Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase-Chapter 312 - 293: Ready

The light that had just come on not long ago went out again. In the rustling sounds, Shen Jianian reminded herself that she had taken a step forward, and it shouldn’t be so difficult from here on. She took the initiative to kiss Fu Jichen, but this time she still missed the target, her lips as soft as petals landing on his face.

Shen Jianian heard a soft sigh, followed by the man’s helpless murmur, "Why so clumsy..."

He lowered his head slightly, precisely pressing against her lips.

Fu Jichen was afraid of misunderstanding her intentions. After a deep kiss, he leaned close to her ear and called her name, "Shen Jianian." He paused and asked, word by word, "Are you ready?"

It felt like her lips were coated with syrup, sticking together, making it hard for her to speak. Her mind was hazy, with little reason left, but she knew clearly what she was doing.

She didn’t know if she would regret it, but at this moment, she was willing.

Shen Jianian wrapped her arms around his neck, taking the place of the words she was too shy to say.

Fu Jichen received her nod in signal, and their positions were instantly reversed...

*

The seventh day of the lunar new year happened to be a Monday, and Fu Jichen’s schedule was packed. Early in the morning, he had to force himself to get out of the warm bed, with someone’s head still resting on his arm, sleeping soundly, breathing softly.

Fu Jichen glanced at her, reluctant emotions filling his chest. He lowered his head and pecked at her lip corner, carefully pulled his arm out from under her neck, turned over, got out of bed, and tucked her in.

After tidying himself up, Fu Jichen saw that the person on the bed was still sleeping and called Aunt Cheng to prepare breakfast.

Shen Jianian woke up when he was on the phone, her mind groggy, she squinted her eyes, catching a glimpse of the man’s moving figure and opened her eyes a bit wider, just locking eyes with Fu Jichen as he turned back.

Fu Jichen immediately hung up the call, asking softly, "Did I wake you?"

Shen Jianian stayed silent, the scenes from last night rushing back to her mind. She turned and burrowed under the covers, leaving Fu Jichen with the back of her head.

Fu Jichen paused, a smile surfacing in his eyes, he sat on the bed and patted her shoulder through the quilt, "I have to go to work, you can sleep a bit more. Aunt Cheng will come later to make breakfast for you."

Shen Jianian mumbled, "No need to bother Aunt Cheng."

"I’ve already told her." Fu Jichen watched the back of her head, "I’m leaving."

Still no response from her.

Fu Jichen stood up but didn’t move his steps, "Am I really leaving?" Was she planning to just see him off with the back of her head?

After waiting a few seconds, Shen Jianian still didn’t respond, seemingly fallen back asleep. Fu Jichen looked at the time, he couldn’t delay any longer, so he headed out of the bedroom.

Qu Mo had driven the car out from the garage early and parked it in the open space downstairs, occasionally checking his watch and counting the time. Seeing Fu Jichen’s figure, Qu Mo breathed a sigh of relief.

About twenty minutes later than expected.

When Fu Jichen walked over, his brow still carried a relaxed demeanor, his whole person looking vibrant, not at all in a rush like he had overslept.

Qu Mo got out of the car and opened the rear door, "Good morning, Mr. Chen."

"Morning." Fu Jichen gave a slight smile, bent over into the car, and retracted his long legs.

Qu Mo froze for a second, tilted his head; he couldn’t have seen wrong, just now Fu Jichen smiled very gently. Qu Mo slowly closed the car door, circled to the driver’s seat, started the car, and saw through the rearview mirror that Fu Jichen was adjusting his tie, the smile at his lips not fading.

Being someone who doesn’t usually talk much, Qu Mo couldn’t help but speak up, "Mr. Chen is in a good mood today."

Fu Jichen raised an eyebrow, "Did I show it so obviously?"

He was clearly not someone to wear his emotions on his sleeve.

Qu Mo guessed that the boss hadn’t looked in a mirror from waking up till now; otherwise, he wouldn’t ask such a question.

The smile at the edges of his eyes and eyebrows was just about overflowing. As long as someone else’s eyes weren’t faulty, they should be able to see his joy.

Qu Mo wasn’t a meddlesome person, otherwise, he should’ve informed the people at the office ahead of time that anyone needing document approval should take it to Fu Jichen today, while the boss was in a good mood, the review process wouldn’t be too exhaustive.

*

Hearing the sound of the door opening and closing, Shen Jianian lifted her head to peek. Fu Jichen was nowhere to be seen in the bedroom, so she laid back down, flat on her back, gradually raising the quilt to cover her face.

She was really exhausted, so tired that her head ached, having barely rested last night.

She had begged for mercy, but it was no use; Fu Jichen was even better at playing the pitiable role, repeatedly whispering in her ear that he had waited for over three years... without any sense of shame, no trace of the old self of Boss Fu, a complete rogue.

Shen Jianian closed her eyes, as if his voice from last night was still echoing in her ears, hoarse, low, enchanting, like a hook.

She shook her head, forcing herself not to think about it.

