Newlyweds are in the throes of passion, but Professor He's little darling wants a separation.

Her boss assigned her a task. Before Gu Lianyu had gone far, her phone vibrated a few times and pushed He Tingchu's business card over.

She hasn't blocked him yet.

Wen Xi shook her head helplessly. He Tingchu was such a persistent and haunting man.

He went to the US to enjoy a life of luxury, while she was the one who suffered.

Wen Xi didn't plan to buy instant noodles, thinking he should keep him waiting.

Just as I stepped out of the teacher's office, Xie Chunxi called.

"Ms. Xie, did you miss me?"

"Qiqi, next week is Grandma Tingchu's birthday. Don't forget to go and wish her a happy birthday. She called us in advance, but we can't come because Kangde is at a critical moment. But you, as her granddaughter-in-law, can't be impolite."

"Ah! But..." Wen Xi subconsciously felt embarrassed.

She is indeed the granddaughter-in-law on the surface, but the real family members are not here. She doesn't know what the He family will think if she goes back to the He residence alone.

"Mom, what gift should I prepare?" she asked, getting down to business first.

"Your dad has a set of antique purple clay teapots that are quite nice. We'll send them to you by express delivery tomorrow. Also, your grandma really liked your oil paintings before. Why don't you paint one yourself? That would be more sincere." Her daughter was the least adept at these social niceties; she was just a bookworm, so Xie Chunxi couldn't help but worry about her.

Last time, when the elderly couple from the He family visited the Wen family in Haicheng, they saw the oil painting she had painted in high school hanging in the living room. They said they liked it very much and that they would paint one for her when Qiqi had time.

Although Wen Xi studied medicine, she had been forced by Xie Chunxi to attend a lot of training courses over the past ten years, and oil painting and landscape painting were her areas of expertise.

Aside from her slightly awkward knife-holding posture, her hands were perfectly at ease when wielding the paintbrush.

She clearly has a talent for painting, but this stubborn girl insists on choosing medicine.

Xie Chunxi herself studied medicine and had experienced the hardships of medical training; she was unwilling for her daughter to follow in her footsteps.

Xie Chunxi tried to persuade him several times, but no matter how much she talked, Wen Xi remained unmoved.

"Okay," Wen Xi agreed.

She knew that Wen Shiyuan's collection of Yixing teapots was always quite valuable, while her paintings were worthless, but they were icing on the cake.

That shouldn't be too impolite.

"By the way, we owe a lot to Tingchu this time. She came to Haicheng two weeks ago and even invited a well-known international accounting firm, Kangde, to conduct an internal audit. We caught the mole and finally recovered some of the funds that had been transferred overseas. We are currently filing a lawsuit. Also, he helped your father innovate the production line, which greatly increased our production capacity of traditional Chinese medicine..." Xie Chunxi started rambling on.

Upon hearing He Tingchu's name, Wen Xi initially thought he was hallucinating.

"Wait, He Tingchu? You said he was in Haicheng two weeks ago?" Wen Xi asked hurriedly.

"Yes, he stayed in Kant for almost a week before flying from Haicheng to the United States. Thanks to him, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to catch the mole, which would have caused a lot of trouble."

"Mom, why didn't you say so sooner?" Wen Xi complained in a low voice.

"Didn't Tingchu tell you? He's staying at home, and I arranged for him to sleep in your room. I thought you knew all that!" Xie Chunxi pressed.

"Mom, let's talk again next time." Wen Xi hung up the phone.

The textbooks she was holding slipped to the ground. He Tingchu had done so much in the past month. He not only went to the United States, but also to Haicheng. Was he some kind of time management expert?

None of that matters. Even Xie Chunxi knew that he was in the US; she was the last to find out.

What's so strange about this?

She opened WeChat, found He Tingchu's chat page, and their last chat history ended with "Mmm" that night.

For the next month, they didn't exchange a single word.

