“Miss!”
Zhao Chunxia’s eyes flew wide open. She stood frozen for several seconds before letting out a startled cry, unable to understand how things had taken such a turn. And now Xiao Juan was even declaring that their families would cut off all contact—if the rest of her household found out, she was done for.
And Xiao Juan had also said that Xiao Cheng wouldn’t let her off either.
“It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.”
Zhao Chunxia repeated those words like a broken record. By now, she understood the crux of the matter. Her body stiffened like a drawn bowstring, and without thinking, she lunged toward Lin Aiyun, ready to grab her legs and beg for mercy.
Fortunately, Lin Wenkang was quick-witted and had been keeping an eye on her. He stepped forward in time to block Zhao Chunxia’s bulky frame—otherwise, given her momentum, knocking Lin Aiyun over would have been the least of it.
“What do you think you’re doing!” Lin Wenkang’s loud bark made Zhao Chunxia flinch. She let out an awkward, ingratiating laugh.
“Madam, look at this—it’s all a misunderstanding! Like water flooding the Dragon King’s temple—we’re all family here! Can’t we just pretend this never happened? I’ll work like a dog for you from now on, I promise—at your beck and call.”
Lin Aiyun patted her chest, startled by Zhao Chunxia’s earlier lunge. It took her a moment to recover—she had thought Zhao Chunxia was about to throw a punch, but instead she was groveling for forgiveness.
From arrogance to absurdity in one fell swoop.
What a bully who cowered before the strong!
Before she could respond, two figures approached from the distance—Jiang Guojun and his son Jiang Yan. They had clearly come over after hearing the commotion, their steps a little hurried.
Lin Aiyun instinctively glanced at Xiao Juan beside her. Sure enough, the girl’s eyes flickered, and she even reached up to smooth her disheveled hair.
“What happened here?” One look at Zhao Chunxia and Jiang Guojun knew things had gone bad, but he still forced himself to ask.
Xiao Juan gave a brief account of what had happened. “Uncle Jiang, people who have been dismissed are not to be allowed back into the household from now on.”
“Yes, understood.” Jiang Guojun had listened with his hair standing on end. After nodding in acknowledgment, he shot Jiang Yan a look, then smiled and said, “Miss, go ahead and eat. I’ll handle this.”
“Mm.” Xiao Juan’s gaze lingered on Jiang Yan’s face for a moment. Seeing that he wouldn’t even look at her, a surge of frustration rose in her chest. She hooked her arm through Lin Aiyun’s and walked off without looking back.
The farce was finally over, and the group tacitly agreed not to bring it up again.
The kitchen happened to have ingredients for dumplings. Since Xiao Juan had just stood up so firmly in defense of their family, Zhang Wenhua quickly washed her hands and started making dumplings for her. Her smile was genuine and touched. She had liked Xiao Juan before, and now she liked her even more. The two of them chatted warmly by the stove, appearing even closer than Zhang Wenhua was with her own daughter.
They had already eaten lunch outside earlier, so no one was hungry at the moment. But Lin Jianzhi had been fishing all morning and hadn’t eaten a thing—he was starving. Zhang Wenhua made extra dumplings and didn’t forget to order him to scale and gut the two fish from the bucket.
“Sister-in-law, is my brother coming back for dinner tonight?” Xiao Juan asked, turning her head.
Lin Aiyun had been watching Lin Jianzhi clean the fish with Lin Wenkang. At the question, she looked up and shook her head: “I’m not sure, but he said he had a lot to do today and told us not to wait for him.”
“Then he probably won’t make it. We’ll just eat on our own tonight.” Xiao Juan seemed used to it and just shrugged.
Dinner came, and sure enough, Xiao Cheng didn’t return. They didn’t wait for him, but asked the cook to set aside some food in the pot. That way, if he hadn’t eaten outside, he could have a warm meal right away when he got back.
After the meal, Zhang Wenhua brought up the topic of renting a house again. Lin Aiyun said she needed to discuss it with Xiao Cheng—once married, they were a family, and she couldn’t make decisions behind his back. Besides, they had agreed to live together. If they suddenly wanted to move out, Xiao Cheng might think he hadn’t been hospitable enough.
She would need to explain the reasons clearly so he wouldn’t misunderstand.
Zhang Wenhua agreed with the reasoning. She also worried about creating a rift with her son-in-law—if a grudge took root in his heart, it would be hard to clear later. After some thought, she gave Lin Aiyun a few extra reminders before letting her go.
Lin Aiyun assured her and accompanied her for a stroll in the courtyard. It wasn’t until dark that she went to bathe and wash her hair. Though she had washed her hair the night before, she hadn’t been thorough because of the mischief with Xiao Cheng in the tub. Plus, after all the walking today and all the sweat, she washed again.
The capital was cooler at night. Lin Aiyun towel-dried her hair as much as possible, then sat by the window letting the breeze finish the job, waiting for Xiao Cheng to return. She held a copy of a story magazine she’d found on Xiao Cheng’s shelf, using it to pass the time.
But after just a few pages, her eyelids began to droop. Eventually, she curled up on the daybed and fell asleep.
In a half-asleep daze, she felt her body being lifted into a warm, slightly damp embrace. Recognizing the familiar scent, she trustingly wrapped her arms around the neck of the person holding her.
“Come sleep on the bed.”
His low voice sounded by her ear, gentle and full of affection.
