Xie Yunli said: “I’ve been back a few times, not that often.”
Indeed, it wasn’t that often, but each time he went, he did spend a bit more time there than before.
Because Wen Ran no longer deliberately avoided him like she used to.
When they first got married, to make her understand that she was free, he had refrained from disturbing her for a long time. Even when he returned to the villa, he would just sit downstairs for a while, and many times he would leave without even seeing her face.
In his eyes, Wen Ran was like some fragile plant raised in a greenhouse, or perhaps some sensitive small animal. In any case, she was beyond the realm of ordinary people, always making others unsure how to treat her.
But this recent version of Wen Ran rarely gave him the feeling of an ordinary girl.
“Is she willing to come out of the house now?”
Liang Zeqi asked.
Xie Yunli didn’t respond.
He thought of that video.
Until now, he still didn’t know how long she had stayed outside that time, or whether she had adapted to the external environment.
The puppy was probably tired and started snoring softly while lying on Liang Zeqi.
Liang Zeqi was completely charmed and kept holding it even after returning to the company, not letting anyone else touch it. As a result, he accidentally got peed on, but fortunately he put it down on the ground in time, so only his jacket was ruined and his pants were fine. Otherwise, that would have been quite the misunderstanding.
Bai Lin laughed: “That’s what you get for not letting it down. It was probably struggling earlier because it needed to pee. Serves you right. Speaking of which, you’re such a playboy who’s never home, and you want to raise a puppy? Do you have time to walk it?”
Liang Zeqi said: “If I don’t have time, I’ll make time. Once a man has something he truly loves, he’ll definitely settle down properly.”
Bai Lin looked thoughtfully toward Xie Yunli’s office.
Seeing her expression was off, Liang Zeqi said: “Don’t say this old friend didn’t warn you. Xie Yunli really cares about his wife, and he’s such a single-minded person. If he likes someone, he likes them; if he doesn’t, he never will. It’s impossible for him to change his mind casually.”
Bai Lin snorted: “I’m not that shameless. I’m just curious about what kind of person his wife is.”
Liang Zeqi thought to himself that not only was she curious, but he was curious too.
Xie Yunli had been married for over two years, and he still didn’t know what his wife looked like. He only knew her situation was special and she couldn’t adapt to the outside environment.
Bai Lin said: “Besides, they’ve been living separately. How good could their relationship be?”
Liang Zeqi patted her shoulder: “I still need to remind you again. In this company, you can gossip about anything except your boss. Don’t talk nonsense about that.”
Bai Lin made a dismissive sound but didn’t say anything more.
In the office.
Xie Yunli looked up some information online. Raising dogs did have certain benefits for autistic patients, especially during childhood.
If they had a pet, it could greatly improve their social skills. Of course, it would be best to raise a professionally trained therapy dog.
Xie Yunli took out his phone, planning to call Aunt Zhu.
Wen Ran’s father had completely cut off contact with them. In this world, the person who understood Wen Ran best was still Aunt Zhu, who had been taking care of her.
However, before he could make the call, a message suddenly arrived.
The message was from Aunt Zhu, but the content wasn’t from her.
“Xie Yunli, did you eat today? Are you hungry at work? I’m Wen Ran using Aunt Zhu’s phone.”
Xie Yunli was stunned and read the message several times.
This was Wen Ran using Aunt Zhu’s phone to talk to him, and it must have been her own idea, because Aunt Zhu would never joke using Wen Ran’s tone.
This was unprecedented.
The first time Wen Ran had actively communicated with him, and also the first time she had used text messaging to have a conversation with him.
This kind of thing that was perfectly ordinary for normal people was almost unbelievable coming from Wen Ran.
Because this kind of language with emotional undertones of ‘concern’ was extremely rare for Wen Ran. From childhood to adulthood, she had only truly had feelings for a few family members.
Never mind showing concern, even actively greeting someone was very rare.
Liang Zeqi knocked and entered the office, seeing Xie Yunli staring intently at his phone without moving his eyes at all.
