WRA CH82

After lunch, having left the Zhou residence, Shen Ku took Dou Manning straight to the Shen family home.

Dou Manning had packed the leftover cake from the birthday banquet and placed it carefully on his lap. Sitting in the passenger seat, he kept staring at the cake, planning to eat a piece every hour. When he finally looked up, he realized Shen Ku had once again parked the car at “his friend’s” house.

When they had first come here, Shen Ku said he had asked a friend to help buy Zhou Sicheng’s gift.

Dou Manning: “Did you forget to pay your friend?”

Shen Ku: “Come upstairs with me and you’ll see.”

His dad and brother were at work, and his mom had said she was going to the beauty salon. Since the house was currently empty, Shen Ku decided to use this place to confess everything—it would make him far more credible.

Dou Manning nodded. That made sense. Shen Ku didn’t have any money on him, so he would go up with him to pay.

Shen Ku opened the passenger door, held Dou Manning’s hand to help him out, and led him into the elevator. Solemnly, he said, “Manning, I need to confess something to you.”

Dou Manning: “Go ahead.”

It was a luxury flat with private elevator access. The doors opened directly into the Shen family’s entrance hall.

The front door automatically scanned Shen Ku’s face, matched him as the Second Young Master of the Shen family, and slowly swung open.

Shen Ku pulled Dou Manning into the foyer and reached back to pull the door shut, preventing his wife from fleeing. “Wifey, actually, I—”

“Ah!” Mother Shen, wearing a sheet mask, walked out and was utterly shocked to suddenly see her son and daughter-in-law standing at the door.

Shen Ku: “Mom, why are you still home?”

Mother Shen babbled incoherently, hastily tearing off her mask and looking around for a broom. “Manning, this isn’t my face mask! I-I stole the madam’s mask! I’m just here as the cleaning lady!”

Shen Ku: “Mom!”

Mother Shen: “It’s your own fault for coming back so suddenly; don’t blame me!”

Shen Ku pushed his mother into a bedroom and shut the door. “Please don’t speak for a moment.”

Dou Manning stood in the living room. His gaze swept lightly across the space and landed on a small family portrait hanging on the wall.

It featured Shen Ku, Auntie Shen, and two men he didn’t recognize.

This is… Shen Ku’s home?

Shen Ku had originally planned to ride the coattails of Zhou Sicheng’s reveal to make his own confession, but his mother’s sudden interruption instantly made it look like a mother-son conspiracy to deceive Dou Manning. Breaking out in a cold sweat, he grasped both of Dou Manning’s hands and dropped to his knees with a thud.

“I’m sorry, wifey, I lied to you. This is my real home.”

Dou Manning looked down at this man who was supposed to be inherently poor. “You aren’t Engineer Shen?”

Shen Ku’s heart pounded. “My parents are quite wealthy, but I’ve been working on construction sites ever since I graduated from college. It has absolutely nothing to do with my family’s business, which is mainly managed by my brother. My family does give me a little bit of money—”

He looked up, closely watching Dou Manning’s expression. “Whether I give you a lot or a little, you can decide my status based on that.”

Dou Manning: “I’m saying I don’t want—”

Shen Ku: “Then I won’t take a single cent!”

Dou Manning shifted his legs. He felt embarrassed being hugged like this by Shen Ku in someone else’s house. The next second, Shen Ku hugged him even tighter. With a sway, he was lifted into the air and carried into a bedroom.

“Wifey, this is my room. You can hit me or scold me here, and I absolutely will not fight back.”

Dou Manning sat on Engineer Shen’s bed. He pressed his palm against it and found the silky texture surprisingly familiar. Glancing down, he saw a bedsheet identical to the one in their tin shack.

Had Shen Ku been bringing things from home this whole time?

He stared silently at Shen Ku for a long time, so long that Shen Ku started to crack under the pressure.

Dou Manning crossed his arms: “Will you still wash the dishes?”

Shen Ku: “I will! No matter how much coffee you make, I will wash the cups for you.”

Dou Manning nodded. In that case, his criteria for a husband hadn’t changed.

However, he was more concerned about something else: “Are you going to live with your family?”

He was a spirit; living with humans would be somewhat inconvenient.

Shen Ku: “I have my own place, similar to this one. For the past few years, I spent most of my time at the construction site, and when I came back, I’d visit my parents. Living alone was boring, so that place was left vacant.”

“Now that we’re married, of course we need our own little home.”

Dou Manning leaned forward, wrapping his pale arms around the neck of Engineer Shen, who was crouching in front of him. His clear eyes gazed at him. “You really are rich… Hubby.”

