It Turned Out He'd Be Watching Surveillance Cameras

The next day at noon, the sun was shining brightly, streaming through the living room window and casting a patch of brilliant light across the floor.

Gu Yue sat on the sofa with a tablet on her lap, eating the milk oatmeal Tang Wulin had specifically heated up before leaving that morning while checking over an article. She wore loose lounge clothes, her long hair casually pinned up to reveal her fair neck. An air of lazy scholarly grace surrounded her.

Just then, a hurried and rather inelegant barrage of knocking came from the entryway—or perhaps it was more accurate to call it "kicking the door"? Immediately afterward, the security door was violently shoved open by brute force, even slamming into the wall-mounted bumper with a loud bang.

Before Gu Yue could react, a golden figure shot inside like a cannonball, carrying a gust of outdoor wind and... an indescribably excited aura.

"Wife! You lied to me!!"

Tang Wulin shouted, his voice brimming with irrepressible delight and... accusation? He crossed the room in a few strides, completely ignoring Gu Yue's stunned expression. He bent down and solidly pounced on her, tablet and all, knocking her onto the soft sofa.

"Ah!" Caught off guard, Gu Yue dropped her spoon, which clattered crisply onto the floor, while the tablet nearly slid off to one side. Tang Wulin's heavy body pinned her down, and she instinctively pressed both hands against his chest, trying to push him away enough to see what this suddenly crazed man was shouting about. "Tang Wulin! Are you crazy? In the middle of the day? I haven't even saved my work yet!"

"I don't care! Wife, you lied to me!" Tang Wulin paid no heed, wrapping both arms tightly around her waist and burying his face in the hollow of her neck, nuzzling back and forth. His excitement made him incoherent. "What neighborhood security staff? I'm not guarding the gate at all! They hired me for the fire control surveillance room!"

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes astonishingly bright like two dazzling stars, burning with the flames of "a raise" and "a future." "Six thousand two hundred Federation Credits a month! Direct deposit! And I even get a uniform!"

Gu Yue was left dizzy by his antics and the explosive news. The annoyance she had felt from being pounced on was instantly replaced by shock. Her mouth hung wide enough to fit an egg inside, and her beautiful eyes were filled with disbelief.

"Six... six thousand two hundred? Federation Credits?" Gu Yue repeated, her voice distorted by surprise. "Isn't the normal rate... around two thousand three? Even with Shrek City's high cost of living, the average is only a little over three thousand... How could you possibly get a salary of six thousand two hundred?"

As someone sensitive to numbers and carefully budgeting their daily life, this offer far exceeded the limits of her understanding. It was like going out to buy cabbage, only to find the owner charging you diamond prices.

Tang Wulin smugly rolled off her, though he still had an arm around her shoulders. Sitting up, he pulled a brand-new offer letter stamped with a bright red official seal from his pocket and waved it before Gu Yue's eyes, his face covered in a radiant smile that plainly said, Praise me already.

"Damn! Wife, have you even looked at the qualifications I've got?" Tang Wulin puffed out his chest. Though he was wearing an ordinary T-shirt, he somehow struck an imposing pose. "A graduate of Shrek Academy's Inner Court, a level-seven blacksmith, and I once had counterterrorism experience in the Far North... though I did end up escaping with a little silver dragon."

"...Then work hard." Gu Yue finally took the offer letter, her tone calm but her eyes holding a trace of gratification and a faint smile. "Since the pay is good, it means they value your abilities. Don't disgrace yourself, and don't disgrace... disgrace our family."

She paused, then reached out and pinched Tang Wulin's cheek, not gently. "But we haven't even finished lunch, and you came charging in like that and scared me. I didn't save my work, so I wrote that whole section for nothing."

"I was wrong, I was wrong!" Tang Wulin immediately admitted his mistake with an excellent attitude. He sprang from the sofa, pulled Gu Yue to her feet as well, and pointed at the half-bowl of oatmeal left on the coffee table as if presenting a treasure. "Wife, finish that, and I'll heat you up a new bowl! Or should I order takeout? I got paid today! Oh, no, I mean, I'm going to get paid in the future! My treat!"

He rubbed his hands excitedly, feeling as if he had endless energy. Six thousand two hundred! That was a full thousand more than he had expected! It meant their household finances could loosen up a little. It meant Gu Yue would not have to work so hard calculating every bit of her manuscript fees. It also meant... maybe he could occasionally buy bags of fish fillets openly and honestly?

"No need to order takeout. Just heat up the leftovers. Don't waste food," Gu Yue said, though as she picked up a new spoon and took small bites of the now slightly cool oatmeal, the corners of her lips could not help but lift.

"Best wife!" Tang Wulin beamed and immediately ran into the kitchen. He skillfully found the leftover dishes and rice sealed in plastic wrap and put them into the microwave to heat. He also picked up the spoon Gu Yue had dropped, washed it clean, and poured her a glass of warm water, setting it by her side.

"And you're not allowed to 'drain' me again tonight. I'm going to bed early tonight."

"Huh? But..." Tang Wulin had just been about to protest, but the moment he saw Gu Yue's warning look, he immediately backed down. "Oh... all right. Then... I'll try to restrain myself."