For some reason, Xavi felt like his parents' relationship seemed a bit better this time when he came back to visit.
Actually, it was because He Shi had been constantly making unreasonable demands to Xana lately, which made her not want to deal with him much.
Before, she hadn't noticed He Shi had so many little thoughts and schemes she didn't know about. Instead of focusing on living a good life, he spent every day talking about his nephew's marriage...
That nephew already had his own parents worrying about his future. Why did his uncle have to get involved?
But a bigger reason was that Xana had seen how Jewel spoiled her husband, which made her feel a little ashamed of herself.
Xana had been married to Zhang Shi for twenty years, and only now did she start to change the way she treated him.
Zhang Shi would never forget one night not long ago when Xana told him, "These years… you've worked hard."
That night, he couldn't sleep at all. He just lay there, staring at Xana's aging but peaceful sleeping face...
♥
Today was the eighth day of Jewel and Xavi's marriage, and the restaurant had reopened just yesterday.
Her tea plantation had also taken in many displaced people from Yuzhou.
Everything in Yuzhou was currently peaceful, and there had been no uprisings lately.
From the first day of their marriage until now, Jewel had been counting the days with her fingers.
She thought, the unfinished "business" on their wedding night should finally be completed today.
Thinking about it made her smile a little...
Only heaven knew how much she had suffered these days—holding someone sweet in her arms every night, but not being able to do anything!
Tonight, she definitely wouldn't let him get away!
It was still just the afternoon. Xavi had gone to the back of the courtyard to chat with his father-in-law.
Since Xavi married into the Jewel family, he had always been diligent and sensible. The father and son-in-law got along very well and had never argued.
This kind of peaceful family relationship wouldn't be possible without Jewel, the one holding the family together.
She had never said a single bad thing about her husband in front of her father. Whenever Father Jewel asked her about Xavi, she always praised him and showed how satisfied she was.
And she never said in front of her husband how important her father's position in the family was or how far she would go for her own father—she never used that to pressure Xavi into being more filial.
Lifting one up while pushing another down only ruins the family's harmony.
That's why she always praised Xavi in front of her father and thanked him for choosing such a good son-in-law.
And in front of her husband, she acted like he was her entire world—spoiling him so much that he'd forget which direction was east or west.
And it proved to work well—right now, her father was happily chatting with Xavi!
"Xavi, look, which of these two patterns do you think looks better?"
Her father was struggling to decide which design to pick for a new handkerchief, holding them up and comparing them closely.
"Father, I think this one is more suitable."
Xavi looked at the two patterns carefully, then picked the one with a bright and intricate floral design.
Hearing that, her father frowned a little and gave him a mock-disappointed look.
"I told you, from now on you should call me Dad, not Father... You forgot again."
This child kept switching between "Father" and "Dad" before. After the wedding, he told Xavi to use "Dad," but it had only been a few days and he'd already gone back to the old way...
Who doesn't want their son-in-law to call them "Dad" and be close to them?
He felt lucky to have such a handsome and sweet son-in-law like Xavi. He was determined to be the "Best Dad-in-Law!"
Xavi smiled and sweetly called, "Dad~"
Hearing that, her father immediately beamed with joy.
The two of them happily continued to talk about embroidery techniques...
In the end, they even agreed to meet again tomorrow morning to keep working on it together!
It was still the afternoon. Since Jewel couldn't drag her husband into her arms just yet, she decided to take a nap in their room.
But as she passed by Xavi's writing desk—where he usually practiced calligraphy and read—she suddenly felt curious and wanted to see how his handwriting had improved lately.
She lazily leaned back in the chair and reached for the stack of storybooks on top of the practice papers.
But then—oops! Her hand slipped!
A book titled "Female-Dominated World: Wife Spoils Her Husband Endlessly" fell to the floor.
She bent down to pick it up but noticed a thin little booklet had slipped out from inside it.
Hmm?
Do bookstores now give out bonus booklets with purchases?
Or was this a hidden extra chapter she hadn't noticed before?
She had read this story before, but never saw any booklet inside.
Curious, she picked up the thin book and noticed there weren't any words on the front or back cover—or even the first few pages.
For some reason, Jewel suddenly had a strong feeling she'd discovered one of Xavi's secrets...
She hesitated for a bit, wondering if she should open it to see if there was any handwriting inside.
If it was a diary, would he be upset if she read it?
After thinking it over, she quietly walked over to the door, locked it, then quickly went back to the desk, ready to investigate.
She flipped through a few pages until she finally saw something written or drawn.
And then—bam!
She froze after just one glance!
Without saying a word, Jewel quickly closed the booklet, her face blank and not sure what to say.
She rubbed her forehead, trying to calm down.
This...
This little book wasn't a storybook at all!
It wasn't an extra chapter...
It wasn't a diary...
It was clearly... the original, uncensored version of an adult guidebook!
And it even had illustrated tutorials—things like techniques for pregnancy, pillow positioning...
Why did this end up on Xavi's desk?!
This kid—how could he be so free and still choose to read stuff like this?
If she hadn't randomly flipped through his things today, she never would've known Xavi was hiding something like this...
Looking at the rest of the books stacked on the right side of the desk, Jewel wondered if those had more of the same inside.
Maybe she should just take them all away!
Jewel, the little fox, leaned on the desk deep in thought, then stood up and paced for a while...
In the end, she made a decision:
The Fox Queen locked the door tightly, sat down properly in the gentle afternoon sunlight, and seriously began studying the contents of that little book at her husband's desk...
☽
Evening.
Finally, the moment had come!
For once, little Fox Jewel had gone to bed early, holding a book titled "Important Lessons for Scholars and Merchants" while pretending to read. In truth, she wasn't paying attention to a single word.
Her head was filled with the content from that little picture book she saw earlier. She just couldn't stop thinking about it...
The thing was, she had a good memory since she was a child. Once she saw something, especially techniques, it stuck in her head and was impossible to forget...
Just then—
The door opened. Xavi had just taken a bath. His cheeks were slightly red, his loose robe revealed his delicate collarbone, and his long black hair was still a bit wet, with warm steam rising from it. He looked like a flower blooming right in front of Jewel's eyes.
"Wife, I'm done bat—huh?!"
Xavi was closing the door while talking when he was suddenly interrupted by his wife's unexpected move.