Darling, I Don't Want to Work Hard Anymore

At the counter of the Jing Family Restaurant, Jing Zhi and Lu Mingyuan, the young couple, had been chatting when Jing Zhi suddenly brought up their marriage contract.

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

As soon as she finished speaking, Jing Zhi fixed her determined gaze on Lu Mingyuan, who stood close enough to touch. She stared straight into his eyes, waiting for his answer.

In this life, much like the last, it was usually the man who brought up marriage first. It wasn't unheard of for a woman to take the initiative, but it was rare.

Jing Zhi had brought it up now because they had already discussed it before. She was only raising the subject again, so it wasn't especially presumptuous or embarrassing.

Their feelings for each other had reached the right point, too, so Jing Zhi felt the time had come.

Besides, four years ago, Lu Mingyuan had gone to her home specifically to discuss this. He had said that once they were both adults, they could get engaged—and even married.

Now Lu Mingyuan was eighteen and an adult. Jing Zhi, meanwhile, was still a little short of eighteen, but only by a month or two. And they were only talking about getting engaged, so a month or two hardly mattered.

But as the time drew closer, Jing Zhi noticed that Lu Mingyuan was still as calm as ever, not the least bit anxious. She was so worried she felt like her eyebrows were on fire.

What did he mean by that? Was he thinking of backing out?

Lu Mingyuan had no such intention, but Jing Zhi couldn't stop imagining the worst.

She had been raised by her parents to carefully evaluate him, and they had nurtured their feelings for one another over all these years. She couldn't let someone else snatch the fruit from her tree.

She had heard that many great clans had a custom of catching a son-in-law among the successful candidates after the imperial examinations.

In Jing Zhi's eyes, her Lu Mingyuan was the finest there was, and he fit the standards of those great clans perfectly. She was terrified that someone might snatch him away from her, even though, as far as she knew, Lu Mingyuan wasn't that sort of person.

But better safe than sorry.

What if Lu Mingyuan couldn't resist temptation? Or what if someone laid a trap and forced him into doing something he didn't want to do? Then what?

So Jing Zhi decided she had to claim him once and for all.

They could get engaged first. As for the wedding, they could take their time. There was no rush.

To be honest, although Jing Zhi and Lu Mingyuan had been promised to each other before, it had only been a verbal childhood betrothal. They had never formally drawn up an engagement document, let alone gone through the other formalities, such as the Six Rites and the three matchmakers.

In other words, either of them could still back out at any time.

Jing Zhi didn't want that, of course. She was determined to claim him today, and no one could stop her.

So after she finished speaking, Jing Zhi fixed her blazing gaze on Lu Mingyuan and watched him without blinking. She even stared into his eyes, looking for any sign that he might be wavering.

On the other side, Lu Mingyuan had no idea exactly what was going through Jing Zhi's mind, but he could guess the gist of it.

If he knew that the little girl before him had compared him to a peach, he would probably have laughed aloud. She really was the one he had taught—and the woman who would one day be his wife. They were so alike.

Four years ago, when a wealthy merchant surnamed Wang had visited Jing Zhi's family to ask for her hand, Lu Mingyuan had compared her to a peach, too.

In that respect, the two of them really were a perfect match.

Of course, all of that was hypothetical.

Lu Mingyuan had no way of knowing about it. He couldn't read minds.

But he knew he had to give the lovely woman before him an answer, lest she worry or even misunderstand.

Truthfully, this was what Lu Mingyuan wanted, too.

He had planned to wait until he finished designing his new divine ability, sometime around the end of the month, before bringing up their marriage contract with Jing Zhi. But since she had brought it up now, he was a hundred percent willing. He had not the slightest desire to refuse.

With that in mind, Lu Mingyuan gave her a definite answer:

"Ah Zhi, how about I go see Matchmaker Liu tomorrow?"

"Huh? Tomorrow?"

Jing Zhi was overjoyed to hear the answer she had been longing for, but he wanted to find a matchmaker tomorrow? Wasn't that a little too soon?

"What, you don't want to?"

As he spoke, Lu Mingyuan deliberately put on a long face, as if he truly believed Jing Zhi didn't want to.

"No, no! Of course I do. But isn't it a little rushed? I mean, we should talk it over with our families first."

"Mm, you're right, it is a little rushed. My Ah Zhi really thinks things through. How about this: I'll go home and talk it over with my second uncle, then we can ask Matchmaker Liu to help us pick an auspicious day. You should tell your parents, too. Don't keep it from them."

"Don't worry. I'll tell them."

Jing Zhi thought Lu Mingyuan's arrangements made sense, so she agreed.

As for her parents, she wasn't worried at all. They already thought the world of their Mingyuan and had told her to hold on tight to this fine future son-in-law. They even often gave her advice on how to win him over.

So when it came to winning Lu Mingyuan over, her parents would surely support her wholeheartedly. How could they possibly object?

Once they had talked it through, the narrow space suddenly seemed much more harmonious.

They were in love with each other, after all. How could things not be harmonious?

But there seemed to be a fresh, soothing fragrance in the air.

Farther away, Qian Niu seemed to catch the scent, too. He sneezed.

Lu Mingyuan and Jing Zhi heard him and exchanged a smile. Everything was understood without a word.

"Oh, right, Ah Zhi. Does this count as me living off you?"

For some reason, Lu Mingyuan suddenly came out with that. Jing Zhi was completely baffled.

What did that have to do with anything?

