Chapter 55: A Husband

After lunch, Zhu Tingting, being very sensible, helped her father pack his things.

"Put it down, let me do it. Go back to your room and rest for a while; you'll have energy for your afternoon classes."

Hearing this, Zhu Tingting didn't insist further. She put down her bowl and chopsticks and asked, "Dad, what time will you be back tonight?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll definitely be back before eight."

Although they stopped taking orders before six, that only applied to individuals; some merchants only organized and shipped their day's sales right before closing time.

These big clients naturally received different treatment; their goods had to be delivered to the courier station for shipping only after being received that same day, so it usually got very late.

"Oh, then I'll go back to my room." Zhu Tingting turned and walked toward the room.

Zhu Guangfa scratched his head. As his daughter grew older, she communicated less with him. He vaguely sensed something was wrong between them, yet he didn't know where the problem lay.

After washing the dishes, Zhu Guangfa came out of the kitchen, approached the door, and reached out to knock, but hesitated, then lowered his hand, worried about disturbing his daughter's rest.

He went to the bathroom, dipped the Mao Jin in some water, and roughly wiped his face and neck. Then, using his large water cup, he brewed a big cup of coarse-leaf tea, set it aside to cool, as the weather was too hot; he would drink it while at work this afternoon.

Leaning back on the sofa, exhausted from the day, he felt as if sitting on a cloud, light and floating. Before long, loud snoring erupted.

In his drowsy state, Zhu Guangfa seemed to hear a door closing. He suddenly woke up, realizing he had fallen asleep on the sofa at some point. Thinking of his daughter, he tried to roll over and sit up.

He saw his wife sitting beside him, smiling at him.

Subconsciously, he said, "Zhu Tingting went to school..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly realized, widened his eyes, and showed a look of joyful surprise.

He reached out, embraced his wife, and said with a face full of joy, "Du Xiuzhi, I dreamed of you again."

Du Xiuzhi reached out and gently patted his broad back, offering no explanation.

The two held each other like that, sharing a tender moment for quite a while, until Zhu Guangfa seemed to finally realize.

He suddenly pushed Du Xiuzhi away and said, "Du Xiuzhi, I forgot; I'm all dirty, covered in the smell of sweat."

"It doesn't matter. Didn't you say before that this is the scent of a real man?"

"Haha, Du Xiuzhi, you still remember." Hearing this, Zhu Guangfa laughed loudly, happy like a child.

Nevertheless, he said, "Wait for me a moment; I'll go take a shower."

As he spoke, he hurriedly got up, intending to go to the bathroom, but accidentally kicked the table leg.

Pain made him suck in a sharp breath. Just as he was about to look down at the injury, he suddenly realized, and his head buzzed.

He turned sharply and saw the woman still sitting on the sofa, smiling, her face gentle and kind.

Then, limping, he walked back, his voice trembling slightly as he said, "Du Xiuzhi, I... I'm not dreaming, am I?"

Du Xiuzhi nodded gently, then asked with a smile, "Aren't you afraid of me?"

Hearing this, Zhu Guangfa, like a child, had tears instantly welling up. He choked out, "I... why would I be afraid of you?"

"I'm dead. I'm a ghost now. Brother, aren't you afraid?" Du Xiuzhi said softly.

Hearing this, Zhu Guangfa hurriedly shook his head.

"Of course not. You are my wife," Zhu Guangfa said.

Du Xiuzhi reached out, took Zhu Guangfa's hand, and made him sit down to talk.

Zhu Guangfa's hand was thick-palmed, rough and coarse, while Du Xiuzhi's ten fingers were slender and Bai Xi, each like a scallion.

The two palms held together were unexpectedly harmonious.

"You, still so Mao Mao and rough. Does it hurt?" Du Xiuzhi looked down at his toes.

"It doesn't hurt, hehe..." Zhu Guangfa shook his head with a smile, tears on his face, yet his smile was incredibly brilliant.

"You're such a grown-up, yet still a crybaby?"

Du Xiuzhi reached out to wipe the tears from his face, but Zhu Guangfa reached out and held her hand.

"I'm not crying. I... I'm just happy to see you again," Zhu Guangfa said.

"Aren't you curious why you can see me?"

Zhu Guangfa shook his head, then nodded.

"What do you mean by that?" Du Xiuzhi frowned.

Zhu Guangfa, big and burly, was submissive and lowered his eyes before Du Xiuzhi.

Hearing this, he hurriedly explained, "I shook my head because seeing you again makes everything else unimportant, but I am a bit curious..."

Hearing this, Du Xiuzhi volunteered an explanation: "It's because I happened to meet Mr. Shen."

"Mr. Shen?" Zhu Guangfa was somewhat confused.

"The company you went to this morning..."

Du Xiuzhi roughly explained the sequence of events.

Then she said, "Mr. Shen is a capable person. He pities your deep affection, so he let me meet you."

Hearing this, Zhu Guangfa finally understood, then said very happily, "So you've always been by my side. I knew it."

"How do you know?" Du Xiuzhi rolled her eyes at him, her gaze like autumn water.

"Because every day I work with full energy, with endless strength in my whole body. It must be because you are by my side..."

"Nonsense. I say you're so foolish, not caring for yourself at all. If you exhaust yourself, who will Zhu Tingting rely on later?" Du Xiuzhi poked his forehead, not very pleased.

"By the way, Zhu Tingting."

Hearing this, Zhu Guangfa finally remembered his daughter, hurriedly got up, and wanted to find her.

But Du Xiuzhi held him back.

"Zhu Tingting has already gone to school," Du Xiuzhi said, not very pleased.

"Right, I just heard the door close in my drowsy state," Zhu Guangfa said foolishly, smiling.

Speaking of his daughter, Du Xiuzhi couldn't help but sigh in her heart. Zhu Guangfa didn't know what was going on, but how could she not know?

So she said, "Ask the teacher for leave, pick her up this afternoon, and let the three of us have a good gathering."

She also had many things she wanted to say to her daughter.

"Good, good..."

Hearing this, Zhu Guangfa immediately stood up, then sucked in a sharp breath of cold air; only then did he realize his toes still hurt.

"Look at you, does it hurt terribly?" Du Xiuzhi asked with some worry.

"It's fine, it will be better in a moment."

As he spoke, he limped toward the door to put on his shoes, yet he never let go of Du Xiuzhi's hand.

It was as if he feared that the moment he let go, she would fly away.

Du Xiuzhi did not struggle, letting him hold her.

Having put on his shoes, Zhu Guangfa seemed to think of something; he turned back and asked, "Can Tingting see you too?"

Du Xiuzhi nodded; her lips parted slightly, and a wisp of pale blue qi escaped from her mouth, circling around her in the air like a sentient spirit.

"Mr. Shen gave me two wisp of qi; with this qi, you can see me." Du Xiuzhi inhaled, and that wisp of qi returned to her mouth.

Shen Siyuan, having learned from his previous experience with Jiang Wenxin, instead used another method to give Du Xiuzhi two streams of nether qi, allowing her to swallow them and nurture them within her belly.

Once the nether qi mingled with her aura, anyone she passed it to would be able to see her.

This would prevent ghosts from bumping into people all over the world.

Hearing this, Zhu Guangfa finally felt relieved; he took his wife's hand and continued outside, but just as they reached the elevator entrance.

He suddenly spoke with deep worry: "Is Mr. Shen truly acting out of pure kindness? Could he possibly..."