Chapter 604: Extra Chapter 017 Do you know that you hurt me that night

The following morning.

Mu Cidian woke up.

Xin Zaozao was still asleep.

She slept quietly.

She didn’t thrash around, instead, she curled up, tucked against his chest.

He watched her just like this.

Watching her peaceful countenance.

In fact, he would recollect a lot of past events too.

For instance, the beautiful Xin Zaozao from the past, the one who would give him a sweet smile whenever she saw him.

Whenever he thought of that, his heart would ache a bit.

Whenever his heart ached, he would tell himself to stop getting close to Xin Zaozao, as he truly didn’t deserve her.

But at this moment.

At this very moment, he was so close to her.

“If you’re awake, start making breakfast,” Xin Zaozao suddenly spoke.

She didn’t open her eyes, as if any little noise could wake her up.

“Okay.” Mu Cidian nodded.

He lifted up the quilt and left.

Xin Zaozao opened her eyes and watched Mu Cidian’s retreating figure.

She was somewhat bewildered too. Why did she let Mu Cidian move in and live with her?

Finding someone else to take care of her wouldn’t be hard. Why did she choose Mu Cidian?

Perhaps.

It was on a whim.

Perhaps.

After some time, she would ask him to leave.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to think too much, she turned over, letting herself sleep a little longer.

Mu Cidian made breakfast.

He went into the room to wake up Xin Zaozao.

Xin Zaozao was changing her clothes.

Mu Cidian accidentally walked in on her.

Both met gazes.

Mu Cidian swallowed. “I came to wake you up for breakfast.”

“I know.”

Yet, Mu Cidian didn’t move.

“How long are you planning to keep looking?” Xin Zaozao asked.

Mu Cidian turned around, “I’m sorry.”

Xin Zaozao continued changing.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she noticed that Mu Cidian, who had his back turned to her, had very red ears.

In fact, they were already familiar with each other’s bodies.

She was not sure why, but at this moment she felt the same awkwardness as Mu Cidian, regardless of her calm facade.

After she finished dressing, she walked past Mu Cidian.

Mu Cidian’s rigid body suddenly inhaled deeply.

He followed Xin Zaozao out.

Xin Zaozao sat at the dining table, facing two breakfast meals.

One for her and one for Mu Cidian.

Both of them silently started eating.

“When did you learn how to cook?” Xin Zaozao suddenly asked.

“Just recently.”

Xin Zaozao didn’t say anything more.

In fact, she could guess that after being released from prison, Mu Cidian must have taken care of his mother, which is why he learned to cook.

But she had an indescribable feeling. Always feeling that Mu Cidian could do everything exceptionally well left her somewhat annoyed.

After breakfast, Xin Zaozao left for work.

Mu Cidian was left alone in Xin Zaozao’s spacious apartment.

He tidied up the room, did some cleaning, and then received a transfer of 200,000 yuan from Xin Zaozao.

He looked at the income and pondered for a long time.

Then he went out the door and bought himself a few sets of clothes.

He had been thinking last night, why did Xin Zaozao abhor his blue clothes? Later on, he realized, Xin Zaozao disliked his past self. He’d worn those clothes to commit acts of violence against her.

So he bought some clothes that had a completely different style from before, trying to avoid any resemblance with his past outfits.

After buying the clothes, Mu Cidian went to the supermarket to buy some foodstuff.

He had checked Xin Zaozao’s fridge, there was basically nothing to cook with.

Back home, he placed all the stuff he’d bought neatly before leaving again.

This time he went to an electronic store, bought a computer, and managed to finish everything by noon. After a simple lunch, he started his new computer.

Now that he had some capital, he was going to start his own business—the 200,000 yuan were entirely enough as startup funds.

First, he posted some job advertisements online, then he bought some professional software, and began his work.

Until 5 pm in the afternoon.

Mu Cidian looked at the time, shut off his computer and went to the kitchen to make dinner.

He was checking the cooking app while preparing dinner. By 6 pm, Mu Cidian had already cooked a small table’s worth of dishes.