Lin Aiyun slowly opened her eyes. Under the warm yellow lamplight, their pose was especially intimate. Xiao Cheng, bent slightly, held her in a princess carry. His normally sharp features looked unusually tender at this moment.
“You’re back?” Just waking, her voice was soft and a little husky.
“Mm. Got back not long ago. Saw you were asleep, so I went and washed up first.” Xiao Cheng nodded. As he spoke, a drop of water from his hair fell onto the bridge of her nose, sliding slowly toward her lips.
Another drop fell, landing on her chest.
The cool sensation made her shrink back, her full chest rising and falling, her fair skin shimmering with moisture. Xiao Cheng, looking down, saw everything clearly—and immediately felt a stirring below. He took a deep breath, remembering there was still serious business to discuss. Clenching his jaw, he only dipped down to steal a quick kiss.
Lin Aiyun, caught off guard: “…”
Seeing that Xiao Cheng made no further move and simply carried her toward the bed, she found it suspicious—that wasn’t like him. Then he set her down on the edge of the bed, knelt before her, looked up with guilty eyes, and remained silent for a long while.
Finally, she sensed something was wrong.
“What’s the matter?”
Hearing this, Xiao Cheng paused to choose his words. He wrapped her hands in his large palms, held them firmly, and then spoke: “Wife, I’m sorry.”
Now Lin Aiyun was even more confused. Why on earth was Xiao Cheng apologizing out of the blue? She voiced her question.
“I heard about what happened today from Uncle Jiang.” Xiao Cheng’s voice grew softer. He took a deep breath and continued: “I promised before that I would never let you suffer any grievance because of me. And yet, on the very first day, my wife, my in-laws, and my brother-in-law were all humiliated—right in my own home.”
“This is my fault. I didn’t manage the household properly, and I let that woman dirty your ears with her filth.”
“It’s too late tonight—my in-laws are already asleep. Tomorrow, I will personally apologize to them. As for that Zhao Chunxia…” Xiao Cheng didn’t finish the sentence, but a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
After he finished, seeing Lin Aiyun remain silent for a long moment, Xiao Cheng cautiously looked up at her, a note of panic creeping into his voice: “It’s all my fault, wife. You can scold me, hit me—whatever you want. When you don’t speak, it hurts me inside.”
The moment the words left his mouth, a sharp slap landed on the back of his hand.
“Xiao Cheng, you’re not the one who told Zhao Chunxia to give me a hard time. Why are you apologizing? This has nothing to do with you.” Lin Aiyun cupped his face in her hands, exasperated. Seeing his furrowed brows and puzzled expression, she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Do you think I’m someone who can’t tell right from wrong?”
“I never thought that.” At that, Xiao Cheng shook his head vigorously. Seeing her smile, he quickly pressed his advantage: “In my heart, my wife is the best person in the world.”
“Tsk, I don’t believe you. When did your mouth get so slick?” She said that, but her smile only grew wider.
“Why don’t you taste it and find out?” Xiao Cheng wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned in closer, using the momentum of her hands holding his face. His voice lilted at the end—clearly trying to tease her into a better mood.
Lin Aiyun laughed and turned her head away, feigning disgust: “I don’t want to.”
The tension eased considerably, and Xiao Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. He figured she wasn’t dwelling on it anymore, but he certainly was. As for that Zhao Chunxia, he had plenty of ways to make her truly regret it—just wait.
Hiding the cold darkness in his eyes, he pressed Lin Aiyun to tell him everything she’d done today.
At this, Lin Aiyun cleared her throat nervously. “We just walked around nearby. Dad even went fishing with some people, and they gave him two fish—that’s what we had for dinner.”
“Oh, and have you eaten? There’s food set aside for you in the kitchen.”
Xiao Cheng nodded. “I ate before coming back. I’ll have breakfast with you tomorrow.”
Thinking of the people who fished by that lake, Xiao Cheng narrowed his eyes and casually said, “If Dad gets along with them, he can make friends with them.”
“Okay. They all seem like good people—very kind. They said they’ll come to our wedding. Do you know them?” Lin Aiyun thought for a moment. “One of them is called Zhang Boli—Elder Zhang. He lent us the bucket for the fish, and I need to return it tomorrow. He said you know where he lives and told me to ask you.”
At the name, Xiao Cheng couldn’t help but laugh. That old man sure liked to be mysterious.
“I’ll go with you tomorrow to return it. I’ll officially introduce you two—he was a friend of my father’s, and I studied under him for a few years when I was a kid.”
“What a coincidence?” Though she already knew, Lin Aiyun still acted surprised.
They chatted about Elder Zhang for a while longer before Lin Aiyun realized he’d been half-kneeling in front of her the whole time, like an obedient puppy. She was both amused and exasperated, and quickly pulled him up.
He’d been kneeling so long that his legs were a bit numb, so she massaged them for him. But that seemingly innocent act led to trouble.
Xiao Cheng pressed her down onto the covers, his thumb stroking behind her ear. His warm breath was close, and while nibbling her earlobe, he asked, “Besides walking around the area, what else did you do?”
Lin Aiyun’s heart was racing. After a moment’s thought, she decided to tell the truth: “We bought some lüdagun, and we also went to look at some houses…”
At the first part, Xiao Cheng had been about to ask if she liked the snack—but the second part completely seized his attention. His kissing froze. He propped himself up and frowned: “Looking at houses? Why were you looking at houses?”
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