Early morning, Gu Yebai hadn’t opened his eyes yet, his consciousness still hazy.
He felt a mysterious weight pressing down on his chest, hot and soft, with a hint of rose scent.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Ah, now he no longer had the illusion of waking up in the small home in Linchuan County.
Above him was the familiar ceiling, the crystal chandelier seemingly glowing even in daylight.
Sitting astride Gu Yebai was the familiar deep cherry-blossom-colored hair and the familiar stunning face.
“Morning, Hongyi. This is a wake-up call that suits your style.”
Today, Gao Hongyi was wearing a bright red cheongsam, silk clinging to her slender waist, with a high slit that opened all the way to her thigh.
White stockings outlined her legs, exceptionally straight and powerful.
Perhaps because she practiced yoga, her white-stockinged thighs clamping around Gu Yebai’s waist exerted a strong pressure that made it hard to open his eyes.
“Good morning, Bai Shu.”
Gao Hongyi leaned down.
Her collarbone showed blue veins.
Gu Yebai noticed that her slender hand seemed to be holding a piece of white rice paper.
“What are you holding?”
“Bai Shu, as they say, a country has its laws, and a household has its rules.”
Gao Hongyi’s voice was soft like coaxing, but with a hint of unwavering certainty.
“For the convenience of management from now on, so, that’s about how it is…”
Before he could speak, Gao Hongyi leaned down and pressed her lips against his.
It wasn’t a brief peck, but a wet, passionate, slightly indulgent kiss.
Luckily, this time there was no punitive intent, so breathing was normal.
After the kiss, Gao Hongyi used elegant small script to swiftly write the first line of large characters on the rice paper.
First, for the harmony of the couple, there must be a good morning kiss every day upon waking up!
Gu Yebai stared at that line and couldn’t help covering his head.
‘Ah, so heavy.’
‘I might as well close my eyes and keep sleeping, better not wake up…’
But Gao Hongyi didn’t give Gu Yebai a chance.
She tilted her head, her eyelashes fluttering, like a kitten waiting for praise and petting.
“Second…” Gao Hongyi leaned down.
She blew hot air into Gu Yebai’s ear.
“Bai Shu must love Hongyi from the bottom of his heart~”
The pen tip paused.
Suddenly, she got a little angry.
Her small hand pinched Gu Yebai’s cheek, not hard, not very painful.
It felt like a coaxing gesture.
“What’s your evaluation?”
“What evaluation?”
“I wore a cheongsam today, you know. Bai Shu, this is the first time you’ve seen me in a cheongsam, right?”
“Why is there no reaction at all?”
“To astonish Bai Shu, I changed early and put on light makeup. Bai Shu doesn’t know, do you? A girl’s light makeup actually takes more time and effort than heavy makeup. And then, Bai Shu doesn’t react at all. Isn’t that too disrespectful to women?”
“In a bit, I’ll have to remove my makeup and change into my school uniform to go to school, and you just have a face that says ‘I want to sleep’?”
With a bold stroke of the pen.
Third, you must promptly notice your wife’s changes and give her positive evaluations regarding those changes!!
Gu Yebai stared at those three exclamation marks.
His heart skipped a beat.
“Good… very beautiful, very pretty.”
His voice was dry as he quickly made amends.
Gao Hongyi was satisfied then.
The corners of her mouth curved into a sickly sweet arc.
Her fingertips slid down his chin, gently stroking.
“Sit down. Continue, Bai Shu.”
“This weekend, I’ll be with you all day.”
“So you have to be a little happier.”
She leaned down again.
Her red hair fell like a blood-colored curtain, completely isolating the two in a small world.
The rice paper was pressed between them, the scent of ink mixing with the rose fragrance, sweet to the point of bitterness.
Forced to get up.
As soon as Gu Yebai opened his eyes, Gao Hongyi interlaced her fingers with his, holding tightly.
Her fingertips were cool, like ice silk wrapping around.
He couldn’t break free.
Nor did he dare to.
Perhaps because he secretly met with Bai Xialin the day before, Gao Hongyi was now more clingy than ever.
As if afraid he would turn into a wisp of smoke and slip through her fingers.
The moment he got out of bed, Gu Yebai suddenly felt something was wrong.
The master bedroom… had changed.
In the corners of the ceiling, twelve cameras, like black eyes, stared unblinkingly at him.
Maybe more than twelve. In the gaps of the nightstand, on top of the wardrobe, even behind the bathroom mirror… He didn’t dare think about it.
The entire room was like a giant spider web, and he was the bug trapped in it.
“What is this…?”
Gao Hongyi tilted her head, smiling sweetly.
“Well, because Bai Shu said so, isn’t it only natural to install surveillance cameras at home?”
Her voice was sickly soft, but every word drilled into his bones.
“What else? A bad child might, while betraying the girl who loves him, run off to flirt with other stray cats, and at the same time shamelessly text his girlfriend saying he’s obediently at home writing a novel…”
“A bad child like that… shouldn’t he be given any breathing room?”
“Am I right, Bai Shu?”
So oppressive.
Tomson Riviera in Donghai City, a 596-square-meter penthouse.
His hometown in Linchuan County, less than 60 square meters, two bedrooms and one living room.
But for some reason, Gu Yebai suddenly felt that shabby place seemed… freer.
Even if when breathing, there was always a smell of industrial waste and cotton fluff.
At least there, no one watched your breathing twenty-four hours a day.
Gao Hongyi suddenly took a small box from the nightstand drawer.
Opened it.
Inside lay a thin silver-gray chain.
Not a rough dog leash.
