Shen Yi, unsurprisingly, was stuck at his company’s building downstairs; on a day without traffic, a trip that should only take forty minutes had now doubled in duration.
But Shen Yi still sat in the car, calm and composed without any sign of impatience, for this was an outcome he had already anticipated.
At half-past seven, Shen Yi returned to Bihai Bay Villa, where the housekeeper, somewhat surprised to see him back at this time, asked, "Sir, you’re back. Have you had dinner yet?"
The housekeeper had been newly employed after Shen Yi married Ye Wanwan and moved to Bihai Bay.
Lady Lin Xu, Shen Yi’s mother, had initially intended to send over the elderly caretaker from the old mansion to look after them. However, considering that Ye Wanwan might feel uncomfortable and suspect that she was deliberately sending someone from the old mansion to oversee Bihai Bay, Lady Lin Xu simply decided they should hire new servants instead.
The new housekeeper hadn’t yet fully grasped Shen Yi’s daily routine or his temperament. Nevertheless, this was the first time in a month since the housekeeper’s employment that the master of the house had returned to the villa before nine o’clock, so it was quite surprising indeed.
"Where is Wanwan?" asked Shen Yi as he headed towards the staircase.
"I went to see her before dinner, and the madam said she had no appetite and didn’t want to eat. The madam seemed to be scared; her eyes were red, as if she had been crying," the housekeeper replied respectfully, following Shen Yi.
Shen Yi’s body stiffened slightly upon hearing the word "crying," but he didn’t stop and hurried to the upstairs bedroom.
Upon entering the room, Shen Yi immediately saw Ye Wanwan sitting on the bed.
Ye Wanwan seemed startled by the sudden intrusion, but when she saw the man standing at the door, her nose tingled, and her vision blurred.
Shen Yi frowned slightly, knowing Ye Wanwan couldn’t swim and had even had a near-drowning experience as a child, causing her to still be unable to swim, so she must have been frightened today.
Shen Yi took a few steps towards her, sat down beside the bed, and gently stroked Ye Wanwan’s somewhat disheveled hair, using his fingertips to wipe away the tears slipping from the corner of her eyes.
"It’s alright now, no need to cry," Shen Yi said with a tender, soothing voice.
Ye Wanwan just looked at Shen Yi dumbly, silently shedding tears, her reddened eyes appearing deeply aggrieved.
Shen Yi didn’t know that she wasn’t crying because she fell into the swimming pool but because she had just come to terms with the unbelievable fact that she had been reborn.
Seeing Shen Yi again so soon made her feelings quite complicated.
She loved this man in front of her, had loved him in her past life, and even if her life ended in depression, seeing him again at this moment, she couldn’t contain the love for Shen Yi that lingered in her heart.
In fact, by the end of her previous life, she had realized that she and Shen Yi had grown apart because they were incompatible.
She had married Shen Yi full of love, carrying infinite and beautiful expectations for love, and then hoped that Shen Yi could give her the same romantic affection in return.
But to Shen Yi, she was merely a partner in an arranged marriage.
He would do what a husband should do: take care of her, cherish her.
She could even feel that Shen Yi loved her too — he remembered her favorite dishes, knew which color lipstick she liked, and was aware of many other small habits that most people didn’t know.