103: start

By the time they finished the physical exam and returned home, it was already dinner time. Jiang Fuyue had been waiting at the table early for Yan Zhuohua's medical report. Only after she carefully reviewed the report and confirmed that there were no issues with Yan Zhuohua's health did she finally feel at ease.

"It's still a bit worse than a few years ago," Jiang Fuyue said, looking at some of the values. "Although you're still very healthy, it's ultimately not as good as before. It seems you'll have to keep drinking your Nourishing Tonic Soup for another couple of days."

Yan Zhuohua's expression shifted. "That shouldn't be necessary, right? My cousin prescribed some conditioning medicine for me."

"Zhuoyi?" Jiang Fuyue still trusted her nephew quite a bit. She nodded understandingly. "That's fine then. Give me the prescription in a bit, and I'll have the maid brew the medicine for you every day."

"Alright." Yan Zhuohua gave a dry laugh. It seemed he wouldn't be able to escape a daily bowl of Chinese herbal medicine after all.

As soon as dinner ended, Yan Qinghe immediately pulled him back to their room.

"What's the rush?" Yan Zhuohua said irritably. "I'm not going to run away. Must you make Mom see us like this and have her laugh at us?"

"Not going to run away?" Yan Qinghe smiled somewhat dangerously. "Do you still remember what you promised me on the way to your uncle's house?"

"..." I was wrong; I really want to run away now.

"...Ah? Did I promise you something?" The misery of the last time he was "interrogated" was still fresh in his memory; how could he dare to admit to it now?

"Playing dumb, I see!" Yan Qinghe noted understandingly, yet he didn't seem angry. "Fine then, if there wasn't anything, there wasn't anything."

That easy? Yan Zhuohua's pupils dilated slightly in surprise. Although it was somewhat unbelievable, he certainly wouldn't refuse such a good thing.

"Then let's go rest quickly!" Fearing that he might regret it, Yan Zhuohua hurriedly pulled him toward the bed. Having received such a great benefit, he felt he should still give him a little sweetness.

Yan Zhuohua, whose heart was filled with joy because he thought he had escaped a disaster, didn't notice the meaningful look in the eyes of the person behind him at all.

It wasn't until they quickly got down to business that Yan Qinghe revealed his true colors.

"Don't... stop!" Yan Zhuohua pleaded miserably for mercy.

Yan Qinghe was extremely smug in his heart. At other times, I indeed can't do anything to you, but now, it's not up to you to decide. I still have to show you who calls the shots in our house.

Yan Qinghe finally got his wish.

The ninth day of the lunar month was still a holiday. Yan Qinghe happily held his wife and slept until the sun was high in the sky, until Yan Zhuohua, who was startled awake by the pain in his body, gave him another kick.

Yan Qinghe finally woke up from his beautiful dream.

"What's wrong?" The force of Yan Zhuohua's kick was truly too weak; Yan Qinghe didn't even realize his wife was angry.

Yan Zhuohua also clearly didn't expect his mobility to be so restricted; a perfectly good instance of domestic violence had been turned into a display of coquetry. However, this didn't stop him from questioning Yan Qinghe.

"Last night... you clearly promised me you wouldn't hold that matter against me!"

"When did I promise that? I just didn't refute what you, little liar, said." Yan Qinghe spoke with absolute certainty.

"But you still shouldn't have been so excessive! This is different from what I promised you at the beginning!" Yan Zhuohua realized he had been lured into a trap, but he was still unwilling to let it go and wanted an explanation. "Back then on the road, you also promised me it would just be a simple... one time. It's one thing to lie to me last night, but you even doubled it?"

Yan Qinghe reached out to lift Yan Zhuohua's chin. He tried hard to recall how he looked when facing various people at the company before he finally managed to put on the appearance of an overbearing CEO.

"Wife, you'd better remember this clearly. At other times, you can call the shots, but on this matter, if you dare to try being clever with me again, then you'll have to carefully weigh whether you can bear the consequences!"

