◎Skin Hunger Syndrome (Second Update)◎
After the conversation, Le Qing was still nervous for two days. However, she didn't expect that Jiang Suizhi really meant what he said about not taking the children back. He seemed to be extremely busy these two days and was nowhere to be seen. But he still remembered what the children said and sent a photo every morning to "punch in" and prove that he had eaten breakfast.
This completely put her at ease. At least in the short term, she didn't have to worry about the children leaving. As for the future... she didn't want to think about it.
Anyway, she had always been the kind of person who took things one step at a time.
Since she met Jiang Suizhi, she had been observing his attitude and hadn't detected the slightest bit of hostility from him. This was also what made her feel at ease, so she was in a good mood for the next two days.
Two days later, she was going to do an interview with Lin Jian, so Sister Wang came back from her vacation at home to help take care of the children. Originally, she wanted to take the children with her, but there was a cocktail party in the evening. She was worried that the same situation as before would happen again, and she wouldn't be able to take care of the children and they might get bullied.
Sister Wang hadn't arrived yet. Considering that she had gotten up early in the morning and come all the way here, it would be really hard on her. So Le Qing got up a little earlier to make breakfast for the children and also prepared a portion for Sister Wang.
The two little kids were looking through their phones. Little Le Jia was guarding the suitcase that his aunt had placed on the sofa. Inside it were the clothes his aunt was going to wear for work today.
Auntie was going out to earn money, but this time she wasn't taking him and his sister. He was a bit disappointed.
If they went too, they could take care of their aunt.
Last time, their aunt didn't sleep or eat well. It was them who helped their aunt get the boxed lunches and big drumsticks. He wondered if his aunt would have big drumsticks today. She mustn't fall asleep again.
Little Le Jia said gloomily, "Uncle System, can I and my sister start working?"
"The currently redeemable achievement points are fifty - three thousand six hundred points," the system replied. "Do you want to settle them now?"
"I want to work with my aunt!"
"It's too late for this time," the system said. "You can save up some more achievement points and work with your aunt next time."
"Not enough?"
Little Le Jia thought fifty - three thousand points was a huge amount.
The system sighed, "With your aunt's future status, you can't quite match up to her. You have to save up more points to get the same type of jobs as her. Just keep taking more videos."
The two little kids didn't understand. They turned to look at their aunt who was busy making breakfast in the kitchen and thought they could still "catch up" with her. After all, their aunt wasn't as tall as Uncle Xie.
"One more thing," the system reminded. "Remember what I told you, that Uncle Xie is sick?"
Little Le Jia nodded.
"I wait for Uncle Xie to have breakfast every day."
"He doesn't just need to have breakfast for treatment. He also needs other ways to get better," the system said. "If you can cure Uncle Xie and make him healthy, you'll also get redeemable achievement points."
The kids were shocked.
Could Uncle Xie be so useful! Why didn't he show up earlier!
"But I'm not a doctor," Little Le Jia frowned.
"Uncle Xie's illness doesn't need a doctor. You just need to be nicer to him and have more contact with him. But don't be too hasty. It won't work if you just look at his pictures on the phone like you did before."
Huh?
There was such an illness!
"I get it!" Little Le Jia nodded confidently.
Since they couldn't just look at pictures, he was going to see Uncle Xie in person.
Uncle Xie hadn't sent a picture to his aunt today. Little Le Jia got up from the ground, took his sister's hand, and said, "Come on, we're heroes again."
Little Sister Treasure was holding her bottle and looked blank - faced, but she still obediently followed her brother.
Little Le Jia poked his head into the kitchen and said, "Auntie, we're going to find Uncle Xie."
Why did they suddenly want to find Uncle Xie?
Le Qing was frying something and couldn't leave the stove. But considering that Jiang Suizhi lived on the same floor, she said, "Don't close the door when you go out, and don't go downstairs or climb in through the window. Just ring the doorbell. If Uncle Xie isn't home, come back."
"Okay!"
In fact, it took less than thirty seconds to walk from their home to the opposite door. But it was the kids' first time visiting Uncle Xie's home, so they must bring some gifts.
They had already given Uncle Xie candies. So what else could they give?
Little Sister Treasure waved the bottle in her hand and said, "Brother, the milk powder is delicious. Can we share it with Uncle Xie?"
