Chapter 162: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Ever since the two of them started living together, Shen Chutang had never hung her intimate garments in any public area. As a result, they had never encountered any awkward situations.

Yet, what kind of situation was this today?!

Lu Beiqin found himself somewhat at a loss when faced with such a tiny, delicate item. In the end, he simply hung it straight onto a clothes hanger, choosing out of sight, out of mind.

After hanging up her clothes, Lu Beiqin tossed his own dirty laundry into the washing machine.

He leisurely finished his breakfast, and then a message came through from Zhang Chuan. There was originally an overseas conference scheduled for the morning, but because someone on the other side had been suddenly hospitalized and fallen unconscious, the meeting was postponed.

With the meeting canceled, Lu Beiqin was in no rush to head to the office. He leisurely finished his breakfast and turned on the television to listen to the morning news.

After a moment of thought, he sent Shen Chutang a message: [Nothing going on this morning. Do you want me to pick you up?]

Shen Chutang, who had just bought a bag of oranges, saw the message and immediately agreed: [Yes! I will send you my location.]

By the time Lu Beiqin drove to the vegetable market, Shen Chutang was squatting right at the entrance, buying produce from an elderly grandfather.

"Grandpa, how much are these vegetables?"

The vegetables were laid out on a mud-stained plastic bag instead of resting on clean platforms like the ones inside the market; they were placed directly on the ground.

The old grandfather held up three fingers and said loudly, "Thirty cents!"

The old man had grown these vegetables himself. While they did not look particularly pretty, they had the advantage of being cheap.

The stalls inside the vegetable market required rent, which people outside naturally could not afford, forcing them to occupy only a tiny corner.

Shen Chutang nodded. "I'll take all of them."

The old grandfather immediately said, "There's so much. Can you finish eating it?"

Shen Chutang chuckled. "I can, I can! There are plenty of people!"

Hearing this, the old grandfather happily packed them into a bag for her. It came to a total of fifteen catties, costing less than five yuan.

Shen Chutang took out her small purse, pulled out a hundred-yuan bill, and handed it over.

The old grandfather looked somewhat embarrassed. "It's too much. I can't break this."

Shen Chutang smiled and said, "It's fine, you don't need to give me change. I trust the vegetables you grow, so just treat the extra money as me buying you a drink!"

With that, Shen Chutang picked up the bag of vegetables to leave, though a fifteen-cattie bundle was indeed rather heavy.

Gathering her inner strength, Shen Chutang was just about to hoist it onto her shoulder when a large hand from beside her already took the woven sack, effortlessly lifting it up. "What else do you need to buy?"

Shen Chutang was stunned for a moment, then broke into a smile. "Let's go buy some other vegetables. I'm planning to make cold tossed dishes on Saturday."

Lu Beiqin nodded, dutifully helping to carry the produce.

Shen Chutang consistently sought out these small vendors whose vegetables looked decent—mostly elderly grandfathers and grandmothers. She always overpaid, and coupled with her sweet tongue, she managed to delight them thoroughly.

By the time they finished gathering all the ingredients, the trunk of Lu Beiqin's car was packed to the brim.

Shen Chutang let out a sigh of relief. "Good thing you came, otherwise I wouldn't have known how to transport everything back."

Lu Beiqin turned the steering wheel. "Why did you travel all the way out here to buy groceries? I remember there's a huge vegetable market right near West Mountain Villa."

"It's a bit more remote here, but the things are cheaper."

Shen Chutang breathed a sigh of relief, her stomach inevitably beginning to rumble.

She dug an orange out of her bag and peeled it right away. Soon, the fragrance of the citrus filled the entire car cabin, and she handed a segment over to Lu Beiqin. "Want some?"

Lu Beiqin shook his head. "No thanks."

Shen Chutang didn't stand on ceremony and ate the whole thing herself. When the car reached the villa, Lu Beiqin took on the role of physical laborer, moving all the items out.

However, such a densely packed mountain of vegetables made Lu Beiqin wonder if he would need to invite a group of people over on Saturday; otherwise, how long would it take to finish eating all of this?

Yet Shen Chutang cared not a whit, instructing him to move everything into the storage room as she waited eagerly for Saturday night to begin cooking.

Shen Chutang washed her hands and cast a glance toward the terrace, noticing that her clothes had already been hung out to dry. She thought to herself that Lu Beiqin was certainly meticulous in his work.

Suddenly, her gaze caught a familiar little camisole.

What the hell? What the *hell*?!

How did this thing end up here?!

Shen Chutang always washed this particular item by hand; how on earth had it ended up in the washing machine?!

She had even asked Lu Beiqin to help hang out the laundry when she left earlier—surely the man wouldn't think she had done it on purpose, would he?!

Shen Chutang stood frozen in place for a second, only to hear the man's voice drifting from behind her, "I reheated the crab roe steamed buns. Come eat."

"Oh."

Shen Chutang walked toward the dining table with a somewhat stiff body, opening her mouth several times without managing to speak.

How was she supposed to bring this up?

Could she really ask him why he had hung out her little camisole?

Naturally, Lu Beiqin noticed as well. "What's wrong? Don't you like eating crab roe steamed buns?"

Shen Chutang immediately shook her head. "No, nothing at all!"

With that, she took a large bite out of a crab roe steamed bun, only for the hot broth inside to scald the tip of her tongue until it turned red. She couldn't help but gasp, hastily gulping down a large glass of water to soothe it.

"So hot!"

She shouldn't have been spacing out just now; it had gotten her burned.

"Let me see."

Lu Beiqin reached out, pinched her chin, and made her lift her head.