Wife Doting Addiction：My Abducted Tsundere Husband

She stepped forward and said calmly, “We can absolutely pay for it, but first, we need to confirm where the tick came from. We just need you,” Su Jiu pointed at the man who had first discovered the tick, “to take your clothes off, and let everyone see if you do or do not have bugs on you. If you do not, then I will admit that the bug came from my soup, and I will compensate you ten times over!”

The man looked at the larger man. He clutched his clothes and backed up, holding them up to his neck, saying, “Why do I have to let you see?”

“We’re all men here. What are you afraid of? If you don’t take them off, that means you feel guilty, which means that the tick came from your clothes!” Su Jiu snorted coldly.

The surrounding patrons all followed suit and began clamoring.

“Take it off!”

“Take your clothes off!”

The large man frowned and gave a slight nod to the other man.

He caught on and sneered, “So, I’ll take them off! I’m not scared of you!” He said this as he loosened his belt, taking off his outer robe. “You see, there’s nothing!” The man took his gray robe and gave it a shake.

“Keep taking your clothes off!” Su Jiu glared at him.

He took off his middle shirt. Indeed, there was nothing there. Upstairs, Xiao Lie was watching the undisguised Su Jiu. He frowned. The man gritted his teeth, reached up, and took another shirt off, baring his arms. He wore underpants on his lower body. He asked harshly, “Do you see any? Do you?”

“Ah!” The shop had women patrons, and they covered their faces and turned away.

The large man took a step forward. “Now, what do you have to say for yourselves?”

“Bugs!” From the crowd, someone yelled out and pointed to the shirt that the man had taken off. “Bugs, on his clothes. There really are bugs!”

Everyone took a giant, simultaneous step back. Their gazes fell on the white shirt that the man had thrown onto the ground. Indeed, two insects with black shells were crawling around on the clothes.

Su Jiu’s lips curved into a smile. “Now, it’s my turn to ask you all, what do you have to say for yourselves?”

The large man looked suspiciously at the shirtless man and frowned. “What is going on here?”

“The-there’s no way. How can there be bugs on me?”

The man spread his arms out and lowered his head to look down at himself. Chang Huan and Ah Shu stood behind Su Jiu, Dapao, and everyone else. They exchanged a look and muffled their chuckles. Like an apprentice trying to show off to a master carpenter, they’d come to the restaurant to try and trick the mountain bandits. It was a simple death wish.

“Brother, could it be that it’s been a few years since you last bathed, and, with bugs all over your body, you came in here to extort me?”

With a stomp of her foot on the clothes, Su Jiu crushed the bugs to death. She looked up with a sneer. Everyone took another step back, slowly putting distance between them and the man. Their faces were full of contempt!

The large man waved a dismissive hand at his dirty friend. “You! You go die in your filth!”

“That’s not it!” The man grabbed the large man’s shoulders, explaining in a panic, “Big Brother, the tick wasn’t on my body. I dug it up from under the trees!”

His words fell on a suddenly quiet room.

“Dug up from under a tree?” Su Jiu nodded, looking at him sharply. “And then while no one was looking, you put it into the soup to blackmail us?”

The patrons surrounding them had already started reacting. They fixed resentful stares on the large man’s table. They accused, “You’re going too far! You intentionally set them up and framed them!”

“Kick them out!”

“That’s right. We need to kick them out!”

…

The large man and the other man went from pale to red-faced. Mumbling, they retreated. Su Jiu raised her hand, and everyone in the main hall immediately quieted. Her face was handsome and beautiful. It was impossible to tell if she was a woman or a man. She was dressed as a humble waiter but held herself in an imposing manner. Her voice was sonorous as she said, “If you come in here to eat, then you are my guest. Naturally, I, Su Jiu, will treat you with sincerity, but if anyone intentionally stirs up trouble, then I am not one to be easily bullied. Men!”

“Yes, sir!”

Hu Dapao, Ah Shu, and Chang Huan stepped forward. All three emanated anger.

“Throw them out!” Su Jiu shouted clearly.

“Yes, sir!”

Hu Dapao advanced to the table of four that had been causing trouble. He picked up the large man and the shirtless man, turned, and used his might to shove them toward the door.

“Ah!”

“Ah!”

The two men screamed as they were thrown out into the street like old burlap sacks. Their entire bodies hurt, and they were about to struggle back up to their feet when they felt black shadows pass over their heads. Chang Huan and Ah Shu had just flung two more of their companions out the door, who just happened to pile right on top of the first two. For a long moment, all four remained on the ground, moaning in pain. The passersby on the street were unaware of what had just happened. The ones who were startled began to form a circle to watch.

Su Jiu came out with a bright expression on her face. “If you try this again, next time, I’ll chop you up and feed you straight to the dogs!”

The four of them stood up in fear, looked at Su Jiu in terror, and clawed through the crowd to run away. Behind her, Qiao An gave Chang Huan a meaningful look. Chang Huan nodded in understanding, and they disappeared up the stairs. Su Jiu turned to go back into the restaurant. Someone shouted that they’d done well. The entire hall of patrons also followed suit and cheered.

“Today, I’m in a good mood. Every table gets a jug of Nu’er Hong wine on the house!” Su Jiu stood in the center of the room, her posture upright. She called out in a clear voice, “This is the pride of a shopkeeper!”

“Thank you, Ninth Master Su!”

The crowd kept up the excitement, continually cheering. The atmosphere in the place surged, and the cheers were endless!

Su Jiu clasped her fist in her other palm in thanks. She looked up to see a man behind the wooden railing on the second floor with his hands clasped behind his back. He was looking intently at her. Su Jiu was taken aback. Xiao Lie? He was here, eating! Su Jiu had Qiao An and the others wait on the guests as she went alone up to the second floor.

