Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Gu Zhangyuan quickly said, "I'm not showing you."

Xie Licheng said with a wicked grin, "You think just because you said I can't look, I won't?"

As he said that, he deliberately pulled his collar open to peek inside.

Gu Zhangyuan flinched and quickly grabbed both of his ears with both hands.

"Not showing you."

"Why can't I look? It's just a chest, isn't it? You get to look at mine every day."

Isn't a gē'er's chest basically the same as a guy's?

Xie Licheng really couldn't figure out why Gu Zhangyuan was making such a big deal out of it.

Xie Licheng even pulled open his own shirt to show Gu Zhangyuan. "It's just a chest. I'll show you mine."

Gu Zhangyuan thought he had no shame. "You're shameless. You've got no decency."

Xie Licheng: "A man's chest and abs are the best dowry."

What did he have to be shy about?

Gu Zhangyuan was both amused and exasperated by his twisted logic. He'd never met anyone with a face as thick as Xie Licheng's.

But when Xie Licheng called those things a dowry, he couldn't help but sneak a glance at Xie Licheng's body.

He had to admit, it did look pretty impressive.

Seeing him look, Xie Licheng grinned. "Wanna give them a feel?"

Gu Zhangyuan quickly said, "No way."

"Really not?"

"No."

Hearing that, Xie Licheng stopped teasing him. After washing Gu Zhangyuan's feet, he moved to carry him back to bed.

Seeing that, Gu Zhangyuan quickly said, "I haven't changed my clothes yet!"

As he said that, he gestured for Xie Licheng to put him down.

Xie Licheng hadn't brought him a spare pair of shoes. He looked down at Gu Zhangyuan's clean, fair feet and didn't really want to put him back on the ground.

Gu Zhangyuan also wasn't about to put dirty shoes back on after washing his feet.

They exchanged a look, and Xie Licheng suggested, "I'll change you."

"No, I'll do it myself."

They hadn't even consummated the marriage yet. Having Xie Licheng change his clothes was way too embarrassing.

"How long are you gonna take to change by yourself?"

Gu Zhangyuan did everything at a snail's pace. He was probably rarely left to dress himself, so he was clumsy at it.

With that, Xie Licheng set him down on the stool so he could stand steady.

Xie Licheng was indeed quick. In a flash, he'd stripped Gu Zhangyuan's clothes off.

Noticing Gu Zhangyuan's discomfort, Xie Licheng quickly wrapped him in an outer robe.

With Gu Zhangyuan wrapped up and tucked into his arms, he strode toward the bedroom.

Once in the bedroom, Xie Licheng tossed him onto the bed.

This time, Gu Zhangyuan was prepared, so he wasn't as scared as the first time.

He landed in the soft bedding and quickly grabbed the blanket to cover himself.

Seeing how cautious he was, Xie Licheng asked with a chuckle, "You're this scared of me, and you still want to sleep here?"

Gu Zhangyuan reached up to smooth his slightly messy long hair. "I'm not afraid of you. I'm just not used to it."

In this world, he could be afraid of anyone but Xie Licheng.

Xie Licheng: "Then you better get used to it soon, or how are we gonna have little ones?"

Actually, Xie Licheng didn't really want kids. He brought it up because he figured that given the Gu family's situation, Gu Zhangyuan would want to carry on the family line, so they'd definitely end up having kids.

Hearing that, Gu Zhangyuan looked up at him. "Can we hold off on kids for now? The world is so chaotic, and the Gu family really needs me. I don't want to get pregnant so soon."

He hadn't rushed to consummate the marriage with Xie Licheng precisely because he was worried that if he accidentally got pregnant, he wouldn't have the energy for anything else.

Xie Licheng took off his outer robe and said casually, "It's fine. My health isn't great right now anyway. Once I'm in better shape, we can have kids then."

A man's poor health could affect the child's health too.

But Xie Licheng didn't say that because his health was actually bad. He just wanted to give Gu Zhangyuan an out so he wouldn't feel too much pressure.

Gu Zhangyuan did want kids. His younger siblings were still young, and he had no idea how his mother and the others were doing. The task of carrying on the Gu family line now fell on his shoulders.

