Hired Hand Zhang

"Yes. I even made a point of looking. Quite a few wealthy young men are interested. They've seen your photo, too, and they don't mind that you've been married before. After all, you've never had children," Yang Su chimed in.

"Dad—"

"Mom—"

Cheng Dongxue was speechless. She couldn't believe her parents had said that.

Whenever the subject turned to something she was good at, it usually meant something was up. Zhang Yang glanced at Yang Su. She was already forty-five, but she took excellent care of herself and lived the life of a wealthy wife.

She pampered herself every day and kept up with fashion. She was still beautiful; standing beside Cheng Dongxue, she could even be mistaken for her sister.

He glanced at her collar. Hidden beneath it was a sapphire necklace worth millions, which she had secretly bought without telling Cheng Hai.

"Mom, your necklace looks nice." His anger vanished, and he gave her a sly smile.

"Necklace? What necklace?" Cheng Hai sprang up and hurried over. He pulled Yang Su's collar open, revealing the sapphire sparkling blue beneath the lights.

Yang Su loved material things, cared about appearances, and liked to keep up with others. Cheng Hai was generous, but he disliked reckless spending. This ought to start an argument.

"You bought another necklace?" Cheng Hai turned his anger on Yang Su and began demanding answers.

"No. A friend lent it to me for a few days." Yang Su made up an excuse, fixing Zhang Yang with a murderous glare.

"Which friend? How much did it cost?" Cheng Hai was furious. She had used that excuse too many times for him to believe it.

Watching the couple argue, Zhang Yang breathed a sigh of relief. Cheng Dongxue, meanwhile, looked livid. Zhang Yang was shameless to pull a trick like that.

Zhang Yang headed straight to the bedroom, grabbed some clothes, and went to shower.

Cheng Dongxue tried to calm Cheng Hai and Yang Su in the living room. During the argument, Zhang Yang heard that the necklace had cost over three million. Cheng Hai finally lost his patience, and the shouting grew louder.

Every family had its troubles, and the Cheng Family had enough to last a lifetime.

Wearing short pajamas, Zhang Yang came out to get some water. Cheng Dongxue's close friend Lin Xiaofei had just returned from school. She saw the argument in the living room and was about to step in when she spotted Zhang Yang coming out with a glass.

Lin Xiaofei couldn't help remembering last night and that morning. Her cheeks flushed. The sight of his body beneath those short pajamas captivated her, and remembering it only made her blush harder.

"Uncle, Auntie, let's talk this through..." After a moment of embarrassment, Lin Xiaofei joined the others in trying to calm them, her small bag still on her back.

"You little brat. You came in without even saying hello." Zhang Yang watched Lin Xiaofei and shook his head with a sigh.

Even the fiercest war eventually ended. The Cheng Family's battle ended when Cheng Hai and Yang Su wore themselves out. After a short rest, it suddenly dawned on them: hadn't they been confronting Zhang Yang? How had they ended up fighting each other?

They exchanged a look and glanced toward Zhang Yang's bedroom. It had gone completely quiet. Cheng Dongxue had gone inside, too.

"How did you know about my mother's necklace?" Cheng Dongxue asked Zhang Yang as soon as she entered the room, baffled. Surely Zhang Yang hadn't been following her mother, Yang Su.

"I'd never seen her wear it, so I knew it was new. Besides, she likes luxury goods." Zhang Yang played it off, and she let the matter drop.

Cheng Dongxue frowned. Zhang Yang clearly knew her parents well. Otherwise, he couldn't have used that trick to turn their anger away from him so smoothly.

A large bed stood in the bedroom, big enough for several people, with two pillows neatly arranged on it. Zhang Yang pulled bedding from the wardrobe, took one of the pillows off the bed, and threw it on the floor.

"I want to sleep in the bed," Zhang Yang protested.

"..." Cheng Dongxue was startled. It was the first time Zhang Yang had made this request aloud. Before, he had only brought it up silently to himself.

"I want to sleep in the bed," Zhang Yang insisted.

Zhang Yang kept pressing his case, but Cheng Dongxue said nothing. She knew what a normal man meant by those words. He wanted to sleep with someone, didn't he?

Sleep with what?

A person!

Who?

Cheng Dongxue, of course.

But there was much Cheng Dongxue didn't know. Whenever the rest of them were away, Zhang Yang and Lin Xiaofei had sex in this very house.

Zhang Yang had been trapped in the same day for a thousand years. Throughout that long stretch of time, every day with Lin Xiaofei had miraculously felt like their first time.

The thrill, the excitement, the overwhelming thrill and excitement...

If he hadn't been trapped in the same day for a thousand years, Zhang Yang would never have known that strange feeling.

If his mother hadn't fallen seriously ill and his family been too poor to pay for treatment, Zhang Yang would never have married into the Cheng Family. Becoming their live-in son-in-law had been like selling himself to the Cheng Family; he had become a hired hand.

After several more demands went unanswered, Zhang Yang's lips curved upward. He stopped worrying about it, picked up the bedding and pillow, and tossed them back onto the bed.

She hadn't answered, which meant silence. Silence meant consent, and consent gave Zhang Yang the nerve to go ahead.

"What are you doing?" Cheng Dongxue cried from inside the bedroom.

Her parents had reached the door, ready to confront Zhang Yang, but stopped dead. They stared at each other in shock. They had heard their daughter's voice. If they barged in now, they would surely catch the couple in the act, and interrupting them would be wrong.

"Going to sleep. Together!" Zhang Yang still wore a wicked grin. He was well practiced at this—an old hand.

"Uncle, Auntie..."

Lin Xiaofei came out for a drink of water and stared in surprise at Cheng Hai and Yang Su, who were pressed against the door.

"Shh..."

Yang Su pulled Lin Xiaofei toward the living room. As she left, Lin Xiaofei heard the breathless sounds from inside. Her cheeks flushed, and she remembered that morning. Zhang Yang really did have stamina.

How many times had it been since last night?

It was normal for someone without a job to get up late. Zhang Yang was still on strike that morning, too, and hadn't been the first to rise and make breakfast.

It was normal for a college student to sleep even later. Many stayed up all night and could barely wake during the day.

"Whoa—"

Zhang Yang got up and stepped out, only to run into Lin Xiaofei, who had just emerged from her room. She had a spectacular pair of dark circles under her eyes.

"An overnight promotion to national treasure," Zhang Yang teased her.

Lin Xiaofei's room was too close to Zhang Yang's bedroom. The noise had kept her awake all night, tossing and turning until morning left her looking like a panda.

"It's your fault. I just don't understand how you have so much energy and stamina—and how you can keep that up all night." Lin Xiaofei covered her mouth as she yawned and complained.

Zhang Yang had a cigarette between his lips. A brief separation could make a reunion feel like a honeymoon. He and Cheng Dongxue saw each other day and night, yet he hadn't been able to touch her. Last night, they had finally made progress, so Zhang Yang had made up for lost time in one go, putting in a whole night's overtime.

"Got a moment?" Zhang Yang asked Lin Xiaofei. Her hair was disheveled, her collar crooked, and her face weary.

Some things were better left untried. Once there was a first time, they became hard to control.

"I need to sleep!" Lin Xiaofei met Zhang Yang's eyes. They shared a knowing smile and went into her room together. Once again, he became Hired Hand Zhang.