Chapter 42: A New Day

Having finally finished tidying up after much dilly-dallying, Chu Yitong stared wide-eyed at the strikingly vivid red on the bed, closed her eyes, let out a long sigh, and pressed a hand to her forehead. "What should I do, what should I do? I must be out of my mind!"

Ah, stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it! I'll deal with it first. She flipped back the duvet, pulled out the bedsheet, clutched it to her chest, opened the bedroom door, and pattered rapidly down the stairs. Xie Chenjing, who was currently setting the table, raised his eyes to look at her. "Something the matter?"

"Mm!" She nodded heavily. Yes, there was something the matter—a big matter. But how was she supposed to bring it up? She looked at him, then lowered her gaze, her fingers hidden within the folds of the bedsheet twisting it nervously as her eyes drifted to the dining table. "Um, is there a washing machine at home?"

"At home?" Hm, that sounded exceptionally pleasing to the ear. He turned sideways and pointed vaguely toward a spot not far away, saying with some uncertainty, "There might be one over there?"

"Might be?" She shot him a weird look. Wasn't this his home? Whatever, she'd go take a look; she probably wouldn't get the answer she wanted out of him anyway.

Clutching the bedsheet, she swept past him like a gust of wind and disappeared around the corner in the direction he had pointed. He lowered his raised hand, stood in a daze for a moment, and then returned to the dining table.

She finally spotted the washing machine tucked away in a corner. No wonder he had been so unsure; the thing was still safely trapped inside its cardboard box. Setting the bedsheet down on the floor, she put in quite a bit of effort before finally tearing open the cardboard box. Fortunately, all the parts were there—as long as she hooked up the power and the water supply, everything would be okay. After getting everything set up, Chu Yitong let out a breath and clapped her hands together. "Mission accomplished!"

"Do you need any help?" Startled, she patted her chest and turned around. He was leaning against the corner of the wall, gazing at her intently. In the sunlight, his crisp voice seemed to carry a touch of warmth.

"No need!" She asked *after* she had finished doing all the heavy lifting—where was he when she needed him? Judging by his posture, he hadn't just gotten there a moment ago.

Xie Chenjing gave her a deep look, emotions churning in the depths of his eyes. He slowly straightened up, a smile playing across his features. It seemed he was starting to understand his mother's words a little...

"Yiyi, let's go!" He strode toward the dining room. Behind him, Chu Yitong stared at his retreating back in bewilderment. This man—she still couldn't see through him. No, not that she couldn't see through him; she simply couldn't read him at all. Why?

At the dining table, she focused on eating her breakfast, adhering strictly to the principle of not speaking while eating. And since he was not a talkative person to begin with, the bright morning lost the gloomy volatility of the previous night, turning peaceful and serene. Aside from the occasional faint clinking of utensils, breakfast time passed imperceptibly.

"Yiyi, you're going to be late." Xie Chenjing stood at the foot of the stairs, looking up as a commotion of crashing and rumbling drifted down from the room above. He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. Before all this, she definitely hadn't been this clumsy!

"Alright, let's go!" Having finally managed to dig out her textbooks, Chu Yitong scurried down the stairs in a flurry and asked the person waiting behind her, "Am I going to a school in Anping City?"

"Mhm?"

"Oh, good." So he hadn't sold her off completely after all; at least he had left her a foothold.

Having slept poorly all night, Chu Yitong slumped lazily against the car seat once she got inside, closing her eyes to rest. The smoothness of the ride soon lulled her into a dream.

"It's me." Xie Chenjing glanced at the person in the backseat, turned on the Bluetooth, and lowered his voice. "Today?" He didn't have much recollection of the matter, but today worked well enough. He replied indifferently, "Got it, I know."

On the other end of the line, Zhu Yunsheng shook his phone and frowned. "Idiot Zhao, Chenjing said he knows. What does that mean?"