Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase-Chapter 361 - 339: Together Forever

When the car drove into Yunding Palace, the rain hadn’t stopped yet, rustling as it fell on the greenery in the courtyard, a natural white noise.

The car door opened, and Shen Jianian stepped down with the cake.

Fu Jichen got out from the other side, carrying the flowers Shen Jianian had given him.

Passing through the living room, Fu Jichen handed the flowers to Cheng Jin, instructing her to find a vase and bring them to the third-floor bedroom. After a few steps, as if suddenly remembering something, Fu Jichen stopped and turned back to tell Cheng Jin, "Leave them downstairs for now, send them up tomorrow morning."

This meant he didn’t want any disturbances for the rest of the evening.

Whether Aunt Cheng understood Fu Jichen’s implied meaning or not, Shen Jianian understood, feeling a bit embarrassed to see what expression Aunt Cheng might have, she lowered her eyes and was the first to enter the elevator.

Back in the bedroom, Shen Jianian placed the cake on the table, took off her jacket, and redid her slightly disheveled hair into a low ponytail.

"Give me the lighter," Shen Jianian reached out a hand towards Fu Jichen.

"In the pocket of my pants," Fu Jichen, freeing both hands from untying his tie, gestured for her to get it herself.

Shen Jianian’s hand reached into his pants pocket, finding only his phone before switching to the other side and retrieving the lighter. She opened the cake box, revealing a chocolate mousse that’s not very large, topped with strawberries, mangoes, and kiwifruit.

She pulled out two numerical candles from the paper bag and placed them on the cake, her expression somewhat excited, even happier than on her own birthday.

Fu Jichen, in just his shirt, tossed his untied tie aside, with two buttons undone at the collar, slightly open, revealing his refined collarbone, watched Shen Jianian’s every move with a smile in his eyes.

Shen Jianian was adjusting the lighter with her head down, trying several times without success, then turned her neck to seek help from Fu Jichen: "Could it be out of fuel?"

Fu Jichen sighed softly, came closer from behind her, wrapped around her body, and held her hand with his, guiding her on how to slide the lighter’s wheel.

"Like this, with a bit of force, you see?" Fu Jichen’s voice beside her ear was low and warm, "If you slide it slowly and lightly like you just did, it won’t light one hundred times over."

Shen Jianian responded with an "Oh."

Following her words, the lighter flickered to life with a pale blue flame, and she brought it to the candle wicks to ignite them. Shen Jianian shook her hand slightly, extinguishing the flame, closed the metal lid, and tossed it onto the table, stepping away from Fu Jichen’s embrace, she turned off the bedroom lights.

Rain poured outside, with no moon or stars, leaving only the warm flickering candlelight indoors.

"Wait a moment." Shen Jianian, wearing slippers, ran back and forth busily, pulled out a crown made of stiff cardboard from the bag, secured the connection, and raised it high, placing it on Fu Jichen’s head, clapping her hands together, "Now it’s perfect."

Fu Jichen frowned, looking extremely awkward, and raised his hand to touch the crown on his head, but before he could take it down, Shen Jianian stopped him verbally: "You’re not allowed to take it off."

"I stopped wearing these things when I was six." Fu Jichen tilted his head slightly to look at her, his eyes filled with helplessness.

Shen Jianian stifled a laugh, saying, "Exactly, helping you return to innocence."

"Return to innocence?"

"Mm." Shen Jianian couldn’t hold back, her mouth corner lifted, and she laughed out, "Okay, quickly make a wish and blow out the candles, or they’ll burn away."

Fu Jichen looked at the flickering candle light, and her face within it, feeling moved yet slightly troubled, hesitating to proceed to the next step.

Shen Jianian simply stood on tiptoe, personally covering his eyes with her hands: "Okay, you can make a wish."

Fu Jichen saw no way out, seriously thinking for a moment, and silently made a wish in his heart: May he and Shen Jianian grow old together, lifetime after lifetime, forever and ever.

"Finished." Fu Jichen spoke, indicating she could let go. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Shen Jianian removed her hands, didn’t ask what wish he made, only urged him, "Blow out the candles."

Having gone this far, it wouldn’t make sense to hesitate, so Fu Jichen, willing to comply, bent down to blow out the two burning pink candles, quickly taking off the crown from atop his head, and punitively putting it on Shen Jianian’s head.

Shen Jianian, fearless of embarrassment, smiled at him wearing the crown.

No matter how many years passed, Fu Jichen thought, he shouldn’t forget this special birthday.

He, like a childish child, wore a paper crown, had his eyes covered to be urged to make a wish and then blew out the candles. The girl who covered his eyes told him, "The ceremony is complete, your wish will come true."

She didn’t ask, so he didn’t say what his wish was, but she said his wish would come true, and he felt very satisfied; they would be together forever and ever.

