Chapter 57#
The Cross-dressing Wife#
“I really want to eat crab…”
Lin Xiaodong slumped on the bed, rolling around wrapped in the quilt.
The previous meals had at least some vegetarian meat; if one pinched their nose, it could barely pass as meat. Now that Old Master Gu was dead, he didn’t know if it was the local custom or if the kitchen master in charge of purchasing was too stingy, but every day it was just steamed buns, green vegetables, tofu, and various pickles. After a few days, his face had turned as green as the vegetables.
And most hateful of all, next to this town was a lake famous far and wide for producing large, plump crabs. Three hundred years ago, a top scholar passed through here and sighed as he looked at the lake: “Green shell thin, crab roe beautiful.” Thus, it was named Qingxie Lake. And since then, the town has been known as “Qingxie Town,” with raw drunken crab and raw pickled crab being a local specialty.
System: “It’s unlikely to go out and buy it now. The whole town knows the news of Old Master Gu’s death. You can try waiting for the little crabs in the pond to grow up; after all, even a mosquito is meat.”
Lin Xiaodong: “…I’ll thank you on behalf of the crabs.”
He was so hungry he really couldn’t sleep, so he simply took advantage of the middle of the night to sneak out of his room, intending to go to the kitchen to find something to eat. However, to Lin Xiaodong’s disappointment, the stove was empty, and there was nothing but a few potatoes still covered in dirt—in the middle of the night, he couldn’t just raw-gnaw potatoes, could he?
The young man let out a long sigh and was just about to head back when he turned around and bumped into someone: “Ouch!”
He clutched his aching nose and glared at Gu Xingzhai, who was standing right behind him, and asked with teary eyes: “In the middle of the night, what are you doing?”
Gu Xingzhai looked at him coldly.
“That’s the question I should be asking you.”
His gaze swept around the pitch-black kitchen and finally landed back on the young man in front of him. Before coming out, Lin Xiaodong had only put on a wig and hadn’t used the one-click dress-up skill. Therefore, his features were still somewhat masculine, but Gu Xingzhai couldn’t see clearly in the dim kitchen, only sensing some sense of violation.
He kept this in mind and continued to ask aggressively: “Deep in the night, what are you doing here?”
“Looking for food,” Lin Xiaodong said naturally. “I’m hungry, is that not allowed?”
His reaction was somewhat beyond Gu Xingzhai’s expectation, but thinking about Lin Xiaodong’s true identity discovered during the day, it wasn’t surprising. Succubi were accustomed to disguising themselves; whether with false feelings or tender water, once attracted by them, it was the beginning of sinking into the abyss.
Thinking of this, Gu Xingzhai’s originally serious face became even colder.
“I remember that you specifically asked the housekeeper for two extra steamed buns for dinner,” he stared at the young man’s waist, flat and slender, bound by a belt, and asked sharply: “Three large steamed buns, and you haven’t done any heavy labor. You’re hungry again after only a few hours?”
Lin Xiaodong choked.
He hadn’t intended those two buns for eating; he had prepared them to pad his chest for the next day. He hadn’t expected Gu Xingzhai to notice such a detail despite being so busy during the day. It seemed this man had more eyes than he had imagined.
A bit difficult to handle, he thought.
…But not impossible.
Facing Gu Xingzhai’s scrutinizing gaze, the “woman” in front of him didn’t panic. Instead, she gave a slight smile, a finger carelessly twirling the black curly hair hanging by her ear, and spoke in a soft voice: “Young Master Gu’s words really make me feel a bit embarrassed.”
Gu Xingzhai stared at him coldly.
He didn’t see any expression of embarrassment on Lin Xiaodong’s face.
Lin Xiaodong added: “I’m the type who naturally has a big appetite and doesn’t get fat, so I’m always disliked by others. Fortunately, Old Master Gu was kind and willing to take me in. Surely the Young Master won’t blame me for eating too much?”
Gu Xingzhai didn’t want to expose him just yet.
Their Gu family were not native residents of this town. He lived in the north when he was young, with the original surname Gu, given name Xi, and courtesy name Xingzhai, but followed his father south after his mother died, arriving at this small town.
Now that he had returned with full skills, Gu Xingzhai hid his former sharp edges, following eight words in his conduct—
Endure without releasing, strike fatally in one blow.
With a trace of unexplainable interest, Gu Xingzhai thought, he would see what tricks this succubus really had.
Although Lin Xiaodong didn’t understand the Gu Xingzhai of this world, after traveling through several small worlds, his skill in reading people could be said to have improved by leaps and bounds.
He gave a light laugh, walked over, and reached out toward the man’s neck, but his wrist was grabbed by the other party, who said sternly:
“What do you want to do?”
“Young Master Gu, don’t be so nervous,” under Gu Xingzhai’s wary gaze, Lin Xiaodong looked at him with a beaming smile. “I saw a layer of light sweat on your forehead and was just thinking that this set of the Old Master’s clothes might be too tight for you. Do you need help changing into another one?”
But Gu Xingzhai’s point of focus was very strange: “How do you know these are my father’s clothes?”
“How do I know?” Lin Xiaodong found it a bit amusing and intentionally wanted to tease him, speaking somewhat vaguely: “Young Master Gu, what do you think?”
Gu Xingzhai took a deep breath and squeezed out a sentence through his teeth: “Miss Lin, please conduct yourself with self-respect.”
“Young Master Gu, you…” Lin Xiaodong immediately took half a step back, as if he had suffered a great grievance, his voice even carrying a nasal tone as he spoke, “Young Master Shen, in your eyes, am I truly a loose and self-deprecating person?”
