“The one who knows food is a true hero!” Zhou Lang said without a hint of shame.
Soon, the Tongxin Lock was tightly bound with straw.
The straw-wrapped Tongxin Lock sat quietly on the chest.
The two of them stared at it nervously, their eyes growing blurry from the strain, but the thing showed no reaction whatsoever.
“Is the straw rope not working? Is it too rough? Should we try a different kind of rope?”
“Let’s try cloth strips! Cut a strip off your sleeve and give it a try…”
Lin Shiqi was a woman of action—she immediately moved to tear off Zhou Lang’s sleeve.
But when she saw the ring of dark, crusty snot stains around his cuff, she felt a wave of disgust.
So she tore off a strip from her own sleeve instead.
The old clothes had been worn for who knows how many years—they tore apart at the slightest pull.
She swapped out the straw and wrapped it with the cloth strip instead.
The cloth strip bound it even more securely.
The two halves of the Tongxin Lock were wrapped up tight like a zongzi.
But still, there was no reaction.
The two of them mulled it over. “Could it be that we have to hold it in our hands?”
They unwrapped the cloth and tried again.
This time,
they could clearly feel the Tongxin Lock reacting. The scene didn’t change, but they could sense that there seemed to be energy inside the lock—something they could stir.
But the energy was clearly insufficient.
Not enough to send them back to Lin Shiqi’s home.
“I think I get it now. The two of us have to hold the pieces together to activate the energy inside the Tongxin Lock. The lock’s energy probably recovers slowly over time. We just used it once, and when we tried again afterward, there was no reaction. Now that some time has passed, there’s a little energy, but not enough to fully trigger it. Maybe by tomorrow it’ll be ready.”
Zhou Lang summarized.
Lin Shiqi thought it over and had to admit it made some sense.
As expected of a top student—a high achiever from a world-renowned university.
Credit where credit’s due, the man had brains.
“So that means the two of us have to stay together to use this Tongxin Lock?”
If one of them stole both halves and tried to keep them, it would be useless…
They were now truly grasshoppers tied to the same rope.
“So what do we do now? They want to sell me off! Don’t you dare gloat. If they sell me, you, Zhou Lang, can kiss your chances of going back goodbye for the rest of your life. You’ll just end up as cannon fodder for the First Young Preceptor of Dayu…”
Zhou Lang stroked his chin.
“What if I go talk to Granny Zhou?”
Lin Shiqi reminded him, “Right now you’re supposed to be an idiot—the kind who can barely string a sentence together. If you suddenly start negotiating with Granny Zhou, she’ll just think you’ve been possessed by some mountain demon or wild ghost, and she’ll drown you in the pond…”
Zhou Lang replied, “Then I’ll just have to play the fool.”
“How?”
Zhou Lang said, “You go out first and pretend to do some chores. Come back in when you hear a commotion.”
Lin Shiqi did as he said and left. Hmph, keeping secrets, was he?
She went out.
Back to the kitchen to continue washing dishes.
Soon enough, she heard a commotion outside.
Then came Granny Zhou’s voice: “Damn it all! What happened? What was that loud noise?”
“Ah, my fourth boy! What’s wrong with you? You’re soaked through!”
Lin Shiqi ran out of the kitchen in a flustered panic, still holding a loofah scrubber in her hand. “Mother? What’s wrong? What happened to my husband?”
The room was flooded with water everywhere.
Zhou Lang was drenched from head to toe, sitting on the ground, looking completely dazed.
It looked like he’d knocked over the basin of washing water.
Lin Shiqi silently gave Zhou Lang a thumbs-up in her mind. Impressive! It was already early winter, and he’d dumped a whole basin of water on himself. Now that was dedication.
Truly committed.
“What a disaster! He knocked over the washbasin! Wife of the fourth house, how are you watching your husband? Completely useless! In this cold weather, what if my fourth boy catches a chill?”
Right or wrong, Granny Zhou habitually lashed out at Lin Shiqi first.
