Lei Dongyi slammed the door shut on Qin Shen and went to the refrigerator to put away the groceries.
Then he went to the bedroom to ask Ge'er what she wanted for lunch.
Ge'er pretended to be asleep, closing her eyes and ignoring him.
Lei Dongyi rolled up his sleeves, "Not saying, huh? Then I'll improvise."
He took his laptop to the kitchen, searched for the recipe for steamed sea bass, and began to follow the tutorial step by step.
It was the young master's first time in the kitchen, and he had to look at the labels on the bottles to figure out what was oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.
His shirt sleeves were rolled up high, and his hands were covered in water. As he was working, Ge'er suddenly called him from the kitchen.
"Lei Dongyi, Lei Dongyi, someone's calling you."
Lei Dongyi entered the room with wet hands, handed the phone to Ge'er without even looking at the screen.
"Take it for me."
Seeing that he was inconvenient, with even fish scales stuck to the front of his shirt, Ge'er could only help him by pressing the answer button.
Instantly, a sharp female voice came through.
"Lei Dongyi, where are you?"
"If you don't come home, is Old Lei your father or not? Are you still going to manage him?"
"I'm warning you, I don't care about your parents' past messes, nor can I control them. But since all the money Zhonghe is making now goes into your pocket, and you still carry the Lei surname, you have to take responsibility."
"His condition hasn't been good these past few days. You don't have to come back to serve him, but if it comes to that point and you still don't come back, I won't be the only one embarrassed. You decide for yourself!"
The voice on the other end hung up without waiting for Lei Dongyi to respond.
Although Ge'er didn't know what was happening, she could tell from the tone that something was amiss.
Lei Dongyi was the same age as her. By all accounts, his father shouldn't be that old, so how could his health...
The phone screen slowly went dark. Ge'er watched it turn off completely before looking up at Lei Dongyi.
His expression remained calm, giving no hint of his emotions.
"I'm going to steam the fish. The tutorial says it only takes ten minutes, so please wait a little longer."
It wasn't just that she was already full; even if she hadn't been, with such a serious family matter, Lei Dongyi shouldn't be calmly cooking in here.
Ge'er wanted to tell him to stop, but he seemed to be deliberately avoiding her, leaving the bedroom in two quick steps.
Ten minutes later, Lei Dongyi returned to the bedroom, holding a beautiful plate.
On the plate was a whole fish, garnished with finely shredded scallions and cilantro, and a rich, white broth that looked very appealing against the green.
She couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Can you actually cook?"
Lei Dongyi took it as a compliment and placed the plate on the bedside table, then crouched down to pick out the fish bones for her.
"Is cooking more complicated than arguing a case? I passed the bar exam on the first try, so learning to cook is as easy as pie."
Ge'er: "..."
He picked out a few mouthfuls of fish and put them into a bone china cup for her, "Try the taste."
Although Ge'er didn't want to eat, seeing how long he had been busy and that there was a family emergency, she took it.
The taste was alright. While it was standard, it suited her appetite at the moment.
Lei Dongyi continued to pick out the bones for her until he saw that she had eaten one side of the fish, "Do you want more?"
"No."
"Does it feel gross?"
"No."
"Have you taken your midday medication yet?"
"Mmm."
Lei Dongyi got up and went out, bringing her the medicine.
"Keep an eye on the time, take it in half an hour. After you take it, get some rest. Don't get out of bed again, and don't receive any more guests. I'm going out and will be back before dinner."
Ge'er knew he was going home and wanted to ask what his father's illness was, but seeing his lack of interest and unwillingness to talk further, she held back.
"Okay."
Lei Dongyi went to the bathroom to wash up, tidied his clothes, and gently closed the door.
With nothing to do and feeling full, Ge'er started to feel drowsy.
After waiting for half an hour, she took her medicine and fell asleep.
The weather was good, and no one disturbed her, so she slept soundly until she woke up with an urgent need to relieve herself.
Opening her eyes, she instinctively looked towards the bay window. The sky had darkened, and she had slept for the entire afternoon.
The bay window was empty, and there was no sound outside. Lei Dongyi seemed not to have returned yet.
Although she knew she shouldn't get out of bed, nature called. After a moment of confusion in bed, she had just lifted the covers to get up when the front door opened.
As she sat up halfway, Lei Dongyi rushed in, radiating warmth.
Their eyes met. He threw his jacket onto the floor and walked towards Ge'er.
"Just woke up?"
Ge'er's voice was hoarse, "Mmm."
"Were you about to get up? Need to go to the restroom?"
"Mmm."
"Sorry I'm back late, I'll carry you."
After putting her in the restroom, Lei Dongyi tactfully left. A moment later, he returned to pick up Ge'er, and asked her.
"What do you want for dinner?"
Ge'er was truly uninspired. She felt he had returned in a hurry, and her heart was still pounding. She felt a pang of guilt.
"I'm not hungry yet. If you're hungry, you can order delivery."
Lei Dongyi was indeed hungry. He hadn't eaten lunch and had spent the afternoon arguing with his father.
But he didn't want to order delivery.
"I'll pick something simple to make. If you have no ideas, I'll decide, and you can just give me face and eat a bit."
"Go back and lie down. I'll go get busy."
Feeling like he had been on his feet all day, and knowing he didn't owe her anything, Ge'er felt embarrassed.
"Lei Dongyi, you really don't have to do this."
Lei Dongyi, who was about to leave, turned back when he heard her, "Then how do you want me to be?"
"..."
"You haven't been annoyed with me all afternoon, are you unaccustomed to it? Don't worry, it'll be back to normal tomorrow. I'll be in front of you all day, and you'll have plenty of time to be annoyed."
Ge'er didn't know if she was imagining things, but she seemed to detect a sense of bravado and a deliberate attempt to tease her in his words.
Since she couldn't get rid of him, she decided to let it be.
"It's so boring staying in bed all day. I want to go outside and watch some TV."
"Watch it on my computer. I'll bring it over for you."
"It's not that serious, Lei Dongyi. I'm not made of paper. Let me go out for some fresh air."
Lei Dongyi looked around the room. Although it was large, staying in it all day was indeed boring. He carried her to the sofa outside.
He tucked her in with a blanket, turned on the TV, then went to open the refrigerator, get the vegetables, and find the recipe.
Watching him busily moving around, Ge'er felt a mix of emotions and finally couldn't help but ask him.
"Lei Dongyi."
Lei Dongyi looked at his phone, "Mmm."
"Can I ask one thing? What's wrong with your father?"
After about two seconds, he said, "Kidney failure."
Ge'er: "?!"
Lei Dongyi's tone was mocking, "You don't need to feel sorry for him, or pity him. He brought it on himself."
"..."
"Do you think I'm unfilial? That I deserve to be struck by lightning for saying this?"
To be honest, Ge'er did think so.
That was his father. As a highly educated person, he shouldn't be saying such things no matter what.
Perhaps it was the atmosphere, or perhaps Lei Dongyi had wanted to talk to her properly for a long time. He locked his phone and walked over to her.