“I…”
Lin Xiaodong said miserably: “If the Old Master were still here, I would certainly drag you to him today to seek an explanation and justice!”
Hearing the trembling in his voice, Gu Xingzhai frowned deeply. He instinctively wanted to apologize but remembered midway that the person in front of him was a soul-bewitching enchantress; the words at the tip of his tongue couldn’t be spoken.
But unexpectedly, after a few breaths, Lin Xiaodong actually looked up, his eyebrows raised high, with a pair of curved cat-like eyes full of mischievous smiles.
“I tricked you, didn’t I?” he said with a beaming smile. “Alright, no more teasing. I’m going back to sleep.”
Gu Xingzhai’s eyes widened: “You!”
After only a couple of steps, Lin Xiaodong peeked back and said to the man, “Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you one thing. The servants in the mansion are too busy, so the bedding you’re sleeping on today was laid out by me. Also, the lotus leaf sachet at your bedside is from my room; I heard it has the effect of calming the mind and aiding sleep. Wishing you sweet dreams~”
After speaking, he walked away swaying with his hands behind his back, humming a soft Jiangnan tune.
Leaving the teased Gu Xingzhai standing alone in place for a long time, teeth clenched, fists tightening several times before relaxing.
Enchantress!
The small episode in the middle of the night made Lin Xiaodong feel refreshed when he woke up the next day. Although he didn’t get any late-night snacks or crabs, he felt full of energy all over.
“This Gu Xingzhai is too much fun,” Lin Xiaodong said to the system with great interest. “To be honest, after a deep contact last night, I feel the possibility of him being Gu Xi is a bit lower.”
System: “Why?”
Lin Xiaodong said with a click of his tongue: “That old driver Gu Xi, serious on the surface but plays with more variety than anyone in private. Flirting with him basicall doesn’t move him at all, unlike this one, who is completely a feudal, old-fashioned, pure virgin.”
Recalling the past, Lin Xiaodong began to miss the days when there was meat in every meal.
The first world was at least somewhat normal, at most some school uniform play for fun; by the second world, technology was advanced and nightlife was colorful, and the various gadgets Gu Xi bought on the Star Net were enough to open a general store… He sighed, thinking that his poor old waist had suffered things it shouldn’t have at its age.
System: “…I beg you to stop your thoughts.”
It said past endurance: “You’d better not play too much. According to the records, it’s very likely he has discovered your identity as a succubus.”
“What do you mean very likely? It’s clearly already discovered,” Lin Xiaodong laughed. “Otherwise, why do you think I was caught by him just for going to the back kitchen last night? It was simply out of fear that I would secretly do something in there.”
He reused the one-click dress-up skill and walked out of the courtyard, coming face-to-face with Gu Xingzhai and the housekeeper standing together.
Likely asking about his affairs, the moment he heard footsteps, the man keenly looked up and stopped talking.
Lin Xiaodong didn’t care. He walked over generously and nodded to the two: “Morning.”
“Morning, Miss,” the housekeeper said, then asked with concern, “You got up two hours later than usual today. Is it because you can’t sleep well from excessive worry? Although the Master is gone, you must not harm your body out of sorrow.”
Even though Gu Xingzhai was still here, he acted as if he were the master of this house, his eyes staring straight at Lin Xiaodong’s face.
Although succubi love the feeling of being the center of attention, Old Master Gu had only just passed away; he couldn’t wear heavy makeup at this time, so Lin Xiaodong chose the widow’s outfit—god knows why such an outfit was even in this skill.
But currently, he was only wearing a loose white dress made of cotton and linen, his black hair simply coiled up with a wooden hairpin. His pale face showed a trace of haggardness, and the corners of his eyes were stained with a hint of redness as if he had just cried.
Gu Xingzhai just took one look and felt his heart being scratched by a cat’s claw, numb and itchy.
He had never made a woman cry in his life.
The man couldn’t help but wonder, did Lin Xiaodong really feel sad because of his words yesterday, so…?
“Rest assured, I understand,” Lin Xiaodong said in a low voice, his gaze seemingly vacant for a moment but soon falling back on Gu Xingzhai, especially the dark circles under the man’s eyes that hadn’t faded but had instead increased.
A hint of a smile appeared in the depths of his eyes: “I wonder if Young Master Gu… slept well yesterday?”
It would have been better if he hadn’t mentioned it; upon mentioning this, Gu Xingzhai’s anger rose again.
After returning to his room, he lay in bed, reciting the meditation mantra over and over in his heart.
The soft quilt covering his body seemed to turn into thorny brambles, bit by bit entangling his limbs. And the sachet at his bedside—Gu Xingzhai had originally quite liked its light and elegant scent, but now he tossed and turned because of it, unable to sleep all night.
As soon as he closed his eyes, his mind was full of the lotus leaf scent that lingered around the tip of his nose when the enchantress passed him by.
And when he supported the enchantress in the mourning hall, that soft and cold body leaning against him.
Finally, Gu Xingzhai was forced to get out of bed, locking the sachet deep in a cabinet, which slightly alleviated the symptoms of wild thoughts.
“Find someone to come this afternoon and change all the sheets and bedding in my room.” He came back to his senses and said to the housekeeper with a cold face.
“Change them?” The housekeeper said with difficulty. “But with the continuous rain lately, I’m afraid the bedding won’t dry after being washed.”
“Then throw it all away, donate it, or burn it!”
Gu Xingzhai glared fiercely at Lin Xiaodong with pitch-black eyes emanating coldness, hmphed, and walked away with a flick of his sleeves.
Leaving only a bewildered housekeeper standing in place, staring at Gu Xingzhai’s retreating back with a stomach full of annoyance—this bastard, did he eat firecrackers first thing in the morning!?