At dusk, Luo Wangshu stretched his neck at the doorway, waiting and waiting until he finally saw Mo Li return. The moment he came back, Luo Wangshu immediately began buttering him up—pinching his shoulders, pounding his legs—leaving Mo Li utterly confused.
“Wife, what happened?” Mo Li asked cautiously. Something strange was definitely going on.
Luo Wangshu smiled until his eyes curved into crescents and shook his head repeatedly. “Nothing. What could possibly happen?”
Mo Li looked at him with extreme suspicion. He stared for quite a while but still couldn’t figure anything out. Luo Wangshu just kept grinning foolishly, which left him helpless.
“Do you want to buy something?” Mo Li asked again.
He very clearly felt the hands on his shoulders pause for a moment.
Luo Wangshu gave him a silly grin. “Just a little bit is enough.”
Mo Li grabbed the hardworking hands kneading his shoulders and looked at Luo Wangshu with amusement before pulling him into the room.
Pressing Luo Wangshu down to sit on the edge of the bed, Mo Li rummaged through the wardrobe and pulled out a small clay jar. He dropped the two strings of coins from his pocket into it and stuffed the whole thing into Luo Wangshu’s hands.
“Here. Everything’s in this. Buy whatever you want.”
The smile on Luo Wangshu’s face stiffened. “All of it for me?”
“Mm. You’re my wife, so you should manage the money. Though there isn’t much right now, I’ll work hard to fill it up.”
Mo Li smiled lightly.
Luo Wangshu suddenly felt as though the clay jar in his arms weighed a thousand pounds.
After a while, he finally said, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll take all the money and run away?”
Mo Li wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him into an embrace. “Would you?”
When Luo Wangshu met his gaze, the faint unease in his heart gradually settled down.
Still, it felt a little strange.
Originally, he’d been perfectly capable of supporting himself, but now… was he basically being kept?
So why was he a little happy about it?
“Then you better be careful. If you ever treat me badly, I’ll run away with your entire fortune.”
As he spoke, he hugged the clay jar tighter, as if afraid someone might snatch it away.
Mo Li was amused by Luo Wangshu’s money-loving appearance. Fondly, he pressed a kiss to his forehead.
“Wife, I’m afraid you’ll never get that chance in this lifetime.”
Luo Wangshu deliberately turned his head away as though he didn’t care, but the corners of his lips lifting slightly exposed his true emotions.
Now that he had money, he still needed to go into town to buy seeds and things.
After finally waiting for a day when Mo Li was free, the two of them got up before dawn. Mo Li carried a large bamboo basket on his back. Originally, he wanted to take an ox cart into town, but under Luo Wangshu’s intense insistence, they walked several miles instead.
What surprised Mo Li was that after walking all that way, Luo Wangshu was completely fine.
It seemed the legendary jade-like people who were supposedly as fragile as porcelain weren’t actually that delicate.
Of course, Mo Li didn’t know that Luo Wangshu had been climbing mountains every morning and even carrying water himself.
People said strength came from exercise. Over time, he naturally stopped being so weak. Looking carefully, there were even some muscles forming on him now.
“Let’s buy some vegetable seeds, okay? Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, napa cabbage, things like that.”
Mo Li tilted his head at him. “Hm? Winter’s almost here. Nothing will grow. As for napa cabbage, we already have some planted in our fields.”
“Just let me try, okay?”
Luo Wangshu used the pitiful act he normally despised using. Tiny glimmers of moisture shimmered in his pale golden eyes, making it impossible to refuse him.
Mo Li sighed. “We already have seeds at home.”
“Really?”
If Luo Wangshu had a tail, it would definitely be wagging right now.
Mo Li nodded with absolute certainty.
Hearing that, Luo Wangshu’s face immediately fell. “Then what did we even come here for? Didn’t we just walk several miles for nothing?”
Amused, Mo Li flicked his forehead. “The thing you wanted to buy was vegetable seeds? Nothing else?”