Shen Ku’s heart stirred. He leaned in and sealed Dou Manning’s perfectly shaped lips.

I really want to do it on this bed…

No, don’t think about that yet.

Setting aside the fact that his mother was right next door, more importantly, he needed to figure out if Dou Manning could actually get pregnant.

Shen Ku pulled back slightly, breathing a bit heavily. “I didn’t want to hide it from you at first, but Zhou Sicheng said he was pretending to be poor. If I wanted to find you through him, I couldn’t be richer than him. Later… after what happened with Xiang Zhen, I didn’t dare say anything.”

“Wifey, Zhou Sicheng said that just like Xiang Zhen, you can get pregnant too. Is… is that true?”

Dou Manning nodded. “Yes.”

Shen Ku: “T-then, are you pregnant now?”

Dou Manning shook his head regretfully. “I just checked. I’m not.”

Shen Ku secretly breathed a sigh of relief. From Zhou Sicheng’s few words, he could tell that male pregnancy was an unpredictable, terrifying ordeal. Zhou Sicheng was currently living in constant fear.

Call him selfish, or say he was letting others take the risk, but until Zhou Sicheng’s child was safely born, Shen Ku did not want Dou Manning getting pregnant.

Dou Manning felt a bit frustrated. “Logically, it should be very easy to get pregnant.”

Engineer Shen was bursting with strength. How could he be losing to a CEO like Zhou Sicheng who sat in an office all day?

Shen Ku: Easy?!

The great beauty counted on his fingers for Engineer Shen. “Zhen Zhen and his husband have only known each other one month longer than us. If you were capable, I should be a month pregnant by now.”

Shen Ku: “…” How is any of this easy?!

After a long time, he was once again reminded that his wife hadn’t even graduated elementary school.

“Zhou Sicheng took traditional Chinese medicine,” Engineer Shen stated with certainty. He must have; otherwise, why would his first instinct be to recommend a traditional Chinese medicine doctor?

“Is it because the environment in the tin shack is bad?” Dou Manning’s eyes lifted flirtatiously, his toes lightly bumping against Shen Ku’s leg.

Hearing this, Shen Ku forcibly suppressed the physiological reaction that his wife had effortlessly hooked out of him with a single gesture.

He had a brother; he had no obligation to carry on the family line.

Shen Ku was far more concerned about Dou Manning’s safety.

He still remembered his mission: to figure out the mechanics of his wife’s pregnancy.

He coaxed in a low voice, “It is a bit strange that you aren’t pregnant yet. How about you explain the mechanics of your pregnancy to me, and I’ll analyze it carefully?”

Dou Manning smiled, leaning back on his hands. “We’ll talk about it once I’m pregnant.”

His lips were sealed tight.

Shen Ku licked his lips. “Do you know about preconception care?”

Dou Manning: “Hmm?”

Shen Ku: “It means I quit smoking and drinking, and you take folic acid and supplements. We get our bodies in perfect health together, and then we try for a baby. That way, the baby will be much healthier.”

Dou Manning: “You smoke and drink?”

Shen Ku said seriously, “At the wrap party for the last project, I was forced to drink a glass of baijiu. The experts say it takes half a year to fully metabolize the alcohol.”

Dou Manning: “How many months are left?”

“About two months. Let’s hold off on having a baby for these two months.” Shen Ku rubbed Manning’s lower belly, pressing his cheek against it. “Otherwise, you’ll suffer.”

Two months should be enough time for Zhou Sicheng to figure out the mechanics, right?

On this point, Shen Ku had quite a bit of faith in Zhou Sicheng’s intellect.

Sorry, but Engineer Shen has already done his best.

Rather than prying open his wife’s mouth for answers, it would be easier to just tie off Engineer Shen’s vas deferens.

Only after coaxing his wife did Shen Ku let his mother out.

When Mother Shen and Dou Manning met again, both sides felt a bit awkward.

“You two chat, you two chat. I’m not coming back tonight,” Mother Shen said, grabbing a grocery basket and slipping away.

“Take care, Auntie.”

Shen Ku: “Wifey, do you want to take a nap, or go see our new home?”

Dou Manning: “Has that place been empty for a long time?”

Shen Ku: “Yeah.”

Dou Manning said slyly, “Then let’s go when it’s ready to live in.”

If the bowls and chopsticks have gathered dust, going there now would mean having to wash dishes.

Shen Ku: “Then you take a nap first. I’ll stew some bird’s nest soup for you. Eating bird’s nest during preconception care gives the baby good skin.”

