So, You’re the Henpecked One? 9

Chapter 9

Chu Xihuan truly hadn’t expected that this person, who seemed so honest and obedient, would be so bold as to say such a thing.

Can I kiss you?

Of course she could, just not now.

Chu Xihuan sighed softly, still keeping her back to Lin Zhao, her voice a little quiet.

“Lin Zhao, I still need time.”

She had already calmly accepted the fact that she had married a stranger and was willing to bear all the potential negative consequences of her decision.

But when it came to physical intimacy, she really wasn’t ready yet.

Lin Zhao was slightly taken aback and withdrew her hand. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Lin Zhao felt a little dejected, thinking it was normal for Chu Xihuan to be unwilling. After all, she didn’t like her, and it was said that young ladies from prominent families were more reserved and subtle, unlike her, who was crude and direct.

Chu Xihuan opened her mouth, but in the end, said nothing more.

“Go to sleep. You must be very tired,” Lin Zhao said in a low voice.

Chu Xihuan closed her eyes. She could feel the warmth of another person in the same bed. As someone who was used to sleeping alone, she wasn’t quite accustomed to this, but for some reason, she felt a strange sense of softness in her heart.

Lin Zhao… She knew she wouldn’t be too bad, but she hadn’t expected her to be even better than she had imagined.

Hearing the other person’s breathing gradually become steady and shallow, Chu Xihuan couldn’t help but smile.

Just a moment ago, she was so full of ideas, asking if she could kiss her, but in the blink of an eye, she was the first to fall asleep.

Chu Xihuan relaxed, and sleepiness washed over her once again as she drifted off.

**

Both of them slept soundly. When they woke up, the noise from outside had long since subsided. The thick darkness of the night was pierced by the dim, haloed light of a candle, creating a quiet, almost surreal atmosphere.

When Lin Zhao woke up, she found that one of her arms was hanging off the side of the bed, and her whole body was so close to the edge that she was about to fall off. She yawned and used her other hand to pull back her numb arm. Then, as if remembering something, she turned to look toward the inside of the bed.

Chu Xihuan had changed from her initial position of lying on her side with her back to her, to lying on her back. She slept very properly, unlike her, who was about to roll off the bed.

Lin Zhao carefully got out of bed, afraid of waking the person who was still asleep. But as soon as her feet touched the floor, Chu Xihuan’s sleepy, muffled voice came from behind her.

“What time is it, roughly?” After a good night’s sleep, Chu Xihuan finally felt recovered. She had been so tired before that she had just been going through the motions of the wedding.

Lin Zhao was startled and looked back at her. She could vaguely see that her eyes were still closed, as if she were still waking up. In an instant, her own eyes seemed to be filled with stars. “I’ll go check.”

With that, she quickly ran to open the window and stuck her head out to look at the moon.

“It’s probably the Hour of the Tiger (approx. 3-5 AM). Are you hungry?” Lin Zhao closed the window again to prevent any small insects from getting in.

Chu Xihuan rubbed her face. Although she was well-rested, she still felt too lazy to get out of bed.

“A little.” After all, she had only eaten a little before going to sleep.

“What do you want to eat? I’ll go make it for you.” Lin Zhao had already lit the candle in the room. All that was left in the room were some pastries, but she figured there was still some food left for them in the kitchen.

Chu Xihuan got out of bed. Perhaps because it was late at night, she could feel a slight chill in just her inner robe. But the next second, an outer robe was draped over her shoulders, accompanied by Lin Zhao’s slightly shy voice.

“It’s a bit chilly. Don’t catch a cold.”

Chu Xihuan was slightly dazed. Lin Zhao had lost her parents at a young age and had no one to teach her, yet she had grown up to be like this. It showed her inherent kindness.

“Thank you,” Chu Xihuan said softly. “You should put on more clothes too, so you don’t catch a cold.”

“Mm!” The light in Lin Zhao’s eyes grew even brighter. She had someone who cared about her now.

She opened the wardrobe and pulled out one of her own outfits to put on. She couldn’t bear to wear the outer wedding robe again, especially if she was going to be making food. She would be heartbroken if it got dirty.

Chu Xihuan rinsed her mouth with some tea and looked at the pastries on the table. “I’ll just have some of these to tide me over.”

Her appetite wasn’t very big anyway; two pieces would be enough. There was no need to go to the trouble of making a fire and cooking in the middle of the night.

“These are cold. It’s not good for your stomach.” Lin Zhao frowned instinctively at this. It was fine for her to eat like this, but Chu Xihuan couldn’t. What if she made herself sick?

Just as she was about to say more, there was a knock on the door.

