“Dalang, it’s time to get up and take your medicine.”

The first person to know about Sheng Sui’s afternoon visit to the psychiatry department was unexpectedly her younger brother Xu Yanze.

After dinner, while Zhou Shiyu was cleaning up in the kitchen and Sheng Sui was carrying Ping’An to the bathroom for a bath, she unexpectedly received a text from her half-brother.

Ping’An was extremely fussy when getting his nails clipped but unusually well-behaved during baths. Not only did he cooperate throughout, but when Sheng Sui scrubbed his belly, he even closed his eyes contentedly and began purring.

The phone on the vanity vibrated. Sheng Sui wrapped the clean kitten in a thick towel, lifted him from the bathtub, and walked to the marble counter to pick up her phone.

【Xu Yanze: Are you sick? A friend of mine went to the hospital this afternoon and said he saw you on the fourth floor psychiatric department】

Then he sent a picture. Though blurry, the slender woman in the center was unmistakably recognizable as Sheng Sui from her profile.

Seeing the image, Sheng Sui couldn’t help frowning.

Why would Xu Yanze’s classmate know what she looked like?

Not knowing if boys nowadays all lacked boundaries, Sheng Sui only felt that Xu Yanze’s questioning crossed the line.

Given that his intentions weren’t malicious, she still replied distantly but politely:

【ss: Not sick, study hard and don’t worry about other things】

He replied instantly: 【Verbose. Today’s monthly exam results came out, my grade ranking is more than enough for X University’s juvenile class】

Xu Yanze’s previous mention of testing for the juvenile class wasn’t a joke?

Sheng Sui frowned, sensing something was wrong. She sat on the toilet lid, first drying the water droplets from Ping’An’s body, then continued typing her reply:

【ss: Are you really planning to apply for the juvenile class? Did your parents agree?】

【Xu Yanze: What else? Do you think I was joking with you?】

“……”

Sighing that teenagers were indeed both bold and difficult to manage, Sheng Sui put down her phone without replying further, lowering her head to continue grooming and drying Ping’An’s face.

As she groomed, she suddenly remembered what Sheng Tian had mentioned at his hospital bed during the day about the distribution of demolition compensation.

There were two names on the property certificate, so logically the demolition money should be split equally between them.

According to Sheng Tian, if he died unexpectedly, with a clear will in place, his inheritance—mainly that demolition payment—would be entirely managed by Sheng Sui.

But if the situation were reversed and something happened to Yu Xuemei, because of her new family formation, things would be completely different.

Without a will, Yu Xuemei’s current spouse and her legal son Xu Yanze would both share that demolition money with Sheng Sui.

To ensure all the demolition money went to Sheng Sui, upon learning the news, Sheng Tian had immediately called a lawyer and was even ready to write a will without hesitation.

The logic was sound, but as his daughter, Sheng Sui knew all too well that with Sheng Tian’s limited vision and connections, he would only directly approach Yu Xuemei after being discharged.

Where would he have the brains to find a lawyer, let alone write a will?

Someone must have hinted at this and even provided specific methods.

When Sheng Sui carried the cat to the living room dryer, stepping out of the bedroom, she saw Zhou Shiyu sitting on a high stool at the dining room bar counter looking at his computer, long legs stretched out, and suddenly had a suspicion.

On the way home from the hospital, she had tried searching with different keywords but could no longer find any videos of that year’s hospital incident.

Something that had shocked the entire region couldn’t have disappeared without a trace—someone must have deliberately removed it.

Besides Zhou Shiyu, Sheng Sui couldn’t think of a second person with such capability and determination to not let go of even something from thirteen years ago.

If it were the old Sheng Sui, she would probably have asked roundabout questions, been immediately seen through, and easily led astray by Zhou Shiyu.

Shaking her head with helpless laughter, Sheng Sui crouched in front of the dryer, put the cat inside, touched paws with Ping’An through the barrier with her finger, then stood and walked toward the dining room.

As she approached Zhou Shiyu, Sheng Sui reached up to remove the gold-rimmed glasses from the man’s face, but her slender waist was first encircled by strong arms, steadily lifted by Zhou Shiyu and placed on his lap.

