Chapter 85: Even Tigresses Come in Country Varieties

Fang Yuan: “I’m a proper person, I wasn’t staring at anyone.”

Lu Chuan turned his head—being proper or not isn’t something you just say.

Fang Yuan: “What’s that supposed to mean? I haven’t even picked on you yet, and you’re already accusing me.”

Lu Chuan: “You’ve never complained about my build, but haven’t you ever praised how sturdy those young guys outside look?” Is that something you can talk your way out of?

Fang Yuan was speechless for a moment, then finally squeezed out, “I just meant they’re strong and work efficiently.”

Lu Chuan stayed silent, even more annoyed. What else do you want to say?

What’s so hard about just complimenting me for once? He’d been working out a lot these days, after all.

Fang Yuan quickly draped Lu Chuan’s shirt over him. “Put this on. It’s just the two of us here. Why are you taking your clothes off—what are you up to?”

Lu Chuan: “I don’t want to wear it. What, you don’t like the look of me without it? If I put it on, you say I look like a bad guy. If I don’t, you say I’m acting like a hooligan.”

Fang Yuan, who’s usually so tough, actually got flustered by Lu Chuan’s words. The thing is, he kind of had a point.

And then, Lu Chuan, who hadn’t even eaten, just threw out, “Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you—this shirt was someone else’s hand-me-down. It’s not that I’m picky, I just don’t have a choice.”

He turned and left. When a scholar gets stubborn, he can be pretty tough too.

Fang Yuan never expected that one day, Lu Chuan would actually throw a tantrum at her—and she’d be caught off guard, unable to defend herself.

Fang Yuan stormed over to the Wu Hu brothers, sulking. “This is all your fault, talking about being sensitive. I’m not sensitive, but now look who is.”

Old Man Lu: “Second daughter-in-law, don’t be mad. I’ll help you teach him a lesson. A grown man getting mad at his wife—where’s his pride?”

Wu Hu: “No, Uncle, let’s not get involved. Let them sort it out themselves. Honestly, neither of them is in the right.”

Old Man Lu added, “Your mother and I are old, never been out of the village, don’t know how to dress up the kids, and we don’t have the means. If you think Lu Chuan’s clothes aren’t suitable, just tell him. None of his clothes really fit—too many kids in the family, we couldn’t afford to have clothes made for each of them.”

Wu Hu felt a pang of sadness hearing this, and looked at Fang Yuan, who was full of blame.

Even as rough as Fang Yuan was, she knew she was in the wrong for picking on Lu Chuan’s clothes.

Fang Yuan: “Dad, it’s nothing. I just worry he’ll get too hot wearing so much.” For the first time, she spoke gently, feeling awkward herself.

But Old Man Lu believed her. “That’s good, that’s good. You two are out there together, you care about him, he thinks of you and buys you clothes—that’s great. If you argue a bit, your mother and I can rest easy.”

That hit home again. Lu Chuan hadn’t even bought himself new clothes, but bought them for Fang Yuan, only to get scolded for it.

The clothes Fang Yuan bought for Lu Chuan, he never even dared wear outside. In comparison, she really was in the wrong.

Ever since coming to the Lu family, Fang Yuan had never been on the losing side, so she’d always been tough.

But now, for the first time, she felt guilty. Frustrated, she kicked at some stones and snapped at Wu Hu, “This is all your fault! Buying new clothes for no reason. If you hadn’t shown off in that shirt, would I have blurted out all that nonsense?”

Wu Hu: “But the point is, you did blurt it out.”

Fang Yuan: “So what do I do now?” She asked, still acting tough.

Wu Hu pointed at himself. “Why are you asking me? What did I do?”

Fang Yuan: “Come on, think of something. We can’t owe people like this, it makes me uncomfortable.”

Wu Hu wanted to say, “I’m not the one who’s uncomfortable.” But Fang Yuan was already getting anxious.

Wu Hu: “How about you put on that dress and show it to your brother-in-law?”

