036 A Special Reward, Discovered by My Sister-in-Law (Please Keep Reading)

"Xueming, my article—my mother actually approved it!"

"Look, look! Here’s the payment I earned!"

At the dinner table earlier, Youke Feng had been holding herself back, making every effort not to interact with Xueming Cheng beside her. But now, back in their little nest, she couldn’t contain herself any longer. She waved the payment slip in her hand as if presenting a treasure for Xueming to see.

"Amazing! My wife, you’re incredible, getting your payment slip before I did!"

"So this is what a payment slip looks like? Sixty-five yuan—that’s our family’s income for three months!"

Xueming played along, taking the slip from her, examining it with curiosity.

To be fair, it was truly the first time Xueming had ever seen one of those legendary payment slips—a postal money order.

"Hehe, of course! Under your wise guidance, Xueming, our earnings from writing will only keep growing!"

"Once I started writing, I suddenly found myself bursting with inspiration tonight—so many ideas all at once..."

"Hold on, don’t get ahead of yourself. Aren’t you forgetting something?" Seeing her about to dive back into her writing, Xueming quickly grabbed her hand, a mischievous smile playing at his lips.

"Forgetting something?" Youke turned around, puzzled, but then realized and snatched the slip back from his hand. "Oh, right! I almost forgot this. Thanks for reminding me!"

"You little miser! Is that really what I meant?" Xueming's face darkened. Was she pretending not to understand? He cut straight to the point. "Wife, you promised—front page headline and all—there’s a big reward for you tonight! Don’t tell me you’re going back on your word?"

"Of course there’s a big reward! How am I not keeping my word?" Youke waved the payment slip in front of him again. "To show my gratitude to you, I’m going to use this first payment to buy you a pair of leather shoes. Isn’t that a big enough reward?"

At the moment, Xueming only had two pairs of shoes to alternate, all Liberation brand cloth shoes—hardly befitting the literary aura of a burgeoning great writer.

Youke had long planned to buy him a pair of leather shoes, but with Xueming pressing her now, she had no choice but to offer it up as a shield.

"What do I need leather shoes for? You should buy a pair for yourself, wife! But for now—you need to help me… look for inspiration!"

Xueming didn’t quite know what was happening to him. He knew better than to be reckless during her risky days, but his needs only seemed to grow stronger. Lately, Youke was indulging him nearly every night, but it still wasn’t enough.

"You never behave, do you?"

"And besides, we just had dinner. Can’t you let me rest for a bit? What if that heartless Jia Mo barges in?"

Youke’s face flushed crimson. Her man was wonderful in every way—except he was just too relentless!

Her lips were nearly chapped from all this lately! Day in and day out, he only had those dark, wicked thoughts in mind.

"Fine, take your time," Xueming nodded, feigning indifference.

"Thank you, Xueming! I knew you were the best. I’ll cash the payment tomorrow and buy you those shoes. And at New Year, I’ll get you a watch. Just keep writing and publishing—let’s work for a bigger house next year!"

"Mhm, I’ll go have a talk with your mother."

Xueming kept up the act, heading for the door as if to go chat with his mother-in-law.

"Wait—Xueming, what do you mean? What’s there to talk about with my mom?" Youke was completely baffled.

"About the front page headline! Didn’t she care a lot about it tonight?" Xueming replied, a sly edge to his voice.

"Hey… Old Cheng, what are you talking about?" Youke was stunned. She hadn’t expected Xueming to mention the front page to her mother!

What was he up to?

Realizing he was threatening her, Youke clenched her fists, her little hands ready for action. "Xueming, why don’t you rethink your words and tell me again what you’re going to discuss with my mother?"

"Ah… got it, got it! You know, wife, inspiration really is something else. The moment you call for it, it appears! I just thought of a great idea—I have to write it down right now!"

Xueming was caught off guard. He’d thought he could hold this over Youke forever—after all, she’d been the one to betray her mother by urging him to submit to Beijing Literature instead of her mother’s "October."

Now, with Beijing Literature repeatedly giving him front page features, Xueming had thought he could keep teasing this "filial traitor" for life.

But seeing those little fists, he wasn’t sure he’d live long enough to enjoy it.

He gave in on the spot—better stick to writing!

"So quick? Do you need me to help you find some inspiration?" Now it was Youke’s turn to move in, eyes full of sly cunning, her tone both sweet and fierce.

"No need, no need, wife! You’ve worked hard enough—just relax on the bed and read. We don’t have much in this room, but there’s no shortage of books!"

"Of course, if you insist, I wouldn’t mind a little more inspiration…"

Seeing Youke continue to close in, realizing escape was impossible, Xueming steeled himself and said it outright.

"Alright, then I’ll help you find some more!" Youke’s eyes flashed with mischief. This man was really willing to risk everything for a few moments of pleasure!

She immediately sidled up to him and, with a vengeance, reached out and declared, "Let’s see if I don’t bite it clean off—see how you cause trouble in the future!"

"Still want me to help you find inspiration?"

Youke’s touch sent Xueming reeling, his senses overwhelmed. He stopped caring about anything else, pressing her down under the desk with determination. "Wife, help me search for inspiration again. This time, I’m planning to write a huge novella—one hundred, maybe two hundred thousand words! These little short stories just don’t bring in money fast enough!"

"Xueming, you want to write two hundred thousand words?"

Being pinned down, Youke was just about to give him a piece of her mind, but his words startled her.

Xueming was dismissing short stories of ten or twenty thousand words as too slow to earn money—he wanted to write a two-hundred-thousand-word novella?

Two hundred thousand words!

Her mind raced—fourteen hundred yuan!

At his current rate with Beijing Literature—seven yuan per thousand words—two hundred thousand would mean fourteen hundred yuan.

Heavens! The little miser under the table was instantly exhilarated by the thought.

"With this inspiration—and if you, wife, are fully supportive, I could probably finish in a month and submit it before New Year!"

Xueming sensed that she was no longer so resistant—was he winning her over again?

He quickly fanned the flames.

"Of course I support you! Your creative needs as a writer, I am absolutely, wholeheartedly behind you!"

"Then what are you waiting for, wife?"

"Ah? I…"

Before Youke could protest—her promise of full support didn’t include this—Jia Mo, that heartless sister, burst in, shouting, "Old Cheng! How do you solve this math problem? Teach me!"

She charged in with a math paper in hand, calling for "Old Cheng" without preamble, her eyes scanning the room. "Hey, where’s my sister? I heard her voice just now!"

"Your sister? She… just stepped out to empty the chamber pot, I think," Xueming replied, hastily keeping Youke hidden beneath the desk, praying his sister-in-law wouldn’t find her.

Otherwise…