It was Mu Jiujiu’s seventh day as a married woman in the Chu family.
Early in the morning, while Mu Jiujiu was washing up, water had been spilled on the bathroom floor. She slipped and twisted her ankle.
Her ankle was red and swollen, making it inconvenient to go up and down the stairs.
So she had a servant deliver breakfast to her room.
When Chu Xiaoyuan heard about this, he didn’t even eat his breakfast and rushed over in a panic to check on Mu Jiujiu.
He even personally brought up her nutritious breakfast.
Mu Jiujiu looked with satisfaction at the generous spread of four dishes and a bowl of porridge, and told Chu Xiaoyuan to put the breakfast on the coffee table.
Chu Xiaoyuan obediently set down the breakfast, then laid out the chopsticks and spoon: “Little sister-in-law, I’ll eat with you.”
Mu Jiujiu nearly cursed him out.
She refused fiercely: “No.”
This was the breakfast she’d earned for her husband by hurting her foot, okay!
Chu Xiaoyuan acted as if he hadn’t heard: “Jiujiu, let me see how your foot is doing. It must hurt a lot.”
With that, Chu Xiaoyuan knelt down on one knee, ready to lift Mu Jiujiu’s pant leg, pulling out a whole Western knight-in-shining-armor routine.
Mu Jiujiu, who was protective of her food, immediately took a step back.
But then she pulled up her own pant leg and slipped her foot halfway out of her slipper to show Chu Xiaoyuan.
As if afraid he wouldn’t believe her.
Her foot was genuinely injured—the inner ankle bone was red and swollen. Though not too severe, her paper-thin skin and fair, snow-white complexion made the red injury on her foot look especially striking and pitiful.
That morning, after she’d fallen, she’d stood on the second floor and called down to Guo Xi for medicine. Qiao Yu had also come up right away to check on her.
It was Qiao Yu who had suggested she eat upstairs and not come down.
When Chu Xiaoyuan leaned in with a face full of concern, Mu Jiujiu immediately pulled her pant leg back down.
“I’ve already applied medicine. Second brother, go downstairs and eat.”
Chu Xiaoyuan smiled: “I’ll keep you company. Jiujiu must be so lonely eating all by herself.”
“Don’t call me Jiujiu!” Mu Jiujiu finally lost her patience, her pretty willow-leaf brows furrowing in annoyance: “And also, Jiujiu isn’t alone—Jiujiu has her husband to keep her company!”
Downstairs, Chu Kuo glared impatiently at Qiao Yu, veins bulging on his forehead. He knocked on the table with his knuckles, looking fierce and menacing: “Where’s your precious son? Why hasn’t he come down yet? After he finishes eating, tell him to come with me to the company. Let him see for himself whether he’s going there to negotiate business for me, or to make a fool of himself!”
Seeing that Chu Kuo was angry, Qiao Yu didn’t dare delay. She hurried upstairs to drag Chu Xiaoyuan, who was busy flirting and joking around, back downstairs.
Mu Jiujiu sent Chu Xiaoyuan off with a look of disgust, then swiftly locked the door behind him.
She turned around, and her expression instantly shifted to one of sweet charm. Her steps were as light as a kitten’s as she bounded to the bed, her voice as gentle as a spring breeze brushing over water—completely different from how she’d treated Chu Xiaoyuan: “Husband, time to eat.”
Chu Yanxiu slowly opened his eyes, gazing deeply at Mu Jiujiu as she looked down at him: “Eat by yourself.”
With that, he pushed himself up from the bed, crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back against the headboard, and closed his eyes to rest.
He planned to go back to sleep after Chu Xiaoyuan left the house.
No matter what, Mu Jiujiu was innocent. He couldn’t let her be harmed in the Chu family!
“Eat, please eat. Jiujiu worked so hard to…” Mu Jiujiu stopped mid-sentence and bit her lip. No, she couldn’t let her husband know she’d hurt herself on purpose.
He would definitely scold her and say in that fierce tone of his: Don’t do unnecessary things.
Mu Jiujiu looked at Chu Yanxiu with pitiful eyes. If her husband didn’t eat, then her injury would have been for nothing.
Chu Yanxiu, who had always dismissed Mu Jiujiu with disdain, furrowed his brow for some unknown reason and asked in a probing tone: “Worked so hard to what?”
Mu Jiujiu’s heart fluttered with panic: “Jiujiu… worked so hard… to be able to eat with her husband.”
Mu Jiujiu wasn’t good at lying. She stumbled over her words, and her face flushed with embarrassment.
But Chu Yanxiu thought she was just shy.
How strange. She’d stripped naked in front of him, climbed into his bed, pressed herself against him, and spread her legs to seduce him without a hint of shame. Now she was embarrassed just because she wanted to share a meal with him?
Interesting.
“I’m not hungry. Eat by yourself.”
