Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 330; Lin family 9

"There," she said, surveying them both again. "Much better."

Yuyan’s hair gleamed. Chen Xiao’s hair was fluffy and dry, framing his small face.

They looked... cared for. Clean. Like children who had someone looking after them.

Even if that someone didn’t quite know what she was doing.

From the bathroom, the sound of water stopped. A few moments later, Lu Yuze emerged, dressed in the dark gray pants and a black shirt, his hair damp but combed back neatly. He looked refreshed, less battered, more like the dangerous businessman he was known to be.

His gaze swept over the children, taking in their dried hair, their clean pajamas, their quiet waiting.

Then his eyes moved to Shuyin, kneeling on the floor beside the discarded blow-dryer, her bandaged hands still resting on Chen Xiao’s shoulders.

Something in his expression softened, just slightly, just for a moment.

"Good," he said simply.

And somehow, that one word felt like approval. Like recognition of the effort she’d made, even if she didn’t find it natural.

Shuyin stood, brushing off her knees, and met his gaze.

"Your turn," he said, gesturing toward the bathroom.

Shuyin nodded. She was ready to wash away the last remnants of this nightmare day and prepare for the next battle waiting downstairs.

She gathered her own clothes, the soft cotton shirt and loose pants Ting Fei had selected, along with undergarments and a fresh towel, and headed toward the bathroom.

She paused in the doorway, looking back at the three of them. Lu Yuze had settled into the chair by the window, and the children had migrated to one of the beds, sitting side by side in comfortable silence.

Her family.

Strange. Fragile. But hers.

She closed the door behind her.

---

The bathroom was still warm and steamy from Lu Yuze’s shower. Shuyin locked the door and set her clothes on the counter, then turned to face the mirror.

The reflection that stared back at her was a mess.

Her hair was tangled, still carrying the faint smell of smoke and fear from the Leviathan Spawn attack. Her face was pale, bruised in places, with dark circles under her eyes. The burns on her shoulders and arms were angry and red, even through the bandages.

She looked like someone who had survived something terrible.

Which, she supposed, she had.

Shuyin carefully peeled off her ruined pajamas, wincing as the fabric pulled at her skin. The burns extended further than she’d initially thought, down her back, across her ribs, along her forearms where she’d shielded herself from the creatures’ strikes.

She should heal them. Could heal them, with magic.

But not here. Not now. The risk of exposure was too great, and the burns served a purpose. They made her look vulnerable. Sympathetic. Weak.

All things she needed the Lin family to believe.

She stepped into the shower and let the hot water cascade over her. It stung, God, it stung, but she gritted her teeth and endured it. The water turned faintly gray as it washed away the grime, the dried blood, the psychic residue that clung to her skin like oil.

She washed her hair twice, working the shampoo through the tangles with her bandaged hands, trying not to think about how much this hurt. The burns. The exhaustion. The weight of everything she was carrying.

When she finally stepped out, she felt cleaner. Not whole, but cleaner.

She dried off carefully, patting at her skin rather than rubbing, and dressed in the clothes Ting Fei had chosen. The cotton was soft against her burns, loose enough not to aggravate them.

She unwrapped her hands long enough to apply more of the healing gel Lu Yuze had used earlier, then re-bandaged them herself. It took longer with injured hands, but she managed.

Finally, she combed through her wet hair, leaving it loose to air-dry.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Lu Yuze looked up from where he’d been sitting with the children.

His gaze traveled over her, taking in the clean clothes, the damp hair, the visible exhaustion in her posture, and something in his expression softened.

"Better?" he asked.

"Better," Shuyin confirmed.

She moved to the bed and sat down, suddenly aware of how bone-deep tired she was. The day had been endless. Healing her mother at 4 AM. The Leviathan Spawn attack. The escape. The journey here. The performance for the Lin family.

It was catching up to her all at once.

Lu Yuze stood and moved to her side. "We have about thirty minutes before dinner," he said quietly. "You should rest."

"I can’t rest," Shuyin protested. "We still have to...."

"Thirty minutes," Lu Yuze interrupted firmly. "Lie down. Close your eyes. I’ll wake you when it’s time."

Shuyin wanted to argue, but her body was already betraying her, swaying slightly where she sat.

"Fine," she muttered. "Thirty minutes."

She lay back on the bed, her damp hair spreading across the pillow, and closed her eyes.

Lu Yuze pulled a light blanket over her, careful not to press against her burns.

"Yuyan, Chen Xiao," he said quietly. "Let her rest. No noise."

"Yes, Father," Yuyan whispered.

Chen Xiao said nothing, but he curled up on the other bed, his eyes already drifting closed.

Lu Yuze settled back into the chair by the window, his gaze moving between his sleeping wife, his exhausted children, and the darkened grounds beyond the glass.

Thirty minutes, he’d said.

Thirty minutes of peace before they descended into the wolves’ den for dinner.

He intended to guard every second of it.

---

True to his word, Lu Yuze woke Shuyin exactly thirty minutes later with a gentle hand on her shoulder. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Time," he said softly.

Shuyin’s eyes opened immediately, no grogginess, no confusion. She was awake and alert in an instant, the way people learned to be when they’d spent time in dangerous places.

"The children?" she asked.

"Chen Xiao’s still sleeping. Yuyan’s awake."

Shuyin sat up, running a hand through her hair. It was still damp but no longer dripping. Good enough.