Addicted to Love, Mr. Fu’s Newly Married Wife

Chapter 1542 Discovering clues

Fu Yanchen's brows were slightly furrowed, like spring water wrinkled by the wind.

He looked at Xu Xiaoxiao's back as she was cutting fruit at the kitchen counter. She was wearing a goose yellow sweater today, with a few drops of strawberry juice on her cuffs, like red plums fallen on the snow.

When the phone vibrated in his palm, he pressed the hang-up button almost reflexively - this action made the wedding ring on his ring finger flash a cold light in the morning light.

"Who's calling?" When Xu Xiaoxiao turned around, the ends of her hair brushed across the strawberry mark on her collarbone.

She was holding a fruit plate in her hand, with apple slices stacked into the shape of a rose in a glass bowl, the way her grandmother taught her to arrange the fruit.

“Advertising sales.”

Fu Yanchen's voice was lighter than usual. He was wiping the screen of his mobile phone with a tissue. This action reminded Xu Xiaoxiao of the way he would unconsciously rub his cufflinks every time he lied.

The kitchen blinds cast a fine shadow of light, creating alternating lines of light and dark on his profile.

Xu Xiaoxiao didn't ask any more questions, but just pushed the fruit plate in front of him.

Amid the crisp sound of the knife tip hitting the chopping board, Fu Yanchen suddenly spoke: "Xiaoxiao, your uncle said... the air in the capital is not good, and grandma's arthritis is acting up again."

He paused for a moment, as if choosing his words, "They plan to move back to Suzhou after grandma is discharged from the hospital."

The action of cutting the apple paused, and the tip of the knife hung in the air.

Xu Xiaoxiao stared at the unfinished apple rose in the fruit bowl. Water droplets rolled down the peel, leaving dark marks on the wooden chopping board.

"So soon?" Her voice was as light as a feather.

Fu Yanchen stood up, and the rustling sound of his suit pants scraping against the carpet was particularly clear in the silent kitchen.

He walked behind Xu Xiaoxiao, and just as his fingers were about to touch her shoulder, he saw her suddenly turn around, and the top of her hair brushed against his chin.

This unexpected close contact stunned both of them. The sweet scent of osmanthus wafting in from the window mixed with the scent of orange blossom in her hair, creating a slightly tipsy feeling in the air.

"Actually..." Fu Yanchen's Adam's apple rolled, "Grandma said yesterday that she wanted to move the ginkgo tree in the old house to the imperial capital."

His voice suddenly became very soft, as if he was afraid of breaking something. "I said that tree is bigger than you. It will die if you move its roots."

Xu Xiaoxiao suddenly smiled, tears welling up in her eyes: "You are always like this, saying the hardest words in the most gentle way."

She raised her hand and stroked his tense jawline. "Will you accompany me to the flower market tomorrow? I want to buy a pot of green radish for grandma's ward."

The kitchen clock was ticking, and the apple rose in the fruit bowl had finally finished its last petal.

Fu Yanchen held her hand that was resting on his cheek, and the warmth from his palm seeped through her skin into her blood vessels.

A shallow valley formed between Fu Yanchen's eyebrows, as if it was repeatedly traced by an invisible brush.

He looked at Xu Xiaoxiao's back as she sorted out her grandmother's old things - the indigo Tang suit still had the familiar scent of camphor, and the ruyi pattern embroidered with silver thread on the cuffs glowed faintly in the morning light.

His cell phone vibrated in his suit pocket. The third missed call from the funeral home burned his thigh like a red-hot charcoal.

"Xiaoxiao..." His voice was stuck in his throat, as if it was broken by broken glass. "Grandma... needs to rest recently."

As he spoke, he unconsciously turned his wedding ring, and the platinum ring left a light red mark on his ring finger.

Outside the window, the leaves of the sycamore tree fell rustlingly, and a yellow leaf floated into the room, just landing on the old photo next to Xu Xiaoxiao's hand - it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the scene where her grandmother was holding her hand and teaching her how to make rice dumplings.

Xu Xiaoxiao's fingers paused on her grandmother's silver bracelet in the photo: "But she promised to teach me how to embroider a wedding quilt..."

Her nails were pink and white, like cherry blossom petals frozen by spring snow. "Can't we visit the intensive care unit? I'll go in in sterile clothes and just stand there for five minutes..."

"No!" Fu Yanchen's suddenly raised voice exploded in the living room, startling the goldfish in the fish tank and causing them to swim around in panic.

He immediately regretted it, rubbing his temples with his fingers to suppress his emotions. "The doctor said... emotional fluctuations will affect recovery."

The lie was so awkward that even he could hear the trembling of the last syllable.

Xu Xiaoxiao finally turned around, and the light in her eyes reminded Fu Yanchen of the shadowless lamp he saw in the morgue last night - too bright, too cold, and leaving no place for people to hide.

"You always do this," she said, her voice as light as a feather, "you say the cruelest things in the gentlest way."

She suddenly smiled, but tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

"No!" Fu Yanchen took a step forward and then stopped abruptly.

He smelled the lingering scent of orange blossom shampoo in Xu Xiaoxiao's hair, overlapping with the smell of disinfectant in the morgue, causing his stomach to cramp.

"She just... wanted to go back to where she had memories." The excuse was laughably lame, but he was already on the edge of his seat.

The fish tank's circulation pump made a slight humming sound, and a few pieces of withered fish food floated on the water's surface.

Xu Xiaoxiao suddenly squatted down and pulled out the brocade box embroidered with lotus flowers from the bottom of the coffee table - that was the dowry left to her by her grandmother.

