Seven-thirty was the biological alarm clock Yu Ning had kept for eight years.
No matter how busy or tired she had been the night before, she could wake up right on time. It came with the job, and she had never developed the habit of lazing in bed.
She threw back the covers and got up, walked to the windowsill, pushed the window open, and gazed out.
In the distance, a thin morning mist lingered among the mountains. The sun had become a hazy frosted-glass orb, drifting in the milky fog. Its light, filtered soft by the moisture in the air, fell upon the blue bricks and white tiles close enough to touch, like a pat of butter slowly melting.
The light in her eyes wavered for a moment, and that slightly flustered heart of hers suddenly settled down.
The sun in Jidong Town seemed a little brighter than the one in Jinghai City.
The morning temperature was a little lower, too.
The early breeze was also a little cooler.
Pretty nice.
Everything in sight was healing.
Including…
Her gaze shifted slightly and landed on the handsome, sharp-featured man in the courtyard, dressed in a black T-shirt and black cargo pants.
Well now, a rugged hunk after a morning’s labor.
So early in the morning, he had added another dose of harmony to her good mood for the day.
Through the pale sunlight, their gazes met unexpectedly in midair.
The room Yu Ning was staying in happened to have a window facing the courtyard.
She propped her arms on the windowsill, her face bare of any makeup yet blooming with a smile as she greeted him. “Yo, Boss Chen, good morning.”
Chen Chuan gave a faint nod and replied very plainly, “Morning.”
Tsk.
Not enthusiastic at all.
Seeing him walk toward the house, she raised her voice and asked, “Boss Chen? Is there breakfast now?”
Hearing this, Chen Chuan looked up at her again. “More or less.”
“Okay, I really am a little hungry. I’ll come down now.” Yu Ning smiled as she pulled half the window shut, then turned and went to the bathroom to wash up.
What she had taken out of her suitcase yesterday was a white fringed camisole and a pair of gray casual pants, with a pair of apricot-colored half-slippers on her feet.
Because it was cold, when she went downstairs, she specially dug a color-blocked shawl in maple red, gray, and coffee brown out of her suitcase.
As she descended the stairs, she smelled the fragrance permeating the entire house, and her stomach seemed to empty out a little more.
A black shadow suddenly darted over and whimpered at her a few times.
Yu Ning bent down and patted its head. “Good morning, Tank.”
“Woof!”
Tank answered her.
Chen Chuan came in from the backyard. Looking at the scene of the person and the dog, he found it inexplicably familiar. He frowned and called out, “Tank, come here.”
The dog beneath Yu Ning’s hand vanished again.
She was speechless for a moment. Turning her head, she saw the man pouring dog food for Tank. Tank sat beside him in perfect order, its blue eyes rounded wide and drool pooling all over the floor, yet it did not move an inch.
She walked over and started a conversation. “You know how to train dogs too? Tank is so well-behaved. He’s nothing like other huskies.”
“He went to school for a few months.”
“No wonder. Then why did you buy a husky?”
“I didn’t buy him. Someone gave him to me.”
“Gave him to you?” Yu Ning raised her brows and asked teasingly, “Don’t tell me it was from an ex-girlfriend?”
This woman really couldn’t speak two proper sentences in a row.
Chen Chuan shot her a sidelong glance and strode toward the kitchen.
“Is that really it?” Yu Ning pursued the gossip. “Aiyo, then Tank is the ‘fruit of your love’? How long have you two been broken up? How did you break up?”
Chen Chuan knitted his brows.
He stopped, his dark gaze falling on her palm-sized oval face. Perhaps because he did not want to hear her keep asking, he finally replied, “No.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the somewhat old-looking blue floral curtain to the kitchen was lifted, and a middle-aged woman walked out from inside.
In her hands, she carried a plate of freshly made pancakes, still steaming.
“Chuanzi, go bring everything out.”
Only after the woman spoke did she notice the petite, graceful figure behind Chen Chuan.
Compared with his nearly one-meter-ninety sturdy build, her height of one meter seventy did indeed count as petite.
There were lines carved by years across the woman’s face, though they were not too deep. Wrinkles crossed the corners of her eyes, but those eyes, seemingly worn pale by time, held a kind and gentle smile, making one feel an involuntary sense of closeness.
“This is…”
“A guest in Room 302 on the third floor.” After Chen Chuan answered, he lifted the curtain and entered the kitchen to bring out breakfast.
Yu Ning smiled brightly. Her fox-like eyes were like a lake scattered with sunlight, shimmering with ripples, making her whole person seem radiant.
She was not coy either and introduced herself openly. “Hello, Auntie. I’m the guest who just checked into 302 last night. My name is Yu Ning. You can call me Yu Ning, or A-Ning.”
“Yes, yes, hello, hello.” Mother Chen answered repeatedly with a smile. “I heard from Chuanzi that you only got back at eleven last night. I’m really sorry, making you get delayed on the road for so long.”
“It’s all right, Auntie. I came here to have fun anyway. Yesterday… counted as a pretty good experience, too.”
Yu Ning was halfway through speaking when Chen Chuan happened to come out from behind the curtain carrying two dishes.
He did not look at her and placed the dishes directly on the dining table, then went back to the kitchen again.
Mother Chen waved with a smile. “A-Ning, come sit. These two are specialties of our Jidong Town—sweet potato cakes and pan-fried dumplings with termite mushrooms and water chestnuts. There’s also oil-splashed tea soup. Try them and see. If you’re not used to them, there are shepherd’s purse dumplings boiling inside, and freshly made soy milk.”
Yu Ning sat down beside her. “Making so much must have been hard on you, Auntie.”
“Not hard, not hard. If you like it, eat more.” The smile in Mother Chen’s eyes deepened. “Go ahead and eat. No need to wait for Chuanzi.”
Yu Ning blinked in confusion and asked uncertainly, “So… it’s just the three of us?”
“Yes.”
“I’m the only guest having breakfast?”
“The guests in 301 opposite you checked out yesterday afternoon. On the second floor, only two standard rooms are occupied—five young girls. They usually get up late, and they’re checking out this afternoon too.”
So she really was the only one left.
This season should count as the peak tourist season for Mingshan City, right?
This occupancy rate did not look very high.
“Then no one else is checking in?”
“There are a few the day after tomorrow, and a few more the day after that.”
Yu Ning gave a few “ohs.” Seeing Chen Chuan bring over a serving of boiled shepherd’s purse soup dumplings, then glancing over the other breakfast dishes on the table, she felt a little dazed. “There are only three of us. Why make so much…”
“Ah, Chuanzi has a big appetite. He does physical work all day, so he eats a bit more in one meal.”
“…”
No wonder he had grown so tall.
So it was from eating.
But he was not fat. His figure was actually quite well-proportioned, especially the muscles in his arms, which always gave off a vigorous, virile impression, as if he was very capable in certain aspects.
As soon as Chen Chuan lifted his eyes, he saw the woman across from him sizing him up like an X-ray scanner again, and in the end, a particularly aggressive glint even burst from her gaze.