Since her parents had finally come to visit, Shen Shuyue had no intention of going out to eat.
It would be too much trouble going back and forth.
After chatting for a while, Shen Shuyue checked the time. It was about time to make dinner, so she got up and headed toward the kitchen.
Seeing her daughter about to cook, Jiang Meining’s expression immediately turned unpleasant.
“You’re going to cook? Do you even know how?”
“You never cooked at home. And now that you’re here, you’re going to cook for yourself?”
Jiang Meining genuinely felt sorry for Shen Shuyue.
She had worked so hard to raise her daughter well, yet after marrying Qiu Chengyue, what had her daughter been reduced to?
Shen Haisheng said, “Let’s just go out to eat.”
Qiu Chengyue had been the target of Jiang Meining’s sarcastic remarks for no reason, but his expression didn’t change.
“I can cook,” he said.
Shen Shuyue looked at him. “Can you actually make anything edible?”
“If you can’t even eat your own cooking, do you think anyone else can?”
Qiu Chengyue: “……”
He didn’t have to cook at home either. From childhood until now, he had never even stepped into the kitchen. The housekeeper had always prepared their meals.
His cooking wasn’t good, but that wasn’t exactly his fault.
“I’ll cook,” Shen Shuyue said.
“Dad, Mom, I know how to cook.”
“We won’t eat out. We’ll just eat at home.”
Shen Shuyue went into the kitchen.
Seeing this, Qiu Chengyue followed her in.
Jiang Meining was unhappy.
It was bad enough that Shen Shuyue was living in such a small place. Now she even had to cook for herself.
“I think I’ll have the housekeeper come over and cook for you from now on.”
“When Shuyue was living with us, when did she ever have to suffer like this?”
Qiu Chengyue was subjected to another round of pointed remarks.
He had never suffered like this either.
But he kept that to himself.
Shen Shuyue poked her head out of the kitchen.
“Mom, what are you talking about? Having the housekeeper come here to cook for us? How would that even look?”
“Everyone in the family compound cooks for themselves. I can cook too.”
“It would feel strange having the housekeeper come all the way here.”
“And where would you have her stay?”
Jiang Meining replied, “Then buy a bigger house nearby.”
Shen Shuyue immediately refused.
“No. I want to live here.”
What a joke.
She and Qiu Chengyue would be getting divorced before long.
If they bought a house now, who would live in it after the divorce?
Jiang Meining: “……”
Shen Haisheng said, “All right. If the child wants to live here, then let her.”
“Besides, isn’t Chengyue helping with the cooking too?”
“I’ll go see if there’s anything I can help with.”
Jiang Meining said, “I’ll go take a look too.”
In the end, neither of them could bear to watch Shen Shuyue work so hard, so they both went into the kitchen to help.
After more than an hour of bustling around, the meal was finally ready.
During dinner, Shen Haisheng and Jiang Meining finally gave Qiu Chengyue a somewhat warmer attitude.
No matter how much Qiu Chengyue disliked Shen Shuyue, he was still willing to help with the housework.
He even helped tidy up the house.
Compared with those men who did nothing but sit around waiting to be fed and waited on, he was much better.
After dinner, Qiu Chengyue took the initiative to clear the dishes and wash them.
Even though he didn’t say anything, seeing him washing dishes in the kitchen made Shen Haisheng and Jiang Meining’s expressions soften considerably.
This son-in-law was, at the very least, barely satisfactory.
Since Shen Shuyue’s parents had come all this way to visit, the three of them had endless things to talk about.
Her parents asked about her life and whether she was happy living here.
Shen Shuyue, meanwhile, asked how things were going at home and whether her parents were safe whenever they went out.
They chatted like this until it was time for bed.
Qiu Chengyue had already prepared the room next door.
He had even taken his clothes, pillow, and thin quilt and put them away in the wardrobe in Shen Shuyue’s room.
Shen Shuyue also brought clean quilts and pillows for her parents.
