Anastasia decided to move in with Edward. When she mentioned her plan to her parents, they opposed it as usual. Scarlett OHara threw herself into Atticus Finchs arms, sobbing that her daughter was growing up and didnt need her anymore. Her son was always abroad, and now her daughter was being inconsiderate.
Atticus consoled Scarlett while also feeling at a loss with his determined daughter. He called his son, Jay Gatsby, who was in Finland, expecting him to persuade Anastasia. However, Jay surprisingly took his sisters side and miraculously managed to convince Scarlett.
Scarlett offered to help Anastasia move and settle into the new place, but Anastasia declined.
"Mom, Im moving out to be independent. If I still need you and dad for this, why bother moving out? Dont worry, Ive prepared everything, and Ill come back to have meals with you whenever Im free."
After much persuasion, she managed to convince her parents. She packed her belongings and clothes and moved to Edwards residence.
The house was located in a neighborhood not far from the city hall. Anastasia remembered her mother mentioning that her blind date was a secretary to a high-ranking official.
Upon entering the unfamiliar space with her suitcase, she felt a stir of excitement and took out her phone to send a WeChat message to Edward, who was in A city.
"Can I change the curtains and sofa covers? Also, Id like to buy some soft decorations to spruce up the place."
After sending the message, she dropped her phone aside and surveyed the layout of the house. It was a conventional four-bedroom, one-living room layout, all in minimalist black and white. Edwards master bedroom was at the end of the hallway, and after a moments thought, Anastasia chose the guest room next to it.
After organizing her luggage, she went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to find a variety of ingredients, fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and even a few jars of pickles. The kitchen counter was neatly arranged with an assortment of pots and pans, and seeing the very clean sand pot, she thought about making some porridge for her often aching stomach.
When Edward called, she was lying on the sofa watching a Korean drama, the repeated misunderstandings and missed connections between the male and female leads making her tear up. Her voice was hoarse, "Hello—"
"Are you sick?" came his warm voice from the other end, and she couldnt help but sniffle, "No, Im watching TV."
"Okay, go ahead and change whatever you want at home. There are ingredients in the fridge; if you can cook, go ahead and make something. If not, you can order takeout, just clean up after. The housekeeper comes to clean every Tuesday afternoon."
Anastasia was taken aback for a moment, unable to accept his sudden change in demeanor. The gentle, deep male voice on the phone seemed unable to connect with the cold, distant face she remembered.
"Really, I can decorate as I like?" she asked cautiously.
"Of course. I dont have time to deal with these things; its all done by the decoration company. If you have a design in mind, go for it. Im going to rest now, and you should sleep early too." He seemed very tired and directly said goodnight before hanging up.
Anastasia, however, was very excited. She began planning to change the furniture and soft furnishings in the house but then received a WeChat transfer from him, with a note specifically for decoration expenses.
Her heart softened suddenly, as if he had brushed it gently with a feather.
Even if they were not passionately in love, at least they respected each other. Why bother competing with someone who had passed away?
The next morning, Anastasia was awakened by her alarm clock. She was momentarily disoriented, not remembering where she was when she woke up wrapped in a blanket from Edwards master bedroom.
Then she remembered, she was married.
She smiled, rubbed her hair, got out of bed, changed her clothes, and made some oatmeal for breakfast before heading to work.
At the funeral home, she was the only female mortician, but fortunately, there were no new bodies delivered in the past two days, so she was quite leisurely.
In her downtime, she couldnt help but think about him, what he was doing, if he was eating on time, if he had any social events, and if he was drinking too much...
Anastasia felt she was in trouble, as if she had returned to the time when she was first falling in love, and she was falling for that man, but then she thought, he was her husband now, so what was the harm in that... Thinking this, she felt like a girl with a fluttering heart.
She took out her phone and updated her WeChat status to "The fawn in my heart is alive," with a cute little flower and a smiling face.
Then she sent him a WeChat message, reminding him to eat on time, and opened IKEAs online store to look at curtains and sofas.
She was Indecision between brown and off-white when a video call from her brother Jay popped up. Her right eye twitched wildly, could it be that her brother knew she had gotten the marriage certificate without telling them?
Jay was a complete playboy when they were young and took pleasure in teasing her. At five, he already knew to use candy to trick her, then three, into taking the blame for him. His grades were also a mess, but he showed a talent in the field of chemistry. Atticus sent him to study in Finland, and that one send was more than ten years.
Now he has a green card there, started his own company, and rarely returns to the country.
Growing up, she was very afraid of this brother of hers. Even now, approaching thirty, she still couldnt change the habit ingrained in her bones for over twenty years.
She involuntarily swallowed her saliva and answered the video call. Jays smiling face appeared on the screen, "Qingqing, good morning!" He seemed to have just woken up, his hair messy, with the background of his bed sheets twisted into a pretzel.
"Brother, its afternoon here... How have you been?" Sometimes she really felt that God was unfair. Clearly, she was the girl, but she didnt inherit Scarletts curly eyelashes and narrow peach blossom eyes. Instead, her brother seemed to have taken them all. Was it really okay for a man to be so good-looking?
"Oh, right, I just got up and my head is not very clear, I forgot about the time difference. By the way, what does your status mean?" Jay squinted his eyes, still smiling as he asked, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
Anastasia breathed a sigh of relief. She knew what he was worried about; he was afraid she was still thinking about that person.
So she responded with a smile, "I met a man I like. Mom arranged it, and he seems pretty good. I want to try and get along with him."
"Oh? Youve always been unhappy with moms blind dates for you. Whats this man like? What does he do? How old is he? Im about to finish the project in my hands, and after its done, I plan to go back to the country and spend more time with you all." He still had a smile on his face, but his tone was much more amiable.
"Youre really... I havent even figured out if he likes me yet. When I have a clear idea, Ill bring him home for you to see." Anastasia lowered her eyes, feeling a bit guilty, but Jay only thought his sister was shy. He didnt press further and reminded her a few more times to visit their parents often and take care of her health before hanging up the video call.
Anastasia let out a long sigh of relief. She no longer had the mind to choose soft furnishings and hastily closed the website. She looked at the chat box with Edward and saw there were no new messages. So she sent another message asking when he would be back.
After half an hour with no reply, instead, there was a car accident in the West Side. A drunk driver had hit someone, sending them flying and then running them over. The body was so damaged it needed to be sewn back together before it could be prepared for a funeral.
She washed her hands and focused on her work at hand.