Reborn to Redeem: Their Abusive Love-Chapter 76: Flirting in public

After waking up, Pei Zhen observed the wontons the servant brought in. They were served in a small copper pot with a bright alcohol lamp underneath, keeping the temperature just right. The wontons had thin skins and generous fillings, but the portion wasn’t large. The once-tightly packed shrimp filling had been pulled apart loosely, looking fragmented, as if hastily made to pass muster.

"Take them away."

He wasn’t particularly picky, but for a meal prepared by a private chef, this seemed unusually careless.

Something came to mind, and he asked, "Did Xu Si eat the same thing?"

The servant replied, "The mistress didn’t have this; she had a regular meal. She personally made these wontons this morning, saying you were injured and should eat something light."

He lifted his gaze, pausing for only an instant. His fingers had already grasped the spoon. He scooped a plump, white wonton from the soup and took a small bite, then frowned at the saltiness.

Thinking it was an issue with that particular wonton, he bit into another.

...Hmm, this one was tasteless.

Pei Zhen didn’t find this odd. Instead, he immediately understood: Xu Si must have made several attempts, picking out the best-looking ones as a gesture of her care. She’d used too much pepper.

His hands, cold from excessive blood loss, gradually warmed. He ate the wontons slowly, the corners of his mouth turning up in an almost imperceptible smile.

This was enough. It was warm. As warm as if a summer breeze had been wrapped inside the wontons.

After returning to the mansion, Xu Si placed the kraft paper bag in her room. Upon coming out, she first asked the servant if Pei Zhen had finished the wontons. The servant, who was just then carrying the tray downstairs, replied, "He finished them."

"Didn’t he make any comment?"

The servant looked troubled. "No, he just ate them normally."

Xu Si raised an eyebrow, a dazzling smile lighting up her face, as radiant as the mild early autumn. Her voice was tender as she said, "Then that’s excellent. It must be because my cooking was so delicious he couldn’t find any fault with it."

Ignoring the servant’s hesitant expression, she calmly twisted her hair up loosely with a hairpin, changed into casual clothes, and took the berries to the kitchen. After washing them carefully, she arranged them in the courtyard to air-dry.

This was a lifestyle impossible on Hong Kong Island. Every day back there, she was constantly run off her feet, with no leisure or inclination for such meticulous and tedious food preparation.

Now that things had quieted down a little, she cherished this time, constantly reminding herself not to be too hasty.

Someone like Pei Zhen responded better to a gentle approach than to force.

Making Berry Wine was no small undertaking.

There was no suitable alcohol in the kitchen. The private chef offered to check the wine cellar, but Xu Si stopped him.

She remembered the large wine cabinet in Pei Zhen’s room. It held several bottles of fine, low-alcohol wine that were usually hard for her to come by.

Quite tempting.

She took the elevator straight to the top floor and knocked on the door at the end of the hall. A faint, deep voice from inside uttered a single word.

"Come in."

Xu Si turned the doorknob and quietly pulled one of the double doors open just a crack. Peering through the dimly lit gap, her gaze went past the figure on one sofa and landed on the rows of dazzling wine bottles displayed against the back of a distant black sofa. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

She had expected Pei Zhen to be alone.

She entered with measured, somewhat nonchalant steps. However, just as she reached the lounge area, she saw a line of imposing men in black suits standing on either side of the sofa. They seemed to have been discussing something important, a conversation her arrival had clearly interrupted; the serious atmosphere still lingered.

It was always annoying to have a meeting interrupted. Xu Si understood that feeling and suddenly felt awkward. She decided to leave and come back after they were done. But she had only taken a few steps when someone called out from behind her.

"Xu Si."

Hearing him call her name so calmly, Xu Si instinctively stopped and slowly turned back. Pei Zhen was leaning against the sofa, a cigarette pinched between his fingers. From her angle, she could only see half of his face, partially obscured by smoke. His light-colored eyes, holding a profound expression, were fixed on her.

"You were looking for me?" he asked. "What is it?"

Xu Si hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the wine cabinet behind him. "To ask for a bottle of wine."

Well, I’m already here, she thought. And I’ve practically asked anyway. Might as well not leave empty-handed.

Pei Zhen glanced back at the cabinet, an almost imperceptible frown creasing his brow. "It’s just past three. You want to drink now?"

Being questioned about something so trivial by the organization’s leader, especially during this kind of gathering, struck Xu Si as absurd.

Her gaze remained fixed on the wine as she slowly explained, "Not for drinking now. I picked some berries and was planning to make some Berry Wine for you to try. Since I’m making it for you, it should be your alcohol, of course."

In fact, the berries were his too.

Pei Zhen stared at her rolled-up sleeves and slightly disheveled hair—a stark contrast to her usual polished and haughty demeanor. He was, for once, genuinely taken aback.

"Alright," he said. "I’ll provide the alcohol. When will it be ready to drink?"

Xu Si felt as if his gaze could see right through her stiffly straight back. She quickly calculated, "It’ll take a few days, at least."

Pei Zhen’s gaze, holding a hint of an unreadable smile, lowered. He finally flicked his cigarette ash into the ashtray and leisurely wiped his hands. "Fine. Go ahead and choose. Take whichever bottle you like."

He was always generous.

Xu Si didn’t stand on ceremony. She walked to the wine cabinet, took down the few low-alcohol bottles she’d had her eye on, and then, like a gleeful bandit, selected several more: rare, collector-level wines, many of them exclusive offerings from world-renowned wineries, the kind one rarely encountered.

Even though she was accustomed to fine things, Xu Si had to admit there were far too many exquisite wines here. Just looking at them made her covetous.

Through the reflection in the glass opposite them, Pei Zhen could clearly see her every movement and the undisguised avarice in her expression, offering him a glimpse into her true feelings.

He chuckled silently, then suddenly stood up, walked around the sofa, and came up behind her.

His broad frame nearly concealed her slender form. His inscrutable grey eyes focused on the highest shelf of the wine cabinet, his sharp Adam’s apple bobbing slightly. Strands of his tied-back silver hair fell near her, brushing against the ends of her own slightly curled hair. With an impassive, almost solemn expression, he reached up.

"You like the expensive ones?" His fingertips brushed the bottle on the very top shelf. His other hand came to rest silently on Xu Si’s shoulder, as if for balance. Though, on second thought, given his height, he could have easily reached the bottle without any support, she mused.

His voice, however, grew more serious, his warm breath brushing her ear, low and deep. "This one is quite good too. Perhaps you’ll like it."

Xu Si felt the almost imperceptible contact from behind him, like the presence of a cold, imposing deity, an undeniable pressure. She tilted her head slightly. Their fingertips brushed as she took the most expensive bottle in the room from him. Her arms were suddenly quite full. Her clear, gentle, almond-shaped eyes flicked upwards. Aware of the others present, the words from her red lips were composed.

"I like it. I’ll take it."

Pei Zhen saw the tips of her exposed ears flush a delicate pink.

So, she could get shy too. And this is what she looked like when she was shy.

He smiled faintly to himself, then schooled his features back into a serious expression and sat back down on the sofa. It was as if his bold move had merely been to help her get the bottle; no one else seemed to have noticed anything amiss.

Only Xu Si suspected otherwise.

Was it her imagination? Had she just been... flirted with? In public?

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