Over the course of the meal, Su Qi had been unlucky three times in a row. At one point, even the pan caught fire.

You have to understand, they were just cooking in a normal kitchen. Setting a pan on fire wasn’t one of their Skills, so it was easy to panic when flames suddenly erupted.

When they finished eating, Su Qi was about to wash the dishes, but Jiang Zuo said directly, "I’ll do it."

"No, I’ll do it. It’s fine, I’m sure it’ll be fine," Su Qi said.

’Is she sure?’

’She just broke one a moment ago.’

Jiang Zuo thought, glancing at the broken bowl in the trash can.

Su Qi tossed her hair and said, "Help me tie my hair up. I refuse to believe I can’t even wash a few dishes."

Jiang Zuo paused for a moment, then went to the master bedroom and took out the Hairband.

’The timing is perfect.’

He had planned to give this to Su Qi anyway. It was just a Life-Protecting Treasure. Jiang Zuo was never worried about his own safety.

What he cared about was Su Qi, who was always out being reckless. This was especially true now that he’d discovered she might be afflicted by the Misfortune Coin. She needed a Life-Protecting Treasure like this more than ever.

Taking out the Hairband, Jiang Zuo casually walked up behind Su Qi. He smoothed out her hair, then used the Hairband to tie it up.

The Hairband was very long, so there was a lot of excess fabric after tying it. Jiang Zuo let the ends drape down on either side.

All in all, Jiang Zuo was quite satisfied with how it looked.

Su Qi tilted her head to look, surprised. "Huh? What’s this? It’s so pretty."

Jiang Zuo stepped to the side. "A Hairband."

Su Qi said, pleasantly surprised, "Where did you get it? Did you buy it? Is it for me? I love it."

"..."

With that one sentence, she had answered all her own questions and confirmed that it was a gift he’d bought for her.

It was close enough, though, so Jiang Zuo didn’t bother to explain.

He just said lightly, "As long as you like it."

Su Qi smiled happily. "You haven’t bought me anything in so long. You’re still the most..."

CRASH! The bowl had somehow slipped from Su Qi’s hand.

And then, it shattered.

There were only two bowls, and she’d just broken one of them.

Jiang Zuo: "..."

Su Qi: "..."

Su Qi gave Jiang Zuo an awkward laugh. "It’s nothing. I just got so happy I felt like breaking something to celebrate."

Jiang Zuo was speechless. But it was already broken, so there was nothing to be done. Besides, he was the one who had secretly caused this. If she found out, Su Qi’s attitude would be completely different.

After they finished cleaning up, Su Qi ran to the bathroom, not for any other reason than to get a better look at the Hairband.

The Hairband really was beautiful. Although it was colorful, it wasn’t gaudy at all. And it felt especially comfortable to the touch.

Jiang Zuo was watching Sweet Potato carefully nibbling on an apple when he suddenly heard Su Qi shout, "Jiang Zuo, come in here! Come in!"

Jiang Zuo sighed and walked over. Su Qi was holding the Hairband with a wronged look on her face. "How did you tie this just now? Teach me."

Without a word, Jiang Zuo went behind her. Facing the mirror, he took her hair and taught her step by step. "First like this, then you loop it around, and then just pull the two ends tight."

Su Qi watched Jiang Zuo in the mirror and asked, "What kind of knot is this? Where did you learn it?"

Jiang Zuo subconsciously replied, "It’s..."

He’d barely started speaking when he realized he’d almost let it slip. He had learned this back when he used to tie up the Duoling Dog; it was a knot specifically for binding its four limbs.

"I learned it online."

Su Qi smiled, then tried tying it herself. Her aptitude was truly excellent; she learned it in one try.

Afterward, she tilted her head back and looked at Jiang Zuo behind her. "Does it look good?"

Jiang Zuo nodded. "It looks good."

Su Qi pressed, "I mean, does your wife—me—look good?"

Jiang Zuo nodded again. "I was saying you look good."

