In the afternoon, Qiao Xi took his mother for a stroll in the mall. He bought some decent clothes for her and her father, then sent his mother back before taking a taxi back to the Shen family.
Just as she got off the car, Shen Yeyan's car coincidentally arrived at the entrance to the courtyard. Li Ran rolled down the window.
"Miss Qiao, I'll be taking you a walk."
She had indeed been shopping many times today, and her feet were aching as she went up unceremoniously.
The car put a foot on the gas pedal and drove down the tree-lined path, stopping at the gate.
Li Ran glanced at Qiao Xi and specifically called out to her in a low voice after Mr. Shen entered the car.
"Assistant Li, what's the matter?"
"Let's talk."
Qiao Xi turned around to see that Shen Yeyan had already entered the house and followed him over.
Uncle Liu had tidied up the small garden in front of the Shen family's villa. All kinds of flowers and plants were in full bloom. They stood in the flower beds as they welcomed the golden sunset. Warm rays of light covered the ground.
Shen Ye An stood on the balcony and coincidentally saw the two people downstairs in the flower bed. He didn't know what they were muttering about, but his originally happy mood instantly became agitated. He raised his hand and wanted to throw the baseball beside his hand.
He took a deep breath and turned around to return to his room, still feeling uneasy. When he stood on the terrace again, he found that the two people in the parterre had disappeared, and his mood was even worse.
Qiao Xi stomped up the stairs. Li Ran's words made her feel elated. This was something that had never happened before.
She lowered her head and asked, "Mister Shen?"
There was no response from anyone in the slightly dark room. She leaned her body in and asked, "Mister Shen?"
"Entering as soon as you came in, what are you doing lying at the door?"
"Looking for you in the dark."
"…"
Qiao Xi immediately straightened his body and walked in, smiling at him with curved eyebrows. The woman's almond eyes shone with a dense light that added a bit of luster to her gentle face.
"Congratulations, you've improved quite a bit."
His attitude was arrogant, but his heart and body were very honest. He couldn't help but walk towards her and stopped one meter away from her. His gaze quietly swept over her, from top to bottom, not sparing her a single bit.
When Qiao Xi turned on the light, the room immediately became bright. Her face and eyes were still smiling. Her warm smile was like the March sun, shining directly into his heart.
He already vaguely knew why. Being single for thirty years, he didn't want to refuse and even more so didn't want to alert the enemy. He had a very clear understanding of Qiao Xi's personality, it was suitable for boiling frogs in warm water.
"Can you describe to me the physical symptoms after today?"
Qiao Xi's leg hurt. He pulled over a chair and sat opposite to him. When Shen Yeyan heard the words' afterwards', his thoughts went astray.
When Qiao Xi saw his bronze cheeks slowly flush, she suddenly snapped her fingers in front of his eyes: "Hey, Mr Shen, what are you thinking about?"
After coming back to his senses, Shen Yeyan felt slightly angry and embarrassed. He coughed twice before backing away, his actions full of awkwardness.
Qiao Xi looked at him in confusion. "Mr. Shen, why are you blushing?"
"Hot, very hot." As he spoke, he undid the buttons on his neck.
The central air-conditioning in the room was on, making Qiao Xi feel cold.
"Then can you reply now? What were your physical symptoms afterwards? Trembling, vomiting? "
"Yes."
"How did you get over it?"
Shen Yeyan thought back to that time. When he trembled as he leaned against the door and called Qiao Xi, he heard her sweet voice coming from inside. A voice suddenly emerged in his head. Don't let her see his sorry state.
"Smoke."
Qiao Xi revealed a surprised expression. "If I pounce on you now, can you rely on smoking to alleviate it?"
Shen Yenan crossed his legs and spread his hands on the arm of the sofa as he smiled at her, "Come then."
"…"
Qiao Xi pursed his lips and threw himself into Shen Yenan's arms. Did he want to die? He turned around and left.
Shen Ye An smiled as he watched her figure disappear at the door. Only then did the smile on the corner of his mouth fade as he lowered his eyes in contemplation.
Qiao Xi added another strong line to Shen Yeyan's case. This was a situation that had never happened before.
She looked at the thick case from beginning to end and knew that he had mental problems in addition to his mental illness, and that he might be cured of them by the end of his treatment.
She happily went downstairs and saw a bouquet of fresh flowers on the table. The maid reminded her in a low voice, "It's Valentine's Day today."
Qiao Xi was a bachelor dog, so he didn't pay any attention to it.
She pulled out a bright rose and looked at it. It was beautiful, with droplets of water between its petals. She sniffed it and stuck it back in.
When Shen Yeyan walked over from behind and saw her sniffing the flowers, his heart trembled violently and his chest heaved.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Mr. Shen."
After saying that, Qiao Xi felt a little regretful. Someone like Shen Yeyan, who had been single for dozens of years, would never take off his shirt. Would it provoke him? He carefully looked at his expression.
"Yeah, you have a happy Valentine's Day too."
After saying that, Shen Ye An took out a box from his pocket and placed it in front of her. Qiao Xi was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.
"It's too precious. Mister Shen, you should take it back."
He raised his eyebrows and squinted his long and narrow eyes. There was a hint of danger within, "You want to know the value of it without opening it?"
Qiao Xi had to bite the bullet and open it. Within the beautifully packaged black box, there was a cute woodworking fawn. It was beautifully crafted and carved into a lifelike shape. She took it out and looked at it, estimating that a wood carving was not expensive.
"Thank you, it's beautiful."
"Yes."
Qiao Xi carefully touched the antler, afraid that it would break. He immediately went upstairs and placed it on a shelf.
Shen Yeyan had prepared a present for her on Valentine's Day. She should have prepared a present in return for the gift, but the gift had nothing to do with love.
At noon, she took advantage of Shen Yeyan's resting time and went downstairs to look around the shopping mall.
Madam Shen was in the business center, and there were many large scale business centers around. Since Qiao Xi had gotten familiar with his habits, he would subconsciously touch his sleeves when he got on stage and she would go straight to the counter.
Shen Yeyan liked to keep a low profile. She purposely chose a color design that was mediocre and wrapped it up. When she returned to her office, she found a piece of coloured paper and wrapped it with a slip of paper.
Qiao Xi happily went to Shen Ye An's office. Since he wasn't there, she directly placed the present on his table. When he saw the signature on the note, he immediately knew it was her.
Lin Yinyin happened to see Qiao Xi emerge from the secretary's office. He had clearly taken something with him when he entered, but it was gone. She went out to take a look, then followed him after they left.
There was no one in Shen Ye An's office. She saw the box of gifts that Qiao Xi had placed on the table. It was Valentine's Day today, and she was actually giving a present to Teacher Shen?
Lin Yinyin went mad with jealousy. This woman did not know her own position and actually wanted to provoke Teacher Shen. She did not even look in the mirror to see who she was.
She threw the gift on the floor and stepped on it until the box was stepped on and the cuffs were exposed. With a sneer, she stuffed the gift in her pocket and gracefully walked out, heading straight for the bathroom.
She threw the cuffs and the box into the toilet and flushed them away, feeling better.