Feng Lin twirled the lipstick between his fingertips before handing it back to Su Xianyu. "Did you wear lipstick today?"
Su Xianyu took it and casually stuffed it into her bag. She gently leaned in closer. Her lips were pale and natural, clearly showing that she had only applied lip balm.
"Nope. It's just that this lipstick is rather special, so I always carry it with me."
She didn't give it much thought and continued to drag Feng Lin towards the children's clothing section. "Look at this little suit. Doesn't it look just like the one you're wearing?"
Watching the two of them disappear behind the shelves, Butler Chen quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Maybe he really had over - complicated a simple matter. The anticipation for the child in Su Xianyu's eyes didn't seem like it was faked...
The streetlights outside the car window came on one after another. The hazy yellow light shone through the glass and landed on Su Xianyu's sleeping profile.
She frowned slightly, as if having a dream. Unconsciously, she leaned towards the warm side and gently placed her hand on her lower abdomen.
Feng Lin motioned for the driver to slow down. His fingertips unconsciously rubbed against his wristwatch.
His gaze swept across the half - box of vitamins sticking out of the storage compartment. Suddenly, the scene where Butler Chen had brought up the "empty medicine board" resurfaced in his mind.
There were obvious tear marks on the edge of the medicine board's plastic seal. He suddenly remembered that he had accidentally knocked something over while staying up late to process documents the night before.
Recalling the slightly evasive tone in which Xiaoyu had said, "The baby doesn't like this smell," could it be that he had accidentally torn open the plastic seal of that box of vitamins that night?
On the back seat was the new copy of *The History of European Art* that Xiaoyu had bought. He casually opened the title page and found a corner of a sticky note sticking out.
It was the note he had scribbled last week that said, "Go to the art exhibition on Friday." The handwriting was scrawled, but she had carefully tucked it into the book.
It was a pity that he had had something come up unexpectedly that day, and the two of them hadn't been able to go.
Feng Lin closed the book guiltily and decided that he must set aside time next week to take Xiaoyu to the art exhibition.
The slight vibration when he put the book down made the lipstick that Su Xianyu had hurriedly stuffed into her bag roll out quietly.
"What's this...?"
Feng Lin picked it up and examined it carefully. He noticed the tiny date engraved on the casing. It was the very lipstick he had engraved on their anniversary!
It turned out that those details that Butler Chen had regarded as "flaws" were simply her unspoken cares.
The car came to a steady stop in front of the Feng mansion. Su Xianyu's eyelashes fluttered. She rubbed her eyes and sat up straight. "Are we here?"
"Yeah." Feng Lin unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over to smooth the stray hairs on her forehead. "What do you want to eat tomorrow? I'll ask Mama Liu to make it."
"I want the tomato noodles you make." She smiled and leaned in, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "With two fried eggs. The baby said so."
Feng Lin let out a soft laugh, opened the car door, and walked around to her side. He carefully helped her out of the car. "Okay."
The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the two of them, stretching their shadows long and overlapping them, like a warm painting.
---
"The Feng family... It must be Feng Lin..."
The sound of a shovel hitting the cement floor woke Evan from his nightmare.
The headache from his hangover made it impossible for him to open his eyes for the moment. All he could hear were the curses coming from outside the window.
The gardener next door was trimming the bushes. The sound of the pruning shears cutting through the branches bit by bit was like gnawing at his nerves.
Evan struggled to get up from the floor. His foot kicked an empty wine bottle, and with a sharp "clank," the glass shards on the floor sparkled coldly in the sun.
"Evan! Open the door!" The landlord's shouts kept coming.
He staggered to the door, holding on to the wall, and opened it a crack. The eviction notice in the landlord's hand almost poked him in the face.
"Court documents! You have to move out today! Do you think you can avoid paying the rent by hiding?"
"Can you... give me a few more days?" Evan's voice was hoarse, as if there was sandpaper in his throat.
The landlord sneered. "Do you think I'm stupid? I've never seen you or your girlfriend go out to work in all this time."
Her gaze swept across Evan's wrinkled clothes stained with wine. As if she had thought of something, she said, "I noticed that your girlfriend has quite a few pieces of jewelry and nice bags. Why don't you sell some of them..."
Hearing the noise, pregnant Ruan Sisi came to the door with her pregnant belly.
With tears in her eyes, she pleaded, "Landlady, it takes time to sell things. Please give us one more week. Otherwise, I and the baby will have to sleep on the street."
A look of sympathy flashed across the landlord's eyes. In the end, she agreed. "Fine, fine. I'm just unlucky. But it's the last seven days!"
"Definitely, definitely." Yeah, right! Those were all her treasures. Only a fool would take them out to pay the rent!
The door was slammed shut. Evan slid down the door and sat on the floor.
Previously, the goods from the farm's export had been seized. He had no choice but to sell his house and use his savings to pay the liquidated damages before he could get out of prison.
The news of his mother's death in the nursing home had hit him hard.
He subconsciously felt that this was not a coincidence but that Feng Lin had secretly done something. However, he couldn't find any solid evidence.
Thankfully, Sisi had always been by his side. He still had his lover and his baby.
Ruan Sisi was wearing a cream - colored knitted sweater today. Her hair was loosely pulled back behind her head, making her look gentle and vulnerable.
"Have something to eat now that you're awake." She placed the thermos on the coffee table. When she opened the lid, a faint puff of steam rose.
"I cooked some porridge for you. I know you've been in a bad mood recently, but it's really bad for your stomach to drink on an empty stomach. How are you going to find a new job like this?"
Ruan Sisi scooped up a bowl of porridge and held it out to him. The warmth of the porcelain bowl seeped through her fingertips, but he suddenly pulled his hand back as if he had been burned.
Her hand froze in mid - air. The gentle look on her face faded a bit. In the end, she placed the bowl on the floor beside his feet.
After a while, Evan replied in a low voice, "I'll come up with a solution as soon as possible."
After saying that, he drank the porridge and rushed out of the house.
It wasn't going to be easy to find a suitable job for him, and it would take some time to get paid.
Thinking that Mark, his former business partner, should still have some money, he set off towards the address he remembered.
Mark's studio was in the old city area. Evan took three subway trains to get there.
It took a long time of knocking on the door before Mark poked his head out. When he saw Evan, his face immediately darkened. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to borrow some money. Just enough to pay the rent..."
"No." Mark interrupted him directly and reached out to close the door.
"It's just a few thousand dollars. I'll definitely pay you back next month." Evan reached out to block the door. His knuckles turned white from the force.
Mark's voice suddenly rose. "Evan, haven't you caused me enough trouble? I invested money in your farm back then, but you sold it without even notifying me!"
"I haven't even settled the score with you about that money, and now you have the nerve to come and borrow money from me?" He forcefully shook off Evan's hand. "Get out of here! Don't let me see you again!"
The door slammed shut. Evan's hand was caught in the door crack, and he gasped in pain.
He looked at the closed door and slowly withdrew his hand. The pad of his finger was already red.
It's okay. There must be other ways. Thinking of his lover waiting for him at home, Evan mustered up his spirit and continued walking forward.
But Ruan Sisi had had enough of this humiliating life. She was already starting to think about how she could return to China as soon as possible...