ainst the cold. She held her phone, wanting to call Ji Lin, but his warning rang clear: seeking him out was futile.As if all her escape routes had been blocked, leaving only one alley leading to Huo M...Li Qin returned to her place from her uncle's house late at night.

The first two days after returning to the country, she stayed at a villa in Jinling Mingdi. Huo Mingzheng had arranged a new residence for her, closer to Qin Heng's hospital, in a wealthy district developed at the foot of the mountain two years ago, a detached villa.

The driver parked the car and stepped out, she paused for a moment. The curtains in the villa's living room were left open, revealing a large floor-to-ceiling window with bright lights inside.

She lives here, and no one else knows.

Except...

As soon as she considered this possibility, a serene smile appeared on her face. She smoothed her dress and, carrying her bag, walked in.

As expected, when she was changing her shoes in the hallway, the nanny said, "Mr. Huo has arrived a little while ago."

"Well, I'll make him something he likes for supper," she said softly, taking off her coat.

The nanny put the shoes away, “Yes.”

Li Qin put on her slippers and rushed in, "Azheng, what happened..."

Before she could finish her words, she quickly clamped her mouth shut and looked at the man on the sofa who had his eyes closed, seemingly asleep. He hadn't opened his eyes after she spoke.

She stood still, taking a deep breath. Her steps were slow as she walked over and sat beside Huo Mingzheng. She looked at his face up close, her fingers gently pushing the stray hair from his forehead.

He is still the same as before, once he works, he forgets time and ignores his own body.

When he first took over the family business, he was so busy that they hardly saw each other. She would rarely get to see him for a meal, as he would rush through it before heading back to the office to work overtime. Sometimes, she wouldn't even see him once a month.

He left the military academy to study finance. After studying abroad, he returned and joined Ho's company.

She still remembered very clearly that it was winter then, the ice and snow melting, an especially cold day. She worried that he was too busy with work to remember to eat, so she cooked a meal and brought it to the company, only to be told that Huo Mingzheng had returned to Huo's ancestral home.

That was a rare occasion when he took the initiative to rest.

I remember it so clearly because it was the anniversary of when she and Huo Mingzheng confirmed their relationship. She had secretly wanted to go to the company to spend this special day with him, but ended up empty-handed.

But she wasn't the type of woman who would mind these things. Huo Mingzheng was a career-driven man, busy with his work, and she silently supported him behind the scenes.

He rarely took time to rest, so naturally she wouldn't pester him to spend his anniversary with her.

But she missed him too much. It had been almost a month since they last saw each other. She told the driver to take her to the Huo Mansion. In the freezing cold, she saw Huo Mingzheng standing in the pavilion, smoking.

She wanted to surprise him, but as soon as she took a step, she saw Fu Yan sitting opposite him, doing his homework.

Huo Mingzheng handed over a string of keys to Zhao You before leaving the gazebo without saying anything else.

She stood there, lost in thought, and didn't notice Huo Mingzheng walking towards her. She was startled and looked at him blankly.

"How did you get here"

She came to her senses and said softly, "I brought you food because I was afraid you'd be hungry. As it turns out, your secretary said you were back."

Ho Mingzheng hummed, "Come back and get some things."

He took the food container from her hand and led her away from Huo's residence to Tian Shui Lou for dinner. He ordered all her favorite dishes, a long-awaited tenderness. Even though he didn't mention their anniversary the entire time, she was so happy that she couldn't sleep all night.

Thoughts drifted away from the memories.

As soon as her fingertips touched his skin, the man woke up slowly. A pair of ink-black eyes stared at her without blinking.

Huo Mingzheng grabbed her wrist, his voice hoarse, "Welcome back"

Li Qin hummed softly, "Would you like to rest upstairs for a bit": "Tomorrow won't work either, the coach and teammates are all coming back tomorrow, I have to pick them up. Just tell me what times you picked out. Keep track of it, when I have time, you can treat m...