In fact, his chat page was buried at the bottom by dozens of people, who were clearly complete strangers.

Why didn't He Tingchu tell her when he went to the M country? He didn't even say goodbye when he went to Haicheng. Was she not worthy of his explanation?

Thinking about this, Wen Xi felt a surge of anger, but he couldn't find a way to vent his emotions.

But there are some things she needs to clarify, otherwise she won't be able to sleep.

What excuse should I use? Oh, right, instant noodles.

[Address.] Wen Xi entered.

Less than a second later, the completely unfamiliar profile picture jumped up and replied with an emoji.

【? 】

[Your address in Country M.] Wen Xi was furious.

...

WeChat was showing that it was typing, and there was a twelve-hour time difference. It was noon now, so it was midnight in the US. But Wen Xi didn't care about time differences. She was angry, so why should he sleep?

I'm sorry, I had to come here for an exchange visit due to unforeseen circumstances, and it happened so suddenly that I didn't have time to tell you.

[Didn't you even have time to send me a message telling me you went to the US?] Wen Xi's forehead was throbbing.

"It was my fault, I'm sorry." He Tingchu's attitude was relatively proper.

But Wen Xi was still very angry.

You went to Haicheng and even stayed in my room. Didn't you even bother to say hello or ask the room owner's opinion?

The system was showing that it was typing. After waiting for fifteen minutes, He Tingchu's message came in.

Oh, so is it too late to ask now? Are you willing?

Damn, what kind of brain circuits do these straight men have? Wen Xi couldn't hold back any longer and waited for him to slowly type. She made a video call, "beep beep beep..." After waiting for about a minute, He Tingchu's deep features finally appeared on the screen. The man was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, lying on his side on the bed, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

Wen Xi's eyes involuntarily reddened first.

"He Tingchu".

"Um."

"Where are you?"

"An apartment in New York."

"What flavor of Master Kong instant noodles do you want? Teacher Gu asked me to send it to you via express delivery."

"Anything is fine, I'm not picky. Braised pork ribs, beef... or anything in sour soup is fine..."

"You call this not being picky? You picked seven or eight kinds." Wen Xi deliberately got angry.

"Oh, then you can buy whatever you want." The man immediately became obedient.

Send me your address and I'll send it to you.

"it is good."

Having finished discussing the important matters, the two seemed unable to find any other topics to discuss, and simply stared at each other across the distance, as if time had stood still.

"Grandma's birthday is next week." After a while, Wen Xi took the initiative to start a conversation for the first time.

"Yes, I told Grandma I can't come back for a while. Could you please wish her a happy birthday for me?"

...

After another long pause, the man turned around. In the camera's view, under the dim light of the table lamp, He Tingchu's features were hidden in the yellowish glow.

For some reason, Wen Xi felt like crying.

"...When are you coming back?"

"..." He Tingchu was clearly stunned.

"I'll do it as soon as possible." He Tingchu paused for a moment, his eyes were dark and swollen, it seemed he couldn't hold on any longer.

"Okay, you go to sleep. Tell me if there's anything you want to eat. I need to complete Teacher Gu's task. Also, don't go missing..." Wen Xi turned his face away, deliberately avoiding the camera, his eyes seeming to dodge.

The man on the other end unconsciously curled his lips into a smile.

"Okay, I promise," the man said in a booming voice.

Wen Xi decisively cut off the video call, his heart pounding irregularly.

How could this happen?

Her face was burning hot, so she covered it with her hands to cool it down, and then ran to the supermarket without waiting.

I had barely arrived at the supermarket when another message came from He Tingchu.

Self-heating hot pot is also an option...

Pickled mustard tuber.

...

He made a whole host of requests, and Wen Xi granted them all.

"How about I move the supermarket over there for you?" Wen Xi deliberately teased him.

"Oh, right, I came in a hurry and forgot to bring my underwear... This lab is very remote..." He Tingchu couldn't help but explain.