Zhou Sicheng parked the car and checked his wife’s WeChat Moments.

Xiang Zhen obediently handed over her phone. Her husband was fully allowed to check it.

When Zhou Sicheng opened her Moments, the very first post was her official relationship announcement from the “520” Valentine’s Day. Down in the comments section, Yu Yueyue had called him a cheapskate, and Feng Chujun had even given it a like.

“……”

Staring at the decimal point sitting right between the 52 and the 00, he reluctantly pulled out his own transaction history to double-check. The decimal point was stubbornly still there.

Zhou Sicheng only remembered that he had typed in a lot of zeros and then deleted a lot of zeros. He had ultimately intended to leave the number at 5,200. However, in his rush to prevent Secretary Gao from seeing the specialized study materials on his computer screen, he had clicked “transfer” in a hurry without verifying the final amount.

At the Zhou Corporation, missing a zero was a severe incident. Missing two zeros was a catastrophic disaster that could leave a person completely bankrupt.

Whether it would actually bankrupt him remained to be seen, but it could very well cost him his wife.

Zhou Sicheng had never made such a massive blunder in his life.

Yet, this mistake was technically tiny; to him, there was absolutely no financial difference between 52 and 5,200.

Zhou Sicheng casually swiped down to see if Xiang Zhen had ever posted anything else about him in the past. For instance, him buying her cakes, him picking her up and dropping her off at work, him cooking for her, or his eight-pack abs.

Regrettably, there was nothing. Because he had brought this upon himself by previously refusing to let her post his photos, this screenshot was the very first piece of content relating to him.

Xiang Zhen’s Moments page was entirely filled with solo close-up shots of various desserts.

Summed up, it painted a picture of: A stunning beauty enjoying an exquisite afternoon tea, and her incredibly stingy husband.

Anyone looking at it would immediately think they were a terrible match.

No wonder his rivals in love were suddenly multiplying.

Before Xiang Zhen made the official announcement, the life she portrayed on her Moments was sweet and upper-class—mostly because those cakes looked very expensive.

With her being such a beautiful woman who pursued a tasteful lifestyle and fine food, everyone assumed her standards would be sky-high and out of reach. The “mysterious husband” she often mentioned was supposed to be handsome, wealthy, and incredibly generous.

With a single picture, Xiang Zhen had completely ripped away her husband’s veil of mystery.

More than that, she had practically stripped away his dignity.

When potential love rivals saw that Xiang Zhen wasn’t picky at all and that her husband was actually so pathetic, they figured this was the easiest marriage on earth to sabotage.

No wonder Feng Chujun had acted so arrogant in front of him earlier.

Zhou Sicheng’s explanation sounded incredibly weak: “I actually wanted to send you 5,200, but there was a minor accident—”

Xiang Zhen asked caringly, “Was it because your card had an insufficient balance? Hubby, it’s fine, I appreciate the thought.”

Zhou Sicheng: “……”

Did he absolutely have to claim ownership of either being poor or being a cheapskate?

Zhou Sicheng: “So, about this Moments post… could you maybe—”

Fan Hao couldn’t help but chime in, “Everyone who shouldn’t see it has already seen it. Deleting it now is useless.”

Zhou Sicheng replied expressionlessly, “Demoted by one level.”

Fan Hao: “……”

Zhou Sicheng continued, “There is a slight flaw in this relationship announcement. Could you perhaps post a new one?”

Xiang Zhen looked at her straight-A student husband and asked, “Where is the flaw? No wonder barely anyone liked it. Hubby, how should I fix it?”

Before Zhou Sicheng could speak, a lightbulb went off in Xiang Zhen’s head. “Is it because we haven’t set matching couple profile pictures?”

Zhou Sicheng’s profile picture was a cool-toned, dark forest, while Xiang Zhen’s was a sunflower.

“Hubby, why don’t you change yours to a sun picture?”

Zhou Sicheng: “Alright.”

Xiang Zhen searched online for a dazzling picture of the sun and sent it to Zhou Sicheng.

It took Zhou Sicheng a mere two seconds to switch it. At the same time, he sent Xiang Zhen a makeup transfer of 52,000 RMB and personally tapped the screen to accept it on her behalf.

Xiang Zhen was shocked. “Hubby, where did you get so much money? Did you cash it out from your credit card?”

Zhou Sicheng: “No, I earned it.”

Fan Hao burst out laughing. Nobody could possibly understand the sheer comedy of watching Zhou Sicheng—a man sitting on literal mountains of wealth—playing house like this.

