My Wife is a Frustrating Genius!!! - Chapter 18

Unaware of the little brat’s thoughts, Cheng Yi was currently changing clothes in her room. As the saying goes, “If you ignore wealth, wealth will ignore you,” and time was money. She didn’t want to waste a single moment, afraid that the shop she fancied might be taken by someone else.

“Lu Jiahe! Lu Jiahe!” After changing, Cheng Yi went straight to Lu Jiahe’s courtyard to find her.

The gatekeeper, spotting the future mistress, hurried over with an ingratiating smile. “Miss Cheng, what brings you here?”

Cheng Yi glanced sideways and, recognizing him as a servant from Lu Jiahe’s courtyard, asked, “Where is your young master?”

“The young master has gone to the old lady’s place. She probably won’t be back for a while.”

Cheng Yi nodded. “Alright, then I’ll wait for her here.” With that, she strode toward the small pavilion.

The servant, quick to catch on, rushed over and placed Lu Jiahe’s usual lounge chair in front of Cheng Yi. Another servant passing by saw Cheng Yi in the pavilion and promptly brought tea and pastries, setting them on the round table beside the lounge chair.

Cheng Yi watched the bustling servants with unease, wondering what kind of act they were putting on.

“Miss Cheng, these pastries were just made in the small kitchen. I brought them especially for you. Please try one,” a maid said, pouring tea and handing her a pastry.

Cheng Yi smiled sheepishly, took the pastry, and took a bite. “Mmm, not bad.”

As soon as Lu Jiahe stepped into the courtyard, she saw Cheng Yi lounging in her chair like the lady of the house, being attended to by everyone around her.

Frowning, she slowly approached, intending to startle Cheng Yi. But before she could, an oblivious servant shouted, startling her instead.

“Young master! You’re finally back. Miss Cheng has been waiting for you for quite some time!”

Lu Jiahe glanced at the servant, wondering if her courtyard had changed ownership in her absence. Why was everyone fussing over Cheng Yi, an outsider?

Seeing Lu Jiahe return, Cheng Yi quickly stood up, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her into the room to change clothes. Lu Jiahe had wanted to say something, but Cheng Yi gave her no chance to speak. As soon as they entered, Cheng Yi opened her wardrobe, pulled out a set of clothes, and tossed them at her.

“Hurry up and change. Let’s go check out the shop,” Cheng Yi said, sitting down and staring at her.

Lu Jiahe was bewildered. She had thought Cheng Yi had taken a fancy to her and intended to forcibly undress her to do something indescribable. But upon hearing the rest of the sentence… it turned out Cheng Yi was just in a hurry to see the shop.

What a wasted surge of emotions and tumultuous waves of excitement!

“I can’t change with you here,” Lu Jiahe said, holding the clothes and looking at her with a troubled expression.

Cheng Yi shot her a disdainful glance, then stood up and left the room, calling Guo’er inside instead.

The two set off just in time for the lunch rush. Lu Jiahe decided to take Cheng Yi to a famous restaurant in Bianjing for lunch.

Cheng Yi observed the dining hall filled with patrons and a crowd of waiting guests at the entrance. Thanks to Lu Jiahe’s status, they were directly escorted to a private room.

Since there was no menu to browse, Lu Jiahe ordered a few of the restaurant’s signature dishes.

“There are still quite a few people waiting in line outside. Why can’t they just come in and eat?” Cheng Yi already knew the answer in her heart, but she still wanted to ask Lu Jiahe.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jiahe leaned out to take a look. “This restaurant is quite expensive. Some people might just be here to try it out and won’t order much.”

The implication was clear. Cheng Yi thought about it, if she were to open a restaurant, everything would have to follow the principles of fairness, justice, and transparency. No matter how influential or powerful someone might be, if they didn’t wait in line, they wouldn’t be allowed in.

Initially, Cheng Yi had expected the dishes here to be exceptionally impressive, but by the end, she hadn’t found anything particularly special. It was merely cooking one type of food in a different way. Overall, it wasn’t as delicious as what she had tasted in the modern era.

“Little brother! Why didn’t you say anything about coming back?”

The door to the private room suddenly swung open from the outside, and a man in a dark blue long gown walked in with a cheerful smile.

Hearing the voice, Lu Jiahe quickly swallowed the food in his mouth and glanced toward the door. “Third Brother, what brings you here?” He set down his chopsticks and stood up, walking over to the man.

“I came here to eat, and the waiter said you were here too, so I thought I’d come see you.” As Jiang Huai spoke, he turned his head to observe the young woman sitting nearby.

“You lucky dog, you’ve got quite the charm. Who is this young lady?” Jiang Huai leaned in and whispered into Lu Jiahe’s ear.

“What young lady?” Lu Jiahe frowned and took a step back. “This is Cheng Yi, she’s my~”

“I’m his future wife,” Cheng Yi chimed in, having overheard the man’s teasing words. “The one his family arranged for him to marry. We’re getting married soon.”

Awkward.