"Look," she opened the box, and a jade earring lay quietly on the satin lining. "Grandma gave it to me..."

"Xiaoxiao!" Fu Yanchen's fingertips dug deep into his palm, the pain keeping him awake, "Grandma... needs absolute quiet."

This lie was like a ball of water-soaked cotton, weighing heavily on my chest.

He saw Xu Xiaoxiao's shoulders trembling slightly, but he didn't dare to reach out to support her, for fear that she would shatter into pieces on the ground if he touched her.

The pendulum of the grandfather clock swung back and forth, echoing hollowly. Xu Xiaoxiao suddenly stood up, her earrings leaving red marks on her palms. "I'm going to the City God Temple tomorrow to ask for a peace talisman."

Her voice suddenly became very soft, as if she was afraid of waking something up. "What do you think... would grandma like gold or red?"

Fu Yanchen looked at the dazzling emerald green in her hand, and a taste of rust rose in his throat.

The sound of an ambulance siren was heard outside the window, coming closer and closer, then gradually disappearing.

"Xiaoxiao, grandma, you will be fine. The intensive care unit is not suitable for you."

Xu Xiaoxiao's fingers unconsciously stroked the stitching of the sofa, and the cashmere fabric pressed into fine wrinkles in her palms.

"All right..."

Her voice was as soft as a willow leaf wet by rain, "But when grandma recovers, we must take her back to our home to recuperate.

"She suddenly looked up, her eyes glowing with coral red," Didn't you see the couple from Charles's family glance at grandma's jade bracelet when they came to our house last time?

Fu Yanchen's Adam's apple rolled. The magnolia tree outside the window was dropping white petals. A few petals floated into the room and landed on the coffee table between them. "This is grandma's obsession.

He deliberately made his tone sound gentle, but his fingertips dug deep into the seam of his trousers. “She said Suzhou, under the moon gate of the old house, there is the osmanthus wine she hid in her youth.”

"Osmanthus wine?" Xu Xiaoxiao suddenly chuckled, but tiny drops of water condensed in the corners of her eyes. "But she told me that the jar of wine was overturned by a wild cat..."

Her voice stopped abruptly, as if cut by something sharp.

The glass vase on the coffee table reflected her pale face, and the white chrysanthemums in it suddenly trembled - it turned out that Fu Yanchen unconsciously clenched his fists.

Fu Yanchen felt his temples throbbing. Last night in the morgue, when the staff asked him if he wanted to choose an urn for the old lady, the grandmother was still holding the woolen shawl that Xu Xiaoxiao had sent her last Mid-Autumn Festival. A few silver hairs were tangled in the stitches.

He forced himself to smile soothingly, but saw Xu Xiaoxiao suddenly stand up.

She walked to the window, the light filtering through the glass casting a long, narrow shadow at her feet, like an unbridgeable crack. Magnolia petals fell on her shoulders, but she was completely unaware.

"Grandma is so old..."

Fu Yanchen stood up, the rustling sound of his suit pants scraping against the carpet was particularly clear in the quiet living room. "Just like the ginkgo tree in autumn, even after the leaves fall, they want to return to the roots."

He stopped two steps away from Xu Xiaoxiao. This distance allowed him to smell the orange blossom scent in her hair without having to face the questioning look she might give him.

Xu Xiaoxiao suddenly turned around, and the ends of her hair brushed across Fu Yanchen's chest.

She noticed that his tie was a little askew, as if someone had pulled it in a panic - just like how his tie had slipped off last night when the nurse called him at the morgue door.

"Well, I'll find a trustworthy nanny and go to Suzhou to take care of grandma."

"A trustworthy nanny?" She suddenly smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. "Nanny, some nannies confuse blood pressure medication with sleeping pills."

Fu Yanchen's fingers suddenly froze, and the platinum cufflinks glowed coldly under the light.

He remembered this morning at the funeral home, when the staff handed him the death certificate, the edges of the paper were wrinkled by the sweat of his palms.

“Charles and Charles…”

He hurriedly changed the subject, but saw Xu Xiaoxiao walk to the antique display cabinet and gently stroke the celadon vase on it.

"Yan Chen, you said they put so much effort into coming here, isn't it just for..."

Her voice suddenly rose, then quickly faded, "To get closer to me so you can ask for favors?"

She suddenly turned around and took out the brocade box embroidered with lotus flowers from the drawer. "Just like last month, Mrs. Charles used the excuse of visiting Grandma to borrow our car to go to an auction. She even wanted us to pay for the items at the auction."

Fu Yanchen felt as if his throat was stuffed with a ball of water-soaked cotton.

Last night, when he was alone preparing his grandmother's remains, the old man was still holding a half-eaten piece of cloud cake in his right hand, the icing shone like pearls under the light.

They have already signed the repurchase agreement for the old house..." He heard himself say, his voice as light as a feather.

"What?" Xu Xiaoxiao looked up suddenly, and the pearl hairpin in her hair flashed a cold light.

She saw half of a white envelope sticking out of Fu Yanchen's suit pocket - it was the funeral home's bill, which he had not completely hidden when he hurriedly stuffed it into his pocket last night.

A spring breeze suddenly blew outside the window, and magnolia petals fluttered down like early snow.

Fu Yanchen subconsciously wanted to raise his hand to block the petals flying towards Xu Xiaoxiao's eyes, but he stopped in mid-air.

This unfinished action made both of them stunned. The antique clock on the display cabinet made a hollow echo, one after another, breaking the silence in the room.

"what is this?"