Beneath the Marriage Pact

Chapter 10: The First Concern Beyond the Contract (1)

Less than ten minutes after the live broadcast ended, Shen Zhixia stood at the staircase on the second floor and suddenly felt her vision go black.

Just now I was so busy responding to the comments that I didn't drink a mouthful of water and my stomach felt empty and panicked. She leaned on the handrail to go down -- there should be sugar in the kitchen, Aunt Zhang used to keep fruit candy in the sugar jar. But as soon as she lifted her foot, the white wall in front of her began to spin in circles, her ears buzzed, and the handrail slipped out like a loach.

"Be careful!"

Shen Zhixia was too weak to stand when someone rushed over to hold her. Her forehead hit someone's collarbone. It didn't hurt, but she fainted so badly. The tip of her nose rubbed against the cedar scent on his shirt, the scent that Ling Xu 'an often had.

"What's going on?" Ling Xu 'an's voice trembled a little, and he tightened her in his arms. He had just gone back to his study to get documents and heard a dull thud at the staircase. He ran out and saw her sliding down.

Shen Zhixia opened her mouth and tried to say "hypoglycemia", but her tongue was like a knot and she couldn't make a sound. The back was pressed against his arm, the old scar that he had held so hard that it hurt a little - the scar that had been pushed down on the stone steps by Shen Yuwei's wet nurse when he first came to the Shen family at the age of twelve. It had been sewn five times and still had a shallow scar.

Ling Xu 'an's fingertips seemed to touch the scar, and the force of his grip on her suddenly loosened, but became more steady. He carried her sideways towards the bedroom, so fast that he kicked over the trash can as he passed the living room.

"Water..." Shen Zhixia finally managed to squeeze out a word, her throat as dry as fire.

"Right now." Ling Xu 'an gently placed her on the bed, pulled the quilt over her waist and turned to rush towards the door. Shen Zhixia squinted to look at his back. When he ran, the back collar was crooked - she had never seen him so flustered before.

The bedroom door was not closed tightly, and rustling sounds could be heard downstairs. It seemed like rummaging through a cabinet or knocking over a cup. After nearly five minutes of fiddling, Ling Xu 'an came in with a glass, with a lump of unmelted brown sugar at the bottom.

"Drink quickly." He handed the cup over, with a little brown sugar stain on his fingertips. "Chen Mo says this works for hypoglycemia."

Shen Zhixia propped himself up and just as he touched the cup, he heard a "splash" - as he turned around, his elbow hit the bedside table, and the diary she had placed on it dropped to the ground, the blue cover broke open, and a light candy wrapper slipped out from inside and landed at his feet.

It was a crumpled white rabbit wrapper, roughened at the corners, with a tiny tooth mark on it.

Ling Xu 'an's movements came to a sudden halt.

He stared at the candy wrapper for half a minute, his Adam's apple rolled, and then suddenly crouched down to pick it up. His fingers pinched the edge of the wrapper, his knuckles pale, and his voice low as if afraid of startling someone: "This... Where are you from?"

Shen Zhixia was also stunned. The wrappers were a treasure she had kept for over a decade - picked up under a paulownia tree in the backyard of the Shen family when she was twelve. That day she was pushed down on the stone steps by her wet nurse, with a big cut in her elbow, and crouched under the tree crying when suddenly a big white rabbit milk candy wrapped in a wrapper rolled to her feet. She didn't see who had put it, but heard the muffled voice of a little boy behind the tree: "It's not good-looking to cry."

Later she ate the candy and kept the wrapper tucked in her diary. How... How did Ling Xu 'an react so strongly?

"I picked it up." She whispered, "I picked it up in the backyard of the Shen family over a decade ago."

Ling Xu 'an's hand, which was holding the candy wrapper, suddenly began to shake. He looked up at Shen Zhixia, his eyes shining terrifyingly, with a hint of disbelief: "That summer... Is there a little girl with a bleeding elbow under the paulownia tree in the backyard of the Shen family?

Shen Zhixia's heart gave a "thud".

Is it him?

Was that the little boy who put the candy back then?

"You..." She opened her mouth and spoke incoherently. "How do you know?"

That candy is mine. Ling Xu 'an's voice was hoarse. He carefully flattened the wrapper and held it up in front of her, pointing at the small tooth mark on it. "I was changing my teeth at that time and bit a mark before I dared to give it to you - for fear that you would think someone else had eaten it."

He often visited the Shen family when he was a child. That day he saw Shen Yuwei's wet nurse pushing her and tried to rush up but was held back by the butler. When he sneaked to the back yard, he saw her crouching under a tree crying, with blood on her elbow staining her white dress red. There happened to be a milk candy from his mother in his pocket, and he was afraid that she wouldn't take it when he handed it directly, so he stripped the wrapper and rolled to her feet, hiding behind the tree and not making a sound.

He searched for the little girl several times but never saw her again. He thought... She was sent away by the Shen family long ago.

"So..." Ling Xu 'an looked at the shallow scar on Shen Zhixia's elbow and suddenly couldn't speak. It turned out that the girl he had been looking for over a decade was right beside him.

