Chapter 10

After saying goodnight to Mo Shaoshang, Wen Yinong all but fled back to her bedroom.

She changed out of her clothes, removed her makeup, and took off all the jewelry she’d been wearing.

When her fingers touched her left ear, her soft earlobe felt bare.

One earring was missing.

Wen Yinong was puzzled. She turned her head and looked around but couldn’t find it.

Maybe it fell off at the Queen Bee Bar earlier?

...Forget it. It wasn't valuable anyway. She let it go.

After a hot bath, she lay down on the soft, king-size bed and felt her tension start to fade.

She picked up her phone, ready to scroll through social media to take her mind off things, when the screen lit up with a new WeChat message.

Wen Yinong opened it and saw it was from Jiang Shu.

Jiang Shu: "Ms. Wen, did you get home safely?"

Out of politeness, Wen Yinong typed: "I’m home, thanks for asking. Mr. Jiang, enjoy your night."

Jiang Shu replied almost instantly: "I'm on my way home too."

Wen Yinong was a bit surprised and typed: "Did you all call it a night already?"

Jiang Shu: "No, Xu Fei and Su Wanxin are still partying. I had something to do, so I headed back first."

Wen Yinong replied: "I see."

Wen Yinong replied, "I see."

At the top of the chat box, the words "the other person is typing" appeared. Shortly after, Jiang Shu's reply refreshed: "Actually, I rarely go to bars. I only hang out with friends occasionally." [Smile]

Seeing this, Wen Yinong couldn't help but purse her lips.

She hadn't eaten pork, but she'd seen pigs run.

Although she had never been in a relationship, as a perfectly normal adult woman, she didn't lack the most basic perception of matters between men and women.

Earlier at the bar, Wen Yinong had faintly sensed Jiang Shu's favor towards her. Now, he was taking the initiative to explain that he wasn't a regular bar-goer. Clearly, he cared about the first impression he had made on her.

Wen Yinong tapped her phone screen with her fingertip.

To be fair, Jiang Shu was a pretty good catch: handsome, a decent job, a clean family background, and he was well-spoken and polite.

However, when it comes to feelings, worldly "checklists" don't always apply.

Wen Yinong just wasn't feeling it with Jiang Shu.

She thought for a few seconds, then typed on the keyboard, her tone still polite and keeping her distance: "It's totally normal for adults to unwind at a bar. No big deal."

Jiang Shu: "Mm."

Jiang Shu added: "I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea about me."

Wen Yinong: "Nah, you're overthinking it."

After sending this, Wen Yinong casually switched out of the chat with Jiang Shu and started a game of chess to chill.

Start of the game.

The opponent made the first move.

Jiang Shu's messages kept coming in, one after another, mostly sharing random funny stuff or trivial things.

Wen Yinong was busy strategizing her chess moves, only replying with a few emojis here and there.

The game ended, and she crushed it.

The person on WeChat seemed to finally notice her distraction and politely asked, "Teacher Wen, are you busy?"

Wen Yinong stood up to pour herself a glass of water, typing with one hand while drinking: "Mm-hmm. Just playing a game."

Jiang Shu: "Haha, figured. Go ahead and play. We'll talk when you're free."

Wen Yinong sent a waving emoji and was about to dive back into the chess game when her phone pinged again: Ding!

This time it was Su Wanxin.

Su Wanxin, all gossipy, got straight to the point: "So? How'd it go? What do you think?"

Wen Yinong asked, confused: "How about what?"

Su Wanxin: "Jiang Shu!"

Su Wanxin: "I've got sharp eyes! He's totally into you!"

Wen Yinong: "Yeah, I guess."

Su Wanxin: "So, what do you think of Jiang Shu? He has a good job, a good family, and he looks good too. Although he's not quite on your level, gorgeous, he won't embarrass you if you take him out. I think he's a solid choice!"

Faced with her super enthusiastic friend, Wen Yinong could only reply truthfully: "Jiang Shu's not bad."

Su Wanxin: "Wait, is there a chance?!" "Rubbing hands together excitedly."

Wen Yinong sent a 'fidgeting fingers' emoji: "...But you know, you can't force these things."

On the other side of the screen, Su Wanxin instantly sounded super disappointed: "You didn't like him again? My dear Little Teacher Wen, you're so detached from worldly desires, I seriously don't know what kind of guy could catch your eye and make your heart race."

Reading her friend's message, Wen Yinong was a little stunned.

Make her heart race? What kind of man?

The question was like a pebble dropped into the still lake of her heart, sending ripples through it.

The next second, she inexplicably pictured a pair of deep, dark blue-black eyes, behind gold-rimmed glasses, watching her quietly and intently...

After just a few seconds, Wen Yinong suddenly snapped back to reality, flustered, and her cheeks flushed uncontrollably.

She shook her head vigorously, annoyed at herself for having such a ridiculous thought, but her palms were sweaty from that sudden flutter.

After a long pause, once her heart had stopped racing, she moved her fingers back to the chat, with a hint of curiosity she didn't even realize, and asked: "What's the standard for making someone's heart flutter?"

Su Wanxin: "There's no one-size-fits-all standard. It's a mystery."

