Chapter 76: Pleasing you is also what I want to do.

In the living room, the man's deep voice sounded in her ear.

An Ling's face flushed slightly. She was about to speak, but suddenly remembered what she had discussed with Jiang Mai. She pursed her lips, wrapped her arms around his neck, and couldn't help but ask softly, "Do you really miss me?"

The man chuckled, supported her by the buttocks, and lifted her up. He sat down on the sofa, and An Ling straddled his lap, obediently clinging to his shoulders.

Shen Linyan kissed her cheek. "I really do miss my wife. Why do you ask?"

An Ling blinked at him. "Because aren't you courting me? Maybe you're just saying things to coax me so you can win me over."

She hugged Shen Linyan's neck, resting her chin on his shoulder. After a moment of silence, she slowly said, "Shen Linyan, I know you are learning to like me, but I don't need you to do it deliberately. Just follow your heart. Do what you want to do, and don't do things just to please me."

The man's movements paused slightly.

After a moment of silence, he raised his hand and gently rubbed her earlobe, asking with a warm smile, "What behaviors does my wife think I'm doing deliberately?"

"Like calling me 'my wife'!" An Ling's body trembled, her waist going soft as she slumped into his arms. "And kissing me and stuff, saying you want to court me. You're just saying that because you want me to remarry you."

Hearing this, Shen Linyan turned to look at her.

"What if I say I'm not?"

"What?" The woman tilted her head, her clear eyes filled with a misty haze.

Shen Linyan lowered his gaze to look into her eyes. He bowed his head and kissed the corner of her eye, his Adam's apple bobbing as he whispered softly,

"An Ling, I admit that when we were married, I did these things deliberately because I was your husband. But now, I do them because I want to."

Gentle, fragmented kisses fell on her cheeks, the tip of her nose, the corners of her mouth, and her chin, before he turned his head to lightly kiss her earlobe.

"I call you my wife because I want to, I kiss you because I want to, and I am courting you because I want to."

"Even pleasing you is something I want to do."

His thin lips trailed down little by little. The skin on the woman's neck was fair, carrying a rich, sweet fragrance. Shen Linyan's movements paused slightly, a hint of darkness flashing in his eyes as he slowly lowered his head to kiss her.

He slowly lifted his head, his eyes curving into a smile as he said softly, "If I want to do these things from the bottom of my heart, does that mean I've fallen for my wife?"

An Ling's expression froze slightly.

She was dazed for a moment, then raised her blushing face.

"Really?"

Shen Linyan's eyes curved. He reached out to hold her chin, lowered his head for a kiss, and gently rubbed her skin with his thumb. "Really. So, is this what it means to like someone, my wife?"

Then why wasn't he angry when he heard about the blind date?

Could it really be because Shen Linyan was too nice, so he truly didn't mind?

Anyway, if she heard that Shen Linyan was going on a blind date, she would definitely be furious.

It made her seem a bit petty.

An Ling felt a tickle in her heart. She blinked her eyelashes and gave a slight nod. "Well... that remains to be seen, but you are allowed to keep doing it."

"Okay," Shen Linyan let out a low chuckle. He reached out to cup the back of her head, lowering his face until his lips touched hers, his hot breath brushing against her mouth. "What do you want to eat tonight? Shall we order takeout? Hmm?"

"I want to eat braised prawns," An Ling said, hugging his neck.

"Alright." Shen Linyan grabbed the phone from the side and handed it to her.

An Ling ordered takeout on his phone. After finishing, she remembered the cat he had picked up. "Are you going to buy cat food and a cat bed? And cat litter? I can help you buy them together. I just searched on the way here, and there are so many different brands with varying reviews."

It was probably Shen Linyan's first time raising a cat too, so she didn't mind helping him.

She turned around to grab her own phone.

"There are also some nice little beds. I've saved a lot of them. I'll show you. They are very cute, and I feel like they would suit Huihui perfectly."

The woman's hair slipped from her shoulder, revealing her fair, beautifully contoured neck. The moment she turned her head, a faint kiss mark on the side of her tender white neck came clearly into view.

The man's gaze lingered for a long time before slowly shifting away. He curled his lips and said softly, "Okay."

...

An Ling didn't find out about An Zhou's blind date schedule until the following afternoon.

She was sitting on the sofa, taking out a hair tie to casually pull her hair up, leaving a few loose strands around her neck. She was picking out a cat bed on her phone and casually chimed in upon hearing his words, "Yours is tomorrow?"

"Yeah," An Zhou sat on the other sofa, opening the bag of potato chips in his lap.

Last night in the middle of the night, that Miss Qin finally replied to him.

Concise and straight to the point, with absolutely no nonsense, she just threw a single sentence at him:

[Sunday at twelve noon, lunch at the Fuli Hotel.]

He had been sending greetings earlier, but the other party clearly had no intention of exchanging pleasantries.

Great, it looked like this blind date was doomed to fail.

Thinking of this, An Zhou couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I'm about to be liberated."

Seeing that An Ling kept her head down, he frowned, stood up, and walked over. "What are you playing with so intently? You don't even look up when your brother is talking to you."

An Ling instantly pressed her phone against her chest and looked up at him. "It's a secret. I'm not showing you."

An Zhou scoffed, "I don't care anyway."

He offered the potato chips. "Want some?"

"No, I'm on a diet."

An Zhou retracted his hand and glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's already four o'clock. Aren't you going out for dinner at seven? Why haven't you changed your clothes yet? Don't you girls need to dress up and stuff before going out to eat?"

"No need, I'll be quick."

An Ling casually brushed An Zhou off. After browsing back and forth, she sent the chosen cat bed to Shen Linyan.

[I like this one! It's shaped like a little persimmon, all round and chubby. Do you think it looks nice?]

Shen Linyan: [It looks great. I like it too. Let's buy it.]

An Ling: [Okay!]

Shen Linyan: [Does my wife want to come out and have dinner with me tonight? We can go to the pet store together ^^]

An Ling paused.

She had forgotten to tell Shen Linyan yesterday that she was going out for dinner with her blind date today.

[I have to eat with my blind date tonight.]

The other side was quiet for a while before a message came through.

Shen Linyan: [Where are you eating?]

An Ling sent him the address.

Shen Linyan: [Okay.]

After buying the cat bed, An Ling stretched lazily and got up, planning to go upstairs to change clothes.

An Zhou looked up from his phone. "Finally done? Let me tell you something, do you know who I bumped into at the bar?"

Yesterday was the first time Shen Linyan had been rendered speechless by him. After hearing about the childhood sweetheart, he probably couldn't even force a smile anymore!

Thinking of this, a smug smile tugged at the corners of An Zhou's mouth. He turned his head to glance at An Ling: "I saw your ex..."

But the very next second, his expression suddenly froze, the words catching in his throat. Instead, his eyes widened and he exclaimed:

"An Ling! What is on your neck??"

An Ling stopped in her tracks and turned her head in confusion. "What?"

An Zhou stood up and took large strides over, his tone filled with shock as he pointed a finger. "There's a red spot on the back of your neck. Holy crap! Is that a hickey??"

An Ling: "..."

No way, right? Did Shen Linyan kiss her neck yesterday?

An Ling covered the back of her neck without changing her expression, her tone calm.

"You saw it wrong. How could it be a hickey? I don't even have a boyfriend. It was probably a bug bite. The environment at the dinner place yesterday wasn't very good."

Anyway, her brother had never dated. How could a single eligible bachelor like him recognize a hickey?