Chu Yanxiu had his pride.
The bread and milk remained untouched.
Mu Jiujiu thought he didn’t like them, but to avoid arousing Guo Xi’s suspicion as she stood guard in the dining room, she had no choice but to bring up a plate of fruit instead.
“Honey, Jiujiu brought you lots of cherries—they’re good for your blood. Eat up.”
This time, Mu Jiujiu made no demands, and Chu Yanxiu polished off the entire plate of fruit.
In the afternoon, Mu Jiujiu crouched by the bedside chatting with Chu Yanxiu.
Chu Yanxiu leaned against the headboard, browsing real-time business news on his ultra-thin tablet.
There were people keeping watch in the villa—if anyone from the Chu family came back, he’d know immediately. The household staff were all well-disciplined; no one would barge into his bedroom without knocking, and they generally didn’t even come up to the second floor.
Though it was called chatting, only Mu Jiujiu was doing the talking.
She kept her voice low, afraid someone might overhear something suspicious.
“Honey, is the person who harmed you working in this villa?”
“Honey, do you have any suspects?”
“Honey, tell Jiujiu—Jiujiu will keep an eye on him for you.”
Every sentence was prefixed with “honey.” Chu Yanxiu shot her a cold glance, and Mu Jiujiu, who was gazing at him with eager devotion, immediately curved her lips into a smile at him.
She had a pretty, adorable face to begin with, and when she smiled, two little dimples appeared, making her look especially endearing.
Chu Yanxiu pressed his canine teeth together and turned his face away again.
Whatever. It was just a form of address.
Chu Yanxiu ignored her, and Mu Jiujiu pouted her lips in disappointment, but that didn’t hinder her free-spirited rambling in the slightest.
“Honey, Jiujiu thinks we can rule out Father-in-law and Mother-in-law.”
“Auntie Guo seems like a good person too. And since Auntie Guo is fine, her son who works in our house shouldn’t be a problem either~”
“Honey, Jiujiu heard that Uncle Ji, Father-in-law’s driver, has been with him for many years. He probably isn’t a problem either.”
Chu Yanxiu: …Hah, the water in Chu Garden isn’t as deep as the water in your head!
Today was the sixth day since Mu Jiujiu had married into the family.
For the previous five days, she’d also spent most of her time in the bedroom, but at mealtimes she’d volunteer to help, and occasionally she’d go to the yard to feed the two golden retrievers. She barely left the villa.
Chu Yanxiu had actually been worried that once Mu Jiujiu went downstairs, she might let something slip and sell him out.
But…
The way she was chatting today made Chu Yanxiu want to flip the table—was he the one being paranoid all along?
Especially when Mu Jiujiu said:
“As for the kitchen, Uncle Fu is getting on in years and looks very kind. He doesn’t seem like the type to harm anyone.”
“Ah!” She let out a startled gasp, her fox-like eyes narrowing into a sharp gaze. She tapped her little head with her fingers and said very seriously, “There’s also that one who’s both a cook and a yard keeper—he’s the most suspicious. He’s the newest servant in the Chu family. I think his name is Xin something…”
Chu Yanxiu watched Mu Jiujiu acting like a great detective and said in an icy tone, “Xin Zhang.”
“Right, right!” Mu Jiujiu rubbed her hands together excitedly. “Honey knows his name! That means Honey has been paying attention to him too, hasn’t he? Jiujiu guessed it in one go!”
Her face was practically screaming: Honey, praise me!
Chu Yanxiu: I really can’t with this—out of the entire villa, this one guy is the only person loyal to me, and you just happened to zero in on him!
Chu Yanxiu’s patience ran out. “Go take a walk outside. Hiding in here all the time will make people suspicious.”
Mu Jiujiu, who hadn’t received the praise she’d been waiting for, stared at Chu Yanxiu with slight displeasure, as if teaching him how to compliment someone. “Honey, your eyes are really beautiful.”
Chu Yanxiu gave her a deadpan face. “Go downstairs.”
Mu Jiujiu looked at the time with a hint of grievance—it was already four in the afternoon—so she obediently nodded and stood up.
Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly turned back, crouched by the bedside, looked up at Chu Yanxiu, and asked eagerly, “Honey, what do you want to eat tonight? Not eating is bad for your health. Whatever Honey wants, Jiujiu will sneak it up for you.”
Chu Yanxiu’s gaze slowly shifted from his phone screen to Mu Jiujiu’s face.
