The Laid-back Life of a Stepmother

Chapter 84

"A gentleman changes after three days of separation, so we should look upon him with new eyes."

This was the only clean thought that popped into Wen Ye's mind after she emerged from under the bedding.

Wen Ye took a deep breath and turned to look at the person beside her. A drop of liquid, either sweat or tears, naturally slipped from the corner of her eye. When she spoke, her voice was slightly hoarse: "That move just now, I don't think I ever taught you."

Xu Yuejia, not knowing where he had fetched a clean handkerchief, bent down to gently wipe the sweat from her face.

He replied: "Mhm, you never taught me."

Wen Ye, somewhat slow to react, realized after a moment and directly asked him: "Did you sneak a peek at my books?"

Xu Yuejia put away the handkerchief and said: "I did so openly."

Wen Ye was holding a pair of rabbit ears that were no longer in good shape, raising her eyebrows: "That doesn't seem like your style, husband."

"You're different tonight."

Wen Ye spoke ambiguously, but tonight Xu Yuejia seemed to have evolved from a docile rabbit into a wolf king of the mountains.

In the past, although he wasn't averse to such matters, he wasn't particularly enthusiastic either. She taught him what to do, and he did it, never stepping out of line.

Before, the term 'methodical' would have described Xu Yuejia's behavior during these nights, but now...

"You taught me," Xu Yuejia's gaze shifted downwards. In the next moment, the nearly broken rabbit ears in Wen Ye's hand were saved.

Wen Ye looked at her suddenly empty hand and said helplessly: "Husband, you sure know how to put the blame on me."

Xu Yuejia spoke calmly: "You said that feelings are maintained through give and take, which is how they endure."

Wen Ye tried to recall, but Xu Yuejia's calm expression made her uncertain: "I did say that, but was that what I meant back then?"

Xu Yuejia continued: "You also said that deep emotions, if buried too long, need to be occasionally expressed to show sincerity to the other person."

Wen Ye: "......"

Well, she felt the sincerity.

But if she remembered correctly, when she said those things, it wasn't quite what he interpreted it to mean.

Wen Ye gathered his thoughts, which had been disrupted by Xu Yuejia, and said again, "When did you learn this behind my back, sir?"

She straightened out her thoughts, which had been disrupted by Xu Yuejia, and asked again: "When did you learn it behind my back, husband?"

She ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????thought back carefully, and in the days before today, she had always been occupying the west side study, so he shouldn't have had the chance.

"A month and a half ago," Xu Yuejia replied frankly.

A month and a half ago, Wen Ye calculated mentally. That was the time when she and Madam Lu went to escape the summer heat.

"Since you already know it all, you were pretending before," Wen Ye said.

If he had admitted it earlier, she could have enjoyed it sooner.

"Your book said this is called a surprise," Xu Yuejia responded.

If she remembered correctly, today was his birthday.

Wen Ye paused for a while and then asked: "Did you also read the novel?"

Xu Yuejia: "It was wrapped in the cover of 'The Three-Character Classic,' so I accidentally picked it up when I had spare time."

Wen Ye: "......"

Xu Yuejia's words were sometimes soft, sometimes hard.

After a long while, she looked up to the sky and sighed: "Husband, you've fallen."

At this, Xu Yuejia's gaze shifted upwards to meet hers.

Wen Ye changed her words honestly: "But I like it."

There was no sense of guilt about corrupting an otherwise good and upwardly mobile young man.

Xu Yuejia raised the rabbit ears in his hand and said: "This isn't in your book."

Wen Ye glanced at the rabbit ears, now restored to their original state by the man, and said: "This is called drawing inferences from one case to another. Wasn't that what your teacher taught you when you were studying?"

"Was it?" Xu Yuejia asked mildly.

Wen Ye sat up and said: "I originally thought you might prefer those three books more."

Xu Yuejia: "You weren't wrong."

Wen Ye inwardly scoffed but didn't expose him.

She watched as he claimed indifference with his words but acted quite differently, using a sandalwood box to store the rabbit ear headband.

Meanwhile, what he declared ‘liked more’ were still lying in the dusty wooden box she had hastily found to store them.

Looking at them, she felt a bit sorry for them. Wen Ye got out of bed and walked over, reaching out to stroke them gently.

