Chapter 3

In an instant, everyone in the tavern turned to look toward the stairway. When they saw the man who appeared, they all froze with their mouths hanging open.

Standing at the stairway was a man with clean-cut good looks—deep-set eyes, sharp and refined features. He was tall and straight, leaning lazily against the handrail, looking down at the group below with a casual, uninterested gaze, his eyelids slightly drooped.

Of course, that wasn’t the main point. The main point was… his hair was still wet, like he’d just gotten out of the shower.

It was as if he’d just finished doing something with his wife.

And with what he’d just said, it was way too easy to let your imagination run wild.

Not to mention the stunned guests around them and Qiuqiu’s group—even Zhou Zuizui spaced out a little and felt surprised. It had been so long since she’d seen Shen Nan like this…

This guy always gave off a tough, no-nonsense vibe. He rarely showed such a relaxed, everyday, gentle side in front of outsiders. The last time she’d seen him like this was after… their own time together.

The thought snapped Zhou Zuizui back. She looked away, her eyes flickering a bit as she coughed lightly, suddenly feeling thirsty.

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Fbl rzyule yzsdt okvb Fbld Lyd’p ynv, tzydnkdt cynj yv bkx okvb y nwvl rswv: “R’hl pvkzz tsv psxl pvwqq vs bydezl. R’zz cl cynj pssd—usw ts pzllr qkapv.”

Tlyakdt vbyv, Fbld Lyd zssjle yv bla okvb cwadkdt lulp yde pyke yxcktwswpzu: “Mbld bwaau wr. R’zz cl oykvkdt qsa usw.”

Hbsw Hwkgwk ralpple bla zkrp vstlvbla, ydpolakdt pbuzu: “R jdso, R jdso.”

Fbld Lyd nwahle bkp zkrp kdvs y pxkzl. Tkp tygl rypple shla bla yde zsnjle caklqzu okvb Jasvbla Jys, obs bye clld pvyakdt yde pkgkdt bkx wr vbl obszl vkxl. Tl tyhl y pzktbv dse: “Ohlausdl, xyjl uswaplzhlp yv bsxl.”

Ekvb vbyv, Fbld Lyd vwadle bkp cynj vs vbl assx, nypwyzzu ayd y byde vbaswtb bkp olv byka, yde oyzjle yoyu zkjl kv oyp dsvbkdt.

Ohlausdl: “……”

Tso vbl blzz yal ol pwrrsple vs xyjl swaplzhlp yv bsxl dso?

Jasvbla Jys pvyale yv Fbld Lyd’p cynj qsa y zsdt vkxl, vbld pbsv y zssj yv Ckydtgk clpkel bkx.

Qiangzi understood and nodded slightly.

After Shen Nan walked away, Zhou Zuizui pressed her lips together, her face a little red as she smiled embarrassedly at everyone: “Sorry about that. My husband hasn’t been back in a long time, so he’s being a bit clingy.”

Brother Bao let out a meaningful “Oh,” his eyes full of curiosity as he looked at Zhou Zuizui: “What does your husband do for work?”

“He’s in business.” Zhou Zuizui lowered her head, smiled sweetly, and explained: “But I don’t really know the details. We’ve been married for a long time, and he’s always out and about.”

“Is that so?” Brother Bao sounded a bit regretful, still eyeing her up and down: “Aren’t you curious?”

Zhou Zuizui smiled brightly and said: “My husband is kinda old-school macho—he doesn’t like me asking about that stuff.”

On the side, Qiuqiu’s eyes went wide as she stared at her boss, asking super innocently: “Sister, so when you told us before that you were married, you weren’t just joking with us?”

“Of course not.” Zhou Zuizui shrugged. “When has sister ever lied to you guys?”

Qiuqiu: “……”

Well, that was true—she’d never lied. But the day Zhou Zuizui mentioned being married, she said it so casually, like some drunk joke. Everyone laughed at the time, teasing her with stuff like, “If you’re married, then my kid must be all grown up by now.”

After that night, everybody just took it as a joke and never brought it up again.

Plus, the most important thing—their boss had this one guy chasing after her that everyone really liked.

Even though Zhou Zuizui always said she wasn’t interested and treated him pretty coldly, the staff were all secretly rooting for them to get together.

