"Since you know what's good for you, I'll forgive you," Wenren Lingmeng said magnanimously, as happy as a child who'd gotten candy.
Seeing Mu Zibai still clutching her hand, she decisively shook him off, then took his hand herself.
Mu Zibai: "?"
So she could touch him, but he couldn't touch her?
"Hmph, you touched me for so long. I'm getting my money's worth and touching you all over now. And this only counts as interest, not the principal," Wenren Lingmeng said sweetly.
"Ah?" Mu Zibai was so astonished he nearly threw back his head and howled at the sky. Was he already buried in debt? "Doesn't that mean I'll never pay it off in this lifetime?"
Wenren Lingmeng covered her mouth, secretly delighted. "Who says you won't pay it off in this lifetime? You clearly won't even manage it in your next life."
"Fine, looks like I'll have to be your ox and plow your fields properly. You won't blame me if I ruin them, will you?" Mu Zibai gave her a wicked smile.
Wenren Lingmeng looked completely bewildered. The more they talked, the more confused she got. He'd be an ox—but why only an ox? Shouldn't he be an ox and a horse?
And what did plowing fields mean? Was Mu Zibai really going to become a farmer and plow her Household's fields?
She'd told him to pay off his debt, not to actually plow her fields to repay it. Who wanted him to become a farmer?
Wenren Lingmeng was utterly muddled by what he was saying. But with that cheeky look on Mu Zibai's face, and knowing him as she did, it definitely wasn't as simple as it sounded!
There had to be some hidden meaning.
"Do you really want to know?" Mu Zibai asked, looking like a villain.
Wenren Lingmeng thought it over, then nodded.
Mu Zibai leaned close to Wenren Lingmeng's ear and whispered a few words. As she listened, her face turned scarlet, as though blood might drip from it; even her ears reddened, and her cheeks burned.
Anyone could tell from her flushed cheeks that she deeply regretted asking. Sadly, there was no medicine for regret, and Mu Zibai couldn't very well lie to his wife.
Seeing Wenren Lingmeng's bashful, indignant expression, she looked as though she might start smoking like a cartoon character.
Mu Zibai smiled gently, refined and perfectly polite. Don't look at me—it was you who asked.
Wenren Lingmeng landed two heavy punches on Mu Zibai's chest, then kept pounding him, looking aggrieved and accusing.
"Why would you say things like that! You're such a bad guy! I—I need to wash my ears!" Wenren Lingmeng pounded Mu Zibai in a fit of anger, feeling as though her ears had been dirtied.
If she could, she'd have wanted a new pair of ears right then and there. It was all Mu Zibai's fault! He'd stuffed all sorts of strange things into her head.
She'd already been weird enough, and now she was even weirder!
As expected, Mu Zibai was a terrible man. One encounter with him, and a woman's whole life was ruined!
She thought of the refined young lady she'd once been, pure in thought, admiring flowers and gazing at the moon, with her mind full of lovely poetry. Then she thought of herself now. There was no going back!
And the culprit behind it all, Mu Zibai, still had the nerve to laugh at her.
She pounded Mu Zibai's chest with all her might, avenging the purity she'd lost.
Sadly, there was no going back. No matter how much she took her revenge, Wenren Lingmeng still felt she'd been sullied.
"You asked me yourself, didn't you? You can't blame me," Mu Zibai said. He wasn't taking the fall for this.
"What are you talking about!" Wenren Lingmeng refused to admit it, haughtily insisting, "This is obviously your fault. You corrupted me! Just because I asked, that doesn't mean you had to answer. Is that the sort of thing you can say to me?"
"You're my wife. How could I lie to you?" Mu Zibai said with an honest smile, his arm around Wenren Lingmeng's slender waist. "I'm pure and kind by nature. I'd never lie to my wife. I'm the very definition of a good man."
He gave himself a thumbs-up, as though he wanted to say that all the good men in the world took him as their role model. He was the gold standard of good men.
A good man—that's me. I'm Mu Zibai.
Wenren Lingmeng leaned her head back, looking unconvinced. As if she'd believe that! Her stinking husband was a real scoundrel!
"No, my ears are dirty now." Wenren Lingmeng puffed out her cheeks and spoke angrily.
"Then should I rub them for you?" Mu Zibai rubbed Wenren Lingmeng's earlobe.
"Not a chance. That'd just be letting you take advantage of me." Wenren Lingmeng huffed and scooted away, then leaned back toward him and said, "You bad guy. Don't say things like that again. Aren't you embarrassed?"
Mu Zibai said unconcernedly, "We're an old married couple. What's there to be embarrassed about?"
"What do you mean, an old married couple? We've only been married for a month," Wenren Lingmeng said softly.
"They say one day as husband and wife earns a hundred days of affection. Just how long have we been together? We've earned three thousand days of affection already. And they say that a hundred years of cultivation lets you cross the river in the same boat, while a thousand years lets you share the same pillow. By that reckoning, our match has lasted at least nine million years. Doesn't that make us an old married couple?" Mu Zibai said with a smile.
Wenren Lingmeng held up her slender fingers and counted, then frowned. "Who calculates things like that? Can you really count it that way?"
Mu Zibai grinned. "Why not? Besides, we're husband and wife. From now on, we'll be closer than anyone. What's the big deal?"
Wenren Lingmeng shyly lowered her head without saying a word, which meant she accepted what Mu Zibai had said.
He patted Wenren Lingmeng's head. For some reason, it felt like petting a cat. Wenren Lingmeng really was like a well-behaved yet haughty little kitten.
Mu Zibai edged closer to Wenren Lingmeng, squeezing in beside her, wanting to be near her.
Wenren Lingmeng guarded herself against Mu Zibai. "What are you doing?"
"Of course I'm snuggling with my wife."
Wenren Lingmeng asked, puzzled, "What does 'snuggling' mean?"
Ignoring Wenren Lingmeng's protests, Mu Zibai shamelessly pressed himself against her. She half-heartedly tried to push him away, but eventually gave in. She was secretly happy, though on the surface she looked timid and bashful.
She pulled the blanket up over her face, hiding her embarrassment and leaving only her eyes exposed as she cautiously watched what was happening outside.
She struggled to convince herself that she'd only reluctantly let Mu Zibai come close because she couldn't overcome his shamelessness. It absolutely wasn't because she wanted him to! Absolutely not!!!
They were already married, and he'd seen her before. It shouldn't be a big deal, right?
"Snuggling means people who are very close pressing together," Mu Zibai explained.
A shy, squirming voice came from under the blanket. "Like we're doing now?"
"I think we could take it a step further." Mu Zibai's roguish hand reached over.
"Ah!"
Wenren Lingmeng suddenly felt something touch her and jumped in fright, instinctively trying to dodge. But Mu Zibai had already squeezed her into the corner, leaving her nowhere to go.
She bit down hard on the blanket, her hands clenched tight. She shouldn't have let Mu Zibai come over!
It was because Mu Zibai was shameless while she was too bashful. All she could do was dodge that roving, lecherous hand of his.
Seeing that Wenren Lingmeng wasn't resisting, Mu Zibai grew even more carried away. His hand explored without restraint, constantly testing the limits of Wenren Lingmeng's boundaries.
Wenren Lingmeng shrank down in embarrassment, nearly burying her entire head under the blanket.
How could he do this to her?
Before you continue