Chapter 24: When the Mother-in-Law Brought the Cheap Husband to Buy Vegetables, Xi Youyou Got a Little Flustered

After stepping out of the courtyard, Xi Youyou went into the room to grab two books, pushed her bicycle, and turned to head outside.

Even though their cheeks had been pinched, the two babies weren’t unhappy at all. In fact, there was an inexplicable sense of happiness on their faces. Jiang Cimo was dumbfounded as he watched.

The two children not only didn’t reject her anymore, but even showed such intimate actions?

“Cimo, what are you spacing out for?”

Xu Xiu called out. Jiang Cimo came back to his senses and quickly lowered his head to eat his noodles.

The more he thought about it, the stranger he felt.

As usual, Xi Youyou went to the market. After disguising herself, she pushed her basket of vegetables to her stall, casually tidied up a bit, and then took out her little stool to sit down.

She didn’t even need to shout. Just based on how fresh and vibrant her vegetables looked, returning customers would naturally come by.

The vegetables from her space were all watered with spiritual spring water, so they tasted crisper and slightly sweeter than regular ones.

Over the past two days, many regular customers had given feedback on this.

Xi Youyou sat there quite leisurely. She knew there was a possibility that her mother-in-law might come to buy vegetables again.

She just hadn’t expected Jiang Cimo to come too.

After breakfast at home, Jiang Cimo had taken the initiative to wash the dishes. When he finished, Xu Xiu mentioned that she needed to go out and buy some more groceries—today, she wanted to get a pig trotter.

Jiang Cimo thought about it for a moment and decided to accompany her.

On the way, Xu Xiu asked him: “Are you planning to buy anything else? I saw that you already bought a lot for the kids. Isn’t that enough?”

“I want to buy a fan.”

“It’s just too hot.”

Jiang Cimo seemed a little unnatural when saying that. Xu Xiu understood immediately.

“Cimo, Mom knows what you’re thinking. But now that Youyou has changed, we can’t treat her the same as before.”

“We need to give someone who knows they were wrong a chance.”

Of course, Jiang Cimo understood what Xu Xiu meant. He just didn’t know how long Xi Youyou could keep up this act of repentance.

If she could keep it up for a while, he could also let go of the past and live a good life with her, raising the children together.

But if, after a while, she went back to how she was before…

That was what he thought, but Jiang Cimo didn’t say it aloud. Xu Xiu didn’t nag him either. Matters between husband and wife had to be explored by themselves.

As elders, saying too much could backfire.

So, Xi Youyou had barely been at the market for a short while when she saw the two of them walking into the market together.

Seeing Jiang Cimo, Xi Youyou did feel a little nervous.

After all, he was a soldier, and soldiers had keen observation skills. Having carried out missions for years, he possessed an extraordinary sense for detecting things.

Even though she had disguised herself, changed her appearance, and even applied new makeup—and she was confident in her makeup skills—what if he still noticed?

“I found a young girl selling vegetables a couple of days ago, and her stuff is delicious.” Xu Xiu said cheerfully while walking with Jiang Cimo. “Did you taste the vegetables from yesterday afternoon? They were from her stall!”

Jiang Cimo remembered the vegetables from yesterday afternoon. They were indeed quite tasty, much better than the ones from the canteen.

He nodded in agreement and followed Xu Xiu to Xi Youyou’s stall.

When she saw them approaching, Xi Youyou’s heart thumped wildly, but she pretended to stay calm and deliberately lowered her voice to speak to Xu Xiu. “Auntie, what kind of vegetables would you like today?”

“Your tomatoes look really fresh, and so does the celery. Give me a pound of each!” Xu Xiu browsed the stall and smiled as Xi Youyou weighed the vegetables. “Young lady, does your family use some kind of secret method for growing these veggies?”

Wasn’t that the truth?

These vegetables were grown in the space, but how could Xi Youyou say that? She merely smiled faintly and shook her head. “Just grew them like this.”

Xi Youyou tried not to speak too much and focused earnestly on weighing the vegetables.

Even though she acted calm, Jiang Cimo still sensed something was off.

Xi Youyou wore a mask and had makeup on. Her clothes and hairstyle were also pretty ordinary for the time, but relying on his keen perception as a soldier, his instincts told him that this person in front of him wasn’t simple.

He himself had once played the role of an ordinary civilian to gain the trust of his targets during undercover missions.

This kind of setup… it felt like she was deliberately hiding something.

Looking closely at Xi Youyou’s features, Jiang Cimo felt she looked very familiar—especially the way she lowered her voice when speaking to his mother. It seemed like she was deliberately disguising it.

All these small details made Jiang Cimo feel something wasn’t right.

He stood silently by the side, but in reality, he was sizing up Xi Youyou from head to toe.

Aside from her outfit and voice, he sharply noticed that her hands were very fair—not like someone from an average family selling their own vegetables.

People who grew vegetables should have hands worn from daily labor. But these hands looked like they had barely done any physical work.

If she came out to sell vegetables, then her home situation probably wasn’t well-off. So how could a vegetable seller have such smooth hands?

Logically, they should be rough and calloused.

While Jiang Cimo observed quietly, Xi Youyou felt his gaze and handed the weighed goods to Xu Xiu. “It’s ready, Auntie.”

Xu Xiu handed over the money, still smiling like before. “I’ll come back in a couple of days to buy from you again!”

Xi Youyou nodded faintly.

Xu Xiu and Jiang Cimo walked off. After walking several meters, Jiang Cimo was still silently pondering. He even turned around to glance back.

Xi Youyou’s heart skipped a beat.

Could it be that Jiang Cimo had realized something was off?

Impossible!

When she disguised herself, she’d double-checked in the mirror inside the space. With her extraordinary makeup skills, at most her eyes might seem a little familiar.

Everything else should’ve been unrecognizable.

Jiang Cimo was probably just suspicious. After all, it was quite hot these days, and she was dressed relatively thickly.

It looked like she needed to make some changes.

Thinking that, Xi Youyou stopped overthinking and continued selling her vegetables, while Xu Xiu and Jiang Cimo headed further away to do more shopping.

Originally, they intended to buy a pig trotter, but after seeing how fresh the celery was, Xu Xiu changed her mind and bought a piece of beef instead.

As she bought the vegetables, she chatted with Jiang Cimo about family matters.

“Beef is more nutritious—it’s better for the kids. I’ll stew pig trotters for you in a few days.” Xu Xiu said.

She carefully picked out vegetables for the household, while Jiang Cimo stood beside her, not at all annoyed by his mother’s ramblings.

To him, moments like these were rare and precious.

After buying groceries, they went to the department store. Jiang Cimo picked out a suitable electric fan, paid for it, and then went downstairs to buy some snacks for the children before heading home with Xu Xiu.

Xi Youyou paid no attention to their errands. Thinking she’d surely see Jiang Cimo again at lunchtime, she decided not to go home to eat. Instead, she grabbed something casually outside.

The family noticed it was already time and she still hadn’t returned, so they didn’t wait for her.

They just ate on their own.

While they ate, Xu Xiu sighed with emotion: “Youyou’s really been working hard lately. She’ll definitely pass the exam.”