He thought Xie Yunli was handling work messages, so he sat on the sofa and waited for a while. But after several minutes, he found that Xie Yunli was still staring motionlessly at his phone.
What message was so important?
How strange. Even when he was busy, he had never seen him this focused.
Liang Zeqi looked at him suspiciously for a while and couldn’t help but speak: “Mr. Xie, I need to interrupt you for a moment…”
As soon as he started speaking, Xie Yunli suddenly cut him off: “Go out first.”
Liang Zeqi: “Huh? So heartless? I haven’t even said what I wanted to say.”
Xie Yunli didn’t look up, clearly having no time to deal with him.
He had no choice but to get up and leave. Before going out, he glanced at Xie Yunli again.
Xie Yunli was holding his phone and impatiently raised his eyelids.
“OK OK, leaving right away.”
Liang Zeqi immediately turned around and closed the door for him.
This attitude was simply inexplicable. Even when busy, he had never been like this. What kind of illness had he caught?
…
“He replied! He replied! Quick! Ranran, Mr. Xie replied to your message!”
Wen Ran, who had been absentmindedly gesturing on her drawing pad, immediately sat up straight with her eyes wide: “What… what did he reply? Does he… does he know it was my message? Is he… replying to me?”
Aunt Zhu: “Of course! We already said you were using my phone. Mr. Xie wouldn’t misunderstand. Come look.”
Wen Ran leaned over.
“Thank you for your concern, Wen Ran. I haven’t left work yet, but I ate lunch quite late, so I’m not hungry now.”
“He said thank you Wen Ran, so he definitely knows you’re talking to him.”
Aunt Zhu suggested: “How about we tell him about Kaka now?”
Hearing this, Wen Ran became nervous again and unconsciously rubbed her fingertips: “How should… I say it? I don’t know how… to say it. Maybe… Aunt Zhu, could you say it for me? I don’t know… how to say it.”
Her nervous habit of repetitive speech kicked in, showing she was truly very nervous.
Aunt Zhu was encouraging her when Xie Yunli sent another message: “Please tell Aunt Zhu to make dinner for me too. If I come back late, just leave a portion in the kitchen.”
Wen Ran looked at Aunt Zhu and blinked: “This means… he’s coming for dinner? Right, Aunt Zhu?”
Actually, today Xie Yunli hadn’t originally planned to go to the villa for dinner, because he had a lot of work today and had a client meeting in the evening. He wasn’t sure what time he could get back.
However, he somehow felt that Wen Ran seemed to have something she wanted to tell him.
Or rather, he hoped Wen Ran could say something to him directly.
At seven-thirty in the evening, it was already time for Wen Ran to finish dinner.
Aunt Zhu had prepared a table full of dishes. Since Xie Yunli hadn’t eaten last time he came, she had specifically made it very lavish.
She served Wen Ran her food, but Wen Ran just stared at the dining table without moving. When Aunt Zhu told her to eat first, she only shook her head.
“Ranran, are you waiting for Mr. Xie to come back so you can eat together?”
Wen Ran nodded.
She didn’t say anything or explain anything, but Aunt Zhu understood in her heart that Wen Ran wanted Xie Yunli to come back for dinner.
Even though due to her innate autism, Wen Ran had difficulty forming emotional connections with people and found it hard to express her inner thoughts, even unable to make eye contact or communicate normally with others.
But she wasn’t stupid. Once her heart developed something resembling emotions toward someone, whether it was familial love, friendship, or even the love she had never encountered or understood, as long as she truly accepted this person, she would definitely care more and more about them in her heart.
She knew that Xie Yunli had always been taking care of her, even though he rarely came to see her.
But she could also feel Xie Yunli’s patience with her.
Even setting aside the marital relationship, Wen Ran would definitely care about Xie Yunli in her heart.
In the conference room, Xie Yunli glanced at his phone. It was already eight-thirty.
A client had suddenly come to the company with something very important to discuss. Originally, he would definitely be at the company at this time, but today was exceptional because he had already told Wen Ran he would come back for dinner.