“Miss, are you awake? Are you hungry? There’s hot porridge warming in the kitchen for you.” It was the voice of Chu Xihuan’s maid.

Lin Zhao fell silent. It seemed she had no room to be useful.

Chu Xihuan didn’t notice her subtle change in mood and raised her voice slightly. “Yes, bring it in.”

It was clear the maid had noticed they were awake and had come to ask.

After replying, Chu Xihuan turned to look at Lin Zhao, intending to ask if she wanted anything else to eat, but in the candlelight, she saw the clothes Lin Zhao was wearing.

The heavily patched clothes looked like they were made from a hundred different scraps, and the stitching was so ugly it was hard to look at.

“Why are you still wearing these clothes? Didn’t you have new ones made?” Chu Xihuan frowned.

Being looked at like that made Lin Zhao feel a little awkward, and even a little ashamed.

“I didn’t have any new ones made,” she mumbled. It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about it, but her purse was empty, and without the casino as a source of income, she had no idea how to earn money for new clothes in the short term.

Chu Xihuan fell silent. “It was my oversight,” she finally said. “I forgot to tell them to make you a few sets of everyday clothes when they were making the wedding attire.”

“It’s fine. These clothes are still wearable,” Lin Zhao said quickly. She had already been spared any trouble or expense for this wedding. How could she keep taking advantage of her?

Just then, the maid came in with the porridge, so Chu Xihuan said no more.

Each with a bowl of porridge, they sat opposite each other in the middle of the night, eating slowly without a word. Surprisingly, there was no awkwardness or discomfort.

As Lin Zhao ate, she suddenly let out a laugh.

Hearing this, Chu Xihuan looked up at her in surprise, wondering how she could laugh while just drinking porridge.

“In all these years, you’re the second person to sit and have porridge with me like this.” Lin Zhao’s eyes rippled, and she smiled sweetly.

She felt that she was finally starting to taste the sweetness in her life.

Chu Xihuan fell silent, looking at her soft, vulnerable smile. In the end, she swallowed the words she was about to say—that she wasn’t keeping her company, but was just hungry herself.

“Then who was the first?”

Perhaps it was the gentle quiet of the night that softened Chu Xihuan’s voice as well.

“Mao Xiaoyun.” Lin Zhao smiled happily. “She’s the only one I can truly call a friend. Sometimes she’ll eat with me.”

Chu Xihuan stirred the porridge in her bowl. The green vegetable leaves mixed in added a refreshing touch. She pondered for a moment and asked, “Did your motley crew of friends never eat with you?”

At her words, Lin Zhao blinked and glanced cautiously at Chu Xihuan’s expression. When it came to her past, she felt a lack of confidence in front of Chu Xihuan and didn’t really want her to know too much about it.

It would only make her feel more inferior.

“They don’t count,” Lin Zhao said hesitantly. She didn’t explain why, afraid that if she said too much, she would say the wrong thing and let Chu Xihuan discover what a rotten person she really was.

Chu Xihuan nodded and didn’t press further. “Eat,” she said softly.

“Mm!”

Seeing that she didn’t ask any more questions, Lin Zhao’s spirits lifted considerably. “Mm!” she replied emphatically, and the vegetable porridge in her mouth tasted even better.

“What should I call you from now on?” At this, Lin Zhao’s face grew strangely hot.

Although she had been trying to restrain her eagerness, she couldn’t always control it, which was quite embarrassing.

Chu Xihuan slowly sipped her porridge. This was indeed a problem. They couldn’t keep calling each other “Miss Lin” and “Miss Chu” so formally. But if they called each other “wife,” Chu Xihuan found the term a bit too cloying and couldn’t bring herself to say it.

It would also be strange to hear someone else call her that.

“Just call me Xihuan,” Chu Xihuan said after a moment of thought. It was neither too intimate nor too distant, perfect for their current situation.

Lin Zhao opened her mouth to say something, but seeing Chu Xihuan’s impassive expression, she closed it again. She felt a little disappointed, but didn’t dare to say anything.

“Then what will you call me?” Lin Zhao asked hopefully. “When I was little, my mom used to call me Zhaozhao. Zhao, as in the ‘zhao’ from ‘zhaoyang’ (morning sun). She said she hoped I would be as full of life and warmth as the morning sun.”

Hearing her string of words, Chu Xihuan looked up at her. She naturally understood what she wanted to be called, but…

“That’s your mother’s childhood nickname for you. How could I call you that?”

“I will naturally just call you Lin Zhao.”

Calling her by such a nickname was too strange.

Especially since they had no feelings for each other yet.

**

Author’s Note:

Zhaozhao: [Heartbroken][Heartbroken]