Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After getting up, Shang Huoyong had a sour expression on his face, as if he were Yama who had been owed money.

Shang's mother noticed the obvious red marks on Su Tinghe's fair and tender neck and scolded Shang Huoyong, "Don't you know how to control your strength? Tinghe's skin is so delicate, yet you still use so much force. You should be more careful."

Then, she turned to Su Tinghe and asked gently, "Are there any other red marks on your body?"

Su Tinghe looked confused, "What do you mean?"

Shang's mother was frustrated but couldn't speak too directly. She pointed at Su Tinghe's neck and said, "I mean, are there any other red marks like this on your body?"

Su Tinghe still didn't understand, but there were indeed no other red marks on his body, so he shook his head and said, "No, there aren't."

Shang Huoyong couldn't stand it anymore and explained to his mother, "We just slept together last night, nothing else."

Shang's mother was furious, "If just sleeping together caused this, imagine how bad it would be if you did more." She then turned to Su Tinghe with concern and advised, "Tinghe, you can't be so accommodating. You need to know when to say no and not always give in to him."

Suddenly, Su Tinghe understood what Shang's mother was implying, and his face turned bright red. He murmured, "I understand."

Shang Huoyong downed a cup of coffee in a few sips, deliberately slamming the cup on the table, then turned and left for the company, leaving Su Tinghe alone at his parents' house.

Shang's mother teased Shang Huoyong's retreating figure, "Playful banter in bed shows that you have a good relationship. There's nothing to be shy about."

Shang Huoyong stumbled slightly at her words, wanting to retort but deciding against it.

Never mind, the more you explain, the worse it gets.

Su Tinghe, who stayed behind, had a cup of tea with Shang's mother, enjoyed the flowers for a while, and then took Beibei for a walk in the yard.

When it was almost time to prepare lunch, Su Tinghe asked Shang's mother if he could deliver lunch to Shang Huoyong at noon.

"Of course," Shang's mother said, "Just give him a call and let him know. I'll have the driver take you there later."

Su Tinghe dialed the number, but before he could say "husband," a male voice that clearly didn't belong to Shang Huoyong answered.

"Hello, is this Mr. Su?"

"Who is this?"

"I'm Assistant Song, the assistant to President Shang. We met on the day you registered your marriage. President Shang is in a meeting right now and didn't bring his phone. Is there anything you'd like me to pass on?"

"Hello, I was wondering if I could bring him lunch at noon?"

"Of course, President Shang will be thrilled to see you."

Su Tinghe was pleased. Shang's mother asked if he wanted to learn how to cook from her and make a dish for Shang Huoyong himself.

Seeing that Su Tinghe was willing to try, Shang's mother paused for a moment and said, "Making soup is very simple. Just follow my instructions."

Shang's mother decided to teach Su Tinghe how to make corn and pork rib soup. Since the ingredients were already prepared, Su Tinghe only needed to put them into the pot.

The chef had already blanched the ribs to remove the blood and washed and cut the corn. Shang's mother guided Su Tinghe to put the ingredients into the soup pot and let it simmer slowly. Before serving, she had Su Tinghe add a pinch of salt into the soup.

The chef packed the other dishes and the soup together and handed them to Su Tinghe. Shang's mother saw him off in the car, smiling and wishing them a pleasant meal.

After the meeting, Shang Huoyong found out that Assistant Song had agreed to let Su Tinghe bring him lunch at noon. He paused for a moment and asked casually, "You agreed?"

"Yes," Assistant Song couldn't quite gauge Shang Huoyong's current mood, but he didn't seem particularly happy. Assistant Song asked, "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No," Shang Huoyong continued walking to his office and said, "When he arrives, you go downstairs to pick him up."

Assistant Song acknowledged. Upon receiving the message from the driver, he immediately rushed downstairs to pick up Su Tinghe.

The receptionist, seeing Assistant Song personally coming to pick someone up, had an inkling of Su Tinghe's identity and quickly spread the news of the "CEO's wife's" arrival in the colleague group chat.

The messages in the group flooded instantly, with employees who saw Su Tinghe reporting in real-time, saying that Su Tinghe looked even more exquisite than many idols on stage.

Some employees were rooting for the couple, while others were criticizing.

