My Wife, So Fierce! - Chapter 71

Zheng Yao was both angry and amused.

“Tell the truth”?

Wasn’t she clearly just teasing her?!

Poking her cheek heavily, Zheng Yao took two steps back: “No matter what you say, I don’t want to hear such words from you anymore.”

Shen Baiyi sighed: “Alright.”

After all this commotion, Zheng Yao’s sleepiness had completely vanished. Just as she was about to speak, Shen Baiyi took the initiative: “Sister, wash your hands and eat first. The food is getting cold.”

Zheng Yao glanced at her sideways: “And whose fault is that?”

Shen Baiyi replied honestly: “Mine.”

Only then was Zheng Yao satisfied. After washing her hands, she sat down at the dining table. Seeing the entire table filled with her favorite dishes, the last trace of annoyance dissipated completely.

A smile appeared between her brows.

She had been playing outside all this time and hadn’t eaten Shen Baiyi’s cooking in a long while. She had been craving it before, and now her appetite was fully awakened.

Even looking at Shen Baiyi sitting across from her made her heart soften considerably.

“Sister, eat this.”

As soon as Shen Baiyi sat down, she served Zheng Yao food. Zheng Yao obediently accepted it, then gave Shen Baiyi a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs in return: “You should eat more too.”

Grow taller and put on some weight.

“Thank you, sister.”

Looking at the pork ribs in her bowl, Shen Baiyi smiled until her eyes narrowed into slits. She was overjoyed and couldn’t help serving more food to her sister, wishing she could put all the dishes in her sister’s bowl.

Of course, she eventually earned a glare from her sister.

Although it held no lethality for her, she settled down, not daring to upset her sister further.

The meal was quite enjoyable.

Her sister really liked the food she cooked, even eating most of a bowl of rice, with a smile all over her face.

If her sister was happy, she felt satisfied too.

After the meal, seeing Shen Baiyi about to clear the table, Zheng Yao, who was slumped in her chair, frowned: “I’ll wash the dishes.”

“I’ll do it,” Shen Baiyi said nonchalantly. “Sister never liked washing dishes before. There’s no reason for you to start doing chores just because I’m here.”

Zheng Yao’s heart stirred.

Before Shen Baiyi came, she indeed hated household chores the most, so she often ordered takeout that could be thrown away after eating, completely avoiding getting her hands greasy.

The most housework she ever did was cleaning the litter box for Bububu. Everything else was handled by hiring a housekeeper every now and then.

But now was different from before.

It didn’t make sense for Shen Baiyi to busy herself cooking a whole table of food and then have to clean up afterward that would make her seem too bullying.

Although looking at those dishes still made her feel irritable, when she thought of Shen Baiyi’s hard work cooking and those delicious meals, she could swallow any dissatisfaction.

She hadn’t expected Shen Baiyi to consider things from her perspective so thoughtfully.

She came up with a perfect solution: “I’ll call a housekeeper. Then neither of us needs to wash the dishes.”

Shen Baiyi seemed to want to say something but hesitated. After holding back for a while, she couldn’t resist: “Sister, washing dishes is something I can finish quickly.”

Calling a housekeeper was a waste of money, and they might not even do it as meticulously as she would.

Zheng Yao raised her eyebrows: “Wash what? The house hasn’t been lived in for so long, there must be plenty of dust. We need to call a housekeeper to clean up.”

With that, she pointed toward Shen Baiyi’s room: “Go back to your room and rest immediately, right now. No chores allowed.”

“It’s still early.” Shen Baiyi shook her head. “I don’t want to sleep yet.”

After speaking, she glanced at her sister and softened her voice: “While you were sleeping, I already cleaned the entire house. There’s no dust left, so you don’t need to hire a housekeeper.”

Saying this, she quickly gathered the dishes and utensils and hurried to the kitchen with them.

Zheng Yao: “…”

Was Shen Baiyi the reincarnation of the Snail Maiden?

If it were before, when she was trying to please her out of fear of being kicked out, working hard on chores would make sense. But now, Shen Baiyi couldn’t possibly be unaware of how Zheng Yao treated her, why was she still so eager to do housework?

Could it really be that some people just enjoy doing chores?

Zheng Yao made a pained expression.

After standing still for a moment, she got up and went into the kitchen, standing beside Shen Baiyi. She silently picked up a bowl from the sink and began washing it.

Fine, let’s just wash them together.

“Sister…”

“I want to be with you.” Already guessing what Shen Baiyi was about to say, Zheng Yao cut her off, using the same tactic Shen Baiyi had employed before. “Don’t you like being with me?”

Of course, Shen Baiyi couldn’t say she didn’t like being with her sister. Her face slowly flushed red as she suppressed her overflowing joy, shifting slightly to make room for her sister.

The sink wasn’t very large, and with two people standing side by side washing dishes, their movements inevitably brought them close.

Shen Baiyi unconsciously slowed her movements, wishing she could stand pressed against her sister like this all night.

Even washing dishes became absentminded, her thoughts entirely focused on her sister.

After washing one bowl, without even glancing into the sink, she reached into the water. Instead of finding another bowl, her hand closed around her sister’s.

Shen Baiyi’s eyelids twitched, and she instantly snapped back to awareness.

She looked down, her gaze falling on her own hand.

Both their hands were still slick with dish soap bubbles, making the grasp somewhat slippery. But Shen Baiyi didn’t let go, and Zheng Yao was too stunned to pull away immediately.

The atmosphere easily turned subtle again.

Zheng Yao’s heart raced like thunder.

Although Shen Baiyi was strong, with both their hands slippery, breaking free would have been easy. But perhaps she’d gone mad she made no move to break free.

With nervousness and anticipation, she quietly watched their intertwined hands.