Who asked something like that?

And right to the person involved, no less—who was also one of the people involved.

If word got around, people would surely marvel at Lu Mingyuan as a once-in-a-millennium oddball.

As for living off her, Jing Zhi knew he was talking about the Earth Luck Points. In her view, Lu Mingyuan had about two thousand Human Luck Points and a thousand Earth Luck Points. That clearly wasn't enough for him to create a divine ability, so he would have to rely on the dowry she brought with her.

Jing Zhi wasn't really sure whether that counted as living off her.

But she knew that "living off a woman" wasn't a flattering phrase. Many men cared deeply about it, feeling that it robbed them of their dignity or was even shameful. So she had to firmly deny it.

And Jing Zhi had already resolved never to bring it up in the future, lest it hurt him or damage their relationship.

"Living off me? How could that be? We're 'of one heart, we can cleave gold'! It has nothing to do with you supporting me, so don't overthink it."

Jing Zhi blinked her big, innocent eyes, though it was hard to tell whether she truly believed what she was saying.

"Of one heart, we can cleave gold?"

Hearing that, Lu Mingyuan smiled faintly. He felt he was putting Jing Zhi on the spot. It was impressive that she had come up with such an answer.

But he had no need to deny it just to protect his pride or anything like that.

If he was living off her, then he was living off her. If he wasn't, then he wasn't. There was no need to lie to himself.

So Jing Zhi, waiting for Lu Mingyuan's response, heard him say, "Actually, living off someone is pretty great. I love living off someone. The food's sweet and delicious, and I don't even have to work. What could be better? It's perfect for a lazybones like me."

Jing Zhi was stunned by his answer. Were there really people like that in the world?

And her fiancé was one of them?

She had been with him all these years. How had she never noticed?

In Jing Zhi's eyes, Lu Mingyuan had always been a proud, ambitious man. How could he think living off someone was something to be proud of?

Had something happened to him?

But that didn't seem right, either. Apart from that shocking declaration just now, he was exactly the same as her Mingyuan.

Jing Zhi gave Lu Mingyuan a thorough once-over but saw nothing unusual.

There was nothing unusual, so of course she couldn't find anything.

Not minding that he lived off her was one thing, but what about everything else? Jing Zhi immediately asked, "Mingyuan, you're so open about liking to live off someone. Aren't you afraid the neighbors will talk?"

That was what Jing Zhi cared about most.

Rumors could be terribly powerful.

She didn't want other people's gossip to ruin the man she loved.

"Don't worry. I don't care what other people say. As long as you stay by my side, Ah Zhi, that's all that matters."

Since Lu Mingyuan said that, Jing Zhi finally let her anxious heart settle.

"I'll stay by your side forever. Wherever you go, whatever you do, I'll be there with you. We'll never part."

As she spoke, Jing Zhi leaned against Lu Mingyuan's chest, savoring the warmth and security of his embrace.

Lu Mingyuan naturally wrapped an arm around her soft waist.

They savored the warmth of the moment.

Truthfully, Lu Mingyuan really didn't care about living off someone.

It wasn't just because he didn't fear gossip. Another reason was that he had the means to ignore it.

Jing Zhi thought Lu Mingyuan had only around three thousand Qi Luck Points, but in truth, he had already passed ten billion and was nearing twenty billion.

For some reason, the sales of his [Chicken-Rabbit Cage Divine Ability] had surged again over the past few days, with several tens of millions more copies sold.

So Lu Mingyuan's assets were now close to twenty billion.

With food in hand, one's heart stayed calm.

The only problem was that he couldn't openly reveal all those assets. They belonged to "Anonymous," after all.

Although that "Anonymous" was also Lu Mingyuan himself.

But if he wanted to keep his "Anonymous" identity hidden, he had to keep it completely separate from his real identity, without the slightest connection.

Otherwise, anyone paying attention to him would notice something was off.

Never mind people far away. If Lu Mingyuan created even a halfway decent divine ability, the neighbors around here would dig up his entire past, leaving nothing untouched.

It couldn't be helped. Everyone wanted to learn from the strong, and studying the little details of their lives was a good place to start.

It was just like with celebrities: their fans wanted to dig up every last detail about them.

Of course, that could also get a celebrity into trouble by exposing the unsavory things they had hidden, but who cared?

The fans certainly didn't.

So Lu Mingyuan didn't want to leave himself such an obvious weak point. What if someone made the connection and linked him to "Anonymous"? That would be disastrous.

With all that in mind, Lu Mingyuan accepted Jing Zhi's dowry without a care. It wasn't as though he would shortchange her, so he might as well take it.

Just as Jing Zhi had said, when husband and wife worked with one heart, they could cleave gold.

Otherwise, if Lu Mingyuan wanted to create a new divine ability, he would have to lie low for several more years until he had saved enough Qi Luck Points to continue.

That would be a waste of time!

And what was so bad about living off someone? It had been a dream of many people in his previous life.

Lu Mingyuan thought to himself: Once I'm successful, maybe I'll even earn the enviable title of "Prince of Living Off His Wife." That was why he wasn't opposed to it.

Being able to live off someone was a rare talent, all right?

Besides, this wasn't "Auntie, I don't want to work hard anymore." It was "Darling, I don't want to work hard anymore."

Those were two different things.

His wife put up the money, he put in the work. That was a win-win partnership, building a happy and harmonious home together.

That was a far cry from relying on her for everything.