Chapter 12: I’m Really Amazing

But she was just a newly married wife—how could she possibly know any of this? It was pitch black under the blanket, she couldn’t see a thing, and Su Yunqi was so anxious that she began to cry.

“Lu Zhao, Lu Zhao, wake up, wuwuwu. I don’t know how.”

“Then I’ll teach you.” At last, Lu Zhao stopped pretending to be asleep. His voice was fully awake, his gaze deep. He held Su Yunqi by the waist, looking at her, and even his breathing grew heavier.

“Fool, you can’t do it like this. You’ll get hurt.”

He taught Su Yunqi some basic knowledge, helping her to relax.

This time, they finally got it right.

But Su Yunqi was terribly delicate. After just a little while, she was already complaining about her sore back and wanted to give up.

“Lu Zhao, I’m so tired.”

“Lu Zhao, Lu Zhao, wuwuwu.”

Her cries sounded like a kitten’s—soft, small, and enticing.

It was already impressive for Lu Zhao to even manage to coax her to do this. So, he didn’t make things difficult for her any further.

When everything was done, Su Yunqi still secretly leaned close to Lu Zhao’s ear and whispered quietly.

“Lu Zhao, did it leave?”

“It’s gone. It’ll never come back again. Don’t be scared.” Lu Zhao gently kissed Su Yunqi’s slightly damp forehead and comforted her softly.

“That’s good.” Su Yunqi finally dared to open her eyes. She lay against Lu Zhao’s chest and closed her eyes again.

Right before falling asleep, she couldn’t help but whisper in a breathy voice. “Lu Zhao, I’m really amazing.”

She sounded a bit proud. Her tone was soft and sweet, making the listener’s chest ache.

“Amazing? How?” Lu Zhao couldn’t quite keep up with his little wife’s train of thought.

While gently stroking her smooth, delicate back to lull her to sleep, he chatted with her.

“I can do it now… isn’t that amazing?” Su Yunqi had spoken in such a tiny voice, and right after she finished, she shyly covered her little face and went to sleep, not daring to look at Lu Zhao again.

Lu Zhao had only caught her words vaguely. It took him quite a while to figure out what this little ancestor actually meant.

He couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He pulled her into his arms, gave her a fierce kiss, and praised her.

“Right, especially amazing. You really are my baby.”

Lu Zhao absolutely loved the way Su Yunqi would blurt out the most surprising things—bold yet adorable.

He cuddled her and drifted off to sleep, with a smile still hanging on his face.

Ever since Lu Zhao had a wife, everyone finally understood what tenderness in a tough man really meant.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

The next morning, since he still had it in mind to take Su Yunqi home to visit her family, Lu Zhao got up quite early.

Once everything was ready, he finally called to wake Su Yunqi. She looked half-asleep, still groggy and clearly reluctant to get out of bed, with her usual spoiled expression.

Lu Zhao simply scooped her up and began doing her hair.

It had been a few years since he last braided her hair, but Lu Zhao’s skills hadn’t gotten rusty. Before long, he had finished a beautiful braided hairstyle.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎Flashback༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

The first time he had ever done this for the delicate little girl was when she was ten years old.

That day, Su Yunqi had lost her hair tie, and coincidentally, she wasn’t feeling well—irritable and moody. She sat in class with her hair down, looking like she was about to cry.

She didn’t feel like talking to anyone who came up to her.

Lu Zhao, being a bit too mischievous at the time, reached out to tug her hair for fun. Su Yunqi immediately exploded, bit his hand, and ran off crying.

Lu Zhao hadn’t expected her reaction to be so intense. He was just playing with her hair, he didn’t intend to pull it.

He rushed out after her.

To make it up to the little princess, Lu Zhao actually skipped class and went out to buy her a new hair tie. He tied her hair himself, and only then did she calm down.

After that, whenever the spoiled girl didn’t feel like doing her own hair but still wanted a pretty braid, she would come find him. If he refused to do it, she’d get angry.

Back in middle school, the two of them would secretly hide in the corners of the school.

