How does Mrs. Zhou want to punish me, and where does she want to punish me?

“Why are you running? I’m not going to eat you.”

“…”

Whether it was Zhou Shiyu’s words having double meanings or Sheng Sui feeling guilty, the ambiguous question and suggestive tone all made her heart race and face flush.

She was still trapped in Zhou Shiyu’s embrace, his unique male hormones overwhelming her senses.

The man’s left hand gripped her waist, his right hand gently touching the side of Sheng Sui’s face. His tone wasn’t like his usual deliberate teasing—the low questioning voice added a touch of restraint, yet also carried more seductive pressure.

“Why is your face so red?”

“…”

Feeling the man’s chest vibrate against her back when he spoke, Sheng Sui struggled to wake up from drowning in that clean, bitter cold fragrance, finally remembering her purpose for coming to the bedroom: “I just posted something on social media.”

“You—give me a like.”

Swallowing the obvious attempt to cover up her question of “do you think it looks good,” she adjusted her wording, not forgetting to emphasize as she turned back: “This is my first social media post.”

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, spring light was brilliant, jumping light spots falling and dyeing Sheng Sui’s hair tips. Zhou Shiyu looked down to see her solemn expression and curved his lips as he took the phone.

Holding her while unlocking the screen, he opened social media under Sheng Sui’s watchful eyes, found her just-posted content, and first followed instructions to like it.

Zhou Shiyu had already seen this set of photos that Liang Xubai had sent. Still, he clicked to open the photos and flipped through them one by one, his head resting on Sheng Sui’s slender shoulder: “Tell me before you post on social media next time.”

“I want to be the first person to like your posts.”

Sheng Sui pretended to consider this seriously for a few seconds, the curve of her lips betraying her excitement: “Calling you for such small things, wouldn’t that be too troublesome?”

“It wouldn’t be,” Zhou Shiyu looked down, seeing her increasingly frequent and natural little expressions lately, his dark eyes revealing unconscious tenderness,

“Anything about you is only a matter of utmost importance.”

“…I understand.”

No matter how many times she heard the man speak sweet words, Sheng Sui’s heartbeat would still skip erratically. Seeing the fatigue still in Zhou Shiyu’s eyes, she asked softly:

“Is your work always this tiring?”

Usually at home, except for eating and making love, whenever she saw Zhou Shiyu he was working. He never took weekends off, and now even on holidays he couldn’t leave for half a day.

“Most of the time I am indeed busy,” to prevent Sheng Sui from sliding down, the man’s large hand around her waist lifted her up slightly, his thin lips stopping at her ear, the hot breath making Sheng Sui feel ticklish, “I’m sorry for not properly accompanying you during the holiday.”

“I just think you work so hard.”

Sheng Sui felt her neck itch from Zhou Shiyu’s soft fluffy hair, her heart even more itchy. She couldn’t help raising her hand to ruffle his hair, sighing:

“I wish I could help share some of the burden.”

When the woman sighed, the corners of her mouth turned down, the drawn-out ending tone melting his heart. Zhou Shiyu lowered his head more to make it easier for her to ruffle: “After finishing the current project, I’ll gradually withdraw from company management. I won’t be this busy afterward.”

How could such a large company be abandoned just like that? Sheng Sui didn’t take the words to heart: “The milk pudding isn’t ready yet. Do you want to sleep a bit more?”

“Okay,” Zhou Shiyu agreed in a low voice, obviously holding her even tighter,

“Does Mrs. Zhou want to join me?”

Never having thought about it carefully before, Sheng Sui discovered that she actually really liked being held tightly in someone’s arms. Without turning back to look, she knew what the other person’s expression was at that moment.

Being able to know at all times that she was treasured and cared for by the other person was, at least for Sheng Sui, a very important feeling.

Thinking that leaving the milk pudding in the refrigerator longer wouldn’t hurt, Sheng Sui nodded without hesitation.

The next moment, she was effortlessly carried to bed by Zhou Shiyu.

Worried that Zhou Shiyu would again not dare approach because of cold hands, Sheng Sui took the initiative to turn on her side and hold him, her slender arms struggling to embrace the man’s lean waist and abdomen, saying quietly:

“Actually that night, I wasn’t asleep. I also heard you go to take a shower.”

“Mm,” Zhou Shiyu responded in a low voice, his eyes closed so his expression couldn’t be seen, “I shouldn’t have woken you up.”

“You clearly know that’s not what I mean,” Sheng Sui looked up at him in dissatisfaction, thinking that this person in front of her really knew too well how to make her feel distressed, wanting to pinch his mouth, “What I want to say is—”

“Zhou Shiyu, can you also rely on me sometimes in the future?”

