Chapter 26: Her Heart Softens 26

On a bright, sunny day with pleasant weather, he rarely got to stay home and keep her company.

Yu Ma went to clean the master's study, but she didn't expect to see such a mess.

It seems that Young Master Gu had a disagreement with the master.

In the corner, she saw a USB drive engraved with the character 'Gu'.

"Forget it, better give it to the mistress."

In the garden

Yi Ruan sat on the swing, Fu Qiwei sat in a rattan chair, smiling as he watched her play.

Not long after, she asked Yu Ma for the pruning shears.

She said to Yu Ma beside her, "How many flower vases do we have at home?"

Yu Ma thought for a moment, then softly replied, "There are 57."

She happily said, "That's great."

She wanted to, just like in her previous life, put flowers in every vase, but in her previous life her home was filled with antiques, cultural relics.

Fu Qiwei was basking in the sun, appearing lazy on the surface, yet he was still thinking about this morning's affair.

"The mistress's hands are so skillful, even better than the gardener's; I'll go put them in now." Yu Ma happily held the white roses.

She stood beside the rose bushes and said to Fu Qiwei not far away, "Qiwei, could you replace the white roses here with red ones?"

He lazily replied, "If you like it, just change them."

He was quite good to her, granting her every request; she cut eleven white roses, saw him resting with eyes closed, and from behind hung them on him, holding a bouquet of white roses.

When she approached, he already felt it, yet he kept his eyes closed, only opening them when she hung it up, and softly laughed, "Is this for me?"

"Mm-hmm." She nodded like a chick pecking at grain.

Fu Qiwei was not the type to be oblivious to romance; holding the roses, he deliberately asked, "Eleven roses, do you care only about me?"

Yi Ruan said nothing, laughed, and ran off to continue cutting flowers.

Returning to the living room

Yu Ma had prepared a table full of dishes, everywhere were the flowers she had cut placed in vases.

Even Yu Ma couldn't help but say, "This household finally has a hint of home."

Usually when the mistress is silent and not at home, the house is deathly still.

She blinked her eyes and said, "I'll go upstairs to take a bath, then come down to eat."

Passing Fu Qiwei's study, she saw the door to his study was open.

The vase in the study held withered roses, as if they had been placed there for many years.

On the desk lay white roses.

She hesitated a moment, then, as if possessed, walked in, removed the dried flowers, and inserted fresh white roses.

She did not throw away the dried flowers, but brought them back to her room.

Returning to her room, she took out her clothes and went to wash up.

After she blew-dry her hair and went downstairs to eat, she still hadn't seen Fu Qiwei.

So she ate first herself, wearing white pajamas, she casually threw on a black coat.

Fu Qiwei emerged from the secret chamber of his study, saw that the dried flowers in the vase had been replaced with white roses, and his eyes bore the scars of a storm that had ravaged them.

Yu Ma passed by him and said, "Master."

"Where are the flowers?" His tone was grim and terrifying, startling Yu Ma, who glanced at the study and saw the originally placed dried flowers were gone.

She immediately lowered her head, trembling voice replying, "I, I don't know, Master."

Fu Qiwei already knew who it was.

He immediately went downstairs; Yi Ruan heard the sound, smiled, and looked toward the stairway.

"How did you—"

Before she could finish, Fu Qiwei strode over and stood in front of her.

The smile on her face vanished instantly; she felt a little afraid, his eyes held a coldness she had never seen before.

He asked in a cold voice, "Where are the flowers?"

He stared at her coldly, his tone higher than usual by an unknown amount.

She was about to answer, but at the moment he lashed out at her, she froze.

She could feel her body trembling slightly, very afraid of him, unable to utter a word from her throat.

Fu Qiwei, furious, without warning grabbed her chin with his other hand, "Yi Ruan, I'm asking you one last time—where are the flowers?!"

He suppressed the anger in his heart, but as soon as he spoke, his voice rose by at least three decibels; seeing her eyes slightly red and silent, he suddenly felt a bit regretful.

She bit her lip, after a moment she lifted her head and looked at him.

The tears in her eye sockets broke free like a snapped thread, sliding down her cheeks.

"In, in the room on the table."

So he released her, rushed upstairs like a madman, burst into the room, and saw the dried flowers lying there unharmed.

Quietly, undamaged, the blackened, withered stems, as if they would snap in the next second.

Yu Ma watched Yi Ruan, stiff as a wooden figure, ran over and embraced her, earnestly saying, "Madam, you must not touch the master's flowers at all."

She let Yu Ma hold her, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

It's just a bunch of dried flowers, isn't it?

Is he really that angry with her over this?

Yu Ma's voice slightly hoarse said, "Madam, the master usually treasures that flower more than his life; why would you bother touching it?"

She suppressed the sob in her throat and began to speak, "Yu—"

As she opened her mouth, her tears fell again; she hastily wiped them, speaking hoarsely, 'I don't know......'

After a long while, she rose from Yu Ma's embrace and went upstairs.

Yu Ma looked at her, feeling heartbroken.

Opening the door, he sat at the foot of the bed, his complexion poor; she brushed past him, but his large hand seized her wrist.

She had not yet spoken.

Fu Qiwei said coldly, 'From now on, do not enter my study.'

She nodded stiffly, turned, and went to the bathroom to wash her face.

After coming out, she saw him still sitting there.

Yi Ruan, as if asking for trouble, said, 'Shouldn't you explain yourself to me?'

Fu Qiwei gave her a cold glance and said nothing.

'I am your wife; you have an obligation to tell me!'

She unconsciously raised her voice, but her tears kept falling uncontrollably.

Fu Qiwei looked at her and asked, 'What kind of explanation do you want to hear?'

'The most truthful.' If that bunch of dried flowers had been left to him by his father, Yi Ruan would surely kneel to apologize to him, but her woman's intuition tells her it could not have been left by his father.

He did not answer.

Yi Ruan, angry, felt unsteady on her feet; she opened the wardrobe, grabbed a random shoulder bag from inside, and began packing her things—ID card, bank card, charger, tissues……

Fu Qiwei merely watched silently.

Having packed her things, she prepared to leave.

With the tears on her face still wet, she walked past him.

'Fu Qiwei, I think today's matter requires you to explain it to me.'

Having said that, she was about to leave.

Suddenly, the man pulled her forcefully into his embrace.

A forceful kiss, plundering, ignoring her struggling and beating arms, he relentlessly took her.

He pushed her down onto the bed.

She fell onto the bed, her head feeling dizzy.

But in that instant, many thoughts crossed her mind: he always did this—when he upset her, he would smooth things over with a kiss and sex, disregarding her dissatisfaction.

She looked at him, her beautiful eyes filled with coldness.

He had not expected her to look at him with such an icy gaze; she had never given him a cold face before.

Happy New Year's Eve!