Chapter 6 – The Male and Female Leads Meet in the Book

“Hm? Fu Shixu is coming here?”

“Yes.”

Qiao Yanyan glanced at Su An’an, who had just entered the kitchen.

Was she about to witness the male lead and female lead meeting?

She wondered what kind of sparks would fly between them.

Within a few minutes, Su An’an came over with a plate of fruit, placing it on the coffee table. She looked at Qiao Yanyan and Fu Shiyuan and said: “Sister, Brother-in-law, have some fruit.”

Qiao Yanyan stabbed a piece of apple with a toothpick and said: “An An, just now Shiyuan’s little brother, Fu Shixu, called and said he’ll be here soon.”

Su An’an froze for a moment. “Ah, he’s coming to our house?”

“Yes. Why? An An, are you close with him?”

“No… no… Why is he coming here?”

“He said he’s here to pick Shiyuan and me up and take us home.” Qiao Yanyan looked at Su An’an’s expression as she spoke.

As someone experienced in life, she immediately noticed how nervous Su An’an looked about his arrival.

Su An’an started feeling restless and stood up. “Sister, I’m going upstairs for a bit.”

Then she headed upstairs.

Fu Shiyuan tugged on Qiao Yanyan’s hand and said: “Wife, we’ve been sitting since this morning. Can I go out and take a little walk?”

“Sure.” But she wasn’t familiar with this place either, so she looked at Su Jingyi, who was sitting on the sofa playing Honor of Kings, and said: “Jingyi, could you take us for a walk around nearby?”

How could Su Jingyi refuse when Sister Yanyan asked?

He immediately turned off his phone screen, gave up on his game team, and stood up to take his sister and Brother-in-law out for a stroll.

As they walked, Su Jingyi said: “Sister Yanyan, you used to love these osmanthus trees in the backyard. This year, they’re blooming beautifully and smell amazing. I’ll show you.”

“Alright.”

Behind her, Fu Shiyuan naturally reached out and held her hand.

Qiao Yanyan thought to herself that he was just a child, so she let him hold her hand without guilt.

They arrived in the backyard, where three large osmanthus trees were in full bloom, filling the air with their sweet scent. It was the season for osmanthus flowers, and the fragrance was especially pleasant.

Fu Shiyuan picked a large bunch of osmanthus petals, smiled, and looked at Qiao Yanyan. “Wife, hold out your hand. I want to give you something.”

Qiao Yanyan curiously opened her hand and asked: “What is it?”

She saw Fu Shiyuan place the flower stamens into her palm. Her small hand was suddenly full of flower centers.

“The heart of the flower, for you.”

Qiao Yanyan laughed. “Thank you, Shiyuan.”

“Wife, smell it while you hold it. It’s really fragrant.”

Qiao Yanyan sniffed it—it was indeed very fragrant.

Off to the side, Su Jingyi thought: Was he being force-fed dog food by his sister and her foolish Brother-in-law?

Looking at Brother-in-law, he was actually quite handsome and very tall—such a pity he was mentally slow!

Fu Shiyuan spotted some roses blooming in the flower bed. He picked one to give to his Wife, but his hand was pricked by the thorns, and he started bleeding.

He quickly took out his handkerchief to press on the wound, wiped the blood from the flower stem, then carefully removed all the thorns. Holding the cleaned flower, he walked over to Qiao Yanyan and handed it to her. “Wife, this is for you.”

Qiao Yanyan was surprised to see a rose suddenly appear in front of her. She looked up—it was Fu Shiyuan giving her the flower.

She took the flower and said sweetly: “Thank you, Shiyuan.”

Only then did she notice that Fu Shiyuan was holding a handkerchief to his finger, and there seemed to be red blood on it.

Qiao Yanyan asked him: “Fu Shiyuan, what happened to your hand?”

Fu Shiyuan smiled. “It’s nothing, Wife. I got pricked while picking the flower, so I removed all the thorns before giving it to you.”

Qiao Yanyan looked at Fu Shiyuan’s big hand. There was a thorn embedded in his thumb, and it was still bleeding.

She frowned and said: “You’re silly. The thorn is still inside your flesh.”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt.”

“We have to get it out.” Qiao Yanyan looked at the large thorn stuck in his skin. How could that not hurt?

Su Jingyi said: “Sister, we have a first-aid kit and tweezers at home.”

“Okay, let’s go inside and get them.”

Fu Shiyuan said: “It’s really okay, Wife. It doesn’t hurt.”

“No, this thorn needs to be removed!”

Fu Shiyuan could only follow his Wife’s lead. Her small hand held his big one—it felt so warm.

Back in the living room, Su Jingyi brought out the first-aid kit. Qiao Yanyan used tweezers to remove the thorn from his skin. She looked at Fu Shiyuan’s face—he didn’t show any signs of pain. Still, she asked: “Shiyuan, does it hurt?”

Fu Shiyuan beamed as he watched his Wife bandage his finger. “Nope! Not at all!”

Qiao Yanyan disinfected the wound and applied a bandage.

Fu Shiyuan looked at his hand, glancing left and right, seeming very satisfied.

At that moment, Su Jingyi pulled out his phone and opened the game. Unsurprisingly, their team had lost. He immediately got scolded by his team and even got reported.

Su Jingyi sighed. “Ugh, got reported again. One more report and I’ll be banned!”

“Ding dong, ding dong”—the doorbell rang. Su Jingyi tossed his phone aside and went to open the door.

Outside stood a tall, handsome man—someone he recognized, having met once before. He looked about 70% like the foolish Brother-in-law.

Su Jingyi asked: “Are you my Brother-in-law’s…?”

Fu Shixu looked at the child in front of him and replied: “I’m your Brother-in-law’s younger brother. My brother is inside, right?”

