GTTB Chapter 9 (part 1)

Purple18-22 minutes 22.05.2023

On the second day after returning from the ski resort, Lu Jingce had to go on a business trip.

When Shen Yansheng went downstairs in the morning, she heard Lu Jingce talking about work matters on phone.

She didn’t listen carefully, and went straight to the dining table next to her. Aunt Ping had already prepared breakfast. When she saw her coming, Aunt Ping helped to pull the chair and said with a smile, “I made your favorite eight-treasure porridge today. I know you like sweeter food, specially added some more brown sugar.”

Sitting down, Shen Yansheng saw the brown sugar eight-treasure porridge in front of her, and before she even moved her chopsticks,and could already smell the sweet aroma.

She was a little happy, raised her head and said to Aunt Ping, “Thank you, Aunt Ping.”

Aunt Ping smiled and said, “Try it, if the sweetness is right, I will use this sweetness in the future.”

Shen Yansheng just love sweets, and she always feel that sweets can bring happiness to people. But during the half a year when the accident happened at home, even sweets couldn’t take away the pain in her heart.

She ate the porridge with a spoon, and after a while, Lu Jingce also came in from outside and sat down opposite her.

Lu Jingce didn’t eat sweets, so Aunt Rong served him a bowl of white rice porridge alone.

Lu Jingce got up early and had a bad appetite, so he ate some lightly, and said to Shen Yansheng, “I’m on a business trip in the afternoon, and it will take a week at most. If you have nothing to do, don’t be bored at home all the time, go out and play more.”

After the accident at home, all her former friends also cut off contact with her.

Perhaps because of this change, she now takes love and friendship very lightly, and is no longer willing to make friends. When she has time, she would rather read books at home or make clothes.

She gave a perfunctory “um”, obviously not listening to Lu Jingce’s words.

Lu Jingce put the milk brought by the servant in front of Shen Yansheng, and said, “You’d better listen to my words, forgot what the doctor told you? You need to go out more and make more friends.” Shen Yansheng raised her head and said : “I don’t think I have a problem, and I don’t need friends.”

She was somewhat stubborn now, so Lu Jingce simply didn’t argue with her, and left a card for her when she went out, letting her buy whatever she wanted, and go wherever she wanted.

Shen Yansheng took a look at the card, looked up at Lu Jingce, and couldn’t help asking: “I can do whatever I want?” “

Yes.” Lu Jingce sat on the sofa and smoked a cigarette.

Shen Yansheng looked at the card in her hand and felt that she was really a standard canary now.

[T/N : Canary is a popular cage bird. So Shen Yansheng feels like a bird in cage?]

She laughed at herself, and asked: “How much money can I get?”

Lu Jingce looked up at her, his eyes were a little deep, and said, “As long as you want, you can get as much money as you want.”

Shen Yansheng smiled, and casually threw the card into the bag, she raised her head and smiled at Lu Jingce, “Thank you Mr. Lu, Mr. Lu is so generous.” It’s not like Lu Jingce couldn’t hear her sarcasm, he sighed silently, and got up when the driver came to remind him that he could go out. He rubbed Shen Yansheng’s head, and said: “Don’t be weird with me, I’m not at home for a while, if you want to go home, go back and stay with your parents for few days.”

Lu Jingce’s words made Shen Yansheng much happier than receiving a bank card. She looked up at Lu Jingce with surprise in her eyes, and smiled as soon as she spoke, “Is it really possible? Can I stay until you come back?” Lu Jingce rarely saw her so happy, he snorted and said, “It’s up to you, I’m not here anyway.”

Shen Yansheng was so grateful to Lu Jingce for a moment, and sent him to the yard specially, and after Lu Jingce got into the car, she still stood by the side smiling, bent over and waving at him, and said safe journey to him.

Lu Jingce looked at her smile, and knew in his heart that her smile was not for him. It’s just that she was given a little freedom, and she was so easily satisfied.

He didn’t say anything else, he just glanced at Shen Yansheng indifferently, then turned his head, and told the driver to drive.

Shen Yansheng stood in the yard, watching Lu Jingce’s car drive out of the yard, and gradually moved away from her sight, she turned around, and while happily going back to the house, she took out her mobile phone and called her mother.

