Chapter 30
Qiao Wei used the story of “The Three Little Pigs” to coax Yan Xiang to sleep, gave him a few kisses, and returned to the couple’s bedroom, where Yan Lei had left the light on for her.
“I’m turning off the light,” Qiao Wei said with a yawn, pulling the light cord.
It was so amazing; she had only transmigrated into this world four days ago, yet her body had already grown accustomed to a routine of early to bed and early to rise.
But as soon as she lay down on the kang, she was pulled into a pair of strong arms.
The man’s scent felt overwhelming.
Before, he had been cold, restrained, and holding back, but yesterday it was as if a floodgate had opened; after that, how could he still hold back?
Qiao Wei giggled as he kissed her, and Yan Lei hurriedly covered her mouth: “Shh—”
There’s a child in the house.
Qiao Wei complained, “You need to shave.”
Yan Lei touched his chin; there was indeed some stubble, so he promised, “I’ll shave tomorrow.”
After speaking, he tightened his arms again and kissed her.
A long, long time later, the dimly lit room was filled with labored breathing. Yan Lei asked, “How many more days will you have this?”
Lying in his arms, with the skin of her back pressed against his chest, Qiao Wei lazily replied, “Four or five days at the shortest, six or seven days at the longest.”
Yan Lei’s voice in the darkness was filled with resentment: “That long…”
Qiao Wei chuckled.
Her new life was wonderful; why shouldn’t she smile more? She truly loved to smile.
Yan Lei bit the back of her neck again.
His hands were big and rough, his palms scorching hot.
She couldn’t do anything reckless during her period, so Qiao Wei pulled his hand away from her chest, turned to face him, and said, “Go to sleep!”
Yan Lei grunted an “Mhm,” but he held onto her hand, pressing it against his chest.
He had felt it these past two nights; Qiao Wei liked his body. She liked those sturdy, hard muscles, especially on his chest and abdomen.
He took her hand and placed it on his chest first, then pulled it down to his lower abdomen.
Just as Qiao Wei was about to properly feel his firm and resilient muscles, the man hesitated for a moment, then began to reveal his true intentions—he carefully and tentatively continued to pull her hand down…
In the past, Yan Lei wouldn’t have dared to even think about it. If he had dared to do this, his wife would have definitely been very angry and scolded him for being a hooligan.
But after these past two nights, he vaguely felt that Qiao Wei might… perhaps, maybe, or possibly not reject it.
Taking advantage of the fact that they were face-to-face and their skin was touching, he gathered his courage and pulled her hand down.
He was actually very nervous inside and didn’t dare to use too much force, preparing to let go immediately if she got angry.
Fortunately, Qiao Wei didn’t resist at all, and she didn’t seem angry either.
Her palms were dry and warm, covering him as he guided her.
Yan Lei’s heart settled.
But she didn’t seem to know what to do; as her palm slightly rubbed against him, it seemed filled with hesitation.
Yan Lei tried holding her hand to teach her.
Can’t laugh, can’t laugh.
Don’t laugh, whatever you do! Their bodies were pressed tightly together; if she laughed, she would be discovered immediately.
That would be disastrous.
Qiao Wei was having such a hard time! Not only was her wrist sore, but she also had to struggle to hold back her laughter.
In terms of knowledge and experience regarding relationships between the sexes, Qiao Wei could leave Yan Lei in the dust.
However, a person might change their personality or values significantly due to a special event, such as a failed elopement. But you cannot, you really cannot, go out to elope for a few days and come back with vastly improved skills in bed.
That would be impossible to explain.
Therefore, even if Qiao Wei was a max-level expert, she had to painstakingly pretend she was still in the newbie village.
It was the first time in Yan Lei’s life he had such an experience.
Qiao Wei’s hands were incredibly gentle, as if she were treating him like some precious treasure, handling him with care and learning attentively.
By the end, it was like ascending to the clouds, far better than the inexperienced, clumsy fumbling of their wedding night.
After it was over, Yan Lei held Qiao Wei tightly, not wanting to let go. He felt that she was very tired, seemingly exhausted.
He helped rub her wrists: “Are you tired?” Qiao Wei just grunted an “Mhm,” seemingly not wanting to talk.
