It's hard to quit, but it's the perfect marriage!

It is Zhu Xi's mother, He Mianxin.

Zhu Xi's smile and ease froze instantly. She took a deep breath, held it, and sank to the bottom of the water.

He Mianxin stood at the door with a deep smile, "I brought you some food. Come out and eat something after you finish showering."

A long string of tiny bubbles rose to the surface of the water. Zhu Xi took his hand out of the water and waved it.

He Mianxin's expression froze, her hand on the doorknob, caught in a dilemma.

"Xi Xi?"

Zhu Xi was still floating in the water when she waved again.

"Then come out quickly, Mom is outside."

Half an hour later, Zhu Xi walked into the living room dressed in her home clothes.

The once barren living room is now filled with fresh flowers and deliberately added greenery.

Several new outfits were now hanging on the mobile clothes rack next to the sofa.

No tags, designer style.

The slightly messy sofa is now clean and tidy.

He Mianxin, who showed no signs of aging, was helping her hang clothes on the balcony when she heard the noise and turned around.

The mother and daughter exchanged glances. Zhu Xi tucked her freshly dried hair behind her back, grabbed a cushion, and stuffed it into her arms.

He Mianxin held up her dog-head T-shirt. "Xixi, this T-shirt..."

Zhu Xi looked up. "Hmm?"

"It's nothing, Mom just noticed a loose thread on my shoulder."

Zhu Xi rested her chin on her hand, looking languid and slightly dazed. "It's alright, nobody likes to nitpick other people's problems."

He Mianxin paused for a moment, "I had several outfits custom-made for you according to your size, and the color of that dress suits you very well."

Zhu Xi leaned back on the sofa, not even glancing at me. "Stop busying yourself, what do you want?"

He Mianxin continued to help her hang up the clothes, saying, "Mom is fine. She came to take care of you while you were resting and brought you some stir-fried pork liver."

The day after Zhu Xi moved into the Yu family's house, she fainted in her room due to low blood sugar. The doctor examined her and said that she had insufficient qi and blood.

From then on, He Mianxin often cooked stir-fried pork liver for her.

But right now, Zhu Xi doesn't want to be taken care of at all; all she wants to do is sleep.

He Mianxin was busy on the balcony, hanging clothes to dry and washing bed sheets, and even personally washing three pairs of dirty socks for her.

She rubbed her socks and said gently, "Go to the restaurant for dinner. Besides pork liver, there are also your favorite ribs. Mom stewed them herself for three hours."

Zhu Xi slowly got up, her slippers scraping the floor.

He sat mechanically in the dining chair, gripping his chopsticks, took a couple of bites, and then prepared to ask the customer to leave.

He Mianxin dried her hands and walked over. After passing through the entryway, she took out hand cream from her bag and applied it.

She then placed the skincare products she had brought where Zhu Xi could see them, saying, "The skincare products you ordered from France have arrived. Take a set to the hospital. No matter how busy you are with work, you still need to take care of your skin."

He Mianxin sat down next to Zhu Xi and pushed the box of stir-fried pig liver towards her. Looking at Zhu Xi's lowered and aloof eyes, she said, "Xi Xi, Mom has ordered a batch of fabric for you. I'll come pick you up tomorrow, and we'll make a few cheongsams. You'll need to wear them for many occasions in the future."

"Now that you've married into the Zhou family, you should naturally consider Ying Huai's feelings. It wouldn't be appropriate for you to wear a T-shirt and lose face."

Zhu Xi: "No need."

He Mianxin continued, "The fabric is top-quality Song brocade, with your favorite jasmine and butterfly patterns. Let's go take a look. Hmm?"

She tucked a stray strand of Zhu Xi's hair behind her ear. "We finally don't have to stay in the hospital anymore and can rest for a day, we..."

Zhu Xi's patience had worn thin, and she interrupted coldly, "Mom, do whatever you like."

He Mianxin's smile froze. "Let's go together. We need to take your measurements for the cheongsam. Mom's taste is different from yours, so you can choose one you like."

The stir-fried pork liver in front of me tasted bitter, and my favorite ribs seemed like bones in the delicate white fish meat.

It's stuck in my throat, I can't swallow it or let it come down.

"I think that dress needs to fit perfectly; that size is fine."

He Mianxin didn't catch the underlying meaning in her words, "A cheongsam is different from a dress; a cheongsam has to fit well..."

