"You..." Long Yue covered her mouth, looking incredulously at the handsome man opposite her, as if seeing him for the first time. In her past life, he was never this proactive towards her. Has this man gone mad?
"You're crazy!" she huffed angrily, "Chai Da saved me and my brother on the mountain; we ran into a python. What's gotten into you?"
"Uh... I apologize for scaring my wife. It's my fault."
He said remorsefully, but there was a fleeting glint of mischief in his eyes.
This misunderstanding was just an excuse to take advantage!
"Third Brother, Third Sister-in-law, come out and eat!"
Li Qingqiu shouted joyfully, breaking the awkward and lingering atmosphere in the room.
The Li family's houses were all old and shabby tile-roofed houses stacked with thatch and wood. Passing through the central courtyard, they arrived at the main dining hall. At this time, the father, mother, and two elder brothers with their wives were already seated and waiting. The seven-year-old sister, Qingxue, sat quietly on Mrs. Li Zhou's lap.
"Oh, Third House's family, you're here, sit, quickly sit..."
Mrs. Li Zhou was obviously afraid of Long Yue, almost standing up to welcome her.
Long Yue had seen this family's weakness and cowardice in her previous life. She glanced indifferently at the table: a plate of wild vegetables, about a dozen coarse rice buns, a large bowl of rice soup with hardly a grain of rice, and of course, the most eye-catching was the plate of steamed snake meat.
Long Yue noticed everyone at the table was staring at that plate of snake meat.
Long Yue didn't particularly like steamed snake meat. She said coldly, "Where's the chicken? It was supposed to nourish my husband, where's the chicken?"
"Well... Third Daughter-in-law, the chicken is still stewing in the pot... don't worry..."
"Alright, bring it to our room later."
As Long Yue finished speaking, Mrs. Zhang complained, holding her forehead, "Mother, look at Third House's, isn't this going too far! Why is a whole chicken just for them to eat? They don't even think about honoring mother. Do they have any sense of filial piety?"
Hearing this, Mrs. Li Zhou's expression turned unpleasant.
Long Yue could see through her second sister-in-law's intentions; she just wanted to eat chicken. She laughed coldly in her heart but smiled on the surface, saying, "A qiu, later bring a chicken leg to father and mother, and you have one too."
Li Qingqiu's eyes lit up with joy, "Thank you, Third Sister-in-law!"
These words made Mrs. Zhang so angry she almost coughed up blood.
Ignoring her second sister-in-law's jealous and fiery gaze, Long Yue picked up a large piece of snake meat and placed it in Li Qingmu's bowl, saying boldly, "Father, Mother, Big Brother, Second Brother, why are you all in a daze? As men, you should eat more. Eat up, don't leave any! Qingxue, you eat too!"
Any leftovers would end up with Mrs. Zhang anyway, and Long Yue couldn't stand her always eyeing what others had while eating from the family's bowl and still taking things back to her mother's home.
Qingqiu and Qingxue, already craving meat, immediately reached out with their chopsticks to grab some meat after hearing Third Sister-in-law's words.
Mrs. Li Zhou glared at the two kids, but she couldn't control her own hand either, quickly grabbing three pieces of meat into her bowl and wolfing them down.
In no time, the bowl of snake meat was cleaned out by the family, leaving Mrs. Zhang, who was slow to react, with only one piece of snake meat, which made her angrily throw her chopsticks.
She glanced at Second Brother's bowl, which still had a piece of snake meat.
Without saying a word, she reached out with her chopsticks to grab it, only to be blocked by Long Yue's chopsticks.
Long Yue said coldly, "Father and Mother are right here, what madness is this? Are you really going to snatch food from your husband's bowl? Where's your respect and hierarchy? Have you eaten up the Three Obediences and Four Virtues of a woman?"
"Pang Longyue, mind your own business!"
"Your husband is my Second Brother, this is a family matter, why can't I mind it?"
Old Li, who didn't want any household quarrels, spoke up, "Alright, everyone just say a little less."
Although he said so, Old Li's look towards Mrs. Zhang also carried some disapproval.
This daughter-in-law won't do!
After the meal, Long Yue went to the kitchen, seeing the chicken stewing in the pot, she was relieved.
She didn't rush to leave but waited for the chicken to be fully cooked before bringing it to her own room.
Mrs. Zhang, finished with her meal, also came to the kitchen, intending to sneak a bite of the chicken once it was done, but Long Yue had been guarding it all the while, foiling her plan.
Her eyes turned green with envy, and she ran off crying to Mrs. Li Zhou's room.
"Mother, Third Sister-in-law took the whole pot of chicken to her room and didn't even leave us a sip of soup. Isn't that a bit too much? She just said she'd let you all have some, isn't she disrespecting you as a mother-in-law?"
Mrs. Li Zhou remembered that Long Yue did indeed say she would share with them earlier, and she felt depressed for a moment. But her timid nature left her unable to handle the situation. She sighed, "Ah, Second Daughter-in-law, don't worry about it. Their family is not like ours. Third Brother will be an official in the future, and she is the official's wife... just bear with it a little..."
These words from Mrs. Li Zhou only made Mrs. Zhang even more furious. She stomped her foot, went back, and lashed out at Li Qinghai, "Useless, just watching your wife being bullied and doing nothing about it, coward!"
After saying that, she even hit him once. Honest as always, Li Qinghai just turned his face away without a word and went to sleep on the bed, infuriating Mrs. Zhang, who threw a pillow at him twice more.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Long Yue carried the chicken soup into the room, finding her husband reading by the candlelight by the windowsill. She placed the chicken soup before him, "Eat!"
She said with a stern face, seemingly fierce, but Li Qingmu found it heartwarming, "There's too much chicken soup, my dear wife, join me in eating some."
"Humph, my body isn't weak. It's you who are always tirelessly studying and painting. How can you not replenish yourself? Don't let yourself starve, or this lady will have to take care of you! Eat, hurry up, if you don't, watch how I'll fix you!"
Long Yue glared with her almond-shaped eyes, with an angry expression on her face, which Li Qingmu found endearing and alluring.
He chuckled softly, leisurely saying, "Alright, I'll do as my wife says."
A bowl of chicken soup; Li Qingmu ate quite a bit, but he made sure to leave two chicken legs intact.
Long Yue shot him a dissatisfied look but knew he did it for her good to help establish her authority.
Without another word, she got up and took the two chicken legs to Mrs. Li Zhou and Fourth Brother.
Mrs. Li Zhou was hiding in her room, complaining to her husband about the new daughter-in-law. Those words from Mrs. Zhang had had an impact.
Just at that moment, Long Yue came in with the chicken legs.
Mrs. Li Zhou was so startled she shivered. She hurriedly stood up to greet her, "Ah, Third Daughter-in-law, this..."
Being caught gossiping, Mrs. Li Zhou was a bit flustered.
"Mother, these are for you, I always walk my talk, mother. Don't listen to petty gossip."
"Ah, yes, yes..."
Mrs. Li Zhou stammered, realizing Long Yue had overheard her previous words, giving her a gentle reminder.
She felt a bit uneasy and was about to say some kind words to ease the tension, but when she turned her head, Long Yue had already left.
Long Yue gave the remaining chicken leg to Fourth Brother, and upon returning, she found that Li Qingmu had already made the bed.
Tonight, there was something different in the room. Two dim candles flickered with shimmering light. The man beside the bed had already shed his clothes. Seeing her return, he flashed a smile that could outshine the stars and said softly, "Darling, it's getting late, time to sleep..."