Chapter 381: Jealousy
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Pork ribs were not as expensive as fatty meat, but if they were prepared using Big Sister’s cooking method, they would taste much better. All it took was some sugar, cucumber, persimmons, and boiled peanuts soaked in brine before stir-frying with wine and home-grown vegetables. A pot of rice on the side was a must.
Su Xiu was a talented cook. Since Su Wen handed all domestic matters to her,
Su Xue had come into her own, and her cooking improved by leaps and bounds.
Before the meal was ready, He Yulan visited with He Changming, some wild game in hand. It had been a while since He Changming had visited.
“What is he doing here?” Zhou Hengyang’s expression turned stormy when he caught sight of He Changming. He turned his slitted eyes on Su Wen, a dangerous gleam shining through.
“I don’t know!” Su Wen waved her hand innocently. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Has he been visiting while I was away?”
“No, not even once.” Su Wen felt that Zhou Hengyang was very strange. “Why don’t you like He Changming? He isn’t so bad.”
“It’s because he isn’t bad that I don’t like him!” Despite his barely contained rage, Zhou Hengyang still comported himself with grace and dignity, standing up and greeting their guest.
Zhou Hengyang was so aggressive that he refused to allow Su Wen to entertain the duo.
Su Wen could not be bothered by the power play in the background and handed over her duties to him.
Because of He Changming’s arrival, Su Xiu had to go to the village to buy a catty of eel and two carps. The eel was braised with garlic cloves, while the carps were sliced according to Su Wen’s methods and washed in egg white before being pickled.
Su Qing and Su Xue both helped. The kitchen was in good order, and the food was coming along just fine. Su Wen tried to help her sisters, but they shooed her away and out of the kitchen. Bored out of her mind with nothing to do, Su Wen poked her head into Fifth Sister’s room to see what she was doing.
She found Fifth Sister with her head buried in a book, a notepad filled with dense scribbles on the side. Su Wen stared at the incomprehensible scrawl, growing more dizzy the longer she tried to understand it. It was not so bad initially, but it soon turned into gibberish.
Su Wen, as a graduate of a famous university, had some grounding in what
Fifth Sister was doing, but anything more complex than the bear basics was beyond her. She returned all she had learned to her professors after passing her exams.
Helplessly, Su Wen occupied herself by playing with Sixth Sister and Little Sister Su.
“Big Sister, the food is almost ready. Why don’t we look for Xu Xiaoxiao and Second Brother if you’re free?”
“That’s an idea.” Su Wen agreed, stepping out of the room with her two sisters. Surprisingly, Zhou Hengyang, who had been talking to He Changming, followed them.
“You… Why are you following us? Where’s He Changming?”
“At home.”
Su Wen almost jumped out of her skin in shock. “He’s a man and an outsider. Are you just going to leave him in our house unsupervised?”
Zhou Hengyang sneered disdainfully at his wife. “Didn’t you say he’s not bad? What is there to be afraid of?”
“I…” Indeed, the male protagonist she knew was a vengeful soul. How could he let her passing comment go without getting back at her? He was the epitome of jealousy.
Su Wen shook her head. She was probably overthinking things.
“That won’t do.” Su Wen did not feel at ease leaving her sisters at home unchaperoned. She would not leave them with He Changming unsupervised in case he slipped up and took advantage of her dear sisters. Just as she was about to head back, however, Zhou Hengyang grabbed her by the arm, the force of which caused her to stumble backward into his arms.
“Su Qing and Su Xue are at home. What can he do? He doesn’t have the guts to cross that line.”
Su Xue realized that it was true. At least Su Qing was at home, watching the house.
“Fine. Have it your way.” Su Wen tried to push Zhou Hengyang away, but the
arms around her were like steel bars that refused to bend.
She was stuck and feeling awkward about it.
Zhou Hengyang’s eyebrows did not even twitch. His expression was a bland mask of calm as he led Su Wen onward, holding her as if she were a child throwing a tantrum..