Right!
Little Le Jia remembered that he had told Uncle Xie that he would share half of his meal with him and coax him to eat.
Sharing half a bottle of milk was nothing! A little man always kept his word.
Their previous friend was just Brother Xuxu. Whenever the kids found something they liked to eat, they would share it with each other. Now that they had a new friend, they also had to learn to share.
So the two kids rummaged through the house for a while and found a spare bottle that their aunt had bought. Then they went to the bathroom to wash the bottle clean.
The sister poured half, and the brother poured half. The gift for Uncle Xie was ready!
Holding his sister's hand, they came to Uncle Xie's door. Looking at the Chinese character "Fu" pasted on the door, the two kids were very proud.
Little Le Jia let go of his sister's hand, tidied up the messy hair on his sister's head that their aunt hadn't had time to comb after she woke up, and then touched his own collar. Then he solemnly rang the doorbell next to the fingerprint lock.
Jiang Suizhi, who had just gotten up at home and was about to go out to buy breakfast for the kids, was stunned for a few seconds when he heard the doorbell.
In order to free up most of today's time, he had been working overtime for the past two days. Considering that Le Qing needed a regular schedule to take care of the children, he hadn't gone over to disturb them.
As for what Le Qing said about "coming over for a meal", he had temporarily regarded it as a polite remark.
One had to know one's place and not be too pushy.
He might feel more at ease having a meal with a client at the same table. But having a meal with Le Qing and the kids always made him feel a bit strange.
The only person who would ring the doorbell at this time was Le Qing.
Did he send the photo of his breakfast too late today?
He skillfully picked up his mask and put it on before opening the door.
At first glance, he didn't see anyone.
"?"
A milky - voiced sound came from below, "Uncle Xie, we're here."
There was still a faint smell of milk in the air.
Jiang Suizhi looked down and finally saw the two little kids holding hands.
"Hello, Uncle Xie," the kids said very politely.
Seeing this, Jiang Suizhi opened the door a bit wider and asked, "Why are you here?"
"Is Uncle here?" Little Le Jia looked at his stomach. "Let me check if you've had breakfast."
So they really came to check if he had eaten breakfast.
Jiang Suizhi couldn't help laughing and crying. "I haven't had time to buy it yet."
He could swear that he had really bought breakfast these two days. After all, he had sent the photos and couldn't waste them.
But obviously, the kids who had been deceived once didn't believe him. Their big eyes kept looking at Uncle Xie. Little Le Jia gave an order, "Sister, take out the gift for Uncle Xie."
Oh, there was a gift?
Jiang Suizhi was extremely flattered. This was the first time he had received a gift from a child.
He bent down and reached out his hand, ready to take his gift. But suddenly, Little Sister Treasure stood on tiptoe and stuffed a pacifier in front of his face.
When it came to dealing with children, Jiang Suizhi's reaction was always half a second slower. In that instant, the pacifier was right in front of his mouth.
He suddenly widened his eyes, quickly straightened up and took two steps back, asking in panic, "What's this!"
"A milk bottle," An'an said innocently. "There's milk in it."
Damn it, I know it's a milk bottle, and I can see that the white stuff inside is milk!
But! Why! Are you! Shoving it! Into! My mouth!
"It's delicious," Little Le Jia couldn't clearly see Uncle's expression through the mask and due to the height difference. He actively promoted it, saying, "Even the kids next door are drooling with envy!"
There aren't any kids next door. There's only an innocent young man in his twenties here!
"Uncle, we pinky - promised. I keep my word," Little Le Jia said. "My sister and I like to drink it. Auntie said that drinking milk in the morning is good for health."
"Yeah," An'an chimed in. "An'an and brother will share half with uncle."
Jiang Suizhi's trigeminal nerve was hurting badly now, even more painful than when Jiang Yan forced him to have breakfast and eat on time before.
Little Le Jia asked, "Uncle, why aren't you talking?"
Little Le'an asked, "Don't you like it?"
Guess why I'm not talking.
Jiang Suizhi took a deep breath and said, "I like it, but adults don't need to drink milk anymore."
"That's not right. There's milk for adults in the supermarket, like Wangwang milk," Little Le Jia said.