Wen Ye pretended to be sad and said: "What a pity. Those were the three books I finally found after searching through the Pine Mountain Academy's treasure trove."

Xu Yuejia put away the sandalwood box and turned back to see this scene.

Wen Ye looked up at him, her eyes making it seem as if he were a heartless man who abandoned his wife and children.

Xu Yuejia spoke: "The books need to be returned."

In other words, they didn't belong to either him or her.

Wen Ye quickly covered up: "Actually, I originally planned to copy them for you."

Xu Yuejia: "It's still not too late to start now."

Wen Ye was skeptical she had heard correctly. What time was it now? Who's husband would ask his wife to copy books in the middle of the night?

Wen Ye took a step back and said: "I think I'll go take a bath first."

Xu Yuejia watched her retreating figure, and on his cold demeanor, a hint of color emerged.

About fifteen minutes later, the familiar scene repeated itself.

Wen Ye, wrapped in clean nightwear, walked over and glanced at the sutra book in the man's hand, pausing: "Why is it always this one?"

After speaking, she sat down, her gaze moving upwards, and she was momentarily silent.

What was this if not a sutra book? Xu Yuejia was impressive, being able to read these without changing his expression.

Wen Ye: "Husband, you don't need to study so diligently."

Xu Yuejia: "There's no end to learning."

Wen Ye, however, said: "But taking too big a step isn't good."

There's no way one should read those kinds of books too often.

Wen Ye was earnestly teaching: "There's an ancient saying, 'Reviewing the old can lead to understanding the new,' husband, do you understand?"

Xu Yuejia pondered for a moment, then put down the book and turned to look at her: "You're right."

Meeting his gaze, Wen Ye said: "It's just that I'll need to pretend to be sick tomorrow, so I won't have to get up early."

What a good teacher she was, leading her student through a late-night 'review and re-learning.'

Wen Ye was deeply moved by herself.

*

The next day, around late morning.

After finishing school, Xu Yuxuan ran straight to the west courtyard.

However, he couldn't enter the inner chamber. Tao Zhi had been stationed there since early morning, and she stopped him immediately, whispering: "Second Madam hasn't woken up yet."

Xu Yuxuan obediently covered his little mouth and changed direction on his own.

In the west side study, Xu Yuejia was leaning over the table, copying with a brush.

The books needed to be returned in a month, so the best way was to copy down the content word for word to study slowly.

"Father~" Xu Yuxuan called softly.

Hearing the voice, Xu Yuejia looked up and said: "You're back from school."

Xu Yuxuan nodded his little head and walked around the long desk, wanting to climb into Xu Yuejia's embrace.

He seemed to no longer be afraid of Xu Yuejia at all.

Xu Yuxuan grew less and less restrained as he got older.

Successfully climbing into his father's lap, Xu Yuxuan swayed left and right, glimpsing the book on the desk, staring at it for a while before looking up in confusion: "It's different?"

Xu Yuejia's gaze lowered for a moment and explained: "The first half is your mother's handwriting."

Last night, unwilling to copy the books, Wen Ye failed to answer some questions Xu Yuejia posed based on 'the sutra,' so she was punished to write a couple of lines.

Xu Yuejia said she hadn't reviewed enough.

As for why she didn't continue writing after that, that would have to be asked of Xu Yuejia himself.

Xu Yuxuan's little mouth moved: "Mother?"

Xu Yuejia held him with one hand, his expression calm: "Mhm."

Xu Yuxuan, though young, wasn't completely oblivious. In this moment, he clearly felt the joy emanating from his father.

His father was happy, and he was happy too.

Xu Yuxuan relaxed completely in Xu Yuejia's arms, when suddenly, he caught a scent that didn't belong to his father but felt very familiar.

"Smells good?" Xu Yuxuan twisted his body and gently tugged at Xu Yuejia's collar, nodding his little face firmly: "Mother's!"

Xu Yuejia quickly stopped his little hands from tugging downwards, his eyebrows serious: "Where are your manners?"

Xu Yuxuan, afraid, let go of his hands and obediently sat back on his father's lap.

His gaze drifted to the door of the inner chamber in the distance, sighing like a little adult: "When will Mother wake up?"

Xu Yuxuan didn't yet know that he wouldn't be able to see Wen Ye today.