Backlight spilled down from her forehead, casting a faint shadow over her sculpted features, making her delicate face even more refined and strikingly beautiful.
Her eyes were so tender, filled with stars, radiant and luminous.
They reminded him of his childhood—his exhausted mother, every time she came home, would first walk to his desk, crouch beside his chair, and look up at him. Though her face still carried traces of fatigue, the starlight in her eyes was brighter than the desk lamp.
Chu Yanxiu stared fixedly at Mu Jiujiu’s luminous, pearl-like eyes, his breathing gradually quickening.
His jaw tightened.
“No need. Go on down.”
Hearing this, Mu Jiujiu pouted her lips in slight disappointment, but when she stood up, she was back to full energy, flattering him: “Then Jiujiu will bring Honey some boiled eggs—nutritious and inconspicuous.”
Chu Yanxiu: “…”
His mother had also once said: When Mom isn’t home, if little Xiu gets hungry, eat a boiled egg. Boiled eggs are very nutritious—they’ll help you grow tall.
Hah!
This little thing kept making him think of his mother.
What was wrong with him today!
Mu Jiujiu went downstairs and headed to the yard to play with the dogs.
Aside from those two golden retrievers, Chu Garden didn’t keep any other animals.
These two dogs were also born thirteen years ago from a stray dog that Chu Yanxiu had picked up outside before Chu Kuo sent him abroad.
Back then, to maintain her image as a kind stepmother, Qiao Yu had made the greatest concession for that half-grown Golden Retriever with a broken leg and mange—she paid to have the dog sent to a pet store for long-term treatment.
Three months later, the Golden Retriever had long since recovered.
Seeing that Qiao Yu had no intention of bringing the dog back from the pet store, it was Chu Yanxiu who called Chu Kuo and asked him to have the dog brought to Chu Manor.
Three years ago, two days before Chu Yanxiu returned to the country, that old dog died of illness at the veterinary hospital. For the two months before its death, it had been left there by Qiao Yu to be cared for.
Chu Yanxiu later thought about it—the veterinary hospital, wanting to make money, would certainly have taken meticulous care of the old dog and extended its life. That was far better than facing a cold-hearted mistress at home.
It was just a pity that the five puppies it had given birth to, it never got to see again before it died.
And as for him, because he hadn’t received word of the old dog’s critical condition, by the time he returned, the dog had already been buried.
Qiao Yu probably needed dogs to guard the house, so of the five puppies the old dog had whelped, two were ultimately kept.
Strangely enough, before Chu Yanxiu’s car accident, he had only brought them to meet Jiang Yun twice, yet recently Jiang Yun had been climbing over the wall every night, and the two Golden Retrievers had never once barked.
Jiang Yun had even brought Muscle-Relaxing Powder with him.
Chu Yanxiu, reminded of his deceased mother, had lost the heart to keep scrolling through the news. He cast a dark, gloomy glance toward the bedroom door, then still took the risk and got out of bed.
He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
From his room, he could see exactly the lawn where the dogs were kept.
At that moment, Mu Jiujiu was sitting on the grass, stroking the head of one of the Golden Retrievers.
Seeing this scene, he couldn’t help but step closer. With his left hand in his pocket and his right hand pressed against the glass, his shoulders slightly hunched, he maintained a downward gaze.
The two Golden Retrievers looked very similar, but even from the second floor, Chu Yanxiu could tell at a glance that the one Mu Jiujiu was petting was Maomao.
The other one eating dog food was Qiuqiu.
The names were a bit silly.
They were given by that little brat Chu Xiaoxuan.
Mu Jiujiu let the dog burrow its head into her neck. Not only did she not dodge, she even smiled especially sweetly, clearly showing she genuinely loved dogs.
One person, two dogs, green grass, fragrant flowers, spring breeze brushing the face—it was indeed a vivid and beautiful scene.
For a moment, Chu Yanxiu’s gaze couldn’t seem to look away, as if something had gently brushed against his heart.
Time passed bit by bit, and before he knew it, he had been watching for ten minutes.
Just then.
The prodigal young master, unseen for days, suddenly shattered the beauty of this picture, walking step by step toward Mu Jiujiu.
The fingers Chu Yanxiu had pressed against the glass suddenly clenched into a fist.
He had never liked Chu Xiaoyuan, and today’s Chu Xiaoyuan was more of an eyesore than ever before!