"Mom, Zhou Yinghuai and I are already married. The Yu family's reputation hasn't been lost, and your status as Mrs. Yu is as secure as a rock." Zhu Xi put down her chopsticks, got up, took a bottle of fruit wine from the refrigerator, unscrewed it, and took a big gulp. "Don't worry, Zhou Yinghuai said that my marriage with him can only end if I file for divorce."

She laughed at herself, "Zhongyu Group is thriving, Yu Qingge is still single and can seek true love, and Wen's maternal grandfather can have surgery next week."

As He Mianxin listened to her biological daughter's words, her smile turned into a blush and then a livid mess.

"Xixi, that's not what Mommy meant." She tried to explain, but found that her 27-year-old daughter was looking at her like she was a stranger.

Those eyes, so similar to his own, were filled with self-loathing and disgust.

"Xixi, Mommy just wants to show you some concern."

Zhu Xi raised her hand, her shoulder against the refrigerator door, clutching the fruit wine that Zhou Yinghuai had brought her.

"Concerned about me?" She shook the wine bottle in her hand. "It was a gift from Zhou Yinghuai. He knew I would sleep in until the end on my day off, so he told me to make sure I got enough sleep and also remember to eat something."

She smiled and lowered her head, then spoke with her cheek resting on her hand, "My brother was busy all night in America and didn't leave the lab until dawn. He just called me to chat, so as not to disturb my sleep."

Zhu Xi's gaze swept over He Mianxin's well-maintained face, landing on the several pairs of still-drip socks. The even more unpleasant words that followed were exhaled after a deep breath.

"The stir-fried pork liver smells delicious, the stewed ribs are very tender, and the flowers smell wonderful. I know. I can eat it and I can smell it. But right now, I really want to sleep."

Her home now smells like her mother, but Zhu Xi is long past the age where she needs that smell.

-

Zhou Yinghuai was gone for half a month, and Zhu Xi’s new dormitory was comfortable and spacious.

This dormitory room, which is a full 30 square meters, is entirely new except for her own belongings.

New desk, new refrigerator, new microwave.

There were even two more comfortable chairs placed side by side.

All of this was witnessed by his half-brother, Yu Sui.

The siblings had a fairly good relationship. Yu Sui casually flipped through her books and said, "Sis, your husband seems to care about you a lot."

Zhu Xi ignored him and chased him away.

After Yu Sui left, Zhu Xi sent a WeChat message to Zhou Yinghuai, thanking him sincerely once again.

Zhou Yinghuai looked at the words "thank you" and sighed resignedly.

He clearly stated that the title "Mrs. Zhou" refers to far more than just one dormitory room.

Zhu Xi was so polite, making Zhou Yinghuai, an outsider, seem even more like an outsider.

He went with her, staring at the thank you message she sent, and replied with a "You're welcome."

Then he looked at Chen Nan, who was organizing documents across from him, and said, "Check the itinerary. If possible, go back to China for a few days."

Chen Nan paused, his hand holding the document. "Okay, boss."

As the sun revolves, the weather in Licheng gets hotter and hotter.

The night before Mr. Wen's surgery, Zhu Xi had just undergone a six-hour operation.

When he stepped down from the stage, the lights on the spire of the Chongyin Pagoda were all turned on.

Even though I wasn't the lead surgeon, I was still exhausted.

She took a shower, returned to the department exhausted, feeling listless and hungry.

Unexpectedly, I ran into the Wen sisters in the corridor, who were leaving in a hurry as if they were going to pick someone up.

As expected, Zhu Xi received two glares.

She pouted, turned her face away, and retaliated with two middle fingers.

In the doctor's on-call room, Xiaoyue brought up her packed dinner.

I heated it in the microwave, and it was steaming, but it didn't smell good.

Zhu Xi rested her chin on her hand, picked up a piece of fried tofu and examined it for a long time, but ultimately did not put it in her mouth.

Xiaoyue laughed at her from the side, "It's true what they say, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality."

Zhu Xi hummed and opened the fruit box she had brought from the dormitory.

Zhou Yinghuai sent the fruit, but even though he wasn't there, she was able to eat fresh fruit every day.

The refrigerator is new, and it works much better than the old one.

"That handsome guy, is he still away on his business trip?" Xiaoyue asked.

Zhu Xi mechanically shook her head, suddenly reminiscing about the days when she and Zhou Yinghuai sat side by side at their desks in the dormitory, eating fruit.

She picked up her phone and found Zhou Yinghuai's profile picture.

Which restaurant did you book with before...?

This time, the congratulatory message wasn't finished being sent.

The nurse rushed in, pushed open the door, and called out.