Covering his forehead, Luo Wangshu glared at him unhappily. “Yeah. What else did you think?”
“Rouge and powder? Don’t you want any?”
Remembering the thick layer of makeup from when he first arrived, Luo Wangshu shuddered.
“I’m a grown man. What would I need rouge and powder for? Want me to put it on you instead?”
Mo Li found it strange.
He’d heard that jade-like people liked the same things women did, but apparently that wasn’t always true.
Luo Wangshu not liking makeup actually made him feel relieved.
Mo Li also disliked all those thick layers of powder. Make even a slightly bigger facial expression, and the white powder would start falling off in flakes.
Seeing Mo Li zone out, Luo Wangshu thought he actually liked that stuff. He immediately stomped hard on the top of Mo Li’s foot and shouted:
“If you like women’s stuff that much, then go find a woman instead of me!”
No matter what, he absolutely refused to wear that kind of thing.
Mo Li was completely baffled by the sudden outburst.
Seeing Luo Wangshu storm off angrily, he stopped thinking and hurried after him.
The people nearby all sucked in sharp breaths.
That person was a jade-like man, right?
A jade-like man actually dared to yell at his husband in the middle of the street?
Even more unbelievable, the man actually chased after him looking apologetic instead of slapping him.
Looking more carefully, that jade-like man really was quite beautiful, but that didn’t change the fact that he was still a jade-like man.
And that tall, muscular fellow—how could a man let a lowly jade-like slave yell at him?
For a moment, the surrounding crowd began staring at them strangely.
Luo Wangshu could clearly feel the malice coming from all directions.
What the hell? Who had he offended now?
Mo Li ignored all those gazes completely. After catching up to Luo Wangshu, he smiled apologetically.
“Wife, that’s not what I meant.”
With so many people watching, Luo Wangshu was too embarrassed to continue making a fuss. He pulled Mo Li closer and lowered his voice.
“Why are they staring at us?”
Mo Li naturally replied, “Because my wife is pretty.”
Luo Wangshu’s mouth twitched.
What should he do if he suddenly wanted to hit someone?
“Oh ho, so it’s you two?”
The voice was smooth and pleasant like polished jade.
A peach blossom folding fan rested in the speaker’s hand. He wore flowing green brocade robes embroidered with cloud patterns. His curved brows and smiling eyes carried a naturally flirtatious charm.
Unfortunately, the arrogant expression on his delicate face made him seem less like a bully and more like a mischievous child, giving him a rather ridiculous appearance.
This guy looked familiar?
Luo Wangshu gave Mo Li a meaningful glance. Mo Li thought for a long while before shaking his head, indicating he couldn’t remember.
Seeing the two of them exchanging glances right in front of him, Mu Bai angrily snapped his folding fan shut with a smack.
“What do you two take this young master for?!”
Mo Li stayed silent.
Originally, Luo Wangshu also didn’t want to say anything. After all, the other party was dressed richly and had several servants beside him.
If they fought, Mo Li definitely wouldn’t lose.
But if someone got crippled in the process, this young master’s background probably wasn’t small. Could they still survive peacefully after that?
Yet just as the two of them tried to leave, Mu Bai had his servants surround them.
Lifting his chin arrogantly, he said to Mo Li, “Leave the person behind today, and this young master will let you go. How about it?”
Holy shit!
Luo Wangshu couldn’t tolerate this anymore.
Was this guy trying to kidnap someone right in the middle of the street?!
“Young Master, robbing people in broad daylight isn’t very appropriate, is it?” Luo Wangshu said with a fake smile.
Mu Bai snorted. “Last time there were too few people, so I let you off. This time you won’t be so lucky.”
As the person being robbed, Luo Wangshu felt utterly miserable.
At this point, maybe he should just ruin his face. Otherwise, sooner or later, he was doomed.
Mo Li pulled Luo Wangshu behind him.
