Suddenly, she felt a tightness in her chest. She rolled down the car window and took a deep breath. Only then did the stuffy feeling ease a little.
Qing Mian lowered her head and took out her phone. She opened the "Add a WeChat Friend" section, typed in Lu Wenxi's WeChat ID, and after clicking "Add", she put the phone back in her pocket.
She couldn't find her previous WeChat account. Now she didn't have the contact information of anyone. She only remembered the WeChat IDs of Lu Wenxi and Shen Yu'an, but she didn't want to add Shen Yu'an.
Half an hour later, the car slowly drove into the courtyard of Qingyuan.
As soon as Qing Mian got out of the car, the stray cats in the outdoor shed meowed and rubbed against her feet.
She didn't see the cats last time she came back. She originally thought they had been driven away by Shen Yu'an, but it seemed that these little guys had just run out to play.
"Little Orange has gotten fatter," Qing Mian said. The orange cat leaned against her feet, showing its belly and making purring sounds. It looked very content.
Qing Mian stroked its chubby white belly and smiled with satisfaction. "You've taken good care of yourself. You've become so round."
Better than she had.
Hearing the noise outside, Uncle Wang walked to the door. When he saw Qing Mian, he immediately broke into a happy smile. "Miss is back," he said. The wrinkles around his eyes deepened on his weather - beaten face.
Qing Mian greeted Uncle Wang politely. "Has my brother come back?"
"Not yet. Sir just called. He'll probably be back in a while."
Qing Mian nodded. She checked the time. There was still some time before dinner. She could wait.
Uncle Wang stepped aside to make way for Qing Mian. "Come in first. It's sunny outside."
As she walked into the house, Qing Mian said, "It's okay. It's not that sunny."
She didn't feel the sun was strong. In the past, she would put on sunscreen and carry an umbrella when going out, but now she just wanted to soak up the sun. The sunlight gave her a feeling of hope.
Not long after, the sound of a car engine started outside.
Qing Mian was sitting in the living room, replying to a message. She had found a part - time job at a milk tea shop opposite the school. The salary wasn't bad, 4,000 yuan a month. She was quite satisfied with it.
Hearing the sound, she turned off her phone and put it in her pocket. She walked to the door to open it for Shen Yu'an.
Shen Yu'an walked out of the garage. From afar, he saw the girl standing at the door. He quickened his steps and walked closer. "Why aren't you inside?"
"Sir, the miss came here especially to wait for you," Uncle Wang answered for her before Qing Mian could say anything.
Shen Yu'an was a bit surprised. Since Qing Mian returned to the imperial capital, she had always kept a distance from him. He didn't expect that she would wait for him today. He was a bit skeptical of Uncle Wang's words and asked Qing Mian in a low voice, "Really?"
Qing Mian nodded and looked up at Shen Yu'an. "Yes. I heard your car, so I came to open the door for you." Worried that this explanation might not convince him, she added, "Didn't I used to wait for you like this?"
Shen Yu'an stared at her for a long time. In the past, he could easily tell if she was lying from her eyes, but now he couldn't read anything from them.
This feeling of not being able to figure her out suddenly made Shen Yu'an feel a bit irritable. He just gave a faint "um" and walked straight into the house.
Qing Mian didn't know why his attitude suddenly turned cold, but she didn't care. As long as he was back.
She sat back on the sofa and continued to scroll through her phone.
"Ding—"
A WeChat message popped up on her phone.
It was from Lu Wenxi.
Qing Mian clicked on the chat box and looked at the screenshot Lu Wenxi had sent.
It was a WeChat Moment post by An Ya.
The caption read: 【Injured, but with my husband by my side (version)】
The picture was of her sitting in a wheelchair. Shen Yu'an was standing behind the wheelchair. One hand was holding the handle of the wheelchair, and the other was holding a phone. He was seriously talking on the phone and not looking at the camera.
Then Lu Wenxi sent a few more messages.
【I'm dying of laughter. Husband? Have they even gotten a marriage certificate?】
【This picture obviously looks like a candid shot. How dare she post it? I really don't know how much thicker her skin is than a city wall. I'm really impressed!】
【Do you believe that she definitely posted this WeChat Moment on purpose for you to see? It's just that she miscalculated. She didn't expect you to change your WeChat account. It's like punching at cotton.】
【Mianbao, why don't you add her back? It'll be convenient for us to complain.】
This Lu Wenxi... really had a bad sense of humor...
But then she thought of An Ya's smug face, getting injured but still seizing the opportunity to take a photo and show off on her WeChat Moment. Qing Mian couldn't help but laugh.
She didn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
"What are you looking at? You seem so happy," Shen Yu'an's voice suddenly came from above Qing Mian.
Qing Mian immediately pressed the screen - off button and hid the phone behind her back.
Shen Yu'an had changed out of his daytime suit and was wearing home clothes. He was standing behind Qing Mian.
"Nothing. Uncle Wang seems to be calling us for dinner," she said and walked straight to the dining room without looking back.
Qing Mian stole a nervous glance at the man. She didn't know how long he had been standing behind her and if he had seen the messages from Lu Wenxi.
Forget it. If he saw them, so be it. She might as well go all out!
With this thought, the nervousness and worry that had just been there disappeared instantly, and she had a good appetite for dinner.
The chef at home was still the same as before, and the dishes were cooked exactly according to Qing Mian's taste.
She was very picky about food. Back then, for the sake of her eating, Shen Yu'an had changed several chefs in Qingyuan before finally settling on the current one.
Actually, their tastes were very different. Shen Yu'an preferred Western food, and his taste was rather light. He couldn't eat spicy food very well, but Qing Mian's taste was completely the opposite. She not only liked spicy food but also dishes with heavy oil and salt.
Qing Mian originally thought that after she went abroad, the staff in Qingyuan would be completely replaced, but she didn't expect that everything in Qingyuan was still the same as before. The only thing that had probably changed in this mansion was the relationship between her and Shen Yu'an.
"Are you getting used to school?" Shen Yu'an suddenly asked.
Qing Mian nodded. "It's okay."
She had only been there for two days. What was there to get used to or not? Of course, she didn't say this out loud.
"I put a card on your bedside table. If you need anything, just swipe that card."
She had gone shopping with Lu Wenxi today, but he hadn't received a single message about a deduction.
Qing Mian remembered the black card that she had locked in the drawer. "Okay."
Shen Yu'an was silent for a moment and then spoke again. "Buy whatever you want. Don't save money for me. I have the money to support you."
As soon as the words "support you" left his mouth, Qing Mian's hand holding the chopsticks suddenly stopped.
If these words had come from the former Shen Yu'an, she would have believed them without hesitation, but coming from the current Shen Yu'an, she just felt a chill run down her spine.
Once a person enjoys something, they will be controlled by it.
She didn't want to be controlled by Shen Yu'an, and she didn't believe his words of "supporting her".
No one would send their own sister abroad and then to a man's house. At least she had never seen Lu Wenxuan treat Lu Wenxi like this.