“He is. Come on in.” Su Jingyi invited him inside.

When Fu Shiyuan heard his little brother’s voice, he immediately stood up to greet him.

“Shixu, you’re here!”

“Big Brother, are you okay?” Fu Shixu asked worriedly.

Leaving Big Brother with Qiao Yanyan… he really wasn’t at ease!

Fu Shiyuan smiled and said: “I’m fine, I’m very happy. Look, my Wife bandaged me!”

He held out his injured hand to show Fu Shixu. Fu Shixu frowned and asked: “Big Brother, what happened?”

“I got pricked by a thorn, but my Wife took it out for me and even bandaged me!”

Fu Shixu looked at Qiao Yanyan, who was sitting on the sofa playing with her phone. Did she really have such patience?

Yet clearly last night, she had entered his room and said:

“Shixu, do you know? I agreed to marry Fu Shiyuan all because of you! I’m willing to marry your foolish older brother for your sake. I’m happy to take care of him just for you.”

The moment Fu Shixu heard that, he got furious:

“Qiao Yanyan, so this is the kind of woman you are? You don’t love my brother, do you? Then divorce him!”

“After the divorce, will you agree to be with me?”

“In your dreams!”

“Shixu, look at me… Am I not beautiful?” Qiao Yanyan took off her outer jacket, revealing a thin camisole underneath.

Fu Shixu had immediately mimed a knife-hand gesture toward her neck. In an instant, Qiao Yanyan collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Frowning, he had hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her into his brother’s room.

All that had happened just last night—had Qiao Yanyan already forgotten? Or… had this Qiao Yanyan changed that much?

Just then, Ning Yi came in from outside and warmly greeted the brothers. “Oh, it’s my in-law’s son! Come in, have a seat. What would you like to drink? I’ll go get it.”

Fu Shixu replied politely: “Thank you, Auntie. Just a glass of plain water is fine.”

“Alright. Jingyi, go entertain our guest.”

Fu Shixu sat down on the sofa, glancing around the house, left and right.

Even Fu Shiyuan could tell he seemed to be looking for something. He asked: “Shixu, are you looking for something?”

Fu Shixu awkwardly shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

Su Jingyi asked Qiao Yanyan: “Sister Yanyan, where’s my sister? I haven’t seen her.”

Qiao Yanyan deliberately looked at Fu Shixu and said: “Oh, An An went upstairs.”

“Huh? Why’d she go upstairs?”

“No idea!”

Fu Shixu’s eyes flicked briefly toward the staircase.

Ning Yi returned with a glass of water for everyone. Fu Shixu quickly thanked her.

Ning Yi sat on the sofa and asked: “Why did you come here at this hour? Just got off work?”

“Yes, Auntie.” Fu Shixu replied courteously.

“You’re my niece’s brother-in-law. How many years apart are you two?”

“Two years, Auntie. You can just call me Shixu, no need to be so formal.”

“Alright, Shixu, then you must be 26 this year. Do you have a girlfriend?”

Fu Shixu glanced at the stairs and shook his head. “Not yet.”

“You look so spirited. You really don’t have a girlfriend?”

Just then, Su An’an came down from upstairs. Qiao Yanyan immediately noticed that An An had changed into a light pink dress.

Could it be… An An had gone up just to dress up because Fu Shixu was coming?

Ning Yi called her over: “An An, come here. This is your Brother-in-law’s brother. You saw him once at your sister’s wedding. Do you remember him?”

Su An’an glanced at Fu Shixu and nodded involuntarily. “Mm.”

“Say hello, call him ‘Brother’.”

Su An’an bit her lip and softly greeted: “Brother Shixu.”

Fu Shixu looked at Su An’an with eyes full of surprise and joy. He nodded: “An An.”

Qiao Yanyan noticed how neither of them could hide their emotions. Could it be… sparks were already flying between them?

Just then, Fu Shiyuan let out a yawn and leaned his head on Qiao Yanyan’s shoulder, lazily saying: “Wife, I want to sleep.”

Ning Yi quickly stood up and said: “Shiyuan wants to nap? Go sleep in Yanyan’s room. Yanyan, take him to your room.”

Qiao Yanyan thought: I don’t even know where the room is…

She turned to Su An’an for help. “An An, could you come with me to the room? I have something I want to talk to you about.”

Su An’an nodded and got up to lead the way.

Fu Shixu watched the girl follow his big brother and Qiao Yanyan upstairs.

On the second floor, there were two bedrooms facing each other. Su An’an pushed one of the doors open and said: “Sister, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, um… let Shiyuan sleep first. Once he’s asleep, I’ll talk to you.”

“Alright.”

Qiao Yanyan looked around the room. It had great lighting, faced south, and was decorated in a soft, girlish style. It was a beautiful room.

It seemed her aunt really treated her quite well.

Fu Shiyuan climbed into bed and tugged on her hand. “Wife, sleep with me.”

Su An’an smiled knowingly. “Sis, I’ll go to my room first. Come find me later.”

“Okay.” Qiao Yanyan looked helplessly at her hand, tightly gripped by Fu Shiyuan.

“You sleep by yourself. Aren’t you sleepy?” Qiao Yanyan pushed him down onto the bed.

“But I want Wife to sleep with me.”

“You’re really impossible.”

So Qiao Yanyan lay down and accompanied Fu Shiyuan.

The two of them lay on the bed, staring at each other.

Fu Shiyuan reached out and touched her face. “Wife, you’re so pretty. Your eyes are beautiful.”

Qiao Yanyan swatted his hand away. “Close your eyes and sleep. Otherwise, I’m not staying with you.”

“Okay, I’ll close them, I’ll close them.” Fu Shiyuan shut his eyes, then sneakily opened one. But as soon as he saw his Wife’s piercing stare, he quickly closed both again.