The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 7

Wu Zhen went up to the building on her left, walked around up and down the stairs, but didn’t see any shadows. She crossed her arms and shook her head. “It’s okay if Huzhu is not here, but why isn’t Quack here either?”

As a ‘Cat Lord’ respected by the monsters, Wu Zhen certainly didn’t work alone. Like the ‘Snake Lord’, she had two assistants to help her. But as they say, like the master, like the servants. She often worked for three days and rested for two, and her two assistants were similarly inclined to laziness. However, it wasn’t entirely their fault. After all, there had been no monsters causing trouble for a long time, leaving them with little to do and little inclination to stay around.

 Wu Zhen jumped onto the red railing of Yan Tower, placed one foot on the guardrail, looked into the distance for a moment, and said with a twitch of her mouth, “Found it.”

After uttering those words, she leaped down from the Yan Tower.

The East and West Markets bustled with people during the day and monsters roamed about at night. Even in such busy places, day or night, there were always a few remote corners that remained deserted.

Wu Zhen climbed over the eaves and walls, traversing most of the East Market until she reached a high wall. There, a narrow alley opened up with sundries scattered on both sides, creating a quiet and forsaken corner. Curled up in that corner was the person Wu Zhen sought.

He appeared middle-aged, downtrodden, and in tattered clothing. Sound asleep against the wall, a rag covered his face, rising and falling with his breath. On closer inspection, one would find four words written on the rag: “Donate money”. Beside him lay a bowl, typical of a street beggar’s attire, containing seven coins.

Wu Zhen leaped off the wall without a sound, landing directly in front of him. She squatted down, peering into the half-empty bowl in amazement. How had he managed to collect seven coins in such a desolate, ghost-free spot? She reached into her purse, collected the copper coins, then nudged the sleeping man.

“Get up, get up.”

The man huddled deeper into the corner, clearly reluctant to be disturbed. But Wu Zhen enjoyed disrupting others. She lifted the rag covering his face and tossed it aside, then nudged him again. “Hurry up, Quack, there’s work to do.”

Finally awake, the man yawned, rubbing his eyes as he glanced up at Wu Zhen. His face was unremarkable, with small eyes, a flat nose, and a swollen cheek from sleeping. Wu Zhen pinched his cheek playfully, scanning the surroundings with a sigh. “Your face is too plain today. Do me a favor and put on a more handsome face for your boss.”

The man replied slowly, “Alright, I’ll change my face to that of a handsome young man tomorrow. If you approve, Cat Lord, please spare some money for my meals. I’ve only earned seven coins today. If you take all of it, I’ll starve.”

Wu Zhen leaned against the wall, feeling no guilt about her brazen behavior. “You’re a member of Yan Tower after all, one of my two assistants. How can you lack motivation and resort to begging every night? If you’re caught, what will become of Yan Tower’s reputation? If you won’t stay at Yan Tower, why not find a job like Huzhu?”

The man replied in a gentle tone, “If I weren’t so exhausted from work, I wouldn’t resort to begging.”

Wu Zhen retorted, “If you choose to beg, at least pick a place where there are plenty of monsters. Here, you’re hiding away and no monsters come by. What’s the point of begging here?”

The man explained, “Places with many monsters are too noisy. I can’t get a good night’s sleep. As we get older, sleep becomes especially important.”

Wu Zhen burst out laughing and cursed, “Nonsense! You’re not even human!”

The man was one of Wu Zhen’s two assistants, named Wu Zishu. He was a monster who had lived for countless years. Known as “Quack”, he liked to find a corner in the monster market to sleep and beg at night. During the day, he set up a stall under a large locust tree at the corner of the East Market to tell fortunes for ordinary people.

“Alright, enough chit-chat. Get up and tell me my fortune,” Wu Zhen demanded.

Quack shook his head sleepily. “No, I only tell fortunes during the day. I don’t work at night, even if you’re… Ouch!”

Before he could finish his sentence, Wu Zhen pushed him against the wall, forcing him to huddle with his head in his hands. Placing her foot down, she threw an arm around his shoulders and asked with a smile, “Did you just say no?”

“No, no, no, okay, okay! I agree, I agree!” Quack, lacking any semblance of integrity, immediately surrendered upon seeing Wu Zhen’s mischievous grin, hastily changing his tune.

Wu Zhen nodded in satisfaction and brushed off the footprints on his clothes. “Next time, agree from the start. Otherwise, you’ll ruin our relationship doing this.”

Quack grimaced, musing that the older the cat got, the more shameless she became. Recalling when Wu Zhen was just a kid… Quack shook his head and decided to let it go. Whether big or small, they were all little rascals, either bullying people or monsters.

Seated, Quack retrieved a wooden box from behind him. This unassuming, worn box served as his dining table. When unfolded, it transformed into a small table displaying lottery sticks, tortoise shells, and assorted trinkets. Setting everything in place, he fetched a stick, shook off the rag that once covered his face, and used the stick to reveal another set of words behind “A penny for seeking wealth” — “Semi-Immortal Divine Calculation.”

After straightening his clothes, Quack’s demeanor suddenly transformed. Despite his plain appearance, he exuded an otherworldly air that made people overlook his ugliness.

Wu Zhen settled in front of the small table, reached for the lottery box, pulled out a stick, and tossed it in front of him nonchalantly. “Tell me about my marriage fate.”

“Marriage…” Quack examined the stick, then returned it to the box. “Draw again.”

Without a word, Wu Zhen drew another stick and tossed it forward.

Quack inspected it briefly and returned it. “Try again.”

Wu Zhen persisted, drawing another stick.

After returning the third stick to the box, Quack sighed, set aside the stick tube, and pulled out a thin, black-sealed book from his pocket. “I can’t use the ordinary sticks and hexagrams this time. Let me try the wordless book.”

Wu Zhen leaned closer to watch as he flipped through the book. It was entirely blank, much like his nickname, “The Wordless Book”, a tome devoid of any text. Wu Zhen had once speculated that Quack might be a book monster, and this wordless book was his true form.

“I’ve been curious for a long time. What’s written in this book?” Wu Zhen peered over, but like many times before, she couldn’t discern anything within it.

Quack shook his head with a hint of pride. “I’m probably the only one in the world who can read this. And these aren’t ordinary words, nor are they fixed content.”