After stepping out of Tang Ruhai's house, Lin Chuan turned the corner to the building on the right side of this floor.
If the address Su Qingxue gave him was correct, then this must be Su Qingxue's home.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Lin Chuan stepped forward to knock three times, then took a step back and waited quietly.
A moment later, a voice came from the other side of the door.
Soon, the door opened.
The person opening the door was a middle-aged woman in her forties. Lin Chuan had already learned from Su Qingxue that there was a nanny living at home.
He bowed to the middle-aged woman and said loudly, "Hello, Nanny! I am Lin Chuan, who just married Su Qingxue."
The middle-aged woman opened the door with a smile on her face. Su Qingxue had already told her about this beforehand, so she was not surprised by Lin Chuan's arrival.
The only thing that surprised her was Lin Chuan's appearance and attire. His looks were a very good match for her young mistress, but this Taoist outfit made her feel that this new master of the house was quite unusual.
Having watched Su Qingxue grow up since childhood, she naturally didn't ask why a husband had suddenly appeared since Su Qingxue hadn't mentioned it.
After welcoming Lin Chuan into the house, a smile appeared on her face as she watched him curiously examine the room's decor.
Although this new husband didn't look like a wealthy man, someone of her life experience would never measure a person by money.
At least the respect Lin Chuan showed her when he entered the door was genuine, unlike other people who wouldn't even spare her a second glance when visiting.
"Master Lin, you can just call me Mother Wang. What would you like to eat for lunch? I'll go make it for you."
Hearing Mother Wang speak, Lin Chuan snapped back to reality and said with some embarrassment:
"Um... I don't have any particular cravings, just make whatever. But cook a lot of rice, I love eating rice."
If Su Qingxue were standing nearby, she would definitely curse inwardly: "Glutton!"
Yet Mother Wang found Lin Chuan quite down-to-earth and said with a smile, "Alright, I'll cook extra rice."
"Not just a little, a lot. I have a huge appetite."
Lin Chuan gave this solemn instruction, and Mother Wang walked into the kitchen with a chuckle.
As soon as Mother Wang left, Lin Chuan jumped up from the living room sofa, pulled out a Yin-Yang Double Fish Array Disk—resembling a Bagua array—from the bag he carried with him.
The array disk was inscribed with the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the Eight Gates, the Four Auspices and Constellations, and numerous arcane runes that would dizzy any ordinary person at a glance.
After taking out the array disk, Lin Chuan hung it on the door. Then, pointing the index and middle fingers of his right hand together like a sword with the remaining three fingers curled into his palm, he placed it in front of him and began to chant incantations.
"Qian position, Dui position, Xun position, Gen position, four-in-one, open!"
As soon as Lin Chuan finished speaking, the four constellation positions on the array disk suddenly flashed with light, and an invisible, formless aura instantly enveloped the entire house.
Having finished all this, Lin Chuan clapped his hands and returned to the sofa.
As the once-in-a-ten-thousand-years peerless genius of Qingliang Mountain, Lin Chuan could execute such Qi-men magical arrays for averting disaster and bringing good fortune with effortless ease.
Since helping Su Qingxue overcome her fateful tribulation could increase his comprehension of cultivation techniques, naturally, the sooner the better.
After that, he would cast a divination for Su Qingxue so he could roughly figure out what her fateful tribulation actually was.
Before long, Mother Wang brought out four dishes and a soup from the kitchen, combining meat and vegetables in a way that instantly stimulated anyone's appetite.
Lured by the aroma of the food, Lin Chuan came to the dining room. Mother Wang served him a bowl of rice, but when he looked at the small rice bowl in front of him, he began to doubt life.
With such a small bowl, he would finish it in two bites, and constantly refilling it would just waste precious eating time.
With a distressed expression, Lin Chuan asked, "Mother Wang, do you have a bigger bowl? This one is way too small."
Hearing this, Mother Wang smiled, went to the kitchen, fetched a large soup bowl, and filled it to the brim with rice for Lin Chuan.
"This is good, this is good!"
The moment Lin Chuan saw the size of the bowl, his eyes lit up. He then started shoveling the food into his mouth frantically, an eating momentum that startled even Mother Wang.