He arranged the meals on the dining table and covered them with a lid. Then, he quietly sat on the sofa waiting for Xin Zaozao to come back from work.

At 6:30, Xin Zaozao hadn’t come back.

At 7, she was still not back.

At 8, Xin Zaozao hadn’t returned.

…

It was already 10 in the evening.

The front door opened.

Mu Cidian stood up from the sofa and walked towards her.

Xin Zaozao looked at Mu Cidian and paused for a moment.

Mu Cidian found it a bit funny.

Did Xin Zaozao forget about his existence again?

Xin Zaozao glanced at Mu Cidian.

Her surprise was only because Mu Cidian wore a set of pink home clothes.

While men wearing pink isn’t unusual nowadays, seeing it on Mu Cidian was something she could never imagine.

“I’ll go warm up the food, you can go wash your hands and change.” Mu Cidian naturally took her bag, and said.

“I’ve already eaten.” Xin Zaozao bluntly stated.

Mu Cidian paused for a moment.

Xin Zaozao walked into her room, glanced at the meals on the dining table and asked, “Were you waiting for me?”

“Yes.”

“In the future, don’t wait for me. If I plan to come back for dinner, I will let you know in advance.”

“Okay.” Mu Cidian nodded, “I’ll go prepare your bath.”

With that said, he headed towards the bathroom.

Xin Zaozao watched his tall and slender figure. At that moment, she was wondering, why hadn’t Mu Cidian gained weight? He’d been out of prison for so long, yet he was still so thin.

Unbelievably thin.

After preparing the bath, Mu Cidian came out, “You can take a bath now.”

“You don’t need to manage me, go eat your dinner.” Xin Zaozao coldly said and walked into her room.

Mu Cidian watched her retreating figure, turned around and reheated the cold meals.

He alone, couldn’t eat much…

He selectively reheated one dish.

Then he served a small bowl of white rice.

Just as he put it onto the table, Xin Zaozao walked out of the shower in her pajamas.

She looked at the food on Mu Cidian’s table and said, “I realized I am somewhat hungry.”

“Do you want to eat some then?” Mu Cidian asked.

On his calm face, one could see a hint of anticipation.

Xin Zaozao averted her gaze and softly hummed in affirmation.

Mu Cidian hurried to the kitchen, reheated all the remaining dishes, and then placed them on the table.

Xin Zaozao sat at the dining table.

Mu Cidian served her a bowl of white rice.

Xin Zaozao didn’t touch her chopsticks for a long time.

Mu Cidian asked, “Is there nothing you like?”

“No, that’s not it.” Xin Zaozao picked up her chopsticks.

Yes, all the food was what she liked.

Even the green onions, which she disliked as an ingredient, were not added to the soup.

She silently began eating.

She ate and ate.

At that moment, she realized Mu Cidian was eating even less than she was.

There was only half a bowl of rice left in his bowl, and in front of so many dishes, he had only taken a few bites.

Finally, Xin Zaozao realized why Mu Cidian was so thin.

He simply didn’t eat, it’d be a wonder if he put on any weight.

She asked, “Mu Cidian, are you just going to eat this much?”

He looked at Xin Zaozao.

Indeed, he didn’t eat much.

He truly had no appetite.

For a long period of time, he had been forcing himself to eat, seldom feeling a natural desire for food.

“Did you know you hurt me that night?” Xin Zaozao said with a trace of annoyance in her tone.

Mu Cidian put down his bowls and chopsticks, got up and served himself another bowl of rice, before silently starting to eat again.

Seeing him in this state left Xin Zaozao feeling an indescribable unease. She quickly finished the bowl of rice in front of her, had some soup, and left the dinner table.

Mu Cidian watched Xin Zaozao leave and heaved a sigh of relief.

He didn’t know when Xin Zaozao started making him feel such a strong sense of pressure!

Looking at his bowl still full of rice, he chuckled.

For a long time, he hadn’t eaten so much, this was his first time experiencing the feeling of a child who doesn’t want to eat after failing to finish their food.

Indeed… It was hard to eat.

