Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Currying Favor

Listening to Lu Huan’s obedient tone, Lu Xiao grew curious. ’What is this little rascal plotting now?’

After letting her in, Lu Xiao paid her no more mind and went to her room to shower and change.

When she came downstairs, she saw Lu Huan in the kitchen, working with some ingredients.

Hearing a noise behind her, Lu Huan quickly turned to look at Lu Xiao, saying with a smile, “Sis, what would you like to eat? I’ll make it.”

Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow, taking in Lu Huan’s fawning behavior.

Lu Xiao’s gaze was too piercing. Lu Huan felt her scalp tingle under the scrutiny. “Sis, what’s wrong?”

“Just say it. What do you really want?”

Lu Xiao didn’t believe for a second that Lu Huan would come to her place to do chores for no reason.

’After all, people don’t change overnight.’

Under Lu Xiao’s sharp gaze, Lu Huan finally broke. “There’s a parent-teacher conference at the end of the month,” she said in a small voice. “Could you go?”

Lu Xiao was momentarily stunned. Before Lu Huan spoke, she had run through countless possibilities. The most likely was that the little rascal, who never seemed to learn her lesson, had hooked up with some male whose family had come demanding retribution, forcing Lu Xiao to take responsibility. Or perhaps she had stirred up trouble at school and needed Lu Xiao to clean up the mess.

She had never expected this.

“You should ask Mother.” ’This has nothing to do with me.’

“Mother won’t go. At most, she’ll just send the butler or a side husband.” ’She’s never gone herself, not even once. Of course, it’s like that for most of the females in my class; none of us are any better off than the others. But this time…’ Lu Huan looked at Lu Xiao. “Please go, Sis. I think I did really well on my exams this time.”

Watching Lu Huan try so desperately to persuade her, Lu Xiao suddenly had a realization. Given the way females in the Empire raised their children, they might have high status, but they were actually starved for affection.

“If I have time, I’ll go. But don’t get your hopes up.” Lu Xiao had no intention of agreeing so easily; as far as she was concerned, Lu Huan had zero credibility.

“Okay! Just go if you have time. If not, that’s fine.” Lu Huan seemed overjoyed just by Lu Xiao’s words.

“Get out of the kitchen. You don’t have to make dinner.” Lu Xiao wanted a good meal tonight; she had no desire to eat something awful just for the sake of rebuking Lu Huan.

That wouldn’t be rebuking Lu Huan; it would be punishing herself.

’It’s best not to use such a toxic, self-defeating tactic.’

But Lu Huan was unwilling to leave. “Can I stay here and watch to learn?”

’If Lu Huan isn’t just putting on an act,’ Lu Xiao thought, ’then she really has changed a lot.’

But she didn’t refuse. “Fine, just stay out of the way.”

When Ares came downstairs and saw Lu Xiao and Lu Huan in the kitchen, he didn’t go over. Instead, he turned and began tidying up the house.

Meanwhile, Lu Huan had somehow wised up. She actually thought to use her terminal to record a video, capturing Lu Xiao’s entire cooking process. This way, she could rewatch it after she went home and wouldn’t forget a single step.

Seeing this, Lu Xiao finally decided that Lu Huan wasn’t a complete idiot after all.

After dinner, before Lu Xiao or Ares could even move, Lu Huan scrambled to clear the table. “Sis, Brother-in-law, you’ve had a long day at work. You two should rest. Just leave this to me.”

Ares looked at Lu Xiao, his eyes full of questions.

Lu Xiao couldn’t be bothered to guess at Lu Huan’s schemes anymore. She waved a hand. “If you want to do it, be my guest.”

Lu Huan was overjoyed to get permission.

That evening, as Lu Xiao was preparing to perform Spiritual Soothing for Ares, Ares suddenly remarked, “Lu Huan has changed a lot.”

“She has. I can’t figure out what she’s planning. Can you find a way to look into it?” Despite what Lu Huan had said, Lu Xiao had a feeling there was more to the story.

Ares had intended to do so anyway, but investigating Lu Huan on his own without Lu Xiao’s permission would have been improper. Now that she had asked, he had no reason to hesitate.

After agreeing with a “yes,” he added, “Can I stay and sleep here with you tonight?”

Hearing this so suddenly, Lu Xiao froze for a moment. “You’re still not fully recovered?”

Realizing she had misunderstood, an unnatural blush crept onto Ares’s face. “No, I’m fully recovered. I just… want to sleep with you. Is that okay?”

Once she realized what Ares meant, Lu Xiao felt a flash of awkwardness, but the feeling vanished just as quickly.

After all, they were practically a real married couple now; sleeping together was perfectly normal.

Besides, now that Ares had been bold enough to ask, she certainly couldn’t refuse him.

“Okay. But I’ve never slept with anyone before, so I don’t know if I’ll be restless or anything. If I am, just wake me up.”

“You won’t be. Mistress is very well-behaved in her sleep.”

Ares had rarely called her ’Mistress’ since Lu Xiao told him she didn’t like it. Unexpectedly, hearing it now gave it a special sort of flavor.

Lu Xiao raised a hand to cover her mouth and coughed lightly, saying in a deliberately casual tone, “Alright, let’s begin the Spiritual Soothing.”

His goal achieved, Ares said no more. After an obedient “yes,” he lay down.

An hour later, Ares was sound asleep. Lu Xiao opened her eyes and gazed at the exceptionally handsome man, the corners of her lips curling up into a small smile.

’Ares really is handsome!’

「The next morning」 When Lu Xiao woke up, Ares was already out of bed. She hadn’t thought much of it when they weren’t living together, but now that they were, she realized, ’Does Ares really get up this early every day?’

’No wonder he’s always able to have breakfast ready when I wake up.’

Remembering she had invited four teachers over to the house today, Lu Xiao didn’t linger in bed. She quickly got ready and left the bedroom.

Lu Huan, who was vacuuming dust with a cleaning machine, heard the noise and looked over. Her eyes widened involuntarily when she saw Lu Xiao coming out of Ares’s room. “You two actually slept together?”

Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a look that said, ’What’s the big deal?’

Lu Huan belatedly realized she had blurted out her thoughts and quickly tried to explain. “I saw you were sleeping in separate rooms before, so I just thought your relationship was so-so. I guess I didn’t realize you two were getting along so well, ha.”

Lu Xiao rolled her eyes, speechless. “Mind your own business.”

Lu Huan nodded quickly. “I know. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“When are you going back to school?”

“Can’t I stay here until school starts?” Lu Huan asked gingerly, putting on a pitiful expression.

Lu Xiao stared at her for a long moment. “We have guests coming today. If you don’t have anything important to do, just stay in your room.”

“Okay, I definitely won’t cause you any trouble. Sis, I really won’t do the kinds of things I used to. Just trust me this one time.” Lu Huan could feel that Lu Xiao didn’t trust her.

But she couldn’t blame Lu Xiao. It was all her own fault for her past actions. ’Trying to win back her trust now is going to be really hard,’ she thought.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep