After a Contract Marriage with a Cold and Older Person - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Gathering

After the cast was removed from his leg, Ji Wenxu was completely unburdened.

He didn’t have to slowly adapt to a stiff, difficult-to-move leg when he woke up, nor did he have to lean on a crutch for exercise.

Mindful of the doctor’s orders, Ji Wenxu only did simple warm-up exercises at the downstairs park, consciously avoiding leg-focused movements.

Usually, the only people up at this hour were the elderly, like grandpas and grandmas, or very energetic young children. It was rare to see a young person like Ji Wenxu in the community park so early.

While doing pull-ups on the bar.

He was surrounded by children. Amidst their exclamations, Ji Wenxu couldn’t help but do a few extra, which made his hands a little weak when he went grocery shopping at the supermarket.

The tomatoes he was holding slipped and fell back into the basket.

Ji Wenxu reached for them, when a slightly withered hand suddenly appeared, picked them up for him, and placed them in his shopping cart.

Ji Wenxu looked up at the person attached to the hand.

It was an elderly woman with white hair, who looked to be in her sixties.

The old woman had neat, short hair and was dressed very spiritedly.

Ji Wenxu smiled and said thank you.

The old woman said, “You’re welcome,” then added, “Young man, I noticed you in the park yesterday morning.”

“I’ve lived here for so long, and this is the first time I’ve seen you. Are you new here?”

Ji Wenxu paused briefly, making sure the woman was genuinely friendly before smiling and replying, “Yes, I just moved in. I live in Building 13.”

The old woman chuckled softly, covering her mouth with her hand. “Oh, I’m in Building 12, right next door to you.”

Ji Wenxu chatted with her for a couple of minutes, paid at the checkout counter together, and helped carry her groceries for a bit.

“You live in Building 13. I remember Building 13…” The old woman said vaguely. “Do you know Mr. Song?”

“Song… Song Tingyun?” Ji Wenxu only knew one person surnamed Song.

The old woman nodded repeatedly: “Yes, yes, that’s him.”

“What about him?” Ji Wenxu was curious.

The old woman quickly explained: “A few days ago, my little cat ran up a tree and couldn’t get down. He happened to be passing by and helped me rescue it. While I was checking if it was hurt, Mr. Song left without saying a word or leaving any contact information.”

“I’ve been wanting to repay him. I was hoping to run into him again in the community these past couple of days, but he seems to travel by car mostly and rarely walks around the neighborhood, so I haven’t had the chance.”

“Since you know him, could you please thank him on my behalf?”

Ji Wenxu thought, Song Tingyun usually has such a cold, unapproachable face, but secretly, he’s quite warm-hearted.

He smiled and said, “Of course, I’ll be sure to tell him.”

As they spoke, they reached the entrance of Building 12.

He handed the old woman’s groceries back to her. “Please be careful going back. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Alright, alright, thank you, young man,” the old woman quickly said. “What’s your name?”

Ji Wenxu: “My surname is Ji.”

He waved his hand and quickly left the area.

By the time he got home, it was more than ten minutes past his usual cooking time.

He quickly tied on his apron and rushed into the kitchen.

He made breakfast for two as fast as he could.

Sandwiches, sushi, plus a fried egg and salad.

After making breakfast, Ji Wenxu went back to his room to wash up. However, by the time he came out, Song Tingyun still wasn’t awake.

He checked his watch. It was past 8:20 AM. Not being up by this time, could Song Tingyun have overslept?

Out of goodwill, Ji Wenxu walked to Song Tingyun’s room door and knocked.

“Dong dong dong.” Three clear knocks. Ji Wenxu spoke, “Hey, Song Tingyun, time to get up.”

“You’re going to be late for work,” he said.

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened from the inside.

A blast of warm, humid air rushed out. Ji Wenxu instinctively stepped back a half-step.

Song Tingyun must have just showered. He was wrapped in a bathrobe, his hair only half-dry, hanging over his forehead, with water still dripping from the tips. His eyelashes were wet, and his cheeks were slightly flushed from the steam.