For a moment, Yan Zhuohua was stunned by his imposing aura and unfathomable gaze.

Looking at the somewhat dazed expression of the person beneath him, Yan Qinghe was very satisfied.

He decisively pressed his advantage, "Did you hear me clearly?"

Yan Zhuohua lowered his eyelashes and thought for a moment before replying softly, "I heard you clearly."

In truth, Yan Zhuohua wasn't suppressed because of the act Yan Qinghe had put so much effort into maintaining. Rather, he had thought about it carefully and realized that he really had no way to suppress Yan Qinghe in this kind of matter. As long as they started, the initiative would never be in his hands.

He couldn't exactly spend every day thinking of ways to avoid being intimate with Yan Qinghe, could he?

Therefore, a wise man submits to circumstances. Since he couldn't change this fact, he could only put on an obedient and well-behaved appearance; perhaps he might even get a reward every now and then.

Regardless of why Yan Zhuohua agreed, the result was good, and that was enough. Yan Qinghe gave Yan Zhuohua a light kiss on the lips. "Good boy, sleep a bit longer. I'll go brew your medicine."

Yan Zhuohua didn't mention anything about reclaiming his dignity anymore. With a face full of smiles, he nodded obediently.

Yan Qinghe got out of bed, wrapped the person in the quilt more tightly, and then went downstairs contentedly.

It seems my wife really likes this style; I can try it more often in the future.

Although Yan Zhuohua had been tossed around quite a bit, there was a lack of toys here, and Yan Qinghe, mindful of the 'frequent small meals' approach, hadn't truly been ruthless. So, by the eleventh day of the first lunar month, when Yan Qinghe's holiday officially ended and he returned to work at the company, Yan Zhuohua was already back to being lively and energetic.

At 8:20 AM, he saw the reluctant Yan Qinghe to the car.

"I'm going to work now, and I won't be back for ten hours. You'll miss me, won't you?" Yan Qinghe's face was written all over with "unwilling to work." "I regret it; I should have had you come to work with me these past few days."

"I'll miss you! I'll even make dinner for you, okay?" Yan Zhuohua chuckled as he straightened Yan Qinghe's clothes, patiently coaxing him. "How about this, should I go deliver lunch to you at noon too?"

"Don't!" Yan Qinghe hurried to stop him. "The round trip takes quite a while. It's safer for you to stay at home."

Yan Zhuohua didn't even want to point out where a man with the second-lowest combat power in the family got the confidence to worry about his safety.

"Fine, I'll wait at home for you to return. I'll video call you at noon." Yan Zhuohua carefully checked that no one was around, then boldly gave Yan Qinghe a parting kiss. "Go on, it's the first day of the year; don't be late."

After finally seeing Yan Qinghe off, Yan Zhuohua returned to the living room.

His mother and second brother had things to do at the Research Institute today and had left early as well. Everyone else had long since gone out to have fun. Now, the huge house was suddenly left with just him.

Yan Zhuohua also started to regret it. Why hadn't he just followed Yan Qinghe to the company just now? As he was regretting, Yan Zhuohua suddenly remembered something.

He was still missing a lot of his thesis.

Oh no, oh no. During the New Year's holiday, he had been too busy with family matters. He was about to go for training soon, and there was still quite a bit of the thesis left. If he couldn't finish the manuscript before leaving, it would be too late later.

On the first working day of the New Year, everyone finally got busy. The family's maid and the butler, Uncle Ye, had also returned to work.

Yan Zhuohua's day could be considered busy from morning till night, no different from being at work. If he hadn't remembered to video call Yan Qinghe at noon, he probably would have forgotten to even eat lunch.

However, the efficiency of a focused Yan Zhuohua was very high. By the time he was pulled out from the ocean of knowledge by the alarm he had set in advance, the progress of his thesis was already worth celebrating.

The alarm was set specifically for the dinner he had promised Yan Qinghe that morning. So, Yan Zhuohua finished up the materials in his hand, sent the completed portion to his teacher, and then went downstairs to the kitchen to prepare dinner.