Rose Manor

"Is it sour?" Fu Jichen's voice was low, his eyes were a little blurry, and he seemed to be drunk. He clearly only drank one glass of red wine, and he knocked over the second glass.

"Try it yourself." Shen Jianian grabbed a slice of lemon cut on the chopping board and stuffed it into Fu Jichen's mouth.

Fu Jichen raised his neck, with a smile on his face and an expression of gratitude but not sensitivity.

While she wasn't paying attention, he held one of her wrists, lowered his head, kissed her lips, and tasted them. He really couldn't control this situation and had to go beyond the limits.

Shen Jianian's hand shook and the lemon fell to the ground.

The two of them were surrounded by the smell of oranges, lemons, apples and various spices. Their lips and tongues were entangled, but they could only taste sweetness.

Bai Changxia was worried that Shen Jia Nian could not handle it alone, so he got up from the sofa and walked to the kitchen door. He was caught off guard and saw the scene of the two kissing, and his expression froze.

Without any thought, she quickly turned around, escaped from this charming atmosphere, and returned to the living room.

Zhao Shunyi's eyes moved from the TV to Bai Changxia's face. Seeing her strange expression, he asked, "What's wrong? Can Jia Nian do it alone?"

She put down the bag of cornflakes she had just torn open and stood up to go take a look. When she passed by Bai Changxia, she grabbed her arm.

Bai Changxia winked at her and shook his head slightly, meaning to tell her not to go.

A question mark popped up in Zhao Shunyi's mind.

Ni Yiqiong was sitting on the sofa. The distance was too close for Bai Changxia to speak. He pointed his thumb in the direction of the floor-to-ceiling window. Zhao Shunyi looked in the direction she pointed. The man sitting there on the phone had left at some point.

"hiss--"

Zhao Shunyi took a breath and pointed to the kitchen. Is Fu Jichen in there?

Bai Changxia nodded.

Zhao Shunyi did not go to the kitchen to cause trouble, but sat back on the sofa, holding a bag of corn flakes and eating them.

The love variety show selected by Shen Jia Nian was very interesting. Ni Yiqiong had never seen it before, and she was so fascinated by it that she didn't notice the eyes and small movements of the two people. During the commercial break, she said with concern: "Leave Jia Nian alone." Wouldn't it be nice for us to sit here while we are busy in the kitchen? She is the birthday girl today."

You also know that she is the birthday girl today. Bai Changxia cursed, today could have been more perfect, but the uninvited guest didn't realize it at all.

"It's okay." Bai Changxia didn't want Miss Ni to mix it up now, "It's easy to make mulled wine, she can do it."

In the kitchen, the ingredients for making mulled wine were still piled there, but before they were put into the pot, Fu Jichen stepped away with unfinished intentions and wiped Shen Jia Nian's lips with his fingertips, which were stained with sparkling water.

The lips were bright red, as if they had just applied lip gloss.

Fu Jichen's dark eyes became darker and darker, and he answered her previous question in a hoarse voice: "I don't think it's sour, it's quite sweet."

After the long kiss, Shen Jia Nian's already dizzy brain became even more dizzy due to lack of oxygen, without any awareness of being taken advantage of.

She frowned, feeling that there was something wrong with this person's brain: "Aren't lemons sour?"

Has he lost his sense of taste?

Shen Jia Nian took another slice of lemon from the chopping board and tasted it herself. It was obviously very sour. Her mouth was so sour that she pursed her mouth into a twisted line and drooled out.

"Are you stupid?" Fu Jichen smiled softly and pinched her earlobe with his fingertips. It felt so good that he couldn't put it down.

Wine is such a good thing.

Fu Jichen thought so, completely forgetting about being a gentleman, lowered his head, grabbed her lips again, and as if teasing her, whispered against her lips: "It's sweet."

Shen Jianian: "It's sour."

Fu Jichen compromised: "Okay, it's sour."

Shen Jianian was finally satisfied and slowly pushed him away: "Go aside and stay out of the way."

She shook her head, her head felt heavy and her eyes could not see clearly. She could not find the fruit knife anywhere, and muttered: "Where is my knife? I just put it here..."

Fu Jichen was helpless. She was so drunk, and she still wanted to make mulled wine?

Shen Jia Nian spun around twice when his vision suddenly dimmed and he fell into Fu Jichen's chest with a thud.

Fortunately, Fu Jichen had been paying attention to her, and when she was turning over, he stretched out his arms to wrap around her body, preventing her from slipping to the ground.

He knew that she would go to bed after being drunk and talking nonsense for a while.

It's like pressing the power off button and falling asleep in one second.

Fu Jichen remained in this posture without moving, feeling warm in his heart. He touched her head with his hand, feeling the heat of her breath penetrate the thin sweater and fall on his skin, like leaving a mark.

In the living room, Ni Yiqiong finally discovered that the man by the floor-to-ceiling window was missing. She glanced around and couldn't find him. She stood up and said, "Where is Mr. Fu?"

She didn't see him leave.

Bai Changxia and Zhao Shunyi looked at each other, neither of them said a word.

Ni Yiqiong thought that Shen Jianian was in the kitchen and was about to go over to take a look. Bai Changxia was so anxious that he stopped her: "Hey, Miss Ni..."

