Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase-Chapter 298 - 279: Two Cups

It took about ten minutes for Shen Jianian to confirm that the fragments flashing in her mind weren’t scenes from a dream because the evidence was still on the cutting board.

She picked up a slice of lemon that had been left overnight in the warm room. It was no longer as juicy, looking a bit withered, but the sourness was still strong.

Shen Jianian closed her eyes, her expression slightly despairing.

"Jianian, you’re up so early." Zhao Shunyi yawned, stretching as she entered the kitchen, "Last night..."

Shen Jianian quickly interrupted her, "How did I get back to my room last night?"

"You don’t remember?" Zhao Shunyi asked, only recalling that Jianian was drunk last night, so it was normal not to remember, "Mr. Fu carried you out of the kitchen and back to your room."

At this, Zhao Shunyi smiled sleepily, stretching out her arms in a gesture of carrying someone, "It was a princess carry."

Shen Jianian looked wooden-faced.

Last night, Zhao Shunyi pressed Bai Changxia for a lot of information about Fu Jichen and Shen Jianian. Although Bai Changxia told her bits and pieces, she filled in the gaps with her imagination.

No wonder she always felt Jianian was mysterious; it was all due to her past experiences.

Zhao Shunyi said with a smile, "Mr. Fu wanted to stay and take care of you, but Xiaxia and I didn’t catch on to his meaning, so he went back to his own place."

Shen Jianian thought to herself, thankfully you two didn’t catch on, otherwise, if Fu Jichen stayed here last night, who knows what ridiculous things could have happened.

Zhao Shunyi squeezed in beside her. With just the two of them in the kitchen, she unconsciously lowered her voice, "Xiaxia said you two kissed in the kitchen. She saw it, but I didn’t."

She regretted a little...

Curious about what a man like Fu Jichen would be like when caught up in passion.

It wasn’t just Shen Jianian’s expression that was numb, her heart was too. She didn’t even know the scene from last night was seen by someone!

"What do you want to eat?" Shen Jianian eagerly changed the subject, "Would sandwiches be okay?"

"I’m fine with anything."

Shen Jianian continued to change the topic, "Has Xiaxia gotten up?"

"She’s awake, lazing in bed playing on her phone."

"Oh, then I’ll make an extra one."

Shen Jianian took eggs, bacon, luncheon meat, lettuce, and a whole bunch of other ingredients from the fridge and made three hearty sandwiches.

After Bai Changxia and Zhao Shunyi finished breakfast, they left, leaving Shen Jianian alone at last. To keep herself from overthinking, she tidied up the living room and suddenly remembered she forgot to feed the stray cat that looks like a cow last night.

Since it snowed last night, it likely had no place to find food.

Shen Jianian put on a down jacket and went outside, squinting as the wind blew in her face. Only then did she realize she had been so absent-minded all morning that she only brought a scarf down, forgetting to wear a hat. The wind was making her head ache, possibly due to last night’s drinking.

Not wanting to catch a cold, she spread the scarf over her head, wrapping it like an old lady’s headscarf, which surprisingly warmed her up a lot.

"Mimi, Mimi."

Shen Jianian called softly a few times at the flowerbed where the cat’s nest was. The cat was curled up inside, but when it heard her voice, it raised its head and meowed in response.

"Sorry, I drank too much last night and forgot to feed you."

Shen Jianian poured out some cat food and changed the water to clean ones.

Though this cat had taken a liking to her, it was still very cautious, refusing to eat in front of others.

Shen Jianian murmured to herself, "When you finally let me pet you, I’ll take you home."

With both hands tucked into her down jacket pockets, she stepped back slowly, accidentally stepping on a stone, nearly tripping over. A hand grabbed the back of her coat, pulling her up.

After she regained her balance, Shen Jianian turned around to see Fu Jichen in a black coat, snow dusting his hair tips, blown down from the tree branches overhead.

"Up earlier than I expected," Fu Jichen said, holding a thermal bag in one hand, the scent of food wafting from it, "Have you had breakfast? If not, let’s eat together."

Shen Jianian snapped out of her shock: "I... I already ate."

Fu Jichen noticed how she wrapped her entire head with the scarf, the corners of his lips curling up slightly. She looked surprisingly good this way, not strange at all.

"Come on in, it’s very cold outside." He wanted to hold her hand and see if it was warm, but unlike last night, she was completely sober and hadn’t been drinking.

Shen Jianian’s emotions were swirling, pretending to forget about the events of the previous night, she followed him into the building, stomping the snow off her shoes on the doormat.

