Chapter 15: 15

Qi Yun didn’t think too deep when he said those words.

Perhaps it was the mood, or maybe because the Little Ginseng’s presence allowed Qi Second Son to unload his thoughts, but he ended up blurting out what was on his mind.

When he finished speaking, he didn’t get a positive response immediately. Qi Yun’s smile gradually faded.

The relaxed mood became tense at once. Qi Yun’s original position was half-laying while leaning on his elbows to support himself, but at that moment he felt frozen. He was unable to lie down, but unable to get up. 

During this time, Qi Yun heard a voice: “Xiang Gong, why do you want to sleep together?”

These words made Qi Yun’s heart cold.

It was a new day and there wasn’t a moon. The candles in the room were also out, so Qi Yun couldn’t see Ye Jiao’s expression in the darkness. However, he heard doubt in the woman’s voice.

It was pure puzzlement, as if it were a rare thing for two people to sleep together.

Qi Yun didn’t reply, not because he didn’t want to say anything, but because he had a stick in his throat.

What’s there to be sad about?

He was the one who said to stay in separate beds in the beginning. It was because he was worried about Ye Jiao getting sick, but wasn’t it also because of another fear in his heart? 

Afraid of her disgust, afraid of her alienation; he should have been prepared.

What’s the point of being uncomfortable now? 

Qi Yun wanted to say: “That was just a joke; I hope Jiao Niang doesn’t take it seriously.” But when the words came to his mouth, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Ye Jiao didn’t wait too long for Qi Yun’s response, but she could hear the man’s breathing.

It’s not that the woman had ears that could hear a thousand miles away, but the room was so quiet you couldn’t miss anything, even if you wanted to.

Living in the same room for so long, Ye Jiao knew that Qi Yun didn’t have this kind of breathing pattern before he slept. After thinking about it, the Little Ginseng suddenly said: “After getting married, people must sleep together right?”

Qi Yun was stunned for a moment and forgot about his discomfort. He asked without thinking: “You didn’t know?”

As soon as he asked, Qi Yun wanted to plug his mouth.

No one taught her these things before Jiao Niang got married. The Ye couple (her brother and sister-in-law) knew but never told her, and he himself didn’t explain anything after they got married. It’s normal that Jiao Niang wouldn’t know about it.

What Qi Yun didn’t know was that the original Ye Jiao understood a bit. Even if she was the youngest daughter of the family, she still had common sense.

But because Ye Ersao wanted to sell her, and she knew she was going to be a widow, her memories of getting married were gray and tinted with desperation. Thus, the Little Ginseng was reluctant to go through those memories and skipped through. What common sense – none of that was etched in her memory.

Now, the Little Ginseng thought of this line of reasoning because of the Little Fox, who casually mentioned that she and her scholar husband had good times in bed together. 

Other adjectives were used, but the helpless Little Ginseng was pure as paper and clean as water, so she didn’t understand the rest.

Even with Qi Yun’s lack of reply, Ye Jiao felt that she was right.

She muttered in her heart about how Xiang Gong praised her for nothing, considering how quickly she forgot such a simple thing.

Fortunately, the Little Ginseng was a good spirit who liked to learn and immediately replied: “Xiang Gong, just wait, I’ll come over.”

Her clear and crisp voice, without any semblance of hesitation, made Qi Yun’s loneliness vanish into thin air.

There was a rustling noise in the soft couch area. Qi Yun was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to find her shoes; if she stepped on the ground with bare feet, she would catch a cold. The man immediately found the torch and blew it. When he saw the flicker of fire, he used it to light the candle above the bed.

As the jumping candle light slowly lit the bedroom, Qi Yun saw a white light flash in front of him.

It turned out it was Ye Jiao’s arm, reaching for the quilt. Her jade-white skin dazzled his eyes.

Ye Jiao quickly retracted her arm again.

Wrapping herself tightly with the quilt, the Little Ginseng pursed her lips and said: “It’s so cold.” She only stretched out her arm just now, but felt as if the exposed skin was about to freeze.

Qi Yun looked at the charcoal basin in the room, only to realize it had gone out.

These days, charcoal fire was divided into grades, and the best ones were used to supply the emperor’s relatives and dignitaries. This was a privilege that couldn’t be bought with money.

When it came to ordinary wealthy households, although the charcoal fire didn’t emit smoke when lit, it occasionally got burnt out and caused people to get “charcoal poisoning.” So at night, the charcoal fire was put out and the room naturally cooled down.

While there was still leftover warmth from the daytime, after getting used to the warmth in the quilt, of course it would be cold when you came out.

Qi Yun said with some distress in his eyes: “I only mentioned it casually. If you…” 

Before he finished speaking, he found that Ye Jiao had already wrapped the quilt and tightly surrounded herself with it. Holding the quilt with both hands, she leaned towards the ground, found her embroidered shoes, and jumped her way towards Qi Yun’s bed!

Qi Yun’s first thought was how naturally, physically “cute” his Lady was all the time. His next thought was that he was grateful he lit the candle, otherwise it would’ve been a bit scary to be suddenly pounced on by a jumping “quilt spirit” in the darkness.

Seeing her jump closer, Qi Yun hurriedly put the candle aside and stretched his hand out to catch her.

