Acute exercise causes a short-term spike in both cortisol and testosterone, and testosterone is the hormone directly linked to male libido.

Zhou Sicheng was currently in an aroused state; his muscles were engorged with blood, his brain was firing on all cylinders, and the object he held in his palm had shifted from cold, hard steel to soft, warm flesh. Yet, his body still maintained a fierce, aggressive edge—wanting to explode, to destroy, to crush—as if the previous hour had merely been a warm-up before the real hunt.

It was perfectly normal for Zhou Sicheng to have a physical reaction.

But that didn’t mean he was going to do anything to Xiang Zhen. He and Xiang Zhen had known each other for less than seven days. Before these seven days, Zhou Sicheng had been a straight man in every worldly sense: he had never liked a man. Though he had never liked any woman either, in the eyes of society, one had to like men to be defined as gay.

“Gay” was an unfamiliar territory. Zhou Sicheng wouldn’t figure it out instinctively, and at the same time, he deliberately delayed exploring it—after all, he and Xiang Zhen had only known each other for seven days.

It must be said, however, that Zhou Sicheng was a very fast learner.

That was exactly why he forbade himself from learning.

Zhou Sicheng rubbed Xiang Zhen’s hair, his fingers threading through the soft golden strands like a spring breeze brushing over a field of flowers. With a mere push of his hand, he could pin Xiang Zhen down and trample the flowerbed… Stop.

“Did I wake you? Can’t sleep?”

Xiang Zhen shook his head. “I need to use the restroom.”

Zhou Sicheng said, “Go ahead.”

As Xiang Zhen sat on the toilet, only one thought filled his head: My husband lied to me!

Given Xiang Zhen’s natural tendencies, he would have confronted him right then and there. But lately, he had been learning a lot of “doted wife” techniques from “Sister Wang” on short-video apps, which included how to handle a husband’s lies.

Sister Wang said: when you discover a lie, the first priority is not to confront them immediately! Because you don’t know why he lied! You must ensure you can bear the consequences of the lie being exposed before you reveal it!

In one scenario, you might have misunderstood, he gets hurt, and your relationship goes cold.

In another, you haven’t misunderstood, but he refuses to admit it and turns the tables, accusing you of not trusting him.

In the third scenario, you haven’t misunderstood, he admits it, but you’re afraid to regret it if you divorce, yet you’re unwilling to stay in the marriage.

The smartest way for a cunning wife is to first collect evidence, keep a clear head, find a lawyer, and transfer the assets!

He couldn’t ask directly; Xiang Zhen didn’t want to lose his husband.

He had to find out what Zhou Sicheng was actually doing. What if he really had just gone out to make a phone call and accidentally soiled his underwear?

The ways of human marriage were profoundly deep. Once he mastered them completely, he would write it into his Guide to Adulthood.

The “Marriage” chapter of the Guide to Adulthood was still blank!

When Xiang Zhen stepped out of the bathroom, he saw Zhou Sicheng waiting for him, propped up against the headboard. Zhou Sicheng rarely touched his phone; he just sat there in silence, deep in thought, waiting for him.

He noticed that Zhou Sicheng had put on a full set of pajamas.

Xiang Zhen recalled the sensation of touching Zhou Sicheng’s engorged chest muscles just before heading to the restroom.

He was suddenly filled with remorse and regret—why had he been so busy worrying about his husband’s lie that he hadn’t taken the time to touch them properly?

Sister Wang was right: his brain had been hijacked by anger, and he would regret it later.

“Husband.” Xiang Zhen stretched out his long legs and sat on Zhou Sicheng’s lap.

The clever Xiang Zhen noticed a momentary stiffness in Zhou Sicheng.

Sister Wang said that when a man makes a mistake, there is a short peak period of guilt and insecurity. One must seize this moment to make demands that benefit oneself.

“Husband, I’ll give you twelve yuan tomorrow; could you buy me two cakes?” Xiang Zhen pleaded. Zhou Sicheng refused to tell him where this delicious, cheap cake shop was, saying he was afraid Xiang Zhen would sneak sweets.

Zhou Sicheng gently stroked Xiang Zhen’s Adam’s apple, his gaze dark and indecipherable. “No.”

He had observed from the growing pile of milk tea cups that Xiang Zhen had a crazy obsession with sweets. Drinking a cup of milk tea at work and eating two cakes after work—doing that every day was bad for his blood sugar.

Zhou Sicheng’s decisive refusal was like that of the most heartless customer Xiang Zhen had ever served. But it didn’t matter; even the most heartless customer would eventually bow down to a two-yuan red packet.

Xiang Zhen smiled sweetly. “My dear, can I compensate you with a two-yuan errand fee?”

My dear.

Zhou Sicheng took a deep breath. Just how many more mushy pet names did Xiang Zhen have?

