CA | Chapter 21

◎Shen Yicheng, a bigshot in the circle.◎

Ning Jia was tired and sleepy, and her stomach still hurt a little. When she saw him reaching for his belt, she said, “Uncle, can we just talk under the covers today?”

Judging by the way he looked, that probably wasn’t possible.

But he didn’t force things. Ning Jia undid his shirt for him, then swam into his arms like a little fish, flicked her tail, and went straight to sleep.

Shen Yicheng sighed, his heart aching sweetly at her pampering. “You’re treating me like this?”

Ning Jia reached out and patted him, a perfunctory sort of comfort.

Shen Yicheng had no choice but to take it. He endured it, and endured it until the middle of the night, when Ning Jia suddenly climbed up using both hands and feet and crawled into the bathroom. She stayed there for quite a while without coming out.

Shen Yicheng put on a robe and asked what was wrong. Ning Jia had no choice but to ask him to hand her a sanitary pad from the cabinet. Shen Yicheng rummaged for a long time. The cabinet was neatly packed with all kinds of things. He picked one with a moon on it that said night use, then handed it to her.

Ning Jia had drunk some cold alcohol tonight, which had brought her period on a few days early. Only after taking the pad did she remember she was already on it, that her underwear was stained too. Shen Yicheng turned on the light and saw a tiny red mark on the bed pad, so he took it away, opened the wardrobe, found her sleepwear and underwear, and handed them to her together. When Ning Jia came out, her face was pale, but her cheeks were red as if blood were about to drip from them.

She took a fresh pad and spread it out, saying miserably, “I won’t be able to do that stuff for a whole week.”

“I came to see you, not just for that kind of thing.”

But as soon as he said it, he felt like Ning Jia seemed to be feeling sorry for him.

Shen Yicheng boiled some hot water, then fished red sugar and ginger tea out of the kitchen. One bag per cup, which saved him the trouble of figuring out how much to put in.

After Ning Jia drank the hot tea, she saw Shen Yicheng stuff her dirty clothes into the washing machine and almost choked. She kept telling him not to bother.

Shen Yicheng wasn’t the type to take care of people. He also slept badly that night. With her little belly warmed in his hands, Ning Jia was still in pain enough to sweat at the forehead. He turned off the air conditioner and only closed his eyes after she finally fell into a proper sleep.

Ning Jia had an early class the next day and left at seven. She would be back at 3:30 p.m. after class. As soon as she stepped into the apartment, she saw Shen Yicheng watching a movie in the living room.

“Uncle didn’t leave?”

“Just got here.”

She sat beside him and said, “I’m afraid you’ll think I’m annoying, so these two days you should stop coming over. Wait until my period’s over.”

Shen Yicheng said coldly, “You didn’t call me either.”

“Why would I call?” Ning Jia was baffled.

Shen Yicheng gave a cold snort. “Seeing you on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, calling every day, picking you up home on Saturdays and Sundays, or I’ll die, wasn’t that what you said?”

Ning Jia went, “Ah,” and said, “I meant you should come find me.”

Shen Yicheng looked at her. “You don’t come find me.”

Ning Jia said softly, “I do want to find you, I want to see you every day, but if I don’t go looking for you, doesn’t that make me seem obedient? When am I supposed to call you? I keep wondering whether you’re in a meeting, whether you’re discussing business, whether you’re on a plane. My schedule is so simple. You can look for me whenever you want, but I don’t dare look for you whenever I want.”

Shen Yicheng was actually left speechless.

“I can’t even sleep without you, but if I tell you to go home, doesn’t that make me seem sensible?”

Shen Yicheng rubbed his brow and let out a long sigh.

“You don’t have to be so sensible, Ning Jia.”

Ning Jia lay on his lap and said to him, “Then I also want to come home every day and see you. Uncle, and you can’t do that either.”

Shen Yicheng had been reflecting on his work these past two days. Several companies under his name were ones he had started himself, while the rest were tied to the Shen family under his banner. He had taken on so much work with his own hands and body that, over the past couple of years, he had finally begun to feel a trace of exhaustion.