The Gu family was a prestigious household, after all. He didn't want this branch of the family to die out with them.

Besides, he genuinely liked Xie Licheng. If he could have a child who looked like both of them, he'd be really happy.

Xie Licheng changed into his sleepwear and found a comfortable set for Gu Zhangyuan too.

"Wear this to bed tonight."

The sleepwear he found for Gu Zhangyuan came in two pieces, but since Gu Zhangyuan was so small and thin, the top alone was long enough to serve as a nightgown. So Xie Licheng just gave him the top.

Gu Zhangyuan put the clothes on while hiding under the blanket, which made him feel a bit more secure.

After that, Xie Licheng turned off all the lights outside and then turned off the bedroom light too.

He didn't like sleeping with any light on, so he had to feel his way to the bed in the dark.

Feeling the movement beside him, Gu Zhangyuan quickly scooted over to give Xie Licheng more room.

Xie Licheng was a big guy. Next to him, Gu Zhangyuan looked tiny and slender.

Gu Zhangyuan's frame wasn't small for a gē'er, but it depended on who he was standing next to. Next to other gē'er or women, he was quite tall and slender. But next to someone as tall and big as Xie Licheng, he suddenly seemed petite.

The weather wasn't too hot these days, but wearing sleepwear and sleeping under a blanket at night still got a bit stuffy.

Gu Zhangyuan wrapped himself in the blanket, but before long, he started to feel a bit warm.

He carefully stuck his hands and feet out from under the covers, and as he lifted the blanket, his scent slowly drifted out.

Xie Licheng, who had been on the verge of falling asleep, his nose twitched, and he couldn't help turning over to face Gu Zhangyuan.

Xie Licheng asked, "Why do you smell so nice?"

Gu Zhangyuan felt even hotter at his words. He secretly sniffed himself but didn't think he smelled fragrant at all.

This guy—was he trying to take advantage of him?

"Can I have a sniff?"

Just as he suspected, the guy had no good intentions.

Gu Zhangyuan didn't want to respond to him, but he was afraid that if he didn't, the other guy might do something reckless. To prevent Xie Licheng from doing anything out of line, Gu Zhangyuan held out a slender arm to him.

Meaning: go ahead, sniff, and when you're done, give it back.

But once the lamb was in the wolf's mouth, it wasn't coming back so easily.

As soon as he stretched out his arm, Xie Licheng grabbed his wrist firmly.

Xie Licheng had a strong grip, and no matter how hard Gu Zhangyuan struggled, he couldn't break free.

Xie Licheng said to Gu Zhangyuan, "Don't be afraid, I won't mess with you. I'll just sniff, that's all."

Hearing Xie Licheng say this, Gu Zhangyuan stopped struggling. He knew Xie Licheng well enough—if he said he wouldn't do anything, he meant it.

Then Xie Licheng sniffed the back of his hand but couldn't tell if it was incense or the natural scent of an omega.

He was genuinely curious about the fragrance because it had a calming effect on him.

He liked it and had asked Gu Zhangyuan about it a long time ago.

Gu Zhangyuan's outer robe was usually scented with incense, but he had already taken it off and even given himself a quick wipe. Logically, there shouldn't be any incense left on him by now.

Unable to figure it out, Xie Licheng simply pulled Gu Zhangyuan over to him.

Gu Zhangyuan felt a little scared and flustered, but he didn't say anything to stop him.

He was dragged over, and Xie Licheng threw the blanket off him.

Then Xie Licheng propped himself up on the bed, leaned in close to his neck and chest, and took a careful sniff.

Xie Licheng figured this scent was probably the natural body fragrance of an omega.

Since Gu Zhangyuan smelled it every day, he was completely oblivious to his own scent. Only people like Xie Licheng, who weren't around him all the time, were more sensitive to it.

Gu Zhangyuan bit his lower lip and pushed Xie Licheng's head away with his fingers.

He said, "I'm tired. I want to sleep."

Xie Licheng nodded. "Mm, I'm tired too. Goodnight."

When Xie Licheng said he'd stop messing with him, he actually stopped.

Watching Xie Licheng lie back down, Gu Zhangyuan quickly tugged the nightgown back down that Xie Licheng had accidentally hiked up.

