Just as Ye Ling got home, Ning Ruoxi was sitting in the living room, playing on her phone.
"Welcome home! Youâve had a long day!"
Seeing Ye Ling return, Ning Ruoxi bounced over to him and said with a beaming smile.
"It was nothing, not at all."
Ye Ling looked at the girl before him, a blissful smile spreading across his face. "Iâll get dinner started. You didnât eat a proper lunch by yourself today, did you?"
"Well... I just woke up rather late, so I ate breakfast and lunch together."
Having been seen right through, Ning Ruoxi stuck out her tongue, a little embarrassed.
Brunch was a rather popular trend among todayâs youth.
It was usually a case of waking up too late for breakfast, but with lunchtime just around the corner, so... breakfast and lunch were simply combined into one meal.
"You piglet."
Ye Ling booped Ning Ruoxiâs nose and couldnât help but shake his head. He picked up the groceries and headed for the kitchen. "Since you didnât eat a proper lunch, Iâll have to make you a feast for dinner to make up for it."
"Hehe..."
Ning Ruoxi gave a goofy grin and followed Ye Ling into the kitchen.
"Go sit down for a bit. Dinner will be ready soon."
Ye Ling was just about to start cooking when he glanced over at Ning Ruoxi, who was standing in the doorway, and said with a smile.
"No, I want to watch you."
But Ning Ruoxi shook her head, simply leaning against the doorframe and watching Ye Ling bustle about, her eyes filled with pure bliss.
She didnât know why, but she found the sight of his back as he cooked to be incredibly attractive. She couldnât tear her eyes away.
Seeing this, Ye Ling didnât press the issue. He just smiled faintly and got busy in the kitchen.
Ye Ling had bought a lot of groceries today, probably because he felt a little bad for spanking Ning Ruoxi a bit too hard yesterday and wanted to make it up to her.
He was making Ning Ruoxiâs favorites: sweet and sour pork ribs, Dongpo pork, garlic eggplant, mapo tofu, and stir-fried broccoli with shrimp, along with a simple tomato and egg soup.
When the whole spread was laid out on the table, Ning Ruoxi, still standing in the doorway, couldnât help but take a deep, appreciative inhale.
âIt smells absolutely amazing!â
"Time to eat, you little glutton."
Ye Ling took off his apron and turned to Ning Ruoxi with a smile.
"I am not a little glutton."
Ning Ruoxi pouted, clearly a little unhappy with the label. Nevertheless, she dutifully grabbed two sets of bowls and chopsticks and handed one to Ye Ling.
Then, Ning Ruoxi began to devour her food. She hadnât really eaten all day, and Ye Lingâs cooking was simply too delicious. In an instant, her âgoddessâ image gave way to that of a âlittle foodieâ.
As Ye Ling ate his own rice, he watched her eat until her lips were glistening, his eyes full of affection. He pulled a couple of napkins from the side to wipe her mouth.
"Youâre a grown woman, and you still eat like this,"
Ye Ling said with a resigned laugh as he wiped her mouth.
"What? Are you getting tired of me already?"
Ning Ruoxi popped a shrimp into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out as she stared wide-eyed at Ye Ling.
"Never. I plan on wiping your mouth for a lifetime."
"Thatâs more like it."
Ning Ruoxi hummed in satisfaction, a hint of sweetness flashing in her eyes.
As evening approached, the sunâs glare softened into a gentle glow. The setting sunâs pale red light set the clouds ablaze, painting the horizon in splendid, fiery colors.
After dinner, Ye Ling and Ning Ruoxi washed the dishes together, then left for a leisurely stroll through the streets of Modu.
The warmth of the day hadnât fully faded, so the air wasnât particularly cold. They could still feel a faint warmth as the orange-red afterglow of the sunset washed over their faces.
"Look, the clouds over there are so beautiful."
Ning Ruoxi gazed at the clusters of âflamesâ on the horizon and couldnât help but sigh in admiration.
"Yes, theyâre beautiful."
Ye Ling glanced at the âflamesâ on the horizon and nodded.
But he only gave them a passing glance before his gaze returned to the girl beside him.
"If theyâre so beautiful, why arenât you looking...?"
Ning Ruoxi seemed to sense his gaze. She instinctively turned her head, and when she saw him staring at her, a faint blush crept onto her cheeks.
"But I am looking. Iâm looking at the clouds reflected in your eyes."
Ye Ling said with a soft chuckle, a smirk playing on his lips.
The sunset is beautiful.
But the sunset reflected in your eyes is even more so.
"You smooth-talker."
Ning Ruoxi shot Ye Ling a playful glare, but inside she was bubbling with happiness.
...
After returning home from their walk, Ye Ling, with nothing else to do, lay on the sofa scrolling through his phone. Suddenly, a post caught his attention.
[Web Series Adaptation of Net Entertainment Groupâs Manhua âRainy Loveâ to Begin Filming Soon!]
The post came from the Net Entertainment Groupâs official social media account.
This meant the news was undoubtedly true.
Recently, the Net Entertainment Groupâs stock price had plummeted. For a newly merged company to hit its daily trading limit on the downside multiple times was a truly bizarre phenomenon in the recent history of the stock market.
As one of Net Entertainment Groupâs key IPs, the importance of âRainy Loveâ was self-evident.
By choosing to move up the start of filming for the âRainy Loveâ web series at this critical juncture, Net Entertainment Group was clearly trying to salvage its reputation.
The stockâs collapse didnât just affect the companyâs revenue; more importantly, its reputation took a severe hit.
There was no shortage of online discussion about Net Entertainment Group, and most of it was negativeârumors about the company going bankrupt, executives resigning, and the like.
Starting production on âRainy Loveâ was, to some extent, a move to curb this negative sentiment and send a message to the public that Net Entertainment Group hadnât hit rock bottom just yet.
So, in a way, this was the last straw Net Entertainment Group was clutching at.
Ye Ling pulled up the stock market and took a look. He saw that ever since the announcement, Net Entertainment Groupâs continuously falling stock price had shown faint signs of a rally.
It wasnât much, but any upward trend was certainly better than the freefall from before.
âSo they finally couldnât sit still anymore, huh?â
Seeing this, the corner of Ye Lingâs mouth curved into a cold smirk.
In truth, he had been waiting for this exact moment.
The very first time he saw âRainy Love,â he had noticed its striking similarity to âLingxiâs Love,â but he hadnât acted on it immediately.
There were two main reasons.
One was that such lawsuits were not easy to win, and even if he won, the potential payout might not cover the costs. The other reason was that Ye Ling was holding it as a trump card.
âYou donât play a trump card right at the beginning.â
âIt has to be played at the most critical moment to have the greatest possible impact!â