The next day, Su Manman woke up early. She directly tossed her changed clothes onto his bed and said when she saw him, “I’m going to work today. I don’t have time to wash my clothes. Can you wash them for me at home?”
Qin Lin glanced over casually—and his eyes landed on a white undergarment. His face immediately turned red. “Aunt Zhao will handle it.”
“No, my grandma said if it’s underclothes and it’s inconvenient to wash yourself, only your husband can wash them.”
Qin Lin: “……”
“Alright, I’ll wash them.”
Su Manman laughed happily. “Thank you for your hard work.”
Qin Lin looked at his young wife’s bright, smiling face and couldn’t help but curve his lips. “The undergarments sold in shops should be more comfortable than this. There’s spare money in the drawer—take it and buy a few new sets.”
Something like this was too distracting. He barely slept last night.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her fair shoulders and back, and the thin straps around her waist loosely tied, wrapping her delicate figure in a way that was deeply unsettling.
Even her faint, natural fragrance lingered in his breath.
Xingyun calling him “lecherous” wasn’t wrong.
“But those can’t even cover my belly button, and I feel like I’m basically not wearing anything in them. It’s embarrassing,” Su Manman said shyly, blinking.
Qin Lin: “……”
She’s embarrassed?
He must have heard wrong.
He glanced at her outfit. “Why aren’t you wearing the new clothes you bought?”
“There was insect repellent on them. I cleaned them last night and fumigated them with incense. The smell was too strong, so I’m airing them out first.”
Qin Lin was slightly surprised. She was more particular than he thought.
……
After breakfast, Su Manman refused Old Master Qin’s suggestion that Qin Lin send her to work and took the bus herself.
The building was old but tidy, made of red brick and red tiles. The sign read: People’s Mediation Committee.
Chen Shuyi received her and led her into a small three-person office.
“The innermost seat is empty. You’ll sit there from now on.”
“Thank you, Second Sister-in-law.”
Chen Shuyi glanced at her sideways. A few days ago, the girl’s face had been dark and uneven, but today it was smooth like a peeled egg. How did she do that?
“What happened to your face before? What skincare do you use?”
Su Manman was tired of explaining. “Allergic reaction. Just cheap snow cream.”
Chen Shuyi didn’t really believe her but didn’t bother asking further. If not for Qin Dingguo asking her to take care of this girl, she wouldn’t even bother.
A rural girl who married into the Qin family—she was clearly here for the inheritance.
But that worked out fine; at least she wouldn’t compete with Qin Lin for an equally matched wife.
After a few perfunctory instructions, she left.
Left alone, Su Manman sat at her desk and looked around. About ten minutes later, two colleagues arrived—both around thirty years old.
Before they could ask anything, she introduced herself first. “Hello, I’m Su Manman. I just joined today.”
“I’m Fang Min. You look quite young—did you just graduate?”
Su Manman vaguely responded.
Old Master Qin had told her to say she graduated from high school, so she followed that story.
After introductions, she was mostly ignored while the two women chatted.
Their topics were all domestic matters—whose child got first place, whose husband treated his wife better.
Soon, Chen Shuyi returned. “Xiao Fang, the director assigned you and Lao Ma to a mediation case. Take the new girl, Xiao Su, with you.”
She deliberately used “Xiao Su” to distance herself and avoid gossip.
“What’s the case about?” Fang Min asked.
“A couple fight. The wife ran back to her parents’ home with the child, and the husband can’t persuade her back.”
Su Manman silently thought: city people really had it good—there were professionals even for marital quarrels.
If she and Qin Lin fought in the future, she would also run back to her family and wait for him to come and coax her back.
……
At that moment, Qin Lin stood by the sink in the bathroom, washing Su Manman’s undergarments.
His mind once again drifted uncontrollably.
Last night’s scenes were still vivid in his head no matter how hard he tried to forget them.
How had he become like this?
Aunt Zhao walked in and froze when she saw him. She forced a smile.
“How’s Manman’s first day at work? She’s new here, doesn’t know anyone, and her speech is different from ours. Don’t let her get bullied. Honestly, she should just stay home and have a child while she’s young.”
Her own daughter had begged everywhere for a job after high school.
What did Su Manman have?
No education, no family background.
And yet she married into the Qin family and got everything.
Why her?
Qin Lin said flatly, “That’s not your concern.”
Aunt Zhao awkwardly changed the topic after noticing what he was holding. “Manman’s clothes?”
“They’re a bit flashy and rustic. There’s an old saying—men who wash women’s clothes are useless. You should let her wash them herself.”
Qin Lin replied expressionlessly, “What counts as being useful?”
Aunt Zhao couldn’t argue with him and stepped back. “Forget it, I’ll wash them.”
Qin Lin avoided her hand. “You can wash them when I tell you to.”
He wrung the clothes out and went to hang them in the yard.
Then, unexpectedly, he thought—should he go take a look at her workplace?
But when he was about to leave, he hesitated.
What if she was busy? Would he just be in the way?
……
Time passed quickly. By evening, Su Manman returned home.
Old Master Qin asked about her first day. Qin Lin quietly listened.
Su Manman sighed dramatically. “Don’t even mention it. One day there, one meal, and two scoldings.”
Old Master Qin was surprised. “What did you do to get scolded? Tell me.”
Su Manman organized her thoughts.
“It was a couple’s dispute. The wife ran home, the husband asked us to help persuade her back. When we got there, we found out the husband was having an affair with the wife’s cousin, and she found out.”
“I asked what ‘having an affair’ meant. The wife said the man secretly took her cousin to bed at night.”
“I thought it wasn’t a big deal. It’s winter—sharing warmth is normal, right?”
“But she said the man kissed her cousin and did shameful things. She couldn’t forgive him and refused to go back.”
“I still didn’t understand, so I asked how kissing and doing shameful things worked. Our team leader, Lao Ma, actually called me ‘no common sense.’”
If it weren’t so cold and her little Gu couldn’t move outside, she would have made it bite him.
Qin Lin looked at his sulking young wife and slightly raised the corners of his lips. “What happened next?”
Old Master Qin stared blankly.
This wasn’t just no common sense—this was missing half a brain.
How could she not know what kissing and “doing things” meant?
“After that…”