Chapter 283 - 280: Helping You Fulfill Your Wish

Chapter 283: Chapter 280: Helping You Fulfill Your Wish

The living room lights went out again, replaced by the warm flicker of candlelight.

"Make a wish," Lin Yanwan said, sitting across from him, a gentle smile on her face.

Jiang Xia looked at her face, rosy and bashful in the candlelight, as he clasped his hands together, held them before his chest, and slowly closed his eyes.

After about ten seconds, he opened his eyes again and blew out all the candles in one breath.

"What did you wish for?" Lin Yanwan asked curiously as she turned on the living room lights.

"I can’t tell you. It won’t come true if I say it out loud."

"Oh."

A few seconds later, Jiang Xia asked cheekily, "Are you sure you’re not going to ask again?"

"I’m not asking."

"I suddenly feel like my last wish wasn’t good. Let’s do it over."

Lin Yanwan felt a little exasperated. ’Why is he acting like a child all of a sudden?’

"Alright, what did you wish for?"

"To sleep with you tonight!" Jiang Xia declared righteously.

Hearing this, Lin Yanwan’s expression darkened. She knew it wouldn’t be a wholesome wish.

"If you hadn’t said it, I might have been able to look forward to it a little. But now that you have, it definitely won’t come true. You said so yourself." She gave him a menacingly sweet smile.

Jiang Xia: "..."

’Damn, she used my own rule against me.’

They each had some cake. Jiang Xia wandered around with his small plate, taking a look. Both bedroom beds were made, and there were no strange smells in the rooms. Instead, a faint, pleasant aroma lingered. It was clear she had cleaned the bedrooms spotless all by herself.

Jiang Xia had no idea how Lin Yanwan had managed to do all this without him knowing.

The kitchen wasn’t large, but since they usually ate at the school cafeteria or ordered takeout, they wouldn’t be using it much anyway.

The bathroom was quite nice. Not only was the toilet in a separate enclosure, but there was also a decent-sized bathtub. If they were tired, they could take a nice soak.

All the basic furniture and appliances were there. In the future, if he worked too late at the company and couldn’t get back to the university, he could sleep here. He could also spend time alone with his wife instead of just flirting over QQ.

He naturally saw this place as their secret love nest. ’It seems our shameless life of cohabitation is about to officially begin.’

He couldn’t help but feel a little excited.

"What do you think?" Lin Yanwan asked.

"It’s great. Just... too many bedrooms. It’s a waste of money."

Lin Yanwan’s eye twitched. She pretended she didn’t hear that. ’Just agreeing to rent a place with him was already an act of extraordinary mercy. And he’s already thinking about living together from the start? Why not just rent a studio apartment then?’

’This guy’s mind is completely in the gutter. All he ever thinks about is my body. Can’t he think about anything else for a change?!’

"This bedroom is mine," Lin Yanwan said, pointing to the room in front of them.

"That’s right! What belongs to my wife belongs to me!"

Lin Yanwan: "..."

She pinched him in annoyance. "Be serious! You’re sleeping in the room next door."

Just then, Jiang Xia’s phone suddenly rang. He took it out and glanced at the screen. It was a call from his mom, Xia Shanshan.

"Mom, you’re still up this late?"

Xia Shanshan’s voice came from the other end of the line: "I was about to go to sleep, but I kept feeling like I’d forgotten something. I checked the date and realized, isn’t today your birthday? Xiaxia, happy birthday."

Jiang Xia felt a bit helpless. ’As expected of my own mother, she even forgot her son’s birthday.’

"Thanks, Mom."

"Did you eat anything good today?"

"I’m eating right now, actually. Birthday cake. Your daughter-in-law bought it," Jiang Xia said with a smile.

"Oh, Yanwan is there too? Celebrating your birthday together, nice, very nice."

Lin Yanwan blushed and said softly, "Mom."

"Yes!"

Xia Shanshan answered, her voice beaming. "Yanwan, good evening."

’Hearing her call me ’Mom’ will let me sleep so soundly tonight. It seems the young couple is doing very well in the Imperial Capital, and their relationship is as strong as ever.’

"Where are you guys?"

"We’re on the school’s athletic field, with his roommates," Lin Yanwan fibbed. She wouldn’t dare say they were in an off-campus apartment.

’Good thing this isn’t the age of WeChat yet. Otherwise, one video call would’ve exposed everything.’

"Oh, okay. Well, you young people go on and have fun. I won’t disturb you. I’m going to bed."

"Okay, Mom. You and Dad take care of yourselves."

"Mhm, don’t worry. You two make sure to take care of each other, too."

After hanging up, the old couple exchanged a look, both in high spirits.

’If things keep going like this, our daughter-in-law Yanwan definitely isn’t getting away.’

"Calling my parents ’Mom’ and ’Dad’ more smoothly than I do, but she still wants to sleep in a separate room. Stingy," Jiang Xia muttered under his breath.

"Hmph, keep whining and I’ll make you live here alone while I go back to the university," Lin Yanwan shot him a harsh glare, then went to her room to grab her pajamas and take a shower.

Listening to the sound of running water from the bathroom, Jiang Xia’s restless heart suddenly grew calm.

He couldn’t help but recall the days from his past life when they had rented a place together. Back then, they had also slept in separate rooms at first, but later, they had somehow ended up sleeping together.

And now, it seemed, that cycle was about to repeat itself.

He sat at the dining table, eating the cake by himself. This was a gift his wife had prepared for him with all her heart. Not just the cake, but this apartment, and the "home" they were creating together.

He was deeply moved.

Before he knew it, he had finished the entire cake, and the sound of running water from the bathroom slowly stopped.

Lin Yanwan emerged, enveloped in a cloud of steam, as beautiful as a lotus flower rising from the water. The whole apartment seemed to brighten just from her presence.

"Darling, good night~"

"Good night, baby."

She gave a light laugh, then returned to her room and closed the door.

Jiang Xia took a deep breath, wiped up some of the frosting from the table, and got ready to take a shower himself.

He opened the closet. Inside hung a pair of pajamas and a few sets of everyday clothes, all new. A pair of clean, fluffy slippers was placed by the bed.

’She really prepared everything. Meeting a wife this wonderful must be the good fortune I’ve accumulated over eight lifetimes.’

Hearing the door to the next room open and close, followed by the RUMBLE of the water heater kicking on, Lin Yanwan quietly pulled her door open and snuck into his bedroom.

Warm water sprayed down from the showerhead. He lathered up with shower gel, washing away his fatigue. A little over ten minutes later, he walked out in clean pajamas.

In the living room, he saw a hairdryer and a glass of warm water left on the table. ’My wife is the best,’ he thought. ’This is what home used to feel like.’

Lin Yanwan hid under the covers, trying her best not to be discovered. Hearing the bedroom door slowly open, her heart leaped into her throat.

But Jiang Xia didn’t seem to notice anything different about the bed. He walked to the window to look at the night sky, then returned to the bedside, turned off the light, and prepared to get into bed.

He lifted the covers and slipped in. The moment he lay down, he suddenly realized—there was another person in the bed!