Shen Jianian didn’t know how long it had been when she was pulled back into a dreamland again; her dreams were filled with lingering, tender scenes, blurring the line between reality and fantasy.

When she heard the doorbell, Shen Jianian opened her eyes in a daze, staring at the ceiling for a long time before realizing this was reality, not a dream.

She crawled out of the covers, grabbed the pajamas next to her bed, and went out to open the door, vaguely remembering that Fu Jichen had said Aunt Cheng would come over before he left.

Yawning, Shen Jianian opened the door, mouth open, staring blankly at the person outside.

Bai Changxia was holding bags full of groceries, craning her neck to look inside: "It’s Monday today, Boss Fu shouldn’t be here, right? I’ve come to feed you."

Although Shen Jianian had Fu Jichen taking care of her and didn’t need to worry much, as a sister, it was still necessary to check in on her from time to time.

"Really? You just woke up?" Bai Changxia’s gaze returned from inside the room, landing on Shen Jianian, who was loosely wrapped in her pajamas, eyes half-closed, eyelids red and slightly swollen.

And her lips...

As a married woman, she immediately understood, her calm eyes turning meaningful.

Shen Jianian, feeling guilty, tidied her clothes and stepped back to invite her in: "Help yourself to the slippers."

Bai Changxia changed her shoes, placed the groceries on the floor, grabbed Shen Jianian’s arm, and examined her from top to bottom, finally spotting a suspicious red mark at the junction of the pajama collar and her skin.

"You and Boss Fu..."

Shen Jianian’s eyelids twitched, covering her mouth: "Don’t talk nonsense."

Bai Changxia pried her fingers apart, laughing and shouting, "Don’t you know if I’m talking nonsense? Huh? Shen Jianian, you’ve become so capable, you..."

"What are you two doing?"

Cheng Jin, just out of the elevator, was wondering if Shen Jianian had gotten out of bed by now and debating if she should knock and wake her, only to look up and find Shen Jianian’s door open, with two girls laughing and tussling at the entrance.

Aunt Cheng was stunned at the door.

The two women, twisted together like a pretzel, separated and stood upright. Shen Jianian, tugging on her slightly wrinkled pajamas, quickly said to Cheng Jin, "Aunt Cheng, come in, make yourself at home. I’m going to change my clothes!"

With that, she slipped back into her slippers and ran to her bedroom, her appearance indeed unfit for company.

Bai Changxia, hands on her hips, laughed as she watched Shen Jianian’s hasty retreating figure.

Unaware of the reason behind it all, Cheng Jin entered and asked Bai Changxia, "What were you two arguing about?"

"Nothing, nothing, we were just playing around." Bai Changxia waved her hand, unable to stop laughing.

Cheng Jin squinted with laughter as well, though she didn’t know what they were up to: "Miss Bai, have you had breakfast?"

"I ate at home." Bai Changxia picked up the few bags of groceries from the floor and took them to the kitchen, "Jianian hasn’t eaten yet, you should make her something."

After a while, Shen Jianian emerged from her bedroom, having freshened up, and conspicuously put on a turtleneck sweater to feed Jixiang the cat food.

Seeing her, Bai Changxia wanted to laugh. With Cheng Jin busy in the kitchen preparing breakfast, she nudged Shen Jianian with her elbow and whispered, "Is Boss Fu really that impressive?"

Shen Jianian’s face flushed; how could she ask such a question!

"Don’t bring it up," was all Shen Jianian said.

Bai Changxia’s curiosity was piqued, and she exaggeratedly said: "Could it be like I’m thinking? He... is not that good? He doesn’t seem like it."

Shen Jianian, still blushing, didn’t know if other girlfriends discussed these topics, but she felt weird talking about Fu Jichen behind his back. She couldn’t let Bai Changxia misunderstand him, so she explained, "It’s not as you think."

"Then what is it like?"

"Bai Changxia, could you stop asking?" Shen Jianian casually picked up a cat toy from a cat climbing tower and tapped Bai Changxia’s arm with it.

Bai Changxia dodged: "That’s hilarious, it’s been a while since you called me by my full name like that."

As Shen Jianian tossed aside the cat toy and turned around, she heard her phone ringing. She picked it up and answered; it was Fu Jichen calling to ask if Aunt Cheng had arrived and if she had eaten breakfast.

Overhearing this, Bai Changxia rubbed her arms; these two were just too lovey-dovey, earning her a glare from Shen Jianian.

Knowing Shen Jianian had thin skin, Bai Changxia didn’t tease her anymore. After she hung up the call, Bai Changxia asked, "Is your movie being released on Valentine’s Day? Let’s go watch it together then."

"Aren’t you spending Valentine’s Day with your husband?"

Today was February 7th, one week before Valentine’s Day. Bai Changxia let out a long sigh: "His company has been super busy lately, I don’t know if he’ll be free." As she spoke, a realization struck her, "Wait, you must be spending it with Fu Jichen, I forgot. Never mind, you two enjoy your time, and your sister here will go watch it alone."

Shen Jianian hugged her with a smile: "Don’t say that, I’ll go watch it with you."