Although he said so, Little Le Jia still sensitively noticed Uncle's repulsion towards this milk.
He took the milk bottle from his sister's hand. It was still warm. He lowered his head and smelled it, looking a bit disappointed. "Uncle doesn't like the gift from me and my sister."
It seems I've messed things up. Sigh...
"Sister, let's come and visit again next time," he was still very polite. If the gift he gave to Uncle wasn't liked, they shouldn't stay here.
Little Sister Treasure also lowered her head. "Okay."
After this action, her frizzy hair seemed to have flattened a bit.
This scene made General Manager Jiang, who was used to being in control at the negotiation table and in the conference room, feel a chill down his spine. It was as if he had trampled on the two kids' good intentions.
"Wait a minute," he overcame his psychological pressure and stepped forward. "Didn't I say I like it?"
He stretched out his hand. "Give it to me."
Little Le Jia hesitantly handed over the milk bottle in his hand and placed it neatly in Uncle's hand.
This milk bottle was hotter than those contracts worth tens of millions or even billions. Jiang Suizhi frowned and said, "But you have to remember that adults don't drink milk with a milk bottle."
"Why?"
Well, no one has really studied this.
"You'll know when you grow up," Jiang Suizhi said in a deliberately profound tone.
"Okay!"
Although they echoed verbally, the two kids' bright eyes still stared closely at Uncle Xie's actions.
Jiang Suizhi really couldn't stand it. With a great deal of guilt, he glanced at the opposite door to make sure no one was coming out. Then he took a deep breath, unscrewed the nipple of the milk bottle, quickly pulled down his mask, and poured all the milk into his mouth in one gulp.
This was really a disaster!
He turned the milk bottle upside - down. "See, I've finished..."
Before he could finish his words, a figure walked out of the opposite door.
Seeing the two kids standing at the opposite door, Le Qing blurted out subconsciously, "It's time for breakfast..."
She also didn't finish her sentence. Le Qing noticed the man's action on the opposite side.
She didn't really pay attention to the man's face because Jiang Suizhi's way of holding the milk bottle was really strange.
"Mr. Jiang?" she asked in a puzzled tone.
Realizing what was going on, Jiang Suizhi quickly pulled his mask back up. This time, he really wished he could cover his whole face.
Whether he was Xie Suizhi or Jiang Suizhi!
In the past twenty - odd years, he had never felt so embarrassed, not even when he was hungry on the street.
His strong reaction made Le Qing realize what he had been doing when he pulled down his mask.
After two seconds of silence, she tentatively asked, "Are you too hungry?"
Otherwise, she couldn't think of any other reason for Jiang Suizhi to drink this bottle of milk. And it wasn't just ordinary hunger. Did he only have breakfast in the past few days?
Jiang Suizhi silently screwed the milk bottle back on and stuffed it into the hands of the two extremely happy kids. He said in a rigid tone, "Let them explain."
"Auntie!" Little Le Jia proudly turned around. "This is the gift my sister and I gave to Mr. Xie!"
He shook the milk bottle in his hand, which still had about one - third of the milk left.
Only after the two kids turned around did Le Qing notice that they were each holding a milk bottle.
But she only made two bottles of milk today, and she had also seen the two kids drinking. So the bottle Jiang Suizhi drank from...
It's okay. It's their dad who drank it.
He probably won't mind.
But she still couldn't help asking, "Are you okay?"
"A bit of a problem," Jiang Suizhi pressed his temples. "It's better to send them to a kindergarten. It's not good not to have an education."
At least they should learn not to give milk bottles to neighbors!
It seemed that he had been quite hit. Le Qing thought that a big part of the reason was that he had been seen by her.
But it was really a bit funny.
"It seems that riding the rocking horse isn't that unacceptable," she thought.
At least now she felt more balanced.
To help Jiang Suizhi get out of the embarrassment faster, Le Qing looked at the two kids and asked, "Did you just come here to give Uncle a gift?"
"To see Uncle eat. We want Uncle to be healthy," Little Le Jia said.
Jiang Suizhi said coolly, "Come less often. If you keep coming, I might really get sick."
"Pfft."
Le Qing couldn't hold it back anymore and covered her lips with her hand and laughed out loud.