However, Shen Baiyi’s next move took her by surprise.

Shen Baiyi simply guided her hand under the faucet. Cool water cascaded over them as Zheng Yao stared blankly while Shen Baiyi gently and patiently rinsed the soap bubbles from her hand, then promptly released her.

A fleeting, inexplicable sense of loss passed through her.

“Alright, the dishes are done.” Shen Baiyi said with a smile. “Sister, go watch TV in the living room.Her tone was like coaxing a child.

Zheng Yao felt unsettled, not daring to meet Shen Baiyi’s eyes, nor bothering to question her tone. Stiffly, she walked away with awkward, synchronized steps.

She turned on the TV, but her mind wasn’t on it.

Lowering her head, she stared distractedly at her now clean and refreshed hand.

The sensation of Shen Baiyi holding her hand seemed to linger. Unlike her own soft and tender hand, Shen Baiyi’s palm was slightly rough, with deeper palm lines that made their presence strongly felt when grasping hers.

She had just finished washing the dishes, yet she didn’t feel the slightest trace of the earlier annoyance, not even the lingering greasy sensation on her hands.

In the past, even after washing her hands repeatedly with soap, that unpleasant feeling would stubbornly cling to her.

Suddenly, her phone chimed with a notification.

Zheng Yao snapped back to attention.

It was a photo of Bub and Yaoyao sent by Zhuang Liulan. The two cats had been staying with Zhuang Liulan recently, and she would occasionally send pictures of them.

Today, there were also a few photos of Dahuang.

The dog had been completely shaved, making it look even uglier. Zheng Yao grimaced in pain as she looked at the images.

“What’s wrong?”

Shen Baiyi sat down beside her.

The sofa suddenly felt cramped. Zheng Yao instinctively shifted away, but she was already pressed against the innermost corner, with nowhere left to retreat.

Suppressing her discomfort, Zheng Yao shoved the phone in front of Shen Baiyi. “Look at your dog.”

Shen Baiyi lowered her gaze and immediately noticed the contact name: Dr. Zhuang.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her expression darkened instantly.

“Why aren’t you reacting?”

Not seeing the reaction she expected on Shen Baiyi’s face, Zheng Yao raised an eyebrow. How could Shen Baiyi remain so indifferent when her dog looked like that?

“Hmm?” Shen Baiyi snapped out of her thoughts and finally glanced at the photos.

Shen Baiyi: “…”

“You don’t actually think it’s cute, do you?” Zheng Yao exclaimed in disbelief.

“No,” Shen Baiyi denied quickly, resisting the urge to scroll through her sister’s chat history with Dr. Zhuang. She handed the phone back. “It looks really ugly.”

Hearing this response, Zheng Yao brightened up. “Aren’t you its owner? Why are you also looking down on it?”

“I’m just stating the facts,” Shen Baiyi said, lying down and wrapping her arms around her sister, pressing close. “Sister, could you give me Dr. Zhuang’s WeChat? From now on, she can send the dog’s photos directly to me so it won’t offend your eyes.”

Caught off guard by the embrace, Zheng Yao’s heart skipped a beat. Her first instinct was no longer to push Shen Baiyi away.

The lingering emptiness from when Shen Baiyi had released her hand earlier vanished completely, replaced by a frantic pounding in her chest.

“It’s not that offensive,” Zheng Yao muttered, turning her head away.

After all, the dog had once been Shen Baiyi’s “family.” Even if she didn’t like it, she wasn’t so repulsed that she couldn’t bear to look at it.

“I’d like to see it more often,” Shen Baiyi cooed, acting cute softly. “Wouldn’t it be much more convenient if I added her on WeChat?”

Zheng Yao’s eyes flickered.

With that dog around, the frequency of her chats with Zhuang Liulan would inevitably increase. Even now, with Bub and Yaoyao staying there, she already found herself exchanging a few messages with Zhuang Liulan almost daily.

She had considered switching to a different veterinary clinic, but she had deposited too much money there, and suddenly changing clinics would undoubtedly make Zhuang Liulan overthink things.

From a pet care perspective, Zhuang Liulan was a very responsible veterinarian. Zheng Yao also quite enjoyed being friends with her and didn’t want to make things awkward.

But she didn’t want her interactions with Zhuang Liulan to become too frequent, as if she were deliberately stringing her along.

She wasn’t particularly sociable by nature, and having to reply to Zhuang Liulan every day already felt like a headache.

Being too polite came off as stiff; being too casual felt overly familiar.

Stuck in this awkward middle ground, with Dahuang now boarding there as well, these chats were bound to continue. She’d also have to relay updates to Shen Baiyi, making everything even more complicated.

“Alright.” She nodded without further hesitation.

After sharing Zhuang Liulan’s WeChat contact with Shen Baiyi, she looked over again: “I’m picking up Bubu and Yaoyao tomorrow. Are you coming?”

“Yes.” Shen Baiyi answered without hesitation, speaking naturally. “Perfect timing to visit Dahuang.”

Zheng Yao wasn’t surprised. She still wasn’t accustomed to sitting so intimately close to Shen Baiyi – it felt like being enveloped by flames, or restrained by a wild beast hiding its fangs. She could almost sense the aggression emanating from Shen Baiyi.

After all, Shen Baiyi was still young and completely unrestrained.

Thinking this, she stood up: “It’s been a long day, you must be tired. Get some rest early.”

“Okay.”

Shen Baiyi nodded, watching as her sister returned to her room.

Her sister had slept too much today and definitely wouldn’t go to bed early tonight. With no particularly interesting variety shows or TV dramas recently, she’d probably be quite bored.

At this thought, her eyes curved into smiles as she leaned back against the spot where her sister had just been sitting. She opened that pink app.

Her sister still liked her very much.

It was just because of her age that she held back.

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