“Although I don’t earn as much money as you, and my knowledge and experience can’t compare,” the more Sheng Sui spoke, the weaker her voice became, inexplicably feeling like she was conducting self-criticism. Finally giving up, she buried her head in the man’s firm chest, saying softly,

“But I am your wife.”

Between husband and wife, they should support each other.

“…”

After several seconds of long silence, Sheng Sui only heard a low, hoarse hum from above her head, then heard Zhou Shiyu say gently: “Not just my wife.”

“You are first my beloved,” the man gently and carefully taught her, “Sui Sui, the order is very important.”

Zhou Shiyu’s sweet words these past two days had become increasingly explicit. Sheng Sui slowly blinked in bewilderment, her heartbeat faster than her brain’s reaction.

The hands around her waist tightened. She obediently looked up, meeting Zhou Shiyu’s descending lips that pressed hot kisses at the corner of her mouth, gently yet dominantly prying open her teeth, absorbing nourishment bit by bit.

When she was drowning in passion and unable to extricate herself, Sheng Sui felt the man retreat half an inch, his slightly cool forehead pressing against her sweating forehead, his wet low voice grainy and hoarse: “…Next time you want to kiss, you don’t need to be so careful.”

“I got married so that one day, I could kiss you openly and honestly.”

Cheng He couldn’t leave Zhou Shiyu for a moment. On Friday and Saturday, two consecutive days, the man participated in over thirty video conferences alone, making Sheng Sui secretly click her tongue in amazement.

The two finally decided to take the earliest Sunday flight back to Shanghai.

Secretary Chen was waiting at the airport early. Seeing the two walking from the VIP passage, he hurried forward to greet them, instructing people behind him to take the luggage.

Sheng Sui thought the two men would start discussing business upon meeting and was about to tactfully withdraw when she saw Secretary Chen first bow respectfully to her.

The man even bypassed his boss beside him: “These past two days have been hard on Teacher Sheng.”

“…”

Sheng Sui quickly waved her hands in denial, thinking she was the one being taken care of: “Not hard at all, not hard at all.”

Zhou Shiyu watched his secretary with a half-smile the entire time. When the man reached out to take the luggage, he said lightly:

“You’ve found yourself a good backing now.”

Secretary Chen drove while Sheng Sui and Zhou Shiyu sat in the back of the Aston Martin, watching the spring scenery rapidly retreating outside the window.

In the car, after Secretary Chen finished reporting work progress from the past few days, Zhou Shiyu looked at Sheng Sui beside him who was looking down at her phone, placing his work tablet on his lap: “I need to go to the company first.”

Knowing Sheng Sui didn’t want to widely publicize their relationship, Zhou Shiyu sought her opinion: “Do you want to go home first, or is there somewhere else you’d like to go?”

“…Could you drop me off at my old rental apartment first?”

After hesitating, Sheng Sui still put down her phone, frowning: “My father might be waiting for me there.”

In recent years, apart from sending Sheng Tian fixed living expenses at the beginning of each month, there had never been any other unnecessary communication between father and daughter.

However, this morning while Sheng Sui was on the plane, she had received three missed calls from Sheng Tian.

Unable to wait for her reply, the man finally could only send a message: 【Dad is taking an afternoon flight to Shanghai, wants to come directly to where you live to find you.】

Sheng Sui had already moved. She couldn’t possibly leave Sheng Tian actually stranded in the residential complex to disturb others.

She had told Zhou Shiyu about being abused as a child. When mentioning going to find Sheng Tian, she deliberately softened and slowed her tone, worried that Zhou Shiyu would object.

Hearing this, the man didn’t question it, only considerately asked: “Do you need me to come with you?”

Sheng Sui shook her head, putting his mind at ease: “No need, it’s fine.”

Since university, probably knowing he could no longer control his daughter’s life, Sheng Sui had never again faced her father’s punches and kicks.

In recent years when she started working, Sheng Tian, who now needed her financial support, far from losing his temper and getting physical, spoke with an attitude that could be described as humble and deferential.

The man whose mere sound of coming home and opening the door was enough to make Sheng Sui tremble with fear in the past had long since become nothing to fear in the passage of time.

“Alright, call me when you’re finished.”

Zhou Shiyu always respected her choices, only raising his hand to pinch Sheng Sui’s soft red cheek, light laughter in his eyes:

“I’ll make a rich dinner. You seem to have lost weight these past two days.”

Secretary Chen was driving in the front seat. Sheng Sui caught Zhou Shiyu’s hand, refusing his inappropriate flirting regardless of setting, using her eyes to indicate there was someone in front.

