Zheng Wei handed Shen Xiaoyan a tissue with one hand while patting her back with the other, not forgetting to eye Na Muzhong.
Na Muzhong felt as if she had been struck by a falling meteor.
The two obedient little puppies squatting nearby saw their owner in distress and immediately lifted their heads from their bowls, trotting over to Shen Xiaoyan’s side.
Na Muzhong felt her hidden girlish heart acting up again. Shen Xiaoyan had choked, and all the men and both dogs in the house had come to show concern. Oh! When could she have such a peaceful life?
“Boss, I didn't say anything wrong, did I? This seems quite normal, right?” Na Muzhong asked in confusion.
“You want to find a puppy? Aren't you afraid he'll cheat on you again?” Zheng Wei said crossly. He truly hated the term "puppy" the most in his life, except for his own puppies, of course.
“I’m so beautiful and rich now, what do I have to fear?” Na Muzhong tossed her hair. Her confidence had never reached such a height.
Zheng Wei was speechless.
After Shen Xiaoyan stopped coughing, she took out her phone and typed. She strongly agreed with Na Muzhong’s idea. Na Muzhong had always confined herself.
Seeing Shen Xiaoyan's words, Na Muzhong triumphantly raised an eyebrow at Zheng Wei: “See? The Boss's wife also agrees with me finding a puppy.”
“You like puppies too?” Zheng Wei asked Shen Xiaoyan, gritting his teeth slightly.
Shen Xiaoyan shook her head under immense pressure, then typed another sentence on her phone. This time, she didn’t show the phone but handed it directly to Zheng Wei. Then, she buried her head in eating, as if trying to avoid something.
Zheng Wei took the phone and looked at it. Upon seeing the words on the screen, his entire being brightened.
“I only love you.”
Heaven knew how difficult it was. Shen Xiaoyan was a very passive person, especially in matters of love. To coax her into saying such a sentence was incredibly hard!
“Next time, don’t ask me to treat you to meals! I’d rather eat with a wolfdog than with you two,” Na Muzhong said, referring to Assistant Hou as a wolfdog.
“Then if you have the guts, go eat with Assistant Hou,” Zheng Wei scoffed. He didn’t eat much; he was mostly taking care of Shen Xiaoyan.
In front of him was wine. Just as Zheng Wei was about to drink, Shen Xiaoyan suddenly pushed her glass of milk towards him. She couldn’t speak, so her action was silent. Before Zheng Wei could react, a glass of milk was pushed to him.
“You want me to drink milk?” Zheng Wei rarely drank milk even for breakfast, let alone in the middle of the afternoon.
Shen Xiaoyan nodded, then pointed to the two little ones on the floor.
The two were looking up from their bowls with their heads tilted back. Both had milk around their mouths, and they looked at Zheng Wei adorably.
Zheng Wei knitted his brows. Shen Xiaoyan had already picked up her own glass and started drinking.
She didn't intend to explain anything, but her eyes were always on Zheng Wei, even while drinking milk.
“Xiaoyan, I think…”
Shen Xiaoyan had no intention of listening. Seeing that Zheng Wei wasn’t drinking, she withdrew her gaze and focused on eating.
In reality, her heart was far from as confident as it appeared. She simply thought that Zheng Wei drank alcohol frequently, and too much drinking was not good for his health. Therefore, she wanted to replace his wine with milk.
Zheng Wei’s refusal was understandable; she had overstepped.
Thinking this, Shen Xiaoyan’s eyes flickered, her expression unchanged.
Seeing her withdraw her gaze and honestly eat, Zheng Wei sighed with a chuckle. He reached out and ruffled Shen Xiaoyan’s hair, saying playfully, “Are you imagining things again? Xiaoyan, it’s not that I’m unwilling, it’s just… you’re asking a grown man to drink milk, I have to maintain some dignity, don't I?”
Despite saying so, Zheng Wei very deliberately drank the glass of milk.
Shen Xiaoyan’s ears turned a little red.
As the submission deadline for her work drew closer, Shen Xiaoyan, despite needing daily acupuncture treatments, was not affected in her design work. She no longer went to the group with Zheng Wei, spending her days in her study or the garden, designing with the two dogs.
This busy period continued until she submitted her work.
After sending out her work, Shen Xiaoyan finally breathed a sigh of relief. The sky outside was a little overcast, looking like it was about to rain. Shen Xiaoyan stood up and stretched, then took the two dogs out for a walk. The dogs couldn't be cooped up every day; they needed to be taken out.
“Xiaoyan, are you going for a walk with the dogs? I’m going to the market nearby to buy some vegetables. Want to come along? You’ve been cooped up indoors all these days!” Aunt Na suggested when she saw Shen Xiaoyan about to go out.
The doctor had also said she needed to get out more and maintain a good mood.
Shen Xiaoyan thought about how long it had been since she last cooked. She nodded, pulled the leashes for the two dogs, and went out with them.
Shen Xiaoyan bought many fresh seasonal vegetables with Aunt Na. After returning, she sent Aunt Na back and went into the independent kitchen to start her culinary endeavors. When Zheng Wei returned, his eyes immediately fell upon the slender figure busy in the independent kitchen.
“Where’s Aunt Na? Why are you cooking?” Zheng Wei loosened his tie and hugged her from behind.
Shen Xiaoyan was methodically cutting vegetables. Hearing Zheng Wei’s question, her hands were covered in vegetables, and she couldn’t type. So, she could only smile.
“Submitted the manuscript? Want to cook to reward yourself?” Zheng Wei could now understand Shen Xiaoyan’s thoughts almost effortlessly.
Shen Xiaoyan nodded.