He wasn’t wearing his glasses, making him look a year or two younger than Ji Wenxu.

Ji Wenxu cleared his throat and explained, “I thought you overslept.”

Song Tingyun walked past him. “I set an alarm.”

“Oh…” Ji Wenxu turned and followed him. They sat down at the dining table together.

Song Tingyun glanced at the breakfast on the table, his eyelashes fluttering slightly, then he asked, “Did you wake up very early?”

“Of course. If the weather hadn’t gotten colder now, and the sun didn’t rise so slowly compared to summer, I’d have woken up even earlier,” Ji Wenxu said, crossing his arms, looking somewhat proud.

Song Tingyun softly “Mm”ed. “Thanks.”

Ji Wenxu raised an eyebrow, becoming even more proud, his imaginary tail wagging incessantly. “Hurry up and eat, or you’ll be late for work.”

Song Tingyun didn’t respond, instead asking, “How’s your leg injury?”

Ji Wenxu looked down at his leg under the table and subtly wiggled it. “It’s alright. Other than not being able to put excessive weight on it, normal walking is fine.”

“Good. Then let’s go try on clothes this weekend,” Song Tingyun said.

Ji Wenxu was confused. “Try on what clothes?”

“The clothes we’ll wear for our engagement.”

Ji Wenxu’s eyes widened. He had almost forgotten that their engagement ceremony was less than half a month away.

“Oh, okay.” He didn’t refuse. This was a transaction between two people, so he wouldn’t do anything to make things difficult for Song Tingyun.

At the very least, he needed to show Song Tingyun respect.

“I’ll clear my schedule for that day,” Ji Wenxu added.

“Good.” Song Tingyun nodded, then added, “Also, I have a dinner engagement tonight, so you don’t need to prepare dinner for me.”

Ji Wenxu quickly said, “I was just about to tell you the same thing. I’ll also be home late tonight.”

Song Tingyun looked up at him and asked, “What are you doing?”

Ji Wenxu wanted to say that reporting his private itinerary wasn’t in the contract, but on second thought, it wasn’t anything he couldn’t share. So, he said, “My friends asked me out for dinner.”

“Mm,” Song Tingyun hummed, then asked, “What time will you be home?”

Ji Wenxu spread his hands: “That’s uncertain. Maybe after midnight.”

Song Tingyun stopped talking, lowered his eyes, and quietly ate his breakfast.

After breakfast.

Song Tingyun went back to his room to change clothes, and Ji Wenxu cleaned up the kitchen. When he finished washing his hands and came out, he heard the sound of the apartment door closing.

He looked at Song Tingyun’s slippers on the shoe rack and slowly frowned. Seriously, why didn’t he even say goodbye before leaving?

Fortunately, Ji Wenxu didn’t take it to heart. He sat down on the sofa and continued the game he hadn’t finished.

While playing the game.

His phone kept buzzing with notifications. Ji Wenxu picked it up and saw the messages in the group chat.

【Chen Yilan: @JiWenxu Bro Xu, should we find a place to hang out after dinner tonight?】

【Xu Chengran: Don’t you know Bro Xu is under strict supervision lately? Let’s just go home after dinner.】

【Ding Sheng: Exactly, let’s hang out next time.】

【Chen Yilan: I was just thinking we haven’t seen each other for months and wanted to catch up properly.】

【Wei Zhang: Catching up requires the right setting. We just got off grounding, let’s not cause trouble.】

【Chen Yilan: I was thinking we might not be able to meet for a long time after this.】

【Xu Chengran: @ChenYilan …】

【Wei Zhang: Let Bro Xu decide. If Bro Xu has time tonight, we can hang out longer.】

Ji Wenxu was confused by all this and replied: 【What are you guys talking about? If you want to hang out longer, then hang out. If not tonight, then another day is fine.】

【Ji Wenxu: Once I get engaged to Song Tingyun, my family won’t watch me so closely.】

【Ding Sheng: Bro Xu [crying./jpg]】

【Wei Zhang: Bro Xu, are you really going to marry that person?】

Ji Wenxu was momentarily speechless, then smiled wryly. Without further explanation, he only typed: 【Since you guys are obviously not busy, log on and play some games with me】

And so.