It was too difficult for her; she was such a lofty person, yet he had made her do such a lewd thing for him. Although she hadn’t refused him, she must be very embarrassed.
A slight sense of shame and guilt arose in Yan Lei’s heart.
But there was also joy—since she was willing to do this kind of thing for him, she must have truly settled down and wanted to live a proper life with him.
A grown man wouldn’t shed tears easily, but he felt his eyes sting a little, a feeling of bitterness ending and sweetness beginning.
He held Qiao Wei tighter, not letting go.
Qiao Wei was having such a hard time.
She wasn’t a professional actress, and it was hard work pretending to be a novice. Feeling that Yan Lei seemed to be emotionally moved, she didn’t know how to handle this situation, so she simply closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.
She was indeed tired, and as she kept pretending, she began to drift off.
The man kept holding her, muttering to himself, not knowing what he was saying.
“…living life… giving it all to you… properly… promise…”
What is he saying? Why doesn’t he hurry up and sleep?
She had gotten up too early in the morning, and after just working so hard, Qiao Wei drifted off to sleep for real.
When she woke up in the morning, the kang was empty; Yan Lei was already gone. Qiao Wei felt something wrong underneath her, sat up to check, and sure enough, she had leaked, and the small mattress was dirty.
She annoyed, got up to change her sanitary paper.
There was a chamber pot in the room.
It was an iron object with “Double Happiness” printed on it. To prevent the smell from spreading, it even had a lid.
Qiao Wei had previously scrolled through videos and seen foreigners using this thing as a serving bowl, which was hilarious. She just hadn’t expected that one day she would have to use this thing herself.
At night, it was pitch black outside, and the toilet was in the corner of the courtyard with no lights. There was no need to go to the toilet to relieve herself; she could just use this chamber pot in the room.
Qiao Wei also used it to change her paper, throwing it inside first.
After she was done, she carried the chamber pot to the toilet to dump the waste.
Yan Lei was in the courtyard. Seeing her, his clear face beamed with sunshine: “You’re up?”
Seeing her carrying the chamber pot, he took two steps over: “Give it to me.”
Qiao Wei, of course, wouldn’t fight him for it.
Yan Lei walked towards the toilet while turning his head to shout: “Wait for me to mix some warm water for you to wash your hands!”
Qiao Wei had touched the chamber pot and needed to wash her hands.
Qiao Wei was still sleepy, so she leaned against the doorframe and dozed off.
Yan Lei dumped the waste, rinsed the chamber pot, put it back in the room, and came back out.
Qiao Wei tilted her head against the doorframe and said unhappily, “The mattress got dirty.”
“Don’t worry about it, just leave it for now. When you’re done with your period, I’ll take care of it,” Yan Lei said while washing his hands. “Besides, you don’t know how to sew.”
Qiao Wei became happy and smiled at Yan Lei.
Yan Lei said, “What are you smiling like a fool for?”
He first washed his own hands clean with cold water, then took a basin and mixed warm water for Qiao Wei, holding the basin carefully to pour it out for her to wash her hands.
After Qiao Wei finished washing her hands, she also washed her face and brushed her teeth. Wiping her face with a towel, she felt awake and asked, “Why did you get up so early?”
The two of them had been messing around too much last night and went to sleep too late. She had also gotten up in the middle of the night to change her paper, so she couldn’t get up in the morning.
Yan Lei glanced at her: “I knew you wouldn’t be able to get up, so I made you breakfast.”
Qiao Wei was surprised, but the original owner’s memory wasn’t helpful; she couldn’t filter out whether the original owner knew Yan Lei could cook, and she didn’t dare to show it. She just asked, “What did you make?”
“Just wait and eat,” Yan Lei said, then dived back into the kitchen.
Qiao Wei sniffed, and indeed, there was a faint aroma in the air.
Soon, Yan Lei came out carrying two bowls: “Be careful, it’s hot. Blow on it to cool it down before eating.”
It was actually two bowls of dough drop soup.
Qiao Wei: “Whoa!”
She scooped up a spoonful, blew on it to cool it, and put it in her mouth. Qiao Wei said with pleasant surprise, “It’s so fine.”
The dough drops were fine and small, cooked through; not only was the texture good, but the flavor had also soaked in.