It was true. Su Qi was genuinely beautiful. From head to toe, you couldn’t find many flaws, and her most important features were nearly perfect.

Of course, from an objective standpoint, there were certainly many women more beautiful than Su Qi—the Saintess, for instance, or the Demon Cultivator Saintess, or even Liuyue Xue.

But in Jiang Zuo’s eyes, none of them could even begin to compare with Su Qi.

In all the long years Jiang Zuo had lived, the only person who had ever truly captured his gaze was Su Qi.

Not even Jiu Xi. For Jiang Zuo, hatred was just hatred. In his past life, his resolve to kill Jiu Xi had never wavered, nor had his intent ever been distorted.

It was as if nothing else in the world could stir his heart.

"Heyyy," Su Qi whined playfully, drawing out the sound. "What are you thinking about? The mood is so nice."

Jiang Zuo snapped back to reality and shook his head. "Nothing."

Su Qi’s head was still tilted back, resting against Jiang Zuo’s chest as she gazed up at him.

"I’m saying, since your wife is so pretty, aren’t you going to lean down and give her a kiss? I’m serving myself up on a platter here."

Jiang Zuo froze. Su Qi did seem a little different at this moment, somehow more petite and endearing.

Jiang Zuo looked down at her, and he could even smell a faint, fresh scent (well, the scent of shampoo). But to lean down and kiss her?

’How should he put it?’

’Jiang Zuo had lived for so many years—or rather, ever since Su Qi was gone, his world had been devoid of any romantic feelings. He hadn’t even thought about such matters between a man and a woman.’

’Now, to suddenly be asked to kiss a woman... he was extremely out of practice with this sort of thing.’

’So out of practice that it made him feel a bit... reserved? Or maybe just flustered?’

’In any case, he just couldn’t do it.’

Seeing Jiang Zuo’s lack of reaction, Su Qi stood up straight and turned to face him. She draped her arms around his neck and asked, "Are you still angry with me?"

Jiang Zuo shook his head.

He really wasn’t angry.

"Not angry? And you still dare to be so indifferent to me? You weren’t like this before."

Before Jiang Zuo could react, Su Qi stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his.

In that single instant, Jiang Zuo, whose mind had never once relaxed, experienced a momentary lapse.

For that one moment, if someone had launched a sneak attack on him, their chance of success would have been unprecedentedly high.

But it only lasted an instant before he regained his composure. He became even more vigilant, constantly reminding himself, ’Stay calm. Get used to this.’

’In the past, this would have been perfectly normal.’

It wasn’t long before Su Qi pulled away, then stared at Jiang Zuo without blinking.

Then she tugged at her clothes and said, "Let’s go to sleep."

Dark lines appeared on Jiang Zuo’s face. "It’s still pretty early."

"It’s not early. Early to bed and early to rise keeps the body healthy. Let’s go."

As she spoke, she tried to pull Jiang Zuo along. But just as she turned to leave, BANG! She walked right into the wall.

"...Are you okay?"

"I’m fine. I’ll be better after a good night’s sleep."

She said this and tried to walk again, but just then, her phone rang.

"...Your phone is ringing. Maybe you should answer it first?"

Su Qi took out her phone. Jiang Zuo saw it was a call from her sister, but Su Qi immediately rejected it and turned her phone off.

Then she took out Jiang Zuo’s phone and turned it off as well.

"There, now we can sleep in peace."

Then she started pulling Jiang Zuo along again, only to find he wouldn’t budge. Su Qi looked at Jiang Zuo, then glanced around the bathroom, and said in surprise, "Don’t tell me you want to do it... in here?"

She then said with a shy expression, "I mean, I’m willing to give it a try..."

Cold sweat beaded on Jiang Zuo’s forehead. "...No. Don’t let your mind wander to such ridiculous things."

******

Thank you to Stone-Hearted White Tiger, Xing Kong Ge, Wu Fa Quan Zhi, Zhao Jianqiang123, Wu You Weilai, and 123123sad for your generous donations.

While I’m at it, I’d like to ask for some recommendation votes. Thank you.