He was acting this spoiled just for a piece of cake—if he didn’t agree, would he just refuse to get off his lap?

Zhou Sicheng scooped Xiang Zhen by the waist and set him down. “I’ll buy them. Stop messing around.”

“Husband, you’re the best.”

Xiang Zhen wished he could manually send him two more [Rose] emojis.

Aunt Osmanthus had told him that he was certain to learn knowledge from his customer service job and forbade him from doing anything else.

Sure enough, he was learning—customer service was the greatest.

The next day, Zhou Sicheng had to work overtime. He already had an excuse: he was going for a job interview.

[Xiang Zhen: Good luck with your interview, Husband! You’ll definitely be number one!]

[Xiao Kui: Do you need me to compile some interview tips for you? @Zhou Sicheng]

[Xiang Zhen: Yes.]

[Zhou Sicheng: No.]

[Xiao Kui: If you revise your resume, you could get two hundred more in salary. Shall I polish your resume for you?]

[Xiang Zhen: Yes! Husband, send it over!]

[Zhou Sicheng: No.]

[Xiao Kui: If your work history is unremarkable and you’re embarrassed to post it in the group, you can send it to Xiao Kui privately. Xiao Kui guarantees to help you revise it into a resume that outperforms your wife’s salary, making you the economic pillar of the family.]

Zhou Sicheng: “…”

What kind of resume do I have? I’m the father of the Xiao Kui Bag. You want to see your daddy’s resume?

[Zhou Sicheng: Too late. The resume has already been sent to them.]

[Xiang Zhen: @Xiao Kui, tell me sooner next time.]

[Xiao Kui: Calculating interview success rate… currently, each position receives an average of 60 resumes. Companies that schedule interviews in the evening indicate severe overtime culture and chaotic internal management. I can still revise your resume for you to prepare for your subsequent mass-casting.]

An AI that knows how to talk back.

Zhou Sicheng saw Xiang Zhen typing, seeming to be brainwashed, and quickly interrupted:

[Wife, it’s cursing me.]

[Xiang Zhen: Xiao Kui didn’t mean it like that! @Xiao Kui, please encourage my husband.]

[Xiao Kui: Understood. Your husband is very handsome; he will definitely get the job. @Zhou Sicheng, you are so talented, send your resume to me. I will help you submit an internal referral to the Xiao Kui Bag team. It’s a world-class team; AI, look at Xiao Kui.]

[Xiang Zhen: Really?!]

[Zhou Sicheng: It’s bluffing.]

Before leaving work, Xiang Zhen struggled for a while over whether to buy groceries. Forget it, forget it, my husband doesn’t have time to cook today.

He went to buy two bread rolls near their expiration date to tide him over and went home for a deep clean.

The rental was too small and packed with daily necessities; the mop couldn’t fit into the gaps, so Xiang Zhen had to squat on the floor to scrub it.

He first wiped clean all the sunflower cups on the windowsill. Under the protection of the Sunflower Spirit, the seedlings were growing fast; the tallest sunflower already had four leaves.

Xiang Zhen rearranged the milk tea buckets, leaving a palm-sized gap to plant another one.

He washed today’s taro mango bucket, scooped a spoonful of black soil into it, opened the cabinet, and reached for the seeds… Huh?

Xiang Zhen turned the cabinet upside down, but the pack of seeds had simply vanished.

What was going on?

Xiang Zhen thought for a moment and ran out to knock on the neighbor’s door.

Ye Yun opened it. “What’s wrong?”

Xiang Zhen: “Brother Ye, have you been home all day?”

Ye Yun: “Yes, I’m unemployed, remember?”

Xiang Zhen: “Then did you hear any unusual sounds from my place?”

“Unusual sounds?” Ye Yun was quick-witted. “Didn’t hear a thing. There’s a solid wall between us, the soundproofing is great. I didn’t hear anything.”

Xiang Zhen frowned in concern. “Brother Ye, I think a thief broke into my home.”

“What!” Ye Yun’s expression shifted instantly. Not to mention the new 24-hour smart surveillance installed in the hallway—the monitor was right behind him—even if it were just him and the captain manning the fort manually, they would never let a fly get through.

Could they have come through the window? This is the sixteenth floor!

“Captain!”

“I’m here.” Shi Ting appeared behind him from out of nowhere and asked carefully, “What was lost?”

Xiang Zhen: “A pack of sunflower seeds. It was wrapped very tightly and hidden in the closet. The thief probably thought it was gold.”

Ye Yun: “Let me check the scene. I’ve studied a bit of forensic investigation.”

Shi Ting gripped his shoulder firmly to stop him from rushing in. “You might have just forgotten where you put it. Go back and look again; no one opened your door today.”

Shi Ting’s voice naturally carried a sense of certainty and stability. Xiang Zhen rubbed his hair. “I see. Maybe I really did put them in the wrong place.”