Yan Lei said, “When pouring water into the flour, you have to pour it little by little, stirring as you pour; that’s how the drops stay small. The way you pour water in all at once, it just makes big lumps, which aren’t tasty.”
Qiao Wei thought to herself, fortunately, she hadn’t said anything unnecessary; she couldn’t give herself away on such trivial details.
She tasted it carefully.
She actually knew how to make dough drop soup too; her mother had taught her. Usually, she would stir-fry tomatoes until they were cooked and fragrant, add water, salt, soy sauce, and eggs, then put in the dough drops to boil. Her special secret was adding some minced chicken to enhance the flavor; with the meat, the dough drop soup would be exceptionally delicious.
Obviously, there were no conditions here to prepare minced chicken. There were chickens at the farmers’ market, but they were live chickens. Qiao Wei looked at them every day but didn’t dare to buy one.
She didn’t know how to kill one, and she didn’t dare to either.
She would ask the market next time if they would kill it for her.
Although there was no minced chicken, the dough drop soup Yan Lei made was also very fragrant.
Qiao Wei had a sharp palate; after tasting it, she guessed, “You added lard, didn’t you?”
Yan Lei was impressed: “Your taste buds are really picky.”
He said, “That basin you fried, use it up quickly since it’s hot.”
Not having a refrigerator was really terrible.
Qiao Wei looked at the courtyard and asked, “Should we dig a cellar?”
Didn’t all rural areas have cellars? They were very cool and suitable for storing food and vegetables. Several pastoral lifestyle bloggers Qiao Wei used to follow had all dug cellars. One cellar could be used for many video episodes; it really attracted traffic. It was easy to see how many city 996 workers were yearning for the countryside.
As she drank the dough drop soup, she looked at the courtyard while talking, imagining which location would be suitable for digging a cellar. Therefore, she didn’t see that when she said this, Yan Lei was slightly stunned and looked up at her.
After a pause, he asked, “Do you want to dig one?”
Qiao Wei turned her head, interested: “Do you know how to dig one? If you do, let’s dig one.”
Yan Lei grunted an “Mhm,” lowered his head to eat breakfast, and didn’t speak again.
He remembered very clearly that year he wanted to dig a cellar, and Qiao Weiwei threw a line at him: “Don’t mess with those rural things; remember you are already a cadre.”
His idea of digging a cellar was extinguished by her.
This couldn’t blame Qiao Wei for being careless. It was really just a passing comment, and even if Qiao Weiwei herself were reborn, she might not necessarily remember it. In her memory, it belonged to the content that had been covered with a gray filter and wasn’t willing to be recalled; it was even insignificant among those unwilling-to-recall contents and was directly selectively forgotten.
In Qiao Wei’s mind, there was no information about “digging a cellar”; she couldn’t even retrieve it.
Qiao Wei, however, knew very clearly about the matter of Yan Lei growing vegetables and composting, which had enraged Qiao Weiwei. Because this matter had made the original owner particularly angry, it belonged to a big event with a deep impression.
She deliberated and said, “I see that the vegetables grown in Regimental Commander Zhao’s family’s courtyard are quite good. I’ve thought about it; if you don’t compost that fertilizer, I can actually accept it.”
She even specifically brought up the composting matter to reinforce that she was “Qiao Weiwei.”
“Otherwise, let’s tidy up the courtyard and grow some vegetables,” she said. “I also want to dig a small pit over there, fill it with sand, and make a sandbox for Xiangxiang to play in.”
A child of this age must really like playing in the sand.
“You grow vegetables, I’ll grow flowers,” she said.
Flowers or vegetables, in her eyes, they were all life; as long as they were lush and green, she liked them.
She also liked the man’s sturdy muscles and the child’s pure smiling face.
“But we have to clean up these things first. I see there is still space behind the house; why don’t we pile them all in the back, out of sight, out of mind.”
There was still some clearance between the house and the wall, a space about one meter wide where useless clutter could be piled, making the courtyard much tidier and better looking.
As Qiao Wei drank the dough drop soup, she looked at the cluttered courtyard in front of her, imagining how to transform it into a beautiful pastoral courtyard.
Yan Lei looked up at her.
With a smile on her lips and her face bathed in light, her gaze at the courtyard seemed as if she were looking at some beautiful scenery.
Yan Lei couldn’t look away for a moment.