But in the end, he did finish it.

After he finished eating, his stomach felt quite stuffed.

He washed his dishes, took a walk around the living room for a while, then went to the bathroom to take a shower before going to bed.

He was truly afraid that eating too much would keep him from falling asleep.

But…

He really was too thin.

While he lay in bed, Xin Zaozao sat at the head of the bed using her phone, constantly chatting with someone.

After a while.

The phone rang.

Xin Zaozao took the call, “Song Lifei.”

“I’ll report to you over the phone…”

Lying beside her, Mu Cidian could hear Xin Zaozao discussing work matters with Song Lifei.

After talking for a while, Xin Zaozao, apparently still on guard against him, got up from the bed and directly walked towards the balcony outside.

Xin Zaozao was wearing a nightgown and the fabric was thin. The night wind was strong and the temperature wasn’t high.

After thinking for a moment, Mu Cidian got up, found a coat for Xin Zaozao handed it to her before leaving, and on his way out, he closed the sliding doors behind him. This way, he couldn’t hear their conversation at all.

Xin Zaozao talked for about half an hour.

She returned to the room.

Mu Cidian was lying in bed, seemingly asleep.

She turned off the lights without disturbing him and went to bed.

As soon as she lay down.

Mu Cidian held her in his arms.

“Aren’t you wearing clothes to bed tonight?” Xin Zaozao asked.

Mu Cidian said, “I’m afraid you might be cold.”

“I’m not cold.”

“You’re not wearing enough.”

“So you’re suggesting that I…”

“Goodnight.” Mu Cidian’s magnetic voice close to her ear, “Zaozao.”

Xin Zaozao’s heart skipped a beat.

Zaozao?!

She said coldly, “Call me Xin Zaozao.”

“Okay.” He nodded.

He thought, maybe this intimate nickname was reserved only for the people she was close to, and he was not deserving of it.

The night was quiet.

In the end, Xin Zaozao didn’t push Mu Cidian away, this sleeping posture, it seemed, had somehow become a matter of course.

Their cohabitational life was more peaceful than they’d imagined.

Every day, Xin Zaozao went to work at regular hours and came back at unpredictable times.

If Xin Zaozao said she wouldn’t be back for dinner, Mu Cidian would cook simple meals for himself, but no matter how simple, he always made sure to eat a little more.

He thought he would never forget the words Xin Zaozao once said, “The night hurt her badly”.

Now, he not only pushed himself to eat more but also visited a doctor.

He realized quite early that his condition was likely equated with anorexia, the doctor also unequivocally diagnosed him with anorexia and suggested mental therapy and medication. He adhered to the doctor’s advice and persisted.

While persisting, he also started going to the gym.

He started taking protein supplements.

He thought that… slowly and gradually, he could regain his previous physique.

A month passed in this manner.

Mu Cidian seemed to be looking slightly healthier.

He hadn’t noticeably put on weight, but he definitely wasn’t as scary thin as before. And also, he didn’t know whether it was because he had been living comfortably under Xin Zaozao’s care for this period of time, but his skin had gotten much whiter and his complexion had improved!

Tonight, Xin Zaozao said she wasn’t coming back for dinner.

So Mu Cidian simply ate some food and then sat in front of his computer to work.

At 11 p.m.

Mu Cidian received a call from Xin Zaozao, “Come downstairs to pick me up.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she hung up.

Mu Cidian figured Xin Zaozao must’ve drunk too much.

In the entire month of living together, there were only a few times that Xin Zaozao came back from work on time. Most of the time, she either worked overtime or had social engagements. Tonight, she must’ve overindulged during one of those social gatherings and gotten drunk.

He hurriedly went downstairs to wait for her at the community gate.

Since Xin Zaozao was picked up and dropped off by a driver when she went to and returned from work, she wouldn’t be coming back via the garage.

He waited at the entrance for a while.

A sedan parked at the community gate.

Just as Mu Cidian approached, Song Lifei got out of the car first. Then he helped Xin Zaozao out. She was leaning completely into his embrace, they looked very intimate.