I’ll Eat With You

Although we haven’t actually done it yet, making out with you and getting you all worked up still counts as breaking the rule.

“So if you have any taboos about that, I’ll be a little more careful this week,” Wen Xi said.

She spoke very seriously.

When she had deliberately tormented Jiang Jibai at the desk earlier, she hadn’t even thought about this angle.

It was only after Ji Lingling mentioned condoms that Wen Xi suddenly realized—since this was his mother’s memorial period, maybe he had to observe certain restrictions.

“I abstain from s*x for my entire life, Wen Xi,” he said.

“……”

Wen Xi turned her head to look at him.

Jiang Jibai was leaning against the headboard with a tablet resting on his knees, calmly dealing with emails.

She puffed up her cheeks and deliberately asked, “So if we hypothetically never divorce, you’re saying you’ll never have marital relations with me for the rest of your life?”

“That’s the plan.”

The man’s tone was calm and emotionless.

“Jiang Jibai, are you asking me to become a nun and live like a widow?”

Wen Xi shot upright angrily.

“Wen Xi, our marriage won’t last a lifetime.”

Jiang Jibai’s tone was still steady.

“Your future husband will gladly do that with you. You won’t remain a widow.”

He wasn’t speaking without reason.

She had married him for Qiao Zhinian.

If one day Qiao Zhinian left the company, or if his elder brother returned to manage Fangke Entertainment, Jiang Jibai would hand the company back to him.

He had his own life to pursue.

Either way, the marriage between Wen Xi and him—built around Qiao Zhinian—would naturally come to an end.

Besides, she was beautiful and lively.

The man she eventually married would almost certainly adore her.

“You’re already planning our divorce?”

In Wen Xi’s mind, as long as Qiao Zhinian was still at Fangke and Jiang Jibai remained the CEO, she would never divorce him.

Jiang Jibai didn’t explain his thoughts.

He glanced at the time and said, “It’s late. You should sleep.”

“……”

Wen Xi puffed her cheeks again.

Then suddenly she said, “Jiang Jibai, give me your right hand.”

Jiang Jibai glanced at her and extended his hand.

The girl immediately grabbed his wrist, pulled it toward her mouth, and bit down hard.

His brows knit slightly.

After she released him, she huffed angrily.

“Jiang Jibai, you’d be more likable if you just stayed a silent handsome guy!”

After biting him, Wen Xi slid under the blanket and turned her back to him.

Jiang Jibai lowered his eyes to look at the faint row of teeth marks on the base of his thumb.

He wiped away the saliva with a tissue.

Then he calmly returned to dealing with his emails.

The next morning around six, Wen Xi was woken up.

Ji Lingling was chattering noisily beside her bed.

Wen Xi rubbed her eyes and sat up groggily.

The curtains were wide open.

Bright sunlight flooded the room.

“Where’s Jiang Jibai?”

“He went to breakfast,” Ji Lingling said.

“Sister-in-law, you should get up too. The sun’s already shining on your butt.”

Wen Xi checked the time.

It was only six in the morning.

That was ridiculously early.

But since Ji Lingling had already come to wake her, she didn’t go back to sleep.

After getting ready, she followed Ji Lingling to the dining room.

“You and my brother really didn’t do it last night?”

Ji Lingling linked arms with her and kept staring at Wen Xi’s neck.

It was smooth and pale.

Not a single hickey.

“……”

“Why would I lie to you?”

“Oh, so you really didn’t do it.”

Ji Lingling circled back to yesterday’s topic.

“Or you two really aren’t a real couple?”

She analyzed seriously.

“My brother’s personality is so cold. If he actually liked his wife, his possessiveness would be insane. He’d probably cover you in hickeys.”

“You said you guys did it the night before yesterday, but there aren’t even old marks on your neck.”

Wen Xi paused.

Then she quickly improvised.

“You don’t understand your brother. He’s secretly passionate but doesn’t like leaving marks.”

“I think I understand my brother pretty well though…”

Ji Lingling wanted to keep talking.

Wen Xi quickly changed the subject.

“Are we almost at the dining room? What do you usually eat for breakfast here? I don’t like salty breakfast food.”

“Oh, there’s both sweet and savory. If you don’t like anything, you can ask the kitchen auntie to make something separately.”

Ji Lingling was successfully distracted.

“But there’s one thing you have to get used to.”

“What?”

“You’ll find out soon.”

They entered the large dining hall of the main building.

Several elders were sitting around a golden nanmu round table.

Wen Xi only recognized Zou Jiayun.

The other three were likely Jiang Jibai’s grandmother, uncle, and aunt.

Her eyes lingered briefly on the grandmother, Chen Zhangyu.

She wore an embroidered traditional Chinese jacket and sat at the head seat.

Her frame was thin and frail, probably under a hundred pounds.

Her hair was neatly tied but almost entirely white.

She looked around eighty or ninety years old.

Her face carried no smile.

Her expression was extremely stern.

When Wen Xi and Ji Lingling entered, Chen Zhangyu didn’t offer even a polite smile.

She merely glanced at Wen Xi and said coldly,

“Serve the food.”

Zou Jiayun gestured for Wen Xi to sit beside her.

Breakfast dishes were brought out one after another until the table was full.

