As she stepped out the door, she saw a figure standing not far away by her own entrance. The person was slender, with a face as beautiful as a painting, truly deserving of Cao Xueqin's description: "serene as a flower bathed in water, graceful as a willow swaying in the wind." She was indeed exquisitely beautiful.
Knowing full well he was waiting for her, she couldn't help but smile. He kept his head bowed, showing no sign of waiting. If someone had actually arrived, he probably wouldn't have noticed.
Lu Yu turned back and closed the Li family's main door. The creaking sound drew Shen Xuan's attention. He looked up and saw Lu Yu's figure, rubbed his hands on his clothes, and stepped forward, preparing to greet her.
Seeing this, Lu Yu quickened her pace, running the last few steps to Shen Xuan. A gust of cool breeze blew past, making Shen Xuan shiver.
Lu Yu looked at Shen Xuan wearing thin clothes and reached out to adjust them, saying with a hint of helplessness, "Why did you come out wearing so little? It's autumn now, the weather is getting cold, and it's easiest to get sick."
"Besides, didn't I tell you today? If I come back late, you don't need to wait for me. You and Afu can eat first." Lu Yu extended her hand, gently taking Shen Xuan's into hers, wanting to warm him with her own body heat.
Shen Xuan finally lifted his dejected head and looked at Lu Yu. Under the moonlight, his eyes were glistening. "I'm not cold. You are my wife, and you've worked hard all day. It's only right that I wait for you to come home and eat together."
Lu Yu couldn't resist Shen Xuan's pure and bright gaze. She flusteredly pushed open the main door and led Shen Xuan inside.
As night fell, the two sat at the table, eating the small pastries Lu Yu had bought that day. Lu Yu was the one eating mostly, while Shen Xuan watched from the side.
"You eat too. These are super delicious. Try them quickly." She hadn't expected that there would be such tasty pastries in this ancient world. Lu Yu couldn't suppress her strong desire to share, wishing Shen Xuan could know their taste immediately.
"Mmm, I've had these before." Shen Xuan, facing Lu Yu's sudden enthusiasm, didn't know how to respond. He then added dryly, "If my wife is willing to eat them, please eat more."
"You've had them? Did your mother buy them for you?" Lu Yu was a little surprised, not expecting that the less favored young husband at home would have also tasted them.
"No, my maternal grandmother bought them for me when I was little." Speaking of this, Shen Xuan's lips curved into a happy smile unconsciously.
"You had them when you were little? So early. Do you like them?" Seeing Shen Xuan's mood brighten, Lu Yu's own mood was unconsciously lifted, and she gradually opened up the conversation.
"They were alright. A bit too sweet, but it was better after rinsing my mouth." Anything bought by my maternal family, I liked.
"Then you eat too. There are many. Even with Afu and me, we can't finish them all." She noticed her young husband's fondness for the pastries, but he was too reserved to express his liking.
"Did you give some to Afu too?"
"Of course. We can't eat them while he watches, can we?" Lu Yu said as a matter of course.
Afu, inside the room, looked at the pastries on the tray before him, almost moved to tears. How long had it been since he and his young master had eaten such exquisite food?
When the family head came to give him the pastries earlier, she had inquired about the young master's situation at home. She truly seemed to want to treat him well.
"Since childhood, the young master was not favored at home. What the eldest young master had, the young master almost never did. It was only when the Li family head bought these pastries for the young master in his childhood that the young master would share a few pieces with me."
"Later, the family head gradually stopped the young master from contacting the Li family, and the young master's situation became even worse."
"Only during festivals each year could the young master eat with the Shen family head. On normal days, he ate in his own room. But that cook, following Zhao Liu's orders, treated my young master harshly, and it was pitiable that the Shen family head paid him no attention."
"Even on that day when it rained so heavily, the Shen family head made the young master kneel in the rain to reflect, showing no concern for him."
"After the young master returned, his knees were red and swollen, bleeding."
Afu's resentful expression as he spoke these words was vivid in her memory. By the end, he cried out of concern. It seemed her husband's situation at home was even worse than she had imagined.
Before, she had only heard that the second young master of the Shen family was not favored, but she never imagined it would be to this extent.
Looking at Shen Xuan's gentle and well-behaved actions as he ate the pastries, which were so endearing it made her heart ache, Lu Yu felt a pang of pain. She secretly decided that whatever Shen Xuan had lacked in the past at home, she would make up for him in the future.
Since the Shen family couple treated her Shen Xuan so poorly, there was no need for any valuable items in tomorrow's return gift.
The next day, Shen Xuan, thinking about the return visit, couldn't sleep soundly and woke up very early.
He wanted to get up, but the weight on him was undeniable, preventing him from moving. He turned to look at the person beside him. Lu Yu was still sleeping soundly, but her hands and feet were resting on him.
Holding his breath, he carefully removed Lu Yu's hand from his chest and slowly sat up. He looked down between his legs, his face inexplicably flushing red.
Lu Yu's leg was sprawled between Shen Xuan's legs. As if sensing someone moving her arm, her leg restlessly rubbed up and down.
Shen Xuan instinctively pushed Lu Yu's leg away quickly, his face instantly turning bright red. He sat stiffly to the side, calming his racing heart and suppressing his body's shameful reaction.
Men's bodies were naturally sensitive in the morning, and after reaching adulthood, they would experience reactions in the morning. How could he withstand Lu Yu's unintentional teasing?
He wanted to escape this place quickly but was afraid of waking Lu Yu with his movements.
After a while, he finally made up his mind. He quietly glanced up at Lu Yu, then quickly averted his gaze, confirming she was still fast asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief.
He tiptoed out of the bed bit by bit, carefully putting on his clothes, trying not to make a sound.
Before leaving, he looked down and saw that everything was back to normal before daring to go out to find Afu.
Afu was washing his face in the courtyard. Seeing Lu Yu come out, he quickly wiped his face and eagerly ran to Shen Xuan, pointing for him to see.
Shen Xuan followed Afu's gaze. Two large red chests were placed in the center of the courtyard. According to Afu, these should be the return gifts Lu Yu had prepared for him.
But why were there so many? He hadn't brought anything when he married in. How could he let his wife prepare such generous return gifts? Moreover, he didn't plan to contact them in the future, so there was no need to let them take such a big advantage.
He would discuss it with his wife when she woke up.
Seeing the shifting expressions on Shen Xuan's face, Afu couldn't wait to open the chests and show Shen Xuan what was inside. But it was better for the family head to tell the young master about such things.
Suppressing the urge to speak the truth, he turned the conversation with a smile.
"Young master, the family head is not awake yet. Please wash up first. I've already mixed the warm water. I'll go make breakfast."
"Don't call me 'young master' anymore. It's improper if outsiders hear it." Shen Xuan reached out and pinched Afu's face, speaking with a smile.
"But there are no outsiders here, are there? And the family head isn't an outsider either." Afu pouted in disagreement and then leaned close to Shen Xuan's ear, speaking softly, "She's my wife!"
After saying this, he quickly slipped away before Shen Xuan could react, chuckling to himself.
"You!" Shen Xuan's face turned red as he realized what had happened. Annoyed, he wanted to scold him for his loose tongue, but Afu had already disappeared too quickly.
He ran away so fast. Next time, I must teach him a lesson, Shen Xuan muttered to himself. He clearly hadn't been at ease about him marrying his wife before, but now he dared to joke like this.
Walking into the courtyard, he reached out to touch the chests, but unexpectedly moved one.
"Why is it so light?"