Chapter 159 The Cunning Man

Chapter 159: The Crafty Man

"Oh, you're back? Perfect timing—dinner's ready."

As she stir-fried, Su He caught sight of Fu Tinghua entering the kitchen out of the corner of her eye and smiled.

Nearby, Fu Yanju was already serving rice, as Su He was cooking the last dish.

"Mm, thanks for your hard work," Fu Tinghua said as he walked over to Su He and gently patted her head.

"Stop that, or my hair might fall into the pot."

Su He swatted away his playful hand.

Fu Tinghua fell silent.

"Ting Hua, Su He, I'll go call the kids for dinner," Fu Yanju, the awkward bystander, said, seizing the moment to leave the kitchen and fetch Zai Zai and Chen Waner.

Watching Fu Yanju's retreating figure, Su He shot Fu Tinghua a glare.

*How shameless!*

Fu Tinghua looked completely baffled—he had only patted his wife's head. What had he done wrong?

At dinner, Fu Tinghua told Su He that the Xia family’s butler would come the next day to sign the contract, which put her at ease.

This way, her supermarket could go exactly as planned.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and the household was brimming with happiness.

But in the evening, they argued over the sleeping arrangements for Fu Yanju and her daughter.

The house in their courtyard had only two floors.

The master bedroom was currently occupied by Fu Tinghua and Su He, while Zai Zai and Niu Niu stayed in the room next door. The remaining empty room naturally belonged to Fu Yanju and Chen Waner.

However, Fu Yanju insisted on staying in the small room downstairs.

That room, under normal circumstances, would have been used as storage.

Since they had just moved in, there weren’t many belongings yet, so it was practically empty.

But Fu Tinghua thought the room was too small and poorly lit, and wanted Fu Yanju to stay upstairs instead.

Fu Yanju, not wanting to intrude on her brother and sister-in-law’s family of four, dug in her heels and refused to move anywhere but the first-floor room.

Their disagreement left both clearly upset.

Su He looked from one to the other and sighed before saying to Fu Tinghua, "Let’s respect Sister’s choice, okay?"

Fu Tinghua glanced at his wife, muttered, "Fine, have it your way," and headed upstairs.

It surprised Su He—this was the first time she had seen Dr. Fu act so unreasonably.

"Su He, please don’t... don’t be mad at Ting Hua," Fu Yanju said cautiously.

"I’m not angry with him, Sister. Don’t worry," Su He soothed her.

"Ah, it’s all my fault," Fu Yanju sighed in distress.

But she definitely wouldn't stay upstairs—this was something she absolutely wouldn't compromise on.

She came to the city to escape hardship, not for an easy life. She couldn’t fully settle into her brother and sister-in-law’s home.

Keeping separate—upstairs and downstairs—was her way of reminding herself.

"I’ll go check on him," Su He said to Fu Yanju before heading upstairs to find Fu Tinghua.

Opening the bedroom door, she saw Fu Tinghua standing by the window, staring quietly outside.

Though it was nighttime, the streetlights and moonlight still lit up the night view.

Hearing the door open, Fu Tinghua turned his head toward the sound.

Seeing it was Su He, he didn’t seem surprised at all.

"Why did you have to argue with your sister? If she wants to stay downstairs, let her. She didn’t even want to come to the city with us in the first place—nowhere feels like home to her," Su He launched into a barrage of questions the moment she entered.

To her, Fu Tinghua’s behavior tonight was just plain weird.

"I was just giving her a chance to stand up for herself. She can’t always be so meek, always going along with what others say, never speaking up."

Su He got it right away.

Now that she thought about it, this might’ve been the first time since she’d known Fu Yanju that she had insisted so firmly on something.

"But you still shouldn’t have upset her like that, right?" Su He gave him a disapproving look.

"Mm, so I’ll go apologize to her later and explain why I acted that way," Fu Tinghua said, smirking slightly.

Hmph, slap someone then feed them candy?

"Try using that trick on me and see what happens," she arched a warning eyebrow.

Fu Tinghua: "......"

"I wouldn’t dare," Fu Tinghua answered decisively.

Su He: "......"

Sneaky bastard.

In the end, Su He didn’t know exactly how Fu Tinghua explained things to Fu Yanju—only that the two talked it out.

By then, she was already getting Zai Zai and Niu Niu to sleep.

Returning to her own room, the idea of sharing a bed with Fu Tinghua gave Su He pause.

Eh—no use fussing over it now. No sense acting shy.

She climbed into bed, lay down, pulled up the covers—without hesitation.

As for the light? Fu Tinghua could deal with it when he returned.

In this era, bedside lamps didn’t exist yet. If rich folks had them, Su He didn’t know, but in ordinary homes, you had to turn the lights off at the door.

After Fu Tinghua finished talking with Fu Yanju, he showered and came back.

He peeked into Zai Zai and Niu Niu’s room. Seeing only the two children in bed, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Opening the door to the master bedroom, the light was still on inside, and that familiar figure lay on the bed.

After switching off the light, he climbed into bed.

Su He was still awake—she had slept too much during the day.

"How did the talk with your sister go?" Su He asked.

"We didn’t talk much. I just praised her, telling her she’d done really well earlier. She should learn to refuse things she doesn’t like and keep doing so in the future."

Fu Tinghua’s voice rang particularly clear and pleasant in the quiet night.

"Oh, Fu Tinghua’s such a smooth talker," Su He teased.

In the darkness, Fu Tinghua couldn’t see Su He’s face, but he could imagine her expression—her lips quirking up.

Suddenly, he pulled Su He into his arms and held her close.

Su He stayed silent.

"Next time you do something like this, could you at least warn me?" Su He couldn’t help rolling her eyes in the dark.

"No," Fu Tinghua replied flatly.

Su He stayed silent again.

Oh really? Tough guy, is that how you wanna play? she thought.

But then, Fu Tinghua added, "Because I do these things before I can stop myself. By the time I realize it, my body’s already acted."

Su He stayed silent once more.

"You... are you trying to sweet-talk me?" she snapped.

"Nope, just being honest," Fu Tinghua protested, all innocence.