Jiang Huai looked embarrassed as he turned to Cheng Yi. “So, it’s my future sister-in-law. Uh, I was just joking earlier. I thought, I thought you were.”

He couldn’t come up with an excuse and didn’t know how to explain himself, so he shifted his gaze to Lu Jiahe, silently pleading for help.

Seeing this, Lu Jiahe let out a long sigh. “Don’t listen to his nonsense. He just likes to joke around with people he’s familiar with. Don’t take it seriously.”

“I know, it’s fine.” Cheng Yi smiled and nodded at the two of them. “If it weren’t true, I would’ve already taken action earlier.”

Jiang Huai’s smile froze on his face. He glanced at Lu Jiahe, feeling a pang of sympathy for him.

Oh no, oh no! Jiahe is going to be henpecked from now on!

“By the way, Jiahe, we’re having a poetry gathering tomorrow at Shuxiangzhai Restaurant. Why don’t you bring your future wife along? It’s been so long since we all got together.” Jiang Huai was eager to escape, afraid that staying another second might earn him a beating.

“We might not have time tomorrow. We’ve been busy looking at shops lately.” Lu Jiahe also wanted to catch up with his long-unseen friends, but finding a shop with Cheng Yi was more urgent.

“Is that so? Well, if you have time, bring your future wife along. We can even help you look for shops.”

Lu Jiahe nodded. “Alright, if I have time, I’ll come.”

“Great. You two enjoy your meal. I’ll take my leave now.” With that, Jiang Huai bid them farewell and left.

After seeing him off, Lu Jiahe returned to her seat and continued eating. “Would you like to go tomorrow?”

“Go where?” Cheng Yi pretended not to understand.

“The poetry gathering.”

“Do you want to go?” Cheng Yi blinked at her curiously.

“I’m fine either way. If you’d like to go, we’ll go. If not, I’ll help you look for a shop instead.”

Cheng Yi thought Lu Jiahe must be a people-pleaser. Although many were willing to be friends with such personalities, living with constant, unconditional compromises must be exhausting.

“You don’t have to worry about me. If you want to go and are willing to take me along, I’ll go. If you don’t, we won’t. If you’d rather not bring me, I can stay behind.”

In the past, Lu Jiahe had always followed others’ wishes. Even if she didn’t want to go somewhere, a few words from a friend or her grandmother would convince her. But now, Cheng Yi was encouraging her to make her own choices.

Her eyes bright, Lu Jiahe stared at the dishes for a moment before softly saying, “I want to go, and I want to take you with me.”

“See? That’s all it takes. Next time, if there’s something you want or don’t want, you have to say it. Don’t keep it bottled up inside, understand?” Cheng Yi picked up some food and placed it in Lu Jiahe’s bowl as a gesture of comfort.

Lu Jiahe nodded silently.

“Then let’s finish eating quickly. Afterward, we can go look for a shop so we’ll have time tomorrow for the poetry gathering.”

They spent the entire afternoon wandering around Bianjing but couldn’t find a shop that met Cheng Yi’s expectations. However, she already had a rough plan, to choose a location close to Lu Jiahe’s academy.

Early the next morning, Cheng Yi was still deep asleep when knocking at the door woke her.

Frowning, she reluctantly got up and opened the door. Seeing Lu Jiahe, she immediately turned back to bed, intending to catch a few more winks.

Lu Jiahe pulled up a chair by the bed and stared intently at her. After a while, when there was still no sign of her getting up, she whispered, “We’re going to the poetry gathering today. Did you forget?”

Cheng Yi didn’t feel like responding. How early was it? Who held gatherings at the crack of dawn?

She rolled over, pulling the quilt over her head, trying to block out the sound.

But Lu Jiahe’s gaze seemed to pierce through the quilt, unwavering. Cheng Yi hadn’t expected her to be so persistent. If she didn’t respond, Lu Jiahe would just keep staring.

“Why so early? Do your gatherings always start at this hour?” Cheng Yi flung the quilt off and tossed it toward her.

Sitting stiffly by the window, Lu Jiahe was startled. “No, I just wanted to have breakfast together and then accompany you to look for some clothes.”

Cheng Yi closed her eyes and sighed. People in ancient times rise early and sleep early. I need to adapt. I need to adapt.

Noticing Cheng Yi’s displeasure, Lu Jiahe didn’t dare speak. She simply hugged the quilt and sat quietly by the bed, gazing at Cheng Yi like a steadfast “wife-watching stone.”

After what felt like an eternity, Cheng Yi finally gave in to the stubborn girl. She got up, draped the long robe she’d taken from Lu Jiahe’s room over her shoulders, and followed her back to the courtyard for breakfast.

Lu Jiahe was excited to see her friends again after so long. She looked forward to the gathering and was eager to introduce someone as interesting as Cheng Yi to everyone. Although Cheng Yi could be irritable, Lu Jiahe thought that if she went off to the academy later, Cheng Yi would surely feel lonely in Bianjing by herself. So why not take this opportunity to help her make a few reliable new friends?