Brewing a Restorative Soup for His Husband?

The boy stood there in clean, neat clothes, his chin tipped up slightly, looking ready to be kissed.

For some inexplicable reason, the man's Adam's apple bobbed, and for one brief instant, he actually wanted to lower his head toward those lips he remembered being impossibly soft.

Only when the boy made a dissatisfied nasal sound to hurry him along did he snap out of his daze. He frowned in irritation and cleared his throat loudly.

Gu Shang stood ramrod straight, pretending not to understand with a cold expression.

Ji Mingzhu: "..."

He'd already hinted this much! The boy's beautifully shaped brows drew together. He was a little angry!

"Hubby, you're being rude," the boy said unhappily.

Gu Shang: "..."

After a moment of silence, the man couldn't resist asking, "How am I being rude?"

Ji Mingzhu glared at him, pressing his pale pink lips together unhappily. "You're not returning the favor. I kissed you yesterday, so today it's your turn to kiss me."

The boy's soft, gentle voice sank, brimming with hurt.

Gu Shang's brows knitted tightly, his expression tense, and he quickly bent down to peck the boy on the cheek.

It wasn't that he wanted to kiss him. It was just that, given this little drama queen's relentless persistence, there would probably be no end to it if he didn't.

Ji Mingzhu returned to the main hall with a spring in his step, only to discover that the Gu Family had already finished eating.

The boy softened his voice, looking as sweet as could be. "Mom, I'm back."

The boy had a youthful face, and his voice was clear, gentle, and soft. Looking like that, he didn't even need to say anything. Just standing there, fair-skinned and well-behaved, made him hard to dislike.

She held herself back again and again before managing to reply with a reasonably composed tone, "It's all right. It's good that you went to see A Shang off."

Gu Shang had been especially independent since childhood, and had gone abroad to study while still in his teens. He had always been alone and had grown used to it. All these years, although they could find no fault with the way Gu Shang treated them, he... wasn't close to them either.

A trace of loneliness flickered in Shen Yue Ru's eyes.

In any case... whether the affection was genuine or feigned, at least that child would have someone relatively close to him by his side.

Why shouldn't temporary warmth count as comfort?

She smiled softly. "We still have things to do, and Gu Yan needs to go to class, so we'll be leaving now."

Ji Mingzhu nodded obediently. "Okay, Mom."

Madam Gu paused, then couldn't help adding, "A Shang is grown now, and we can't keep him in line anymore. He's always had a mind of his own, and we can't talk him around. When you have a moment, could you remind him to get some rest?"

Since this wife had married into the family, whatever calculations he might harbor deep down, at least on the surface, he had the right to show concern for his husband.

Ji Mingzhu sounded a warning bell for himself. "Okay, Mom. I'll pay closer attention."

Gu Yan snorted, looking thoroughly disdainful.

After seeing the Gu Family off, Ji Mingzhu stood there thinking for a while.

Although he really wanted to show concern for Gu Shang, theirs was an arranged marriage between strangers. They genuinely knew little about each other, so he had no idea where to start.

Ji Mingzhu's mind whirled, and he soon thought of Uncle Chen. Uncle Chen seemed to manage the enormous residence with perfect efficiency, and appeared to have worked here for many years. Surely he knew much more about Gu Shang than Ji Mingzhu did.

Just like the maids who accompanied young ladies into marriage as part of their dowries, no one knew their masters better except their own mothers.

And so Ji Mingzhu promptly summoned Uncle Chen, intending to ask him outright just how badly his husband neglected his health.

Young Master Ji had always insisted on doing everything to perfection. He could never tolerate the miserable prospect of his husband's physical weakness ruining their sex life and ultimately driving them apart.

If his husband really was all show and no substance, he would have to brew him a nourishing restorative soup!