But now—

The boss saying she was married and had a husband… was actually true??!

From that scene just now, the two even seemed super lovey-dovey?!

For a moment, Qiuqiu was seriously questioning her whole life.

Zhou Zuizui turned to look at the table of guests behind her, her voice turning cool and clear again: “Everyone, is there anything else?”

Brother Bao stared at her for a moment, then said straightforwardly: “Sorry, just a bit curious about your husband. He looks a lot like someone we know.”

Zhou Zuizui nodded, showing she understood.

“He’s a businessman, after all. Not strange to have run into him before.”

Brother Bao nodded: “Nothing else. You’re the boss of this place?”

“Yeah.” Zhou Zuizui gestured toward Lin Mu: “If anyone needs anything, you can ask our staff—they’ll take care of it.”

“Alright.”

After saying that, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Zhou Zuizui straightened her back and climbed the stairs one step at a time, not rushing at all.

Only after her figure disappeared from sight did Qiangzi look at Brother Bao: “I’m stepping out for a bit.”

Brother Bao didn’t say anything, just picked up the wine from the side and took a drink.

Meanwhile, Qiuqiu and the others got back to their jobs, handling what the guests needed and taking good care of everyone in the tavern.

But in the quiet moments between tasks, Qiuqiu couldn’t help but wonder—how did a man suddenly appear upstairs, and it was sister’s husband?

She’d been watching the front all morning and hadn’t let anyone go up.

She was full of questions, but Qiuqiu wouldn’t ask. After working under Zhou Zuizui for over a year, Qiuqiu had become pretty sharp—she knew how to read the room and act accordingly.

…..

More than ten minutes ago, when Lin Ping sent Zhou Zuizui that message, Shen Nan had already sent her one too—and his arrived even earlier than Lin Ping’s.

Zhou Zuizui was surprised by Shen Nan’s message, but she could accept it.

He told her things weren’t safe on her side, that the people staying at her inn were suspicious and might ask about him. He said to just answer honestly if they did. Oh, and very casually, he also asked whether she slept upstairs or downstairs.

Zhou Zuizui was puzzled, but she still told him.

As for Shen Nan, it only took about two minutes to get from the opposite side to here. He went around to the back courtyard, climbed up to the second floor with agile moves, and slipped in through a half-open window.

What a coincidence—that window happened to be in Zhou Zuizui’s room.

That’s how that whole misleading scene from earlier came about.

Once she was out of those people’s sight, Zhou Zuizui quickly walked down the second-floor hallway toward the back.

The tavern’s design was pretty unique. In the middle was a cozy little open-air courtyard for leisure. Downstairs was purely for guests to sit. Up front on the second floor was the wine storage, and further back there was a small door leading to where Zhou Zuizui actually lived. Qiuqiu stayed in the room across from hers in that section.

The plants in the back courtyard were pretty lush. Behind the whole building was a small alley, but it was all overgrown and deserted—hardly anyone ever went there.

Zhou Zuizui hurried back to her room like the wind.

The door was open. She walked straight in and immediately saw the tall, straight-backed man sitting in her room.

Hearing her come in, Shen Nan looked over. The two locked eyes silently for a moment. Zhou Zuizui reached back and closed the door behind her.

For a second, the room was completely quiet.

She leaned against the door, taking a deep breath.

That was close.

If her nerves weren’t pretty strong, the way those guys were staring her down earlier could’ve made her slip up.

Even now, her legs still felt a little weak.

Suddenly, a clear glass of water appeared in front of her. Shen Nan looked down at her and said, “Drink this. Calm down a bit.”

Zhou Zuizui pressed her lips together, took the glass, downed the water, and only then looked up at him. His hair was still wet, pretty much like before. The only difference was that those lazy, flirty vibes were gone from his eyes. Now he looked completely calm and in control.

As soon as she finished, Shen Nan took the empty glass back. He gazed at her steadily and asked in a low, deep voice: “You okay?”

Zhou Zuizui pressed her lips again, gave a soft “Mm,” then found a chair and sat down. She glanced around the room—nothing much had changed, but there was obviously a new bag there now.