Hearing him laugh, Xiang Zhen suddenly remembered that he had hailed his taxi right outside the Zhou Fortune Bank building. She asked, “Do you work at Zhou Fortune Bank?”

Fan Hao: “That’s right, I’m an employee there.” (And your husband is the ultimate boss).

Xiang Zhen rummaged through the car’s storage compartment, pulled out the credit card Zhou Sicheng had given her, and asked Fan Hao, “What is the spending limit on this kind of card?”

Fan Hao froze for a moment when he saw the Golden Sunflower Card. He had been wondering why Zhou Sicheng hadn’t used his card lately; it turned out he had given it to his wife. This poor CEO’s wife didn’t even realize what kind of power she held in her hands.

Fan Hao: “Unli—”

Xiang Zhen: “Fifty thousand?”

So her husband really had taken a 50,000 RMB cash advance from his credit card, added his remaining balance of 2,000, and pieced together exactly 52,000.

“Hubby, you should pay off the credit card first.”

Zhou Sicheng: “Post to your Moments first.”

Xiang Zhen: “Okay.”

Her husband had worked so hard to advance that cash just to save face for her on social media; she absolutely had to post it.

To remind her peers that this was a brand-new official announcement and not the old one they had already read, she wanted them to pay close attention: the transfer amount had been multiplied by a thousand.

Xiang Zhen specifically added a note to her caption: [New one.]

Within thirty seconds of posting, Yu Yueyue had already viewed it.

[Yu Yueyue: Did you switch to a new husband? I didn't even want to comment on your previous one.]

Zhou Sicheng stared at the screen in dead silence.

Xiang Zhen let out a soft “Ah.” Seeing that it caused a misunderstanding, she hurriedly began typing a reply: I didn’t get a new husband, my husband just got a new profile picture.

Zhou Sicheng locked her phone screen for her and said, “Forget it. No need to explain. The innocent require no cleansing.”

Fan Hao roared with laughter. “Other people turn over a new leaf, but you literally changed your entire face!”

Fan Hao: “……” He really couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Where on earth did Zhou Sicheng manage to find such a delightfully naive, sweet wife?

After finishing her Moments post, Xiang Zhen wanted to return the money so Zhou Sicheng could pay back the credit card before it started accruing interest.

Zhou Sicheng stopped her. “I really earned it. It’s my bonus. I sold a program to a foreigner for 5 million, and this is my commission.”

Commission. No wonder Yueyue always said that working a standard day job was a dead end; the world was ultimately just one giant sales department.

“Hubby, you know foreign languages?” It hadn’t been written on his matchmaking resume.

Zhou Sicheng: “I studied abroad. I know a few.”

Fan Hao: “We actually met while studying abroad.”

Xiang Zhen felt like she understood her husband a little bit more now. Zhou Sicheng must have been a brilliant, government-funded student. Intrigued, she turned to chat with Fan Hao: “So you work in a bank? Did my husband also work in a bank before he lost his job?”

Fan Hao: “He didn’t tell you?”

Xiang Zhen: “No.”

Fan Hao: “Yes, he did.”

Xiang Zhen turned her head slightly, her eyes brimming with pure admiration as she gazed at Zhou Sicheng. When she had first taken human form, she didn’t even know how to use a smartphone. Auntie Guihua had taken her to the bank a few times to withdraw cash so she could buy snacks.

In that underdeveloped little town, the very first people Xiang Zhen had ever seen wearing crisp suits were the bank employees. They looked so sophisticated and elegant, and the way they rapidly counted cash had completely mesmerized her.

No wonder her husband possessed such an extraordinary aura and looked exceptionally handsome in a suit; it turned out he used to work at a bank too.

Fan Hao had no idea what he had just said to cause Xiang Zhen to look at Zhou Sicheng with such utter adoration.

“You’re his very first partner. I honestly thought he was going to grow old and die alone.”

Xiang Zhen: “It was love at first sight for us.”

Zhou Sicheng drove the entire way, and the moment they arrived at the Tianxing Hotel, he didn’t want this third wheel staying a single second longer. “Get out.”

Fan Hao looked back wistfully. “What time are you guys heading back later? Take another order and drive me back too.”

Taking orders was a line Zhou Sicheng refused to cross. “Beat it.”

Xiang Zhen, however, was incredibly enthusiastic. She smoothly unbuckled her seatbelt before Zhou Sicheng could grab her, hopped out of the car, pulled a bottle of water from the trunk, and handed it to Fan Hao.

They had talked a lot in the car, and Fan Hao had shared many stories from their school days—things that the tight-lipped Zhou Sicheng had never mentioned, not even regarding his family background.

