Chapter Text
Wei Ying was a capable husband if he dare to say so himself. Last month, he managed to load the dishwasher full of wine glasses after his own birthday party without breaking a single one. (Okay, one was chipped when he slightly dropped it, but no one saw it so it didn’t happen.) To add to his list of Capable Husband Materials, Wei Ying had been un-banned from cooking dinner but he wasn’t allowed to use more than a teaspoon of chili flakes in any dish. He had cried foul at that to no avail.
Today, Wei Ying happened to have the day off because Chief Lan Qiren (who also happened to be his uncle-by-marriage) had threatened bodily harm if Wei Ying didn’t please get some rest after his month-long undercover sting. He had flopped on the floor outside the Chief’s office in silent protest, faked cried, actually cried, pouted and turned his patented-puppy-dog-eyes at everyone in the vicinity. Alas, nothing worked and he was dragged out by his collar by his own partner, Jiang Cheng - from now on codenamed Traitor.
So, here he was, broom in hand, determined to continue adding to his list of Capable Husband Materials by cleaning the whole house. During Wei Ying’s month-long absent, Lan Zhan - his sweet sweet husband, had adopted a strict cleaning routine as a way to distract himself. When Wei Ying came back, their house was spotless, sparkling, and smelling vaguely of geraniums. He thought it was very sweet, but also very sad because they didn’t see each other for one whole month. The thought of Lan Zhan sweeping dejectedly by himself made Wei Ying irrationally mad.
After making sure each of Lan Zhan’s jade rabbit bookends was polished and gleaming in the sunlight, Wei Ying moved on to the Worst Chore of all, laundry. When he was living the bachelor life, Wei Ying would toss all of his clothes into the same load. He favored dark colors, so there was no point in separating them (not that he cared too much about that anyway). On the other hand, Lan Zhan seemed to only wear crisp white dress shirts with light-colored pants, thus introducing the first obstacle in their married life - separating loads of laundry. Resuming his role as a Capable Husband™, Wei Ying started sorting through the hamper, carefully separating darks from whites. By the time the first load went into the washer, he was pretty proud of himself. That lasted for approximately as long as the wash cycle took to finish, and then Wei Ying was left with a sense of doom.
There was a single red sock with white rabbit prints that Lan Zhan had given him last Christmas in this load of white shirts, turning everything into a blotchy pink.
“Aw, sock, no!” Wei Ying whimpered. He could imagine the disappointing look on Lan Zhan’s face when he inevitably found out, because Wei Ying, now no longer a Capable Husband™, had tossed all of Lan Zhan’s white shirts into this load.
Wei Ying briefly contemplated running away, but that thought was quickly replaced by an image of Lan Zhan’s sad face and that wouldn’t do at all. Wei Ying would rather face his husband’s disappointed frown than see him mopped about. Letting out a deep sigh, Wei Ying moved all the now pink shirts into the dryer, leaving that traitorous sock on the floor.
As he stewed in his failure, Wei Ying texted A-Li, Jiang Cheng’s older sister who wouldn’t laugh at his dilemma. As expected, Jiang Yanli replied that there really wasn’t anything he could do to remove the stains of that extent. She reassured him that Lan Zhan wouldn’t be mad, so there was no reason to worry too much. That made Wei Ying feel a bit better.
“If you’re still worried, why don’t you treat brother-in-law to a nice, romantic dinner to make up for it?” Yanli’s message read.
“That’s a great idea! Thanks, jiejie!” Wei Ying texted back excitedly and promptly dropped his phone in his haste to get started with this romantic dinner idea.
He missed Yanli’s reply, “I would suggest you take him out, considering what happened the last time you cook, A-Ying!”
+
Wei Ying placed the vase of white lilies in the center of the table and strategically placed a few tea candles in between the dishes, spreading a soft golden light everywhere. He was very proud of the feast spread out in front of him. He had made Lan Zhan’s favorites: stir-fried glass noodles that were the dish Lan Zhan’s mom used to make for him when he was young, roasted eggplants in a sweet and (mildly) spiced sauce, steamed bok choys with fried garlic (and a few chili flakes sprinkled on top - for flavor!), and of course, jiejie’s famous pork rib and lotus root soup.
He only burnt one pot this time, which was a huge improvement from the last time he cooked anything. Wei Ying had anticipated such, uhm... hiccups, so he had temporarily disabled the fire alarms in the house. Said burnt pot was now soaking in the sink with false hopes of it ever being cleaned again. The faint scent of smoke could still be detected, lingering over the stove.
Wei Ying was too busy admiring his hard work that he almost didn’t notice the front door being unlocked and Lan Zhan’s soft footsteps coming down the hall. Wei Ying immediately jumped out to surprise his husband with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Lan Zhan dropped his bag to hug Wei Ying closer to him and turned to kiss his mischievous husband properly.
“Welcome home!” Wei Ying said, smiling. Lan Zhan’s lips quirked up gently and his eyes twinkled in a way that told Wei Ying he was happy to be home. “I made dinner!” With a flourish, Wei Ying pointed at the dinner table.
Lan Zhan’s eyebrows shot up slightly in surprise.
“I made all of your favorites,” Wei Ying said as he dragged his husband toward the dining table. Pulling out a chair for him, Wei Ying continued, “I promised I only put in a very appropriate amount of chili flakes.”
Lan Zhan nodded in approval and appreciation, “Thank you, Wei Ying.”
“Anything for my husband!” Wei Ying proclaimed grandly before digging into the food.
“We should stop by elder brother’s shop this weekend,” Lan Zhan said offhandedly before he started eating.
“Hmm, why?” Wei Ying asked, mouth already stuffed with pieces of eggplants.
“To replace your old suit and to get new shirts made for me,” he said with a knowing smirk.
Wei Ying choked, “How did you know?!” Realization dawned on him, “Did jiejie tell you?” Sighing loudly, he continued, “I didn’t think it would be hard to do laundry, and since you do it all the time, I thought it was only right that I help too. Obviously I messed up. That darned sock! Look at me, first I was gone for a whole month on duty, leaving everything here to you. I mean, it’s not like I was ever helpful around the house before, but I thought I could do some chores because I want to be a capable husband! I’m sorry, Lan Zhan, I....” Wei Ying stopped abruptly when Lan Zhan reached over to gently squeeze his hand.
“I’m not mad, Wei Ying.”
“But....”
“Shirts are replaceable, and your efforts are appreciated,” Lan Zhan said reassuringly. Wei Ying’s replying smile practically radiated sunlight and all that was good and pure.