CH 24.1

The next morning, Xie Yuran and Zhong Fu came with a stack of documents. 

This time, Xie Shuo didn’t evade Ye An and instead had her accompany him in the study.

Ye An sat next to him and played her part as an assisting wife. 

“Who’s in charge of development on the Ju Family’s side?” Xie Shuo handed his tea cup to Ye An and asked naturally. 

Xie Yuran responded, “Yan Fei. He’s in charge of dispatch in the Ju family. I had people find his information.”

As Xie Yuran spoke, he handed a file to Xie Shuo.

Xie Shuo took it, but he couldn’t see or read it. He pondered for a moment before saying, “I’ll give you the plan tomorrow, and you and Zhong Fu can discuss it in person.”

Ye An, who sat on the side, glanced at the file curiously. When she looked up, her line of sight met Xie Yuran on the diagonal. She paused.

There was a red mark, almost resembling a hickey, on the right side of Xie Yuran’s neck. It was partially hidden by his collar and appeared very suspicious.

What did she just see?

Ye An’s eyes widened to show her obvious disbelief. However, she quickly recomposed herself and looked away, resuming her straight posture and calm expression. 

The three continued talking, but Ye An wasn’t paying attention. Her gaze occasionally flitted to Xie Yuran’s neck.

Half an hour later, Xie Yuran and Zhong Fu left.

Ye An couldn’t hold back her curiosity and leaned towards Xie Shuo to whisper, “Hey, your little brother… does he have a girlfriend?”

Xie Shuo frowned. “Why are you asking about this?”

“I just saw a–”

Ye An wanted to say “just saw a hickey on his neck” but felt it was too awkward to discuss so openly with him. She changed her mind and said, “Nothing, I just thought that it’s time for him to find a girlfriend. If he didn’t have one, I could introduce someone to him.”

Xie Shuo’s expression said, “Are you that bored,” and handed a stack of information to her while ignoring her.

With the intention of having her read it.

Ye An: “…”

You want me as a free reading software with your nasty attitude?

In your dreams!

Ye An imagined throwing him a “haha” emoji but restrained herself and said coldly, “My throat hurts; I’m not reading.”

When she woke up, she had completely forgotten how scared she was of him yesterday and resumed her original arrogance towards him.

Xie Shuo frowned deeper, his expression turning even uglier.

He took the papers back and sat back on the sofa, a cold chill radiating from his body.

Ye An felt ill at ease seeing his appearance.

Can’t this person be a bit more flexible? He pulls out an ugly face every time he gets upset!

A few words to coax me would do just fine, but all he does is make me angry!

She suppressed his anger and slowly approached him to take the papers out of his hand. She began to read with resentment.

Xie Shuo looked up, noticing that his fingers were empty. His knitted brows began to relax after hearing the familiar voice. 

After a while, Ye An finished. She went to the living room to pour two cups of tea.

After returning to the study, she handed Xie Shuo one of the cups and began to complain, “You don’t even respond when I ask you something, yet you order me around to do work. I’m your wife, not your maid.”

Xie Shuo pinched the cup, and pressed his lips together. He suddenly said, “I don’t know.”

Ye An was stunned for a moment before she realized that he was answering her previous “does he have a girlfriend” question. She couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t he your brother? You don’t know whether or not he has a girlfriend?”

“He hasn’t brought anyone home.” Xie Shuo’s brows showed a trace of impatience, and it was obvious that he didn’t want to continue with such a boring topic.

Ye An was still curious and wanted to continue the gossip, but after seeing his reaction, she didn’t continue asking.

Xie Shuo spent most of the day dealing with work affairs in the study. When he was preparing the best course of action, he spoke out loud with Ye An sitting at the computer, helping him ghostwrite.

The typing sounds from the keyboard occasionally mixed with quiet questions.

Although she was a bit tired, Ye An was in a good mood. Xie Shuo was willing to pull himself together and do some work, which meant that her efforts from these past few days were not spent in vain. 

—-

Around four in the afternoon, the two went to the hospital to see Xie Baiyan.

Xie Baiyan sent Ye An away and talked to Xie Shuo for a long time.

During this time, Ye An received a call from Lu Chuan, who said that he had composed a new theme song for a TV series that would suit her very well, and he wanted her to try it.

Ye An was stunned by the sudden invitation and hesitated. Recalling the Xie Family’s turmoil recently, she politely refused. “I’m really sorry Lu laoshi, but I have private matters to take care of these days. Thank you for your offer.”

Lu Chuan didn’t expect her to refuse and was a little surprised. “Was there something wrong with the last collaboration…”

Ye An hurriedly said, “No, please don’t misunderstand Lu laoshi, something happened within my family, and I don’t have any spare time.”

Lu Chuan replied, “It won’t take too much of your time. You can practice at home like last time, and it’ll take just half a day to record.”

Lu Chuan was a senior in this industry, so Ye An could not refuse again and could only say, “How about this Lu laoshi. I’m not sure yet, but I’ll give you a call in the morning.”

Hearing her evade his offer again, Lu Chuan had also lost his patience. He had not reached the point where he had to beg others to accept his work.

Lu Chuan didn’t say much more and ended the call with an “All right.”

Ye An and Xie Shuo stayed in the hospital past eight in the evening. They ate dinner before returning.

After arriving home, the two tiredly took showers and slept early.

Ye An lay on the bed and thought about Lu Chuan’s offer from earlier in the day. She could not sleep even after tossing and turning the whole night.

To be honest, she was quite moved by this opportunity. 

For one, she really liked Lu Chuan’s composition style. Secondly, the production team for this drama had a sizable budget, and if Lu Chuan had personally written the theme song, then the song should be of good quality. 

Although she talked about keeping close to Xie Shuo and living a life of luxury every day, if the opportunity arises, who didn’t want to be independent and have their own career?

She was a woman from the 21st century, and she was a woman with thousands of fans!

At this point, Ye An became even more conflicted.

Xie Shuo was always a light sleeper, and upon hearing the small movements of her pillow, he was also unable to sleep. He opened his eyes.

“Thinking of something?”

The man’s indifferent voice sounded.

Ye An turned and shifted to his side. “Did I wake you up? I was actually thinking of something. Remember how I recorded a theme song for an anime in the past? The composer really liked me and asked if I wanted to record another theme song for a TV series. I kind of want to do it…”

Xie Shuo didn’t understand why she was so conflicted and said quietly, “Take it if you want.”

Ye An’s worries lessened after hearing his reply. Xie Baiyan had specialized workers taking care of him in the hospital and didn’t necessarily need his daughter-in-law to be his caregiver. If she were to take this theme song, it shouldn’t interfere with anything, especially since she was able to practice at home.

She looked over at Xie Shuo’s side. 

The lights in the bedroom had been turned off, so his silhouette was unclear. She could only detect his familiar scent.

Every time she asked him what she should do, he seemed to have the same cold reaction. She didn’t know whether to be grateful for him letting her have some freedom or sad that he didn’t care at all.

Ye An looked at him for a moment and couldn’t resist reaching out from under the comforter and poking him. 

It coincidentally happened to hit his lower back, hard.

Xie Shuo angled his head and asked unhappily, “There’s more?”

Ye An pretended to be half-asleep and yawned. She replied “En,” as if she didn’t understand what he was talking about.

Xie Shuo: “…”

When he no longer moved, Ye An secretly smiled and pretended to accidentally put her arms around his waist.

Light breathing sounded from the other side of the pillow. Xie Shuo frowned, but because he was used to it, he didn’t pull away.