After entering the temple, the side room was cleaned.

But Qi Chimu, dissatisfied with the monks sloppy work, turned back to Bai Weiwei and said, As my wife, shouldnt you act as such1? The dust is too thick; its not enough to just sweep it to the side. One should at least use some water and wipe it once.

Having one wipe down the house in the middle of winter.

It was sufficient torment.

Bai Weiwei herself was unwilling; her character settings made it even more impossible for her to be willing.

So she sat on the tallest table and lifted her feet from the ground. Turning her face away, she said coldly, What business is it to me. This is all work done by servants. Even if you torture me to death, I wont do it.

She was a legitimate young miss of a large family.

She had never touched dirty water in her entire life.

Qi Chimus expression sank. Without another word, he braced his arms on either side of her.

Bai Weiweis cold expression faltered, a lingering effect of being sorted out by him during this period of time.

His deep and dark eyes flashed with a hint of a smile, but his voice was chilly.

I want to study, so of course the fewer the people, the better. Bringing you here with me, isnt it precisely to have you wait on me?

Bai Weiwei grew annoyed, her face flushing with anger.

Dont think so highly of yourself2, who would wait on you? When have you ever attended to me.

Qi Chimu lowered his eyes and suddenly dipped his head down.

In the past, this scent that was inextricably linked to his death had made him uncomfortable no matter when or how he smelled it.

But now, it became his favorite aroma.

Sweep, Ill sweep.

Saying that, she pushed him away and scrambled off the table.

But Qi Chimu clasped her waist with both hands, forcing her back onto the desk.

He straightened back up and said blandly, If I waited for you to finish cleaning, you wouldnt even be done by tomorrow. Just sit there obediently ba.

With that, Qi Chimu turned and, rolling up the cuffs of his sleeves, began to nimbly dribble out water and scrub down the room.

He moved extremely quickly, and soon the desk, chair, and floor were all wiped clean.

While sweeping, he also put away the luggage and books.

With swift and orderly movements, the entire room was tidied up in one go.

Qi Chimu carried out the water bucket, and when he came back in, he held a bundle of plum blossoms in his hand.

He placed the flowers in a large, empty vase, and the somewhat tacky vase instantly served as an elegant foil to the plum blossoms.

Standing beside the flowers, his handsome beauty was even more dazzling than the blossoms.

Qi Chimu finished inserting the flowers. He turned his head and caught her gaze.

The look in her eyes was strange, seeming to contain a bit of a maidens shyness, as well as some anger.

Then she kept her eyes closed, the faint flush of red at the corners of her eyes causing him to look for a moment before withdrawing his gaze.

After tidying up, a monk arrived to deliver temple food.

Bai Weiwei no longer disdained it, her stomach feeling empty enough for her to eat anything.

There were also cakes after the meal, which made everything satisfactory.

As they were eating, Bai Weiwei fell silent for a moment before speaking up. You clean well. Were you taught3?

Qi Chimu paused and raised his eyes to look at her.

The depths of his eyes were dark and profound. Then, he nonchalantly gave a cold laugh. Taught? I have been ground down and bullied by you, the Bai family, from childhood to now. Did you think I had a maidservant to attend to me at all times? Even my meals were scraps and leftovers. Something as little as tidying the room, is it something I had to be taught?

Bai Weiwei, who had been mocked and ridiculed, stared foolishly at him.

He didnt understand why he suddenly felt furious.

1: : to express or show something, usually through ones words or behavior. If the flow of the conversation isnt obvious, hes basically hinting at her to clean the room.

2: : lit. paste gold on ones face; to compliment or boast about oneself; to make oneself out to be better than they really are.

3: The word Bai Weiwei uses here is , which means to learn, but the context of it seems to be more in a studying how to do something sort of way (as with school learning), as opposed to learning something through experience. This is why Qi Chimu is so upset with what she said, since the skill isnt something he picked up because he wanted to, but rather because he had no choice. Changed the wording of the raws to try to convey this as much as I could.