In the afternoon, after having lunch and coaxing Fu Nanzhi to sleep, Shen Yi finally left the house.
Driving past Jingyuan University, Shen Yi couldn't help but feel nostalgic.
With September approaching, there were already many returning students at the entrance, though some might be freshmen registering.
Watching the bustling crowd, he felt a sense of melancholy.
The people and events of one's youth are always hard to forget.
He had attended Jingyuan University, a prestigious institution ranked among the top 20 nationwide.
Songping Garden, the villa area, was quite close to his alma mater.
Shen Yi had studied design, and after graduation, he was recruited into the massive entity known as Tiancheng Group.
At the time, everyone envied him for the high salary, good treatment, and numerous benefits.
Looking back now, it wasn't wrong to say that although the salary was high, so were the expenses, leaving little savings and no hope for promotion.
After working non-stop for over two years, he was just treading water.
Despite being trained in design, he ended up being overworked in the advertising department.
The traffic light turned green, and Shen Yi shook his head to clear his scattered thoughts.
Soon after, Shen Yi returned to his rental room and pushed open the door.
Though only a day had passed, life seemed to have changed dramatically.
"Eating soft rice can save decades of struggle..."
Shen Yi had thought about striving on his own, but the system simply wouldn't allow it, giving him a shortcut instead.
Looking around, the small room of a few dozen square meters naturally couldn't compare to a large villa.
It wasn't that he was being pretentious; it was just a sigh from the heart.
It definitely tasted good, but enduring hardship was not in Shen Yi's nature.
He went to the bedroom to drag out his suitcase and packed his few pitiful clothes inside.
He filled it up nicely with both important and unimportant miscellaneous items.
Dragging the suitcase out, Shen Yi realized as he was leaving that he had only rented this room for a mere three to four days.
Yet it felt like a long time had passed.
It would be troublesome to cancel the lease on such short notice, and finding someone to sublet to would be difficult in such a short time, so Shen Yi decided to let it be.
"Just leave it be; the rent is cheap anyway."
With no attachments, he put the suitcase in the trunk and drove back.
Returning to Peaceful Lake Residence, Shen Yi took the clothes and other items out of the suitcase and put them away.
Before they were married, they had always lived here, familiar with every aspect as if it were their own home.
Pushing the door into the bedroom, Shen Yi shook Fu Nanzhi, who was still deep in sleep.
"Lazy pig, wake up."
Fu Nanzhi opened her eyes groggily, instinctively pulling Shen Yi down to lie with her.
Her body ached from sleeping so well, and not only did she not want to get up, but she also wanted Shen Yi to stay with her.
Shen Yi naturally refused,
"Sleep a bit during the nap; sleeping too long can cause headaches, and then you won't be able to sleep at night."
But Fu Nanzhi just made a whining sound, refusing to open her eyes no matter how much he pushed her.
Seeing this, Shen Yi had no choice but to use his trump card, reaching his hand under her blanket.
Suddenly, Fu Nanzhi's eyes widened, a blush spread across her neck, and she was instantly awake.
The soft touch made Shen Yi's heart sway, but he quickly withdrew his hand.
However, Fu Nanzhi reacted quickly, grabbing Shen Yi's arm and preventing him from escaping.
"You're so naughty, husband. I like it."
Shen Yi struggled to free himself from her grip but couldn't, so he gently said:
"Be good, wake up and get out of bed, it's already past two, you've been sleeping for a long time."
"That's because you're here."
Fu Nanzhi would never have acted like this before, but with Shen Yi around, anywhere she lay felt like a comfort zone, and she was too lazy to move.
Seeing her open her eyes, Shen Yi let her be.
He walked into the wardrobe, cleared some space, and hung up his clothes.
By the time he came back, Fu Nanzhi was already tiptoeing off the bed.
Shen Yi hurried over to help, but Fu Nanzhi pushed him away,
"I feel much better, let me try walking on my own."
Despite limping, she managed to stand firm, after all, she was young and recovered quickly.
The afternoon was still long, and Fu Nanzhi was not very mobile.
So, the two had no plans to go out and instead snuggled on the couch to watch a movie.
A pretty good romance film, where the protagonists went through various hardships, broke up and got back together, and finally ended up together.
A bit cliché and somewhat torturous, but ultimately, they achieved their happy ending.
Since Shen Yi had seen it many times in simulations, he wasn't very moved, but Fu Nanzhi was tearful every time.
No help there, due to her face blindness, each viewing felt like the first.
Even though she knew the plot inside out, she couldn't remember who the protagonists were.
"This female lead is such a fool, clearly in love yet she insists on playing games."
Fu Nanzhi leaned against Shen Yi, commenting as they watched:
"Why be so melodramatic, look, she almost let someone take advantage of her."
"If it were me, I wouldn't pay attention to those petty rumors, a hundred percent trust would've spared all this drama."
"You think so, right, hubby?"
Shen Yi chuckled, teasingly flicked her nose, and said:
"By your logic, there wouldn't be any drama, the story would end in ten minutes."
"Straight to a warm bed with a wife and kids."
Fu Nanzhi was laughing joyously when her expression suddenly stiffened, reminded of something very important.
Or rather, something she had subconsciously forgotten.
"What's wrong? Nanzhi."
Shen Yi noticed Fu Nanzhi had been quiet for a while and couldn't help but ask.
Fu Nanzhi came back to her senses, forced a smile, and said:
"Nothing, lovers destined to be together, what's wrong with a happy ending?"
"That's where you're wrong, people don't feel it's real unless it happens to them, they like stories full of twists and turns, smooth sailing seems boring."
"Besides, isn't the perfect ending good? At least the director didn't go on a killing spree."
Shen Yi played with Fu Nanzhi's hair as he spoke.
Fu Nanzhi bowed her head, emotions swirling in her eyes,
"A perfect ending, huh..."
Night fell, the curtain of darkness adorned with stars, creating a stunning painting.
The two had dinner early, washed up, and lay in bed.
The TV was on the news, but Fu Nanzhi wasn't really listening.
Under the covers, she fidgeted like a caterpillar everywhere.
"Stay still."
Shen Yi frowned and gave her a pat on the bottom as a reprimand.
Fu Nanzhi paid him no heed, instead tugging vigorously at the drawstring of Shen Yi's shorts.
"Don't bite off more than you can chew."
Shen Yi shifted his body to dodge her hand, knowing that if things heated up, it would be Fu Nanzhi who'd suffer.
Her eyes whirled around,
"I'll eat."
"You eat what? It's barely been a day, and you've already forgotten the pain once the wound healed."
Shen Yi responded without any warmth.
Fu Nanzhi argued:
"I'm really much better, didn’t you see I could walk by myself this afternoon?"
"That still doesn’t make it okay, the swelling hasn’t gone down yet."
Fu Nanzhi hugged Shen Yi's arm and nuzzled it, looking pitiful:
"It's okay, just be gentle."
Then she extended a finger, pleading:
"Just once, please, just once?"