Xiang Zhen said, “You must be thirsty after talking so much. I was really happy to meet you today! What time do you head back tonight? We can pick you up if it’s on the way.”

Fan Hao wouldn’t dare ride in that car again. Doing it once was a coincidence; doing it twice would look like he was intentionally trying to bait his boss. “I’m staying at the hotel tonight, so I won’t be heading back.”

Xiang Zhen: “Oh, I hope you have a wonderful time!”

Fan Hao wasn’t here to play; he was here for actual business. Looking at the innocent and pure Xiang Zhen, he couldn’t resist dropping a hint: “Have you ever considered that maybe your husband isn’t quite as poor as he appears on the surface?”

Xiang Zhen’s smile faded a bit. “You aren’t actually a true friend to my husband, are you?”

Did he really think she couldn’t spot someone trying to stir up trouble?

After processing everything that had happened with the previous misunderstanding, Xiang Zhen had firmly decided to believe her husband 100%. Everything would strictly be based on whatever her husband said.

Fan Hao: “……”

He twisted open the cap of his mineral water and watched the BYD speed away into the distance. He then opened his phone, only to see an internal banking disciplinary notice staring back at him.

It was personally signed and issued by Zhou Sicheng, docking 1,000,000 RMB from the performance bonus of General Manager Fan of the Risk Control Department.

The stated reason: Inadequate risk management.

Damn it, talking to your wife is astronomically expensive!

His risk control had indeed been terribly inadequate.

Back in their private world of two, Zhou Sicheng’s mood instantly rebounded to the sheer bliss of their very first date. Their plan for today was to have a picnic in the park.

After parking the BYD in the lot, Zhou Sicheng retrieved a picnic mat, folding tables and chairs, fruits, snacks, and a pop-up tent from the trunk.

Xiang Zhen asked, “Hubby, when did you buy a tent and folding chairs?”

Zhou Sicheng: “Borrowed them from the neighborhood.”

Xiang Zhen: “Oh, oh! Let me help you.”

Zhou Sicheng: “Just carry the snacks.”

Tianxing Bay Park featured a one-acre water lily pond. Late May happened to be the peak blooming season, and Xiang Zhen had chosen this location precisely because she saw how beautiful the scenery looked online.

When they reached the park entrance, Xiang Zhen politely asked the security guard, “Uncle, which way is the water lily pond?”

The guard pointed to the right. “You’re only arriving now? The water lilies have already gone to sleep.”

Xiang Zhen froze for a moment. The sun hadn’t even dipped below the mountains yet. Why was there such a massive lifestyle difference between water lilies and sunflowers?

The guard added, “If you want to see water lilies, you have to come at noon. By this time, their petals have all closed up.”

Zhou Sicheng cut in, “It’s fine, we mainly came for a picnic anyway.”

Xiang Zhen bit her lower lip. She hadn’t done her homework properly, resulting in her husband missing out on seeing the blooming water lilies. Zhou Sicheng had driven an hour and a half round-trip; he couldn’t just come all this way for nothing.

“The weather is so hot, maybe a few flowers forgot to go to sleep!” Xiang Zhen began to jog ahead. “Hubby, I’ll go take a look first!”

“Slow down,” Zhou Sicheng called out from behind, unable to keep up while carrying all the heavy bags.

Xiang Zhen ran quickly to the edge of the water lily pond. Sure enough, the entire pond of lilies had tightly closed their petals, turning back into pointed flower buds, with some even half-submerged in the water.

“Please open up just for a little bit,” Xiang Zhen pleaded silently. “My husband hasn’t seen you yet.”

Naturally, none of the water lilies paid her any attention.

Xiang Zhen closed her eyes and spread her palms open. The pure essence of solar energy that she, as a sunflower spirit, had stored day after day began to radiate from her fingertips. The dancing, microscopic glimmers of light rippled across the pond, gently brushing against the tips of the water lily petals.

Summoned by the sudden burst of solar power, the beautiful pink and red blossoms began to unfurl their petals once more against the backdrop of the twilight sky.

Xiang Zhen drew back her hands, hiding them behind her back. Seeing Zhou Sicheng emerge from the shade of the trees, she happily wrapped her arm around his. “Hubby, we’re so lucky! The water lilies haven’t gone to sleep today.”

Water lilies weren’t anything rare to Zhou Sicheng, but Xiang Zhen’s words made him feel as though the goddess of fortune truly was smiling down on them today. “They’re beautiful. Let me take a picture of you.”

This way, he would officially have photos of his wife on his phone.