Her nose filled with the man’s unique slightly bitter cold woody fragrance, Sheng Sui’s back pressed against Zhou Shiyu’s solid chest. Her shoulders sank as she heard the man resting his head on her shoulder whisper in her ear:

“Speak up.”

“What do you want to do today?”

Hot breath fell against her neck, making Sheng Sui feel her ears itch. She turned sideways to look back at the refrigerator, asking:

“On the way back, I specifically queued for half an hour to buy tiramisu from Asen’s shop. Would you like to try some?”

Zhou Shiyu was skilled at making desserts. Sheng Sui had previously thought romantically that he learned for her sake, but later discovered the man seemed to have some preference for sweets.

“Showing excessive courtesy without reason,” Zhou Shiyu was obviously difficult to fool, holding her in his arms and gently rocking, eyes narrowed, lips curved in a low voice,

“Some people seem to have impure motives.”

“I need oil paint for tomorrow’s class and forgot to buy it on the way back,” Sheng Sui wrapped her arms around the man’s neck, lip corners curved in shallow dimples, “Without materials, I might get scolded by the teaching director.”

“So,” she leaned forward to kiss Zhou Shiyu’s lip corner, her watery eyes bright, “Could Mr. Zhou let me go to the study to borrow some paint?”

“……”

Which study had oil paints, and whether special schools would use high-cost, high-difficulty oil painting instruction—both understood perfectly well.

This lie of Sheng Sui’s really wasn’t very clever.

Zhou Shiyu knew she was lying, and Sheng Sui also knew the man had long understood her impure motives.

She was determined to enter that study room legitimately once more.

Initially, Sheng Sui had felt apprehensive, but facts once again proved that as long as she didn’t follow his train of thought, getting Zhou Shiyu to compromise wasn’t difficult.

After several seconds of silent confrontation, Zhou Shiyu’s dark eyes behind his lenses were full of Sheng Sui’s expectant gaze, ultimately showing that familiar helpless yet indulgent expression.

He set her down, reaching up to gently ruffle Sheng Sui’s hair: “Mm, go ahead.”

The closed space with tightly shut doors was reopened. Using the doorframe as a boundary, behind was warm yellow light, but stepping half a foot into the room would plunge one into darkness from all directions.

What met the eye were wooden bookshelves filled with painting tools and brushes, wall-mounted bookcases, and further inside the small room, artworks once again covered with thick white cloth.

The warm, spacious room was always filled with a strange, decadent atmosphere.

Zhou Shiyu stood expressionlessly outside the door, warmth fading from his eyes. Only after Sheng Sui’s entire body had disappeared into the dimness did he frown slightly and follow.

Compared to Zhou Shiyu’s resistance, Sheng Sui calmly walked into the dark room, peacefully passing that painting, and went straight to the scattered oil paints in the corner, crouching down.

By the threads of light from overhead, she carefully selected several colors, looking up to ask: “May I take these six?”

Suppressing the rising discomfort, Zhou Shiyu looked down upon hearing this, seeing in the darkness that fair-skinned Sheng Sui seemed like the only source of warmth and light—

If one ignored the woman’s bare feet without shoes or socks.

Sighing as he removed his shoes, Zhou Shiyu approached and crouched in front of Sheng Sui, his gaze falling on her pearl-like rounded toes, dark eyes slightly deepening.

Encircling the woman’s slender ankle with his hand, he touched Sheng Sui’s instep, his fingertips greedily feeling its warmth, voice slightly hoarse:

“Why did you come without shoes—lift your foot.”

“Zhou Shiyu.”

Sheng Sui suddenly called his name softly from across, finally revealing her purpose: “Can I take all your medicine out, and we go outside to a bright place to take it?”

“……”

After a long silence, only the sound of tiny claws on the ground could be heard approaching from far to near—it was Ping’An coming over to join the excitement, trotting along with his little bottom wiggling.

Approaching and stopping, the curious furry cat head looked back and forth between the two, fine white whiskers trembling with each breath.

The little kitten tilted his head thoughtfully for a moment, amber-like eyes rolling around. After considerable contemplation, he solemnly placed his small paw on Sheng Sui’s instep and meowed softly and sweetly.

“Meow~”

“See, Ping’An supports me too.”

