Xu Chaomu's head was covered in beads of sweat, and her little hands were wildly grasping at the air.
Shen Chi walked over and grabbed her small hand, feeling its chill.
Xu Chaomu suddenly woke up, with teardrops still hanging in her large eyes. But upon seeing Shen Chi, she wiped away her tears and sighed, "Ah, I had another nightmare—the food in my dream was snatched away by a dog."
Food was snatched away by a dog and you screamed for help? Shen Chi's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Come eat with me!" Shen Chi dragged her up in a domineering manner.
"Eat? I'm not hungry, what's there to eat!" Xu Chaomu was suddenly stubborn.
So if he asked her to eat, she was expected to eat and if he didn't, she wasn't supposed to? She wasn't some little dog he was raising!
"Really not hungry?" He squinted at her.
"Not hungry! I stuffed myself at lunch, I'm still full!" Xu Chaomu turned her head away.
"Okay then, you don't need to eat tomorrow either, just stay here and sleep with Dabai." Shen Chi glanced at the Tibetan Mastiff, let go of her hand, and prepared to leave.
"Hey hey hey, good brother, I just remembered, I have a habit of eating late-night snacks. If I don't eat for a day, I won't be able to sleep! Really! Tossing and turning, it's agonizing," Xu Chaomu pulled at his arm, looking pitiful.
"Now I don't feel like taking you out anymore, I'll have to think about it."
"Brother Shen Chi, you're handsome and dashing, with a promising future, may you live a long life, as enduring as the southern mountains, as fortunate as the Eastern Seas..."
"I don't fall for that."
"Then... Xu Chaomu is a little rascal, Xu Chaomu is a little liar, Xu Chaomu is a little hooligan..."
"Hmm, that's more like it."
Only then did Shen Chi pull her hand and lead her out of the dark little room.
Xu Chaomu's hand was held in his palm, which warmed her heart.
He brought her to the living room, where it was quiet, with just the two of them and a table full of delicious food.
Xu Chaomu's eyes lit up, and without caring about her image, she picked up her chopsticks and grabbed a piece of belt fish.
Shen Chi sat on the couch, casually flipping through a book.
Delicious food, beautiful scenery, a beautiful woman—Xu Chaomu thought life was quite wonderful.
Especially when she sneaked peeks at Shen Chi while eating, making the meal even more delightful.
He was truly good-looking. From the side, his lines were strong, his nose sharp, thin lips slightly upturned, and his eyes focused intently on the words in the book.
While she was staring at him, two cold glances shot over: "Have you had your fill of looking?"
"Who's looking at you? There's a fly on the couch!" Xu Chaomu quickly bowed her head and ate her rice quietly.
"Flies at this time of year?" Shen Chi strode over with his long legs, right up to her.
"If I say there's one, there is one," Xu Chaomu mumbled.
"Xu Chaomu, if you dare lie again, I'll pinch you to death," Shen Chi said.
Lying at such a young age, what would become of her in the future?
"I'm not eating, the fish is all bones!" Xu Chaomu slammed down her chopsticks, widened her eyes, and confronted Shen Chi.
"If you're not eating, then roll back to sleep!" Shen Chi had never seen such a hard-to-train girl.
"To your room?" Xu Chaomu was still glaring at him, shouting for what?
"Roll!" Shen Chi picked up his book and left the living room, very angry.
Once Shen Chi had gone, Xu Chaomu thought, did this mean she had won? Indeed, to deal with someone like Shen Chi, one had to have thick skin!
So she picked up her chopsticks and took a few more bites of food. To be fair, the dishes were pretty good. She hadn't had her fill yet!
The clock on the wall pointed to eleven.
When she stretched and left the living room to go back to her room to sleep, she heard a not-too-loud, not-too-soft argument.
As she passed by the corner of the wall, she swore she wasn't in the habit of eavesdropping. She just happened to hear her own name!
"Zhou Ran, by bringing Xu Chaomu into the Shen Family, don't think I don't know what you're up to," a man's voice said—it was the man from the day.
"Shen Cexian, you can only show off in front of me. I don't believe you feel okay seeing her," that was Aunt Zhou!