The chain was very thin, with a matte finish, and the pendant was a small ruby engraved with three characters—”Hongyi’s.”
“I originally wanted to prepare a wedding ring for you.”
Her voice was low, as if talking to herself.
“But with a wedding ring, wouldn’t Bai Shu get carried away?”
“That won’t do.”
She lifted Gu Yebai’s chin, her fingertips lightly stroking his Adam’s apple.
“So… you wear this well.”
“It’s installed with GPS tracking, and also filled with my love for you.”
Gu Yebai stared at the chain.
His heart felt like it was being squeezed.
He didn’t want to wear it.
But Gao Hongyi smiled even sweeter.
“Oh dear, acting spoiled again.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll put it on for you.”
She stood on tiptoe.
Her red hair brushed his face, tickling.
The chain wrapped around his neck.
Click.
The lock closed.
Coolness immediately climbed up his skin.
It wasn’t uncomfortable, even quite comfortable.
But it was this very “comfort” that made his spine tingle.
“You can wear it in the shower, it’s okay, it’s waterproof.”
“Sleeping is also OK, it won’t choke your neck.”
“And… the key is with me.”
She waved the key between her fingers.
A flash of silver.
“As for the lock, you can’t open it by yourself. Hehe.”
“So even if one day, Bai Shu thinks I’m an annoying pest and wants to run away…”
She suddenly hugged him tightly.
Her voice was low like a whisper.
“I will go and catch Bai Shu and bring you back.”
“It won’t help even if you run to the ends of the earth~”
Gu Yebai’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but he didn’t speak.
Because the moment he opened his mouth, his voice would tremble.
But Gao Hongyi, as if nothing had happened, turned and picked up the rice paper.
Pen tip hovering in the air.
Then she swiftly wrote two more lines.
Fourth, surveillance cameras have been installed at home; absolutely no damaging them!
Fifth, without permission, absolutely no leaving the house without authorization!
After writing, she blew on the ink with satisfaction.
Then she pressed the rice paper against Gu Yebai’s chest.
“Continue, Bai Shu.”
Her voice was soft, like coaxing a child.
“There are many more.”
Her fingertip lightly tapped the blank space on the rice paper.
The pen hovered, pausing.
Suddenly she looked up, eyes sparkling.
“The login passwords and security questions for social media accounts!”
Gu Yebai’s heart sank.
“Everything…”
She leaned down, her nose almost touching his.
“I want everything.”
“I am your wife; these… should naturally belong to me, shouldn’t they?”
Her voice was low, like a whisper, like an oath.
Lingering.
But with an unwavering certainty that allowed no refusal.
Gu Yebai stared at the rice paper.
Black words on white paper, like a death warrant.
Like the death conditions in a rule-based horror story.
And he had already stepped into the trap.
Now, he was being slowly crushed by the system.
But… he thought back to yesterday’s argument at the dinner table.
Gao Hongzhi’s red-rimmed eyes.
“Can you stop bullying my son?”
If he resisted now, would Gao Hongyi cry again?
Would she back Gao Hongzhi into a corner again?
This family had finally gained a little warmth.
He didn’t want to be the factor that destroyed that warmth.
And besides… when it came down to it, he had thought from the beginning.
Being with Gao Hongyi, everyone has flaws, no one is perfect.
Tolerating each other’s flaws, finding each other’s strengths—that’s how feelings can last long.
“Come on, the password.”
Gao Hongyi made a new demand.
Gu Yebai handed over his phone.
The screen lit up with the login interface.
“Gu07110909.”
“If you need to add a symbol… add an exclamation mark at the end, like for Google or something, you need an exclamation mark.”
Gao Hongyi looked down and quickly input according to Gu Yebai’s instructions.
Suddenly she frowned.
“I don’t like it.”
She deleted it.
Retyped.
“HongYi&BaiYe0109.”
She looked up, smiling sickly sweet.
“If we change it like this, we were born on the same day, same month, same year~”
“Thinking about it that way… it’s really romantic.”
“Hehe.”
Romantic?
Gu Yebai watched her fingers quickly tapping on the screen.
His heart felt like it was being slowly squeezed.
This was welding his last bit of privacy into her name.
Gu07110909 was a password made from his parents’ birthdays.
Sixth, all social media accounts must be accessible by either party at any time!
After writing, she pressed the rice paper against his chest again.
Her fingertips followed the collar pendant downward, gently stroking.
“Seventh…”
“Seventh, you should go to school now.”
Gu Yebai spoke up.
“Ah, that’s right. Then I’ll go change into my school uniform first.”
She suddenly turned back, with a mischievous yet sickly sweet bad-girl smile.
“Oh, by the way, Bai Shu, do you want to… personally help me take off my clothes?”
“Take off my white stockings, take off my cheongsam, and then help me put on my school uniform?”
Before he could answer, she had already taken his hand.
Interlocking fingers.
Holding tightly.
Dragging him toward the walk-in closet.
The walk-in closet was large.
Mirrors on all sides.
Luxurious clothes hung full and abundant, with Gao Hongyi’s school uniform in the most conspicuous place.
In the mirrors, countless Gao Hongyis pulled countless Gu Yebais inside.
Countless red-haired girls turned back to smile at him.
Countless eyes sparkled.
Staring at him.
“Come on, help me change. It’s okay to pinch my thigh, even licking my skin is your right as a boyfriend~”
“The house rules are control over you, but you’re not only controlled—you also get the rights due to you as my boyfriend. That’s called equivalent exchange.”
“Even if you pinned me down and ate me up, this delicate red-haired beauty, right here in the closet, I wouldn’t resist. Not only would I not resist, I would even cater to all your little quirks~”