Han Tao watched his absentminded wife closely for a good while before clearing his throat.
The soft sound managed to pull He Yuan out of his head. He nodded at Han Tao with a dry smile. "Good... evening?"
Han Tao's expression deepened into a slight frown. Why did he keep feeling like something was off with his wife? She seemed so distant lately. "Come with me, let's talk."
He Yuan nodded and followed after Han Tao. Right before they walked past the living room, he caught sight of the Han family females huddled together in a conversation.
As much as they tried to hide it, the discreet glances they kept sending him and Han Tao's way, coupled with Han Rong's provoking look told him all he needed to know.
They had reported him to Han Tao? It was almost laughable. What were they? Kindergarteners? Was he supposed to be terrified of Han Tao?
Tsk, tsk.
Both husband and 'wife' traversed through the mansion until they arrived at their own wing. As soon as they got to their bedroom, Han Tao turned to He Yuan. "Mother told me you were making trouble again. Lifen, didn't we already talk about this?"
He Yuan raised a brow. "Your mother told you I was making trouble and you automatically decided I was making trouble without hearing from me first?"
Han Tao clenched his jaw impatiently. He didn't need to ask because he knew what kind of personality his wife had! "You have no idea how to plan a banquet yet insist on planning it and even threatened to create a ruckus if things don't go your way. If that is not making trouble then what is it?"
He Yuan sneered. "Han Tao, what does your Han family expect from me?" Han Tao froze in shock at hearing his name come out of his wife's mouth but He Yuan continued anyways, "You all call me uncultured but when I make an attempt to learn, you all rebuke me!
-What am I supposed to do? Download the knowledge of elite etiquette from thin air?!"
Han Tao's expression went from shock to guilt. He had no idea this was his wife's reason for wanting to plan the banquet. What she said... Was a little true. She lacked the proper etiquette as a wife of an elite family but no one had really tried to teach her. "Lifen-"
"Don't." He Yuan raised a hand with a shake of his head. "Even you see me as nothing but trouble." He walked straight to the wardrobe. "I'll be sleeping downstairs for now."
Han Tao's eyes widened. If it was discovered that his wife was sleeping separately from him, how was he explain things to his family? He walked over to hold the closet door. "Lifen don't be rash!"
He Yuan raised a brow. How would he dare let such a precious opportunity go? He eyed Han Tao with a disappointed expression. "Now I don't even deserve space?"
Han Tao's expression turned conflicted. Why was Xu Lifen being so difficult? At that moment, his mind drifted to Chen Meili. After taking care of the emergency at work earlier today, he'd dropped by the hospital to check on Chen Meili... Because of his babies, of course.
Chen Meili had had a sweet smile on her face and her bearing had been so demure and proper. She'd been so distressed that he had to leave for work so early meanwhile his own wife had been as dead to the world as decayed wood when he left.
Xu Lifen had so much to complain about whilst Chen Meili rarely complained. She was the type that actively sought to fix a problem the second it appeared.
The more Han Tao compared, the weaker his hold on the closet door was. In fact, Xu Lifen sleeping seperately was not necessarily a bad idea. He'd felt a little guilty knowing that Xu Lifen would have him to hold her for the next nine months while Chen Meili would go through the struggles of pregnancy alone.
The babies belonged to him and Xu Lifen so that didn't seem very fair.
Technically, he wasn't doing anything wrong by letting Xu Lifen sleep seperately because if Xu Lifen was pregnant, then they would have to cut down on their intimacy. One of the reasons they'd agreed to let Chen Meili be their surrogate was because both him and Xu Lifen wanted to immerse themselves fully in the pregnancy process.
What better way to do this than doing all the things they would do if Xu Lifen was the one pregnant? Like cutting down on intimacy. Chen Meili would also be happy to find out that they were taking her struggles seriously.
He Yuan was still eyeing Han Tao in disappointment when the man in question suddenly let go of the closet door. He was a little taken aback. So easy? His eyes inadvertently moved to the lower half of Han Tao's body.
In the end, was this man a man or not?
888 cleared his throat loudly. [Where are your eyes going now? Why do you lack modesty?] His host seriously gave him a headache sometimes.
He Yuan blushed slightly at the disdain in his system's voice. "You're overthinking things."
Han Tao clasped his hand behind his back at that moment. "I would speak to mother about letting you join in planning the banquet and also use this opportunity to learn from her."
And then he began walking away before halting and looking back with an 'understanding' expression. "I'd... get some servants to help you move your things."
Then he was gone.
He Yuan gave one long bewildered blink with both eyebrows raised. Just one exchange and Han Tao was already done? The situation was a little funny. Imagine getting into a small argument with your partner and the next moment your partner's like:
'You know what? How about I call the moving company to gently move your things back to your father's house?'