She looked up at the man standing ramrod straight in front of her. She really couldn’t handle the intimidating aura he was giving off: “Can you sit down?”

Him standing like that was way too oppressive.

Shen Nan glanced at her, his Adam’s apple bobbed once, and he obediently sat.

“How did you get in?”

Shen Nan kept it short: “From the back.”

Zhou Zuizui: “……”

Fine. Soldiers are just that good. Climbing up to the second floor like it’s nothing.

“Then how did you know this was my room?” As for how he got the door open, Zhou Zuizui didn’t even ask. She knew he was skilled at that… Back when they first met, he once walked her home. She forgot her keys, and right in front of her, he just opened the door.

Shen Nan thought for a second, his deep eyes fixed on her as he explained: “There were clothes hanging at the door.”

Zhou Zuizui choked a little, thinking about the two skirts hanging there, and went completely silent.

She paused, about to say something else, when Shen Nan’s eyes flickered. He stood up from the chair, reached out, wrapped an arm around her waist—and in a dizzy spin… Zhou Zuizui found herself pinned to the bed by Shen Nan again!!!

In that instant, her eyes went wide as she stared at the man right in front of her, his face so close. Inside, she was cursing up a storm: Damn it all…

“You…”

Before she could finish, Shen Nan pulled the blanket over from the side and covered both of them. Creating some kind of ambiguous illusion that was hard to describe.

He looked down at the person under him, leaned in close, and said: “Someone’s here…”

The two hid under the blanket—it was pitch black, with only a tiny bit of light coming in from the top. It let Zhou Zuizui clearly see the man in front of her: his face had sharp, cold lines, eyes dark and deep, brows tightly furrowed. He was probably listening to whoever was outside. Their bodies were pressed together. At first, Zhou Zuizui was pretty tense… but as the tension went on, a certain memory suddenly popped into her head.

Instantly, her face flushed red. Her body squirmed a little under the blanket without thinking.

The second she moved, Shen Nan pinned her legs down. His breathing got heavy as he gritted his teeth right by her ear: “Don’t move around.”

Zhou Zuizui: “…”

She blinked, looking into his deep eyes. Her own eyes darted playfully, and suddenly a naughty idea hit her. She wasn’t some innocent little girl—she knew exactly what a man’s reaction like this meant right now.

Under Shen Nan’s warning glare, Zhou Zuizui suddenly reached out from under the blanket without any warning, hooked her arms around his neck, and called out in a soft, dripping-sweet voice: “Hubby…”

Shen Nan: “……”

His whole body went stiff. Hearing that seductive tone of hers, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and his eyes grew darker and deeper.

Zhou Zuizui wasn’t scared of him at all. She awkwardly shifted her body under the blanket, deliberately letting out some super ambiguous sounds: “Be gentle… mm…”

Seeing he wasn’t reacting, she pinched his shoulder with her hand and whispered right by his ear: “Come on, play along a little.”

Shen Nan let out a low grunt, forced himself to choke out: “Can’t go easy…”

His eyes were dark and intense as he pressed against the nape of her neck, pretending to kiss her. His voice was husky, carrying that possessive edge a man gets when he’s turned on: “It’s been so long since I last took care of you… Missed me, hmm?”

Those words were downright filthy.

Zhou Zuizui’s face flushed bright red.

Shen Nan stared hotly at her blushing cheeks, his eyes flickering slightly. He awkwardly looked away and started silently reciting Buddhist scriptures in his head…

Ten minutes later, Shen Nan threw off the blanket, got out of bed with a blank expression, his face looking completely normal.

Of course—

If his ears weren’t red, you might actually believe he felt nothing at all.

Zhou Zuizui felt it too—she wasn’t dead inside, and this guy was her husband, after all. They’d only done it once, but the memory stuck deep… just like Xia Wen said, one time and you’re reminiscing for two years.

Ahem…

She looked up at the cold-faced man and suddenly got the urge to tease him.

Zhou Zuizui let out a puff of laughter. Facing his gaze, she raised an eyebrow, pointed with a playful smirk, and teased: “Captain Shen, your ears are red.”

Not done yet, she fearlessly added, her eyes drifting downward: “Just now, did you…” She curved her lips, smiling at him with total provocation: “Get hard?”