Sheng Sui thought the treats she usually fed him weren’t wasted, satisfyingly rubbing the fragrant little cat head. When she looked at Zhou Shiyu again, she spoke with considerable confidence:

“There are three family members, three votes to two. Mr. Zhou should follow the majority.”

The cheerful female voice with pleasant laughter seemed to have magic, diluting Zhou Shiyu’s discomfort at entering this space. Combined with the camping trip in the car where he had already taken the first step half-willingly, taking the second step forward seemed to become a matter of course.

The woman before him was slender, her ankles and wrists something he could control with one hand, her narrow shoulders and flexible waist seemingly breakable with ease.

Yet it was this petite Sheng Sui who recently made Zhou Shiyu repeatedly unable to resist the impulse to lay down his burdens and depend on her.

Lowering his head to carefully put slippers on her feet, seeing them extend a full section beyond hers, Zhou Shiyu suddenly curved his lips in a smile.

In the surrounding dimness, he looked up, seeing strands of hair fallen on Sheng Sui’s nose tip. His index finger knuckle brushed them away, voice gentle:

“For this, you queued for half an hour outside to buy cake?”

“Not entirely.” Sheng Sui rubbed her face against the man’s finger, supporting herself on the ground to lean closer, round eyes blinking slightly, breath warm and soft.

She reached out to touch Zhou Shiyu’s slightly cool cheek, the paints in her arms scattering on the ground: “At the time I just thought, if your future life could also be a bit sweeter, that would be good.”

After her words, a surrendering sigh echoed in the room.

Ping’An was startled and jumped away. When lips and teeth intertwined, even Zhou Shiyu marveled that he had never imagined there would come a day when in this shameful room, he could still hold Sheng Sui in his embrace, repeatedly wishing he could meld her into his body.

Bipolar disorder had planted a time bomb in his brain, making Zhou Shiyu constantly vigilant against all external temptations.

The pleasure from just kissing was like floating on clouds, not that it didn’t make him feel dangerous, but it all couldn’t compare to Sheng Sui arching her soft, flexible waist to lean forward, completely cooperating with his deep kisses.

It wasn’t until his back hit the massive easel with a muffled sound that Zhou Shiyu regained his senses. Before conscious thought, his body had already embraced Sheng Sui to prevent the painting from falling and hitting his lover.

Instead, it was Sheng Sui who emerged from his embrace, bright eyes looking over with cunning laughter in their depths:

“Since you haven’t refused for so long, I’ll consider the matter of going out to take medicine as your agreement.”

Speaking thus, she struggled to get out of Zhou Shiyu’s embrace.

Zhou Shiyu saw her achieve her goal and in the next second would happily get up to leave. Thinking of something, he suddenly curved his lips in a low laugh, shaking his head helplessly.

Rarely hearing Zhou Shiyu laugh aloud, Sheng Sui turned back curiously: “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, just suddenly thought of a phrase.”

Low laughter echoed. Zhou Shiyu leaned back against the easel, his collar unbuttoned by two buttons, revealing a large expanse of cold white skin. Combined with shoulders trembling lightly from laughter, he had quite a seductive air.

Sheng Sui could hardly resist the masculine charm at home, moving her gaze away from his chest, clearing her throat to ask again:

“What did you think of?”

Zhou Shiyu seemed genuinely amused. Only after several seconds did he stop his shoulders from shaking, slightly raising his eyebrows with mock seriousness:

“—Dalang, it’s time to get up and take your medicine.”

“……”

Sheng Sui got goosebumps from the chill, seeing that Zhou Shiyu’s eyes no longer held that prematurely mature steadiness but rarely showed some brightness and vitality appropriate for his age, couldn’t help the corners of her mouth curving upward.

In this room that both had avoided just days ago, she said with feigned disgust:

“Zhou Shiyu, how did I never notice before we married that you’re really so childish?”

“Too late,” the man wouldn’t be outdone, taking pride in it: “Now Mrs. Zhou must follow her husband through thick and thin.”

“It seems I can only reluctantly accept it.”

Sheng Sui’s eyes held deeper laughter, bending down to extend her hand toward him, wanting to personally pull Zhou Shiyu up from the darkness,

“So my dear Mr. Zhou, can we go out to take medicine now?”