Ji Wenxu spent the next few hours playing games with them on his phone.

Time passed quickly.

At noon, Ji Wenxu casually stir-fried a couple of dishes for himself, then tidied up his bedroom before taking a nap.

…

He woke up from his nap past four o’clock in the afternoon.

He quickly washed up, changed into clean clothes, and contacted his friends to head out.

Ding Sheng’s new restaurant was in the city center.

It had opened recently.

Customers were abundant.

As soon as Ji Wenxu opened the car door and stepped out, the manager waiting at the restaurant entrance quickly approached. “Young Master Ji, you’ve arrived. Young Master Ding asked me to wait for you here. Please follow me.”

He gestured for Ji Wenxu to follow.

Ji Wenxu nodded. “Are they all here?”

The manager enthusiastically replied, “The young masters just arrived a little while ago too.”

Ji Wenxu didn’t speak further. With his hands in the pockets of his casual jacket, he briefly scanned the restaurant’s layout.

Ding Sheng’s family was in the catering business and owned several chain restaurants in the city, but this one was a new flagship location. The entire restaurant’s design leaned towards New Chinese style, with warm yellow lighting illuminating the lobby.

There were indeed many customers.

He followed the manager into the elevator to the third floor.

“Young Master Ji, this way, please.” The manager led Ji Wenxu to a private room towards the back, pushed the door open, and the four people inside quickly stood up.

“Bro Xu!” The first to shout was Ding Sheng, who was plump but had large, grape-like eyes. Though a little hefty, he was very nimble and immediately darted over to Ji Wenxu.

The manager discreetly retreated and closed the private room door.

The four friends gathered around Ji Wenxu.

“Why are you all here so early?” In the past, Ji Wenxu was rarely the last one to arrive at their gatherings.

Xu Chengran, the one with the best grades among them, wore glasses and had black hair, looking very scholarly. He said, “We haven’t seen each other in a long time. We all wanted to meet you quickly.”

Ji Wenxu hung his jacket on the coat rack, smiling as he playfully nudged Xu Chengran’s arm. “Cut the mushy talk.”

He just assumed they were all teasing him.

After he took his seat, Wei Zhang, who was sitting next to him, immediately asked with concern, “How’s your leg injury? How does it compare to before?”

Ji Wenxu: “Much better. After the cast came off, it feels pretty much the same as before. The doctor also said I’m recovering well.”

Chen Yilan, being the emotional one, had tears welling up in his eyes. Wiping them away, he said, “It’s all our fault. We shouldn’t have gone racing with you that day.”

“Otherwise, none of this would have happened.”

Ji Wenxu comforted him, “I told you it’s not your responsibility. Don’t keep blaming yourselves.”

“Besides, I’m fine now, aren’t I? Since we’re here to eat, stop dwelling on things,” He patted Chen Yilan’s shoulder, then turned to Ding Sheng and asked, “What did you order?”

Ding Sheng quickly pulled the menu from under the table and handed it to him. “They are all the signature dishes of our restaurant. Bro Xu, you can give us your feedback later.”

It seemed the atmosphere in the room brightened considerably after hearing that Ji Wenxu’s leg injury was fine.

Soon after, dishes began to arrive from the kitchen.

Halfway through the meal.

Ji Wenxu thought for a moment and suggested, “We could go to a bar later, but I have to follow the doctor’s orders, so no drinking for me for now.”

“Then let’s skip the bar. I remember the Changle Han auction is tonight, right? Shall we go check out the auction?”

“I can arrange invitations with a phone call right now,” Xu Chengran added after a pause.

Ji Wenxu considered it, then nodded: “That works too.”