July in Nancheng was becoming increasingly hot, with temperatures soaring non-stop, quickly entering the peak summer heat period.
But for Nie Cenjin, who had been working overtime for a month and rarely resting for a day, it had no effect. The air-conditioner's breeze was comfortable, with melodious lyrical music wafting through the room, and lying in bed looking at her phone was quite enjoyable.
"Knock knock—"
An urgent and slightly irritable knocking broke the small moment of beauty. Cen Jin turned her head towards the door at the sound, and a familiar angry face entered her clear pupils, frightening her into throwing her phone aside, sitting up, and asking sheepishly, "Mom, what's... the matter?"
"Nie Cenjin, turn off your music. It's not like I can't hear it. Why play it so loud? I've been calling you from downstairs so many times, and you didn't respond at all. Turn off the music and come down." Ms. Qin looked at her and directly started berating her, her voice louder than the music, leaving Cen Jin no chance to respond, as she slammed the door shut with a bang.
Cen Jin pursed her lips. She didn't dare disobey her naturally hot-tempered mom's orders. Though she didn't know what her mom wanted, she hastily put on slippers, turned off the speaker, and ran downstairs, greeted by the pungent scent of cookies.
"Come, take these two boxes of cookies to your Aunt Hui Zi." Ms. Qin, busy in the kitchen, turned upon hearing footsteps and pointed at the two boxes of cookies on the table.
"Should I deliver them?" Cen Jin paused, looked at Ms. Qin, her eyes mixed with a hint of doubt, somewhat discontentedly pouting and asking.
Ms. Qin glared at her upon hearing that, and Cen Jin immediately understood the implication, promptly smiling and nodding, "I'll deliver them, I'll deliver them right away."
Seeing Ms. Qin resume her busy work, Cen Jin breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the table, picked up the two boxes of cookies, and headed toward the door.
Stepping out of the villa's door, Cen Jin endured the blazing sun and walked toward the nearby villa that resembled her own. She climbed the three steps at the entrance and pressed the doorbell.
But after waiting for about half a minute, no one came to open the door. Cen Jin intended to press the doorbell again but inadvertently noticed a gap in the composite door, not fully closed. Her hand in midair hesitated for a moment before she carefully pushed open the door and popped her head in, "Aunt Hui Zi, are you home? My mom asked me to deliver some cookies."
The large villa was very bright, yet very quiet, even a bit cold-feeling. Cen Jin stood at the entrance without any response from inside, pondered for a while, pushed the door open and entered, looked around, but still hadn't seen anyone, so she continued to call out, "Aunt Hui Zi, Aunt Hui Zi, I'm..."
"Stop yelling, she's not here."
A low, slightly hoarse voice suddenly interrupted her from behind, causing Cen Jin to pause. She was all too familiar with this voice; her body froze, even her heartbeat inexplicably accelerated, feeling a bit nervous.
Perhaps seeing her lack of reaction, Jiang Baizhou, standing at the stairway, walked up to her, his deep ocean-like eyes slightly narrowed, glanced at the cookie boxes in her hand, and then indifferently settled on her delicate face, wordlessly staring at her.
His features were sharply defined, his eyes deep and cold, and his black hair scattered with water droplets, exuding a hazy allure, along with a calm and dignified aura.
Cen Jin had always known that this man is exceptional, whether in talent or appearance, he's the focus wherever he goes. Even after not seeing him for half a year, he remained unchanged.
But at this moment, she was clearly just following Ms. Qin's orders to deliver cookies, doing nothing else. Yet, she somehow felt a bit guilty, even taking two steps back to distance herself from him, awkwardly smiling lightly. "Oh... Aunt Hui Zi isn't here!"