With the bedroom in darkness, Shen Jianian reached out both hands to fumble for the lights, Fu Jichen stopped her movement: "You sit still, I’ll go turn on the lights."

Shen Jianian obediently sat back, her fingers finding the lighter she set down earlier, flipping the lid, sliding the wheel, striking a flame to illuminate Fu Jichen’s way.

Fu Jichen was turned away from her, noticing her intention, his lips curved slightly, and moved to the wall under the faint light to press the switch.

The room was instantly filled with light, bright and clear.

Shen Jianian picked up a plastic dinner knife, cut a piece of cake, placed it on a white porcelain plate, and pushed it across the table. As Fu Jichen walked over, she said, "I mentioned earlier not to make it too sweet, try it."

Saying this, she was about to cut a piece for herself. Fu Jichen looked at the cake piece on the plate, he was sure he wouldn’t finish it: "We can share this one piece, it’s enough."

"Hmm?" Shen Jianian paused her cake-cutting motion and looked up at him.

"This piece is too big."

Shen Jianian glanced at it, it did seem a bit too large, so she packed the rest of the cake, placed it in the fridge, and shared the same piece with Fu Jichen.

She scooped a spoonful and fed it to him first, watching as he opened his mouth to eat it, she asked, "How does it taste?"

As she said, the cake was very low in sweetness, with a rich chocolate flavor, a hint of bitterness, mixed with the taste of cherries and rum. Fu Jichen raised an eyebrow, answering, "It’s okay."

Shen Jianian scooped a spoonful for herself, and her taste buds were instantly captivated, her eyebrows raised: "It was worth the long selection, it’s really delicious."

Fu Jichen laughed.

One piece of cake gradually disappeared as they took turns eating bites, the last piece was scooped by Shen Jianian and fed to Fu Jichen. He hesitated, then opened his mouth to eat it, but in the next second, he pulled her by the wrist into his arms and kissed her lips.

Both had the slightly sweet and bitter taste of chocolate in their mouths, indistinguishable from each other.

Shen Jianian’s brain, already a little tipsy, went completely dizzy after the kiss. Her hands resting on his shoulders felt limp, and slowly, she melted into a puddle, leaning against his chest.

The kissing moved to the sofa, Fu Jichen’s breathing grew deeper, calling her name now and then, Jianian, wife, baby, taking turns.

Shen Jianian didn’t know what he was calling her for, she just responded to each call, it sounded like a moan...

Fu Jichen suddenly leaned close to her ear and whispered something, Shen Jianian’s hazy mind cleared a little, she looked at him with a flushed face, dazed for a few seconds before realizing he was asking where her long red gauze dress was.

Sure enough, she had guessed earlier that when he said "keep the dress, wear it back home" at the theater, it had a deeper meaning.

"...in the bag," Shen Jianian heard herself honestly answering him.

She had been led astray by him, actually telling him the truth.

Fu Jichen left briefly, and when he returned, he had her purse in hand, pulling out the crumpled-up red gauze dress she had stuffed inside, asking for her opinion: "Want to put it on?"

*

When boarding the plane with the team members, Shen Jianian was still worried about what Aunt Cheng would think seeing that pile of red scraps in the bedroom.

She regretfully covered her eyes, thinking she should have found a plastic bag to pack it up and secretly throw it away...

Shen Jianian sighed silently, put on a sleep mask to rest, but the thought of it kept her awake.

"Jianian, are you feeling unwell?"

Speaking from the seat next to her was Wen Ran, also the cellist in the band. Seeing Shen Jianian tossing and turning, she assumed she was unwell.

Shen Jianian pulled down her sleep mask and smiled at her: "No, I can’t sleep, a bit restless."

Wen Ran handed her a wireless earbud she had: "Want to watch a show? I downloaded an entire series, just finished airing recently, it’s really good."

Shen Jianian waved her hand to refuse: "No, thank you."

Wen Ran didn’t ask further, put the earbud back in her ear, and continued watching her show.

Shen Jianian pulled up her sleep mask, lost in thought for a while, not knowing when she fell asleep.

Noticing peripherally that Shen Jianian hadn’t moved and seemed to have fallen asleep, Wen Ran shifted her gaze from the tablet, looking at Shen Jianian’s face, which was partly covered by the sleep mask, revealing only a delicate chin and faintly pursed pink lips.

Their symphony orchestra had a single-woodwind format, over thirty people, three cellists, she and another male had been in the job for over four years, and Shen Jianian became the principal as soon as she joined. The string section all followed her lead, even though she wasn’t much older.

The manager must have been interested in Shen Jianian’s family background, after all, she was the wife of the president of Jun Mountain, how could they not give her face.

Even if Wen Ran was resentful, there was nothing she could do about Shen Jianian, she, a small figure, still hoped to support her family with this job, hardly comparable to the privileged Shen Jianian.