Shen Zhixia looked at the wrapper in his hand and suddenly her eyes welled up with tears. She grabbed the corner of the quilt to wipe her eyes and laughed: "No wonder you held me just now... As if she knew I had a scar on my back."

It was only then that Ling Xu 'an realized he was still holding the candy wrapper. He quickly tucked it back into his diary and picked it up and put it back on the bedside table. He stood up, not knowing where to put his hand, scratched his head and tried to get the cup of brown sugar water again, but his hand tilted and half the cup of sugar dropped onto the carpet.

"I'll make another cup!" He was like a child who had done something wrong, picking up the cup and running out.

Shen Zhixia leaned against the head of the bed and watched his back, and suddenly felt that all the dizziness from hypoglycemia had vanished. A sweet feeling in her heart, like a milk candy that won't melt.

It turns out they've met before.

It turns out that the estrangement that was separated by the contract was quietly tied by that milk candy from over a decade ago.

Ling Xu 'an's hands were still shaking when he came back for the second time with the brown sugar water. He placed the cup on the glass mat by the bedside and did not dare to touch the diary again. He just stood by the bedside and looked at her: "Drink quickly. This time it didn't spill."

Shen Zhixia picked up the cup and took a sip. It was just sweet. The sugar was well melted and there was no residue at the bottom of the cup - he must have been stirring in the kitchen for a long time just now.

"Ling Xu 'an." She held the cup and looked up at him, "You were then... Why didn't you just give me candy?"

"I'm afraid you won't talk to me." Ling Xu 'an's ears were a little red. He stepped back half a step and leaned against the closet. "I didn't talk much back then. The butler always said I was' like ice. '"

Shen Zhixia couldn't help laughing. Who would have thought that Mr. Ling, who is now so decisive, was shy when he was a child.

"Then why didn't you come to see me again?" She asked again.

"I've found it." " Ling Xu 'an's voice lowered a little, "but Shen Yuwei said there's no daughter like you in the Shen family. I thought... You were sent away." He paused, looking at the cup in her hand, "I didn't know that Shen Zhixia was you until we got engaged - but I didn't dare to recognize it, fearing you'd long forgotten."

I was afraid she would forget the candy, the crying under the tree, the man who secretly put the candy in it.

Shen Zhixia finished the last sip of the brown sugar water and placed the cup on the bedside table. She pulled off the quilt and moved aside, patting the edge of the bed: "Sit down."

Ling Xu 'an hesitated for a moment and then sat down, half a foot away from her, his hands neatly placed on his knees.

"I haven't forgotten." Shen Zhixia looked at his profile and said, "That candy was the first candy I ate at the Shen family." It was the only time someone had secretly handed her candy.

Ling Xu 'an's shoulder gave a slight tremor. He turned his head to look at her, his eyes as soft as melted sugar: "If you want sugar in the future, I'll buy it for you. Buy a whole cabinet."

"Not at all." Shen Zhixia laughed, "Eating too much hurts my toothache."

The bedroom fell silent, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind outside the window. Ling Xu 'an was still sitting in the same position as before, not moving, not speaking, but Shen Zhixia felt something was different.

Before, when he looked at her, there was always a layer of politeness beyond the contract in his eyes. But now... His gaze fell on her face, soft, as if looking at some rare treasure.

"That scar..." Ling Xu 'an suddenly reached out, his fingertips hanging above her back, not daring to touch. "Does it still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore." Shen Zhixia shook her head. "It just itches a little when it rains."

Ling Xu 'an drew his fingertips back and clenched them into a fist. He recalled Chen Mocha's old accounts with the Shen family - the wet nurse who had pushed her back then was given a house by Shen Yuwei's mother and became the logistics supervisor of the Shen Group.

"I won't let you suffer any injustice again." He said in a low voice, soft but with a certain earnestness.

Shen Zhixia felt warm in her heart. She moved closer to him and touched his arm with her shoulder: "Ling Xu 'an, are we... No need to sign that contract again?

Ling Xu 'an was stunned for a moment, then laughed. He reached out and rubbed her hair, his fingertips rubbing against the top of her hair as naturally as if he had done it a thousand times: "It should have been torn long ago."

He fished out his phone from his pocket and clicked on the memo - which contained a draft of the contract termination agreement, dated three days ago. He had been thinking about how to talk to her, but now it seemed there was no need to think about it at all.

When you get better, we'll go and sign the agreement. He handed her his phone, "We're not a contractual couple anymore."

"What is that?" Shen Zhixia deliberately teased him.

Ling Xu 'an looked into her eyes and suddenly said seriously, "It's the one who wants to make you brown sugar water for a lifetime."

Shen Zhixia's heart skipped a beat and her face was warm. She turned her head to look out of the window. The setting sun fell on the windowsill and dyed the blue cover of the diary warm pink.

It turned out that the care beyond the contract had long been hidden in that milk candy from a decade ago, in the brown sugar water he had hurriedly poured just now, and in the unbelievable tenderness in his eyes as he held the wrapper.