Everyone, big and small, on the opposite side looked over with different expressions. Le Qing had to change the topic. "Have you eaten?"
"Uncle said he didn't buy anything," Little Le Jia replied.
"Then have breakfast together," Le Qing stepped aside to make room for them to enter. "I made a lot today."
Jiang Suizhi was still a bit slow - witted due to the shock of the milk and couldn't clearly decide whether he should accept or refuse at this time. But someone had already made the decision for him.
He felt a ticklish sensation on the back of his hand. His hand trembled slightly and he tried to pull it back, but he didn't succeed.
Little Le Jia had already grabbed his index finger. "Uncle, I'll coax you to eat."
The system uncle said not to be too hasty. So holding just the tip of the finger should be okay!
Jiang Suizhi really wanted to pull his hand back, but thinking of the hurt look in the kid's eyes if he was rejected, he couldn't do it.
He could only stiffly let the kid pull him forward. To avoid his other hand being "attacked" by Little Sister Treasure, he silently put his other hand in his pocket, leaving only one finger out and curling the rest.
Seeing him coming, Le Qing turned around and went into the house to bring the breakfast out from the kitchen.
Sitting at the dining table, Jiang Suizhi felt that things weren't going as he planned.
After what happened in this house in the past few days, he initially thought that using the two kids to help him desensitize might be a good idea. Since his emotions would be affected, he couldn't fully focus on defense. He only needed to pay more attention to controlling some involuntary physical reactions.
But now he found that this method simply didn't work.
The kids' actions and the degree of intimacy were uncontrollable. He couldn't predict them and make corresponding responses. If they got a little more intimate next time, he was worried that he wouldn't be able to control himself.
Currently, only children can have a positive impact on his vague emotions. As for controllable physical contact...
In the kitchen, Le Qing brought out all the breakfast. "Don't dislike it," she said.
There was porridge, and a variety of food such as steamed fruit buns, fried dumplings, and mixed noodles were all available.
It was the kind of breakfast that an ordinary family would have, and it was really hard to dislike.
Jiang Suizhi couldn't help but think of the few lonely dumplings left in his own refrigerator. They were all made by Le Qing, and he hadn't had the chance to eat them.
At this moment, he finally had a real sense that these were dumplings made by someone he knew. Moreover, this person could even be considered half - family.
"Uncle~" Little Le Jia had already moved his own chair and sat next to Uncle. He stretched out his little hands as hard as he could to hand Uncle chopsticks.
Little Sister Treasure sat on the other side, determined to take good care of the guest. She also handed over a spoon. "Use this for the porridge," she said.
After the siblings finished distributing the utensils, they obediently put on their little bibs, picked up their children's chopsticks, and sat down properly.
They didn't start eating right away. Instead, their eyes were fixed on their aunt, waiting for her to sit down. Then they said softly, "Auntie, you've worked hard!"
Le Qing put fried dumplings on the two kids' small plates. "Let's see who can eat the cleanest today," she said.
"It's me!"
The kids said in unison. It seemed that they had gone through this many times before. They all buried their heads in their small bowls in a unified action.
After slurping a few mouthfuls, Little Le Jia just remembered that there was an extra uncle sitting next to him.
He raised his head from the bowl, with some rice grains from the porridge still on the corner of his mouth. He whispered, "Uncle, eat. If you don't waste food, Auntie will reward you with milk tablets."
Now Jiang Suizhi knew why kids always smelled so milky.
They couldn't talk for three sentences without mentioning milk.
He glanced at Le Qing sitting across from him. She seemed as if nothing had happened, as if there wasn't an extra person in the house. She was concentrating on eating. Her movements were small and very pleasing to the eye.
No wonder she could teach the two kids such good eating habits.
Since he was already sitting here, it would be impolite to wait for the host to urge him. Jiang Suizhi took off his mask and put it beside him, then picked up the spoon next to him.
At the door, the kids were only focused on watching Uncle drink milk. Now that there wasn't much of a height difference, they could see Uncle's face up close. Little Le Jia tilted his head and blinked. "Uncle, you can also act on TV," he said.
"What?"
"Uncle is so cool."
In the kids' eyes, being good - looking meant being able to act on TV. "Uncle can act in a lot of TV shows," Little Le Jia said.