Zheng Wei was reluctant to let her go, but she still had to cook. He thought for a moment and could only release her.
Shen Xiaoyan thought Zheng Wei had gone out to take the dogs, but after she washed a few vegetables, Zheng Wei returned. As Shen Xiaoyan turned to look, she saw Zheng Wei had rolled up his sleeves. He took the vegetables from her hands and, to Shen Xiaoyan’s surprise, his long fingers held the vegetables steady while his other hand expertly chopped them with a knife, looking very practiced.
Shen Xiaoyan’s stunned expression was exactly as Zheng Wei had anticipated. He chuckled as he watched her wide-eyed: “Isn’t your husband very capable?”
Shen Xiaoyan nodded with red ears.
Shen Xiaoyan had bought a lot of fresh seasonal vegetables. The independent kitchen was also very spacious. They worked side-by-side, and the two dogs squatted obediently not far behind them.
When Lin Xin and Lu Taobao arrived, they saw such a heartwarming scene. Zheng Wei was still in his typical white shirt and black pants, only his sleeves rolled up, and he was tasting the food.
Lin Xin, seeing this rare sight, quickly took out his phone to capture the moment.
“Oh no, Old Zheng is really finished this time. When have you ever seen him cook so gently? Back when we were abroad, Old Zheng’s cooking was always fiery and hurried, sometimes just a pack of instant noodles to get by!” Lin Xin exclaimed with lament.
Shen Xiaoyan, though appearing very tranquil, possessed incredible abilities! Zheng Wei, a wolf of the plains, had been tamed by her into a golden retriever.
“Woof woof!” As soon as Lin Xin finished speaking, the golden retriever at home barked at them.
“I have to post this fun photo on Weibo.” Lin Xin was the only one among them who had Weibo. Lu Taobao and Zheng Wei didn’t bother with such things. Lin Xin’s identity wasn’t hidden either, and over time, he had a small group of fangirls who constantly doted on them as “Our Lawyer Yi.”
After posting the photo, Lin Xin added a simple caption: A certain CEO.
In the picture, the couple had their backs to the camera. The woman seemed to be washing vegetables, and the man was tasting the food. Behind them, two little puppies squatted obediently.
Not long after Lin Xin posted, he saw comments flooding in:
“Show us their faces!”
“Is that CEO Lu?”
“Show us more photos! Humph, I’ll forever be the CEO’s unreachable woman!”
…
Lin Xin leaned back on the sofa comfortably. Seeing these comments, he couldn’t help but nudge Lu Taobao with his foot: “Hey, Old Lu, look quickly, someone even said it’s you! They’re overestimating you. You don’t even have a girlfriend now! You’re clearly a lifelong bachelor.”
Lu Taobao gave Lin Xin a cold glance, his eyes full of disdain.
“Alas, why don’t you two start a Weibo account? If you did, the comments section would be full of people wanting to have your babies!” Lin Xin felt that his two brothers were good in every way, except that they were too low-key at times. The internet world was so much fun, but these two neither used Weibo nor played games.
“We don’t need to. After all, we’re not like Lawyer Xu who’s in the entertainment industry,” Lu Taobao scoffed and then went back to reading his newspaper.
Lin Xin looked at the man who still focused on reading newspapers in this new era. He sighed, tapped his second brother’s thigh, leaned forward, and asked, “Hey, tell me, which eye of yours saw me in the entertainment industry?”
Lu Taobao flipped through the financial report in his hand and then said, “You’re not in the entertainment industry, but your girlfriends are.”
“You… Old Lu, others might not know, but you should know that those women were all…”
“Just for show? Then why haven’t you deleted your Weibo account?”
“That’s different, isn’t it? Look, if I didn’t use Weibo, would you two have the reputation you have now? Now everyone knows you two are my good brothers, and everyone wants to have your babies. Aren’t these people’s enthusiastic comments thanks to my Weibo?” Lin Xin pontificated.
Lu Taobao leaned back, turned his head, and said, “Did you hear that? He’s saying we should thank him.”
“You should have babies yourself!” Zheng Wei came out with a glass of red wine. Hearing Lu Taobao’s words, he said to Lin Xin, “You two don’t have to be so cold-hearted! Those netizens also admire your looks!” Lin Xin disagreed.
“Oh, then if you’re so sentimental, you can go have a baby with each of them.” Zheng Wei put down his wine and gestured to Lu Taobao.
Without Zheng Wei needing to say anything, Lu Taobao understood what he meant and turned to help in the independent kitchen to bring out the dishes.
They had eaten Shen Xiaoyan’s cooking once before, and it was incredibly delicious. With Zheng Wei joining in this time, just looking at the dishes promised a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate.
“Wow, it smells so good!” When the food was served, Lin Xin leaped from the sofa like a monkey.
While a few people were clearing the table, Lin Xin snapped several more photos and posted them online, with the caption: “The masterpiece of a certain CEO and his wife.”
Since Lin Xin had specified “a certain CEO and his wife,” and among his good brothers, Zheng Wei was the only married one, the comments immediately started calling out “CEO Zheng, CEO Zheng.”
Not long after this comment was posted, the official Weibo account of Zheng Group directly reposted it, adding a sentence that was completely out of character for their usual official tone: “Please leave our CEO and CEO’s wife alone.”
Upon seeing that the stern Zheng Group official Weibo had reposted his Weibo, Lin Xin exclaimed with excitement.
His exclamation was so sudden that not only the two dogs, but even Shen Xiaoyan was startled.
Seeing Shen Xiaoyan tremble from being startled, Zheng Wei kicked Lin Xin in the backside.