Ling Xu 'an didn't stay in the bedroom for long, saying he was afraid of disturbing her rest, and gently brought it to the door, Shen Zhixia still heard him instructing Uncle Zhao in the corridor: "Don't remove the warm porridge from the kitchen. When Miss Shen wakes up, bring it up. By the way, ask Chen Mo to buy a box of White Rabbit milk candies, in the old packaging."

She buried her face in the pillow and laughed, with the scent of cedar from him still on the pillowcase, mixed with the sweetness of the brown sugar water she had just drunk, warming her heart.

She dozed off for a while and was awakened by the sound of a soft knock on the door. Uncle Zhao came in carrying a celadon bowl, which contained millet and pumpkin porridge, with a tender yellow soft-boiled egg lying on top. "Miss Shen, the boss specially made it in the kitchen, saying it's soft and easy to digest."

Shen Zhixia sat up to take the bowl, her fingertips touching the warm wall of the bowl, feeling bright in her heart. Just as she had scooped up a spoonful of porridge, Ling Xu 'an came in, holding two plates of milk candy in his hand, the old blue and white packaging, looking very familiar.

"Awake?" He placed the candy on the bedside table next to the diary. "Chen Mo ran to three supermarkets to find it."

"Why haven't you gone to the office yet?" Shen Zhixia took a bite of the runny egg, and the yolk trickled down the corner of her mouth.

Ling Xu 'an took a tissue to wipe her, paused as his fingertip brushed against her chin, and then moved away as if nothing had happened: "Not today." He pulled up a chair and sat by the bed. "I'll go to the study with you later and tear up the agreement."

"What's the rush?" Shen Zhixia scooped up porridge and laughed, "No one is competing with you."

"I'm afraid there will be more dreams in the long night." "What if you change your mind?" Ling Xu 'an said straightforwardly, his eyes fixed on her profile as she drank porridge.

"No way." Shen Zhixia looked up at him, her eyelashes quivering. "It's so hard to catch someone who's willing to make me brown sugar water. How could I let him run away?"

As soon as these words were spoken, both of them were stunned. There was a silence in the bedroom, and Uncle Zhao had already tacitly withdrawn. The wind outside the window swayed the curtains, making the sunlight flicker on and off. Ling Xu 'an suddenly reached out his hand and gently touched the top of her hair as if he were touching something fragile.

"Have some porridge quickly. It won't taste good if it gets cold." " His voice was low and his ears were a little red.

Shen Zhixia quickly lowered her head to eat the porridge, but in her heart she was like a little rabbit, bouncing joyfully.

When tearing the agreement, Ling Xu 'an deliberately found a utility knife and cut it neatly. Two pieces of paper floated in the trash can. Shen Zhixia looked at the words "Contract term one year" and suddenly laughed: "If I had known it would be torn so soon, why bother to make it in the first place?"

"How could I have kept you by my side without it?" Ling Xu 'an put away the utility knife and pulled out a velvet box from the drawer. "I originally intended to give it to you at the engagement ceremony, but now it's ahead of time."

It wasn't a ring, it was a thin gold chain, and the pendant was a small candy engraved with the word "summer". Shen Zhixia touched the pendant, feeling cool: "This is..."

"Hit the same milk candy from back then." Ling Xu 'an picked up the necklace and helped her put it on. His fingertips rubbed against the skin at the back of her neck, and itchy her to tuck her neck. "From now on, people will know you are mine."

Shen Zhixia turned her neck in front of the mirror. The gold chain was so thin that it was almost invisible, and only the sugar pendant was shining in the sunlight. "Ling Xu 'an, have you ever secretly practiced how to coax people before?"

"I haven't." Ling Xu 'an hugged her from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder, "Just to be nice to you."

As he spoke, the heat blew behind her ears, and Shen Zhixia's ears turned red in an instant. Just as she was about to say something, Ling Xu 'an's phone rang. It was Chen Mo calling.

"Boss, I've found out! The wet nurse who pushed Miss Shen back then is now the head of Shen's logistics department. Her name is Liu Cui." Chen Mo's voice came through the receiver, a bit noisy. "I also found out that Shen Yuwei's mother gave her a house in the city center back then and told her to shut up."

Ling Xu 'an held Shen Zhixia's arm tighter and his voice turned cold: "Send me the address."

"Don't go." Shen Zhixia tugged at his arm. "It's been so long."

"I can't get through." Ling Xu 'an hung up the phone, turned to look at her, with a tough look in his eyes, "She pushed you, leaving a scar for over a decade; Shen Yuwei changed your name and got you cursed all over the Internet - none of that counts."

He used to be too lazy to care, thinking that as long as he protected her, it would be fine. But now that he knew how much she had suffered as a child and that that candy was the only sweetness she had in the Shen family, he couldn't bear it anymore.

"I'm not trying to fight with her." Ling Xu 'an pinched her face and softened his tone. "I just want her to know that no one can bully you now."

Shen Zhixia looked at the seriousness in his eyes and did not stop him. She knew that he was trying to get her back bit by bit the grievances she had suffered in those years.