“What are you doing here?” Su Jiu looked at Xiao Lie and smiled.

Xiao Lie calmly raised his eyebrow, curved his lips into a smile, and said, “Why can’t I be here?”

Once he said this, he introduced Su Jiu to the man in the brocade across from them, “This is my good friend, the Third Master of the Lu family, Lu Chao!”

“Ah Chao, this is Su Jiu!”

“It is nice to meet you!” Su Jiu greeted him and gave a simple smile.

“Master Su!”

Lu Chao was no more than twenty years old, with eyebrows like swords and eyes like stars. His smile was bright and candid. He looked at Su Jiu and Xiao Lie, smiled, and said, “As you two seem to have something to discuss, I will not disturb you. I’ll take my leave!”

Su Jiu saw the dishes that had just arrived at the table and smiled, saying, “You haven’t even finished eating, how can you leave already?”

“It’s not too late to eat another day!” Lu Chao arched his eyebrow meaningfully at Xiao Lie. “I’ll be on my way!”

“Alright!” Xiao Lie pretended not to see his mocking expression and calmly nodded.

They watched Lu Chao go down the stairs. From the second floor, Xiao Lie’s eyes swept over the bustling room, and he asked, “Can we go somewhere quiet?”

“Quiet?” Su Jiu looked around, then said, “Follow me!”

She grabbed Xiao Lie’s hand and headed for the stairs. Xiao Lie’s two eyes, dark as ink and immeasurably deep, looked down at the girl holding onto his wrist. He stepped forward and followed her. There was an area partitioned off on the second floor next to the stairs. Inside, there was a wooden ladder leading up to the roof. Su Jiu brought Xiao Lie up there. There was even a wooden pavilion on the flat, spacious roof. The eaves on the edges were made of mahogany and had a simple design. Standing against the wind, they had a feeling of peace and seclusion.

“I came up here by chance and found this place. Is it quiet enough?” Su Jiu smiled at Xiao Lie, turned, and went to the right side of the wooden railing. She looked down to the kitchen on the first floor. “Hei Zi, bring a pot of beef soup up here!”

“Alright, coming up!” Someone below answered.

Xiao Lie stood in the pavilion, looking around in all directions. His eyes were undeniably magnificent as they swept over her face. “It’s only been a few days since we last saw each other, but it seems like three autumns have passed!”

Su Jiu jumped over the railing of the pavilion, one leg propped up, and leaned against the pillar. “It’s just a restaurant. If you wanted to open one, wouldn’t it be very easy for you to open ten or eight of them?”

The sunlight was brilliant as it shone on his black hair, which warmly glistened and contrasted with the rosiness of his thin lips, pure like jade. Hearing Su Jiu speak, he gave her a long, lingering look, and calmly shook his head. “I’m not talking about that!”

At first, he thought that she was a petty thief, cunning, and ruthless. Though not necessarily evil, she still seemed like a crafty character. The first time they’d met, she had been with the Nangong siblings. Knowing Nangong Shu’s personality, being able to make friends with him meant that Su Jiu was an unusual person. Then, she’d broken into his manor. The two of them had gone together to his treasure vault to steal ginseng. That was the most intimate interaction they’d had so far. Although Su Jiu had started by coercing him, later on, she’d protected him. She’d never treated him like a steppingstone. In the treasure vault, they’d come face to face with a full pavilion of precious treasures, and she hadn’t been greedy in the slightest. This had completely changed his perspective of her.

She told him that she lived at the Qinghe Tavern on Sunset Street, so he thought that she was a server there. He’d wanted to go and see her a few times already to ask for his jade pendant back, but for some reason unknown to him, he never went.

Seeing her there today was a surprise, and then she’d surprised him even more. The restaurant belonged to her, and her staff turned out to be a group of very capable servers, loyal and obedient. Just now, downstairs, her body had been emanating a fierce, bandit-like aura mixed with an air of upright dignity; none of it seemed to be ill-suited for her. It was a dazzling sight, which made him even more curious about her. Who was she, exactly?

Just then, a waiter brought up a pot of soup to the roof. He put it down on the stone table in the pavilion and smiled. “Boss, this is the beef soup. I also heated some wine for you. Please, enjoy!”

“Thank you!” Su Jiu laughed, jumped down from the wooden railing, and patted the server’s shoulder. “Go on down and get back to your work, then!”

“Yes, yes!” The server nodded and bent down to go downstairs.

The rich fragrance of meat wafted out. Su Jiu grabbed a bowl, filled it with large chunks of beef, and set it in front of Xiao Lie. “Let’s eat while we talk!”

Xiao Lie sat down across from Su Jiu and put a piece of meat in his mouth. The taste filled his mouth. It was aromatic and delicious, crispy, but not greasy. The cooking and flavoring were done perfectly. No wonder they were enjoying such good business. Even Lu Chao had dragged him out here to taste it.

“Mm, this is very good!” Xiao Lie calmly nodded.

Su Jiu filled his cup with wine and raised hers in thanks. “Thank you for your help last time!”

Xiao Lie took a sip of the wine and asked quietly, “How is the person that you were trying to save?”

Su Jiu nodded. “The physician said that, with the boneless ginseng, she will recover. I thank you on her behalf!”

“Don’t mention it!” The wine stained his lips, which he opened again.

“Has Prince Rui discovered that he is missing the boneless ginseng? Has he given you a hard time about it?” Su Jiu asked, eyes bright and wide open.

“He hasn’t found out yet!” He smiled.

“That’s good. Right,” Su Jiu reached into her sleeve, took the jade pendant out, and put in on the table. “This is for you!”