Chapter 28.1

Wen Yue suddenly found it peculiar that this man could go from being angry to laughing so quickly. She rolled her eyes at Zhou Yao in a coquettish manner, then stood up and replaced Li Xiangdong, who had been operating the sewing machine. The two of them took turns.

“You can ask Li Mingjin’s wife,” Zhou Yao suggested as he moved his chair closer to Ren Yeliang and Fang Shitao. She has a sewing machine at home. She knows how to use it and she’s a tight-lipped person. It would also help repay the favor from when we sold the land.”

Wen Yue, sorting the fabric at hand, blinked at his suggestion. “Can you ask for us? But I remember my cousin’s wife is pregnant. Is that okay?”

Zhou Yao raised an eyebrow, “I’ll ask tomorrow.”

Chatting and working together made time fly, and soon it was evening, the sky painted with beautiful red hues of sunset.

Li Nianqiu, her sister, Ren Yeliang, and Fang Shitao helped organize the house before heading out, bumping into Lin Fang and Liu Cuicui returning from the fields.

Liu Cuicui greeted them with a smile, but Lin Fang wore a sour expression, pretending not to see them.

Once they left, Lin Fang whispered to Liu Cuicui, “What do you think they are doing in there? It’s one thing for Fang Shitao and that other guy to be around often, but why are those two worthless girls from the Li family coming over every day?”

“You ask me, how would I know?” Liu Cuicui washed the dirt off her hands and wiped them on her pants.

Lin Fang, disinterested in washing her hands, threw the vegetables she planned to cook into a basin and washed them carelessly. “I came back this afternoon to get something and heard them talking inside. They were behind closed doors in broad daylight, so they must be up to something!”

Liu Cuicui glanced at her, “Didn’t you hear anything they said?”

Lin Fang sighed, “That sewing machine was going non-stop. I couldn’t hear anything! Yesterday, too, it seemed like the sewing machine never stopped. What on earth are they doing?” Her curiosity was intense, making her feel as if a cat was scratching at her heart, leaving her feeling uneasy.

Liu Cuicui knew her sister-in-law’s temperament well and advised her, “What they are doing has nothing to do with us. Leave it alone. Otherwise, you might upset Zhou Yao, and the household will be in chaos.”

“…I’m just curious,” Lin Fang muttered, her eyes darting around.

At that moment, Wen Yue and Zhou Yao were in the kitchen, and their room door was half-closed.

Lin Fang paced back and forth between the kitchen and the main hall, her eyes constantly glancing at the half-closed door. Eventually, she couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer and quietly sneaked over, craning her neck to see what was inside.

“What are you looking at, Second Aunt?”

Focused on peeking inside, Lin Fang only managed to see a few baskets before Wen Yue’s soft, playful voice startled her. She screamed, “Oh my gosh!” and stumbled back several steps, losing her balance and falling to the ground.

Lin Fang and Liu Cuicui both kept chickens and ducks and didn’t pay much attention to cleaning the yard.

With Wen Yue and Zhou Yao being busy the past few days, the yard hadn’t been cleaned thoroughly. Lin Fang’s fall landed her right in a fresh pile of chicken droppings, her hands not spared either.

“What are you trying to do, scaring people like that?!” Lin Fang’s face turned green as she looked at the disgusting feces on her hands. She swallowed her nausea and quickly stood up.

Wen Yue didn’t expect things to unfold this way. She took a step back, her face showing a hint of disdain, and blinked innocently. “I didn’t scare anyone. I just saw Second Aunt sneaking around here and wanted to ask if you needed something.”

She had been in the kitchen preparing to cook when she noticed Lin Fang peeking into their room, so she came out to ask.

Unexpectedly, Lin Fang, feeling guilty, couldn’t even stand steadily.

“Who’s sneaking around?!” Lin Fang, feeling guilty, raised her voice and shouted angrily, “I was just walking around the yard. If you hadn’t startled me, I wouldn’t have fallen, and I certainly wouldn’t have landed in chicken poop. You need to clean this up for me!”

“What’s going on?”

Hearing the commotion, Zhou Yao also came out of the kitchen, his deep, sharp black eyes coldly glaring at Lin Fang. She immediately went silent, like a duck with its neck caught, her guilt and fear obvious on her face.

“Second Aunt was peeking outside our room, so I came out to ask if she needed anything, and she got startled and fell,” Wen Yue explained with a small shrug, her tone tinged with helplessness. “She got her clothes dirty and wants me to clean them.”

Zhou Yao’s thick eyebrows furrowed with a hint of disgust. In a cold voice, he said, “Doing something shady and getting scared into falling, and then blaming others? If you don’t want to clean it, wait for Zhou Jianghai to come back. I’ll have him help you clean up.”

Faced with Zhou Yao’s fierce expression, Lin Fang didn’t dare say a word. She scurried back to the kitchen to wash her hands, gritting her teeth with a contorted face.

“I told you not to mess with Zhou Yao, but you just wouldn’t listen,” Liu Cuicui, having witnessed the whole incident, felt exasperated with her sister-in-law.