Being with Ning Jia was like carving jade. His heart was quiet there, and he liked being on her side.

As Shen Yicheng stroked Ning Jia, he realized there were many things he had failed to do. He didn’t need to blame her. He said, “What are your plans this Saturday and Sunday?”

Ning Jia said, “Homework. If it rains on Saturday and Sunday, I won’t go out.”

“At home, or here?”

Ning Jia said, “If you’re at home, then I’ll go home. Otherwise, I’ll do my homework here.”

Shen Yicheng thought about it and said, “You do your homework at home, and I’ll stay here with you for two days.”

“The whole day?”

“As much as possible. I’ll come back at night.”

Ning Jia nodded. “I’ve learned how to cook recently. Do you want to try it?”

Shen Yicheng replied, “Even if it rained knives from the sky, I’d still come back.”

Ning Jia laughed, her eyes full of stars.

By September, the weather had turned cool. Ning Jia no longer ran the air conditioner, and at night they covered themselves with a blanket. Shen Yicheng tucked it up to her chest. Ning Jia said, “Won’t Uncle get bored?”

“Not bored.”

Ning Jia patted his chest. “But you only get to enjoy yourself when you come here. Isn’t that a little unfair?”

Shen Yicheng pinched her waist. “No one else is like you, always thinking about eating.”

Ning Jia clicked her tongue. Shen Yicheng lowered his head and pinched her cheek. Ning Jia obediently looked up at him. Shen Yicheng said, “Ning Jia, does this make you comfortable?”

“Mm…” Ning Jia leaned against his chest and thought about it. “Very comfortable. Are you getting good at this? I don’t know which one satisfies me more. Practice is the only way to know.”

Shen Yicheng gave a low laugh. “When your body’s better.”

Ning Jia asked, “You’re worried I can’t take it?”

She looked as if she would shatter with a pinch. No matter how he looked at her, he still felt worried.

“I’m not afraid of pain. I’m willing to be with you.”

“You’re not afraid of pain, so why are you afraid of getting a tooth pulled?”

Ning Jia’s eyelashes drooped. “Uncle, I just am. It’s like how people use the threat that if you don’t sleep, wolves will carry you away to make children go to bed. I’ve been threatened like that too.”

Shen Yicheng patted her. “Poor thing.”

Then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she went numb and tingly from the tongue of it. Ning Jia slipped away from his mouth, then eagerly moved to his chest.

Shen Yicheng patted her shoulder and coaxed her to sleep, thinking he’d get up early the next day. Unfortunately, Shen Yicheng was terrible at getting out of bed. It was Ning Jia who held her phone to his ear and said, “Uncle, work call.”

Ning Jia draped his suit jacket over him. Seeing that he still wouldn’t get up, she bent down and bit his lip. Shen Yicheng narrowed his eyes. Ning Jia licked his lips sticky and slow, then said, “Sleeping Beauty, wake up.”

Shen Yicheng gave a soft laugh, sat up, covered his forehead, and sat still for two minutes before slowly getting dressed.

Ning Jia helped him fasten his buttons. “Will you be back today?”

“Before lunch.”

She nodded and let him stand. Shen Yicheng took her hand. “Your uncle isn’t disabled.”

Ning Jia was only anxious because of how slowly he moved.

After he left, the room fell utterly silent. Ning Jia checked the time, then went to the kitchen first and pulled out the vegetables and meat she had bought. She rolled up her sleeves, ready to show her stuff.

*

The meeting started at nine in the morning. Shen Yicheng only drank one cup of coffee, idly turning a pen in his hand. Li Chen asked Xiao Wu to go downstairs and buy some light food, then have Shen Yicheng eat something to get by. When Shen Yicheng came out of the meeting room, he saw a plate of vegetables and boiled chicken breast on his desk, and asked Secretary Zhou, “Li Chen prepared this?”

“Yes. He saw that you hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning.”

