This was the take-out food that Lu Lingchuan brought back.
Lu Lingchuan was holding chopsticks and eating with his head down. He didn't look up, but he heard the sound of the door opening and footsteps.
"Eating," he said.
"Mm," Shen Nian responded with a sound, casually grabbing a large hairclip from the nearby table and tying up her hair carelessly.
Her hair was still damp now, but it wasn't dripping anymore. She would tie up her hair first, then blow dry it after eating.
After the trial, Li Mingshi fell ill and was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Lu Lingchuan was busy dealing with Li Mingshi's situation first, and then Lu Lingrui's matter later. He hadn't come to see Shen Nian for several days and had been staying in his own apartment.
He came today, which Shen Nian didn't expect.
Shen Nian sat down and unconsciously reached for disposable chopsticks, only to realize that Lu Lingchuan had already opened them for her, and even opened the lid of the rice bowl, placing the lid next to it with the chopsticks on top.
She paused for a moment, looking up at Lu Lingchuan. The man was still expressionless as he ate, not even giving her a glance, and his phone on the dining table kept vibrating.
He was busy, very, very busy.
"..." Shen Nian pursed her lips, silently picking up the chopsticks and looking at the dishes Lu Lingchuan had ordered, all of which were non-spicy.
Because Shen Nian had a light taste and rarely ate spicy food.
In contrast, Lu Lingrui craved spiciness and had to have extremely spicy hot pot or skewers. Lu Lingchuan had been accompanying Lu Lingrui in eating spicy food since childhood, so he also developed a taste for spiciness. After getting together with Shen Nian, he found out she had a light taste, so he quit spicy food to match her preference.
Although they could order a split pot for hot pot and skewers, there was no split plate for regular dishes. Shen Nian had a light taste, so for her sake, Lu Lingchuan gave up spiciness and adopted a lighter taste too, hoping that she could enjoy her favorite dishes at every meal without having to cater to his tastes.
There were four dishes, all of which were high-end dishes. Shen Nian casually remarked, "Why did you order so many dishes?"
The two of them couldn't finish four dishes.
Hearing this, Lu Lingchuan glanced at her and gave her a rather arrogant look, "I have money."
"..." Shen Nian fell silent.
This point, she had to admit, she wasn't as wealthy as him.
Today, Shen Nian left the hospital and went to the company. There was an issue with a project in cooperation with the Lu family that needed to be resolved immediately. Shen Nian took on the urgent task and worked overtime, going through documents and writing data analyses. Finally, she managed to solve the problem before tomorrow.
However, because she was busy handling work, she didn't have time to eat dinner, not even a bite of a cracker. It was crucial to resolve the issue quickly, or it would cause losses for the Lingrui Group.
"..." Lu Lingchuan stared intently at the dishes in front of him. It was Shen Nian's favorite restaurant that she used to order frequently, judging from the delivery boxes with the store's logo he had seen at home before.
After taking another bite of rice, he put down his chopsticks and picked up his phone, replying to emails while casually saying, "Eat it all."
"???" Shen Nian looked at him in disbelief.
Eat it all? Did he think she was a big eater???
Shen Nian silently puffed out her cheeks, "I can't finish it all."
"Then why order so much?"
"..." Clearly, it was you who ordered it.
Finally, Lu Lingchuan raised his noble head and bestowed her with a glance, "Haven't you learned that every grain comes with hardship?"
Shen Nian quietly countered, "I can put it in the fridge and heat it up to eat tomorrow morning."
After all, she wasn't picky. If she couldn't finish the food today, she could reheat the leftovers and eat them tomorrow.
But the result was-
Lu Lingchuan: "You want me to eat leftovers tomorrow?"
"..." Shen Nian said, "You don't have to eat them. I'll eat them."
Lu Lingchuan: "You want me to watch you eat leftovers? Are you implying something?"
"???"
Lu Lingchuan had a confident demeanor, "Are you implying that I don't pay you enough, and you've sunk to having to eat leftovers every day to get by?"
Shen Nian fell silent, "..."
Man, your name is wild imagination.
Seeing him put down his chopsticks and play with his phone, seemingly not intending to eat anymore, but there was still two-thirds of the rice left in his bowl.
Shen Nian had been speechless earlier, but finally found a flaw in Lu Lingchuan's argument and immediately pointed it out, "You haven't finished either. There's still so much rice left."
Hearing her accusation, Lu Lingchuan did look down at the rice bowl in front of him, and then he said:
"Oh."
"???" Oh???
The next sentence was-
"I have money, I don't mind."
"..."
Despite the simple conversation, the atmosphere between them had warmed considerably, and it had been a long time since they had such a cozy moment.
The Lu family members, whether brother or sister, were all eloquent and persuasive. Shen Nian had been at a disadvantage in this regard before, so she wisely chose not to argue anymore, knowing that further debate would not give her the upper hand.
She silently lowered her head and picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks, putting it in her mouth.
This restaurant was an old-established one, run by an elderly couple. The dishes they made were all delicious, which was why Shen Nian frequented it.
Shen Nian had been hungry all day, so she didn't hold back and ate earnestly.
Shen Nian ate silently, while Lu Lingchuan was busy with work, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
Her appetite was small, and after eating more than half a bowl of rice and a good portion of the dishes, her stomach was full, but there was still a lot left.
One bowl of rice and four dishes - even if Shen Nian were starving, she couldn't finish that much.
Lu Lingchuan only said it, but didn't actually demand her to finish all the food. However, he didn't waste it either, putting the lids on and storing it in the fridge.
Lu Lingchuan came out of the kitchen, and Shen Nian was holding a hairdryer, looking for a place with an outlet. She plugged in the hairdryer, adjusted the setting, and turned it on.
This hairdryer was bought by Lu Lingchuan, a high-end brand with low noise and high heat output.
Just like the setting Shen Nian had it on now, it made almost no sound, but the hot air was strong.
She removed the hair clip, letting her still-damp hair fall loose, and held the hairdryer about ten centimeters away from her hair, gently moving it back and forth.
Lu Lingchuan sat down on the sofa next to her, the faint sound of the hairdryer reaching his ears, a soft humming noise that captured all of his attention.
At some point, his gaze was no longer on his phone but fixed intently on watching her blow-dry her hair.
Even when blow-drying her hair, Shen Nian gave off an obedient vibe, holding the hairdryer in her right hand and gently combing through her hair with her left, extremely focused.
Suddenly, she felt a burning gaze upon her and looked up, meeting the man's deep, starry eyes.
The sudden eye contact startled them both.
Lu Lingchuan reacted quickly, not averting his gaze but continuing to stare at her naturally, and said, "Work is postponed for a week after tomorrow. Going on a business trip to Hai City."
"Hai City?" That was a city with spring-like weather all year round, a city by the sea.
"Yeah," Lu Lingchuan responded. "A business trip."
After a pause, he added, "You're going too."
[To welcome all the new darlings, I've decided to give each of you a sweet treat~~~This counts as sweet, doesn't it?]