Acting as if her brain had been kicked by a donkey, Lin Fang was clearly afraid of Zhou Yao, yet she couldn’t resist provoking him.

Lin Fang muttered, “I was just looking. I didn’t mean to do anything.”

Liu Cuicui asked, “So, what did you see?”

“Nothing much,” Lin Fang replied, unwilling to accept it. “Just some baskets and bamboo baskets covered with cloth. Couldn’t see what’s inside.”

Liu Cuicui turned back to stoke the fire in the stove and glanced at her. “Better keep to yourself.”

Lin Fang remained silent, her eyes full of defiance.

The next afternoon, Lin Fang chose a time to return home, and sure enough, the door to Zhou Yao and Wen Yue’s room was tightly closed. The sound of the sewing machine and faint voices could be heard from inside.

Carefully, she bent down and sneaked close, crouching by the door and pressing her ear against the wooden door to listen closely.

“…There are about seven people, including your cousin, making it eight, which should be enough.”

“The wages have been clearly explained to them. I told them that they have to finish at least ten butterfly hair accessories each day before they can do anything else.”

“Ten, that’s five yuan a day. They had no objections, and it’s not too difficult for them…”

“I asked them to go to Grandma Fang’s house tomorrow. We’ll bring all the materials there.”

“I asked your cousin, and she said she could take on the work…”

Lin Fang couldn’t make sense of most of it, except for the part about earning five yuan a day.

She did some quick calculations in her head. Five yuan a day would mean a hundred yuan a month… Wow, how could she miss out on such a good deal?

She almost wanted to burst in but held back, fearing Zhou Yao would be furious if he knew she was eavesdropping. She had to restrain herself, her mind racing.

“These past few days have been so exhausting. How about we have noodles for dinner? I don’t feel like cooking,” Wen Yue stretched her shoulders and neck, feeling sore all over.

Zhou Yao agreed, “I’ll cook later. You take a rest.”

Wen Yue smiled warmly, her eyes curving with her grin. She sat on a stool and massaged her shoulders, thinking she’d definitely develop shoulder pain at this rate.

She thought she should start doing yoga again in the mornings.

In her previous life, constant drawing on computers and tablets had caused her shoulder and neck problems. Even after visiting the hospital, the issues would recur. Eventually, she hired a yoga instructor and found that regular yoga sessions greatly reduced her problems and made her feel much better.

“Want me to massage you a bit?” Zhou Yao suggested, raising an eyebrow as he approached. Before Wen Yue could reply, his hands were already on her shoulders, kneading gently.

The sensation of relief and comfort made Wen Yue squint her eyes, tilting her head back as she relaxed into it, half-closing her eyes to enjoy his massage.

Zhou Yao’s warm hands transmitted heat through the fabric.

Wen Yue leaned back unconsciously, her head occasionally touched Zhou Yao’s firm abdomen. She was completely oblivious, fully absorbed in the comfort, softly instructing:

“A bit harder.”

“A little to the side, yes, right there.”

“My neck, massage my neck too.”

“This pressure feels great. Zhou Yao, your massage skills are top-notch. Five-star rating from me.”

Zhou Yao chuckled softly, his gaze drifting from her fair and delicate face downward.

She wore a loose red polka-dot shirt, with the top button undone. From his angle, he could see her exquisite collarbone and the smooth skin above her chest.

She looked utterly content, eyes closed, with long, dark lashes casting shadows on her cheeks. Her lips were curved into a smile, full and rosy, looking as enticing as a ripe fruit.

Zhou Yao’s eyes darkened, his throat tightened, and he quickly looked away, pulling back his hands. “That’s enough.”

“I…”

Zhou Yao wanted to say he had to step out for a bit and would be back soon, but before he could finish, Wen Yue grabbed his wrist.

Smiling, unaware of the tension, she looked up at him.

Zhou Yao pressed her head gently, his heart racing, and his voice steady, “Don’t move.”

“?” Wen Yue was puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Yao swallowed hard. “I saw a white hair on your head.”

Wen Yue was puzzled. “???”

A white hair??

She immediately looked down and pleaded softly, “Can you pluck it out for me?”

“Okay.” Zhou Yao took a deep breath and absentmindedly sifted through her soft, smooth hair. After searching for a while, he said before Wen Yue could ask, “I can’t find it. Maybe I was mistaken.”

Wen Yue breathed a sigh of relief and murmured softly, “I told you, how could there be a white hair? You scared me.”

Zhou Yao sincerely apologized.

“It’s okay. Since you helped me with a massage earlier, it’s only fair I return the favor. Let me give you a massage?” Wen Yue didn’t dwell on the matter and, with a bright smile, stood up and pulled Zhou Yao to sit down.

Zhou Yao couldn’t find a reason to refuse and sat on the small stool, crossing his legs, his straight back leaning slightly forward, making his posture somewhat awkward.

Wen Yue placed her hands on Zhou Yao’s shoulders and squeezed a couple of times, realizing his muscles were so tight that she couldn’t even knead them.

“Relax a bit,” she patted Zhou Yao’s taut muscles. “They’re so hard. I can’t knead them.”

Zhou Yao pursed his lips tightly and remained silent, trying hard to relax.