Chapter 141: Chapter 141

"Hmm?" Without hearing her answer, Fu Jichen lowered his head, gazing into her eyes, and asked based on his own guess, "Did she embarrass you?"

Shen Jianian shook her head: "No."

Since she chose to hide it in front of Wei Ronghua, she naturally wouldn’t complain behind her back.

Fu Jichen wasn’t unwilling to believe her words; he just didn’t trust Wei Ronghua. With her strong personality, it was impossible for her not to react at all to Jianian appearing in his office.

He kept asking, "She didn’t bully you either?"

Shen Jianian knew she couldn’t deceive him; she wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing out a smile at the corner of her lips: "At most, she just expressed that my being here might affect your work, nothing else."

"You don’t have to listen to her." Fu Jichen didn’t want to mention Wei Ronghua again. He picked up the takeout on the table for her, "It’s still hot."

Shen Jianian opened the paper bag; it was a cup of milk tea. The various toppings were packaged in plastic containers. Perhaps not knowing which toppings she liked, he ordered every kind, totaling more than a dozen boxes.

If you added all of them, it would no longer be drinking milk tea but eating porridge.

"I already had a cup of sweet soup on the way here. Consuming so much sugar isn’t good, right?" Shen Jianian wasn’t anxious about her figure; she was considering her health.

Fu Jichen, with unfinished work to handle, didn’t have time to chit-chat with her, sitting on the executive chair behind the desk, focused on the computer screen, moving the mouse, and responded to her: "If you don’t want to drink it, just leave it. No need to force yourself."

Shen Jianian opened the cup lid, added a few toppings, put the lid back on, unwrapped the straw, and inserted it through the opening in the lid, handing it to Fu Jichen: "You drink half first, leave the rest for me."

Fu Jichen’s gaze moved from the computer screen to her face, with slightly raised eyebrows, like he was saying, are you serious?

"There’s tea in the milk tea, it’s refreshing and energizing." Shen Jianian said earnestly.

Fu Jichen smiled faintly, making Shen Jianian feel a bit embarrassed: "If you don’t want to drink it, then forget it."

Just as she was about to withdraw her hand, her wrist was grabbed by Fu Jichen. He took a sip through her hand, and a soft, sweet, and sticky pearl entered his mouth.

His brows furrowed immediately, he released her hand, pulled a tissue from the box on the desk, wrapped it around what he spit out: "What is this?"

"Brown sugar pearls." Shen Jianian replied, seeing his slightly disdainful expression, she squinted her eyes with a smile, "Haven’t you ever had milk tea? Don’t even know about pearls."

Fu Jichen of course knew milk tea contained pearls. As she said, he’d never had it nor did he have the desire to try. If it wasn’t for her handing it over today, he might never have tried such a thing in his lifetime.

Shen Jianian teased, "Isn’t it delicious?"

Fu Jichen’s mouth was filled with sweetness, even the root of his tongue felt sweet: "If it’s delicious, you should drink more."

Shen Jianian saw that he still had work to do and didn’t want to engage him in idle talk, otherwise, she would truly become the vixen as described by Wei Ronghua, disrupting his work.

She held the milk tea and sat on the sofa in the guest area, flipping through a foreign novel taken from the bookshelf. The straightforward translation dropped into her eyes, but couldn’t enter her heart.

Wei Ronghua’s words were like a magic sound, reverberating in her mind over and over.

"As long as I’m around, it’s impossible to let you enter the Fu Family’s doorstep; advise you to give up any ideas early."

"If you have any sense, you’ll leave on your own, to spare any embarrassment. When even the old man can’t tolerate it, you might not have a good ending."

"Hope you won’t regret what you said today."

Each word was like a sharp knife, piercing into her heart.

Fu Jichen formed a fist with his hand against his chin, quickly browsing the dense text on the computer screen, occasionally glancing at Shen Jianian.

Every time he looked, she was in the same position.

Fu Jichen simply stared at her, three minutes passed, and the book spread open on her knees hadn’t turned a page. He deliberately asked, "What book are you reading, so entranced?"

He suddenly spoke, startling Shen Jianian. She looked towards him, her lips showing an awkward smile: "I was distracted."

Fu Jichen didn’t inquire further, slowly shifting his gaze away, and returned to his work.

At twelve twenty-five in the morning, Fu Jichen finished his work, about an hour and a half later than expected.

He shut the computer off, stood up, and walked to the sofa.

Shen Jianian had already fallen asleep, her head resting between the sofa armrest and the back, curled up, covered with a dark gray blanket he brought from the resting room for her.

Looking at her peaceful sleeping face, Fu Jichen regretted it a bit. Had he known, he wouldn’t have asked her to stay with him; she could have slept peacefully at home.

Fu Jichen bent down to pick up the book dropped on the carpet, glanced at the title, placed it on the coffee table, and uncovered the blanket to lift the sleeping person.

Just as he took a step, the person in his arms stirred.

Shen Jianian squinted her eyes, every bone in her body soft, leaning lazily against him: "Are you done?"

Fu Jichen’s heart softened: "Yes."

"What time is it?" Shen Jianian’s voice was weary, "Is it time to go home?"

"It’s twelve thirty." Fu Jichen saw she was too tired to open her eyes. If they went home now, it would still take half an hour. Glancing at the darkened door to the rest room, he softly suggested, "Why not just stay here for the night?"

Shen Jianian struggled to open her sleepy eyelids, now double-folded: "In the office?"

Fu Jichen didn’t reply, carrying her around the office setup, lightly kicking the wall, and a door opened inward, revealing a separate room.

Since the door and wall were the same color, they almost blended together, making it unnoticeable unless you paid attention.

Walking in, every home essential was there, just like the outside office. On the east side were floor-to-ceiling windows, with the curtains open. After midnight, the outside lights were sparse.

Fu Jichen placed her on the bed, went out to turn off the office lights, then returned, looking at the half-asleep person collapsed on the bed, a slight smile curling his lips.

He opened the wardrobe, inside hung a few men’s business suits and a small number of home clothes. He took out a black pajama top for Shen Jianian: "Change into this, it’ll be more comfortable for sleeping."

Shen Jianian lay with her side face resting on her arm, eyes half-closed. She picked up the garment from the bed with the other hand and shook it, speaking slowly: "Why is there only a top and no pants?"

"The pants are too long; you can’t wear them." Fu Jichen laughed, "The top’s enough to serve as a nightgown for you."

Clutching the garment, Shen Jianian slipped under the covers, removing her long dress and leggings, pulling on his pajamas. The silky fabric felt cool against her skin, half driving away her sleepiness.

Fu Jichen fetched another set of pajamas for himself. Seeing her looking slightly more refreshed than before, he asked, "Do you want to take a shower?"

The head of Shen Jianian poking out from the quilt shook: "I took one at home."

Fu Jichen went to shower in the bathroom, not lingering too long, finishing in about ten minutes, and lay down on the bed, immediately drawing her into his arms, like a kind of muscle memory.

Smelling the fresh scent of his post-shower skin, Shen Jianian felt the rest of her drowsiness vanish, and she asked him a rather abrupt question: "Do you have a bad relationship with your mother?"

Fu Jichen, with eyes closed, his chin resting on her forehead, his breath paused for a moment: "Why ask that?"

"Just... a feeling." Shen Jianian couldn’t quite explain.

Mother-son interactions are definitely not as intimate as mother-daughter ones. She hadn’t seen much of the mother-son dynamic, being familiar only with Pei Che and his mother. Their chats and laughter radiated warmth and harmony.

Fu Jichen and his mother didn’t seem close, even distant and aloof.