He’d eaten two meals while working through the night. Though they’d been cold dishes, and it had been over three hours since his last meal, he truly didn’t feel hungry yet.
“But Jiujiu can’t finish all this,” Mu Jiujiu refused to leave. She crouched down, gripping the edge of the bed and tilting her head to act cute at Chu Yanxiu: “Husband, can you help Jiujiu eat just a little bit?”
Chu Yanxiu slowly opened his long, phoenix-like eyes and looked at Mu Jiujiu’s coquettish face. As their gazes met, he felt an inexplicable warmth rise in his chest: “If you can’t finish it, throw it away.”
No one’s forcing you.
Mu Jiujiu opened her mouth, then licked her dry lips after a moment. Finally, she tried one last tentative, ingratiating offer: “How about I bring the food to the bed and feed you, husband?”
Chu Yanxiu wasn’t truly cold-hearted after all. He threw off the covers and got out of bed: “Fine, let’s go.”
Mu Jiujiu gave up the sofa and crouched on the carpet across from the coffee table instead.
Chu Yanxiu sat down on the sofa and looked at Mu Jiujiu’s overly submissive crouching posture. He commanded: “Go get a chair!”
“It’s fine, Jiujiu is used to squatting on the floor to eat.”
“Do you want to lose your legs?!”
Mu Jiujiu saw Chu Yanxiu’s slightly furrowed brow and was dazed for a moment before remembering her injury. She quickly stood up from the ground: “Don’t be angry, honey. Jiujiu will go get a chair right away.”
Chu Yanxiu ate slowly and methodically, every gesture exuding an air of refined elegance.
Mu Jiujiu was also quiet while eating, but she was like a little hamster, always stuffing her mouth full—rather adorable.
After Chu Yanxiu set down his chopsticks, his gaze couldn’t help but drift toward Mu Jiujiu.
Just as Mu Jiujiu finished the last sip of her congee, a grain of rice accidentally clung to the corner of her mouth.
Without a second thought, Chu Yanxiu reached out, pinched Mu Jiujiu’s chin, and wiped the rice grain from her mouth with less than gentle care.
Mu Jiujiu stared blankly at Chu Yanxiu, as if she couldn’t believe he could be so gentle. She couldn’t help but arch her brows into a smile: “Thank you, honey.”
Watching Mu Jiujiu pucker her lips in thanks, Chu Yanxiu lowered his gaze and got up to wash his hands in the bathroom.
Half an hour later, Guo Xi took the dishes downstairs.
Chu Yanxiu sat up from the bed, retrieved his phone from a hidden compartment, and received a message that Chu Xiaoyuan had already left Chu Manor with Chu Kuo.
Jiang Yun also sent a message asking if he was asleep, saying he had good news to report.
Chu Yanxiu called him back.
Jiang Yun’s excited voice came through immediately: “Boss, that little pervert’s contract signed from K City has hit a snag.”
The “little pervert” referred to Chu Xiaoyuan.
Chu Yanxiu: “Oh?”
He had only come back yesterday flaunting the contract, and today it was already in trouble. Quite an accomplishment.
Jiang Yun: “This morning, General Manager Xiang from the partner company called the old pervert to demand an explanation, saying the little pervert took Young Master Xiang Jr. out for drinks, fun, and nightclubs. Last night, he ran a high fever and was hospitalized. The tests say it’s a venereal disease. Heh heh heh, I’d bet the little pervert isn’t clean either.”
The “old pervert” referred to Chu Kuo.
But even as his father was being spoken of that way, not a trace of emotion flickered across Chu Yanxiu’s face.
Jiang Yun laughed with schadenfreude: “Apparently, Young Master Xiang Jr. had never even held a woman’s hand before. The little pervert went over there for seven days, got him to first base, and wrecked his manhood to boot. Tsk tsk, with skills like that, even Sima Yan¹ would have to concede defeat!”
Chu Yanxiu raised an eyebrow. As far as he knew, General Manager Xiang in K City had only one son. It looked like Jiang Yun’s deal was about to fall through, and naturally, Chu Kuo’s plan to push Chu Xiaoyuan up the ranks would be vetoed by the board.
Jiang Yun kept rambling: “Hahaha, to protect our sister-in-law, I’ve been keeping close tabs on the little pervert. I even set up infrared thermal sensors in the trees, but looks like I won’t need them tonight.”
While Chu Yanxiu listened to Jiang Yun’s chatter, he noticed Mu Jiujiu hugging her phone, her fox-like eyes darting a glance his way before she slipped into the dressing room.
She even closed the dressing room door behind her.
Looking as sneaky as could be.
Chu Yanxiu’s eyes narrowed sharply. He tossed his phone onto the bedside table and got off the bed.
He’d like to see just what she didn’t want him to know!
That woman Qiao Yu had planted was indeed untrustworthy!