“Split it among yourselves. I’m not hungry.”

Secretary Zhou agreed and handed over two more documents. Shen Yicheng took them, glanced at them twice, and tossed them onto the desk.

The people around him did not even dare breathe too hard, afraid they had somehow upset Young Master Shen. Shen Yicheng also tossed his pen and meeting notebook onto the desk. Secretary Zhou stood up and asked, “Are you going somewhere?”

“Mm. I’m not coming in this afternoon.”

He went straight out and turned into the vice president’s office, where he explained the work for the next two days. The vice president said in a difficult tone, “If you’re not here, how am I supposed to make the decisions?”

Shen Yicheng’s tone held no emotion. “I told you to make the decisions.”

The vice president didn’t dare make decisions, but he also didn’t dare not make them. Shen Yicheng had his own standards when it came to doing business with people. Take holding an exhibition, for example. What was displayed in the hall, when it opened, who the partner was, what the theme was, what form the sales took, these were all usually decided by Shen Yicheng. His business sense was sharp, and his artistic taste was high. It wasn’t that his subordinates didn’t want to do more. They really weren’t qualified.

Outsiders all said Shen Yicheng didn’t manage anything and spent his days eating, drinking, and having fun, but only the people around him knew that Second Young Master Shen had never been some ornamental pretty boy. Add in those skills of his, and just the few jade carvings he had made were enough for him to stand firm in the north of the city. In the end, it was all just amateurs watching the show without understanding the trade.

Recently, everyone had clearly felt that Shen Yicheng was no longer very invested in these matters. Li Chen stayed closest to him, and after he took Xiao Wu and left, Secretary Zhou finally said, “You know our President Shen is this great Buddha of a man, moody as anything. You at least have to tell us what happened so we can be prepared.”

Li Chen sighed repeatedly. “It’s still Miss Ning. President Shen’s mind is fully on her now. I think in two more days, he won’t even want to manage the company.”

No one believed Shen Yicheng would give up his empire for a woman. Everyone knew, openly or secretly, that these were his own businesses, not really connected to the main Shen family at all. He had built them himself. How could he just throw them away? If it were a company tied to the main family through him, then maybe it would be possible to just toss it aside.

Shen Yicheng really was tired. There was no end to days like this. Everyone said he had lost his ambition over trivial pleasures, and Shen Yicheng did exactly that. He gave up.

Thick fog rolled in outside. Visibility on the road to the residential compound was low. After a while, heavy rain began to fall, but Xiao Wu drove very steadily. Shen Yicheng sat in the back seat. When they arrived, Xiao Wu got out quickly and opened an umbrella over him. Not a single inch of Shen Yicheng’s body had been soaked.

See? People always had the most enthusiasm at the beginning.

Shen Yicheng chuckled. Xiao Wu held the umbrella carefully over him and then saw several art academy students standing by the entrance downstairs. When they spotted Shen Yicheng, they subconsciously stepped aside.

Shen Yicheng had not originally planned to pay them any mind, but when he reached the second floor, he heard someone standing in front of Ning Jia’s door talking, and caught the words.

“Should we borrow an umbrella from Jia-jia? Oh right, and maybe some seasoning while we’re at it. I wonder if she has any…”

“I’m telling you, you came to our place for barbecue and didn’t bring anything, then still want to go out at ten to buy meat?”

“I brought cola, okay? Hurry up and call Ning Jia out to eat a few bites with us.”

Jiang Chao was heading downstairs when the girls almost bumped into Shen Yicheng.

He took out his key. The group fell silent. Shen Yicheng curved his lips into the faintest smile. “Looking for Ning Jia? She’s not feeling too well these past two days.”

The girl closest to him stammered, “Then forget it… we’ll get together next time.”

“All right.” Shen Yicheng asked, “Going out?”

“Mm-hmm…”

A few girls in their late teens or early twenties looked up at him in a line. Shen Yicheng instructed, “Take a few umbrellas.”

