NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 35: Is Your Man... Especially Powerful at Night?
Chapter 35: Is Your Man… Especially Powerful at Night?
Lu Yuan’s heart nearly melted hearing his wife’s sweet words. Unlike him, she rarely spoke so affectionately, especially during daylight hours. Only in the depths of night, after his passionate attentions, would she whisper such tender phrases as “I love you the most” in his ear.
He couldn’t help but pinch her beautiful, delicate face gently. “That night… did I even have a chance to run away? It’s lunchtime now, so you can rush back home. But what about after October, when there’s no lunch break and you need to return to work at 1:00 PM? Will you still come home then? It would be better for you to make more friends at the factory. Can you really follow me around every day in the future?”
Su Liyan affectionately rubbed her face against Lu Yuan’s palm and answered in the softest voice: “Yes~”
Lu Yuan was momentarily bewildered. Had she even listened to his lengthy speech? She seemed to have heard only the final sentence!
After lunch, Su Liyan returned to work. Lu Yuan had convinced her not to come home for midday meals but to eat at the factory instead.
Around one or two o’clock, when the sun’s intensity had diminished, Lu Yuan ventured out despite the compound residents’ disapproving looks. He purchased a fishing rod and basket at the market, then headed to the wild lake outside the city to fish.
In the evening, Su Liyan arrived home first. Lu Yuan returned later with his fishing gear but no catch.
“Wasn’t there supposed to be a beginner’s luck period?” he thought indignantly. “I thought novice fishermen always caught something on their first try! How did I get nothing? Infuriating!”
The next morning, Lu Yuan slept until about nine, then enjoyed the meal his wife had left warming in the pot. He grabbed his fishing basket and rod to try his luck again. This scene made the aunties in the yard so angry their teeth itched with frustration.
At noon in the Innovation Factory, Su Liyan carried her new aluminum lunch box and followed her colleagues from the sampling inspection team to the cafeteria.
“Hey, husband-obsessed girl,” someone teased, “why aren’t you rushing home to cook for your man today?”
Su Liyan replied shyly, “My husband loves me and won’t let me go home at noon.”
The women around her were speechless. What was sweet about this? They shouldn’t have to go home during lunch breaks!
“I shouldn’t have been going home in the first place,” someone declared. “What kind of working woman goes home to serve her husband at lunch? Your man is actually behaving reasonably for once!”
They reached the cafeteria and lined up for food. When Su Liyan’s turn came, the server looked confused. “Sister-in-law? Why are you here?”
Today’s cook was Liu Haizhu. He had no idea Su Liyan had joined the Innovation Factory. As a cook, his schedule differed from others in the compound. Having lost his mother years ago and living with only his father and younger sister, he lacked the household “intelligence department” that kept most residents informed of compound gossip.
Su Liyan recognized him immediately—how could she forget that thirty-year-old face on an eighteen-year-old body? She smiled and explained her situation briefly.
Liu Haizhu was incredulous. That Lu Yuan was truly shameless!
He was about to say more when someone behind Su Liyan complained, “Hurry up! What’s the holdup?”
Liu Haizhu immediately thrust his head through the serving window. “What are you complaining about? If you don’t want to wait, go eat somewhere else!”
Being a chef carried its advantages—if they disliked someone, they could serve half portions. Customers had to accept whatever they received.
After silencing the line, Liu Haizhu took Su Liyan’s lunch box and filled it with three heaping spoonfuls of vegetables, nearly overflowing it. He then added three two-grain buns, though they were normally limited to one per person.
Su Liyan stared at her overflowing lunch box in confusion.
“I’ll talk to Lu Yuan about this when I get home tonight,” Liu Haizhu said firmly.
Su Liyan looked puzzled—what was there to discuss? With people behind her growing impatient, she didn’t dare ask questions and carried her lunch to her colleagues’ table.
“Goodness! She’s so beautiful she gets special treatment everywhere. Why did he give her so much?” someone immediately remarked.
“No, no,” Su Liyan hurriedly explained. “The cafeteria chef is from our compound and a friend of my husband.”
Once Su Liyan was seated and eating, the women began offering unsolicited advice about her new life.
“Li Yan, you can’t let your man bully you constantly. Things aren’t like before—women don’t have to obey men anymore. These days, whoever earns the money makes the rules!”
Another woman nodded vigorously. “Exactly! I have to work all day and then cook at home? That’s nonsense. You should treat your man the same way he treated you before.”
Su Liyan blinked her beautiful eyes. “My man treats me very well. He has never bullied me.”
The women exchanged looks, speechless.
Su Liyan wasn’t sure what to say. Should she tell them her husband gave her ten yuan pocket money monthly? That he bought her many nice things? That he not only helped her send money home but wanted to bring her little sister to the city for school? Some things couldn’t be explained easily, so she understood their misconceptions.
Rather than argue, Su Liyan remained silent. She knew her own situation perfectly well.
The women looked at her helplessly. “The most important thing is keeping your earnings for yourself—don’t give them to your husband. It’s your money, so you should decide how to spend it!”
Su Liyan smiled politely but said nothing, continuing to eat with her head lowered.
Seeing this, the women pursed their lips. It was obvious—Su Liyan would hand her wages to Lu Yuan. They couldn’t understand it. Even if Lu Yuan hadn’t rejected her because of her background, he shouldn’t have such control over her!
Finally, one woman leaned close to Su Liyan’s ear and whispered conspiratorially, “Liyan, is your man… especially powerful at night? Is that why you’re so accommodating?”
Su Liyan’s beautiful face instantly flushed crimson. She nodded slightly and whispered back, “Yes… it’s quite exhausting… until early morning…”
Everyone inhaled sharply. Until early morning?
Well… in that case, perhaps surrendering one’s wages wasn’t such a bad deal after all…