Chapter 3: Eat Fewer Spicy Strips

She looked at Han Yangting helplessly.

Now, not only could she not be a virtuous wife, but she might even be looked down upon by him for being clumsy.

Yet Han Yangting did not show any signs of disdain; he was even worried whether she had been cut by the kitchen knife. Seeing she was fine, he said, "How about you go out and watch some TV for a while? I can handle things here myself."

"I'm really... sorry, I'm actually someone who knows how to cook." She tried to save face.

He raised an eyebrow, giving her a way out: "I know. My kitchen is different from yours. Since you're new here, it's inevitable that you'd have trouble adjusting to the environment."

"Right, that's exactly it," she affirmed.

Bai Shuruo walked to the living room and sat down feeling uneasy. With nothing to do and feeling a bit nervous, she went to her room, grabbed a pack of spicy strips, and started eating them.

She had been like this since she was a child; she liked to chew on spicy strips when she was nervous.

After eating two, the sound of stir-frying came from the kitchen, and the aroma drifted out—it was the scent of lemon shrimp.

The spicy strips in her hand suddenly didn't seem so appetizing anymore.

After a while, Han Yangting brought out a dish and placed it on the dining table.

Seeing her chewing on spicy strips, his brows furrowed again, looking displeased.

She hurriedly put down the spicy strips and pulled out a tissue to wipe her mouth.

If it were anyone else, she wouldn't be nervous, but it was different in front of Han Yangting; she always felt he was like a stern elder.

Another ten minutes passed, and Han Yangting had already set out all three dishes and served two bowls of rice, then called to her, "Come over and eat."

She went to wash her hands and then sat down.

On the table were a dish of lemon shrimp, a dish of minced meat with shredded carrots, and a pot of pork liver and goji berry soup.

The food looked extremely delicious, but the bowl of white rice piled up like a small mountain in front of her...

"What's wrong? Not to your taste?" Han Yangting saw her hesitant expression and thought she didn't want to eat.

She shook her head and said, "No, I can't eat a whole bowl of rice. Could I... share half with you?"

"No!" he said decisively. "You can eat spicy strips, why can't you eat rice?"

"..." That's a different concept, okay?

Seeing her look aggrieved, his tone softened a little: "You're so thin, you should eat more."

Bai Shuruo was 165 cm tall and only weighed 90 jin; she did indeed look too thin.

She nodded, eating with tears in her heart, one bite of rice, one bite of food.

The food tasted quite good; if only there were chili sauce.

Seeing her not speaking, he chatted with her like an elder again: "How do you usually eat? Do you eat more snacks?"

She immediately sat up straight, like a student answering a teacher's question: "I usually just eat whatever at the school cafeteria. I do eat snacks, but not many, just spicy strips."

"You like spicy strips that much? Do you have a heavy palate?"

She nodded: "Yeah, I have to add chili sauce to every meal. By the way, does our home have any? I want to add some."

He frowned again, then said decisively: "No."

She felt aggrieved inside.

It had been a long time since she had eaten such bland food; it felt like she hadn't eaten at all.

She couldn't help but look at the leftover spicy strips on the coffee table.

Spicy strips with white rice would also be quite good.

Han Yangting saw through her thoughts at a glance. He put down his bowl and chopsticks, walked over to the coffee table, picked up the pack of spicy strips, and said, "I heard you often have stomach aches. This stuff is bad for your stomach; eat less of it in the future."

"How did you know I have stomach aches?" she asked.

"Your sister told me," he said indifferently.

Bai Shuruo did indeed have a habit of getting stomach aches, but she couldn't stop herself from eating spicy food.

After her father passed away, she had lived alone for a long time. During that period, she had no appetite for anything until she tasted chili sauce. The spicy flavor could stimulate her appetite while also stimulating her soul, making her feel that she was still a living person, a fiery person.

Seeing Bai Shuruo looking so aggrieved because she couldn't have her spicy strips, Han Yangting couldn't help but ruffle her hair. "After you finish your rice, I can reward you with two spicy strips."

Bai Shuruo: "..."

She wasn't a child.

But she still couldn't help but pick up her rice bowl and eat slowly.

It had to be said that as long as she chewed slowly, the food without spicy flavor was actually quite good. She gradually tasted the original flavor of the food: the shrimp was fresh and delicious, the carrots were sweet, and the goji berry leaves were slightly bitter, but after eating them, she could taste a hint of sweetness.

After the meal, Bai Shuruo took the initiative to clear the table and wash the dishes.

As a result, with a "bang," she accidentally dropped a bowl.

What was going on? She was clearly the one who often washed dishes at home.

Could it really be trouble adjusting to the environment?

Bai Shuruo only felt that her image was completely gone.

If this continued, she was afraid she would be looked down upon by Han Yangting and kicked out.

Han Yangting didn't say anything; he silently brought a broom to sweep up the broken bowl pieces on the floor, and didn't forget to give her another way out: "You must be too tired from traveling back and forth today. Why don't you go and rest first?"

Bai Shuruo didn't dare to fight for chores anymore and scurried back to her room without even eating any spicy strips.

Her stomach was very full now, and she tended to get sleepy whenever she was full.

When she came, she had brought a small blanket she had used since she was a child. After covering herself with the blanket and tossing and turning on the bed a few times, she fell asleep.

It was early autumn, and the temperature outside was already very low, but the central air conditioning in the room was still on. After sleeping for a while, she felt cold and couldn't help but sneeze.

But she was truly too sleepy, so she turned over, covered her head with the blanket, and continued to sleep.

When Han Yangting came in, he saw Bai Shuruo sleeping sprawled out with her head covered.

He frowned again.

He had stood at the doorway earlier watching her organize her things just to see what she was missing, but seeing her look so unnatural, he had turned to the kitchen to cook.

Now, seeing that she hadn't even mentioned it to him when she went to sleep without a quilt, he figured she must still be afraid of him.

In fact, the quilt was right on the top shelf of the wardrobe; she just hadn't seen it.

He walked in softly, opened the wardrobe, took out a light quilt from the top, and covered her with it.

She was comfortable now, hugging the quilt and turning over again.

Han Yangting walked out.

……

When Bai Shuruo woke up, she discovered an unfamiliar pink quilt on her body, printed with a pattern of Peppa Pig.

Her heart tightened.

Had Han Yangting been in her room?

He had come in, seen her sleeping, and hadn't taken advantage of the situation?

That meant he didn't have those kinds of thoughts about her; he really was an upright gentleman.

Just as she was thinking this, the phone on her bedside table vibrated a few times; it was a call from Bai Shunan, so she hurriedly crawled over to pick it up.

"Ruoruo, happy wedding!" On the other end of the phone, Bai Shunan's voice was very cheerful; she clearly hadn't been drinking.

Ever since falling in love with Gu Yunting, Bai Shunan would get a little drunk every two days and very drunk every three days, and whenever she was drunk, she would curse Gu Yunting as a piece of trash.