Sweet Gardenia - Chapter 23.1

For real?

Lu Zhi turned her head and asked, “Like what?”

“For example, calling your husband more often or sending him a few voice messages,” he said as he took off his jacket and changed into loungewear. “That would be more effective.”

Lu Zhi suddenly realized that he usually wore black clothes, almost never white. But it wasn’t that he didn’t own any white casual wear or pajamas.  They were just tucked away in the last row of the walk-in closet, never worn by choice. How strange.

But maybe it was because black paired better with dark red, she thought, since he liked dark red.

So she didn’t ask and instead said, “Aren’t you usually very busy with work? Do you even have time to listen to voice messages?”

“I can spare a few minutes,” Fu Yanshang glanced at her, hitting the nail on the head. “And you wouldn’t send me voice messages totaling more than two minutes anyway.”

She pouted, as if he were making her out to be some kind of villain.

“Fine, I’ll send you some tomorrow,” Lu Zhi declared in a domineering tone, generously adding, “Is five minutes enough?”

“…”

She turned slightly to pick out an outfit to change into. As soon as she opened the closet door, she paused.

The clothes she didn’t wear often had been organized by the organizer and placed further back. On the right side were all unfamiliar new arrivals for the season. Typically, brands would contact her when they had new collections and bring the latest items for her to choose from. She’d pick the ones she liked, some ready-to-wear, some from the custom line.

But this time, how come…

Looking down, she noticed a full set of brooches and wristwatches had also been added to the storage cabinet. She turned and asked, “Did the salesperson come to deliver the ready-to-wear?”

“Mm,” he replied. “They arrived early, and you weren’t home.”

She was about to say, “You could’ve called me to come back…”

Before she could speak, she heard the sound of him removing his tie.

Fu Yanshang added, “So I kept them all.”

Fine, it’s his money anyway.

Lu Zhi happily tried on clothes for over an hour. The sizes all fit perfectly, and she even decided on the outfit she’d wear when going out the next day.

Noticing that she had already hung out her clothes in advance, Fu Yanshang asked, “Where are you going?”

“I need to go out tomorrow to meet someone,” she remembered. “Oh, right, you don’t have to wait for me for dinner tomorrow. I’m not sure if I’ll be back in time.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, unwrapping a cat treat and bending down to feed Kuai Dian. “I have several meetings to attend tomorrow too.”

Both foxes were now staying with them, though Fu Yanshang occasionally took them downstairs for Uncle Zong to look after because they could get too rowdy. Still, the little ones sometimes sneaked back upstairs, lying near the snack cabinet and sniffing around.

Kuai Dian and Man Dian were typical examples of “no gain, no effort.” When they didn’t want to be disturbed, they’d retreat to their little room to sleep. When they were hungry, they’d come over to act cute, and of course, they always got their way.

Lu Zhi spent a while stroking the foxes’ fur, pondering his words. “So, are we having dinner together or not?”

“If you’re very late, I’ll be late too.”

“What if I’m early?”

“…”

Unfortunately, she didn’t get an answer to that question.

The next day, after lunch, she and Li Siyi set off. Lu Zhi roughly calculated what time she could finish work that day. If she finished early, she’d go find him at Rongsheng.

Lost in thought, she suddenly heard a soft “meow.” In the blink of an eye, something fell from a high-rise building. Lu Zhi instinctively reached out to catch it.  It was a kitten that had tumbled down.

The little one was clearly frightened. After being caught, it flailed on the ground a couple of times before going still.

Li Siyi bent down and picked up the cat. It was a beautifully patterned Bengal, clearly a pet that had escaped through a sealed window.

Lu Zhi asked, “Check if the cat is okay.”

“It should be fine. All four paws are moving, its pupils don’t seem dilated, and there’s no bleeding.” Li Siyi stroked the cat and looked at her. “How about you?”

“I think… my hands hurt a bit.”

–

At the hospital, after getting an X-ray, Lu Zhi was honored with the diagnosis of fractures in both hands.

Fortunately, the cat was indeed fine. Li Siyi, holding the cat in one arm, handled the admission procedures while also trying to locate the cat’s owner. After settling Lu Zhi into her room, Li Siyi asked, “Should I call your husband to come pick you up?”

Lu Zhi was about to nod but stopped mid-motion and shook her head instead. “No need. Call my housekeeper instead.”

Auntie Chen arrived quickly, fussing over her with exclamations of concern. With both arms in casts, Lu Zhi couldn’t help but laugh. “Really, I’m fine. It’s just a bit inconvenient.”

“I’ll make you something nourishing for dinner. I’ll let the others know and bring it over later,” Auntie Chen said. “I’ll inform the master first.”

“No, no,” Lu Zhi insisted. “He’s in a meeting right now. It’s fine to tell him after it’s over.”

Whether he found out a few hours earlier or later wouldn’t change the outcome.

Auntie Chen went downstairs to pick up her medication, while Li Siyi, following Lu Zhi’s instructions, went to find the cat’s owner. The inpatient ward of the private hospital was quiet, and the VIP room was the only one occupied on the entire floor. With both hands immobilized and unable to use her phone, Lu Zhi grew bored and decided to take a stroll.

Leaning by the window, she heard voices nearby. Just as she was trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from…

Her phone on the table rang.

Lu Zhi glanced at her left hand, then at her right.

In the end, she had Siri answer the call for her.

“Hello?”

The sound of rustling papers came from the other end. She couldn’t understand how his memory could be so sharp.

Fu Yanshang’s voice came through: “Weren’t you supposed to send me a voice message?”

She lowered her gaze, remained silent for a moment, blinked a few times, and after careful consideration, replied, “To be honest, I really can’t send a voice message right now.”

…

After hanging up, Lu Zhi went downstairs for a walk. The hospital’s greenery was lovely, and she strolled around twice before deciding to take the stairs back up. On the sixth floor, she heard lively chatter. Approaching, she saw a group of boys still in school uniforms, huddled together in a chaotic yet orderly manner, sometimes silent, sometimes bursting with noise.

“I’ve got it! Everyone shut up, shut up! Shh! Three long, one short, pick the shortest. Just choose C, trust me.”

“Do you really know? This is a fill-in-the-blank question, for crying out loud.”

“…”

Unable to search for answers on their phones, Lu Zhi stood behind them, watching as they struggled with a simple problem. Sixty percent of their time was spent yelling at each other to be quiet, thirty percent on thinking about how to solve it, and ten percent on proposing incorrect solutions.

The only one making any effort was a boy with a cast, just like her. His right arm was in a cast, and with his left hand, he held the only pen, doodling pig heads next to the test questions.

Lu Zhi: “…”

“Can’t you at least come up with a plausible answer? Since when do geometry problems have an X? Do you want me to slap you with my left hand!?”

Lu Zhi fell silent for a few seconds. “Draw an auxiliary line from A to TG, then draw a perpendicular line from point B, extend it parallel, and connect.”

No one noticed the unfamiliar voice. The boy with his back to her had an epiphany and let out a drawn-out “Oh…” before exclaiming, “I still don’t get it.”

“…”

Lu Zhi: “See the TG line? Use a ruler to find its midpoint, then connect A to that midpoint.”

“I don’t have a hand free. Li Lin, help me draw it with a ruler.”

Li Lin: “But how do you use a ruler to find the midpoint?”

Lu Zhi: ?