At this moment, Shu Nian finally remembered where this familiar feeling came from. Before the New Year, in a scene she had dubbed, there was a line about what it feels like to have a secret crush on someone.
Seeing that person makes you happy, washing away all the bad feelings of the day;
Simple conversations from before now require careful thought before you dare to speak;
You’ll think about their words or small gestures day and night;
Whenever they come close, regardless of what they’re doing, your heart races, you can’t catch your breath, as if the entire sky has exploded into colorful flowers.
These feelings perfectly overlapped with what she had been experiencing lately. Shu Nian could find countless points of resonance in these words.
She had to admit it.
She seemed to like Xie Ruhe.
Even more, she now had an illusion.
It was as if they were dating.
Shu Nian raised her hand, took the donut from him, and ate it by herself. She knew she wasn’t good at lying and feared her feelings would be obvious, so she simply remained silent.
Although Xie Ruhe’s gesture could inspire endless imagination and seemed extremely intimate to her.
Despite this, she didn’t dare to ask.
Xie Ruhe’s condition was improving, and before long, he would be completely better.
By then, he would no longer need to stay at home all day, feeling inferior and desperate because of his disability. He could go out to see the sun, tease stray cats on the street, and embrace the world.
For Xie Ruhe, this was probably just a small accident in his life.
Although she had heard that his temper wasn’t good, during the time they spent together, Shu Nian felt he wasn’t as bad as rumors suggested. His appearance was striking, his family background excellent, and his professional abilities outstanding.
He was a dazzling presence that was hard to ignore.
Even though Shu Nian kept telling herself it wasn’t necessary, she still felt inferior.
She felt that his current behavior was probably just due to their time spent together, creating a kind of dependent emotion, but it couldn’t be called “liking.”
Seeing this scene, Fang Wencheng, sitting on the other sofa, suddenly realized that his existence seemed even more redundant than before. Amid all those pink bubbles, he was like a glaringly bright light bulb.
He finally became self-aware: “I’ll go make a phone call.”
Suddenly, only the two of them were left in the house.
Shu Nian was still lost in thought, absentmindedly biting into the donut. When eating, she looked like a little hamster, yet didn’t make any sound.
Awkward silence.
Xie Ruhe made no further moves, leaning back against the chair, watching her discreetly.
Sensing his gaze, Shu Nian bit off the last piece of her donut and suddenly said: “Let me get you some water, you must be tired after walking outside for so long.”
As Shu Nian was about to stand up, she suddenly realized her slippers were gone.
She liked being barefoot and often unconsciously kicked off her slippers at home without thinking of changing this habit. But usually, she only did this when she was alone.
Shu Nian hadn’t expected to do this in front of Xie Ruhe.
She felt a bit embarrassed, thinking she had kicked them under the coffee table. She tried to stretch her foot to feel around and see if she could find them.
The next moment, Xie Ruhe leaned over, as if he had eyes on the bottom of his feet. He accurately retrieved a pair of slippers from under the sofa and placed them in front of Shu Nian.
After completing this series of actions, Xie Ruhe leaned back against the chair, his demeanor both lazy and dignified. He lowered his eyes and said calmly, in a narrative tone: “You like to kick them backward.”
During this visit, Shu Nian mainly wanted to see him, chat with him, and accompany him during rehabilitation. Doing things like friends would at a small gathering.
But now she didn’t know what to say.
What she wanted to say, she seemed to have already told him on WeChat.
As for rehabilitation, Xie Ruhe had just walked a long distance outside. And from their previous conversations, Shu Nian understood that he had rehabilitation training both morning and evening.
So, he should have just finished his training not long ago.
This awkward atmosphere continued for a while.
To find something to do, Shu Nian ate four donuts in a row, until her stomach was too full to eat more. She couldn’t help asking: “Aren’t you going to eat any?”
Xie Ruhe lifted his eyelids, glancing at the two remaining donuts on the table: “You eat them.”
Shu Nian honestly said: “I can’t eat that many.”
Xie Ruhe’s response remained indifferent: “If you can’t finish them, just leave them. Weren’t the remaining two meant for Fang Wencheng?”
Hearing this, Shu Nian turned to look at him, her gaze flickering, then glanced toward the doorway.
Her eyes were evasive, like a guilty child.
Then, Shu Nian lowered her voice, hesitantly saying: “Can’t we not give him any?”
“…” Xie Ruhe paused, “What?”
“Just…” Shu Nian said honestly, “If you want to eat them, then let’s not leave any for Assistant Fang.”
Xie Ruhe’s lips curved upward, his voice stretching out, the end of his words tilting up.
“Not for him, but for me?”