Since moving to Lu Jingce’s side, Shen Yansheng hasn’t been home for a long time. She wanted to go back last weekend, but couldn’t as she went to the northern suburbs with Lu Jingce

Now that Lu Jingce is on a business trip, she has permission to pack her things and returned home with her suitcase after getting off work in the afternoon.

She took the elevator up to the seventh floor, and could smell the familiar aroma of food in the stairwell. She took out the key to open the door, but the door lock was not very easy to open. The key turned in the lock for a long time and the door failed to open. It was her father who heard the movement and opened the door for her from the inside.

Dad was very happy to see her, with a smile all over his face. Seeing her pulling the suitcase, he quickly came to help her carry it, and said with a smile, “Your mother and I were cooking in the kitchen. I heard the door lock turned for a long time, and I thought I heard it wrong.”

Shen Yansheng smiled and said: “This keyhole is too ineffective, I will ask the master to change the lock tomorrow.”

Father Shen said: “No need, I will find a pencil lead and insert it later, and open it a few more times. It will be smooth after.”

Zhou Xiuyun was cooking in the kitchen, seeing her daughter coming home, she was very happy, and she turned around and said, “Shengsheng, go and change your clothes and wash your hands, and we will have dinner soon.”

” Hey.” Shen Yansheng didn’t see her parents for a long time, went back to her room and changed clothes, washed her hands and went into the kitchen to help.

But the house they live in now is not like before, the kitchen is too small, and it is very cramped for three people standing in it.

Shen Yansheng was kicked out of the kitchen by her mother, so she had to go to the cupboard to get the dishes and put them on the dining table.

When she was taking the bowls and chopsticks, she saw a bottle of half-rubbed safflower oil on the TV cabinet. She couldn’t help being stunned for a moment, and then she turned around and asked, “Dad, who owns this safflower oil? Did you or mom get hurt?”

Shen Haihua was just coming out of the kitchen with a large bowl of vegetables, and said: “It’s okay, just two days ago when I was shopping for vegetables, I accidentally sprained my foot on the road, and I took the medicine for two days and it was fine.” Shen Yansheng frowned, holding the bowl and chopsticks, walked to the table and said, “Be careful, what if you hurt your bones.”

Shen Haihua smiled and said, “It’s not that serious, don’t worry about it.”

Shen Yansheng looked down at his father’s feet. A little worried, she asked: “Is it really all right? Do you want to go to the hospital to take a look?”

Shen Haihua said: “It’s not that serious.”

He walked around the room a few times, “Look, isn’t it alright.”

Seeing that her father could still walk, Shen Yansheng sighed and said, “Anyway, you and mother must pay attention to your health, and you must tell me as soon as anything happens.”

“Alright, you don’t worry.”

Shen Yansheng hasn’t been home for a long time, and she had endless conversations with her parents. After dinner, the family of three chatted in the living room until the wee hours of the morning.

Shen Yansheng still had to go to work tomorrow, so she took out two thousand yuan from her bag and stuffed it into her mother’s hand, saying, “Mom, you and dad will use this money first, and I will transfer some money to you when I get paid at the end of the month.”

Zhou Xiuyun quickly refused, saying: “No need, your father and I have money, and you work outside by yourself, and you still have a lot to spend money on, so don’t worry about us.” Zhou Xiuyun said, eyes suddenly clouded with a layer of tears, she stretched out her hand to touch her daughter’s cheek, and said distressedly: “It’s all our fault as parents for dragging you down. Shengsheng, you are not young. If there is a suitable one, you can settle as soon as possible.”

“Mom I know, don’t worry.” Shen Yansheng understood what her mother wanted to say, she is not young anymore, she is twenty-seven, if she doesn’t settle down, there will be fewer and fewer opportunities for her to choose in the future .

But she has experienced Fu Shiyu, and she never wants to fall in love with anyone in this life, let alone get married.

What’s more, she and Lu Jingce now have no autonomy in matters of relationship.

The reason why she followed her mother’s words was because she didn’t want them to worry.

She put the money into her mother’s hand and said, “You and dad are getting old, and business is not easy these days. I would rather you two rest at home and take care of your health. You don’t have to worry about money. My salary is okay, it’s no problem to support you and dad.”