Lin Shiqi, also a drama queen in her own right, put on a pitiful look. “Mother, I just went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. I promise I’ll keep a better eye on my husband next time…”
As she spoke, she scrambled to clean up the mess.
Behind Granny Zhou stood Wang Shi.
Wang Shi said, “Fourth sister-in-law really is too careless. How does she take care of people? Mother, don’t get angry first. Let’s help Fourth Brother change out of his wet clothes before he catches a cold.”
Lin Shiqi’s hands were covered in dishwater, so she couldn’t help change his clothes.
Granny Zhou cursed under her breath as she stepped forward, rolling up her sleeves to strip her son out of his wet clothes.
Wang Shi also came forward to help.
But who would’ve thought—the usually simple-minded Zhou Lao Si wouldn’t let anyone near him. He only clung tightly to Lin Shiqi’s sleeve. “No, I want my wife to change them. Wife, don’t go…”
Lin Shiqi looked at Zhou Lang’s stiff, strained expression and heard his painfully awkward, cringe-inducing words—she nearly burst out laughing.
Really,
it was too much to ask of him.
A proud, domineering CEO reduced to playing the fool like this.
Good, good, good—well played!
Granny Zhou refused to give up. “Fourth boy, Mother changing them for you is the same. Her hands are all covered in dishwater…”
Zhou Lang remained stubborn, clutching Lin Shiqi’s sleeve. “No, I want my wife to change them. I want my wife…”
Only heaven knew how hard Lin Shiqi was fighting to hold back her laughter. She had to keep her head lowered as much as possible.
If no one else were around, Lin Shiqi would’ve been clutching her stomach from laughing so hard.
Under Zhou Lang’s insistence.
Granny Zhou felt both distressed and furious, having lost the battle.
She scolded Lin Shiqi to quickly dry the water and change Zhou Lang’s clothes.
In such cold weather, she feared that if he wore wet clothes for too long, he might catch a chill.
Lin Shiqi changed Zhou Lang’s clothes while the others helped clean up the room.
In the end, Zhou Lang was settled into bed to rest, but he still held onto Lin Shiqi’s hand, refusing to let go.
“Wife stay, wife don’t leave.”
Granny Zhou and the others…
If it were a normal adult man saying such things, it would be shameless and brazen.
But Zhou Lao Si was a fool, and it only made people feel sorry for him.
Wang Shi said, “Mother, Lao Si has the temperament and temper of a child. Spoiling him won’t do. Let Second Sister-in-law take care of him for a few days, and he’ll naturally get better…”
Zhou Lang suddenly spat at Wang Shi, “Ptooey! Bad person!”
Wang Shi couldn’t dodge in time and got spat on directly. She angrily said, “You!”
Granny Zhou shot her a glare, and Wang Shi could only awkwardly resign herself to her bad luck.
Everyone seemed to be used to it by now.
Lin Shiqi really couldn’t hold it in this time—it was too hilarious.
Zhou Lang, well done!
If he were to enter the film industry, he’d probably win a Golden Statue Award.
Afraid of laughing too obviously, she could only lower her head desperately, not letting anyone see her wildly upturned lips.
From the original owner’s memories, Zhou Lang was a fool, indeed acting on his whims, with only the intelligence of a young child—spitting at people when unhappy…
It was hard on Zhou Lang.
He really went all out.
He mimicked it vividly.
Wang Shi said, “Mother, this Fourth Sister-in-law never teaches Fourth Brother anything good…”
With the insult thrown right in her face, Lin Shiqi refused to back down.
“If Eldest Sister-in-law can teach my husband well, she’s welcome to come over and teach him every day…”
Wang Shi…
She didn’t want to take care of a fool!
What bad luck.
And so the topic was dropped again.
Finally, Granny Zhou confirmed that Zhou Lang was fine and then left the room.
Lin Shiqi was left inside to take care of Zhou Lang.