Dusk blurred, and the sky heavy with sunset hues gradually lost its color, slowly replaced by a canopy of stars.
By the bedroom window, Lin Aiyun had changed into a casual set of pajamas and was poring over a thick book recording the gift money they’d received. Yes, a book—filled cover to cover with entries.
She read carefully, not missing a single line, occasionally marking particularly large sums with a pencil notation.
No joke—this was the fund for their future life together. When they had kids, it would double as milk money. Going over it carefully in her mind helped her keep track.
Even though these would eventually have to be returned as gifts to others, for now, what was in hand was hers.
Suddenly, a warm presence crept up silently behind her. His damp, heated chest pressed firmly against her back. His slightly higher body temperature seeped through the contact, quickly scrambling the thoughts she’d just neatly organized.
“What are you doing? Don’t get so close—I’m in the middle of something important.”
Lin Aiyun clicked her tongue and used her elbow to push Xiao Cheng back, but he didn’t budge an inch. Instead, he leaned down, resting his chin on her shoulder, his soft lips brushing against her earlobe as he murmured, “Wife, the real important business isn’t this.”
“Oh, go away.” The tingling sensation spread from her earlobe throughout her body. Lin Aiyun couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh as she tried to dodge aside.
Taking advantage of the moment, Xiao Cheng reached out, snatched the ledger from the desk, and tossed it aside. Then he pressed his fragrant, soft wife against the tabletop. His slender, well-defined fingers quickly worked open the buttons of her pajama top, his voice carrying a low, husky smile at the end.
“It’s you.”
Lin Aiyun was momentarily confused. It took her a couple of seconds to process his words, and then her face flushed scarlet. She shot him a glare, but her eyes were full of springtime tenderness, her lips like peach petals.
Under the dim light, Xiao Cheng knelt on the long couch, pulling off his pajama top with both hands. Water droplets from his freshly washed hair trickled down, sliding over his sharp jawline, Adam’s apple, chest, abs…
And finally landing heavily on the awakening “Xiao the Younger.”
Lin Aiyun swallowed instinctively. Her long lashes fluttered as she watched his large, defined hand cover himself, rubbing slowly. The emotions in his eyes churned, barely concealing a controlled aggression.
She stood frozen, admiring the show. In her ears, his breathing grew heavier. But the next second, he suddenly closed the distance between them.
“Be good, wife. Give me your hand.”
His hoarse tone was pure masculinity overload. At that moment, if he’d asked for her hand—or even her life—she would have… well, she’d have to think about it.
When her soft, pale little hand met his palm, the slick, scorching heat made her flinch back—only to be grabbed firmly and guided somewhere far more audacious.
Her pajama top hung loosely on her, with nothing underneath. Before long, she was breached.
“Wha—what are you doing?” She stammered, nearly biting her tongue.
Wasn’t his hand… enough?
Apparently, it wasn’t.
Appetites grew with feeding—step by step, inch by inch.
Looking into Xiao Cheng’s pitiful, beautiful eyes, Lin Aiyun shamefully softened. Her resisting hand slowly withdrew, and he leaned in to kiss her lips.
In the chaos, her hand swept a teacup off the table. But Lin Aiyun had no mind to pick it up. Her glistening, watery eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, feeling as though the whole world was spinning and swaying, like a ballet dancer.
When she spoke again, her voice was dry and raspy.
“Can we… move somewhere else? You can’t just—” A tingly, slightly painful sensation spread through her, yet it was also strangely subtle, like opening a door to a new world.
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Cheng’s large hand obediently released her. The constricting pressure of her undergarment vanished completely, and the burning heat lodged between her thighs wandered elsewhere.
“…” Suddenly, she felt like maybe staying put wasn’t so bad after all.
A low laugh sounded in the air. Lin Aiyun looked up to see Xiao Cheng’s curved lips. His dark, ink-like eyes seemed capable of drawing her in, clear and piercing as if they saw right through her—leaving her utterly embarrassed at being caught.
The already intimate, lingering air became infused with an unspoken tenderness, fermenting uncontrollably.
“Like it?” He buried his face in the spot he’d been favoring, planting soft kisses again and again.
Lin Aiyun covered her face in silence, then suddenly remembered what those hands had been doing moments ago. She jerked them away, her ears burning crimson. Before she could speak, she felt his kisses traveling steadily downward.
An uncontrollable whimper escaped her lips, like a spark on a fuse. Xiao Cheng’s entire body tensed instantly. He reached out and clasped her hand, fingers interlacing tightly.
From her angle, all she could see was his strong, arched back and the smooth, flawless lines of his muscles—oh, and that narrow waist and firm backside. Perfect to her eyes.
Unlike their first wedding night in Nangou Village, tonight burned ten thousand times hotter.
Because the groom was no longer young and inexperienced. This time, he pulled out all the stops to please her, leaving her floating on cloud nine for nearly the entire night.
The water in the pond was nearly drained dry, yet he still wouldn’t let up.
“This is really going to kill me.” Lin Aiyun muttered under her breath, gripping his prickly short hair as she couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath. She raised her voice and scolded, “Xiao Cheng, can you go a little easier? What if you bite it off?”
