Xu Yan's home was much cleaner than Wen Ning had imagined.
It lacked the usual sloppiness of a single man living alone; instead, it was kept remarkably neat. Two potted plants on the windowsill swayed gently in the sunlight.
Noticing this, Wen Ning felt much more at ease.
"What did Tongtong do at home this morning?"
Avoiding her daughter's bright gaze, she asked in as gentle a voice as she could manage.
"Watching TV!"
Clinging to her mother and refusing to let go, Xu Miaotong said in a babyish voice, "And then... waiting for Mommy and Daddy to come home!"
Xu Yan went to the kitchen to wash his hands and glanced at the television. It was playing the classic *Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf*.
What future animation might look like, he had no idea.
Anyway, as long as Tongtong wasn't bored, that was all that mattered.
He smiled and asked, "Tongtong, do you know how *Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf* ends?"
Xu Miaotong immediately pressed on, "How? How?"
"Pleasant Goat gets eaten by Big Big Wolf."
"..."
Xu Miaotong froze for a long while.
After a moment, her lips quickly turned downward, and she looked as though she was about to burst into tears.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Seeing her daughter's tearful expression, Wen Ning felt a pang of heartache. She shot him a glare and hurriedly hugged Tongtong. "He's lying to you. In the end, Pleasant Goat drove Big Big Wolf away."
"Really?"
Only then did Xu Miaotong become happy again, sticking her tongue out playfully at Xu Yan. "Stinky Daddy, go away!"
Xu Yan couldn't help but chuckle.
See? He could get along just fine with his daughter, couldn't he?
When Xu Yan came out of the kitchen again, the mother and daughter were already sitting on the sofa.
Xu Miaotong was a child who loved to act spoiled. Having not been close to her mother for many days, she now clung to Wen Ning's embrace and refused to budge.
Wen Ning, on the other hand, looked somewhat restrained. She kept her arms wrapped around Tongtong to keep her from falling, her spine held straight.
It was obvious that she wasn't particularly used to such intimate physical contact, but...
It was also clear that she didn't repel it either.
"Keep her company watching TV for a bit longer."
Xu Yan took some strawberries out of the refrigerator and placed them in front of the mother and daughter. "Have some fruit first."
"Thank you."
Wen Ning reached out, plucked the stems off the strawberries, and placed them into Tongtong's hands.
"Mommy, Mommy!"
Xu Miaotong's cheeks were flushed, looking utterly adorable. "Tongtong slept with Daddy yesterday, you know."
Clearly, a naive little kid was easy to fool.
The fact that Xu Yan had just lied to her about Pleasant Goat being eaten had been completely forgotten.
Perhaps infected by her mood, Wen Ning couldn't help smiling slightly. "Is Tongtong that happy?"
"Super happy!"
Xu Miaotong blinked her large eyes. "In the past, Mommy never let me sleep with Daddy."
Wen Ning was also a bit curious about her future self: "Is that so?"
Looking at it this way... could I be a rather strict mother?
"Yeah, Mommy is so stingy!"
Xu Miaotong protested, "Mommy always fights with Tongtong for Daddy."
Xu Yan, still in the kitchen, listened casually and happened to chime in, "Then aren't you mad at Mommy, Tongtong?"
"I am mad,"
Xu Miaotong said innocently. "Then Mommy will ask Daddy, 'If me and Tongtong both fell into the water, who would you save first?'"
"..."
Xu Yan paused for a moment. "And then?"
He had a bad premonition.
The question itself was meaningless.
Because the moment the other person asked that question, they had already decided that no matter what your answer was, they were going to take your dog life.
"Then Mommy punished Daddy by making him kneel on the board."
Xu Miaotong held out her hand and gestured a size. "Just this big, the board used for washing clothes."
Xu Yan violently jerked his head around to look at the Campus Belle Wen sitting on the sofa.
At the same time, he wore an expression of extremely subtle vigilance.
Actually, he was relatively speaking a bit of a chauvinist.
At home, unlike the henpecked Old Xu, he was a fine young man who frequently competed with his honored mother Lin Hui for family status.
Though basically, those attempts ended in failure whenever Lin Hui pulled out her ultimate tactic: asking whether he still wanted his living expenses for next month.
Yet this rebellious spirit doomed Xu Yan to never be anyone's slave.
Afraid of his wife?
Would he be putting up with this kind of nonsense in the future?
Hiss, this woman...
Wen Ning: "..."
Tongtong, now you're just talking nonsense.
Although there was a saying that a daughter was a father's little sweetheart, she didn't believe her future self would get jealous of her daughter.
Nor did she believe she would make Xu Yan kneel on a board... kneel on a washboard.
"Why are you staring at me?"
Wen Ning pulled a straight face. "Now you know what kind of person I am, don't you?"
Xu Yan nodded cautiously. "I know."
Wen Ning always felt that the way Xu Yan looked at her carried the feeling of facing a formidable enemy.
This inexplicable look made her somewhat indignant.
What is that supposed to mean?
Does he think I'm the kind of woman who makes her husband kneel on the floor at the drop of a hat?
Xu Yan stopped chatting with the mother and daughter and returned to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Wen Ning accompanied Tongtong to watch TV for a while, noticing the little girl's eyes shining brightly as if she was about to fall right into Goat Village.
Not wanting to disturb Tongtong further, she quietly stood up and prepared to go to the kitchen to take a look.
After all, she was considered a guest right now, and furthermore, she was Tongtong's mother...
Just sitting there doing nothing to help made her feel a bit uneasy.
Xu Yan glanced back at her without saying much.
He was at the sink, dealing with the shrimp he had bought in the morning.
Tongtong had said she wanted to eat shrimp.
"Let me help."
Wen Ning tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
Xu Yan didn't even raise his head. "No need, just keep Tongtong company a bit longer."
"I mean..."
Wen Ning was quite embarrassed. "Xu Yan, have you ever prepped seafood before?"
From his movements, it was clear he probably went into the kitchen sometimes.
There was the smell of cooking oil in the house.
But his skill level was at most Bronze, no higher.
Probably just about capable of boiling noodles or making egg fried rice.
It was simply unwatchable.
Xu Yan's movements paused.
He gathered his thoughts. "I know that if you put shrimp into a pot, they turn into cooked shrimp."
"And what else?"
"Before shrimp die, they are alive."
"...Aren't those all stating the obvious?"
Wen Ning sighed.
Before Xu Yan could reply, Wen Ning very naturally picked up the SpongeBob apron hanging on the nearby hook and tied it around her waist.
She skillfully untied her ponytail and rolled her hair up with her wrist.
Then she secured it into a hair bun at the back of her head with a rubber band, revealing her swan-like white neck.
Matched with her pure and lovely cheeks, she looked the spitting image of an idealized virtuous wife and good mother.
"We still have to go back to school later, so let's hurry."
"..."
Xu Yan felt slightly looked down upon by her.
Well, look at you, Wen Ning!
Bad woman, what does she think this place is?
This was his home!
Wen Ning glanced at him and skillfully began prepping the raw shrimp. "Go sit outside and keep Tongtong company for a while."
"What Tongtong said was really spot on."
Chased off to the side, Xu Yan fell into deep thought.
Regardless of whether he and Wen Ning in this lifetime would end up together or not...
Was family status already beginning to show its shape this early on?
"..."
Wen Ning knew what he was thinking, which made her somewhat stifled.
"Then you better watch yourself in this life, and make sure you never fall into my hands again."
With a stiff, straight face, her lip line pulled taut and her tone cool, she said, "Otherwise, I'll work you to your knees."