"Delicious! Delicious! Mother Wang's cooking is truly amazing!"
While stuffing his face, Lin Chuan managed to speak clearly and showered her with praise without holding back.
"As long as you like it, Master Lin. The young mistress always eats at the company, and I get quite lonely eating by myself at home. In the future, just tell me whatever you want to eat, and I'll make it for you."
Hearing this, Lin Chuan lifted his face out of the bowl and nodded vigorously.
"Great! Then tomorrow I want to eat those giant shrimp!"
Just as the two of them were eating, Su Qingxue returned.
"The young mistress is back! Right on time, we've just started eating. I'll get you another set of cutlery."
Mother Wang felt quite puzzled. Why was Su Qingxue back so early today? In the past, she always returned after Mother Wang had finished eating.
Lin Chuan lifted his exceptionally handsome face out of the rice bowl once more, glanced at Su Qingxue, and then went back to tackling the rice in his bowl.
Su Qingxue's pretty face was filled with exhaustion. Seeing Lin Chuan sitting at the dining table eating from a large soup bowl, she paused for a moment, then shook her head.
She had inexplicably acquired a husband. Even if it was a fake marriage, the marriage certificate they obtained was real.
Even if the crisis facing the Su family and herself was resolved by then, she would still be seen as a young matron in everyone's eyes, and remarrying would make her a second-hand wife.
Su Qingxue was conservative at heart; since she was married, she wanted to see it through to the end. After all, Lin Chuan's outward appearance was indeed exceptional—not to mention his looks, he also had a slender figure and a fine demeanor.
Yet looking at the scene before her, Su Qingxue only felt the world spinning. This man who looked even younger than her was utterly useless apart from being good-looking, capable at best of landing a few punches—how could he possibly be worthy of her?
Su Qingxue was proud, but she had the capital to be proud; she would not allow her husband to be someone who looked attractive but lacked substance.
Gazing at Lin Chuan's behavior, sudden anger welled up inside her.
"Mother Wang, I'm not eating. Don't bother."
With that, Su Qingxue walked straight toward the stairs, the sound of her black high heels striking the wooden floor clearly audible.
Yet after taking just two steps, she suddenly felt a wave of dizziness in her head, followed immediately by a surge of weakness throughout her body. The handbag slipped from her hand, and her entire body instantly went limp.
Just as she was about to collapse, she suddenly felt herself lean against something warm. Turning her head to look, it was unexpectedly the fellow who had been frantically shoveling rice just moments ago!
She tried to struggle to her feet, but her entire body lacked even a shred of strength, and her eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
"Look at you, you've gotten so hungry you have no strength left. You should still come eat some food, it's really delicious."
With one hand holding chopsticks and the other supporting Su Qingxue's slender waist, Lin Chuan felt as though her body had no bones at all. Not only that, but Su Qingxue carried a unique fragrance—and it wasn't the scent of shampoo, shower gel, or perfume.
Today Su Qingxue was wearing a hip-hugging dress paired with a blouse, and through the fabric Lin Chuan could feel the astonishing elasticity of her body.
Yet Lin Chuan felt nothing special, because he thought the dishes on the dining table not far away held a higher attraction for him than Su Qingxue.
The two of them pressed tightly against each other. Su Qingxue's pretty face flushed red as she tried to struggle, inevitably resulting in Lin Chuan taking a few liberties with her.
Heaven and earth as witness, Lin Chuan truly hadn't meant to touch the peaks on her chest and the half-moon behind her.
Mother Wang had just stepped out of the kitchen, saw the posture of the two, turned around, and walked right back.
As she walked, she sighed to herself, "Young people these days, they don't even know to be discreet. Are they really in that much of a rush?"
Su Qingxue swore that if she could move right now, she would chop off Lin Chuan's thieving hand and then use his chopsticks to gouge out his eyes.
Overwhelmed by a mix of shame and rage, a sudden heat rushed to her head, and she lost consciousness entirely.
Lin Chuan had originally intended to drag Su Qingxue to the dining table, but the very next second he noticed something was wrong—Su Qingxue had actually passed out.
He immediately placed his fingers on Su Qingxue's wrist, and within moments his expression changed drastically, shock flashing in his eyes.
"Why are you poisoned this deeply?!"