Free Web NovelChapter 184: YOU SCARED ME
The mansion gates closed behind him with the kind of finality that usually meant peace, except in his case it usually meant "peace until someone started something," which was statistically guaranteed within the twelve hours.
He dropped his keys onto the rack by the door, and the sound echoed through the entrance hall like the house itself was announcing his return with zero enthusiasm.
Saturday.
He stood there for a moment longer than necessary, letting the word register properly in his mind like it was a foreign concept he was trying to confirm was actually in his schedule, because days without meetings always felt like traps disguised as blessings.
He had just decided on a bath, food, and sleep in that order, because anything else required emotional capacity he had already used up surviving the week, when he heard something from the kitchen.
A faint metallic clink, followed by silence that felt suspicious instead of peaceful.
He stopped.
With everything happening recently, he wasn’t going to be careless and ignore it.
He couldn’t even blame it on rats because his house was spot less.
Also Old Li didn’t wake before half past six, and that wasn’t a belief but a fact he’d defend in court if necessary, because the entire household schedule depended on it.
His hand moved toward his hip out of habit before he even consciously decided there was danger, which was always a fun thought about his life choices.
He walked toward the kitchen without urgency, because urgency meant surprise and he refused to let anything catch him off guard twice in one lifetime.
He pushed the door open with two fingers, careful and controlled, the way you approach either a sleeping beast or a financial audit.
And then he saw it.
Guiying stood at the counter in loose house clothes, blond hair slightly messy, staring at a pot of water like he was trying to bully it into boiling faster, as if intimidation could help physics.
For a moment, Liuxian just stared, and the tension he’d carried home slowly turned into something like disbelief.
Then Guiying turned.
And what followed was a low pitch scream.
"AH—!"
The pan came up instantly like it had been waiting for this exact moment, and Liuxian stepped back fast with both hands raised, the reflex of a man who’s survived too many meetings and too many assassination attempts to die in a kitchen misunderstanding.
"Wait, wait, it’s me," he said quickly, already slipping into that soft tone he uses for both negotiations and domestic disasters, "it’s your husband, and if you hit me before breakfast I will consider that grounds for divorce."
Guiying froze mid-swing, pan still raised, eyes narrowing as recognition caught up and immediately got offended on principle.
"What’s wrong with you," Guiying snapped, lowering the pan way too hard like the counter had personally betrayed him, "do you have any idea how close you came to becoming a permanent stain on my morning mood."
Liuxian lowered his hands slowly, completely calm now that he wasn’t about to die, and looked at him like he was the one being unreasonable.
"I didn’t sneak up on you," he said evenly, like that should settle everything.
"You appeared in the kitchen like a horror story character that forgot it was supposed to stay in the hallway," Guiying replied immediately, already turning back to the stove like he wasn’t going to acknowledge him anymore.
"I live here," Liuxian said, mild, almost amused, like it was a technical detail.
"Not at this hour," Guiying shot back instantly, why the heck was he sneaking in, he could still feel his heart racing.
He stirred the pot aggressively, like boiling water had personally offended him.
"I woke up hungry," Guiying continued, voice sharp but honest, "went to your room, you weren’t there, I called you, you didn’t answer, which is usually the part where most normal people get concerned."
He paused, then added more honestly than he probably meant to, "But i was too hungry to panic properly, so I just decided to eat first and delay the emotional instability."
Liuxian pressed his lips together, because that was annoyingly logical.
"I stepped out for work," he said, voice softening a bit as he leaned on the counter, "and I left my phone behind, you usually don’t wake up at the hour, so i didn’t think it mattered."
His eyes flicked to the ingredients, then back to Guiying.
"And more importantly," he added, "what are you making, because I’m also hungry, and I want in on whatever questionable experiment you started at dawn."
Guiying turned slowly to look at him, expression flat like he was seriously considering whether marriage came with a refund policy.
"And why are you telling me this," Guiying said, dry, "aren’t you supposed to be a functioning adult with your own hands and a fridge."
Liuxian put a hand on his stomach like his organs were filing complaints.
"Darling," he said, "my gastritis is currently negotiating its resignation, and I’m not sure I’ll survive long enough for self-service."
Guiying stared at him.
Then clicked his tongue.
Because unfortunately, biology and marriage were both against him.
"Unbelievable," he muttered, turning back to the counter, "you’re lucky I just started cooking.."
He pulled the packet of ramen closer, still annoyed but now actually involved in Liuxian’s bullshit.
"I won’t make yours too spicy or too salty," he added, "because unlike you, I understand the consequences."
He glanced back once, eyes narrowing.
"So bring me what I need," he said, "and tell me what kind of sandwich you’re going to emotionally depend on this morning."
Liuxian looked at him with a smile, after sixty plus days of being together, he was finally going to try his wife’s cooking.
"Tuna," he said. "With eggs. No cucumber."
Guiying pointed at the fridge without turning around. "Then go get the tuna. And the eggs are on the second shelf. Don’t touch anything else."
Liuxian nodded and pushed off the counter heading to the fridge.
He opened it and was amazed by how organized it was.
From top to bottom, and surprisingly in alphabetical order.
He easily located the tuna and some of the eggs Old Li had left in there.
No need to open a new crate.
Guiying glanced at what he had brought, then at him. "The bread?"
Liuxian went back to the counter and got the bread.
"Butter?"
He got the butter.
"Now sit down," Guiying said, "before you get in my way."
Liuxian sat on the kitchen stool and watched him work.
The broth had started to boil.
Guiying cracked two eggs into a bowl without looking at them, moved to the bread, spread butter with the efficient unhurried movements of someone who had done this enough times that it required no thought.
The kitchen smelled of toast and the faint warmth of the stove, and outside the window the sky had gone from pale grey to the first thin gold of morning, the city beginning to stir beyond the glass.
"You scared me," Guiying said, not looking up. His voice had lost the sharpness of a few minutes ago.
What was left underneath it was quieter and more honest.