Because Uncle was extremely good - looking!
Jiang Suizhi had heard many people praise his looks. It was just a physical appearance, but rarely did he feel a bit proud like this.
Most importantly, it meant that his milk - drinking behavior just now hadn't reduced his score in the two kids' hearts. He smiled lightly. "How cool?"
Little Le Jia put down his chopsticks and stretched out all ten fingers. Feeling that it wasn't enough, he borrowed a few from his sister.
"Leave one," An'an said with a bit of selfishness. "This is for Auntie."
Le Qing, who had been eating quietly, looked up upon hearing this and found it a bit funny. "Do I have a share too?"
Little Sister Treasure had an expression of "Of course." "Auntie is completely beautiful," she said.
Because she looked up, Le Qing also saw Jiang Suizhi's appearance.
She had prepared herself mentally. The father of two such lovely kids couldn't be ugly. Plus, having seen his eyes, she could guess that his appearance must be very outstanding. Sure enough, the face under the mask was even more handsome than she had imagined.
In the few times she had met Jiang Suizhi, he never seemed like a group president. He never wore formal suits. Instead, he alternated between leather jackets, casual coats, and today he was wearing a long black coat that reached his calves. He wasn't wearing glasses, and his hair was a bit messy from just getting up. He looked like a casual male model walking out of a magazine.
His facial features were deep and three - dimensional, a very photogenic look, and he had a natural sharpness. His lips were redder than ordinary people's, adding a bit more charm.
He really deserved so many fingers from the kids. And looking at this face, one could understand why Jiang Suizhi had always been so reluctant to take off his mask before.
Because he did look a bit similar to his sister. If they walked together, people would probably notice their kinship.
Worried that she might be offensive, Le Qing quickly averted her gaze.
There was an extra person in the house, but since they already knew each other, she didn't find it too strange.
Halfway through the meal, there was a noise at the door. It was Sister Wang who had come back.
She was carrying a lot of bags and also brought some home - cooked side dishes. Le Qing quickly got up to help her.
Sister Wang felt very embarrassed. "There's a guest. Sorry, I'm late," she said.
"It's okay. This is a neighbor," Le Qing took the things from her. "His surname is Jiang. You can let him in anytime he comes to the house in the future."
"Ooh, Jiang... Jiang?" Sister Wang finally saw clearly who the man standing at the dining table was through the jars of side dishes. She gasped in surprise and didn't stop until Mr. Jiang gently shook his head at her.
This meant not to expose his identity?
Sister Wang, who was used to working in the wealthy family, quickly reacted. "Mr. Jiang, you are really handsome. Then I'll go and tidy up these things first," she said.
Le Qing said, "Don't be in a hurry. Have something to eat first."
Sister Wang felt that she might lose years of her life if she ate at the same table as Mr. Jiang.
"I've already eaten," Sister Wang said quickly. "You guys eat first. I'll clean up after you're done."
Le Qing had quite a lot of things to do today, so she didn't continue to be polite with her and sat back down.
Sister Wang took out a jar of pickled dried radishes and put them on separate plates. She remembered that Mr. Jiang didn't like to eat from the same plate as others. After separating them, she brought them out together. "This is the pickled radish I made myself. Try some. If you like it, I'll make it here in the future. This plate is for the kids. It's not that spicy," she said.
Le Qing sincerely said, "Thank you, Sister Wang. You're so thoughtful."
Then she added, "I might come back very late. If it's time, just let the kids wash up and go to sleep. Don't wait for me."
Sister Wang was handing the separate plate to Jiang Suizhi while responding, "Okay. Don't worry about work, Mr. Jiang..."
Due to being distracted and a bit nervous like a 007 agent, she accidentally spilled a little juice from the radish plate on Mr. Jiang's clothes.
Sister Wang's face changed drastically. She quickly put down the plate and went to get a wet wipe. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jiang!"
Just as her hand was about to touch him, Jiang Suizhi suddenly stood up.
The sudden movement made the others freeze for a moment. The two kids still had half of the radish in their mouths. "Shushu, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," Jiang Suizhi raised his hand and vaguely blocked Sister Wang's movement. "You go ahead. I'll handle it myself."