She thought Zhou Shiyu’s condition had probably returned to normal. The past two days he had barely said a sentence, but now he was back to finding ways to tease her.

Half an hour later, the Aston Martin slowly stopped outside the residential complex.

Leaving the luggage in the trunk, Sheng Sui got out of the car, watched the low-key luxurious sedan drive away from view, then turned to walk into the complex.

When nearly reaching the building, she could see from afar a middle-aged man with a hunched figure standing downstairs, wearing a cheap dark green military jacket, carrying a black bag in his hand.

From any angle, Sheng Sui knew her father was an utter scoundrel.

The man used to drink heavily, cheat during marriage, and use violence without reason. In his youth, relying on brute strength and physical size, he had suppressed his former wife and young Sheng Sui until they couldn’t breathe.

The man’s back before her was thin and hunched from illness. Due to decades of construction site labor, his spine and lungs were fragile. Since nearly dying from massive gastric bleeding due to alcoholism four years ago, he had completely abstained from alcohol.

If one word were to describe middle-aged Sheng Tian, “dispirited” would be the optimal answer.

Looking at the man’s back, Sheng Sui also felt somewhat dazed, finding it hard to imagine that such a dejected person had once made her entire youth live in fear.

She had once promised never to care whether the man lived or died, and had sworn to walk away without looking back.

But when the man had massive gastric bleeding four years ago and the hospital urgently called her to sign critical condition notices, when she took the fastest flight home and received news of his survival after hours outside the emergency room, her first reaction was actually relief.

It seemed that in the face of life and death, all past resentments were incomparable.

Sheng Sui couldn’t lie to herself—she hoped the man she called father would live.

After the man’s brush with death, when he woke up and learned that Sheng Sui had helped pay the medical expenses, his first reaction was to stumble down from the hospital bed and kneel crying beside Sheng Sui’s feet, begging the daughter he had beaten not to abandon him.

From that time, Sheng Sui sadly realized she couldn’t bring herself to watch her so-called father die.

Also from that time, she finally understood a principle:

It wasn’t that bad people became good as they aged, but when bad people grew old, they finally felt fear due to the isolation caused by their past misdeeds.

Afraid of having no one to rely on in old age, so desperately trying to please and make amends.

“…Sui Sui?”

Hearing approaching footsteps, Sheng Tian immediately turned to look. Seeing it was Sheng Sui, his cloudy eyes suddenly brightened.

“I called you several times but you didn’t answer. Afraid you were busy, I took the liberty of coming first,” the man handed over the black bag he had brought from far away, his wrinkled face full of smiles,

“Dad pickled some side dishes for you, all your childhood favorites—”

“What do you want from me?”

Sheng Sui coldly interrupted with her hands in her pockets, her peripheral vision scanning the bag and seeing each box of pickled vegetables carefully wrapped in plastic wrap.

She took a deep breath: “I don’t live here anymore. Don’t come here again next time.”

“You don’t live here anymore? I’m sorry, Dad—Dad didn’t know—”

Sheng Tian’s hand hung awkwardly in the air, visibly uncomfortable and uneasy: “Recently when seeing a doctor back home, they said my ankylosing spondylitis already shows obvious thoracic spine changes.”

“The doctor suggested I come to a major hospital in a big city for another look. Most likely I’ll need some kind of herniated disc removal surgery.”

Every two words the man spoke, he would carefully look up at Sheng Sui, afraid any word might displease her: “I haven’t seen you in so long, thought I’d come see you—”

“Let’s go, take a taxi to the hospital.”

Sheng Sui again interrupted the man’s words, her tone icy cold.

She rarely spoke harshly to people, but simply couldn’t manage to be calm with the person before her: “You came to find me and brought these things, didn’t you just want me to take you to see a doctor and pay for your surgery?”

Hearing this, Sheng Tian’s face alternated between green and white, his dry lips mumbling, unable to refute a single word.

Finally, the man sheepishly followed Sheng Sui out of the complex to get in a car. When pulling open the car door and bending to sit in the back seat, his spine tortured by illness resembled withered dry wood from a broken branch—just a light breeze would snap it.

In the taxi, the father and daughter sat one in front of the other in relative silence. Even the driver felt the deathly atmosphere and had to open windows for ventilation, later unable to stand it and turning on the CD player.

Melodious music came from the car’s sound system. As Sheng Sui turned to look at the scenery outside the window to calm her emotions, her phone vibrated in her palm.

It was a call from Zhou Shiyu.

Just seeing the familiar three-character name calmed most of her irritable unease. Sheng Sui answered the phone and heard the man’s gentle voice:

“I’m finished with work. Where are you now?”