The criticism was that Shang Huoyong, the day after his wedding, didn't dote on his beautiful wife and even showed up to work on time, which was downright outrageous.

This criticism met with a chorus of agreement.

Among the numerous "+1" messages, one stood out and took the conversation off track: Shang Huoyong only loved but didn't pamper, so of course he could come to work on time; the one being pampered was someone else, which is why it took so many days for him to come to the company to deliver food.

The group realized this and concluded that the CEO was amazing!

Assistant Song escorted Su Tinghe to the CEO's office, where Shang Huoyong awaited.

Shang Huoyong put down his work and asked, "What brought you here with lunch?"

"Because I wanted to see you," Su Tinghe took out the lunch packed by the chef and placed each dish on the table, sliding the soup bowl toward Shang Huoyong. "Come and eat, have some soup first."

Shang Huoyong picked up the soup bowl and sipped. The moment it touched his tongue, he realized Su Tinghe hadn't come to see him—he'd come to poison him.

Seeing Su Tinghe's expression begging for approval, it was clear who made the soup.

Shang Huoyong forced down the soup in his mouth. "Did you make this soup?"

"Yes, I did," Su Tinghe said proudly, then added modestly, "Though Mom and the chef helped a lot."

Shang Huoyong held out a full spoonful of soup to Su Tinghe. "It's special, you try it."

Su Tinghe drank it without hesitation and nearly gagged.

"I accidentally used sugar instead of salt," Su Tinghe said, pushing the rib soup away. "Don't drink it. Try the other dishes—I didn't mess with those."

Before picking up his chopsticks, Shang Huoyong took out a bank card and gave it to Su Tinghe. "Here's your spending money."

Su Tinghe eyed the card curiously. "How much money is in here?"

Shang Huoyong said, "As long as it's not too crazy, you can use it."

"What's considered too crazy?"

"Buying out a company."

Su Tinghe nodded, though he wasn't entirely sure, and didn't ask further.

Shang Huoyong remembered that Su Tinghe studied business management in college and asked, "You just graduated this year. How about coming to work at the company?"

"Work?" Su Tinghe blinked, taken aback. "I only know how to manage a household, not a company," he said cautiously. "I wouldn't know where to start."

A hint of mockery flashed in Shang Huoyong's eyes, amused by Su Tinghe's self-awareness.

In his previous life, Su Tinghe volunteered to help at the company. In this life, it was better for him to take the initiative and invite him first, to preempt.

"You can learn on the job. If you're interested, you can be my assistant. Assistant Song will show you the ropes."

"No," Su Tinghe didn’t dare agree, since he didn’t even know pinyin yet. If he really became Shang Huoyong's assistant, he would definitely be exposed. "I want to stay at home and take care of you."

Based on Su Tinghe's recent behavior, Shang Huoyong had a hunch: Su Tinghe was planning to take the route of a doting wife, to undermine him from the inside.

Shang Huoyong: "Isn't it boring to stay at home all the time?"

"Not boring," Su Tinghe answered firmly. "But I want to practice calligraphy and read some books. Could you hire a teacher to teach me at home?"

Su Tinghe's request was strange. Shang Huoyong didn’t understand at first, but then suddenly thought of something, his heart sank. However, his face remained calm, and he said casually, "There’s a very good *Jiushong Academy*. Would you like to go there to study?"

Su Tinghe desperately needed to learn and immediately nodded, "Yes."

Shang Huoyong continued, "How about I take you there tomorrow to have a look?"

Su Tinghe was very dependent on Shang Huoyong and left everything up to him, nodding, "Okay."

After all that, Su Tinghe's ultimate goal was still Shang Yizhi.

Shang Huoyong recalled that around this time in his past life, Shang Yizhi was studying at *Jiushong Academy*, where he met and fell in love with an important figure.

At that time, Su Tinghe was busy helping Shang Yizhi infiltrate his company and knew nothing about it.

Now, with Su Tinghe going there, there was bound to be quite a show.

Thinking of the upcoming drama, a faint smile tugged at Shang Huoyong’s lips.

Su Tinghe accompanied Shang Huoyong to finish lunch, lingered for a bit, and then left.

An employee went downstairs to get afternoon tea and happened to meet Su Tinghe, bravely handing him a cup of milk tea.

