Until she turned around, smiling at him and saying, "CEO, are you feeling better?"
"Did you take care of me?" Rong Xiu asked tremblingly.
Fan Xia said, "Please don't misunderstand, I didn't change your clothes. Today, Zhuang Secretary and I saw that you hadn't come to the company and weren't answering your phone, so we came to your house together. We found you had a high fever, so we called your family doctor. We've both been watching over the villa all day. It's just unfortunate that Zhuang Secretary had to go pick up his child from kindergarten just now, so only I was left, and I took over the yam and lotus root porridge that Zhuang Secretary had prepared halfway."
Fan Xia thought Rong Xiu was concerned about a man and woman being alone together, which could lead to gossip if word got out, so she explained at length.
"Thank you," Rong Xiu said, a faint smile emerging on his pale, sickly face.
She was worried about him, called a doctor for him, and even specially made porridge for him... How nice.
The pot emitted waves of fragrant ingredients, the thick porridge bubbling. The kitchen, which had been cold and quiet for years, finally had a touch of human warmth.
"No need to be so formal with me," Fan Xia smiled, holding a bowl in one hand with two eggs cracked into it, and an egg beater in the other. With a slight movement of her wrist, the egg beater rotated quickly, instantly mixing the eggs.
The skilled movements surprised Rong Xiu.
In a matriarchal society, it was rare for women to cook for themselves. Even if they did, it was usually just things like cooking instant noodles or frozen dumplings. But women like Fan Xia, who clearly cooked regularly, were extremely rare.
Could it be that Wen Lan Sheng's domesticity was just a facade? In reality, he didn't cook at home, but instead let Fan Xia do the cooking?
Rong Xiu frowned deeply.
"What's wrong? Are you still feeling unwell?" Fan Xia put down the bowl in her hand, her eyes slightly worried.
"It's... nothing," Rong Xiu shook his head.
"By the way, the doctor left you some medicine when he left. Take it three times a day, before meals. It's a good time for you to take it now," Fan Xia pointed to the fever medicine and the water already poured on the coffee table.
Rong Xiu walked over and tested the water temperature. It was neither cold nor hot, just right.
Rong Xiu's eyes secretly swept over Fan Xia busy in the kitchen, his thin lips curling into a slight arc. No one but her could do such meticulous things.
Following the doctor's instructions, he swallowed the medicine and slightly raised his head to drink the water Fan Xia had pre-warmed. The smooth water wrapped around the bitter pill as it flowed down his throat. Though it was just ordinary water, it somehow tasted a bit sweet at this moment.
Rong Xiu held the water glass, and even though he had already taken the medicine, he still drank all the water in the glass sip by sip until there wasn't a drop left. Only then did he put the glass back on the coffee table and sit at the island counter.
Watching Fan Xia slowly pour the beaten egg mixture into the yam and lotus root porridge and gently stir in the same direction, he couldn't help but ask, "Fan Xia, how do you know how to cook? Did Wen Lan Sheng make you do it?"
"No," Fan Xia shook her head. "You know, my parents passed away early, and I was sent to an orphanage afterwards. At that time, the management was chaotic and we often couldn't eat enough. I would secretly climb over the wall to find things to eat. Later, when I started working, I didn't have much savings, so to save money, I would learn to cook at home."
In just a few sentences, Rong Xiu seemed to see the young Fan Xia struggling to survive with her small, soft body.
He didn't know if Fan Xia's current ability to face all hardships calmly was shaped by those childhood hardships. If that was the case, he would rather Fan Xia not be like this now, if it meant not experiencing those past pains.
"Let me help you," Rong Xiu said, walking to her side.
"You know how to cook?" Now it was Fan Xia's turn to be surprised.
Rong Xiu looked up at her, his narrow, cold eyes filled with a faint smile: "Why would you think I don't know how?"
"I've seen in TV dramas that young masters from rich families never lift a finger," Fan Xia laughed.
Rong Xiu's slightly upturned eyes smiled: "Not everyone is like that. Today, I'll break your impression. Perhaps my cooking is even better than Wen Lan Sheng's."
Fan Xia shook her head with a smile, stopping Rong Xiu's hand as he was about to tie on an apron: "That won't do. Today you're the patient, I can't let you cook. Otherwise, I'd be neglecting my duty."
"We're not at the company now. I'm not your boss, and you're not my subordinate," Rong Xiu said, his fingers nervously gripping where she couldn't see: "Come to think of it, you always call me CEO or senior. You've never called me by my name... Actually, in private, you can just call me like that."
Fan Xia was taken aback.
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