Chapter 10 – She Just Liked the Handsome Way Huo Zeye Shoved Money into Her Hands…

Although there was an old saying: “A scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days apart.” Huo Zeye felt that, when it came to Chu An’s changes, he needed to squint hard to see them clearly.

Last time, Chu An had said she wanted to live a good life with him, and she really had taken on the attitude of doing so. It was just—

From a distance, Huo Zeye saw her holding the cubs’ hands and playing games with them. The pearl belt on her dress highlighted her slender waist in a beautiful curve.

Why did it always feel like the man of the house—him—was somehow redundant here?

Huo Zeye quietly pulled his thoughts back, went to the back kitchen to ladle some hot water, washed up quickly, and even took a shower.

He was a careless man in daily life, never paying much attention to the details. One towel served to dry his head, face, and body. It was worn thin and almost had holes in it, yet he had never thought of replacing it.

So it was only when the texture against his face felt different that he realized his towel had been replaced with a new one. On the wall where the towels hung, delicate handwriting in pencil neatly labeled which were for the face and which for the head.

Not only his things—everyone in the house had new towels, all boiled in hot water, washed with soap, and hung up cleanly. They even carried the fresh, sun-warmed scent of daylight.

Back in the master bedroom, Huo Zeye casually picked up the military book he had been reading halfway through the previous night, intending to read a bit to get sleepy before turning in.

Halfway through, the bedroom door was pushed open from the outside.

Chu An came in, hugging a pillow, shuffling step by step until she reached the empty side of the bed. Huo Zeye watched her finish rubbing clam oil on herself, not forgetting even her delicate hands.

Then, she lifted a corner of the quilt and, somewhat awkwardly, climbed into bed.

Meeting Huo Zeye’s measuring gaze, Chu An feigned calm and nodded. “I’m sleeping here tonight.”

After all, they were husband and wife. Sleeping separately all the time wasn’t a good thing; they might as well get used to it sooner rather than later.

Seeing her cover herself with his quilt, Huo Zeye opened his lips as if to speak, hesitating. “This quilt…”

Since their marriage, they had always slept under separate quilts—never had they shared one.

Chu An blinked her big, innocent eyes. “What about the quilt? I just took advantage of the good sun today and dried it.”

Huo Zeye shook his head and didn’t say more.

Seeing that, Chu An naturally put down her pillow.

The original owner of this body hadn’t been clean at all. The whole room, perfectly good as it was, had been dusty and grimy. After Chu An came, she wiped down all the furniture, bought a vase, picked some wildflowers from the backyard to arrange in it, and dragged all the quilts outside to sunbathe.

Bedding that had been in direct sunlight became soft and fluffy, and paired with a tidy room, made the living space both refreshing and comforting.

Once they were lying down, Huo Zeye suddenly said: “You take care of the children and do the housework—thank you for your hard work.”

“Huh? Not at all…” Chu An shook her head in confusion.

She truly didn’t feel it was hard work. She didn’t have to cook the three daily meals, and the two cubs were well-behaved and easy to manage. Apart from rearranging and decorating the house in her free time, she hadn’t done much else.

Just as she was about to say this honestly, Huo Zeye handed over a thick wad of money, speaking concisely: “For household expenses. If it’s not enough, ask me for more.”

Chu An paused, and the light in her eyes flared uncontrollably.

She hadn’t even spent last month’s money yet, and next month’s allowance was already here.

She just loved how Huo Zeye didn’t waste words and directly shoved money into her hands!

“Husband\~” Chu An modestly put the money away. “You work hard supporting the family too\~”

“Ahem, it’s what I should do.”

There it was again!

Chu An was looking at him again—with that eager, admiring gaze!

Feeling uneasy under her stare, Huo Zeye looked away and turned off the light. “Go to sleep.”

Chu An obediently lay down. The summer nights were hot, and she wore only a thin nightdress to stay cool. Sharing one quilt meant that even though Huo Zeye was careful, he still occasionally brushed against her skin.

The man, whose heart had always been calm like still water, suddenly felt a bit warm.

After a while, he carefully edged toward the side of the bed. But Chu An, half-asleep, was dissatisfied with the distance, rolled over, and erased it completely.

Huo Zeye: “…”

He suspected Chu An might have some intention.

But then again, they were already legally married. There was no real need to keep such strict boundaries.

Chu An had said she wanted to live a good life together—didn’t that include certain marital… obligations?

Huo Zeye’s mind wandered restlessly until he decided to ask directly. “Chu An!”

The woman beside him, still hovering between sleep and wakefulness, frowned, then unhesitatingly rolled back over and clamped her hand over the source of the disturbance.

Huo Zeye fell silent. His chest rose and fell. He let out a helpless breath.

Chu An remained completely unaware of what had happened during the night.

With that wad of money acting as a lubricant for their marital relationship, she no longer felt distant or awkward. Sharing a bed with such a handsome man brought her no psychological burden whatsoever.

But was that an ordinary handsome man? No—that was a God of Wealth who could spit out gold coins!

Who would dare have any improper thoughts toward the God of Wealth?

