“Don’t touch me,” growled Shen Peichuan.
Sang Yu was helping him take off his clothes at the time. Her hands trembled, and she paused before she circled around and called out, “Peichuan.”
Shen Peichuan fell asleep after growling.
Sang Yu was speechless.
She frowned from the bedside. It took her forever to get one sleeve off of him, but that sleeve had since landed underneath him. To make matters worse, Shen Peichuan was too heavy for her to turn him.
What do I do?
Sang Yu was stumped, but she couldn’t let him sleep just like that either. He wouldn’t be able to sleep well that way. She later crouched on the bed and pushed hard to get him to turn around. Shen Peichuan simply pried her hands away like he was annoyed. He sounded extremely irritated as he repeated, “Don’t touch me.”
Sang Yu stared. That was the first time she saw him drunk.
She was exasperated but thought it was funny as well.
“Fine, then you can go ahead and sleep like that. Don’t blame it on me if you wake up all sore,” complained Sang Yu. She then got a blanket out of the cabinet and draped it over him.
Shen Peichuan shifted and reached out to fumble around. “Where’s my phone?” he asked.
“You’re drunk. Why are you still looking for your phone? Calm down and go to bed,” said Sang Yu as she held his hand and stopped him.
Shen Peichuan ignored her and insisted, “No, I have to make a call.”
Sang Yu rubbed her temple and asked, “Who are you trying to call in this drunken state?”
“I’m calling Sang Yu,” answered Shen Peichuan.
Sang Yu was momentarily stunned. Her lips later curved into a smile, and she reached out to caress his face. “You’re drunk, but you’re still thinking about her?” teased Sang Yu.
“Yeah, I miss her,” murmured Shen Peichuan before he turned around and fell asleep again.
There was an old wives’ tale about how one would speak the truth when drunk. That tale got Sang Yu delighted. He’s still thinking of me, despite being drunk. He must truly care for me.
She got a wet towel to help him clean his hands and face. After that, she took off his shoes for him and stuffed the blanket under his feet. She then poured a glass of water for him and cleaned the place up a bit before taking a shower herself. When she was done with everything, she lay down beside him to go to bed. His breath reeked of alcohol, and Sang Yu was bothered by that.
Perhaps it was because she was pregnant that caused her nose to be more sensitive. Regardless of the reason, Sang Yu still turned around to have her back to him. Unfortunately, Shen Peichuan reached out soon after and pulled her into his arms. He even put his legs over her, and the weight annoyed her. Sang Yu had no choice but to get up and push that leg away. A few seconds later, Shen Peichuan’s leg went over her again. Sang Yu was tired, but the weight made it impossible for her to sleep, so she got up and grabbed another blanket. After that, she went to sleep in the living room.
Shen Peichuan woke up the next morning to see that no one was lying next to him. When he saw Sang Yu sleeping on the sofa, he asked, “Why are you sleeping here?”
Sang Yu got up to fold the blanket while instructing, “Go take a shower.”
Shen Peichuan stood there nervously without moving a muscle. Why did Sang Yu sleep on the sofa last night? Did I do something to piss her off while I was drunk last night?
“Why did you sleep on the sofa?” asked Shen Peichuan again.
Sang Yu thought he was acting strangely, so she turned to him and pointed out, “Are you planning to go to work in that outfit? It’s almost seven o’clock, and you don’t have much time. Go shower and change into your clean clothes before reporting for duty.”
Shen Peichuan checked the time and realized that he was running late. Still, he asked, “I didn’t piss you off last night, did I?”
Sang Yu finally understood why he dragged his feet. Oh, he’s worried about me being angry.
She stared at the blanket she was holding and guessed why he thought she was angry. With a smile, she walked to him and said, “No, you didn’t.”
After that, Sang Yu tiptoed and pecked his lips before saying, “Go shower.”
Shen Peichuan’s nervous frown loosened up immediately, and relief washed over his heart. He went to shower and change his clothes after that.
Sang Yu woke up late that morning, so she didn’t have time to prepare breakfast. She put a formal outfit on and suggested, “Let’s settle on eating out this morning.”
“Okay,” replied Shen Peichuan. He then saw Sang Yu getting ready to head out too, so he asked, “Where are you going?”