After a few seconds, Su Wanxin added another sentence, blunt and direct: "But according to my personal feeling, in the beginning, you miss them when they're not around, and get inexplicably nervous when they are. During the honeymoon phase, you just want to be glued together and roll around in bed all the time."

Wen Yinong: "..."

Su Wanxin: "Crude but true" "Shrugging"

Wen Yinong's face was burning, and her mind was a mess. She wasn't about to continue this R-rated conversation with her friend.

She abruptly changed the subject: "By the way. I lost an earring, silver, geometric shape. Do you remember it?"

Su Wanxin: "No"

The two chatted about this and that for a while, then ended the conversation.

Wen Yinong originally wanted to play another game of chess, but for some reason she no longer had the heart. She simply put aside the messy thoughts, put down her phone, slid into bed like a little fish, and pulled the covers over her head to sleep.

*

The next day, the faint light of dawn dispelled the silence of the night.

Mo Manor slowly awakened in the pale golden morning sun. The distant lake was shrouded in gauze-like mist, and the garden plants were covered in crystal dewdrops.

It was like a secluded paradise, extremely quiet.

Today was the weekend.

According to the previous agreement, Wen Yinong had a half-day off this morning. Without setting an alarm and having gone to bed late last night, she woke up at around 10 o'clock.

She stretched comfortably, got out of bed, and just finished brushing her teeth when a soft knock sounded at the door.

Wen Yinong quickly wiped her mouth and went to open the door.

Outside the door was a woman in a uniform, with her long hair neatly tied up at the back of her head, a beautiful face and smiling eyes. It was Aunt Zhang, the housekeeper's assistant.

She was holding an exquisite tray with a variety of dishes on it.

The nutritional balance was perfect, and it looked delicious.

“Aunt Zhang? How did you...” Wen Yinong was flattered and quickly reached out to take the tray. “You didn’t have to bring breakfast up to me. I can go downstairs and eat.”

Aunt Zhang smiled respectfully and warmly, explaining, “It was Mr. Mo’s instructions. He said Ms. Wen came back late yesterday and told us not to disturb your rest, but to bring breakfast up after you woke up. I heard movement from your room downstairs just now and guessed you were awake.”

So it was Mr. Mo’s idea...

After hearing this, a subtle ripple passed through her heart. She felt a bit grateful for her employer’s thoughtfulness, but also a little embarrassed by the ‘special treatment’ she got for waking up late.

After a moment, she nodded. “Thank you.” She paused and then asked with concern, “Where is Ari?”

“The young master is in the garden.”

“Okay, I see.”

She finished breakfast as quickly as possible, Wen Yinong changed into a light-colored autumn dress and went downstairs.

When she found Ari, a gentle smile spread across her lips as she took the child’s soft, tender hand.

The two of them, one big and one small, walked side by side along the manor’s artificial lake. After strolling for a while, Wen Yinong led Ari to an open spot on the lawn and they played with a digger puzzle.

The child’s mood today was unusually calm.

Although this ASD child still had no verbal communication with the young rehabilitation therapist in front of him, occasionally he would take the initiative to hand her a puzzle piece.

These small interactions made her genuinely happy.

At eleven o’clock sharp, the butler Uncle Heng appeared punctually to take Ari to his regular music therapy class.

Wen Yinong waved to Uncle Heng and Ari, then stayed alone by the lake to tidy up the scattered toys.

The sunlight was warm and pleasant, casting a comfortable glow.

With such good weather, her mood was also good.

Wen Yinong even started humming softly.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, her gaze sharpened and her cheerful humming came to an abrupt halt.

Wen Yinong turned her head, a little confused.

A dark figure was leaning against a maple tree, his dark blue eyes staring intently at her with a gloomy gaze, as if he had been watching her for some time.

At that moment, the sunlight was perfect, casting dappled halos around the man through the golden leaves. He was bathed in light, shedding some of his usual sharpness and taking on an air of detached laziness and nobility, like a scene from a movie.

Thump, thump.

For some reason, Wen Yinong’s heartbeat sped up a few beats. After a moment, she took a deep breath, forced a smile that looked natural onto her face, and took the initiative to greet, “Good morning, Mr. Mo.”

Mr. Mo did not speak, but simply watched her quietly for a while. Then he parted his thin lips slightly and asked blandly, “Did you oversleep this morning?”

“...” ?

When his words landed, Wen Yinong was momentarily stunned. Half a second later, she came to her senses and alarm bells immediately went off in her head—

Oh no! What did he mean by that? Was he going to blame her? For sleeping in so openly? But weekend mornings were her time off...

All kinds of thoughts swirled chaotically. In the blink of an eye, Wen Yinong’s fair face turned red with embarrassment.

Uncertain of the employer’s intentions, she was extremely nervous and didn’t know how to answer. After a few seconds, she pretended to be calm, touched her earlobe, and stammered out an answer: “Well... um, there were no classes scheduled this morning, so I slept a bit longer. I did wake up a little late. I’m really sorry.”

But the expected rebuke didn’t come.

The next moment, Mr. Mo shook his head. “No need to apologize.”

Wen Yinong’s eyes flickered with confusion.

His dark blue eyes looked at her, and he continued calmly, “Ms. Wen, you're cute when you oversleep.”