There was some traffic during the end of the workday. When Huo YanXiao arrived home, Nie AnAn had already finished making three dishes. All she has left to do was to stir fry the vegetables and reheat the soup that she had made earlier.
Hearing some noises, she turned around and saw Huo YanXiao walking inside. He was wearing a suit.
His brows and eyes were fierce and penetrating. As open as his features were, due to his lofty aura, it exuded a sense of asceticism. Yet Nie AnAn knew better than anyone else that the way he has climbed to where he was today was definitely domineering and violent.
Huo YanXiao's eyes lingered on Nie AnAn's small and bright face for a little while before he looked away and composed himself.
"Big brother," said Nie AnAn as she looked up. She was still wearing her apron. When she turned around, perhaps because she wasn't feeling well and her low blood sugar, she stumbled a little and was about to tip over.
The man reached out his arms at the perfect moment, caught her, and Nie AnAn slammed into his broad chest.
His chest has the smell of lime and was somewhat pleasing to the nose.
Nie AnAn looked up. Her face was a little pale in color. She looked like she'd pass out again at any minute and even her words were weak and helpless, as though she was pleading, "I lost my footing. Big brother, just go wash your hands and dinner will be ready shortly."
Just look at how pitiful she was. She was in this shape and still made dinner for him. She must be the best sister in the world. Let's see if he'd reward the girl who just came to this strange world a shred of kindness.
Huo YanXiao's hand was still lingering on Nie AnAn's waist. Seemingly unintentionally, his fingers gently brushed past a specific spot on her back.
Just that one touch, and he felt the half-moon shape protrusion. That was a scar left behind from a fight when she was just 12 years old.
Huo YanXiao didn't show anything on his look, but a shred of doubt crossed his mind –
She was her, but also not her?
Or, she was just like him…
Huo YanXiao let go of Nie AnAn.
Once she had regained her balance, he said, "Let the servants take care of that in the future."
"That's alright. Lately I find cooking quite interesting and I think I have quite the talent too!" Nie AnAn nonchalantly explained away her recent changes.
Huo YanXiao didn't comment on what she had said, but turned around to go to his room to change and tidy up.
After he came downstairs, he saw appetizing and delicate dishes on the dining table.
Both Nie AnAn and Huo YanXiao ate quietly, until Huo YanXiao, as though just randomly chitchatting with her, said, "AnAn, I signed the contract with the Qin's today."
Nie AnAn looked up. With a shred of naivety in her limpid eyes, she responded, "Oh great, it sounds like your company is getting better and better."
Huo YanXiao, while drinking his soup, seemingly nonchalantly mentioned, "There's only one Qin's in Capital City. This is Qin ZiMing's family we are talking about."
"Oh," said Nie AnAn as she put a piece of fillet into her mouth. The freshness of the fish spread in her mouth. She smiled at Huo YanXiao and said, "Big brother, I don't like him anymore."
"Is that so?" Huo YanXiao locked onto Nie AnAn's eyes and said what he wanted to probe the most, "I've heard that the Qin's and the Nie's wanted to form an alliance through a marriage. It was very unfortunate that Nie ChengFeng isn't into Qin ZiMing's sister, and the Nie's didn't have a daughter who could marry Qin ZiMing."
Nie AnAn processed his words in her mind, and her heart almost skipped a beat. She remembered something that she had read in the discussion forum.
She didn't actually read the book to the very end because Nie AnAn, the character with the same name as her, had died a horrible death. She quite liked Huo YanXiao when she was reading the book, except she read from a spoiler that Huo YanXiao also died from some illness in bed at the end.
Which was why Nie AnAn barely skimmed the rest of the plotline after the death of the original owner and missed a lot of the details.
She did, however, skimmed the discussion forum on this book right before she had the accident on the plane.
One of the comments was this, "Oh sh*t, I was wondering why Nie AnAn's last name was Nie. It was because she has always been a part of the Nie's! Darn, had she known all along, what was the point of doing all those things that she did? Hahaha, this author was cruel!"
Which meant, Nie AnAn, the original owner, very well could be the long-lost daughter of Nie's, one of the prominent families in Capital City.