Since Zhou Sicheng moved in, their belongings had multiplied, and he wasn’t sure where he had shoved things anymore.

As soon as Xiang Zhen left, Ye Yun immediately asked: “Captain, are we being too reckless?”

Shi Ting: “If there really was a thief, who do you think it is?”

Ye Yun: “…President Zhou?”

…

[Xiang Zhen: Husband, did you see my sunflower seeds? A paper packet.]

[Zhou Sicheng: Haven’t seen them.]

[Zhou Sicheng: I got the job. I’m starting soon.]

[Xiang Zhen: !!! You’re amazing!]

Xiang Zhen searched again while cleaning, but still found nothing.

His clothes were mixed with Zhou Sicheng’s—could Zhou Sicheng have accidentally brought them out while grabbing clothes and then accidentally swept them up as trash?

Zhou Sicheng had a phobia of germs; every time he cooked, he would definitely take out the trash, terrified that the food scraps would be left for Xiang Zhen to use for composting a second later.

The trash lately had all been taken out by Zhou Sicheng.

When Xiang Zhen lived alone, he produced almost no trash, and he could count at a glance what was in the bin.

So, the most likely scenario was that Zhou Sicheng had thrown them out as trash.

Xiang Zhen felt guilty for the seeds that hadn’t sprouted. I’m sorry, my husband threw you away.

But he couldn’t blame a husband who was doing the housework.

So this is what it feels like to choose a lover over your kingdom.

After work, Zhou Sicheng bought two cakes for Xiang Zhen as promised.

“You can only eat one tonight.”

A green apple cake and a giant blueberry crispy puff. Xiang Zhen swallowed his saliva, refrigerated the apple cake, and decided to eat the puff first since he had never had one that big before.

Xiang Zhen: “Husband, you take a bite first.”

Zhou Sicheng: “I bought them for you, I’m not eating.”

Calorie bomb. If he ate one, he’d have to train more that night, and he didn’t have much time.

Xiang Zhen enjoyed the crispy puff alone and slept extra sweetly that night. But that didn’t stop him from noticing that his husband had gone out again.

It was very late, and Xiang Zhen was sleepy, half-awake. Feeling Zhou Sicheng return to bed, he instinctively wrapped around him like an octopus and murmured: “Husband, buy me another puff tomorrow, okay?”

Zhou Sicheng compromised: “Okay.”

Hearing the promise, Xiang Zhen fell asleep, feeling assured. He had waited until now specifically to use Zhou Sicheng’s guilt after his outing to beg for small cakes.

He was too cunning.

The next morning, as soon as Xiang Zhen opened his eyes, he noticed something wrong again.

Zhou Sicheng had gone outside to shower and change his underwear again last night, and this pair of underwear was one he had never seen before.

[Sister Wang, this time I really can’t pretend to be deaf and dumb.]

As Xiang Zhen dug into his green apple cake, he typed a heavy line into Sister Wang’s comment section.

He had to take action and find the reason.

Zhou Sicheng handed him a plate of fried eggs. “I have something to tell you.”

Xiang Zhen looked up quickly. “What is it!”

Is he going to confess?

Zhou Sicheng: “My company—the company I just joined—hired me because they lack a technician who can travel immediately. So, I have to go on a business trip for a while starting tomorrow.”

Xiang Zhen: “How many days?”

Zhou Sicheng: “One week.”

Xiang Zhen: “That’s a long time.”

Zhou Sicheng: “I’ll try to come back early once the work is finished.”

Xiang Zhen said understandingly, “It’s okay, work comes first.”

Zhou Sicheng pulled out a gold bank card. “This is my credit card. It has a high limit; you can swipe it as you please. I’ll pay it off when I get my salary.”

The golden bank card hung before Xiang Zhen’s eyes, with the words “Zhoufu Bank” printed on the top left.

The airflow created by the card caused Xiang Zhen’s bangs to flutter. Xiang Zhen knew that wasn’t real wind; it was just that he had been “stunned” by how handsome Zhou Sicheng looked while pulling out the card, and the tips of his petals were trembling involuntarily.

The sunlight seemed to fall into Xiang Zhen’s eyes. He accepted it joyfully—this card looked so nice, the card number was so auspicious.

Xiang Zhen couldn’t get a credit card of his own, but Zhou Sicheng could; that meant Zhou Sicheng’s credit was recognized by the bank.

His husband really has great character! At least three thousand [yuan] can be swiped a month, right?

However, Xiang Zhen wouldn’t swipe it. He wasn’t stupid—credit cards have to be paid back, and wouldn’t his husband be the one paying it?

Zhou Sicheng had thought it over and decided he wanted to leave Xiang Zhen with some financial security.

Even though this went against his original intention for living with Xiang Zhen.

Even though the card had no limit, was there really a need to be this happy?