Before she finished speaking, Fu Jichen came out with Shen Jia Nian in his arms, like a princess's hug, and Shen Jia Nian fell asleep in his arms.

Ni Yiqiong was stunned and didn't move. There was no longer a smile on his face, and his voice was a little harsh: "What's wrong with Jia Nian?" Fu Jichen didn't look at her, but looked at the person in his arms: "Drunk."

He sent Shen Jianian to the bedroom, put her on the bed, pulled the quilt and covered her, kissed her forehead gently, and closed the door behind her when he left.

"She may need someone to take care of her at night," Fu Jichen said.

Bai Changxia: "I'll stay and take care of her."

Zhao Shunyi: "I have nothing to do."

"……Um."

Fu Jichen thought that if they had to leave for something, he could stay here with Shen Jia Nian.

Bai Changxia was the first to notice that something was wrong with Fu Jichen's tone. She said "ah" in her heart as if she suddenly realized something. Later, she realized that the subtext of Fu Jichen's words was that he was here to take care of Jia Nian.

However, her words had been spoken and she could not take them back.

Fu Jichen paused for about three seconds and left.

"Mr. Fu!" Ni Yiqiong chased after him.

In the deserted corridor, the wind seemed much cooler. Ni Yiqiong was not wearing a coat, with his hands folded around his arms, his face raised, his eyes ranging from eager to timid.

"Is there anything else?" He was as cold as ever.

Ni Yiqiong's throat was tight and she couldn't say what she wanted to say. She had indeed acted too hastily today and did not perform well. If she was given another chance, it would never be like this.

The main reason was that there were so many people at the dinner table, which interfered with her judgment, especially Shen Jia Nian, who looked gentle and temperless, but had a presence that could not be ignored, which was her biggest obstacle tonight.

"It's nothing. Let's talk next time when we have a chance." Ni Yiqiong held back and did not express his feelings.

She watched Fu Jichen enter the house next door and close the door.

The dark gray door was cold and deep, just like the previous times she came to him, isolating her from the outside.

Ni Yiqiong rubbed her brows and turned back to Shen Jianian's house. The person she wanted to see had left. Of course she would not stay here any longer: "I'm a little sleepy. I'll go back to sleep first. I'm sorry that I can't accompany you on New Year's Eve."

"It's okay, it's okay." Bai Changxia maintained his politeness on the surface and got up to see off the guests, "We'll sit there for a while and get ready to go to sleep."

Ni Yiqiong left, and the two people in the living room stared at each other and started complaining mode.

Bai Changxia put her hands on her hips: "I'm really impressed. I've never seen such a mean person in my life. Fu Jichen almost wrote his thoughts on his face. He came here just for Jia Nian. I don't know if this Miss Ni is Even if I pretend to be stupid, I still feel that I am infinitely charming, completely immersed in my personal performance, and don’t care about the life or death of others.”

Zhao Shunyi: "My habit of embarrassing others has happened again."

Bai Changxia: "While eating, she actually accused Jia Nian of my bad temper. If Jia Nian hadn't hinted at me, I would have gone crazy."

The two of them complained about each other for a while, and Zhao Shunyi suddenly changed the subject: "I'm still curious about what Mr. Fu and Jia Nian did in the kitchen."

When Bai Changxia stopped her, she didn't see anything.

Bai Changxia's angry expression suddenly changed, and he grinned: "Guess."

"If I could guess it I wouldn't ask you."

Bai Changxia touched his thumbs. Zhao Shunyi understood and covered his mouth, only showing a pair of eyes full of surprise: "No way, they are kissing?"

"I saw it with both eyes, how can I still lie?"

"Uh, isn't Mr. Fu chasing Jia Nian? Why did he suddenly..." Zhao Shunyi couldn't find the adjective and was stuck for a long time before continuing, "Mr. Fu wouldn't take advantage of Jia Nian while she was drunk."

Jianian is indeed in a drunken state, and it is difficult for people not to think about it.

Bai Changxia was not worried: "They are boyfriend and girlfriend."

*

Shen Jianian woke up from the heat. She was wearing a sweater and a quilt. There was enough heating in the house. A layer of sweat broke out on her back. She pulled off the quilt and got up.

The electronic clock on the bedside table read seven-fifteen.

It was 7:15 the next morning.

Shen Jia Nian had no memory of what time she went to bed last night. She opened the curtains and saw that it was very bright outside, but it was not sunny, but ice and snow, as if she had accidentally entered a fairy tale world.

Did it snow last night?

Shen Jia Nian's head was dull and he walked out of the room. The living room was a bit messy. Several pillows were scattered on the sofa and carpet. There were melon seeds and various snacks piled on the coffee table. The door to the guest room was open.

She had never entered the guest room, so she went there with doubts. Bai Changxia and Zhao Shunyi were sleeping on the bed, with the humidifier on and a puff of white mist coming out.

Shen Jianian helped them close the door, went back to the bathroom in his room to wash up, and then went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

There are sliced ​​oranges, apples, lemons, and various spices piled on the cutting board, and an unopened bottle of red wine sits quietly on the counter.

Something flashed through her mind very quickly, and Shen Jia Nian froze. (End of chapter)