The next morning, Chu An got up feeling refreshed. Huo Zeye had training, so he had left early. The two cubs had already washed up on their own and were sitting obediently on the stools, waiting for her.

When they saw their sister-in-law appear in the hall, their eyes lit up at the same time.

“Good morning.” Chu An greeted them.

Huo Mian, in a loud, reciting voice, said: “Sistah-in-law, good—mor—ning!”

Huo Ran coolly nodded at her. “Morning.”

Huo Mian added: “Big Brother and I went to the canteen to get breakfast!”

Seeing the “praise me” expression on her face, Chu An couldn’t help but laugh. “Thank you, Mian Mian\~ Thank you, Ran Ran\~”

Before, Chu An had never felt much toward children, but now she realized—well-behaved and obedient children were just too lovable!

After breakfast, Chu An and the two cubs carried small plastic buckets and walked to the beach.

She had promised last time that she would take them to build sandcastles.

One child used a shovel to dig sand with great effort, while the other transported the sand in a plastic wheelbarrow, occasionally glancing at Chu An’s nimble fingers shaping the castle. Before long, a proper little structure began to take shape under her hands.

Chu An wanted to mix education with fun, so she scratched a few math problems into the sand and told the cubs: “I’ve hidden ten White Rabbit toffees in the box at the top of the sandcastle. For every math question you get right, you can take one candy.”

Huo Mian peeked over her shoulder, clapping in excitement. “The sandcastle is so pwetty!”

“Of course. This is the result of our joint effort.” Chu An said with a smile.

Hearing this, Huo Mian stuck out her bottom, bent her head seriously, and began gesturing at the front of the sandcastle.

Chu An glanced over—and was suddenly shocked to find that this four-year-old little brat was actually writing!

She watched the short, chubby fingers draw a big heart in the sand and then, with effort, write inside it: sao sao, mian mian, Big Brother building sand together.

The stroke order was a little off, but Huo Mian had spelled every pinyin word correctly, and the characters, though a bit shaky, were properly formed.

A four-year-old… could write?

Chu An, who had never raised children, was momentarily stunned.

She quickly asked: “Mian Mian, where did you learn pinyin and writing?”

If Chu An’s memory wasn’t failing her, four-year-olds hadn’t even attended preschool yet.

Huo Mian blinked slowly. “I heard Big Brother recite pinyin before, and I’ve seen Big Brother’s… textbooks.”

Just from looking… she remembered?

Chu An had known from the novel that the two cubs were precocious, steady, and intelligent. But now she realized—this was intelligence on a cheat-level!

Huo Ran also stuck his head out, pride written on his face. “Mian Mian has always been smart! But the pinyin for ‘Sister-in-law’ should be written like this!”

He carefully wrote the letters “Sistah-in-law.” attempting to correct his sister.

Huo Mian shook her head. “No, no, Big Brother, what you wrote is si–o–u, and read together it becomes ‘sou sou’!”

Huo Ran repeated it several times, then stared in shock, his worldview collapsing. “Then… my grudge notebook…”

“Yes, cub, the pinyin for ‘Sister-in-law’ is wrong in your entire grudge notebook.” Chu An said sympathetically.

Huo Ran gave her an incredulous look.

So not only had he spelled it wrong in his grudge notebook, but Sister-in-law had also seen the grudge notebook!

How embarrassing!

His cool image was gone!

Huo Ran struggled to maintain his composure. “Oh. I see.”

“It’s okay, let’s try to spell it right next time.” Chu An comforted him.

Huo Mian also cheered him on. “If you know your mistake, you can change, &% big goose!”

“It’s ‘If you know your mistake, you can change; there is no greater good,’” Chu An corrected.

Still, for a four-year-old who hadn’t learned all her characters yet, being able to remember an idiom even half-right was already impressive.

Chu An decided to test her further, quizzing her on some common characters—and was startled to find she really could write them all.

Huo Ran, watching his sister answer so smoothly, felt both proud of her and a little disheartened.

Mian Mian could master new words just by hearing him recite pinyin a few times, while he, as the Big Brother, couldn’t even get the pinyin for “Sister-in-law” right.

He must be an idiot.

With his small head drooping, Huo Ran quietly looked at the math problems Chu An had just scratched into the sand.

Sister-in-law had said that correct answers meant White Rabbit toffees, so this idiot should at least find a way to earn a few pieces of candy.

So, when Chu An finished quizzing Huo Mian on vocabulary, she found that all the candies in the tin box had ended up in Huo Ran’s hands.

“Ran Ran, you have to answer correctly before you can eat candy…”

Chu An was about to remind the cub to follow the rules, but then her gaze dropped and she saw that the math problems she had written earlier already had answers filled in.

She stopped speaking and lowered her head to check each problem.

The more she looked, the stranger her expression became.

The first six questions had been the simplest addition and subtraction problems. But, afraid they would get cavities from too much candy, she had made the later ones harder.

And yet, whether it was single-digit addition and subtraction or the harder double-digit problems, Huo Ran had gotten them all right.