When Xiao Che uttered those words, "It's you," filled with relief, Lin Wanwan felt her heart be filled with a tremendous, warm sense of happiness.
All the misunderstandings and secrets were perfectly resolved at this moment.
Looking at the man before her, at the undisguised relief and tenderness in his eyes, the earth-shattering cold war they had just fought seemed, in retrospect, almost absurd and laughable.
She sniffed, and her eyes, which had just been wiped dry, became misty again, but this time, they sparkled with an irrepressible smile.
She finally dared to ask.
"So..." She looked at him, her voice still a little hoarse, but with a hint of cautious confirmation, "The other day, the bouquet of... foxtail grass, and that pearl bracelet you gave me, really... weren't because you felt guilty?"
"cough!"
Upon hearing the words "foxtail grass," Xiao Che's handsome face, which had just been full of affection, instantly lost its composure.
He coughed suddenly, and his ears quickly flushed a suspicious red.
He awkwardly looked away, not daring to meet Lin Wanwan's bright, piercing eyes that seemed to scream "Tell me the truth!" He mumbled incoherently:
"Nonsense! What nonsense are you spouting! How could I possibly feel guilty!"
"What is that?" Lin Wanwan persisted, even mischievously moving closer to carefully observe every subtle expression on his face.
Xiao Che felt uncomfortable under her gaze, his eyes darting around, but he dared not meet her eyes.
He remained silent for a long time, seemingly engaged in a fierce internal struggle. Finally, under Lin Wanwan's piercing gaze that threatened to make him angry if he didn't speak, he squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth, as if he had nothing to lose.
"It's...it's what they say in the storybook!"
Lin Wanwan: "...Huh?"
“The storybook says…” Xiao Che’s old face was already so red it was almost bleeding. He stiffened his neck, looking like he was going to his death, and said quickly, “Women… all like these things, such as… rustic charm, such as… dazzling jewels!”
"puff--"
Lin Wanwan couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Rustic charm?
So, that bunch of foxtail grass that she had been complaining about for so long, thinking it was some "new trick" taught to her by a talented woman from Jiangnan, was actually... picked by His Majesty the Emperor himself from the Imperial Garden?!
The thought of the scene flashed through her mind: the Emperor, the most dignified man, sneaking around in a corner of the Imperial Garden like a thieving eunuch, plucking a handful of foxtail grass, and thinking it was some kind of ultimate romance...
"Hahahaha!" Lin Wanwan couldn't hold back any longer and laughed so hard she was doubled over, tears streaming down her face.
Xiao Che's face instantly darkened.
"Don't laugh!" he growled angrily.
"Okay...okay, I won't laugh..." Lin Wanwan wiped away the tears that came out of her eyes while trying her best to hold back her laughter, but her shoulders were still twitching, clearly she was having a hard time suppressing it.
She cleared her throat and decided to press on and continue digging into the dark history of this "outstanding young man who studied storybooks."
"Then... what about the thrushes?" she blinked, asking innocently. "And what about those two... majestic 'caterpillars'?"
Xiao Che's face darkened even more.
He gritted his teeth, glared at the little woman in front of him who was clearly gloating, and squeezed out a few words through his teeth.
"Advanced techniques from the storybook!"
He flipped through the book "Ten Virtues of a Woman" and when he came across the entry "No pleasure in the boudoir is greater than drawing eyebrows," he thought it was a brilliant idea! It could show his tenderness and thoughtfulness and enhance the romance between husband and wife, it was simply the best choice!
Who knew... who knew that his hands, capable of reviewing all the memorials in the world and drawing a bow to shoot a tiger, would tremble uncontrollably as soon as he picked up that little eyebrow pencil, just like he had Parkinson's disease!
The final drawing... well... it certainly has the imposing presence of the army of the Great Li Dynasty.
"Advanced techniques... Hahahaha..." Lin Wanwan couldn't hold back anymore and burst into laughter, collapsing into Xiao Che's arms, her whole body turning into a boiled shrimp.
She was about to burst from laughing!
It turns out that the reason he was drawing her eyebrows with such a serious face that morning wasn't because he was acting out of guilt, but because... he was too nervous and afraid of messing up this "advanced technique"!
"Lin! Wan! Wan!" Xiao Che's voice, filled with shame and indignation, rang out above her head.
"I'm here...I'm here, haha..." Lin Wanwan laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight. She raised her flushed face, with tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes, and decided to throw out the last, and most fatal, question.
"Then... what about that bowl of 'disastrous cuisine'?" She looked at him, her eyes shining brightly. "And what was that bowl of... the saltiest longevity noodles I've ever eaten in my life?"
The mention of that bowl of noodles completely broke Xiao Che's defenses.
His face had turned from black to a purplish-brown.
That...that was his last trump card!
He remembered it clearly: the last chapter of the storybook read, "When love reaches its peak and becomes so intense that it cannot be dissolved, washing one's hands to cook for love is the ultimate truth!"
Ultimate Secret Technique!
At the time, those four words seemed to him to be shining brightly, containing boundless power!
He felt that as long as he used this move, all conflicts and misunderstandings would disappear!
So, he, an emperor who didn't even know which way the kitchen door faced, resolutely rushed into the small kitchen and staged an... epic kitchen disaster.
Finally, after burning two stoves and wasting half a bag of flour, he finally brought out that bowl... the "ultimate secret" that embodied his life's work (and excessive salt)!
result……
Looking into Lin Wanwan's mischievous eyes, Xiao Che was so ashamed and indignant that he couldn't even speak properly.
“That’s…that’s the ‘ultimate’…secret technique from the storybook!” He practically shouted.
After yelling, he seemed to remember something, suddenly glared at her, and accused her:
"You! You even said it was 'delicious' back then!"
This sentence was the final straw that broke Lin Wanwan's laughter.
Hahahaha!
Inside the bedchamber, Lin Wanwan erupted in the loudest and most unrestrained laughter she had heard since her transmigration.
She laughed so hard she rolled around in Xiao Che's arms, gasping for breath.
So that's how it is!
It turns out that all the "evidence" that had caused her so much suffering these past few days, making her think she was about to fall out of favor, was actually this poor emperor's clumsy and chaste... wife-chasing crematorium... oh no, I mean wife-chasing secret manual, which he learned from some unknown bookstore storybook!
And she, like a fool, imagined an eighty-episode melodrama in her mind in the face of these flawed "evidence"!
That's...so stupid!
So cute!
Xiao Che looked at the little woman in his arms who was laughing so hard she was almost fainting. At first, he was full of shame and indignation, but as he looked at her and listened to her clear, melodious, and carefree laughter, he couldn't help but slowly curl the corners of his lips into a smile.
Finally, a helpless yet indulgent smile returned to his handsome face, which had been frozen for three days.
That's enough.
So what if I'm stupid?
As long as she can smile like this, he'd be willing to read storybooks or even bark like a dog in the Imperial Garden, let alone do it.
The two of them laughed heartily, one of them shaking with laughter, the other looking at them with doting eyes, and they laughed together.
Inside the bedchamber, the candlelight was warm, creating a cozy atmosphere.
The last vestiges of the epic "Cold War," which lasted for three whole days, vanished completely amidst this joyful laughter.
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