“How did I offend you?” Sun Jingcheng looked at her, throwing the racket from his shoulder onto the sofa. “Tell me, what did I do to upset you!”
Zhou Yu still said nothing.
“Speak up. As long as you say what I did to offend you, I’ll admit it all!”
“Have you gone mute?”
“Let me ask you, you’re not my mother—what right do you have to curse at me for no reason?!”
Zhou Yu quickly retreated to the bedroom. The instant she was about to lock the door, Sun Jingcheng jammed his foot in. She couldn’t close it, so she could only turn around and lie back on the bed.
“You’re angrier than me?” Sun Jingcheng was incredulous, about to explode with rage. “Go ahead and be difficult, go ahead! If you think you can train me like a dog, no way! I, Sun Jingcheng, am an upright, dignified person! I am not your dog!”
After speaking, he went downstairs with his racket. As he was about to exit the elevator, he encountered a careless person who, wearing a helmet, crashed hard into his chest.
The other person hurriedly apologized, saying he had been staring at the order on his phone and hadn’t noticed he would crash into him. Perhaps because he was so young, he was almost choking up as he spoke. Sun Jingcheng saw the food delivery box in his hand and waved him away.
He clutched his chest as he arrived at the sports center. He couldn’t play ball anymore and could only sit on the sidelines to watch. His racket was also borrowed by a friend.
Even if his chest didn’t hurt, he wouldn’t engage in strenuous exercise. He was very careful about his health, doing a thorough physical examination once a year. It wasn’t that he was afraid of death—it was being responsible to himself and his family. If something happened, at least he could prepare in advance.
Over the years, his friends and classmates had all been approaching the big hurdle of 40—either late-stage cancer, fatty liver, diabetes, or erectile dysfunction. Hair loss, obesity, and high blood pressure were the lighter issues.
A few days ago when chatting idly in the group, a classmate remarked that it’s not that men generally settle down after 40—it’s because they’ve been squeezed dry in every aspect and have no energy left. Women have it better—when women age, it’s just menopause. For men, things can go wrong and destroy their dignity.
Sun Jingcheng sat there chatting with people for a long time, then packed up his racket to go home, having completely forgotten about being angry with Zhou Yu. When he got home and couldn’t find her, he remembered the two of them were fighting. Her phone was still on the coffee table, and he had no idea where she had gone.
He went downstairs to search for a long time, finally finding her in the coffee shop outside the residential complex. He had originally had a bellyful of anger, but seeing her, it all disappeared. He sat down beside her and asked, “Still angry?”
Zhou Yu turned her head away and ignored him.
Sun Jingcheng clutched his chest and warned in advance, “Don’t make me angry. An hour ago someone crashed hard into me, and it still hurts right now!”
Zhou Yu looked at him.
Sun Jingcheng was just short of swearing an oath—a delivery guy wearing a helmet had crashed into him, and if she didn’t believe it they could check the elevator surveillance. As he spoke, he asked her to rub it for him—her gentle little hands rubbing it would make it better.
…
Zhou Yu reached over to rub it for him. Sun Jingcheng enjoyed it immensely, praising how her little paws had magic power—rubbing it once and all ailments vanished. Then he grasped her hand, kissed it by his mouth, and unilaterally declared, “This old man forgives you. But next time I won’t let you off!”
Zhou Yu pinched his waist. Sun Jingcheng laughed heartily.
Laughing aside, joking aside, Sun Jingcheng still wanted to ask her why she had lost her temper.
Zhou Yu held her coffee cup and said, “It’s nothing.”
“What do you mean nothing?”
“Ai ya, it’s just nothing.” Zhou Yu apologized to him, saying sorry.
Sun Jingcheng looked at her. “Sorry for what?”
“I shouldn’t have vented my anger on you.”
Sun Jingcheng said half-seriously, “I was genuinely hurt for a moment there. I went over early to help Mom, and even helped dismantle and wash the air conditioner filters, and then you told me to get lost.”
“Who asked you to go help?”
“Wasn’t it for you?” Sun Jingcheng said. “I wanted to make Mom and Grandma happy. I wanted to contribute more, to make Mom feel that marrying her daughter to me wasn’t a mistake.”
…
“Hah, I suspect you’re just putting on a show! Creating a false impression for my mom that you do all the housework diligently,” Zhou Yu guessed.
Sun Jingcheng threw his head back and laughed. It was impossible to have a pleasant conversation with her. He went back inside the café to order a cup of black tea. Then he came back and sat down, shamelessly proposing that from now on he’d take care of all the housework at the family compound, she’d handle the clinic housework, and they’d split the new district housework.
“This way it’s a win-win, mutually beneficial,” Sun Jingcheng said strategically. “Your mom will think this son-in-law couldn’t be found even with a lantern. My mom will think that marrying you is a blessing our family cultivated.”
…
Zhou Yu didn’t even respond to him. He kept talking about splitting the housework at home, but after half a year of talking, he hadn’t done anything—or if he did do something, she still had to redo it.
Sun Jingcheng was quite happy. After being happy, he felt something was wrong, realizing that no matter how legitimate and justified his reasons for arguing were, everything always ended up fizzling out. Before he could puzzle it out, Zhou Yu called him to go home, saying she’d cook him a late-night snack.
On the way home, Zhou Yu asked him what he wanted to eat, her arm linked through his. He said he wanted shrimp dumplings.
Zhou Yu said they were out of shrimp at home and she’d make them for him tomorrow. Then she enumerated what they currently had at home and what she could make.
Sun Jingcheng said, “Steak then.” After speaking, he rubbed his lower abdomen. “But I’m afraid of getting a potbelly.”
“It’s fine, one steak won’t make you fat,” Zhou Yu said naturally. “Even if you get fat, I won’t have the slightest bit of disdain.”
Sun Jingcheng was so inflated with pride. “Then steak it is. I also want a vegetable salad without salad dressing.”
“Okay, I’ll make it all for you,” Zhou Yu said very gently.
Sun Jingcheng’s heart softened so much. He felt it was really wonderful—his wife was really wonderful. Even this late, whatever he wanted to eat, she was willing to make!
Zhou Yu was also in a pleasant mood. Originally she had been sitting there in self-loathing, unable to get herself out of the situation. Thinking about it, she squeezed their tightly interlocked fingers hard. Some words reached her throat, but in the end she said nothing.