Chapter 14: I really am a little monster who knows how to raise a wife…
Jian Tang, who had snuck back in overnight through the sewer pipes, was wiping his damp hair while frantically tapping away on his phone.
He was texting his wife.
—[I’m back!]
—[Why aren’t you at home? Is the dinner still not over?]
The monster factory employees were indeed working overtime through the night, but it wasn’t a full-crew situation; it was a shift system. The monsters were divided into two batches: the first batch from 0:00 to 4:00 AM, and the second from 4:00 to 8:00 AM. After 8:00 AM, it was the official start of the workday.
Jian Tang had managed to secure the 0:00-4:00 AM break slot. While the other employees crawled into the staff warehouse, yawning, to snatch some sleep, he transformed back into his original form and dove into the sewers—it was too hard to catch a cab so late, and sliding back through the drainage pipes was much faster.
Of course, he wasn’t stupid enough to crawl out of his own bathroom sink—that would scare his human wife—so Jian Tang had sneakily slipped out through a floor drain in the ground-floor property maintenance utility room, transformed back into his human form under the cover of night, and then headed upstairs to enter his home.
He had been worried that his wife might already be asleep at this hour, but he hadn’t expected the apartment to be completely empty. After turning on the living room lights, Jian Tang returned to his bedroom to change out of his soaked clothes and took a large, clean towel from the bathroom to dry his dripping hair.
The sewers were filthy and foul-smelling. Fortunately, Jian Tang had worked in the trash factory for several hundred years and had long ago figured out a way to keep his body clean and free of unpleasant odors, though this method was water-intensive; every time he used it, he ended up completely drenched.
Jian Tang dried his hair and took a moment to check his phone.
The inbox was quiet; Feng Xun hadn’t replied to his messages.
…Is he still busy?
Jian Tang glanced out the window. There was no moon tonight; the brightness inside the room made the night outside appear even thicker and darker. The entire complex was so quiet he couldn’t hear a sound; normal humans would have been fast asleep at this time.
Flashes of news stories he’d seen about human society crossed his mind, and Jian Tang couldn’t help but worry.
Would something happen to Wife?
Although the other party looked strong and was a size larger than his own human-form, looking quite fierce and not to be messed with, but… he was only human, after all. A weak, fragile human walking home alone at night always felt very unsafe.
Protecting the wife is the duty of the Master of the House!
[Where is the location of your dinner?] Jian Tang messaged immediately. [I’ll come pick you up.]
There was still no reply from the other side, but Jian Tang had already started taking action. He changed into a set of outdoor clothes, put on a jacket, and was just changing his shoes in the entryway when the electronic door lock suddenly chimed.
The door was pushed open. Jian Tang froze, his entire face lighting up.
“Wife!”
Feng Xun stood at the doorway, and seeing Jian Tang dressed as if he were about to head out, his figure stiffened.
“Just got back, and already heading out?”
“No, no.” Jian Tang hurriedly switched back into his rabbit-eared cotton slippers and hung his jacket on the rack by the door. “You never replied to my messages, and I was worried something might have happened to you, so I was just about to go out and look for you.”
Feng Xun fished his phone out of his pocket and finally saw the unread messages.
“Sorry,” he said, lowering his eyes to look at the phone. “I didn’t see them just now.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine, as long as you’re home safe!”
Home.
Feng Xun silently savored the word and tucked his phone back into his pocket.
Jian Tang stepped aside to let him in, but the person standing at the doorway didn’t move.
Jian Tang: “?”
The motion-sensor light in the hallway had gone out. The light coming from inside the room shone on the man, illuminating only the lower half of his face. His smoke-gray eyes, hidden in the shadows of the light, appeared dark and profound, staring unblinkingly at the youth inside the door.
“Why?” Feng Xun asked, looking at the person in front of him. “Didn’t you say you weren’t coming home? Why did you suddenly come back?”
Jian Tang was stunned for a moment, then explained: “Uh, because we switched to a shift system…”
He recounted the factory’s overtime arrangements: “…Since I had a four-hour break, naturally, it’s best to come back if I can.”
The person outside the door frowned slightly: “It was only four hours; why didn’t you get some good rest in the factory dorms?”
Anyone else, upon receiving a precious break, would have made their first priority to get some rest nearby, rather than rushing home overnight. That was unwise, and the rest efficiency would be low. A normal person wouldn’t do this—unless there was some reason they had to come back.