The atmosphere at the table was lively.

Jiang Jibai’s uncle chatted casually.

Zou Jiayun joined the conversation.

But Wen Xi barely spoke.

She focused on eating.

After a few bites, she asked Zou Jiayun quietly,

“Mom, do you know where Jiang Jibai went this morning?”

She planned to find him after breakfast.

But the moment she asked, the lively table suddenly fell silent.

Ji Lingling shot her a meaningful look.

Wen Xi didn’t understand it.

Zou Jiayun said,

“A’Gu hasn’t gone out yet.”

“Huh? He wasn’t in the bedroom. Isn’t he eating breakfast?”

“Maybe he didn’t tell you,” Zou Jiayun said awkwardly.

“He eats breakfast… next door.”

Wen Xi blinked.

She glanced at Chen Zhangyu at the head of the table.

Then she seemed to understand.

“Where is he eating?” Wen Xi stood up.

“I’ll go eat with him.”

Zou Jiayun grabbed her arm.

“You’re already sitting here. Finish eating before going.”

But Wen Xi gently pushed her hand away.

Her deer-like eyes curved into a smile.

“It’s okay. I’m almost full. I’ll just go over and find him before he leaves.”

Chen Zhangyu slammed her chopsticks down loudly.

Wen Xi only glanced at her once.

She didn’t stop walking.

“You child, come back! Don’t make your grandmother angry—”

Zou Jiayun called after her.

“Mom,” Wen Xi said sweetly,

“I didn’t argue with Grandma or do anything improper. Why would she be angry with me?”

She walked toward the door.

“Grandma, Uncle, Aunt—please continue eating. I’ll go first!”

Outside the dining hall, Wen Xi frowned.

The courtyard had many rooms and halls.

If she searched one by one, Jiang Jibai might already finish eating.

Just as she was worrying, her phone buzzed.

Ji Lingling had sent a message.

[Turn right after leaving the dining hall. Walk to the end of the corridor near the courtyard wall. Brother Jibai is eating there.]

Wen Xi’s eyes lit up.

[Thank you!]

She hurried over.

Then she sent another message.

[Does your family isolate your cousin like this every year?]

Ji Lingling replied quickly.

[Yes. When Grandma gets angry, no one dares challenge her. Aunt Yun listens to her. My parents don’t dare say anything either.]

[Every year it’s like this.]

Wen Xi pressed her lips together.

An entire group of elders isolating a younger family member like this for years…

It was too much.

When she reached the corridor, she saw Jiang Jibai through the wooden window.

He was still dressed in a formal suit.

His posture was elegant as he ate.

His expression was calm.

It didn’t seem like being forced to eat alone bothered him at all.

Or perhaps…

He was already used to it.

“Jiang Jibai!”

He turned toward the voice.

Outside the window was lush summer greenery.

And right against the window frame was a round little head.

Wen Xi leaned there, smiling brightly.

He had been sitting here for twenty minutes.

The place had been suffocatingly quiet.

Her sudden shout shattered that silence.

“Why didn’t you call me to eat? Did you forget I’m your wife?”

She walked around to the front door and sat across from him.

“I did call you. Ji Lingling went to wake you. Go eat with them.”

“I don’t like their food.”

She grabbed the jade chopsticks from his hand and pulled him up.

“Come eat outside with me! I want to try the breakfast here!”

“Wen Xi, the food outside isn’t different from here.”

“I still want to see it myself!”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him along.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Jibai stopped resisting.

At 7:20 a.m., they sat in a breakfast shop downtown.

Wen Xi ate two pan-fried dumplings and set down her chopsticks.

Jiang Jibai hadn’t eaten at all.

He simply watched her.

“Jiang Jibai,” she said after wiping her mouth,

“from now on we eat breakfast together every day. Don’t leave me behind.”

“Did Grandma scold you?”

“She didn’t say a single word to me.”

Wen Xi shook her head seriously.

“I’m your wife. Isn’t it normal for us to eat together?”

Jiang Jibai didn’t respond.

He checked his watch.

“I asked Ji Lingling to come pick you up. She’ll take you around today so you won’t be bored.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have something to do.”

“Can I come with you?”

“No.”

“…Okay.”

Later that morning, Ji Lingling picked Wen Xi up.

But that night Wen Xi insisted on eating dinner with Jiang Jibai again.

Despite the grandmother’s anger.

And for the first time in years—

Jiang Jibai broke his usual routine and went out to eat hot pot with her.

Over the next three days, Wen Xi quietly accompanied him.

They ate breakfast and dinner together in the isolated room.

Then she would sit all day in a café across from an abandoned kindergarten.

That was where Jiang Jibai spent his days.

It was the kindergarten he had attended as a child.

The one his mother had opened.

Wen Xi stayed there, studying quietly, waiting nearby.

Even though she was afraid of the golden retriever tied outside the neighboring bakery.

On the fourth day, when the dog blocked the café door and frightened her, she froze in her seat.

Then someone knocked on the window.

She turned sharply.

Outside stood Jiang Jibai.

Her eyes lit up instantly.

“Jiang Jibai! Save me!”

Jiang Jibai took the golden retriever back to the bakery and fastened its collar.

Then he stood at the café entrance.

“Come out.”

“I’m coming!”