Xiao Wu immediately handed over the umbrella in his hand, then turned back to get the spares from the car.

Almost everyone ended up with a black umbrella. Jiang Chao hurriedly said, “Thanks. Is Ning Jia all right?”

“She’s fine. Have fun.”

The one who had spoken with Jiang Chao just now was her roommate Jin Ru. As they were about to leave, for some reason her brain short-circuited and she added, “Goodbye, Uncle.”

Shen Yicheng raised a brow and politely replied, “Goodbye.”

After they went downstairs, the whole group burst into wild laughter.

Jiang Chao said, “Oh my god, Xiao Jin, what were you thinking? I can already name the post for the social death thread: ‘Help, I actually said goodbye, Uncle to my classmate’s boyfriend.’”

“I’m dying.”

Jin Ru threw her head back and wailed, “I don’t know, my mouth was too fast. Mainly because he had such a bigshot aura all over him. When he said those few lines, he sounded kind of like Ning Jia’s dad, I… help.”

“But Ning Jia really does have a boyfriend? I thought she just made that up to avoid those oily old creeps harassing her.”

Jiang Chao shrugged. “It’s real. I told you I saw him.”

“So handsome, I’m fainting.”

Shen Yicheng listened to their voices fading away. He still didn’t understand what was in the heads of girls that age. He twisted the doorknob and went in. Ning Jia was busy in the kitchen. Shen Yicheng undid the buttons on his suit jacket and stood behind her, watching what she was cooking. Ning Jia jumped. “You’re back? Why didn’t you say anything?”

There was the exhaust fan and the range hood running, and Ning Jia couldn’t hear anything else at all.

Shen Yicheng said, “Tomato beef brisket stew?”

Ning Jia nodded. “It’s almost done. Perfect timing to bring it to the table.”

Shen Yicheng told her to rest and let him carry it.

Only then did Ning Jia have time to check her phone. The messages inside were exploding, and there were even several photos of Shen Yicheng.

【Ning Jia, do you have barbecue seasoning and honey? We forgot to buy them.】

【It’s not just that we forgot, we didn’t even buy any meat for the barbecue. Jiang Chao and the others went to buy meat. I’m here setting up the grill pan, want to come?】

【Holy crap, Ning Jia, does your boyfriend have any brothers? Introduce me to one, or a sister is fine too, don’t be too rigid about gender】

【omg I just called your boyfriend Uncle, I really deserve three shots for my recklessness…】

There were only six girls in their entire department, so they had built a group chat and were chattering away in it.

Ning Jia turned back and asked, “You ran into my classmates?”

“Mm, pretty lively.” Shen Yicheng lifted the lid, and the room was instantly filled with the aroma of tomato beef brisket.

Ning Jia sprinkled in some seasoning, then slid the cooked vegetable dishes in front of him. They were all home-style dishes, and the colors looked pretty good.

Shen Yicheng sat down and took a spoonful of the braised lamb with radish, tasting it himself first.

It was a little light, but the lamb was fresh enough. It melted into the broth and balanced out the blandness. The meat was a bit overcooked too, but it was still edible.

Ning Jia looked at him expectantly. Shen Yicheng put on the air of a food critic and gave his verdict: “Very good.”

“Just that?”

“Mm…” Shen Yicheng said, “Rich in color, fresh and fragrant on the palate.”

Ning Jia laughed. “Next time, Uncle, write me a calligraphy piece. I’ll frame it and hang it at the front door.”

Shen Yicheng agreed, and Ning Jia went on, “From now on, I’m going to tie down your stomach and make you only want to eat the food I cook.”

She clearly did not yet have such profound skill, but the future looked promising.

He seemed to enjoy it a lot. Ning Jia tasted it herself and found it a little bland, a little overcooked, and the greens were not fully done either.

She was a little embarrassed and wanted to start over from scratch, but Shen Yicheng said, “Leave it. It’s quite good.”

He ate two bowls of rice. Ning Jia had never seen him go back for seconds before. She sipped her own tasteless soup and asked, “Is it really that good?”

