Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I sighed under the covers, feeling Yun Chu press a kiss to my forehead. His voice was soft and full of cheer. “Chuchu, I really want to stay with you all day, but I have an important meeting today. Your Hubby has to go out and make some money for you.”

I gave a muffled hum in response. “Good luck.”

Good luck indeed. As someone who aspired to be a professional slacker, the growth of our family fortune depended entirely on him.

He sounded even more delighted. “Okay, wait for me to come home.”

I slept until noon, eventually woken by hunger. The sheer curtains over the floor-to-ceiling windows softened the light, casting quiet shadows of the lake and trees into the room. The unfamiliar scenery left me feeling a bit dazed.

The bedroom door was pushed open without a knock. A middle-aged woman in an apron stood there holding a tray. “Miss, it’s twelve o’clock. May I ask you to get out of bed now?”

I felt a prickle of discomfort. “Who are you? How can you just enter someone’s room like that?”

“I’m the servant who waits on you,” she said snidely. “I know your sleep is precious, so I didn’t dare disturb you. I’ve reheated your breakfast for the third time now. I just wanted to ask if you’re still planning to eat. Or did you not hear me knocking?”

I actually felt a bit embarrassed. “I’ll eat. Just leave it there.”

She rolled her eyes and walked away, muttering loud enough for me to hear, “New brides these days are so spoiled and lazy. We never had it this easy back in my day. Thank goodness my daughter isn’t like this…”

I wasn’t sure what I had done to offend her. I watched her leave the room and heard the butler greet her outside. “Aunt Bai, how is lunch coming along?”

“The Madam hasn’t even eaten breakfast yet, and you’re already thinking about lunch?”

Aunt Bai?

Rumor had it that Yun Chu had a childhood friend named Bai Rou. She was raised in the Yun household by her single mother, who worked as a servant. She was supposedly the daughter-in-law my mother-in-law had handpicked, only for me to swoop in and snatch the position…

It seemed this Aunt Bai was her mother. No wonder she was giving me attitude; she was likely bitter about the situation.

The tree seeks peace, but the wind will not subside.

When I first heard about the ambiguous relationship between Yun Chu and Bai Rou, I didn’t really care. After all, this was a business marriage; one shouldn’t expect romance in a business deal. But if Aunt Bai was going to be restless and needle me every day, how was I supposed to enjoy my life of leisure?

I thought about it for a moment and then spoke up. “Aunt Bai, I am quite lazy, and I’m a picky eater too. Could you please make me something else?”

She turned back, looking incredulous. “What did you say?”

I leaned back against the headboard comfortably. “I suddenly have a craving for steamed buns. Please steam a basket for me. They should have exactly eighteen pleats, be six centimeters in diameter with a margin of error of three millimeters, and the skin should be a shimmering, iridescent white. I’ll leave the filling up to you-you’re the professional, after all. I want it to have a rich depth of flavor that captures the very essence of life…”

Her voice rose in pitch. “I’ve worked for the Yun family for thirty years! How dare you make things difficult for me like this!”

I gave her a pleasant smile. “Thirty years, huh? Then making them in ten minutes shouldn’t be a problem. How many baskets can you manage?”

Fuming, she slammed the tray down and stormed out.

I got out of bed slowly and headed downstairs, my legs still trembling slightly as I gripped the banister.

Sigh. Maybe I should ask Bai Rou to do this job for me. She’d probably love it… though the family fortune would still belong to me, of course.

The butler was waiting for me at the turn of the stairs, a perfect smile on his face. “Please don’t be angry, Madam. Aunt Bai is a veteran of this household. She’s the one who raised Mr. Yun, and he is very polite to her. As a result, she’s grown accustomed to ignoring the rules. Please don’t lower yourself to her level.”

Well, this was bad. On my first day of marriage, I had basically kicked my husband’s nanny out of the house.

“Oh,” I said, waving a hand with feigned nonchalance. “He’s a grown man. He doesn’t need a nanny anymore.”

“True,” the butler replied with an apologetic smile. “However, there are no backup chefs in the manor. Until we hire a new one, Madam might have to endure a bit…”

I soon found out what I had to endure. The butler cooked lunch himself. The rice was undercooked, the dishes were oversalted, and the potatoes were burnt to a bitter crisp.

“Forget it, I’ll do it myself.” I sighed and put down my chopsticks.

