"No, I like it," Rachel said.
A smile was at the corner of his mouth as Jack drove away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that
she was smiling, too.
He couldn't help but ask, "What's making you so happy right now?"
Rachel typed a message and sent it to Lea quickly. When the screen showed that the message was
successfully sent, she turned to Jack and said to him joyfully, "Mendes' father is coming back."
'Hmm, why would she be so happy about someone else's father coming back?' he wondered.
"Well, he has been away for so long. His return is long overdue," he said.
"Yes," Rachel said. "I hope the kid's parents can take responsibility for him this time. Don't leave him
alone here."
Noticing that her mood had suddenly darkened, Jack tried to comfort her.
He said, "Maybe his parents have to do something and can't go back home."
Jack didn't know much about the complicated matter of Mendes' family, so she bit her tongue and
replied simply, "Anyway, it's wrong to abandon a child."
Her parents died when she was a child. Her lonely childhood was one of the reasons why she was so
eager to have a family of her own. She couldn't even understand how someone could just ignore his
own child and stay away for such a long time.
After all, who could be more important to anyone than one's own family and child?
Before a man gets married and becomes a father, he doesn't behave as affectionately and gently as a
woman does.
In Jack's view, either the man was simply unable to come back to his child, or he didn't want the child.
The latter possibility was the most likely one.
"If I had a child, I would never abandon him," he whispered.
Jack believed that that was a man's most basic responsibility. If you can't even take care of your own
flesh and blood, what else can you be responsible for?
After saying that, he glanced at the woman beside him, who had suddenly turned to him and was
staring at him. With his eyes looking straight ahead, he raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "What's
wrong?"
With an unreadable look on her face, she lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers. "Nothing."
After they had been driving for a while, Rachel noticed that they were not on the way to go to her place.
Ten minutes had passed, and the road outside Rachel's window was unfamiliar. She looked out of the
window and asked, "Where are we going?"
"To my place,"
Jack answered.
Rachel still didn't know where Jack lived. She could see the road sign which indicated that he was
heading towards the north side of the city and towards the seaside.
About twenty minutes later, they arrived uptown, in the north-side neighborhood known for expensive
mansions.
Rachel entered the elevator behind him. Jack lived in a single apartment on the top floor. She felt a little
embarrassed before entering.
As far as she knew, Jack had been living with Celine.
Somehow, coming to this apartment felt wrong to Rachel.
Jack walked to the door and opened it. After a moment of hesitation, Rachel finally followed him in.
He didn't find any slippers suitable for Rachel in the shoe cabinet of the hallway, so he had to take a
pair of his own. He put them on the floor, rubbed his nose, and said to Rachel, "I don't have female
slippers. If you don't mind, you can use mine."
"It doesn't matter." She took off her shoes and put them on. But these slippers were several sizes too
big, and looked funny to her, as if children had stolen adult shoes.
Rachel tried to take a few steps, but finally she had to stop. She looked at Jack helplessly. "I can walk
barefoot," she suggested.
He stopped himself from laughing, and said, "The floor is dirty."
Rachel lowered her eyes and looked at her feet. She said, "Okay, then... Ahhh!"
Unexpectedly, Jack lifted her up again. Without thinking, Rachel put her arms around his neck.
Surprised by the warmth of his body, she asked, "Why is your body so warm?"
However, he didn't feel anything unusual. He walked to the sofa quickly and put her down. He asked,
"What's wrong?"
Was his body too warm? He didn't feel it.
Jack turned around and pressed the light switch in the living room. Rachel finally saw the decoration of
his apartment clearly, including the marbled floor and the hanging lamp on the ceiling.
Behind them was the half-open kitchen. The whole house was clean and very well designed, without
any vulgar showiness.
The kettle on the table was empty of water.
The room was perfectly clean and had no signs of having been lived in. It was completely unlike her
own place.
"I have some work to finish. I'll arrange to have dinner delivered here. Can I drive you back later?" he
asked.
Rachel was not in a hurry to leave. She looked around the apartment quietly.
Then she looked back at him and said, "I'm not in a hurry, but are you sure this isn't inconvenient for
you?"
