Chapter 1266: I've Started to Like You a Little

Shi Youxuan: "I'm just seeing if you're living well or not?"

"Your complexion is rosy, you look quite good... You've only been married a few days and you've already put on a bit of weight, it looks like things are going well..."

Shi Ran:...

She protested: "Mom, aren't you annoying? No wonder Zihan says you're biased, you really are biased. You give all your love to Litian, and keep all the bitterness and sarcasm for us."

Shi Youxuan didn't fall for it.

She told her daughter not to change the subject and to tell her honestly how far things had progressed with Qi Tian.

As a mother, she knew her own daughter best.

Seeking perfection and refusing to settle for less was Shi Ran's label.

If there was no perfect love, her marriage could only be a formality.

Although her daughter had never talked to her about this, she had already seen it.

Shi Ran twisted her hands together, lowered her head, pursed her lips, and chuckled, her voice as small as a mosquito's hum: "What do you mean how far things have progressed? It's just like that, I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Hmph! You're playing dumb with me?"

Shi Youxuan pretended to be displeased: "Before you try to play dumb, don't you see who is sitting next to you? If I'm ranked second at playing dumb, no one can be ranked first."

Shi Ran:...

Fine, she had met a tough opponent.

"You two... aren't together yet, are you?" Shi Youxuan asked the key point.

"Mom, why do you have to manage everything? It's so annoying!"

Shi Youxuan held her daughter's hand and said earnestly: "Silly daughter, you are my child, how could I not manage? I didn't say anything before because the timing wasn't right. I see that the timing is right now, only you are still struggling."

"In your heart, you have actually started to accept Qi Tian, but there is still one hurdle you haven't crossed, and that hurdle is Qi Heng."

"You look like your mother, but your personality is exactly like your father's. Back then, your father, for the sake of his childhood sweetheart..."

Shi Youxuan uncovered the scars of her own youth to show her daughter, telling her about the grievances and grudges of the previous generation.

Shi Ran listened quietly. She knew some of these things when she was a child, but as time passed, many things became increasingly blurred.

There were still many things she didn't know. Now that her mother was telling her, connecting them one by one, things became very clear.

"Mom, it hasn't been easy for you." Shi Ran nestled in her mother's arms and acted spoiled: "How are you so amazing, being able to maintain an optimistic attitude and a kind heart after going through so many things?"

Shi Youxuan didn't hold back at all and said proudly: "That's right, super amazing."

"Ranran, I told you so much not to make you worship me or praise me for being amazing. I want to tell you to cherish the people around you who are good to you. As for the past, let it pass."

"We don't deny the beauty of the past; even if this beauty has already soured, we must preserve the beautiful memories. But memories are only suitable for being sealed in the mind; they cannot be allowed to hinder current and future happiness."

"The beauty of the past is just the event itself, it has nothing to do with the person. The person is no longer beautiful, so there is no need to resent them, let alone miss them. You must learn to let go and reconcile with yourself!"

Her mother's words were like a sudden enlightenment. Shi Ran let go of her inner knot and decided to forget the past and accept Yun Qitian's kindness.

She thought that way, but Shi Ran was still proud.

Her proud personality did not allow her to take the initiative to tell Yun Qitian: Let's be a real couple!

No, she couldn't say words like that.

She couldn't do the act of actively seducing him either, even if this person was her legal husband.

This guy Yun Qitian was also strange. When she didn't have that intention, he would take the initiative, sending out probing signals every three to five days.

But now that she had that intention, he had no movement at all.

Neither of them took the initiative, just holding out like this.

Shi Ran lost her patience first. She wanted to be more proactive but didn't know what to do, so she registered a secondary account to ask on a forum.

Why else would people say that there is strength in numbers?

People chimed in one after another, offering ideas and upvoting the post below.

Among them, the post with the most likes suggested that she pretend to forget to take her pajamas when taking a shower and have the other person bring them in.

Shi Ran felt this method was worth a try.

She spent more than two hours shopping at the mall and finally bought a sexy pajama set she could accept.

Black lace trim, not very transparent but not conservative either.

Night.

Bedroom.

Shi Ran shouted from the bathroom to the outside: "Qi Tian!"

No one answered.

So she turned off the shower and raised her volume again to shout outside: "Qi Tian, are you there?"

Still no one answered.

She opened the door a crack and looked out through the gap—the bedroom was empty, he had gone out.

He was just here, he went out in such a short time?

Annoying.

She stood in the bathroom without moving, waiting for him to return.

Ten minutes passed.

He didn't come back.

She started to shiver, cold.

Just go out like this?

She was unwilling; she had finally come up with this idea, just give up like this?

No, she didn't have the habit of giving up halfway.

Let's run some more hot water, to avoid catching a cold.

Consequently, Shi Ran rinsed in the bathroom with hot water for another ten minutes.

Yun Qitian had still not returned.

What is this guy doing?

Where did he go?

Shi Ran was resentful and thought secretly to herself: Hmph, you've missed the boat, you stinky Yun Qitian; if you don't come back now, you'll miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She could not keep rinsing with hot water; having washed for so long, her skin would wrinkle if she kept going.

But after turning off the hot water, she began to shiver from the cold after only a short while.

If she just went out like this, she would not be satisfied.

She went back and forth several times.

"Achoo!"

This wouldn't do; she could not keep tossing and turning.

Shi Ran was so angry at Yun Qitian that she had no temper left; she dried her body, wrapped herself in a bath towel, and went out.

She took out the newly bought lace pajamas from the wardrobe, but they didn't look good to her at all anymore.

The plan had been interrupted, and she was in a very bad mood; sexy or not, it was still more comfortable to wear pure cotton.

Changing into her original pajamas, she lay on the bed to read.

"Achoo—"

"Achoo—"

The door opened, and he had finally returned.

As soon as he entered, he heard Shi Ran sneezing, and he immediately came over, nervous and solicitous: "Why are you sneezing? Did you catch a cold while showering? Oh dear, I've told you several times to turn off the air conditioning for a while when you enter the room after a shower; why is it still on?"

He turned off the air conditioning, brewed a cup of brown sugar ginger water for Shi Ran, and brought it to her: "Drink it while it's hot; you'll be fine once you sweat a little after drinking it."

Qi Tian studied medicine, and for a common cold, he did not recommend taking medicine.

Every medicine has its side effects; if one can get better by drinking hot water, taking medicine is just an unnecessary move.

"I'm not drinking it."

Shi Ran turned her head away in resentment and questioned him: "Where did you go? I called for you for ages and you didn't answer."

He said: "I went to the Study; I go to the Study at this time every day, did you forget?"

Shi Ran did not speak.

She had not forgotten; she simply hadn't paid attention at all.

Yun Qitian did not know what she was thinking and just kept urging her to drink more hot water!

She was unhappy and refused to drink out of spite, and as a result, she caught a cold.

In the middle of the night, she developed a fever, and her body felt as hot as a burning coal.

He barely slept all night.

He brought in basin after basin of warm water, dampened a towel to wipe her palms and the soles of her feet, and used physical methods to lower her temperature.

This time, Shi Ran felt moved and pained for him; she urged him to stop busybodying, saying that her physical constitution was good and she would be better tomorrow.

"I told you to drink more hot water, but you insisted on not drinking it, as if I would harm you; feeling uncomfortable now, aren't you? Only the one suffering knows how it feels."

He complained with his mouth, but his hands did not stop their work.