I might usually be too lazy to cook, but I actually had some skill. I’d learned a few things back when I had an interest in it.

I spent the entire afternoon preparing a massive spread. By the time the sky had turned pitch black, I felt a deep sense of accomplishment. I took a few commemorative photos, but they didn’t look glamorous enough, so I rearranged the plates. I pretentiously draped a lace tablecloth over the surface, scattered some rose petals, turned off the lights, and lit a brass candelabra. After selecting a filter and editing the photos to my satisfaction, I posted them to my social feed: “First day of married life. All is calm and beautiful.”

The likes quickly surpassed a hundred, and I smiled with vanity.

Hearing the front door open, I looked up. A tall, handsome man walked in while taking off his coat. He looked at the food, then at me. His expression shifted slightly, and he remained silent for a moment before walking over to me, leaning down to give me a gentle hug.

He carried an elegant, woody scent, and his voice was choked with emotion. “You’ve worked so hard, Wifey. I’ve received your message loud and clear. You don’t have to make this much next time.”

Seeing the scratch behind his ear, I finally remembered that this man was my husband.

I smiled to hide my awkwardness. “You’re back just in time. Let’s eat, then.”

“You must be starving from waiting.” He pulled a chair over to sit right next to me. “I’ll try to come home earlier from now on.”

“It’s fine. You’re busy; your career comes first,” I urged him quickly. “I understand things like overtime, late nights, and business trips. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Wifey, you’re so sensible.” He looked at me tenderly, his warm hand gripping mine. “It’s okay to act a little spoiled with me sometimes.”

Sigh, are all men like this? They love it when you act cute.

For the sake of a harmonious marriage, I decided to go all out. “Hubby-wubby, let’s have some num-nums.”

He froze for a second, then his eyes crinkled into a smile, his already handsome face blooming with joy.

Sigh, men are all the same.

“Hubby…” I bit my tongue to stop myself from repeating the syllable. While he was in a good mood, I tried to bring up the serious matter. “I had a bit of a conflict with Aunt Bai today. She seems to have resigned…”

He looked back at me earnestly. “Wifey, this is your home. You are the master of everything here. You don’t need to overthink things.”

Is he really this easygoing?

“But…” He paused there. I sighed inwardly, thinking, *Of course there’s a ‘but.’* Then I heard him laugh smugly. “Are you jealous? Don’t listen to the rumors outside. There is absolutely nothing between Bai Rou and me beyond being friends.”

Ah, uh, well…

Forget it, let’s just eat.

There was a bit of everything, though it was mostly Chinese cuisine. Yun Chu picked up his chopsticks and said in a slightly exaggerated tone, “This looks so enticing. I don’t even know where to start.”

He said he didn’t know, but in reality, he knew exactly what he was doing. With one swift motion of his chopsticks, he aimed straight for the only fish head on the table.

The fish head! There was only one head on the whole fish. It wasn’t large, but it contained rich, flavorful brain matter…

I couldn’t bear to part with it. I quietly extended my chopsticks and pinned his down.

The two pairs of chopsticks clacked together. Yun Chu looked at me in surprise. I gave him an apologetic smile and swept the head into my own bowl.

He chuckled twice, withdrawing his hand to rest his chin on it as he watched me finish it.

When I was done, he reached out his chopsticks again. This time, it was the skin of the roast chicken-

Roast chicken skin! That was the skin! It had been glazed with honey and roasted until it was crispy, fragrant, and savory. I had been craving it since it came out of the oven…

Once again, I reached out to block his chopsticks.

The tuna-

To keep the plating refined, there were only a few slices in total. Why were his chopsticks open so wide? Did he want to take them all?

The squab leg… I can’t let that go! I absolutely cannot let that go…

I was full, but Yun Chu had barely eaten a few bites.

Just as I was thinking of grabbing a piece of phoenix-tail lettuce to cleanse my palate, he suddenly moved, mimicking my tactic by pinning down the tips of my chopsticks.

“Huh?” I looked at him, confused.

The tips of our chopsticks bumped and nudged, tangling and stirring in the gaps between them. He rested his cheek on his other hand, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Wifey, have you had enough fun?”

Before I could figure out what he was asking, he had already tilted my chin up and kissed me.

“Now that you’ve had your fun, it’s my turn to dig in…”

When I got out of bed the next morning, my waist hurt even more.