She insisted on giving the money, Zhou Xiuyun couldn’t refuse, so she had to accept the money and said, “Then I’ll keep it for you, and when you get married, I’ll save it up and give it to you as a dowry.” Shen Yansheng heard her mother’s words , suddenly remembered that at this time last year, she and Fu Shiyu had just gotten engaged, and her mother moved out a box, which was full of jewelry, all good things that her mother kept at the bottom of the box.

At that time, Mother Shen took her hand and said happily: “When our Shengsheng get married, these will be your dowry. Then I will buy you a few more sets of jewelry and keep them to make our Shengsheng beautiful when getting married.”

It was obviously last year, but now thinking about it, it seems that it has been half a lifetime.

Shen Yansheng smiled, leaned over and hugged her mother, and said, “Okay, thank you mother.”

Lu Jingce’s business trip took longer than Shen Yansheng imagined. He didn’t come back until the end of March.

Zhou Wanying seems to be on vacation recently, and often invites her out for shopping and dinner.

Although Shen Yansheng didn’t want to make friends anymore, Zhou Wanying was too enthusiastic, and she had a very good personality. After getting along for a long time, the two of them gradually developed a little girl friend feeling.

This afternoon, the two were shopping in the mall, passing by a men’s clothing store, Zhou Wanying went in to help Xie Rin choose a shirt.

When she mentioned Xie Rin, there was a gentle and sweet smile in her eyes, and she said: “Xie Rin is very picky about shirts, every time I buy I have a hard time choosing “

Shen Yansheng smiled and said: “Why don’t you bring him here, Let him choose by himself.”

Zhou Wanying said: “He didn’t come, let him go shopping with me, he would sit in a cafe by himself in less than half an hour.”

Shen Yansheng laughed: “Men don’t seem to love shopping.”

Speaking of this, Zhou Wanying suddenly said: “By the way, Shengsheng, do you want to pick a gift for Lu Jingce? It seems to be his birthday next week.”

Shen Yansheng was stunned when she heard this, and she looked at Zhou Wanying, “Next week?”

“It should be. It seems to be the seventh day of April.”

“…”

This really stumped Shen Yansheng, she had no idea what Lu Jingce liked.

She walked around the mall with Zhou Wanying, and finally chose the pair of cufflinks.

The day Lu Jingce returned to China was April 3rd. After flying for more than ten hours, there was an impromptu meal when he landed. He drank some wine during the dinner party, and it was already past ten o’clock in the evening when he returned home.

Shen Yansheng was still awake at that time, and was working by lighting the lamp in the bedroom.

The company has a show at the end of next month, and she wants to take this opportunity to design a good work, so that she can gain a firm foothold in the company as soon as possible.

She has been up for three days in a row, her eyes are red, and there is a cup of coffee on the corner of the table. When she is tired, she relies on coffee to continue her life.

She was so focused on her work that she didn’t hear the car downstairs driving into the yard.

Lu Jingce got out of the car, didn’t see Shen Yansheng when he entered the room, handing the suit jacket he was carrying to Aunt Ping, and asked, “Where’s she? asleep?” Although he didn’t mention the name, Aunt Ping naturally knew who he is asking about? She took the jacket and replied with a smile: “No. Miss has been staying up late and working overtime these days, and the lights in the room are still on at two or three o’clock in the morning.”

Lu Jingce frowned, and then said: ” Go tell her to come down.”

“Hey.” Aunt Ping responded, and hurried upstairs with the coat on her arm.

In the bedroom, Shen Yansheng was cutting a piece of fabric on the desk, and suddenly heard someone knocking on the door outside, she didn’t turn her head, and asked, “What’s the matter?” Aunt Ping replied outside: “Miss, Mr. Lu is back, he is asking you to come down.”

Shen Yansheng paused while cutting the cloth, counting the days, Lu Jingce’s business trip will be nearly half a month, it’s time to come back.

She turned her head and replied: “Got it, I’ll come down immediately.”

Because she was alone in the bedroom, she was wearing thin clothes, only a suspender nightdress, and the heater in the bedroom was hot enough to not feel cold at all.

After putting down her things, she casually put on a beige sweater and cardigan and went downstairs.

Lu Jingce was exhausted all the way, he was actually a little tired at the moment, he leaned on the sofa, closed his eyes and rested.

Hearing footsteps upstairs, he opened his eyes and looked towards the stairwell.

Seeing Lu Jingce looking at her, Shen Yansheng smiled generously and said, “You’re back.”