“On the way to the hospital,” since Sheng Sui had publicly posted photos on social media last night, there was no need to deliberately hide Sheng Tian, “accompanying my father to see a doctor. Don’t know if we can still get an appointment.”

“No problem, I’ll handle it.”

Zhou Shiyu asked in detail about the hospital they were going to and Sheng Tian’s general condition. Before hanging up, he said softly: “All consequences of violence should be borne by him. Don’t blame yourself, okay?”

“…I understand.”

Zhou Shiyu’s network of connections was, as always, terrifyingly extensive.

From hanging up the phone to when father and daughter got out of the car was only about ten minutes. Sheng Sui hadn’t even walked into the outpatient hall when a waiting young doctor approached respectfully: “Excuse me, are you Miss Sheng?”

“Yes.”

“Director Hou isn’t seeing patients today—he’s in surgery and can’t come immediately. He instructed me to take you both to the third floor for basic examinations first.”

“…Okay, thank you.”

Sheng Sui remained relatively calm, but Sheng Tian had never received such treatment—effortlessly having a chief physician specially see him, even with someone personally escorting them up.

Since someone was accompanying them, Sheng Sui no longer followed into the examination room, deliberately ignoring Sheng Tian’s helpless glances when he repeatedly looked back.

There were no fewer people coming to see doctors on holidays. Spring was also peak season for various diseases. The waiting hall was packed with people, the noise making one’s head ache.

Sheng Sui stood against the wall in the corridor, idly looking down at her shoes. Her gaze unconsciously fell on the black bag at her feet that Sheng Tian had specially brought.

The bag’s zipper had long been broken, the opening revealing transparent boxes. Glancing over, Sheng Sui discovered the boxes indeed contained the pickled vegetables she had loved as a child.

Sheng Tian actually still remembered these things.

It was like two little people fighting in her head—one softening at the man’s thoughtful preparation, the other retorting that this was just Sheng Tian’s trick to use her in the future.

“…Sheng Sui.”

A familiar gentle male voice sounded above her head. Sheng Sui felt the light in front of her dim and looked up to see Zhou Shiyu standing before her. The towering man with broad shoulders and narrow waist walked over like he was on a runway.

Stopping in front of her, Zhou Shiyu calmly asked: “Is he still inside doing examinations?”

Sheng Sui nodded: “Just went in ten minutes ago.”

“Director Hou has a lot of experience in this area. His clinical surgeries are quite authoritative in the field,” Zhou Shiyu never probed deeply, only focused on solving current problems, “you don’t need to worry too much.”

Zhou Shiyu’s presence was a powerful sedative. After a moment of silence, when the surrounding pungent disinfectant smell was replaced by the clean bitter cold fragrance beside her, Sheng Sui spoke softly: “As you know, he treated me very badly before.”

“If I feel moved by his small kindnesses now, would that be equivalent to betraying my past self?”

Zhou Shiyu glanced down at the black bag on the ground, pondered for a moment, and said quietly: “I haven’t thought that much about it.”

“I only hope that you, at this moment, can be a little happier.”

Sheng Sui looked up at him: “What if he’s only doing these thoughtful things for money, not out of guilt wanting to make amends?”

“Then give him money,” Zhou Shiyu’s tone was as light and casual as always, “at least in our household, money is the least valuable thing.”

“…”

Hearing the man say this incredibly annoying yet matter-of-fact statement, Sheng Sui finally showed her first smile of the afternoon.

She was successfully amused, her eyebrows curving as she asked back: “If money isn’t valuable, then in your eyes, what is actually worth anything?”

“Many things,” seeing a glimmer of laughter appear in her eyes, Zhou Shiyu’s dark eyes behind his glasses were equally gentle. He raised his hand to ruffle her slightly messy hair, his warm voice clearly articulating each word,

“For instance, your smile just now—in my view, it’s incredibly precious.”

“…”

“Actually, I’ve wanted to say this for a while,” having vaguely realized certain emotional changes since yesterday, Sheng Sui no longer hid some words, though she was still not very skilled at expressing them, her lowered voice tense,

“Zhou Shiyu, do you know that sometimes when you speak, it’s really against the rules?”

In the corridor, people came and went busily about their own affairs, no one knowing what the two were discussing.

Zhou Shiyu raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this, his dark eyes thoughtfully flickering for a few seconds before he slowly and methodically asked back:

“Since it’s against the rules, how does Mrs. Zhou want to punish me, and where does she want to punish me?”

“—At home, in the car, or should we find a secluded place in the hospital?”

The dignified and elegant man bent down to meet her eyes, making a gentlemanly gesture of listening attentively, then smiled slightly:

“I would be more than happy to comply.”