As the elevator ascended, Shen Jianian glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She realized that some things couldn’t be truly erased by pretending to forget; she knew full well that things had changed between them after last night.

When they reached the twenty-sixth floor, Shen Jianian was lost in thought and didn’t notice the elevator doors open. Fu Jichen stepped out and seeing that she hadn’t moved, he took her hand and gently led her out.

He finally touched her hand, it was warm, and he felt relieved.

She was prone to getting sick when cold, and whenever she got sick, she would inevitably have a fever. He always worried she would catch a chill.

Shen Jianian unlocked her door and glanced at Fu Jichen, who hadn’t returned to his own home, but stood beside her with an expectant look, waiting for her to open the door.

She stopped sneaking peeks at him and instead looked him straight in the eye. "What do you want?"

"I brought you breakfast." He had thought she would sleep in until at least around ten after drinking, but he had miscalculated.

"I told you, I’ve already eaten." Shen Jianian emphasized, "I’m very full."

"Then what should I do? I bought too much."

"Save it for lunch."

Fu Jichen made an excuse, "The heating in my house seems to be broken, it’s not very warm. Can I use your dining room?"

Shen Jianian’s eyes widened, "Do I look like an idiot?" Such a flimsy excuse, how could he say it with a straight face?

Fu Jichen’s brows relaxed, filled with humor, but his tone was a bit more serious than earlier, "I won’t make any excuses then, I just want to eat at your place. Today is my only day off, and I have to travel for work tomorrow, I want to spend more time with you."

Shen Jianian was speechless and went inside.

Fu Jichen didn’t wait for her permission, nor did he hear her refusal, he squeezed his way in—a literal "squeeze" because she had only opened the door a crack.

Fu Jichen changed into slippers, took the food containers out of the thermal bag, and placed them on the dining table before turning to ask Shen Jianian, "Really not having a little more? I bought shrimp dumplings and soup dumplings."

He had driven a long way to a well-reviewed tea restaurant to buy them. After spotting her in the neighborhood, he parked his car in the garage and came out to meet her.

"No, I’m not eating." Shen Jianian hugged a pillow, sitting on the sofa. She felt around the gap and found the phone she couldn’t locate in the morning, picked it up, and glanced at it.

Last night, Pei Che had sent her a message wishing her a happy birthday and a happy New Year.

He sent her a gift, which he had planned to send half a month in advance, but due to some issues during transit, it hadn’t reached her in time for her birthday.

Speaking of gifts, Shen Jianian remembered the birthday present Fu Jichen had given her last night. He said it was a cup, but she hadn’t yet seen what kind of cup it was.

The brocade box was still in the dining room, where Fu Jichen was having breakfast. She resisted the urge to go into the dining room.

They seemed to have a tacit understanding, as Fu Jichen happened to see the brocade box and his voice floated out from the dining room, "You haven’t opened your gift yet?"

Shen Jianian replied from the living room, "No."

Fu Jichen then took the brocade box and walked over to her, placing it in her lap, "Open it and take a look."

Shen Jianian obediently picked up the brocade box on her lap and opened it in front of him. Inside was a bright yellow velvet fabric, with slots on either side holding two cups.

She picked up one of them, a deep blue ceramic cup with an intricate floral pattern. The other cup was pink, a very muted pink, reminiscent of ceramic ornaments she had seen in museums, with similarly beautiful patterns.

She inadvertently saw the square red stamp on the bottom of the cup and could vaguely make out her name. She picked up the deep blue cup again, and it also had a stamp at the bottom, with Fu Jichen’s name.

The two ceramic cups were a pair, custom-made.

Shen Jianian immediately felt them too hot to handle and put the cups back in the box.

Just then, a knock came at the door, and Shen Jianian put down the brocade box to answer it.

The person outside was Ni Yiqiong, her hair tied up, makeup always so exquisite, wearing an off-the-shoulder white sweater with ostrich feathers around the neckline, revealing smooth white shoulders, paired with a black velvet skirt.

"I thought you might still be asleep." Ni Yiqiong clasped her hands gracefully in front of her, her face adorned with a perfect smile, "I left in a hurry last night and forgot to take my baking tools. I’m here to pick them up."

Shen Jianian was about to invite her in when she realized there was another person inside already. She didn’t want to cause any misunderstandings, so she quickly said, "Just a moment, I..." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

A voice abruptly interrupted her, "Do you still want mulled wine today? We didn’t finish making it last night; we can continue today."