Fortunately, he had also said he might be back late. This client had already come, so he couldn’t refuse. He had to finish handling what needed to be handled before he could go back.
By this time, she should have already finished dinner and gone upstairs to rest.
Around ten o’clock, Aunt Zhu reheated the food again and coaxed Wen Ran to eat.
“Eat first, Ranran. Mr. Xie must be tied up with work. Please eat first, okay?”
Once again, someone appeared in this world who could break Wen Ran’s rigid life routine, because Wen Ran still hadn’t eaten.
After ten o’clock, she was still sitting on the sofa holding a cushion, looking at the door.
Just like many, many years ago, when she sat on the sofa in her old home waiting for her parents to come home for dinner.
Once she became stubborn, even Aunt Zhu had no way to deal with her.
“Being hungry for a while is okay.”
She shook her head and said softly: “Missing one meal doesn’t matter. Xie Yunli… he’s also hungry.”
Aunt Zhu sighed. How could this silly child compare herself to Mr. Xie?
But she also didn’t dare call to disturb Xie Yunli.
Actually, she privately hoped that Wen Ran could become closer to Xie Yunli. After all, they were husband and wife, and they might very well be together for life.
But it was also possible that one day this relationship would end. That would just be a matter of Xie Yunli saying one word, and no one could stop it.
So as Wen Ran’s caregiver, she had no right to complain about Xie Yunli. She only hoped that Xie Yunli could keep his promise and take good care of Wen Ran.
Even if the two couldn’t be true husband and wife, she at least hoped he would still be willing to be her family, her support.
At eleven o’clock at night, Xie Yunli finally sent off the difficult client.
He looked at his watch and also saw the message Aunt Zhu had sent: “Mr. Xie, are you still coming back?”
It was already eleven o’clock, exactly Wen Ran’s bedtime.
Xie Yunli hesitated. If he went back now, Wen Ran would be asleep. Should he go and disturb her?
Xie Yunli replied: “Had a last-minute client. Sorry for making you wait so long. Wen Ran must be asleep, right? I won’t go disturb her. I’ll come another day to apologize to her.”
Zhou Wei brought the car over, and Liang Zeqi wanted to catch a ride back with him.
Just as Xie Yunli was about to get in the car, another message suddenly came on his phone.
Aunt Zhu: “Mr. Xie, Ranran has been waiting for you to eat dinner.”
Xie Yunli was stunned.
The next second, Liang Zeqi, who was already sitting in the back seat yawning, was pulled out by Xie Yunli: “I still have something to do. Drive yourself back.”
“What? Didn’t we agree to go have a drink together?”
“You heard wrong.”
Xie Yunli slammed the car door shut.
Learning they were going to Wen Ran’s villa, Zhou Wei didn’t ask a single question and sped up the entire way.
Because he could see that Xie Yunli’s expression was very unpleasant, and he figured something might have happened on Wen Ran’s side.
When Xie Yunli arrived, the downstairs lights were already off, with only the kitchen light still on. Aunt Zhu was cleaning up.
Hearing that Xie Yunli had come, Aunt Zhu hurried out. She was very surprised: “Mr. Xie, I thought you weren’t coming back.”
Xie Yunli glanced upstairs, where the lights were also off: “Is she asleep?”
Aunt Zhu said: “I just coaxed her to bed. Have you eaten? I’ll go heat up the food for you right away.”
“No need, I’m not hungry.”
Xie Yunli paused and asked: “Did she eat?”
Aunt Zhu shook her head: “Before bed, I made her drink a cup of soy milk. She originally wanted to keep waiting for you. I told her you weren’t coming, and only then would she agree to sleep.”
Xie Yunli was silent for a moment and said: “I thought she wouldn’t change her habits.”
“Yes.”
Aunt Zhu sighed: “In the past, only when her mother was sick would she not eat or sleep on time. As you know, for children in her condition, changing life routines is very uncomfortable. Not only are their emotions affected, but they also feel physically unwell. But when she really gets stubborn, no one can do anything about her. Last night she kept waiting for you to eat dinner. No matter how I tried to persuade her, she insisted on sitting there waiting for you.”