“Ning Jia, because you made it, it tastes good.”

Her little face gradually turned red.

Just then, her phone rang. Ning Jia picked it up and saw it was a message in the group chat.

【Help, they forgot to buy seasoning again. Ning Jia, do you have any at home? I’ll sneak over, I absolutely won’t disturb your married life】

Ning Jia put down her chopsticks and replied: 【Come over. I have a lot here】

She found a salad bowl and put all kinds of seasonings into it. The door was knocked on twice, cautiously. Ning Jia opened it, and Jiang Chao said with a guilty face, “Did we disturb you? Your boyfriend said you weren’t feeling well.”

“It’s fine, I just got my period.” Ning Jia handed over the seasonings. “You’re having barbecue?”

“I bought an electric grill pan and invited everyone over for a meal.” Jiang Chao said with a smile. “Looks like you can’t get away. Come to my place next time, we’ll grill some pork belly. Tsk, unbeatable.”

Ning Jia laughed. Jiang Chao said, “We won’t bother you anymore. We’re going. We’ll bring these back after we’re done, and I’ll message you then.”

“Okay.”

Ning Jia waved them off and closed the door. Shen Yicheng had already finished two bowls of rice. Looking at the sticky rice left in her own bowl, Ning Jia sighed. “I feel like I’ve treated you poorly.”

“What poorly? I’m very blessed.”

Ning Jia smiled with closed lips, then lowered her head and ate a bowl of rice. Shen Yicheng took her empty bowl and put the pots, bowls, and utensils into the dishwasher. Ning Jia felt coated in the smell of food, so she turned around and took a hot shower. When she came out wiping her hair, Shen Yicheng called her over and said he would help.

Ning Jia sat on his lap and swung her lower legs. Shen Yicheng wasn’t very good at using the hair dryer. He wiped while he blew, keeping the airflow far away, afraid of scalding her.

Ning Jia took it from him and soon dried her long hair. Shen Yicheng touched her soft, glossy black hair. Ning Jia melted against his chest, opened his buttons with her hands, and bit his black mole on the side of his neck with her mouth.

Shen Yicheng’s throat bobbed. Ning Jia pushed him onto the bed, wrapped the blanket properly around them, and used one hand to undo his belt.

“You don’t have work these two days?”

“Mm.”

“Right, if you don’t go home for dinner, then Aunt Zhang won’t go either?”

“I introduced Aunt Zhang to another family.”

Ning Jia said regretfully, “But Aunt Zhang’s cooking is so good.”

He said, “When you’re home during summer and winter vacation, ask her whether she’d be willing to come cook.”

Ning Jia gave an mm. Shen Yicheng no longer spoke, simply enjoying her service. Ning Jia grew tired and paused midway, asking him, “Uncle, do you still remember the thing you said last time?”

At this moment, Shen Yicheng had no room to think. His voice was husky. “What thing.”

She muttered it by his ear. Shen Yicheng closed his eyes and said, “I can’t bear it.”

Ning Jia didn’t care whether he could bear it or not. She curiously tried it out, and after a while lay back on his chest again and said, “Forget it, too tiring.”

Shen Yicheng pressed a hand to his forehead. He had always indulged her. He looked at her lips, pink and soft, and lifted her chin to kiss her again and again. Ning Jia answered him twice, then asked, “Uncle isn’t going to work. Are you on vacation?”

“I handed it off to someone else.”

“Because you want to keep me company?”

He took that as a yes.

Ning Jia rubbed her cheek against his pectoral muscles and grinned foolishly. “I’m more important than your work, huh.”

Hearing that, Shen Yicheng felt a sharp pain in his chest. “You’re a person. How could work be more important than you?”

She buried her face in his chest and said in a muffled voice, “Then I’ve become a homewrecker, will I be condemned?”

Shen Yicheng was not particularly concerned. “Who would condemn you?”

“I don’t know… Grand Madam?”

“Why do you keep bringing her up?”