Ha. He Yuan chuckled. The situation was actually very favourable to him. With the husband for show out of the way, he grabbed Xu Lifen's luggage and began stuffing in her clothes and accessories from the walk-in closet.
Ten minutes later, a knock came from the door.
He walked over to the door and opened it to find an older woman and two younger ladies dressed in the Han family servant apparel.
The older woman stepped forward with a polite smile. "Mistress. Xu, Young master Tao sent us to assist you."
He Yuan returned her smile and let them in. He was already done packing up. All that was left was to move the luggage to one of the rooms downstairs and rearrange them.
He specifically chose the one right at the entrance for convenience.
By 9:00pm, the room was all set and a freshly showered He Yuan was seated crosslegged on the bed, browsing through the internet to better understand the economic situation of the country and subsequently, the state of the stock market.
All Xu Lifen had to her name was ¥10,000 and the stock market was quite volatile. He couldn't afford to be careless.
At 11:00pm, he'd copied down a small list of promising companies that were opening up Initial Public Offering. He planned to do further research on the reason for these companies going IPO before trying his hand in short term stock trading of the shares of these companies.
If things turn out well, he could make enough to contact a good broker for future trading.
After that, He Yuan spent the rest of the night absorbing qi, only managing to fall asleep by 4:30am.
------------------------------
The next day, He Yuan woke up quite late. Since he didn't plan on joining the rest for breakfast, he didn't worry about it. Instead, he popped a hunger relieving pill in his mouth and went about his business.
It was already 11:00 am by the time he joined Min Yanyu and Gu Longwei in the entertainment room for planning the banquet.
Fu Lan, Han Rong, Han Yi and Han Jiao were also present but they were seated in a different table, playing some type of game.
The minute everyone in the hall spotted He Yuan, they exchanged discreet glances. Even Min Yanyu and Gu Longwei did not complain about his impunctuality.
The mansion might be huge but the size did nothing to hinder the spread of news. They were all aware that Han Tao and Xu Lifen had gotten into a very serious fight last night that prompted the heir to drive Xu Lifen out of their matrimonial bedroom.
"Ah?" Han Jiao began with a barely restrained smile on her face. "Cousin-in-law, why do you look so pale?"
Han Yi played along and squinted. "It seems so. It looks like you've been crying a lot. Is that why you missed breakfast? What could have happened to make you look so disraught?"
'...' If not for the fact that he'd taken a good look at himself before leaving the room, their words could have led He Yuan to believe that he was actually submerged in grief. He raised his brows at them. "Is something wrong with your eyes? What paleness?"
Han Rong and her daughters burst into laughter. It was so obvious that Xu Lifen was doing her best to hide her situation. Too bad, they were already aware!
Fu Lan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Lifen... As a woman, it wouldn't do to be so strong headed all the time. Sometimes just a little softness would help you get what you want.
-It is bad karma for a married couple to fight to the point of leaving the matrimonial bedroom. It doesn't look too good."
He Yuan nodded. "I understand Aunt Fu buy there's really no problem."
"BAH!" Han Jiao couldn't take it anymore. She laughed loudly as she said, "Quit pretending! You're only making yourself look like a fool. We all know you were chased out of your matrimonial bedroom by Cousin Tao!"
He Yuan smirked at Han Jiao. "At least it was my own matrimonial bedroom I was sent out of. What do you have?"
Every single person flinched in shock whilst Han Jiao's face reddened from anger. It was no news that Han Jiao had dropped out of university due to poor performance and had decided to get married instead. So far, not a single suitor had shown up. A lot of elites were skeptical about marrying any one of the luckless Hans.
"XU LIFEN!" Han Jiao quickly stood up from her seat, ready to fight He Yuan to death but was quickly held back by Han Rong.
"A'Jiao it's enough!" Han Rong admonished whilst glaring daggers at He Yuan. "This uncultured swine is not worth it."
Gu Longwei eyed Han Rong to take Han Jiao away before looking to He Yuan. "It is Han Tao's misfortune to marry such a woman like you!"
888 rolled his eyes. [At least he wasn't so unfortunate to be disowned by his family after marriage.]
He Yuan burst into laughter before he could stop himself and the glared aiming at him intensified.
Min Yanyu finally stepped in to diffuse the tension. "It's enough everyone!" When Han Rong left with her daughters and Fu Lan, she turned to He Yuan. "You are becoming more and more unbridled. What would be said of me, your mother-in-law, if I don't discipline you?
-A'Tao told me you needed teachings? Good. After now, go over to the library and copy down the Han family ancestral etiquette, that had been passed down for generations, five times!"
He Yuan still had a smile on his face. He wasn't worried. "888, you'd help me right?" That wouldn't count as breaking the rules
888 chuckled. [Not even in your wildest dreams.]
He Yuan's smile stiffened.