Fang Yuan glared. “What’s that got to do with anything? I told you to think of a way to make it up to him!”

Wu Hu was exasperated. “Honestly, this all started because of that dress. He bought it for you and you didn’t appreciate it. We should solve the problem at its root, right?”

Fang Yuan: “No way.”

Wu Hu: “That’s the only idea I’ve got. Otherwise, think of something yourself.”

Fang Yuan: “How is that a solution? You want me to wear that thing and act like a vixen to seduce him? That’s your idea?”

Wu Hu took a deep breath. “Your brother-in-law bought you that dress because he wants you to be a vixen and seduce him. That’s all there is to it.”

Fang Yuan: “Bullshit.”

The two were about to fall out. Wu Hu turned and left—there’s just no reasoning with her. Let her figure it out herself.

If she put on the dress, she wouldn’t even need to apologize—Lu Chuan would know Fang Yuan wanted to make up.

Even if you’re Zhuge Liang, you can’t help it if you’re stuck with a Liu Adou.

Besides, that’s his own sister. Wu Hu didn’t have the heart to say it, but honestly, even if Fang Yuan put on a fox fur, she wouldn’t be a vixen—she’d still be a tigress.

Fang Yuan looked at the crumpled dress, her face dark as the sky outside. She slapped the dress a couple of times to vent, then changed into it.

She looked down at the rubber shoes on her feet. Even with no sense of style, she knew this outfit didn’t match.

She muttered angrily, “Isn’t this just ridiculous?”

Then, wearing the dress and rubber shoes, she went out.

Wu Hu nearly spat out his water when he saw her. He had the same thought as Fang Yuan—what kind of taste does her brother-in-law have? Isn’t this just nuts?

And he realized he’d been wrong—even a tigress from the countryside is still a country tigress who’s never seen the world.

Lu Chuan was sulking with Old Man Lu, who scolded his son, “Don’t care about new clothes? Fang Yuan knows how to run a household. What are you sulking for? Go apologize to her.”

He added, “What did Fang Yuan say that was wrong? If a couple dresses up too much, people will say they’re show-offs who can’t earn money.”

Lu Chuan just wanted some peace and quiet, didn’t want to talk to anyone. The marriage had come so suddenly, but he’d accepted it, tried hard to treat Fang Yuan well, getting closer to her bit by bit.

He just wanted a deeper relationship with his wife—what was so wrong with that?

If Fang Yuan didn’t want to cooperate, fine, but did she have to act like that?

He was like boiling water inside, but even that could be frozen by her attitude. If he kept pushing, wouldn’t that just make him pathetic?

Then Fang Yuan came in, wearing the dress he’d picked out for her, with rubber shoes on her feet.

It didn’t look good, but Lu Chuan still blushed, his eyes lighting up as he stared at her.

Suddenly, Lu Chuan realized—he wasn’t pathetic, just easy to please. That was all it took to make him happy.

Old Man Lu was more perceptive than his wife. Seeing his daughter-in-law dressed up, he quietly went off to chat with Wu Hu.

Now it was just the couple left. Fang Yuan, face still dark, warned Lu Chuan, “Listen, no matter what I’m wearing, don’t expect me to talk in a squeaky voice or tuck a book under my arm and grin at you like an idiot.”

Fang Yuan didn’t smile, but Lu Chuan smiled for her—and it was a silly, happy grin.

Lu Chuan immediately moved closer. “No need, you look great just like this. Wait here, don’t go anywhere, okay?” With that, he dashed out.

Fang Yuan took a deep breath, thinking, “This damn guy really does like this sort of thing.”

Lu Chuan’s eyes had practically glazed over—did he think she couldn’t tell?

Then, like the wind, Lu Chuan came back, holding a pair of mid-heeled shoes, and handed them to Fang Yuan. “Put these on.”

Fang Yuan glared. “Just how much money did you take from Dad?”

Lu Chuan grinned, “Really, that’s all I’ve got. Try them on.”

86."

"Chapter 86: The Wife Who Can’t Be Flirted With