Ning Jia hmph’ed. “I’m scared, okay? What if one day Uncle dotes on me so much that everyone knows it? Would Grand Madam just ignore it?”

“You think I’m that unreliable?”

Ning Jia murmured, “You’re reliable, but I don’t want to put any pressure on you. If there is pressure, you have to tell me in time…”

He pressed his forehead to hers, and the ice mountain melted into snow and water. “I don’t have any pressure, Jia-jia.”

After kissing her for a while to keep her entertained, Shen Yicheng saw her phone light up again and again, so he picked it up to look. The lock screen didn’t show the contents of the notifications, and when he swiped it open, it was fingerprint-locked.

“Someone’s looking for you.”

Ning Jia drowsily opened it. “Help me reply, I’m so sleepy…”

The messages were bouncing around from 【Magic Fairy Castle】, and inside were six little magic fairies. Shen Yicheng rubbed his brow, looked for a long time before realizing they wanted to come return the seasonings.

He replied, saying he knew, then exited the chat. Ning Jia had pinned two conversations to the top, one with him, and one with 【A Loving Family】.

Three people, her, Ning Guoqiang, and He Hui.

Shen Yicheng sighed. He put down her phone. Whether it was the lock screen or the wallpaper, it was all black. He stood up, and Ning Jia lost the warmth at once, hurriedly wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Don’t go…”

She clung to him until it almost drew out silk.

Shen Yicheng lowered his head. “I’m going to open the door.”

Ning Jia briefly let him go. “Come back quickly, I’m going to fall asleep, I’m about to fall asleep…”

He put on his shirt and wore home loungewear pants on the bottom, then opened the door. Jiang Chao was standing there with her ear pressed to the apartment door.

She also subconsciously said, “Hello…”

Shen Yicheng nodded. “Hello.”

Then he reached out. Jiang Chao didn’t know where to look. Under his black shirt, there were large and small red marks on his chest, as if they had been bitten into. She was just thinking Ning Jia played really hard when she saw Shen Yicheng’s outstretched hand and finally reacted.

He had long, very pale fingers. On his right hand he wore a plain band ring, and his knuckles and fingertips were tinted with an odd red, as if… they had been soaked in hot water.

“It’s all here. Then I’m going…”

“Goodbye.” Then he closed the door.

Shen Yicheng smelled entirely of Ning Jia’s body wash and shampoo. After Jiang Chao returned the things, she went back up, and the others asked curiously, “Why did it take so long?”

“Her boyfriend came to get it,” Jiang Chao said, slapping her thigh. “No wonder Xiao Jin wanted to call him Uncle. I almost did too.”

“I told you he had that kind of aura. You really can’t call someone like that big brother.”

Jiang Chao touched her chin. “But he looks weirdly familiar to me. Like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

“No way, is Ning Jia’s boyfriend a celebrity too?”

The others stared at her, but Jiang Chao couldn’t remember for the life of her. Hearing that, everyone just went, “Oh,” and went back to gnawing on their own leftovers.

After Jiang Chao finished eating, she was washing dishes in the sink when inspiration suddenly struck, and she finally remembered where she had seen that face before.

No. 02 Exhibition Hall on Dandong Road. Back when her parents’ paintings were on display there, he had shown up once. The rumor was that it was because that exhibition hall belonged to him.

He was Shen Yicheng… the second young master of the Shen family, the circle bigshot Shen Yicheng who had taken over half the art exhibitions in the north of the city.

Jiang Chao let out a very rude oath and sent Ning Jia a message: “Damn, awesome.”

Ning Jia still hadn’t seen it. She was drunk in the gentle bliss of comfort, sleeping soundly, while Second Young Master Shen, because he was holding his girlfriend and couldn’t fall asleep, had spent the entire afternoon idly at loose ends.

Author’s note:

Jia-jia is still in school… she doesn’t have a career yet, she’s working hard at studying. She’ll have a career after graduation.

PS: The next chapter will be the first time in bed.