"No, it's not..." His answer was a bit tentative. He felt rather tired, but he didn't care about it.
He didn't think there was anything unusual about him.
Rachel asked, "Do you have thermometer here?"
After a short pause, Jack said, "I suppose... I have..."
After they looked around the room, they found the medicine cabinet. They opened the cabinet and
found a set of medical supplies.
Luckily, the thermometer was still working.
Rachel took things out of the cabinet and said, "You can put the medicine cabinet in the storage room.
How do you usually sort your things?"
Jack looked a little innocent. "The cleaner takes care of all that. I spend most of my time in the
company and I seldom stay here."
Rachel couldn't think of what to say to that, and sighed. She took out the thermometer, washed it with
water and gave it to him. She said, "Put in your mouth and press it under your tongue."
Jack didn't take it right away. He suddenly had a deep and heavy look in his eyes.
It seemed that he was trying to hide something.
Rachel avoided eye contact with him. She raised the thing in her hand and urged, "Please do it. You
might have a fever."
With a smile on his face, Jack raised the thermometer to his lips.
Rachel turned around, rolled up her sleeves and said, "May I use the kitchen? We can make some
noodles."
"Of course." He took the thing out of his mouth and replied, "But there's no food here."
She turned around and said, "Don't say anything."
So he put it back in his mouth and stayed quiet. Rachel walked around the kitchen and sighed, "Sure
enough, there is nothing to eat. What will we have for dinner?"
As he was ordered not to speak, he made a gesture to her, but Rachel didn't understand what he
meant.
He sent a message to Austin with his cell phone and then showed it to Rachel.
Austin was very prompt. He rang the bell in twenty minutes.
Rachel checked the thermometer and found that Jack already had a fever. She was surprised that he
couldn't feel it.
Jack looked at her innocently. He really didn't feel his high temperature.
He felt tired today, and had a little headache. He thought that it was just the weather that made him feel
hot.
The man who delivered their dinner also delivered medicine as well.
Jack asked Austin to arrange for someone to bring them some fresh vegetables and meat.
Considering that it was a little late, Austin brought them some soup and noodles.
All the vegetables and meat were washed and put in a plastic jar.
Rachel sorted them out and put them into the refrigerator one by one. When she opened the
refrigerator, she found that there was nothing in it except some pure water.
It seemed that he really didn't live here very often because it was so empty. They were lucky to get the
food delivered so quickly.
Rachel took the soup, peeled the beef, and mixed the noodles.
She took another pan and fried two eggs, then she added the scallions to the pan and fried them lightly.
An appetizing scent was wafted through the room. The noodles were cooked quickly. After preparing
the flavor, Rachel put some vegetables into the bowl.
She turned off the fire, poured some green onion oil on the plate to enhance the flavor, and served the
noodles.
She scooped up two bowls of noodles and put the eggs on them.
After taking the computer out, Jack sat on the sofa in the living room to work, while he had a fever-
cooling patch on his forehead. He looked a little bit funny as he sat there like that.
The smell of noodles made him hungry.
Rachel came over with the two bowls of noodles. The meal looked good and smelled delicious.
Rachel rummaged in the kitchen again and found chopsticks and spoons.
When she sat down, she handed chopsticks to Jack and asked, "You and Celine never cooked
before?"
Jack paused and looked up at her with a meaningful look. "She and I... have never lived together."
Rachel raised her head and looked into his eyes. She was surprised.
She lowered her head and said no more, trying to seem interested only in eating her meal.
Jack hadn't received the response that he was hoping to get. A flicker of disappointment flashed
through his eyes, and he lost his appetite.
Meanwhile, Rachel was adding vinegar into her bowl.
Jack couldn't help swallowing. After Rachel, he also took the vinegar bottle and added some into his
bowl.
The noodles were fresh and excellent, but he felt that the main flavor came from the soup.
The beef was very tender and smooth. Both of them lowered their heads to eat without saying
anything. They soon finished all the noodles.
For the past few days, Jack had been eating dinner outside. This bowl of lightly-flavored noodles was
more to his taste.
Jack sincerely praised Rachel's cooking after he was full, when she was preparing some medicine for
him. Hearing that, she turned her head slightly toward him.
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