Xiang Zhen sat on a stone bench by the edge of the pond. Zhou Sicheng took photos from straight ahead, from a tilted angle, working tirelessly like a professional photographer.

The water lilies were lovely. Unlike the tall, upright lotus flowers, they were small, delicate, and tender, floating gently on the surface of the water, relying completely on their leaves.

Zhou Sicheng had no interest in admiring the flowers, because his wife was infinitely more delicate. He was more than willing to become the water and the leaves for her.

He put his phone away and noticed that Xiang Zhen was starting to sweat from the heat. “Let’s go sit under the shade.”

Xiang Zhen smiled widely. Since Zhou Sicheng had taken so many photos, it meant the background really did look great; her solar energy hadn’t gone to waste. “I’m not afraid of the heat.”

Zhou Sicheng had already experienced her high tolerance for heat firsthand, considering they hadn’t even turned on the air conditioning once at home.

Once the sun went down over Tianxing Bay Park, the temperature dropped rapidly, making it far more comfortable for cooling off than their cramped rental apartment. This was exactly why Zhou Sicheng had brought a tent—he planned to head home a bit later tonight.

However, given the lack of proper security measures in an open park, he had absolutely no intention of spending the entire night outside.

Xiang Zhen, on the other hand, genuinely thought Zhou Sicheng wanted to camp out overnight. She hadn’t gotten to bask in the moonlight outdoors in such a long time!

Xiang Zhen: “Hubby, hurry up and come inside! Otherwise, the mosquitoes will fly in and bite you tonight.”

Zhou Sicheng: “They’ll bite you too.”

Xiang Zhen shook her head. “No, you sleep on the inside, and I’ll sleep on the outside to keep watch for you.”

Zhou Sicheng: ?

Having his wife sleep outside the tent? That was unheard of. What if she got kidnapped or stolen?

Zhou Sicheng: “Absolutely not.”

Xiang Zhen: “Just let me sleep outside.”

Zhou Sicheng dragged her into the tent and zipped it firmly shut. “Don’t even think about it. I’d rather tie you up inside than let you sneak out while I’m asleep.”

Xiang Zhen’s ears perked up at the wording, her mind instantly connecting it to BDSM terms. She asked in confusion, “Did you actually bring ropes with you?”

Zhou Sicheng let out a soft chuckle. He unbuckled his leather belt, folded it over, and held it in his hand. “Isn’t this right here?”

Xiang Zhen gasped in utter shock. “Are we seriously going to play S&M tonight?!”

“But I haven’t figured out a way to block out pain receptors yet!”

“Do you humans have anesthesia?”

“Did you intentionally bring me out to a tent because our apartment has terrible soundproofing?”

The sunflower spirit was so frantic that her secrets were practically tumbling out of her mouth. She paced around anxiously inside the tent, completely failing to notice that Zhou Sicheng’s expression was growing increasingly bizarre.

Zhou Sicheng pinched her chin gently. “What on earth are you saying about S&M?”

Where on earth did she learn such absurd things?

Xiang Zhen blinked. Could it be that Zhou Sicheng is just a complete amateur who has never systematically studied the proper terminology? Ah, so he’s just like those characters in novels who haven’t officially entered the ‘community’ yet.

She gave her husband a completely blunt explanation: “It means that you inherently enjoy beating your wife.”

Zhou Sicheng was entirely incredulous. He spent every waking hour acting as the perfect, ideal husband, yet in this lifetime, he was somehow being accused of being a wife-beater. “I like beating my wife? Who on earth told you that?”

Before Xiang Zhen could answer, his face turned completely grim. “Did that ‘Little Sunflower Pod’ app analyze this for you again?”

Zhou Sicheng pulled up the Little Sunflower Pod smart assistant on his phone, looking angry enough to transcend his mortal coil. “Aren’t you supposed to be in youth protection mode?! You absolute piece of artificial idiocy!”

Faced with its user’s completely contextless accusation, the app couldn’t process the logic properly, so it simply resorted to agreement and apology: [Haha, I’m sorry, I am indeed an artificial idiot.]

Xiang Zhen rushed to the defense: “It has nothing to do with Little Sunflower Pod! I analyzed this all by myself this time!”

Zhou Sicheng felt suffocated by his own lungs. “You yourself—”

Seeing that her husband’s expression was looking worse and worse—shifting from someone who didn’t want to beat anyone to someone who genuinely looked like he might start—Xiang Zhen realized something was profoundly wrong. She immediately duplicated the smart assistant’s strategy and slid right into a desperate apology.

“Haha! Hubby, I’m sorry! I am a natural-born idiot!”