Xie Yunli looked at the dining room.
For an instant, he seemed to see Wen Ran sitting quietly at the dining table, stubbornly waiting for him to eat.
For a full three hours.
“Can I go upstairs to see her?”
Aunt Zhu nodded: “Yes, she’s a very light sleeper and sensitive to sounds. The slightest disturbance will wake her, so she has to wear earplugs to sleep every night. As long as it’s not a very loud sound, it won’t wake her.”
Xie Yunli went upstairs. The master bedroom door wasn’t locked and opened with a gentle push.
Wen Ran was already asleep.
Her long hair was spread across the pillow, and she looked very well-behaved and peaceful in her sleep. Just as Aunt Zhu had said, she was wearing earplugs, so the sound of opening the door didn’t wake her.
Xie Yunli quietly watched her for a while.
When Wen Ran first moved in, she actually couldn’t sleep well for a very long time.
Even though he had tried his best to recreate the furniture arrangement from her original home, it wasn’t the same environment after all, and it was difficult for her to adapt immediately. During that period, Aunt Zhu slept on a makeshift bed in this room every night because Wen Ran would wake up several times and have difficulty falling back asleep each time.
In the two years before that, she had spent most of each day in deep sleep.
Perhaps she had slept too much during those two years, because for a long time afterward, she had great difficulty falling asleep.
Of course, it was mostly psychological issues.
She couldn’t adapt to the fact that both her parents had left her in a short time.
One had left this world, and one had left her side.
So in the two years right after Wen Ran’s mother died, she spent most of her daytime hours sleeping, using this to escape the pain of being awake.
Wen Ran’s mother had actually shown signs of depression when she was pregnant with her.
Although autism still has no known cause, Wen Ran’s father’s family still blamed everything on Wen Ran’s mother, which made her condition worse and worse. After struggling to care for Wen Ran for over ten years, she was finally forced to be hospitalized for treatment.
Her deceased mother was the only person Wen Ran relied on most in this world, so after her mother’s death, Wen Ran was like a young bird that had lost its warm nest and could no longer spread its wings.
Even though she was already over twenty, she still looked no different from an innocent, harmless child.
In the darkness, her breathing was so light it almost merged with the air.
Xie Yunli reached out and gently stroked the hair scattered beside her.
…
The next morning, when Wen Ran woke up, it was nearly half an hour later than her usual wake-up time, so she was somewhat hurried when getting up.
Although her work didn’t require early rising and no one stipulated when she should get up, suddenly disrupting her routine still made her feel somewhat panicked.
She tidied herself up and went downstairs. Just as she was about to call for Aunt Zhu, she suddenly saw Xie Yunli sitting on the sofa.
Before she could stop her steps, she unexpectedly met his gaze.
In that instant, her breathing stopped.
His appearance was exactly the same as what she had seen on the phone: the sharply defined face, the deep and profound eyebrows and eyes, the straight back and long legs even while sitting on the sofa.
It was an aura that had completely shed any boyishness, noble and steady.
“Half an hour later than usual.”
He glanced at his watch, his eyes carrying a hint of amusement: “You slept so well. What kind of beautiful dream did you have?”
Hearing his voice, Wen Ran realized that what she was seeing wasn’t an illusion.
Her hands almost immediately and unconsciously grabbed her pajamas, her gaze flickering around: “Dreams… what kind of dreams are beautiful dreams?”
Xie Yunli thought for a moment and said: “If you dream of things that make you happy, then that should be a beautiful dream.”
Wen Ran’s expression immediately dimmed: “Then… I didn’t have a beautiful dream.”
Xie Yunli was stunned, realizing he had said the wrong thing. He stood up wanting to walk toward her, about to say something, but Wen Ran turned and ran to the kitchen.
Seeing her panicked appearance, Aunt Zhu smiled and patted her head: “What are you afraid of? Mr. Xie stayed overnight in the guest room to have breakfast with you. He got up early specifically to wait for you.”