His tall, sturdy frame standing before Mu Bai created an overwhelming sense of pressure. Because of the height difference alone, Mu Bai suddenly felt guilty for no reason.
“You… This young master is the third young master of the Mu family! If you dare hit me, you filthy peasant, this young master will make sure your whole family suffers!”
When Mo Li kept a straight face, he looked like an iron-blooded general.
Luo Wangshu practically had hearts in his eyes.
See? His man was this reliable.
“Hit you? I wouldn’t dare.”
After staring at him for a while, Mo Li finally said, “National law, Article Thirty-Two: when nobles bully the weak, officials are demoted three ranks and nobles are stripped of status. If you dare take him away today, even if I have to appeal all the way to the Emperor himself, I’ll make sure your family ends up in prison. Feel free to try.”
Mu Bai, who had been pampered his entire life, instantly froze upon hearing about laws and regulations.
What was that?
Was there really such a law?
Luo Wangshu, meanwhile, couldn’t help marveling.
Turns out ancient laws were actually pretty reasonable.
Mu Bai turned to look at the servant beside him.
The servant stiffly nodded and whispered, “Young Master… what he said is true.”
“Hmph!”
Holding in his anger, Mu Bai flicked his sleeve and left, his servants hurriedly following behind him.
Was that… over?
Sometimes Luo Wangshu really wanted to disfigure himself.
“Wife, shall we go to the restaurant?” After frightening off the surrounding spectators with a single glance, Mo Li spoke gently.
“Why are we going to a restaurant?”
Even though he was confused, Luo Wangshu still followed him.
This time, instead of leaving him outside, Mo Li brought Luo Wangshu directly into the restaurant.
“Oh? Ali’s here? What good stuff did you bring this time?”
The restaurant owner glanced up at Mo Li with a smile before continuing to work his abacus.
“I came to ask if Shopkeeper would be willing to give me work here.”
The shopkeeper’s fingers faltered on the abacus beads. He looked up at Mo Li in surprise.
“You…”
The way he spoke and carried himself was completely different from the silly fool he used to be.
Had the fool become smart?
Luo Wangshu listened from the side.
Working at a restaurant?
Could that really work?
“This time I definitely won’t trouble Shopkeeper,” Mo Li said respectfully.
The shopkeeper sighed. “Then come start work tomorrow. The wages will stay the same as before.”
“Many thanks, Shopkeeper.”
After that conversation, Luo Wangshu was completely confused.
Only after leaving the restaurant did he ask, “What did you do here before?”
Mo Li chuckled softly. “Head cook.”
“Huh? With your cooking skills, you were the head cook? You didn’t poison people to death?”
Every day it was either coarse buns or plain rice porridge. On better days, there might be a few bits of minced meat.
Life was truly poor.
“Be good. Once we get back, I’ll catch a few fish from the river for you tonight. Then you can see whether my cooking can kill people or not.”
“Fish?” Luo Wangshu’s eyes widened. “You’re serious?”
Mo Li nodded firmly.
“That’s great! Finally no more coarse buns and plain rice porridge—”
In his excitement, Luo Wangshu accidentally blurted everything out.
Only after realizing what he’d said did he awkwardly laugh.
“Well… I didn’t mean I had complaints or anything…”
After a moment, Mo Li looked at him steadily and said, “Wife, I promise I’ll make sure you get to eat delicious food every day.”
“Uh…”
That sounded pretty difficult, honestly.
Naturally, Luo Wangshu didn’t say that aloud. He only replied, “Mm, I believe you.”
The two of them slowly headed home as though sightseeing through mountains and rivers.
When they came across a river, Mo Li really did spear several fish using sharpened branches and tossed them into the bamboo basket on his back.
Meanwhile, Luo Wangshu, who was also holding a wooden stick, failed to catch even one fish.
In the end, he could only pick a few bunches of bitter cooling greens.
Last time he’d completely ruined the dish while cooking it. This time, he’d let Mo Li do it.
At the very least, it still counted as a plate of vegetables.