. He seemed unable to handle her directness, hesitating to speak for a moment before finally mumbling an unclear response.

Although Bai Tao had read the book with a skeptical frown and found its advice somewhat unreasonable, Pei Shi’s reaction made her somewhat believe it. Look at his hesitant manner—he must be shy!

Encouraged, she decided to press on, “So are you a good boy or not?”

Determined to capitalize on her advantage, Bai Tao continued, “Answer me. You’re not with any other women, right?”

“No,” Pei Shi replied. There was some background noise on the phone, suggesting he might be moving towards a quieter place. After a moment, there were no other sounds in the background except his voice.

“There’s no other woman.”

“Does that mean you’re very good then?”

“…” Pei Shi remained silent for a few seconds before giving a subdued “Hmm,” affirming that he was indeed very good.

Bai Tao was quite satisfied with this response. Glancing at the time, she realized she had completed this scheduled social interaction task and achieved a phase of success. So, she decided to stop here and wait until the next hour when the alarm would ring again before continuing to give Pei Shi her “scheduled care.”

According to Bai Tao’s plan, she needed to contact Pei Shi five times during the day, and more frequently in the evening. She had to call him for more than ten minutes, then send several goodnight and “I miss you” texts, creating the image of a loving wife who misses her husband deeply.

It was simply perfect.

*****

Pei Shi was somewhat regretful that day. Although the forum’s invited guests were industry leaders, the content of the lectures was mainly theoretical, lacking substantial information. His attendance at this event felt somewhat boring. The only thing that wasn’t so boring was that on the first day of the event alone, Bai Tao had sent him five or six messages and calls, all filled with words expressing her love and dependence on him.

Pei Shi didn’t like being constantly disturbed by such personal messages during work. Fortunately, the event itself didn’t require much concentration, so although Bai Tao’s continuous contact was a bit annoying, it wasn’t too much of a bother. He still had enough energy to respond to her messages.

Although his mind hadn’t fully recovered, it seemed Bai Tao was becoming more and more clingy. Pei Shi didn’t like clingy people, but considering that Bai Tao hadn’t affected his work, as long as it stayed within this limit, it wasn’t too bad.

Just as he was thinking this, Bai Tao’s message came again—

“Honey, I’m so sad thinking that I won’t see you tonight. I miss you so much. Without you by my side, I can’t even find inspiration for my drawings. It would be great if I could see you tonight…”

An hour later, Bai Tao sent a new message, this time expressing complaint—

“Honey, why don’t you ever contact me first? It’s always me reaching out to you. You don’t send me messages or call me. Is this how it was before when you went to meetings? Is our relationship coming to an end?”

Two hours later, she sent another message, this time just sharing her current feelings and ramblings—

“Honey, I miss you again. I also miss the white peach oolong tea with milk foam from that tea shop on Zhengxi Road.”

“Honey, when will you come back? I miss you, I miss you.”

…

Pei Shi turned off the screen and sat quietly for a while. Eventually, he stood up, walked out of the venue, and called the event organizer to change his schedule: “I won’t be attending tonight’s dinner.”

Then he hung up the phone, ignoring the organizer’s pleas and attempts to persuade him to stay.

Bai Tao’s mind seemed broken, and now it seemed like she would die without him. If he didn’t go back tonight, who knows what she might do. Moreover, she seemed to have started doubting him. His lack of initiative in contacting her might indeed appear suspicious.

*****

Bai Tao happily finished her scheduled greetings for the day, feeling very satisfied.

What excited her even more was that she could finally face Song Yan! She had submitted her manuscript! She managed to submit the latest chapter of her serial before the deadline.

In response, Song Yan expressed strong emotion and shock: “Teacher Bai Tao! How did you turn over a new leaf?! You actually submitted your manuscript! Was it President Pei’s company that gave you the motivation to move forward?”

Bai Tao couldn’t help but spin her chair around, patiently educating Song Yan: “Being infatuated with a man leads to no good end. It’s precisely because Pei Shi went out that I could finish so quickly. Without a man’s interruption, a woman can shine independently, OK?”

After saying this, she couldn’t help but sigh, half-proud and half-boastful: “Who can blame Pei Shi for loving me so much? Sometimes he does get a bit clingy.”

Naturally, Song Yan responded with a bunch of envious, jealous, and hateful comments, but Bai Tao didn’t pay much attention. After finishing her comic, she felt a bit tired. She picked up her phone and opened the WeChat mini-program. After setting alarms to send messages to Pei Shi during the day, Bai Tao discovered that there were even mini-programs for scheduled WeChat messages!

This was simply a major benefit!

Technology truly makes people happier, marriages stronger, love simpler, and life easier!

Bai Tao chose one of the mini-programs and started editing.

She planned to take an early bath tonight, apply a face mask, and then have a beauty sleep.

With Pei Shi not at home, she didn’t have to worry about him making any requests at night. Such a safe and wonderful night—what reason was there not to go to bed early?

After editing six or seven scheduled messages to Pei Shi for the middle of the night, Bai Tao leisurely enjoyed her alone time, even lighting a hypnotic incense. The effect of the incense was excellent, and by nine o’clock, Bai Tao was already yawning. She turned off the lights and happily nestled into her bed to sleep.

*****

Pei Shi, after rational and objective analysis, still found the event boring. Thus, he ultimately decided to leave. While driving past Zhengxi Road, he thought for a moment, stopped the car, and found the milk tea shop Bai Tao mentioned.

It was a popular shop, famous for not offering delivery services. This instead increased its popularity, and even at this hour, there was a long queue at the entrance.

Pei Shi checked the time; it wasn’t too late. Going home too early, he wasn’t sure how to interact with Bai Tao, so he decided to line up.

Fortunately, the milk tea was made quickly. By the time he got the hot milk tea and returned to the villa, it was only half-past nine.

As soon as he reached the villa’s entrance, Bai Tao’s message came—

“Honey, it’s evening, and living alone in such a big villa is really lonely and a bit scary. It feels like I miss you more than during the day.”

Pei Shi had never thought Bai Tao could be so clingy, sending so many messages expressing her longing in one day. He vaguely wondered how she would cope if he had to travel abroad for over ten hours without being able to contact her. Luckily, today he was only attending an event in the same city and could come back at night.

In this subtle sense of pleasure, Pei Shi opened the door. Bai Tao was probably in the bedroom, unaware of his return. No one came to greet him in the hall, and even the lights downstairs were off.

Pei Shi turned on the lights and walked upstairs. Just then, he received Bai Tao’s next message—

“Honey, I can’t sleep because I miss you so much. I’ve never been away from you for so long.”

Is it really that bad? Pei Shi wondered. Could being apart from him be so painful?

Though he found the words a bit cheesy, Pei Shi forced himself to understand Bai Tao, considering women are generally more emotional.

He walked upstairs, anticipating Bai Tao’s tears of joy when she discovered that he had come home at night and brought her milk tea. He planned to maintain a safe distance in this situation to avoid any awkwardness.

However, as Pei Shi reached the door, he realized that the third floor was also dark. Bai Tao’s room light wasn’t on.

Was something wrong?

Or was Bai Tao trying hard to sleep in the dark?

Thankfully, the next message dispelled Pei Shi’s doubts—

“Honey, I turned off the lights. Thinking of you, I couldn’t help but cry silently in the dark…”

That did sound a bit pitiful.