Her eyes twinkled like the stars, and she shrugged. "I'm just curious."

"Do you think that your Mr. Mu is the kind of person who goes to such places?" Mu Yuchen looked at her thoughtfully.

"Then, why did you say that you've seen Xi Xinyi in a nightclub in New York?" She lifted a hand to gather her messy hair as she asked disapprovingly.

"I just said that I seemed to have. It's been so long. How would I remember whether I've been there or if I've seen her?"

"How despicable!"

As she listened to him, Xi Xiaye's beautiful face could not help but flash with a faint ripple, yet her eyes filled with a warm light. She looked down at his large hand that cupped the back of her hand.

"You didn't hurt your shoulder injury, did you?" Mu Yuchen did not bicker with her further. He just asked her softly as he leaned towards her, yet she just turned her head away and looked out the window. She answered plainly, "It's fine!"

He laughed and without saying anything anymore, he just sped up.

The car sped all the way to Grand Waves Villa area as Xi Xiaye stared out of the car window. The sky was also gradually turning dark outside. When they drove past the supermarket near the Grand Waves Villa area, Mu Yuchen finally stopped the car. She figured that she had to make a trip to the supermarket too.

There were many people in the supermarket since everyone was preparing to purchase Chinese New Year goods. All the hampers and gifts on display filled one's eyes with glitter. They had just walked through the supermarket entrance when piles of festive items greeted their sight.

Mu Yuchen frowned slightly as he watched Xiaye get the trolley. He fell silent for a moment before walking over.

Xi Xiaye watched as he took the trolley over from her, his handsome brows furrowing. Then, he turned to look at her, his gaze as clear as autumn water. She could not help but ask, "For someone as prestigious as you, is it your first time in the supermarket?"

Nevertheless, Mu Yuchen gazed at her as if he wondered if she was a moron. "Did you think that all the yummy food you ate at home before this had flown into the refrigerator by themselves?"

"Mr. Mu, I notice that you have a bad habit — you keep attacking me with your speech and your tone is very unfriendly like a military instructor treating his troops. In fact, don't think that I don't know. Those ingredients were all bought by either Ah Mo or Li Si..." Xi Xiaye smiled as she glanced at him.

His long arms circled and then held her by the shoulders. He pushed the trolley with one hand and smiled, not bothering to defend himself. "If I really were a military instructor, I would've removed you by now. With your attitude, I'd give you 50 points at the most for your total assessment score."

"Why don't you just give me 60? In fact, don't you know that giving 59 points is even more savage than giving 50?" Xi Xiaye raised her brows and looked puzzledly at him.

"Because 59 points will make you guys remember more. Did you think that this score was simply given out?"

...

A while after, Xi Xiaye had already tossed a bunch of things into her trolley, but Mr. Mu had put a lot of things back from behind her. The reasoning was simple: no taking junk food that allayed one's hunger!

No wonder this woman was so skinny.

Now that he thought about it, if a person lived alone, they would usually be more carefree, especially the working class. When they were usually hungry for a meal, they would eat the next meal. Sometimes if they were too tired when they reached home after work, they would lie on the bed and wake up to the start of a new day.

Even though Mu Yuchen came from a prestigious family, it was obvious that Mu Tangchuan and the rest did not raise him like a prince. On the contrary, after he entered high school, the family did not give him anymore allowance. The old fellows from the Su family and the Zhou family had discussed and agreed to all do the same. Su Chen and Zhou Zimo were raised like that too. After that, they were even sent off to a military academy where their days were pretty arduous.

The three buddies had hustled for a livelihood before, so they knew the feeling extremely well.

Now, all of it was different...

"Don't eat these things anymore. Otherwise, why do you think we got married for?"

His deep yet sensitive voice suddenly echoed. Under Xiaye's shocked gaze, he reached out to take over the hardtack in her hand and put it back onto the shelf.

Seeing her empty hands, Xi Xiaye was stumped and her twinkling eyes suddenly flashed with a faint light. A sense of ease ran through her indifferent face as she looked at him, then quietly lowered her eyes.

Yes, she was used to it...

Every time she shopped at the supermarket, she would stop at these items out of habit — hardtack, instant noodles, or food like frozen dumplings...

She fell silent for a moment. After thinking about it, she then suddenly felt a little pained in her heart. As she blinked, there was an instance when she could not help but be slightly moved by his attentive consideration.

"Have you eaten these things too, Mr. Mu?" She turned over and walked ahead as she calmly asked him.

"When I was serving in the army, I'd always eat late at night with Su Chen and Zhou Zimo. Nothing feels more familiar than seeing them even though it doesn't taste great," he answered very calmly.

She always thought that he should be the same as Han Yifeng, or even lived better than Han Yifeng. The latter had lived like a prince since he was young and was still living the way a master did. She did not expect him to be like her and she believed that he needed to be thrown into this cruel society to improve himself and settle...

She suddenly remembered something that her grandpa, Shen Yue, had said to her.

Xiaye, true growth requires going through the grind of society and years of settling. A true relationship is like that too. It needs to go through time's wear and tear, accumulating and settling, before it can truly blossom and bear fruit.

...

She thought about it, and then suddenly smiled. She abruptly turned to him. "Actually, I don't like to eat these things either."

Her bright and moving smiled entered his sight, making him suddenly feel soft in the heart. His usual apathy for everything seemed to carry some faint warmth. When he thought about the endless decades that he would continue to journey on with her, there was a faint joy in his eyes.

This feeling felt pretty solid and he decided that he quite liked this new life.

When they walked out of the supermarket with huge bags of groceries, it was already close to five in the evening. The warm sun on the horizon had gradually dimmed and it was not as warm as it had been earlier.

They put the things in the back seat, and then the husband and wife got into the car.

Mu Yuchen was about to start the car when suddenly he heard a little girl speak up in a crisp voice, "Big brother, buy a bouquet of roses for Sister!"

When he heard her, Mu Yuchen wound his car window down and looked out. Indeed, he saw a very adorable little girl holding a flower basket, standing not too far away from his car and smiling at him. The flower basket was filled with tender and alluring red roses which were very beautiful.

He smiled, then waved to the girl, indicating for her to go over.

The little girl ran over very quickly.

He took out a few crimson notes from his wallet and handed it to the girl while saying softly, "Is this enough to buy all your flowers?"

The little girl nodded before she quickly put all the roses in her basket together and made a simple and imperfect huge bouquet. Then, she handed it to Mu Yuchen...