Paige chuckled. “If no one scams a CEO like you, then who else? And why do you seem like someone who’s never seen market prices? Didn’t you grow up struggling? Never bought groceries before?”
Hearing this, Enrico let out a cold laugh. “How much time do you think I had to waste on that? If there was food, I’d eat it. If not, I’d go hungry. When you’re starving, you’ll eat anything.”
Back then, his mind was focused on overthrowing Jeremy. He had no time to waste thinking about grocery prices.
Paige was momentarily taken aback. How did he survive those early years?
Before she could dwell on it further, Enrico asked, “Which one do you want, or should we get them all?”
If they took everything, even the three reusable bags wouldn’t be enough.
Paige pointed to some shrimp randomly. Hearing them whisper, the shop owner grinned widely. “Newlyweds, aren’t you? So in love!”
Enrico smirked. “I’ll take the whole tank of shrimp.”
“Wow, wow, young lady, you sure married the right man! Your husband really cares about you, letting you have your fill of shrimp at home!”
The shop owner was beaming.
Paige smiled, but it was a bit helpless. She wasn’t sure how many couples would buy over thirty pounds of shrimp at once, but Enrico did.
One of the reusable bags was so full that nothing else could fit.
Paige led Enrico to the meat section, and this time, without needing his input, she decisively picked some bones for soup and some tenderloin.
Enrico stood beside her, watching her buy meat, then looked at the surrounding shoppers. He asked in a low voice, “Didn’t you say you wanted that ‘ordinary life’? Why didn’t you haggle?”
Everyone else was bargaining.
Paige silently glanced at him. “We don’t need to haggle just to show we’re living an ordinary life, do we?”
It wasn’t like they were short on money, nor did they need to pinch pennies.
“I thought you wanted to live like a regular person.”
Enrico said, holding the heavy bag of shrimp in one hand and taking the bag of meat from her with the other.
“The essence of a regular life is in the everyday-simple, repetitive tasks like cooking meals.”
As they headed towards the vegetable section, Paige took a moment to size him up, her gaze lingering on his expensive suit. “Someone like you, a CEO, trying to haggle over groceries? That’s just pretentious.”
It had nothing to do with an ordinary life.
Instead of getting angry, Enrico chuckled. “If you really want it, I’ll come with you to buy groceries every night until we’re seventy.”
“Until we’re seventy…”
Paige’s expression faltered slightly as she quickly turned her head to hide the sudden pallor on her face.
She was afraid they wouldn’t make it to seventy.
She walked ahead, her pace quickening as she lowered her head, a bitter smile creeping onto her lips.
After a while, Paige noticed Enrico wasn’t keeping up. When she turned around, she saw him standing at a vegetable stall, pointing to some greens for the vendor to weigh.
Finally, he glanced at the customer next to him, mimicking their tone, and casually said to the vendor, “No need to haggle, just throw in a couple of green onions.”
The vendor burst out laughing. “Hey, judging by how well-dressed you are, you sure know how to live frugally. Your wife’s got you on a tight leash, huh?”
Enrico raised an eyebrow. “Not too tight.”
Was she strict?
He was the strict one.
The vendor tossed in a bunch of green onions, giving him a wink. “I get it. We’re all men. You dress well but don’t have much spending money, huh? Here, I’ll give you a discount. Sixty total. Save the rest to buy smokes-don’t hand it all over.”
Paige stood not far away, watching Enrico pay.
He stood among the other customers, watching the vendor busy with sales. For a brief moment, Paige truly felt the essence of an ordinary life-the simplest and most enduring kind of ordinary life.
As Enrico walked over, carrying the groceries, he raised an eyebrow smugly. “How about it? Feeling that ordinary life yet?”
He even got a whole bunch of green onions as a bonus.
Paige smiled. She reached out to help with the bags, but Enrico pulled them back. “Get in the car.”
“Alright.”
Paige didn’t argue, instead slipping her arm through his as they walked outside.
As soon as they loaded the groceries into the car, Enrico couldn’t wait to take off his suit jacket, the smell of seafood clinging to him, clearly bothering him.
Paige laughed as she watched. “And you say you want to go grocery shopping with me until we’re seventy?”
Enrico threw his suit jacket into the car and, hearing her comment, looked up at her with his deep, unreadable eyes. His voice was particularly low. “Want to try me?”
In other words, as long as she wanted it, there was nothing he couldn’t do. He could hold out longer than she thought.
Paige’s chest tightened as his gaze pierced through her, making her heart ache slightly. She smiled without saying anything and got into the car.
As Enrico drove them back, they chatted about what dishes to cook, but Paige seemed a bit distracted.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed.
Paige glanced at the screen. It was from an unknown number-clearly a spam call. She declined the call and slipped the phone back into her pocket.
…
Back at the estate, Enrico carried the groceries into the kitchen, leaving the kitchen staff baffled.
Beau, the butler, rushed over after hearing the news. He bowed respectfully to Enrico and Paige. “Young Master, Young Madam, shall we handle these ingredients?”
As he spoke, Beau reached for the bags. Upon lifting one, his arm sank under the weight. Shocked, he opened the bag to find it filled with fresh, jumping shrimp-easily over thirty pounds.
He looked up at Enrico and Paige, his eyes brimming with emotion. “The staff hasn’t been doing their best lately, and yet the Young Master and Young Madam went out of their way to reward us.”
They even personally went to the market to buy this! Such thoughtfulness-what other boss would do that?
Enrico shot him a look that said, “You’re an idiot.”
Beau wiped his teary eyes. “Which department is this for?”
So many shrimp wouldn’t be enough for the entire staff. It must be for a select few key departments.
Paige realized Beau had misunderstood, but she didn’t know what to say.
Unbothered by the butler’s assumptions, Enrico kicked him lightly. “Move aside. This is for Paige!”
“Huh?” Beau blinked, looking at Paige.
So, the Young Madam loves shrimp that much?
Paige pressed a hand to her forehead.
Enrico looked over at Paige and asked, “Want to keep this ordinary-life vibe going? Should we cook ourselves?”
“I’m not much of a cook.”
Paige didn’t have a particularly refined palate, and her cooking was only passable.
“Just follow a recipe.”
Enrico said, determined to immerse himself in this experience. He promptly shooed the highly trained chefs out of the kitchen.
Paige played along, standing at the sink to wash vegetables. As she cleaned, her phone buzzed again.
She calmly washed two tomatoes, set them aside, rinsed her hands, and dried them with a paper towel. Then she took out her phone and pressed the screen.
Two messages appeared.
Her expression froze.
They read:
[Forget-Me-Not Fruit]
[Withered Wood Snow]