Su Qianqian blushed upon hearing these words. It was her first day as someone’s young bride, yet she had overslept and only just gotten out of bed at this hour.
To make matters worse, her husband had already prepared the meal and was waiting for her.
In her previous life, she couldn’t get up because she had been exhausted from the consummation of marriage. But in this life, Lu Ye hadn’t even touched her, leaving her without any excuse.
Just as she was about to reply, her gaze fell on Lu Ye’s face as he turned around, and she froze completely.
Before her stood a man—an exceptional man, one whose every feature perfectly aligned with Su Qianqian’s aesthetic preferences.
The man had broad shoulders, long legs, and a tapered waist. The morning sunlight allowed Su Qianqian to see every contour of his body.
He was wild and towering, with deeply defined lines across his frame. His nose was high and prominent, and beneath his sharp eyebrows, his eyes were exceptionally bright. When he glanced over, his gaze was cool, detached, and tinged with a wild intensity.
Beads of sweat on his chest trickled down his torso, tracing the lines of his abs before disappearing into his Adonis belt and vanishing at his waistline. It was impossible not to let one’s eyes follow the path of those droplets.
That single glance made Su Qianqian’s heart race wildly. And because of that glance, she suddenly felt that maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.
She never expected her newlywed husband to look like this.
Although in both her previous life and the era she now lived in, the prevailing standard of male beauty favored fair-skinned scholars—those young and handsome men—she couldn’t recall her preferences from her past life. But now, she found herself drawn to this type of tall, wild, and intensely masculine man. Faced with such a man, she truly had little resistance.
Lu Ye saw that after just one sentence from him, the young bride he had just married seemed frightened stiff again. He sighed helplessly.
He averted his gaze, put down what he was holding, and walked over to the small shack. He retrieved a wooden bucket and placed it in the small room next to the bedroom, then said to Su Qianqian:
“This is stream water I fetched this morning. You should freshen up first.”
He pointed to the small room behind him and continued:
“Your washing supplies are inside. From now on, you can wash up here. See if everything is usable and if anything is missing!”
After saying this, he stepped aside from the doorway and headed toward the kitchen, clearly intending to serve the meal.
Su Qianqian finally snapped out of her daze. She couldn’t believe she had been so weak-willed as to daydream at a time like this.
“I… I should do it.”
Blushing and suppressing her embarrassment, Su Qianqian quickly stepped forward. With her head lowered, she hurried over to the kitchen stove.
But before she could do anything, she heard Lu Ye’s puzzled voice:
“Don’t you need to freshen up first?”
Su Qianqian stiffened at his words, feeling her face grow even hotter.
Yes, this was ancient times. Not only had she overslept as a new bride, but she was also thinking about eating before even washing up. No matter how you looked at it, this reflected poorly on her upbringing.
Su Qianqian felt certain that she had made the worst possible first impression on Lu Ye. He had kindly saved her, only to be morally coerced by the Su family into taking responsibility.
Now he had spent ten taels of silver to marry her, yet they hadn’t even entered the bridal chamber, and she was already proving to be a lazy wife who slept in.
No matter how she looked at it, she seemed to be treating Lu Ye like an unlucky fellow.
Thinking of these things, Su Qianqian lowered her head dejectedly and whispered:
“I… I’ll go freshen up first.”
She was actually quite familiar with this home, after all, she had just relived her past life here last night.
And she had already lived in this house for nearly half a year.
Just as she remembered, the small room contained a newly made simple wooden table, on which were placed a wooden basin, a mirror, a wooden comb, and other items.
Normally, these should have been part of the bridal dowry from the bride’s family. However, how could Su Qianqian’s eldest aunt and her family possibly give her any dowry? They hadn’t even bothered to host a single banquet before sending her off directly.
Whether Lu Ye had guessed this or not, by the time she married into his home, he had already prepared some items that a young woman would need. It was clear without thinking that these were specifically prepared for her.
Although Lu Ye had no relatives here, he had still invited respected elders in the village, such as the Village Chief, to preside over their wedding ceremony, ensuring her marriage wouldn’t be too shabby.
Because of her, Lu Ye had nearly exhausted his family savings. Later, to supplement the household income, as soon as she was able to get out of bed, he went straight into the mountains.
That time, he didn’t return for several days. Just as she thought she was about to become a widow so soon after marriage, Lu Ye came back.
When he returned, he not only brought back silver coins but also carried injuries, both big and small.
In her past life, Su Qianqian had been too preoccupied with fearing Lu Ye and worrying about her future life to pay attention to these small details of daily living.
Looking back now, she realized that meeting a man like Lu Ye was actually her good fortune.
Although he made a living by hunting and had no roots, not even a known origin, he was a responsible person and had taken good care of her.
In the end, to avenge her past self, he had even done such terrifying things—something most other men probably couldn’t have managed.
Thinking of this, Su Qianqian decided that in this life, she could no longer be so weak. From now on, she would live peacefully and contentedly with Lu Ye.
Even if Lu Ye was too fierce and lacked understanding of how to cherish and protect women during those moments, she couldn’t be as timid as she was in her past life. She absolutely must not avoid Lu Ye like that again.
As for what her uncle’s family owed her, she must take it back. Even if she couldn’t retrieve it, she wouldn’t let those scoundrels benefit from it.
Putting aside everything else, both emotionally and logically, since her parents were gone, she should have been able to take some of the land they left behind as bridal gifts when she married.
Yet her uncle and his family had given her nothing. How could she, who had passed away, tolerate this?
But for now, the most important thing was to tidy herself up. Now that she was married, she needed to style her hair into a married woman’s hairstyle.
Although she remembered how to style a married woman’s hairstyle, putting it into practice proved not so easy.
After struggling for quite a while, she finally managed to create a somewhat decent hairstyle.
Worried that Lu Ye might notice the awkwardness of her hairstyle and think even less of her, Su Qianqian lingered by the door for a long time, too afraid to step outside.
Just as she was mentally preparing herself, Lu Ye suddenly pushed the door open and walked in. Su Qianqian was startled by his sudden entrance.
Lu Ye was also momentarily taken aback by Su Qianqian’s reaction, but he quickly regained his composure.
He then glanced at Su Qianqian, whose face was slightly flushed, and said:
“I noticed you hadn’t come out for a while, so I came to check on you. The food is getting cold. Come out when you’re ready.”
“Ah? Oh, okay!”
Su Qianqian felt utterly embarrassed, thinking that ever since she had returned, she had been making a fool of herself.
At this point, she didn’t dare to dwell on what kind of impression she was making in Lu Ye’s eyes. She simply lowered her head, her face flushed, and followed behind him.
What she didn’t know was that Lu Ye, walking ahead of her, wore a faint smile on his face.