When the older couple went into their room, they didn’t forget to remind Shen Shuyue and Qiu Chengyue to go to bed early and not stay up late.
Watching her parents enter their room, Shen Shuyue felt a little sorry for them.
She knew they had suffered a great deal in the past before finally managing to live a comfortable life.
And now that they had come all this way, they still had to sleep in a room like this.
It made her feel rather sad.
After her parents went to bed, Shen Shuyue also returned to her room.
Lying on the bed, Shen Shuyue watched Qiu Chengyue approach with a stern expression and secretly laughed to herself.
The more Qiu Chengyue resisted sleeping with her, the more determined she was to sleep beside him.
“After tonight, you’ll be even more ‘impure,’ you know.”
“If your little childhood sweetheart finds out we’re sleeping together tonight, do you think she’ll still buy you breakfast?”
“Oh, right. Is the breakfast she buys you any good? Do the buns have meat inside? Could eating that meat make you sick?”
Qiu Chengyue: “……”
Little childhood sweetheart, little childhood sweetheart…
What childhood sweetheart?
When had he ever had one?
“Shen Shuyue, if you don’t want your parents to hear something they shouldn’t, you’d better behave yourself.”
“There are plenty of other places to sleep in this house.”
Qiu Chengyue was extremely displeased.
Every time Shen Shuyue mentioned Jiang Xinmei, he became irritated.
Shen Shuyue said, “Then go sleep on the sofa.”
“Do you really think my parents would see you sleeping on the sofa and not tell your grandfather? He’d come looking for you tomorrow.”
Qiu Chengyue: “You……”
The veins on his forehead began popping out again.
Shen Shuyue smiled sweetly and patted the empty space beside her on the bed.
“Come sleep here.”
“If you’re not willing to take the initiative, I can do it myself.”
“It isn’t our first time. What are you being shy about?”
That shameless, smug expression made Qiu Chengyue so angry he could hardly stand it.
Was this really about who took the initiative?
In the end, Qiu Chengyue still lay down on the bed.
Shen Shuyue lay on the inside, turned toward him, and looked at him with a smile in her eyes.
She was about to say something else, but then remembered that her parents were right next door and the soundproofing wasn’t very good.
In the end, Shen Shuyue decided to behave herself for the time being.
The lights went out.
The room instantly fell into darkness.
Shen Shuyue found it uncomfortable sleeping on her side, so she rolled over.
She was a restless sleeper, and when she slept, she simply took whatever position was most comfortable.
Not long after the lights went out, her leg ended up resting across Qiu Chengyue’s leg.
In the darkness, Qiu Chengyue clearly hadn’t expected Shen Shuyue to do that. He reacted instinctively and immediately flung her leg aside.
Thump.
Shen Shuyue’s leg slammed against the wooden bed frame, and it hurt terribly.
This time, she didn’t deliberately make a sound.
Qiu Chengyue didn’t hear any reaction from Shen Shuyue, so he turned his head toward her.
The room was too dark. All he could see was a blurry silhouette, and he couldn’t make out the expression on Shen Shuyue’s face.
After waiting for a long while, Shen Shuyue still didn’t move.
Qiu Chengyue reached up and pulled the cord beside the bed.
The light came on.
He looked at Shen Shuyue.
Her eyes were closed, and there wasn’t the slightest expression on her face.
Then he looked at her foot.
The skin on her foot was exceptionally fair and delicate. From the impact just now, she must have hit the outer side of her foot.
There was already an obvious red mark there, and upon closer inspection, it looked slightly swollen as well.
Qiu Chengyue: “……”
Was this woman made of tofu? How could she get injured so easily?
“I don’t like other people touching me.”
“Your foot… it looks like it’s swollen. I’ll get some medicine and put it on for you.”
Shen Shuyue opened her eyes and looked at him coldly.
“No need.”
“I brought it on myself.”
Qiu Chengyue: “……”