Early the next morning, Jiang Wangtang was roused from her sleep by an irresistible aroma.
Opening her bleary eyes, she wasn’t fully awake yet when she felt something pressing down on her right hand.
It was warm, and a bit hard! Instinctively, Jiang Wangtang twitched her fingers. The very next second—the person beside her snapped his eyes wide open!
Their gazes locked, and a weird silence hung in the air for a couple of seconds. Jiang Wangtang blinked, while Lu Chenzhou stared back at her with a intense, unwavering gaze.
Then she looked down—good grief! What happened to the Chu-Han border they had agreed on last night?!
Without her realizing it, that half-meter distance between them had completely vanished.
Her entire body had practically rolled into the middle of the kang, with one of her hands locked tightly in Lu Chenzhou’s palm. The most ridiculous part was that his other arm was stretched right across her waist. Though he wasn’t actually holding her, if he moved an inch closer—there would be no explaining that away!
Jiang Wangtang snapped fully awake. “Lu Chenzhou!”
The man’s eyes flickered, and he released her hand almost instantly. “What are you shouting for?”
“Where are your hands?!”
Lu Chenzhou glanced down at his arm, not looking guilty in the slightest.
“On the kang.”
“I know it’s on the kang! I’m asking why you rolled over to my side!”
Lu Chenzhou went silent for two seconds, then let out a cold sneer.
“Jiang Wangtang, why don’t you check who crossed the line first?”
Jiang Wangtang, face brimming with indignation, lowered her head to look—and then… went completely silent.
Her pillow, her quilt, and her entire person had completely crossed over the imaginary boundary line they had established the previous night.
Lu Chenzhou, on the other hand, aside from having been pushed outward by her, had actually stayed obediently on his side of the bed.
Jiang Wangtang felt an instant surge of awkwardness. Was I really this restless in my sleep last night?
Watching the vivid play of emotions across her face, the corner of Lu Chenzhou’s mouth twitched upward.
“Whoever touches who is a dog?”
Jiang Wangtang was choked with rage. Damn it! How could this dog of a man have such a sharp memory? Yet, forced by pride, she had no choice but to quibble her way out!
“I was asleep!”
“It doesn’t count if you were asleep?” Lu Chenzhou looked at Jiang Wangtang with an amused glint in his eye.
“Of course it doesn’t count!” Jiang Wangtang righteousness rolled her quilt back inward. “When a person is asleep, they lack conscious agency. That’s called involuntary movement, do you understand?!”
Lu Chenzhou knitted his brows tightly. “Speak human.”
“It means I was asleep, so it doesn’t count!”
“Oh.” Lu Chenzhou slowly sat up. “Then does it count that you took the initiative to hook my finger last night?”
Jiang Wangtang froze mid-movement. “What?”
“Figure it out yourself.”
Leaving her with those four words, the man climbed right off the kang.
Sitting inside her quilt, Jiang Wangtang’s brain frantically rewound the scene.
Last night… she really seemed to have reached her hand out voluntarily, even telling him to check if she was still there in the middle of the night. And later… did she actually go ahead and hook his finger?
Holy crap!
Jiang Wangtang hurriedly looked down at her hands. Sure enough, when she woke up just now, her entire hand had been held by him!
So who had grabbed whose hand first?
It didn’t matter! What mattered was that she had arrogantly laid down the law just yesterday—whoever touches who is a dog!
Jiang Wangtang looked up at the man putting on his outerwear. “Lu Chenzhou.”
“What?”
“Let’s both forget about what happened last night.”
“No.”
Jiang Wangtang grabbed her pillow and hurled it at him. “Are you sick in the head? What’s there to remember about such stupid nonsense? Get out!”
Lu Chenzhou raised his hand to catch the pillow, then casually tossed it back to her.
“This is my house.”
“Then I’ll get out!” Jiang Wangtang flipped off the quilt and prepared to step off the kang.
The tiny trace of amusement on Lu Chenzhou’s face vanished instantly. “Don’t you dare.”
With her foot still dangling over the edge of the kang, Jiang Wangtang froze for two seconds, almost bursting out laughing.
“Wait, Lu Chenzhou, do you want me to get out or not?”
The man’s face stiffened. “Cut the talk! Wash up and eat!”
The door shut with a heavy bang.
Jiang Wangtang sat on the kang laughing to herself for a long while. Stubborn to the bone! Who knew who was staring at her half the night without sleeping, and now he was acting all tough.
Wait… eat?
Jiang Wangtang’s nose twitched, and that alluring scent that had awakened her earlier floated into her nostrils once more. Her eyes lit up immediately.
There was actually breakfast? Last night he was claiming bandits had cleaned out the house, and this morning they had a meal ready?
Jiang Wangtang dressed at lightning speed. When she went to wash her face, a ladle of warm water was already sitting beside the wooden basin—not too hot, not too cold, just right.
She glanced toward the kitchen, where Lu Chenzhou was squatting in front of the stove adding firewood.
The corners of Jiang Wangtang’s mouth couldn’t help curving upward. He actually knew how to take care of someone; he just had a mouth that couldn’t speak nice words.
After washing up, she stepped into the kitchen. On the table lay two cornmeal cakes, a small dish of pickles, and a bowl of thin porridge.
Most eye-catching of all—a tender white poached egg was resting right on top of the porridge! Jiang Wangtang’s eyes fixed straight on it. An egg!
“Where did the egg come from?”
Lu Chenzhou looked up. “Jiang Wangtang, do you need to trace the ancestry of every meal you eat?”
“I’m just taking an interest in our household assets,” Jiang Wangtang poked the egg with her chopsticks, feeling strangely cheerful. “After all, aren’t I supposed to be living a life with you now?”
Lu Chenzhou’s hand froze mid-air as he fed firewood into the stove. There it was again. Did this woman have any idea how heavy those words “living a life” were? Yet she tossed them out as casually as saying “the weather is nice today.”
Lu Chenzhou’s face instantly flushed hot, leaving him with no choice but to duck his head and shove the firewood into the hearth.
“Who’s living a life with you.”
Jiang Wangtang nearly died laughing. Oh? This wild guy actually knows how to be embarrassed?
In a great mood, she leaned down and picked up the poached egg with her chopsticks. Just as she was about to take a bite, her movements came to a sudden halt.
“Wait, this isn’t right.”
Lu Chenzhou frowned. “What now?”
“Where’s yours?”
“What?” Lu Chenzhou was baffled.
“The egg!” Jiang Wangtang scanned the table. One bowl of porridge, one egg, two cakes—no matter how you looked at it, this didn’t look like food for two people. “You’re not eating?”
“I already ate.” Lu Chenzhou’s eyes flickered.
That line again! Last night he claimed he had already eaten the sweet potatoes, and today he claimed he had already eaten the egg? Did he take her for an idiot?
Jiang Wangtang narrowed her eyes. “What time did you get up?”
Lu Chenzhou ignored her.
“At dawn.”
“I was still holding your hand at dawn. Where on earth could you have gone to eat?”
Lu Chenzhou’s face turned dark.
Jiang Wangtang’s eyes sparkled. Caught red-handed! Still trying to fool her!
“So you didn’t eat at all.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You worked all day yesterday, and gave both cooked sweet potatoes to me last night. You’re telling me you’re not hungry?”
“Not hungry.”
Grumble— A low, muffled sound suddenly echoed from the man’s stomach.
The room fell instantly silent.