The dishes had been cooked and laid out on the table for half an hour, but Han Jingnian sat at the table like a statue, not moving his chopsticks. 

A nearby servant couldn’t bear it any longer and approached, reminding him softly, “Mr. Han, if you don’t eat soon, the food will get cold.” 

Han Jingnian didn’t say a word, he just gave the servant a faint glance. 

His gaze was as cold as ice, with a chilling glint in his eyes, making people shiver involuntarily. 

The servant’s legs weakened, and she almost knelt on the ground. She didn’t dare say another word and hurriedly left the dining room as if her life depended on it. 

Seeing this, the other servants, keeping their heads down, silently pressed themselves against the walls and left the dining room one by one. 

In the originally quiet dining room, in no time, only Han Jingnian remained. 

He sat still in his chair, facing a table full of dishes, yet he showed no sign of picking up his chopsticks. 

Half an hour passed… 

An hour passed… 

Three hours passed… 

The grandfather clock in the living room struck eleven times, indicating that it was now eleven o’clock at night. 

Sitting in front of the dining table, Han Jingnian, when he heard the final chime of the clock, his brows twitched slightly, finally showing some reaction. 

He slowly turned his head and glanced at the clock on the wall. 

It was eleven o’clock… Han Zhijin still hadn’t returned, which meant… she and Han Zhijin were still not done with their meal? 

Han Jingnian didn’t understand what had come over him. He had always been able to remain calm, but now he was becoming somewhat agitated. “Someone!” 

In the room at the far corner of the living room, the servants huddled together, exchanged glances, and after hearing Han Jingnian’s voice, they all shivered. They looked at each other, exchanging glances and hesitant glances for a long time, but no one was willing to go out. 

The atmosphere in the entire villa became even more eerie. 

The servants made eye contact, and then they started playing rock-paper-scissors. The losers, as if they were heading to their executions, with red eyes, walked slowly to the entrance of the dining room. They dared not take a single step further and kept a five-meter distance from Han Jingnian. One of them spoke hesitantly, “Mr. Han, may I ask if there’s something you need?” 

Han Jingnian’s voice was calm but contained indescribable killing intent and anger. “Call Han Zhijin and ask her when he’s coming home.” 

“Yes, yes…” The servant, after acknowledging Han Jingnian’s words, rushed to the telephone in the living room, dialed Han Zhijin’s number. 

After hanging up, the servant, like before, in the same manner, walked slowly to the entrance of the dining room. “Master Zhijin says it’s still early. He just arrived at the KTV, and the party hasn’t started yet… yet… yet…” 

As she said this, the servant clearly felt the air pressure in the dining room drop to its lowest point. She didn’t even bother to continue speaking and simply ran away. 

The entire villa seemed to be frozen, quiet, filled with a bone-chilling coldness and an overwhelming sense of danger. 

When the grandfather clock in the living room struck twelve times, Han Jingnian spoke again, “Call Han Zhijin one more time!” 

The servant’s fingers trembled as she dialed Han Zhijin’s number. 

After hanging up, just like before, the servant, at a snail’s pace, moved to the entrance of the dining room. She hesitated for a long time before responding, “Master Zhijin says he’s singing karaoke with his wife, and he asked me not to disturb him. Then he hung up the phone…” 

Han Jingnian’s expression grew even colder, and the aura emanating from him became even more terrifying. 

The servants felt that the usually luxurious villa now resembled a living hell. 

It was strange, though. Mr. Han didn’t usually like to be close to people. He always maintained a cold and distant demeanor, and his eyes had never truly taken anyone into account. The only person who could truly affect his emotions in the entire Han household was probably his grandmother. 

But today, what had come over to Mr. Han? He had become so agitated, and his aggression was unprecedented. 

While the servants were puzzled and lost in thought, Han Jingnian spoke again, “Call again!” 

Servant: “Young Master Zhijin said he just finished singing and wants to get a foot massage, and then he’ll have a late-night snack. After that, he’ll consider coming home…” 

“Continue calling!” 

“Young Master Zhijin, he didn’t answer the call…” 

“Keep calling until he answers!” 

“Young Master Zhijin…” 

Han Jingnian looked at the stuttering servant impatiently and asked, “What’s wrong with him?” 

“Young Master Zhijin… he… he… blocked the home phone…” 

After delivering this message, the servant felt a cold wind coming toward her. She was so frightened that she immediately ran to the nearest restroom and locked the door with a loud “bang.” 

All the servants hid, trembling. 

However, just when everyone thought Han Jingnian might destroy the entire house, they faintly heard his voice. 

A very calm tone. 

One of the braver servants opened the door slightly and peeked out. 

They saw Han Jingnian, who had been sitting at the dining table, now standing by the French window in the living room. He held a cell phone in one hand and was talking on the phone. “What time is it? Why haven’t you come home yet?” 

“In the past, did I ever rush you to come home? Why am I doing it today? No reason, I just suddenly felt like it… Han Zhijin, I don’t have time to waste with you. If you don’t want your mother to find out, you’ve skipped work for three days this week. You can defy me as much as you want… And also, come back and face the wall in the study for 12 hours!” 

It wasn’t clear what Han Zhijin on the other end of the phone said, but Han Jingnian didn’t speak again. He took his phone away from his ear, seemingly satisfied, and put it back in his pocket. 

The entire villa returned to tranquility. 

Han Jingnian remained in his place, staring at the garden outside through the French window, his expression becoming somewhat absent. 

In Splendid Restaurant a girl asked if she knew him, and she said she didn’t; when faced with a blind date introduced by a lady living on the same floor, she didn’t refuse; at the company, when someone knocked on the door, her first reaction was to hide, not wanting to be discovered; when she and Han Zhijin made plans to have dinner, and he asked if they should invite him, she didn’t hesitate to reject his proposal… 

What had happened to him? Why was he suddenly so concerned about these seemingly insignificant matters? 

Not long after, bright car lights lit up at the entrance. 

When the car entered the courtyard and parked, Han Jingnian saw Han Zhijin getting out of the driver’s seat, looking dejected. Only then did he turn around, take the elevator, go to the underground parking lot, and leave in his car. 

Back home, as he opened the door, he was greeted by darkness. 

Han Jingnian took a half step back uncomfortably and then, illuminated by the hallway light, turned on the lights inside. 

As he changed his shoes, he suddenly remembered that after marrying her, he rarely came home. But every time he returned, the lights at the entrance were always on… as if they were intentionally left on for him… 

T/N Note:

Hey there!

This novel hasn’t been updating for 2 weeks so I will be posting all the late chapters rights now and get back on schedule. Sorry bout that.

I usually stock scheduled chapters 2 – 3 weeks in advanced and this one was running out by the time I got busy. I have more piled up so I will try to keep the schedule and number of releases the same 3x a week, Monday to Wednesday for this novel, but until the chapters run out the change of sched and releases may change by then.

With school and work and then work transition and stuff, there was just a lot of things in life that kept this mind busy and it might not get any easier in the near future. Well, gotta prioritize life first, gotta feed myself somehow. lols

Anyway, hope you guys have a great day! No matter how hard life gets, it’s always best to be grateful for the day and I hope these stories make your day a little bit better… Although, this isn’t really a wholesome nor feel-good story…