Why were they mentioning her?
"Zhou Ran, does it make you happy to torment me?" Shen Cexian spoke.
"Of course, in this lifetime, I just want to see you, Shen Cexian, meet a bad end!" Zhou Ran hissed back.
Xu Chaomu was frightened by Zhou Ran's words; she simply couldn't imagine that such words could come from Aunt Zhou.
In Xu Chaomu's heart, Zhou Ran was beautiful and graceful, effortlessly distinguished, just like a fairy descended from heaven, exuding the fragrance of quiet orchids with every smile and frown.
"Zhou Ran, you don't measure up to her in the slightest," Shen Cexian said coldly.
It was very cold outside, and Xu Chaomu hugged her arms and left. She didn't want to listen anymore; she feared the world wasn't as beautiful as she had imagined.
By the time the late night arrived, Xu Chaomu started to develop a high fever.
She grasped at the bedsheets in confusion, incessantly calling out "Mom".
Her cries went unanswered by heaven and unheeded by earth.
It wasn't until morning that Shen Chi discovered Xu Chaomu was seriously burning up.
"Don't leave me … Mom … don't leave …" Xu Chaomu was delirious with fever, babbling words no one could make out.
Shen Chi had meant to call Xu Chaomu to come downstairs for breakfast, but he found her bedroom door still closed, and no matter how much he knocked, there was no response.
"Xu Chaomu, open the door."
No one answered.
"Xu Chaomu!"
Still no response.
That's when he started to panic, opened the door, and ran inside.
Xu Chaomu's blanket had long fallen to the ground; she tossed and turned restlessly, speaking nonsensically.
Shen Chi rushed over in a few strides, grabbing her arm, only to find that her entire body was burning up, the fever severe!
"Xu Chaomu! Wake up!" Only then did he remember that she had fallen into the water yesterday.
"Mom … Mom … don't go … don't leave Chaomu all alone …"
"What are you saying?" Shen Chi bent down to listen.
But he couldn't make out a thing; Xu Chaomu's eyes were closed, tears lingered at the corners, her expression one of agony.
"What a hassle!" muttered Shen Chi with a reluctant frown.
He made a phone call from within the room, and soon the Shen Family's family doctor arrived.
The doctor measured Xu Chaomu's temperature: "She's feverish, 39°C. I'll start her on an IV drip."
Shen Chi spoke up indifferently on the side, "IV drips aren't good for the body."
"An IV drip will help her recover faster, but if you don't want that, I can prescribe some medicine first to see if the fever will go down."
"Mm."
The doctor took out several boxes of medicine from his medical bag: "Young Master, you must call me if anything happens. Otherwise, if the fever confuses her mind, it will be troublesome."
"I think she's too lucid; a bit of delirium might be just what she needs," Shen Chi said, his face full of disdain.
After the doctor left, Shen Chi didn't go down for breakfast either.
From yesterday till today, he had realized one thing: his mother didn't like Xu Chaomu, and his father liked her even less. Consequently, even the servants had started to mimic the master's sentiments.
Just as his hand touched Xu Chaomu's hair, the girl grabbed his hand tightly and wouldn't let go.
"Xu Chaomu, behave yourself!" Shen Chi warned her.
Xu Chaomu finally woke up and burst into sobs, throwing off the blanket and clinging to Shen Chi.
She wasn't delirious; she was very much awake!
If not now, then when?
She clung to Shen Chi like an octopus; he tried to push her away with all his might but to no avail, as she smeared her snot and tears all over him.
"Brother Shen Chi, I knew you cared about me the most."
"If you died, our family would be criminally liable!"
"So, do you want me to die or not?"
"I don't."
"There you go, you do care about me!"
Shen Chi had a face full of black lines, thinking her logic was utterly nonsensical.
"I'm going to count to three, then you better lie down! One…"
"Two…"
"Three!"
Xu Chaomu didn't budge an inch, her tears turning to laughter: "I won't lie down, what are you going to do about it?"
Shen Chi wished he could throw her out the window; when he, Shen Chi, said to go east, no one ever dared go west!