He pulled the blanket back over himself and turned over to close his eyes.

He had thought sharing a bed with a man for the first time would make it impossible to sleep that night.

But surprisingly, as soon as he closed his eyes, he fell fast asleep.

He didn't dream at all that night, and when he opened his eyes, it was already light outside.

Gu Zhangyuan rubbed his eyes, feeling a bit thirsty. He groggily crawled up, intending to climb over the mountain of a man beside him to get out of bed.

But just as he swung one leg over, the man—who still wasn't used to having a wife—suddenly opened his eyes.

Startled, Gu Zhangyuan froze mid-motion and plopped right down on Xie Licheng.

Xie Licheng stared at his face with deep, cold eyes, like he was doing facial recognition, and accurately identified two words on his face.

"Wife."

Xie Licheng's eyes immediately softened, and he reached out to steady the waist of his wife sitting on him.

He asked, "Need to get out of bed?"

Gu Zhangyuan nodded, then, holding onto Xie Licheng's arm, managed to get out of bed.

His shoes were still in the bathroom, so to get some water, he had to wear Xie Licheng's shoes.

The shoes Xie Licheng wore at the farm were all flip-flops. Gu Zhangyuan's feet were small, so wearing them felt like he was wearing boats.

Dragging the oversized shoes, Gu Zhangyuan made his way to the living room to get some water.

He drank a cup of warm water himself, and thinking of Xie Licheng still lounging in bed, he poured another cup for him in a different cup.

Gu Zhangyuan carried the cup back, and Xie Licheng, seeing that he had brought him water, couldn't very well stay lying down.

As he sat up, he asked, "By the way, you mentioned yesterday you had something to tell me?"

Gu Zhangyuan handed him the cup and sat down next to Xie Licheng.

He leaned against Xie Licheng's arm like a little accessory, looking obedient.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "It's about buying houses for our family."

Xie Licheng responded with a faint "Mm," signaling for him to continue.

Gu Zhangyuan: "I've picked out two houses, both on the same street. I want to buy them both—one for my father and the others to live in, and the other for us."

Xie Licheng downed the water in one gulp. "Easy. You don't need to buy the house. Just ask me for it."

Gu Zhangyuan took the cup from his hand first, then explained calmly, "It's different. The house for the Gu family should be bought by me, or else they'll feel uneasy living there. Also, houses in town are cheap, so I can afford ours."

Xie Licheng guessed his concern and, after thinking it over, said, "You don't need to buy it. If you feel uneasy, here's what we'll do. From now on, you'll help me manage the properties and shops. To prevent any trouble from people buying them, I'll set all the prices myself, and you'll handle selling them to whoever needs them. You'll also take care of the deeds and land titles. These tasks are tedious and demanding, so you'll help me with them. For each place, I'll pay you—your compensation will be two residences and two shops. You can choose any of them. No matter which ones you pick, they'll be your personal property. Even if we ever fall out of love, I promise I won't take back what I've given you."

Gu Zhangyuan saw how serious he was and couldn't help but smile as he asked, "If we really do separate one day, what about the kids? How would we split them?"

"If we have two children, you get one, and I get one. If we only have one, the child can choose for themselves."

"Then it's settled. You can't go back on your word later."

Xie Licheng was a rough man, but he treated his wife well, so he felt they wouldn't fall out of love.

Even if their relationship truly broke down, he wouldn't take back what he'd given, because that would make him look cheap.

Besides, the fact that they'd gotten together meant they'd once loved each other. For someone he'd loved, Xie Licheng couldn't bear to be hard on him.

Xie Licheng said, "I won't regret it."

Gu Zhangyuan reached out his pinky to make a pinky promise, and Xie Licheng, seeing this, actually linked pinkies with him.

After that, Xie Licheng got up, freshened up, and began sketching out the layout of Taohua Town using the system's map.

His drawing skills weren't great, and Gu Zhangyuan watched helplessly beside him.

Finally, unable to take it anymore, Gu Zhangyuan stepped forward and nudged him aside.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "Let me draw it. You tell me the specific layout on the scratch paper."