“I won’t.”
He still had the nerve to play the pitiful card? Lin Aiyun bit down on his chin.
Outside, the first light of dawn was breaking; inside, it burned hotter than a scorching summer day.
The result of such unrestrained indulgence was that Xiao Cheng ended up stuck indoors for several days—not because he was out of commission, but because the half-circle of teeth marks on his chin was a bit too deep to explain.
Since there wasn’t much to do anyway, he treated it as a vacation, lazing around and sweetly clinging to his precious wife every day. Life couldn’t have been more comfortable.
But others didn’t know about these private bedroom affairs.
At the dinner table, Zhang Wenhua watched Lin Aiyun filling a large bowl with food, her lips parting as if she wanted to say something but held back. Finally, as Lin Aiyun was about to leave with the bowl, she couldn’t hold it in any longer: “Aiyun.”
“Mother, what’s wrong?” Lin Aiyun turned back, looking confused.
Zhang Wenhua glanced left and right, making sure no one was around, then leaned in and lowered her voice in admonishment: “It’s good that you young people have plenty of energy. I know you two are trying for a baby, but you can’t overdo it—too much…”
“Mother!” Lin Aiyun’s face flushed crimson. She knew where this was going from the very first word. She understood the misunderstanding but didn’t know how to explain—after all, the real reason was just as hard to talk about. In the end, she could only mumble vaguely, “We know, but you’ve got the wrong idea.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. Xiao Cheng hasn’t left the house for days—did he get hurt? When I went to buy groceries the other day, I ran into Sister Zhang Lan. She knows a doctor who specializes in this sort of thing. If it’s serious, you can go see him on the down low—no one will know.”
Zhang Lan was the cook who used to help out at home. Since she shared the same surname as Zhang Wenhua, the two got along well and were quite close. But after they’d donated their assets, the household staff had been let go, so they hadn’t seen her in a while. Hearing the name, Lin Aiyun had to think for a moment before she remembered.
“Mother, why are you telling everyone everything?” Lin Aiyun sighed, feeling like she’d never be able to clear her name even if she jumped into the Yellow River.
“I didn’t tell anyone!” Zhang Wenhua quickly waved her hands in denial. “Do you think I’m clueless? It’s just that Sister Zhang Lan said her husband is getting older and can’t perform anymore, so he went to see an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor and only improved after taking some herbs.”
Wow. That was quite a load of information.
Lin Aiyun couldn’t help but gossip a little, and the mother and daughter ended up chatting for quite a while. She thought Zhang Wenhua had forgotten about the whole matter, but just as she was about to leave, she was stopped again.
“Really, your mother has been through it all. This concerns your happiness for decades to come—you can’t just brush it off.”
Her expression was so serious that she seemed determined not to let it go.
Lin Aiyun gave up and laid out the whole story from start to finish, then said with utmost sincerity, “Mother, your son-in-law is more than capable. You can rest one hundred percent assured. I’m going now—if I don’t get back soon, he’ll probably starve to death.”
“Huh? Oh, he’s very capable.” A flash of embarrassment crossed Zhang Wenhua’s face. She cleared her throat, then came to her senses and swatted Lin Aiyun’s backside twice. “Pfft, pfft! You girl, talking about death—how unlucky!”
Lin Aiyun stuck out her tongue playfully. “Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue.”
With that, she trotted out the door. Passing by the vegetable garden, she took a moment to peek inside. The bok choy, scallions, peppers, and other seedlings they’d planted earlier had begun to sprout tender green shoots—full of life.
Things would surely get better, just like those little sprouts.
As soon as she entered the room, she saw Xiao Cheng lounging on the long couch by the window, leaning back with a book in hand. He wore a black top and gray trousers, looking strikingly handsome—of course, that was if you ignored the glaring teeth marks on his chin, which had faded quite a bit after a few days.
But Lin Aiyun, the one who’d put them there, couldn’t help but see them first every time she looked at him—probably out of guilt. And the more she looked, the more obvious they seemed.
Blinking, she set the bowl and chopsticks down beside him. “Time to eat.”
No sooner had she said that than a strong arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her forward. She tumbled onto his lap, steady and secure. She rolled her eyes in exasperation but still managed to force a smile.
“Here, hubby, time for lunch.”
Resignedly, she picked up the spoon beside the chopsticks. After days of waiting on him hand and foot, even feeding him had become second nature.
She scooped up a big mouthful of rice and brought it to Xiao Cheng’s lips. He grinned and opened wide, not forgetting to butter her up: “Smells so good.”
“Good? Then eat up.” She scooped up another spoonful of shredded pork with green peppers and said with a hint of sarcasm, “Get better soon so you can go out and face people. Otherwise, everyone will think the great Master Xiao can’t perform.”
“Can’t perform?” With his mouth full, his words came out a bit garbled. Xiao Cheng raised an eyebrow—just two simple words, but his tone shifted through several inflections.
She thought that would strike his masculine pride and get him to properly heal his “wound” and get out of the house, so she nodded emphatically.
Who knew he’d just smile, his eyes curving with amusement.
“Who cares what they think? As long as my wife knows I’ve got it, that’s all that matters.”
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