Chapter 37: Villains Are Always So Strikingly Handsome

Just a single piece of candy, and she could be so delighted? Perhaps only a child could be as easily satisfied as she was. With that thought, a trace of disdain flickered across his handsome face. Yet, as he watched her joy, the gloom and irritability that had weighed upon him seemed to lighten, replaced by a newfound sense of contentment.

That evening, Aunt Xu returned with dinner. By the time Lin Nanxun finished the porridge Aunt Lin had cooked for her, it was already eight o'clock. The television was playing cartoons. The servants had gone home for the night, Zhou Bei was out on business, and Aunt Xu had left to fetch some things from her house. In the hospital room, Lin Nanxun sat on the bed watching TV. Bored, she turned to strike up a conversation with Shen Hanzhi, who was lounging on the sofa.

"Bad guy, how much longer do I have to stay here?" she asked.

"It depends," Shen Hanzhi replied, barely looking up as he messaged his assistant from the sofa, his tone indifferent.

"I want to go home," Lin Nanxun sighed softly.

Only when she was with the bad guy or Grandma Xu did she feel comfortable enough to speak so freely.

Shen Hanzhi made no reply, so she continued.

"Your house is so big, it’s a little scary, but I still think it’s better than here."

Shen Hanzhi set his phone aside. Listening to her rambling, mingling with the sounds from the television, he felt his mind gradually quiet down. In that moment, his heart was peaceful... Even the pain in his head eased considerably. Drowsiness crept over him, and he raised his eyes, then closed them, leaning back tiredly into the sofa. Her voice still lingered in his ears.

"This place always smells like medicine. I don't like it," Lin Nanxun murmured. She disliked the scent of medicine—it was bitter. She preferred sweet things.

Lin Nanxun chattered to herself for several minutes. Seeing that Shen Hanzhi still did not respond, she glanced over curiously. She discovered he was motionless, eyes closed, as if asleep.

"Bad guy?" she called softly, watching his profile, testing.

There was no answer.

Now, with no one left to talk to in the lonely hospital room, Lin Nanxun pursed her lips and sighed quietly. Before long, her attention shifted back to the sleeping man. She scooted to the edge of the bed, craning her neck to look at him.

He didn’t seem nearly as fierce when he slept. She wondered what he was like when he wasn’t angry. Her gaze lingered on his face, staring for several seconds before she was suddenly stunned. It was the first time she had ever seen the bad guy’s face so clearly and up close.

Only now did she realize how exceptionally handsome he was—more so than anyone she had ever seen. Especially when he wasn’t scolding her...

Her eyes couldn’t look away. She watched him sleep for quite a while, then mischievously stretched out her finger and poked his cheek.

The warmth of his skin startled her, and a strange, hot sensation blossomed across her own face...

Just then, the sleeping man’s eyelids suddenly twitched.

Lin Nanxun froze, startled, quickly withdrew her mischievous hand, and obediently lay back down.

Half a month later, with Christmas and New Year approaching, the temperature in N City had grown colder still.