Xie Licheng nodded at this, and the two of them got to work together.

The main reason for drawing the map was to sell houses later.

Xie Licheng found a pencil and wrote a price for each spot on the layout Gu Zhangyuan had drawn.

If anyone wanted to buy a house in town in the future, Gu Zhangyuan could sell it at those prices.

If people were dissatisfied with the prices, since Xie Licheng had set them in advance, they couldn't easily give Gu Zhangyuan a hard time.

Gu Zhangyuan marked the two properties he'd had his eye on, and remembering that Xie Licheng was also giving him two shops as compensation, he didn't hold back. He casually picked two well-located shops and marked them as well.

He wasn't about to take Xie Licheng's things for free. With so many houses and shops in town, managing all the buying and selling was still a hassle and exhausting. Even if they were a married couple, he couldn't get used to working for free.

Otherwise, over time, the man would think it was fine to boss him around. Maybe later, if he wanted something, the other would think he was unsettled and not family-oriented.

After successfully taking over Taohua Town, once the task bar hit (50/50), the next area would unlock.

Now Xie Licheng's pocket world had 89 people, and he could already unlock the next area.

He wanted to see what the next area was, so he went ahead and unlocked it.

The new area was right next to Taohua Town, a tiny little place.

After unlocking it, Xie Licheng discovered it was a small temple, situated on the main road south of Taohua Town.

This temple also had to be taken over, but the method was different from how they'd taken Taohua Town.

There was only one enemy in the temple—a bandit leader at level thirty.

Xie Licheng could take it on by himself, and since he had nothing else to do, he decided to just teleport over and clear it out.

This temple was different from Taohua Town—the bandit leader wouldn't respawn once defeated, so Xie Licheng didn't need to leave anyone there to guard it.

Xie Licheng wanted to use it to grind levels, so he said to Gu Zhangyuan, "I'm going to go take out a bandit. I should be back soon."

Gu Zhangyuan set down his pen at that. "Be careful, don't get hurt."

Xie Licheng nodded, then turned to leave.

Gu Zhangyuan suddenly asked, "By the way, what happened to that safety charm I gave you?"

Xie Licheng pointed to the window of the bedroom—he'd hung it there as decoration.

He thought the thing was too delicate. Every time he went out, it was all fighting and bloodshed, and the charm could easily get damaged, so he didn't carry it on him.

Seeing this, Gu Zhangyuan felt a bit helpless. He walked over, took down the charm, and came to Xie Licheng's side, saying, "This only works if you wear it on you."

Xie Licheng wanted to say he didn't need such a thing, and since it was a gift from Gu Zhangyuan, he wanted to keep it at home as a keepsake.

But seeing Gu Zhangyuan looking up at him, he had no choice but to stuff the charm into the pouch at his waist.

Gu Zhangyuan tied the pouch for him himself, and Xie Licheng grabbed his weapon and teleported off.

After Xie Licheng left, Gu Zhangyuan started working on the property deeds. He'd dealt with shop matters a lot before, so he knew a thing or two about buying and selling deeds.

He wanted to take advantage of this free time to write out a few copies to have on hand just in case.

Since he wanted those two houses and had also picked two shops, he thought he might as well write up their deeds first, so Xie Licheng could sign them when he got back.

Gu Zhangyuan's drawings were beautiful, and his handwriting was excellent.

He used Xie Licheng's paper and pens, and at first, he wasn't really used to them.

But he soon found the paper and pens here were of great quality—the paper was thin, clean, and hard to tear. The pen tips were fine, and the ink flowed smoothly without bleeding.

He wondered where Xie Licheng got all this weird stuff.

Just as Gu Zhangyuan was thinking this while slowly writing the deeds, he thought he heard Xuan Cui's voice.

Gu Zhangyuan stopped what he was doing and decided to go out in his slippers to check it out.

Come to think of it, he hadn't eaten anything all day, and suddenly he felt a little hungry.

As Gu Zhangyuan was slowly heading outside, Xuan Cui carefully pushed the door open, carrying a food box.

The two of them ran into each other, and Gu Zhangyuan asked, a bit surprised, "Huh? How'd you get in?"

"The young master sent me."