After The Flower Of The High Mountain Meets The Rough Man Ⅱ Chapter 3

## Chapter 3: The Parent

“Hello, Auntie. I am A’Ji’s partner. I…”

Shen Jixun slowly placed his hand on Ji Shen’s head.

Soft hair threaded through his fingertips. Shen Jixun gently rubbed it, the space between his fingers tingling pleasantly.

Ji Shen froze. He stared into Shen Jixun’s eyes, his breathing growing more rapid.

“Ji Shen, don’t be nervous. You and I are no different.”

“My father is forcing me into blind dates and wants me to marry someone I don’t love. That’s why I need you to pretend to be my partner. You don’t need to worry about anything; I will handle everything. You just need to stay by my side obediently and listen to me.”

“You also don’t need to feel pressured. I chose you naturally because you possess merits you aren’t even aware of. You will be sacrificing your freedom and time to cooperate with me, so the compensation is what you deserve.”

“Besides, the way you are right now is making me feel pressured.” After a pause, Shen Jixun added, “Don’t put pressure on me, alright?”

His thin lips parted and closed lightly as he spoke these bewitching words, neither hurried nor slow.

The tone of these words was not gentle.

After all, that face seemed ill-suited for speaking tenderly.

But this calm and indifferent tone successfully soothed Ji Shen.

Shen Jixun watched his rapid breathing gradually stabilize. The hand on Ji Shen’s head slowly moved down, resting on his burning earlobe.

Shen Jixun smiled slightly. “Yes, just like that.”

The final syllable was drawn out, like a hook.

He then withdrew his hand.

Ji Shen felt his knees go a little weak.

Shen Jixun had been too close to him just now. His eyelashes were long and dense, his skin was very fair, and as his thin lips parted and closed, Ji Shen thought he even caught a glimpse of Shen Jixun’s tongue.

This caused Ji Shen to nearly forget to breathe several times.

“I’m sorry for causing you trouble.” After sitting back in the car, Ji Shen was no longer as nervous as before. He apologized solemnly to Shen Jixun.

Shen Jixun corrected him, “We are in a relationship now. You don’t need to use honorifics with me. Just call me by my name.”

Ji Shen pondered for a moment before suggesting, “Then how about I call you Ge (Brother)? I saw in the agreement that you are twenty-eight, six years older than me.”

Shen Jixun closed his eyes to rest. “As you wish.”

It seemed he agreed.

Ji Shen truly didn’t have many belongings in his rented room; he was packed up completely in less than half an hour.

The assistant came down and drove the car out of the residential area, with the moving company’s truck following behind them.

However, they soon pulled away from the truck.

Ji Shen watched as the car drove from the suburbs where he lived toward the city center, and then headed toward an even more luxurious villa district.

Other than delivering takeout, Ji Shen had never been to a place like this in any other capacity.

He looked around with eyes full of curiosity.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a three-story villa.

The assistant opened the car door for Shen Jixun, and Ji Shen also opened his door and got out.

His excitement was undisguised. “Ge, you actually live here? I’ve delivered takeout near here before!”

Shen Jixun walked toward the house, and Ji Shen quickly followed him. “I specifically bought this to live with you. You’ll live here from now on.”

Ji Shen knew Shen Jixun was rich.

But upon hearing that casual remark, Ji Shen realized he still hadn’t been able to imagine the full extent of it.

“Come on, I’ll take you to see your room,” Shen Jixun said, looking back at Ji Shen.

Ji Shen put on the slippers and quickly caught up with Shen Jixun. “Should I be troubling you with this kind of thing?”

Shen Jixun frowned in displeasure. “Didn’t I tell you not to use honorifics with me?”

Ji Shen’s apology was quick. “Sorry, Ge, I’ll be careful.”

Shen Jixun didn’t say anything more. He said, “Your room is on the second floor, right next to mine. You can go anywhere else in this house except my room. There’s a movie room and a gym on the third floor; you can pass the time there if you’re bored.”

Ji Shen asked curiously, “May I ask what my range of activities is…”

Shen Jixun: “I will notify you in advance when I need you. At other times, you can do whatever you want, go wherever you want, but there is one thing…”

Shen Jixun paused before speaking coldly, “During the Agreement Period with me, do not get involved in any emotional entanglements with anyone.”

Ji Shen was so startled by his intimidating tone that he quickly raised his hand to swear, stammering, “I, I absolutely won’t.”

“I’m not a scumbag!”

Shen Jixun was amused. He pursed his lips and smiled, saying, “Alright, I know.”

He raised his hand and opened the door to Ji Shen’s room, stepping aside to let Ji Shen go in and look around. “What do you think? If any part of the decor isn’t to your liking, tell me, and I’ll have someone take care of it.”

Ji Shen walked in.

His bedroom alone was more spacious than the large three-person shared apartment he used to live in. It even had a separate walk-in closet and bathroom.

“It’s fine,” he nodded and repeated. “It’s all fine.”

Shen Jixun raised his hand to tuck the stray hair at his temple behind his ear, then glanced at his watch and said, “You can familiarize yourself with the house this afternoon. I’m going to the company now.”

Ji Shen quickly called out to him, “Sir… oh no, Ge, can I use the ingredients in the fridge?”

“You want to cook yourself?” Shen Jixun didn’t mind, but he felt it was unnecessary, so he added, “You can order takeout here.”

Ji Shen quickly waved his hands and explained, “No, I want to cook some nutritious congee to visit my mother in the hospital.”

Shen Jixun seemed to be thinking of something. After a moment of hesitation, he said, “I’ll have someone deliver the ingredients for the congee later. I’ll also have my assistant accompany you to the hospital to handle the transfer of Auntie’s room.”