He would use this “preconception care” excuse to thoroughly nourish Dou Manning’s body.

He was still too thin; there was barely any flesh on his back.

Dou Manning couldn’t refuse. “Okay.”

Shen Ku began the preconception prep with his wife.

He lowered their frequency to “improve sperm quality.”

As Dou Manning ate his nutritional meals but received no “pollen fertilization,” he slowly figured out Shen Ku’s true intentions.

A man’s true thoughts are always reflected in his browsing history.

When Dou Manning picked up Shen Ku’s phone, he blatantly discovered that Shen Ku had been researching how to get a vasectomy.

Is he that scared? Should I just directly tell him I’m a spirit?

That day, Xiang Zhen invited him to his engagement banquet.

Shen Ku, now fully restored to his identity as the Second Young Master of the Shen family, learned from his past mistakes. Determined not to embarrass his wife, he dug out a haute couture suit from his closet and dressed his wife to look incredibly noble as well.

He attended the banquet with calm composure, only to return home questioning his entire existence.

Through illicit means, they had discovered that Dou Manning was a spirit???!

What kind of hellhole is the Zhou family?! Why do they drop a massive bombshell every single time we visit?!

Just how much mental preparation do I need before going to the Zhou residence next time?!

The moment the little sunflower mentioned his wife was a plant spirit, Shen Ku immediately guessed Dou Manning’s species.

A coffee spirit.

That explained everything. It explained why Dou Manning always smelled like coffee—a scent that could never be licked away—and why Dou Manning could magically produce large quantities of premium coffee beans at any time without anyone knowing where he stored them.

Shen Ku wasn’t someone who could hold in a secret for long. As soon as he got home, he mopped the luxury flat three times before finally failing to hold back. He planted himself in front of Dou Manning: “Wifey, I have a question.”

Dou Manning closed his book. “Go ahead.”

Shen Ku: “Where do you buy all those coffee beans?”

He would use a small question to test his wife’s attitude first. If Dou Manning showed a strong desire to cover it up, then he… wouldn’t ask anymore for now.

Dou Manning looked up, staring intently at Shen Ku. Casually, he reached up and brushed his hair back.

He held a loose fist and opened it in front of Shen Ku: “Want a cup?”

Shen Ku swallowed hard. “You produced them?”

Dou Manning already understood what had happened; their spirit identities had likely all been exposed. Perfect. He didn’t want Shen Ku getting so paranoid that he actually went through with a vasectomy. “Yep.”

Shen Ku: “You’re a coffee tree?”

Dou Manning nodded. “You could say that.”

Shen Ku’s immediate first reaction: “So all those coffee beans are the fruit you bore?!”

No wonder the flavor is unparalleled in the entire world. Those are the coffee beans birthed by his wife! No wonder a tiny bit could brew an entire bucket of water—they are the beans of the Coffee God! How could they possibly be the same!

Dou Manning: “Mhm.”

Shen Ku threw down the mop and delivered the most forceful declaration of his entire life: “You are not allowed to sell them for others to drink! Only I can drink them!”

Dou Manning was actually very agreeable to this. Ever since he realized that opening a coffee shop meant having to wash cups, he hadn’t wanted to open one anyway. “Okay, except for occasionally gifting them to friends.”

Shen Ku: “Then can you still turn into a coffee tree?”

Dou Manning: “Yes. Being planted in soil feels really comfortable.”

Shen Ku looked around his luxury flat—suspended in the middle of a high-rise, touching neither the sky nor the earth.

A flash of inspiration hit him.

Whenever Xiang Zhen invited Dou Manning over to play, Dou Manning immediately agreed. Was it because Zhou Sicheng lived in a villa?

Dou Manning liked villas because they had soil.

He couldn’t believe he was only just realizing this today. He had made Dou Manning suffer in grievance by his side for so long.

This place was even worse than the tin shack at the construction site; at least there was plenty of dirt there.

He needed to buy a villa.

Engineer Shen immediately called his mother: “Mom, you know that forty-something million I transferred to you before? Transfer it back to me.”

Mother Shen had long known this day would come. How could keeping a beautiful wife not cost money? “Hold on.”

After a moment, Mother Shen’s confused voice came through the receiver: “Wait, the amount you transferred to me was 4,073,212.89.”

Shen Ku’s expression didn’t change. “You misread it. It’s 40,732,128.9.”

How could four million be enough to buy a villa?

Mother Shen: “…”

She was about to cough up blood. Never, ever take money from a poor person.