She went downstairs and walked to the sofa, but before she got close, she smelled the smell of wine, and couldn’t help asking, “Drunk already?”

Lu Jingce stretched out his hand to pull her into his arms when she approached, rubbed the skin beside her ear with his warm lips, and asked in a low voice, “Did you miss me?” It’s similar to the rubbing of ears in a lover’s world, but Shen Yansheng felt nervous , the body was a little tense, and she couldn’t speak with her lips pursed.

When the servants saw this scene, they all lowered their heads knowingly, and no one dared to step forward to disturb them.

Lu Jingce’s lips were still pressed against the side of Shen Yansheng’s neck and rubbed gently, but after waiting for a long time, Shen Yansheng didn’t reply to him, so he immediately lost interest, let go of her, and said, “Your mouth is sealed, even if you don’t, can’t you atleast lie.”

Shen Yansheng pursed her lips unconsciously, and was even more speechless.

The atmosphere was tense for a while, Lu Jingce leaned back on the sofa again, closed his eyes, and pressed the center of his brows with a headache.

After a while, he opened his eyes, looked sideways at the housekeeper at the door, and said, “Go get the things in the car.” “

Hey.” The housekeeper responded, turned around and walked to the yard.

At that time, Shen Yansheng didn’t know what Lu Jingce asked Uncle Wang to fetch, she was sitting on the sofa, thinking about how to break the deadlock.

But just when she turned around and wanted to talk to Lu Jingce, she saw the housekeeper leading a servant back from the outside yard.

The servant behind him held a cello in his arms.

That cello looked so familiar, Shen Yansheng seemed to be frozen there.

Suspecting that she saw wrong, she stood up unconsciously and walked towards it.

The servant held the cello very carefully, because the housekeeper had just warned him to be careful, this cello was very valuable.

Shen Yansheng stood in front of the servant, reaching out to touch the body of the cello. The moment her hand touched it, or in other words, the moment she approached, she recognized that it was her’s.

This cello has been with her for nearly ten years, and because it is a precious gift, she has always taken care of it like a treasure, so she can recognize it just by looking.

She was too surprised and shocked, touched the body of the cello for a long time, and finally turned to look at Lu Jingce.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her mind turned so many times that she couldn’t say anything for a while.

Lu Jingce got up at that time, picked up the mobile phone on the coffee table, and said indifferently: “It’s late, go to bed early.” After speaking, he turned and went straight upstairs.

That night, Shen Yansheng stayed up all night, and the servant helped her carry the cello upstairs.

She tried to play it, but thinking that Lu Jingce was next door, she was afraid of disturbing his sleep, so she stopped after less than half a minute.

Lying on the bed at night, looking at the cello which was placed in the corner, the figure of Lu Jingce appeared in her mind uncontrollably.

She thought about the days since she met Lu Jingce. In fact, he has always been very kind to her, paying off her debts, helping her family clean up the mess, and spending a lot of money without frowning.

Even if the relationship between them is not pure, she also knows that in Lu Jingce’s circle, it is not uncommon to spend money to support a woman.

But Lu Jingce never forced her, and he took good care of her in daily life, and now he even helped her find her lost cello when she didn’t take the initiative to speak up.

If she can still carry it clearly, she shouldn’t carry it ignorantly.

That night, Shen Yansheng tossed and turned on the bed, unable to sleep.

When Shen Yansheng went downstairs in the morning, she made up her mind to be more warm towards Lu Jingce today, and thank him for helping her buy back the lost cello.

But when she went downstairs, she found that Lu Jingce was no longer at home. She lost the chance to please, and thought about waiting for Lu Jingce to come back at night, and then solemnly thank him. Unexpectedly, Lu Jingce didn’t come home for several days when he went out this time.

During this period, she sent a WeChat message to Lu Jingce, thanking him for helping her.
But Lu Jingce didn’t reply to her, and the two of them haven’t contacted each other for a few days.

Shen Yansheng was alone at home, occasionally when eating alone, she would wonder inexplicably, has she been thrown into limbo, or did Lu Jingce have another woman outside?

The servants at home also looked at her with some sympathy.

After all, when she annoyed Lu Jingce that night, the servants were there. Coupled with the fact that Lu Jingce hasn’t been home for the past few days, everyone can’t help but speculate privately, has Miss Shen fallen out of favor?