“Thank you,” Ji Shen said.

Shen Jixun walked downstairs. “This is what I promised you.”

About half an hour after Shen Jixun left, his assistant rang the villa doorbell, carrying large bags of ingredients.

Ji Shen quickly got up from the sofa to open the door.

“Thank you.” Ji Shen took some of the ingredients from his hands.

The assistant, Xiao Li, was as cold as Shen Jixun, with little expression on his face. He replied expressionlessly, “You’re welcome.”

He then turned and left.

Just as Ji Shen carried the ingredients back to the kitchen, the doorbell rang again.

This time it was the moving company.

They delivered all of Ji Shen’s belongings from the rented room.

Thus, Ji Shen had to organize these things first.

He put aside the idea of making breakfast and walked over to open one of the cardboard boxes. Inside were his neatly folded clothes; the clothes for all four seasons combined weren’t enough to fill this cubic box.

The small box next to it contained the green plants he kept in the rented room. The plants hadn’t suffered any bumps on the journey from the city district to the center.

Ji Shen carefully took out the green plants, intending to place them on the balcony or in front of the TV cabinet, only to find that both places were already adorned with expensive Podocarpus and Peperomia.

He remembered that his room’s balcony also seemed to have green plants already.

So, there was no place to accommodate his small potted plants.

Looking at the items moved from the rented room—the cheap folding basin, the faded bed sheets and pillowcases, the rickety folding table and chairs…

Any one of them seemed out of place with the luxurious decor of this house.

He gave up and lay down on the plush carpet, staring at the dazzling crystal chandelier above, his face full of confusion and incomprehension.

So, what exactly was the merit Shen Jixun saw in him? A merit he didn’t even know he possessed.

—

Organizing his luggage took too long. By the time Ji Shen finished cooking the congee and left, it was already half past twelve.

The assistant had actually been waiting for him in the car outside the villa the whole time.

Ji Shen was completely unaware of this and apologized profusely. “I’m sorry, Assistant Sir, I didn’t know you were waiting for me.”

The assistant glanced at him through the rearview mirror and then said, “You worry too much. This is my duty. Also, you can just call me Xiao Li. Both you and the Sir are my superiors.”

“Oh, alright,” Ji Shen agreed with some difficulty.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Xiao Li went directly to the inpatient department to handle the room transfer procedures. Ji Shen used this time to visit his mother in the ward.

“Mom, how have you been lately?” When Ji Shen walked into the ward, Ji Mu was knitting. A bamboo basket on the quilt held colorful balls of yarn.

Hearing her son’s voice, Ji Mu quickly put down her work and looked over. She was overjoyed. She grabbed Ji Shen’s hand and asked, “Xiao Shen, how do you have time to visit Mom? Have you been eating well lately? Why do you look thinner?”

Ji Shen placed the congee on the table. “You say I’m thinner every time we meet. Don’t worry, your son is doing very well lately!”

As he spoke, Ji Shen opened the lid of the thermos, scooped out a bowl of congee, and placed it on the bedside table to cool.

The two other elderly women in the same ward smiled and teased, “Your son is so filial, visiting you again.”

“Oh, he’s busy with work. I keep telling him to visit less, but look, he just won’t listen. It worries me sick,” Ji Mu said words of reproach, but her expression was full of relief.

“Alright, Mom, hurry up and drink the congee while it’s hot.” Ji Shen handed the warm congee to Ji Mu.

Ji Mu smiled and took it.

The similarity in their appearance was obvious to the naked eye. Ji Shen’s nose and mouth shape most resembled Ji Mu’s, which the two aunties in the ward often commented on.

Looking at the yarn balls on his mother’s quilt and the newly formed collar of the sweater, Ji Shen said with some annoyance, “Didn’t I tell you not to do these strenuous activities?”

“It’s fine, really fine. I just knit a little when I’m bored.”

Ji Shen sat by the bed and sighed softly. He knew it wasn’t easy to persuade his mother.

However, he had a more difficult matter at hand: he didn’t know how to explain the room change to his mother later.

“Mom, I recently changed jobs. I’m not at the convenience store anymore,” Ji Shen said.

Ji Mu immediately asked, “What kind of job? It’s not dangerous, is it?”

Ji Shen quickly denied it. “Of course not. It’s a very ordinary…”

He had lied no more than five times in his life, and the person opposite him was his own mother. If he lied, his mother would definitely see through it.

But their agreement stated clearly that only four people knew about the contract couple arrangement: Shen Jixun, the assistant, the lawyer, and him.

Just as he was hesitating about how to explain it to his mother, the ward door was suddenly knocked. Ji Shen thought it was the assistant returning, but when he turned around, he saw Shen Jixun, holding a fruit basket in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other.

He was wearing the same black suit he had worn when he left. The suit was well-tailored, clinging to his body, complementing his physique. His waistline was smoothly outlined. His long hair was casually tied back with a black hair tie, with some stray strands falling at his temples.

The wind behind him stirred his long hair.

Standing there, he looked like an artist who had stepped out of a television screen.

“Oh my goodness, is a celebrity filming a drama in our hospital?” The auntie in the adjacent bed stared at Shen Jixun’s face, completely mesmerized.

In fact, Ji Shen was also mesmerized.

He didn’t know why Shen Jixun had come to the hospital.

Seeing Ji Shen and Ji Mu on the bed, Shen Jixun immediately offered them a gentle smile.

He then stepped forward to the bedside, bent down like a gentleman, and greeted Ji Mu with a smile, “Hello, Auntie. My name is Shen Jixun, and I am A’Ji’s partner.”