“If you won’t do it, then forget it! I’m leaving!”

Su Yunqi had overslept one morning and had to choose between eating breakfast or doing her hair. She picked breakfast and asked Lu Zhao to braid her hair for her.

Lu Zhao ran his mouth and said no.

Su Yunqi immediately flared up, turned to leave, but Lu Zhao quickly pulled her back.

“Fine, fine, fine, I’ll do it! I never said I wouldn’t!” Lu Zhao grumbled. “Say, Su Yunqi, your temper’s been getting worse lately, huh? Do you believe I’ll smack you?”

Lu Zhao cracked an egg, peeled off the shell, and shoved it into Su Yunqi’s hands. Then, as he started braiding her hair, he grumbled and cursed at her in mock anger.

A big guy like him, hiding in a corner like a thief, secretly braiding his childhood sweetheart’s hair—it was honestly a bit ridiculous.

No matter how fierce he pretended to be, it was useless.

“Oh? Then hit me.”

Su Yunqi wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. With her fair, tender little face, she nibbled on the egg while giving instructions.

“It’s Wednesday today—I want three braids.”

“So on Saturday you’re gonna want six braids?”

“Yes, of course.”

Su Yunqi answered righteously. By the time she finished the egg, her hair was already styled into a lovely set of braids.

Then she quickly scampered back to class.

The moment she sat down, the bell rang—just in time for class to start.

Lu Zhao also strolled lazily back to his own classroom.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎End of Flashback༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

But Su Yunqi didn’t think about those old memories. After Lu Zhao finished braiding her hair, she was fully awake. She rushed to wash up and happily skipped off to visit her family, with Lu Zhao carrying their things and following behind.

When the villagers saw her return, with the notorious Village Tyrant trailing after her, they couldn’t help but pull her aside, curiosity written all over their faces.

“Yunqi, how is Lu Zhao treating you? Is he good to you? I remember you two were classmates, right? He shouldn’t be too bad to you, should he?”

The villagers spoke with some concern. Even though she had done this to avoid being harassed by that little bully, in their eyes, Lu Zhao wasn’t exactly a good person either!

“He’s alright, Auntie Wang, don’t worry about me. He doesn’t hit me. I’m going to see my parents now. We’ll chat again next time!”

Su Yunqi was in a hurry to see her parents, so she replied casually and slipped away to her home.

But Auntie Wang misunderstood her completely. She thought Su Yunqi meant that aside from not hitting her, Lu Zhao did everything else!

“Beast!” Auntie Wang cried to the heavens.

If only she had let her own son propose marriage earlier! Her boy had been watching Su Yunqi for years, just waiting for her to grow up. It was only because she was afraid of those little bullies making trouble that she didn’t allow him to go propose before.

Who would have thought Su Yunqi would end up in the hands of someone like him!

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

“Aiya, stop pacing already! You’re making me dizzy!” Mother Su couldn’t help but comfort her husband when she saw him turning circles in his anxiety. “She should be back any minute now. Our daughter is so beautiful—Lu Zhao surely cherishes her. I don’t believe he could truly bear to bully our Yunqi!”

Before the marriage, she had been a little worried. But now that it was done, her heart had unexpectedly settled. After all, what kind of man would willingly hurt such a flower-like little girl?

“It’s not just hitting her that counts as bullying!” Father Su said bitterly. “Losing his temper at her, sending her off to cook, giving her poor food—aren’t those also bullying? If it weren’t for that damn Zheng Ye staring at her, would I ever have agreed to marry our Yunqi off? And to someone like that arrogant Village Tyrant!”

“Even if she had to marry, it should have been to a scholarly man from the city—well-mannered, gentle. That’s the kind of person fit for a proper life!”

He spoke with deep pain and regret.

Although it had been Father Su’s decision at the time, his heart had never been fully at ease.

And just then, these very words were overheard by none other than Su Yunqi and Lu Zhao, who had just stepped through the door.

Su Yunqi had originally intended to call out “Father! Mother!” at the entrance, but now she sneakily turned her head to glance at Lu Zhao—trying to see if he was angry.