Chapter 58 Tan Zheng Actively Offers to Stay Overnight
Perhaps it was because her father and brother at home were too indulgent towards their wives, that Song Ni thought such behavior was not too excessive. She would now contentedly enjoy Tan Zheng's current care, and would naturally reciprocate in kind at an opportune moment. But clearly, Lu Fang could not understand.
Thus, Song Ni blinked at him and asked rather sharply, "Do you not have a girlfriend?"
Lu Fang: ......
"What does it have to do with whether I have a girlfriend?"
Song Ni lightly tapped her chin, noticing Cheng Ling already standing behind Qin Yang, unbuttoning her apron and helping her remove it. She smiled sweetly. "If a man doesn't treat his girlfriend well, who else should he treat well?"
Lu Fang was stunned for a moment. The question that had been troubling him for years was so easily answered by a girl several years younger than him. That's right, if one doesn't treat their girlfriend well, doesn't treat the person they like well, then who should they treat well? How could he regret for so many days and nights his inability to let go, his inability to stop paying attention to that person, even resorting to childish and malicious tactics.
"What you said makes a lot of sense, but..." Lu Fang picked up a piece of meat and ate it heartily in front of Song Ni. "This is the first time I've seen Brother Tan take care of someone."
Song Ni swallowed, forcing herself to look away. "Really? Then I'm honored." It was strange, she wasn't a very obedient person, but because of Tan Zheng's words, she restrained her current cravings.
Song Ni's walk-in closet was very large. Tan Zheng searched for a while before finding the cabinet where the silk scarves were kept amongst thousands of dresses. By the time he went downstairs, the other three were already tucking in heartily, and Song Ni sat there obediently, not having touched a single dish. The man's mood immediately lifted.
He wrapped the ice pack in a silk scarf and placed it on Song Ni's face. It was too cold, and Song Ni couldn't help but flinch back. Tan Zheng then raised his hand and placed it on the back of her head, controlling her. Song Ni did not like this feeling of being trapped, nor was she accustomed to it. "Perhaps I should do it." She reached out to take the ice pack from Tan Zheng's hand, but Tan Zheng glanced at her, his presence commanding without anger.
Her fingertips touched the silk scarf, now devoid of its usual smoothness after being soaked, and chilled her fingertips to the point of trembling. Song Ni gave up the idea of taking the ice pack. She couldn't help but focus on Tan Zheng's hand. Didn't he feel the cold? How could he hold the ice pack so firmly for so long.
When the ice pack began to melt, Tan Zheng finally removed his hand. Song Ni couldn't help but poke her own face. It was already numb from the cold, completely devoid of sensation.
When Tan Zheng returned after dealing with the ice pack, he saw Song Ni in such a dazed state. The corners of his lips curved upward; this Song Ni was a little too cute. So the man raised his hand and ruffled Song Ni's hair several times, and after ruffling it, he didn't forget to smooth it back down.
Qin Yang, who had been watching the two of them intently, forgot to chew and swallowed directly, choked by the spicy broth and tearing up. Cheng Ling helplessly handed her a tissue. "Why are you staring at Nini while you eat?" Qin Yang coughed desperately, feeling utterly shocked. Was this still the arrogant and unyielding Tan Shen she admired in her youth? So even the most arrogant person had a caring side, a tender side. She couldn't guarantee that Tan Zheng's feelings for Song Ni now were love, but the gesture of ruffling her hair was too intimate. Even if it wasn't love, it was certain that Song Ni was different in his eyes.
As she coughed, she didn't know if the tears in her eyes were due to physiological reasons or a mixture of other emotions. Qin Yang thought that perhaps the arranged marriage between the Tan and Song families would become a cherished tale passed down through generations of prominent families.
Because of the injury on her face, Song Ni's meal was not smooth, nor was it satisfying. Tan Zheng didn't seem particularly interested in hot pot, picking up his chopsticks only a few times as he sat on the side, sipping his wine. Song Ni asked, "Aren't you hungry?"
Tan Zheng leaned back against the chair and glanced at her faintly, his gaze drawn to her flushed lips. He paused, took a napkin, and wiped away some grease, but her lips were still astonishingly red. It reminded him of how they had looked that day on the mountaintop, swollen from his kiss. "Eat less." It would be her who suffered from the inflammation then.
Song Ni also felt her mouth hurting from eating, so she put down her chopsticks. She then noticed Lu Fang drinking heartily, a glass after glass with Qin Yang, while Cheng Ling picked vegetables for Qin Yang, reminding him, "Drink less, eat some meat."
Song Ni's finger hooked her itchy cheek. The steam from the hot pot stung her wrist with a burning pain. "How will Lu Fang get back?" Although her place was spacious, there was only her bedroom available for sleeping; the other guest rooms had not yet been set up. "Have his assistant pick him up."
Song Ni's eyes flickered as she turned to stare at Tan Zheng. "What about you?" Tan Zheng hadn't drunk much, but he was already approaching the legal limit for driving. "Do you have an assistant too?" Song Ni hadn't touched any alcohol, but her face was flushed. The man stared at her for a long time, then suddenly reached out and covered her forehead. Tan Zheng's body temperature was already high, so this wouldn't measure anything. Song Ni blinked, looked at him, and asked again.
Tan Zheng withdrew his hand and then looked down at Song Ni's wounds again. With a smirk, he said, half-truthfully and half-jokingly, "I'll stay."
Song Ni looked up and met the man's deep, abyss-like eyes, unable to discern sincerity. "Are you going to sleep on the floor?"
Hearing this, the man narrowed his eyes slightly, now looking at Song Ni with more scrutiny. He had been to the second floor earlier, and there were quite a few rooms upstairs. Song Ni seemed to know what he was thinking. "Right now, the only room available for sleeping in my house is my bedroom." With that, Song Ni smiled mischievously, her eyes curving. "If you're willing to sleep on the floor, I don't have any objections." Her expression clearly indicated she was certain Tan Zheng wouldn't be willing to sleep on the floor.
Song Ni's thoughts were indeed correct. A man like Tan Zheng would never mistreat himself, never settle for less. But it was precisely her confident demeanor that made Tan Zheng genuinely consider it. He picked up the wine bottle, refilled his own glass, stared into Song Ni's eyes, and drank it down in one go. Then, with a hint of roguishness, he spoke a serious, nonsensical sentence. "I don't have an assistant, so it seems I'll have to stay."
Song Ni's heart skipped a beat. Tan Zheng didn't sound like he was joking. "Really?" The man let out a chuckle from his chest. "Is there any falsehood to it?"
Song Ni fell silent, picked up her milk, and drank it one gulp after another. She wasn't a traditional person, and besides, in a few days she and Tan Zheng would be getting their marriage certificate, becoming, in name, one family, a couple. What concerned her was that Tan Zheng would actually take the initiative to suggest staying overnight. In Song Ni's view, she had always been the active party in this relationship, and Tan Zheng was merely playing along. But now... things seemed to be a little different.
The remaining two chapters will be available at noon~
(End of this chapter)