Sister Wang had only occasionally cleaned and cooked for Mr. Jiang's family before. In fact, she didn't know this boss very well. Hearing this, she had to withdraw her hand. "Okay, okay. I'm really sorry."
Seeing this, Le Qing couldn't help but have more doubts in her heart.
Originally, she thought that Jiang Suizhi's so - called cleanliness was just an excuse for wearing a mask. Now it seemed that his cleanliness was really quite serious.
"Do you need to deal with it?" she asked.
"It doesn't matter." Jiang Suizhi grabbed a tissue and wiped it casually, then sat back down. As if nothing had happened, he finished the rest of his breakfast, even the radish from the plate whose soup had spilled on his clothes.
Huh? Did he have a cleanliness fetish or not?
After breakfast, Jiang Suizhi went back to the opposite apartment. Seeing that Uncle had obediently finished his meal, the two kids didn't bother him to go to work. Instead, they followed their auntie step by step.
"Auntie, don't work too hard."
"Auntie, be good. We'll be good too. Auntie, come home early."
Since coming to this world, it was the first time for Le Qing to be separated from them for so long. Seeing the two kids clinging to the door with longing looks in their eyes, she smiled, bent down, and stroked their heads. "Okay, you guys have to listen to Sister Wang and go to bed early."
After a pause, she added softly, "I'll come back."
This was the first time she had experienced having someone waiting for her to go home when she left. This feeling made leaving a kind of torment, but it also made her start to have expectations from this very moment.
At this moment, Le Qing was really grateful to Jiang Suizhi.
After separating from the two kids, she closed the door and pressed the elevator button. At this time, the door across the way also opened. Jiang Suizhi had changed into another coat of the same color scheme, but this time he wore a mask and glasses.
Le Qing didn't pry into other people's private affairs. She took out a pack of milk tablets from her pocket. "The kids asked me to give these to you."
Jiang Suizhi naturally stood beside her. It seemed that he was also going out. He looked down and took the children's snack. "For me?"
"Yes," Le Qing said with a smile. "They said it's a reward for Uncle for not wasting food at breakfast."
Remembering what had happened at the dining table, Jiang Suizhi also let out a laugh and put the milk tablets in his pocket.
The two entered the elevator together. While waiting for the elevator to go down, Jiang Suizhi suddenly said, "There's something I want to talk to you about."
"Now?" Le Qing glanced at the time. "Is it urgent? I'm in a bit of a hurry right now."
"Going to see Lin Jian?"
"How do you know?"
"I talked to her about the kids the day before yesterday." Jiang Suizhi didn't hide it at all. "Let me give you a ride. I'm going there too. I'll also be at the cocktail party tonight. I can give you a ride back on the way."
Actually, Le Qing had planned to take a taxi because she wasn't sure if she would need to drink a little at the cocktail party tonight.
Hearing what Jiang Suizhi said, she agreed because she thought the matter he wanted to talk about might be related to the kids.
"Then thank you."
After getting in the car, Le Qing fastened her seat - belt. "So, what's the matter?"
"I think you may have noticed some of my behaviors that don't quite conform to common sense," Jiang Suizhi said, looking at the road conditions and speaking in a casual tone as if chatting. "Like the so - called cleanliness fetish."
"Don't worry," Le Qing had a good self - awareness. "I won't pry into your private affairs."
Unexpectedly, Jiang Suizhi let out a short laugh. "Maybe you can ask."
"What?"
"This so - called cleanliness fetish is the private reason I mentioned to you that day." Except for the doctor, it was the first time Jiang Suizhi had told this secret to someone else. His hand holding the steering wheel tightened involuntarily.
But he also clearly knew that if he wanted to have long - term contact with the kids in the future, he had to take this step, regardless of whether Le Qing would or could help him.
Le Qing didn't know about his struggle and listened very seriously. "Go ahead."
"It's not a cleanliness fetish," Jiang Suizhi stopped the car at a red light at the crossroads. He took off his glasses and lifted the corner of his mouth in a self - deprecating manner. "It's a psychological disorder."
Le Qing's pupils contracted slightly.
"It's not that I'm afraid of touching others. On the contrary, it's an uncontrollable urge that has been constantly suppressed." He said slowly, "It's skin hunger syndrome."
