Xia Sanghuan watched Leng Chuanjin walk out of the coffee shop. The man didn't even look at her the whole time - to be precise, he didn't notice her at all.
The girl finished the ice cream in the cup listlessly. She slung her backpack over her shoulder, said goodbye to her friend, and decided to go home.
It wasn't far from the Fu family's place, but she was in a turmoil at the moment, so she simply took a taxi back.
When she got home, she found Leng Chuanjin sitting in the living room, having tea with her grandfather.
Didn't he have enough tea in the coffee shop just now?
The girl thought crossly.
She changed into her slippers and walked upstairs with her bag.
When she passed by the man, he suddenly said to her,
"Was the cake delicious?"
"Yeah."
She responded sullenly and then walked up the stairs without looking back.
Actually, she hadn't even finished it. The cake was just too greasy.
She went back to her bedroom and threw herself onto the bed.
It was a rare day when she didn't have to go to the hospital, and only then did she belatedly feel tired.
Since taking on that patient, she had been squeezing her sleep time for several days.
She lay on the soft bed and fell asleep in a daze.
When she woke up again, it was already past eight o'clock.
A sharp pain came from her abdomen, and she involuntarily curled up.
Maybe it was because she had been on an empty stomach for too long.
She thought.
Coupled with the large cup of ice cream parfait she had in the afternoon.
She endured the pain and got out of bed. She opened the door and walked out.
Strangely enough, the house was surprisingly quiet.
It wasn't even bedtime yet. Fu Moning and Fu Youqing should have been sitting on the sofa, watching TV dramas.
With a sense of doubt, she walked downstairs and looked around the living room. To her surprise, there was no one there.
She suddenly felt a twinge of unease.
Just as the girl was about to go back to her bedroom to get her phone, a voice suddenly came from behind her.
"Awake?"
Leng Chuanjin walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of hot porridge in his hand.
"Come and have something to eat when you're awake."
He put the porridge on the table.
"… Where are my dad and the others?"
She was wearing a nightgown, her hair was loose, and there was still a faint blush on her fair cheeks from just waking up.
The man quietly shifted his gaze away from her.
"They have something to take care of."
"What about my brother and sister?"
"Yeah."
He nodded.
The girl gave him a suspicious look.
"And."
The man didn't seem to care about the girl's look at all.
"You're going to stay at the Leng family's place for the next few days."
"Why?"
"Because your family won't be back for a while."
"Why do I have to stay at your place? I can stay at my own home…"
Before she could finish, Leng Chuanjin continued where she left off.
"What if something happens to you when you're alone at home?"
"Aren't there the butlers and the others?"
"Can they notice right away?"
Facing the man's question, the girl thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a retort.
"Have your meal first."
He sat down at the dining table and pushed the bowl towards the girl.
At this point, Xia Sanghuan didn't know what else to say. She could only obediently sit down and drink the porridge.
Besides, she was really hungry.
After the hot porridge went into her stomach, the stabbing pain began to ease.
"If you have any personal belongings, pack them up. I'll take you there tomorrow."
"What exactly happened to my dad and the others?"
The girl, who had been quietly eating the porridge, looked up. There was a look of worry on her face that she couldn't hide.
The man was silent for a moment and then said,
"Ask them yourself later. I can't interfere too much in your family's affairs."
What family affairs?
The girl frowned.
Why did he look so serious?
She couldn't help but clench her fingers.
Maybe trying to lighten the atmosphere, the man changed the topic.
"For that cake today, do you think there's any way to improve it?"
The girl's heart skipped a beat.
"Did you make it?"
"No."
The man shook his head.
"A friend made it."
"She just opened a new coffee shop and wants to use that cake as a signature dish."
Hearing this, Xia Sanghuan suddenly remembered the cake she saw on the menu in the coffee shop this afternoon.
She had been so focused on Leng Chuanjin at that time that she hadn't really paid much attention.
Now that she thought about it, that cake was exactly the same as the one the man had brought her.
Remembering the way Leng Chuanjin had smiled at that woman this afternoon, her mood suddenly dropped.
It turned out that she was just a guinea pig for them to test the taste.
"That cake is not delicious at all."
The girl finished the last mouthful of porridge in the bowl.
"There's so much cream. It's so greasy."
She criticized the cake expressionlessly.
"Is that so…"
Leng Chuanjin took out his phone and jotted down what the girl had said in the memo.
"But you said it was delicious this afternoon…"
"I was just humoring you."
Xia Sanghuan said without mercy.
She stood up and looked down at the man.
Leng Chuanjin frowned but didn't say anything.
"Okay, I'll give your feedback to her truthfully."
For some reason, she got even angrier after hearing his words.
She turned around and was about to go back to her bedroom. But after taking just a few steps, she couldn't help but squat down because of the stabbing pain in her abdomen.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing this, the man didn't care about anything else and walked straight over, holding her shoulders.
"I'm fine."
The girl waved him away and said to the butler who was coming over,
"Get me the first - aid kit."
The butler quickly went to find the first - aid kit for her.
Leng Chuanjin helped her up and let her sit on the sofa.
"Do you want to go to the hospital?"
"No."
Xia Sanghuan adjusted her sitting position to make herself more comfortable.
She was a doctor herself, so she knew exactly what was wrong with her.
It was just because of irregular eating these days and eating something too irritating to her stomach, which led to gastroenteritis.
She wasn't so fragile that she had to go to the hospital for such a minor illness.
She reached into the first - aid kit and rummaged around. After finding the medicine for gastritis, before Leng Chuanjin could bring her a glass of water, she had already swallowed the medicine.
Under the man's somewhat stunned gaze, she said nonchalantly,
"I'm used to it."
As the medicine took effect, the stabbing pain in her stomach gradually disappeared.
She let out a sigh of relief, stood up from the sofa, and was about to go back to her bedroom to continue sleeping.
She was really tired.
Leng Chuanjin watched her back gradually disappear around the corner of the stairs. He wanted to call her several times but couldn't bring himself to do it.
The girl's attitude towards him today was a bit strange - it couldn't be that she was angry with him just because he didn't pick her up, could it?
Not to mention that it was just a small thing, and with Xia Sanghuan's personality, she would definitely not be angry for such a reason.
Could it be that she was just too tired recently?