Jian Tang vaguely sensed that Feng Xun seemed a bit strange right now. But the other party was usually like this—his voice cold, his expression faint—it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Jian Tang bit his lip and whispered.
“Because… because I felt like you seemed to really want me to come back.”
Although his terrifying wife had said he didn’t need to come home and had been very firm about it, for some reason… he just felt that his wife actually hoped he would come home. He couldn’t name the specific reason; it was purely out of a little monster’s unique intuition.
The person outside the door looked at him quietly, for a very, very long time—so long that Jian Tang gradually began to feel uneasy.
“Did I… did I do something wrong?” the youth murmured. “Should I not have come back…”
“No.”
The man cut him off abruptly and stepped into the house.
Jian Tang stepped aside, secretly sneaking a peek at his wife’s expression: as usual, no expression, but he should… not be angry?
Feng Xun changed his shoes in the entryway and waved the food boxes in his hand: “Do you still want to eat barbecue?”
Jian Tang’s eyes brightened instantly: “Yes!”
The man nodded, and as he passed by Jian Tang, he casually ruffled the youth’s hair. This head-patting motion was so natural, so smooth, that it wasn’t until the other person walked into the dining area that Jian Tang finally realized what had happened.
…Eh?
He stood dazed for a long while, subconsciously touching his hair that had been ruffled, his emerald eyes slowly, slowly blossoming with a dazzling brilliance.
His wife was still very terrifying, but he was actually willing to take the initiative to be close to him.
Does this count as… he had finally “domesticated” his wife a little bit?
Hee hee hee hee.
Tang Tang, I really am a little monster who knows how to raise a wife! Happy.jpg
—
A few minutes later, Jian Tang sat before the dining table.
The steaming vegetarian barbecue was set on a clean white porcelain plate and pushed in front of the youth.
“The texture isn’t as good after reheating as it is when it’s freshly grilled,” Feng Xun said. “Just make do.”
Jian Tang didn’t think he had to “make do” at all. He expectantly picked up a skewer of grilled potatoes and put it into his mouth.
“Wow! Delicious!”
He picked up a skewer of grilled corn.
“Yay! This is delicious too!”
He picked up a skewer of grilled mushrooms.
“Ha! Even better than the ones my colleagues make!”
Feng Xun: “Colleagues?”
Jian Tang, who had gotten carried away and let it slip: “…Mushrooms sent by a colleague.”
In reality, they were babies sent by Little Mushroom. They grew in abundance—the non-sentient fungi grew wildly in the damp underground factory and were often harvested by Little Mushroom to give to Jian Tang and his good friends to supplement their meals.
Jian Tang ate with gusto, his cheeks bulging like a hamster hoarding food in its mouth. However, as he ate, his movements gradually slowed. After finishing a skewer of grilled lotus root, Jian Tang didn’t reach for a new skewer, but instead pushed the grill tray toward Feng Xun.
“Wife, you eat too.”
The man sitting opposite him shook his head: “This is all for you; I’m not eating.”
“…”
If you aren’t eating, why keep staring at me?
He stared so hard Jian Tang felt nervous, his hairs standing on end.
As Jian Tang continued to eat, his movements became much more restrained, taking small, dainty bites, occasionally licking his oily, powder-soft lips, trying to make sure his table manners weren’t too unsightly.
Feng Xun watched for a while, then suddenly stood up and went into the kitchen. When he returned, he was holding a cup of hot milk, which he set beside Jian Tang.
“Don’t choke.”
Jian Tang was pleasantly surprised: “Thank you, Wife!”
It definitely wasn’t his imagination—today, his terrifying wife was indeed different.
He seemed… a little gentler?
Jian Tang took a sip of the warm milk, curved his eyes in contentment, and gave a sweet smile to the person who sat down opposite him: “It tastes so good, you’re so good, Wife!”
Feng Xun was silent for a moment.
“Jian Tang.”
“Hm?”
“How did you get back today?”
Jian Tang had long since prepared his story and answered without hesitation: “I asked a colleague to call me a taxi using a ride-sharing app; I came back by taxi.”
“The taxi dropped you off at the entrance of the complex, and you walked the rest of the way?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Feng Xun raised his eyebrow slightly.
“Before you entered the house, I was sitting in the small garden downstairs the whole time. How come I didn’t see you walk in?”
Jian Tang choked on a piece of grilled steamed bun, emitting a earth-shattering coughing sound.
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