Does Xiang Zhen love a wealthy husband even more?

The fried eggs he made were a standard golden color, but did they compare to a cold piece of plastic?

Zhou Sicheng: “Stop looking at it, the eggs are getting cold.”

“Oh!” Xiang Zhen put the card away. “Husband, I love you more and more.”

Zhou Sicheng didn’t want affection based on money. “…Are the eggs good?”

Xiang Zhen: “They’re delicious. Oh right, Husband, I’m not working the morning shift today, you don’t have to drive me.”

Zhou Sicheng: “Did your shift schedule change?”

Xiang Zhen didn’t expect Zhou Sicheng to be so familiar with his shift schedule. “Liu Xiaofang is swapping shifts with me this morning.”

Zhou Sicheng: “Mhm.”

Zhou Sicheng drove to work, pulling along four empty car seats.

Xiang Zhen took his husband to the garage, watched him head to work, and then took the elevator back up.

He stood at the elevator door, but instead of walking toward his own front door, he walked a few steps to the right.

Zhou Sicheng was the human he was most familiar with; the Sunflower Spirit could accurately capture his aura.

Xiang Zhen wasn’t sure where Zhou Sicheng had gone last night, but the fact that Zhou Sicheng chose to wait until he was asleep to go out meant it couldn’t be too far. He began to check the doors on the same floor.

Xiang Zhen finally stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway.

1620.

Zhou Sicheng’s aura lingered inside Room 1620.

“Xiang Zhen!” Ye Yun popped out from the stairwell. “Did you go to the wrong room?”

Wouldn’t President Zhou’s gym be discovered?

Xiang Zhen turned his head and walked back. “Just going for a walk after eating.”

Ye Yun: “Oh, do you want to eat crab pot for lunch? My captain is cooking.”

The captain had said that President Zhou ordered them to take care of his fiancée’s diet.

Xiang Zhen: “Thank you, but I have to go to work at ten.”

Xiang Zhen politely declined Ye Yun and hurried back, his steps quick. He had collected new clues and needed to go back to analyze them.

The behavioral patterns of humans were very strange; several generations of fairies could keep observing and never finish.

Xiang Zhen couldn’t fathom what Zhou Sicheng was doing, so he summoned the Xiao Kui Bag and described all his doubts to it.

The Xiao Kui Bag had big data, and big data was a summary of human behavioral patterns—it certainly had to be more precise than a fairy.

[Xiao Kui: You mean your husband’s behavior has the following suspicious points:

1. He always goes out to Room 1620 on the same floor after you fall asleep, staying for 1 to 2 hours.
2. When he returns, his physical state is relatively excited, like after exercise, and he has showered and changed his underwear.
3. After returning, when faced with your affection, he feels guilty and promises to buy you things.Combined with your colleagues’ assessment of your husband, I have three questions to confirm:
4. Is your husband under a lot of pressure lately and needs to vent?
5. You previously searched for “Loufeng” (sex worker in residential buildings); is this happening in your apartment complex?
6. How is your sex life?]

Xiang Zhen answered seriously: “Yes, Xiao Kui. My husband is currently unemployed, he finally had an interview, and he’s under a lot of pressure. ‘Loufeng’ is something I heard neighbors in the elevator say was happening illegally in our building. My husband and I don’t have a sex life.”

[Xiao Kui: Big data calculating… Yes, as you suspected, your husband has a 50% probability of ‘stealing’ (cheating).]

[Xiang Zhen: Stealing?]

Is Zhou Sicheng cheating on him by eating hot pot, leaving a strong smell on his clothes, which is why he has to shower?

Is that why he doesn’t eat the cake, saving his appetite for the “stealing”?

Xiang Zhen vaguely felt that something wasn’t right—Zhou Sicheng wasn’t that kind of person!

[Xiao Kui: ‘Stealing’ here is a euphemism. I’ll tell you more bluntly: your husband has a 50% chance of seeking out ‘Loufeng’ for a transaction, i.e., prostitution. There is also a 50% chance that Room 1620 is his friend, and they are playing glow-in-the-dark table tennis together at night.]

Xiang Zhen: !!!!

[Impossible! My husband wouldn’t break the law! My husband’s credit rating is very high! Even the bank trusts him!]

[Xiao Kui: A bank’s credit limit does not represent one’s character! The Zhoufu Bank Gold Sunflower card has a credit limit of five million or even no limit, based on dynamic asset credit; this cannot represent the cardholder’s character! Do you need me to help you find more intuitive, ‘nail-in-the-coffin’ evidence?]

[Xiang Zhen: Yes!]

[Xiao Kui: You can check his statements to see if there are any abnormal spending records, such as amounts like 298, 398, 498, or 598. I can teach you how to query deleted orders—do you need it?]

Xiang Zhen bit his lower lip. No need, I know how to check.