“I’m heading to work,” answered Sang Yu.
“Work? But you’re pregnant,” protested Shen Peichuan with a frown.
“That won’t be a problem. Besides, I’m only doing an internship instead of working full time,” said Sang Yu as she grabbed her purse. “I’ve already taken two days off, so I have to go to work today.”
After saying her piece, Sang Yu turned to leave the house. Shen Peichuan put his hat on immediately and called out, “Wait, I’ll drop you off.”
He grabbed his keys and followed closely behind Sang Yu, who rejected his offer. “You don’t have to do that. My office isn’t that far…”
“I’ll drop you off,” insisted Shen Peichuan while staring at her.
Sang Yu didn’t reply. She knew he wasn’t backing down.
In the end, Shen Peichuan dropped Sang Yu off at her workplace before he clocked in himself.
Shen Peichuan had more work to do that day, so Sang Yu got off work before he did. A middle-aged man with a box of apples came running when she was in the elevator. The elevator door was about to close, so he called out, “Hold the door!”
Sang Yu held the door open, and the man with the box got in before thanking Sang Yu.
Sang Yu smiled politely but didn’t reply.
The man didn’t press any elevator buttons and went straight to the same floor that Sang Yu was heading to. When they were getting out of the elevator, the man asked, “Oh, you live here?”
Sang Yu nodded.
The man then further asked, “Do you know Chief Shen?”
Sang Yu stared for a moment. She didn’t answer his question and instead asked, “Is there something wrong? Why are you looking for him?”
The man looked like he was in his mid-fifties and seemed like an honest man. He said, “Oh, the thing is, Chief Shen once helped me out, and I want to thank him for it. Unfortunately, I don’t have much, but my family grows apples, and I thought I would gift a box to him.”
“He doesn’t accept gifts,” said Sang Yu.
Shen Peichuan was a public servant, after all, so he couldn’t accept any gifts from the people.
It didn’t matter that a box of apples didn’t cost much.
“He was kind to me, so I must show him my gratitude,” insisted the man. “Do you know him?”
Sang Yu murmured an affirmative reply.
“You’re his wife, right?”
Although the middle-aged man asked the question, his eyes shone with clarity. It was obvious that he was just confirming her identity. He shoved the box of apples to Sang Yu and asserted, “A box of apples isn’t much, but please keep it anyway as my token of appreciation.”
Sang Yu tried to reject the offer, but the middle-aged man left immediately after he shoved the box to her.
He got into the elevator and before the door closed, he told Sang Yu, “Chief Shen is a good man.”
Sang Yu was proud to hear that. Of course he is.
The elevator door closed. Sang Yu stared at the box of apples and thought that it was quite heavy. She couldn’t bring herself to throw it away because it was a kind gesture from another person. In the end, she brought it back home.
She placed the apples on the counter after she got in. After that, she fished her phone out of her purse to call Shen Peichuan and ask him when he was coming home. Shen Peichuan told her that he would be home late because his boss had assigned a tough case to him. He already had his people working on it, but the case was too complicated. The previous investigator had been working on it for over a year, but his investigation bore no fruits. That was why it was reassigned to Shen Peichuan.
Shen Peichuan had just gotten promoted, and Captain Song was the only one who had Shen Peichuan’s back. Shen Peichuan didn’t come from a powerful family and had to claw his way up. Hence, the case assigned to him wasn’t an easy one, but everything would be fine if he could solve the case. If he failed to do so, others might think that he never should have been promoted.
That was why he had to work harder.
Sang Yu cooked for herself that night. After she ate, she showered and went to bed. She was all groggy when Shen Peichuan got home. She felt like she had something to tell him, but couldn’t recall exactly what it was.
Shen Peichuan got into bed and held her in his arms so she could sleep well.
He got a call the next morning. It seemed to be an urgent matter, so he told Sang Yu to grab a cab over to her workplace before he left for work.
When Sang Yu headed to the refrigerator to get some milk, she saw the box of apples on the counter. Only then did she recall what she had to tell Shen Peichuan. Sang Yu hadn’t had an apple for a while and suddenly felt like having one, so she headed over to open the box.
She peeled the tape off, but there were no apples inside the box. Instead, it contained wads of cash.