Su Tinghe took a sip, his eyes lit up in surprise, "It's delicious."

Su Tinghe searched through his pockets but found nothing to offer in return, asking, "What's your name?"

The employee replied, "Yue Chuyue."

Su Tinghe carefully asked for the specific characters of her name and promised her, "I remember, next time I come, I'll have something to give you too."

Yue Chuyue didn’t think much of Su Tinghe’s promise, just thinking the boss’s wife was adorable, with such a fair and delicate face that one could believe she was a high school student.

After getting into the car, Su Tinghe suddenly didn’t want to go home immediately.

Having been in this world for some time, Su Tinghe had never gone out to see it. Today, having the rare opportunity to come out, it was the perfect chance to explore.

Su Tinghe, clutching the milk tea, asked the driver, "Where can I buy this? I want to go shopping."

The driver understood that Su Tinghe wanted to go shopping and headed to the city’s downtown area.

Su Tinghe got out of the car first, looked back and noticed the driver wasn’t following, so he knocked on the car window, "Why aren’t you coming down to follow?"

The driver asked uncertainly, "Do I need to follow?"

Su Tinghe nodded, with a 'duh' expression, as he was unfamiliar with the place and would definitely get lost without a guide.

The driver understood again, Su Tinghe was using him as a bodyguard.

With good professional ethics, the driver got out of the car and followed.

The rows of shops and the dazzling array of goods left Su Tinghe in awe.

Although he’d already had lunch, the variety of delicious food was too tempting. Su Tinghe first entered an ice cream shop and chose the one that looked the most appealing.

The cashier asked how he’d like to pay, and Su Tinghe took out the card that Shang Huoyong had just given him at noon.

The cashier momentarily looked surprised, then helped Su Tinghe swipe the card.

After completing the payment, the cashier suggested to Su Tinghe, "Actually, you can connect your bank card to your phone. It will be more convenient to use mobile payment in the future."

Su Tinghe, curious as a student, asked, "How do I connect it?"

The driver stepped forward, took Su Tinghe aside, guided him through linking the card, and taught him how to use mobile payment.

After learning, Su Tinghe was eager to try it out. Plus, the various quirky and adorable little items were too attractive, and before he knew it, Su Tinghe had bought a lot.

As a result, Shang Huoyong received a pile of messages in the afternoon: ice cream for 123, miscellaneous items for 242, dessert shop for 178. The messages were so numerous that Shang Huoyong eventually felt overwhelmed and simply stopped looking.

On his way home, Shang Huoyong checked the messages again and found a large expenditure at a gold shop and another at a jewelry store.

Shang Huoyong immediately became alert. Was Su Tinghe trying to buy gold and jewelry to cash out?

After browsing through a variety of small items and snacks, Su Tinghe saw a gold shop and decided to go in and buy something.

A portly middle-aged man intercepted him, saying he had a great image and asked if he wanted to be an actor, as there was a role that suited him perfectly.

Su Tinghe knew that TV drama characters were actors. In this world, being an actor was a glamorous job, but in his previous world, actors were just performers. Su Tinghe still had a subconscious bias against acting as a profession, and he couldn’t act, so he firmly refused.

The middle-aged man used his persuasive skills to coax him repeatedly, but Su Tinghe remained unyielding.

Finally, annoyed by the man’s persistence, Su Tinghe offered him the leftover milk tea, saying, "Have a sip to moisten your throat. You don’t need to persuade me anymore; I’m not interested in being an actor."

Noticing Su Tinghe’s resolve, the driver intervened to stop the man, allowing Su Tinghe to successfully escape.

As Su Tinghe walked away, the middle-aged man sipped the milk tea, feeling a pang of regret.

He was part of the crew for a historical drama, and there was a prince’s role that suited Su Tinghe perfectly. Su Tinghe’s demeanor seemed as though he had stepped out of an ancient era, but unfortunately, he wasn’t interested.

After escaping, Su Tinghe headed to the gold shop and purchased all the gold melon seeds, beans, and ingots.

His lavish spending earned him VIP treatment from the manager down to the cashier, who welcomed him to come again.

Even the long-time Shang family driver was puzzled by Su Tinghe’s purchases.

Upon exiting the gold shop, Su Tinghe handed the driver a handful of gold melon seeds.

The driver was baffled.