Ye Jiao and her quilt both fell into his arms. Qi Yun’s face, which still had a hint of discomfort, slowly turned into a smile.

Ye Jiao couldn’t smile, though.

She didn’t expect the human body to be so difficult to control. She was too lazy to put on a layer of clothes and then take it off again – who would have thought that she would tie herself up. She would have fallen on the bed at that last step if Qi Yun hadn’t caught her!

Ye Jiao grumpily rolled in circles while wrapped in a quilt. Qi Yun let her go, pulled out his own blanket, and pointed to the inside of the bed: “Why don’t you sleep here.”

Ye Jiao hesitated for a moment, but didn’t object and laid down obediently.

Since neither of them wanted to leave the warm bed to grab a pillow, they just made do with a long pillow.

Qi Yun blew out the candle, and only when he was back in bed did he feel a little sore in his arm.

It wasn’t that Ye Jiao had pressed him just now, but Qi Second Son had been propping his body up on his elbows. His arm was numb after not moving it due to his mood swings.

Just now he was in a hurry and reached out to catch his wife. Now that he’s come back to his senses, he felt numb from his forearm to fingertips.

So he laid down and gently rubbed his arm, saying nothing.

After all, Young Master Qi wanted to save face. In front of his wife, Qi Yun cared even more.

Ye Jiao, who laid on the other side of the bed, also didn’t speak.

She originally thought that sleeping in one place would be the same as another and it wouldn’t be a problem. But now she was a little afraid of heating up Xiang Gong. She thought that once he fell asleep, she could quietly weasle away.

After laying down, Ye Jiao looked at the thick quilts covering both of them and felt that she thought too much.

It was a big deal before because Ye Jiao’s entire body was curled in his arms – to the point where she could feel him breathing.

Now, the two people slept under separate quilts. It was difficult to be close, as they couldn’t even touch each other.

It felt like a waste to just lay down like this. Ye Jiao thought about how busy Qi Yun was with the shop recently and how she had to learn how to read and write. Although they still spent time together, they didn’t hold hands as often.

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Once she thought something, she would act on it. The Little Ginseng quietly took her hand out of her quilt and fumbled it into the man’s quilt.

Qi Yun, whose fingertips were numb, felt them being gently grasped by someone.

Ye Jiao didn’t exert any force. However, his blood hadn’t been circulating – even a light touch made Qi Yun feel the numbness of his hand spread straight up his arm, making him involuntarily tremble.

The Little Ginseng thought this was a little weird: “Xiang Gong, what’s wrong with you?”

Qi Yun held it in and squeezed his arm hard to make himself more comfortable. He gently said: “It’s okay,” and grabbed Ye Jiao’s hand with his.

Interlocking fingers.

Qi Yun actually wasn’t used to sleeping with people. He’s also a little unwilling to get along with others because of his poor health. He thought that sharing the bed with his wife would require a lot of mental fortitude. Who knew that he would fall asleep without thinking more of it.

An evening of good dreams and a very sweet sleep.

The next day, Ye Jiao woke up a bit earlier than him. Feeling that the man was still holding her fingers, Ye Jiao carefully withdrew her hand. She was relieved to see that he wasn’t startled awake.

Qi Yun still needed to take care of his body by sleeping an adequate amount of time, so Ye Jiao didn’t wake him up. Because of her flimsy clothes, Ye Jiao took the thick robe that Qi Yun placed on the bedside and got out of bed.

Ye Jiao tidied up, asked someone to replace the hot charcoal pot, and went out – she was already familiar with this whole set of tasks.

When breakfast was almost ready, Qi Yun just woke up. 

Qi Yun, who used to suffer from insomnia, had been sleeping better day by day since marrying Ye Jiao. Because of that, he’d been getting used to sleeping until the sky lightened.

However, Qi Yun didn’t like to be lazy like ordinary people; he didn’t even like to have too much free time. After breakfast, he asked Tie Zi to call Steward Song.

Ye Jiao had already prepared a small room for Xiang Gong. Even though it was very warm inside, Ye Jiao diligently watched Qi Yun put on thick clothes, making sure he wouldn’t catch a cold, before letting him go.

Ye Jiao, on the other hand, went to Liu Shi’s yard. After not sitting for long, she heard that Qi Ming was coming and prepared to leave. She didn’t want to disturb their mother-son reunion.

Before leaving, Liu Shi warned: “When Third Son returns to the academy, the stewards will count the money and put it in the accounts. When the time comes, the money will be distributed. Go back and ask Second Son if he wants to watch them do so.”

Ye Jiao also heard Qi Yun talk about this. After reporting, the stewards had to count the money and put it into the treasury. Although it all went to their respective treasuries, this process had to be done in front of the Qi family owners.

Father Qi and Qi Zhao would both be there; if Qi Yun’s body was okay, he would be there too.

At that time, it wouldn’t just be cold numbers on the ledger, but shiny white silver and copper coins threaded in strings – each of which had to be carefully counted.

Liu Shi specifically told Ye Jiao because the wine shop made a lot of money and she was happy to let her second son come over to show off.

Ye Jiao agreed, and remembered those words before leaving.

On the way back, Ye Jiao bumped into Little Stone.

This time, it wasn’t Fang Shi who was holding Stone, but the old lady in Fang Shi’s house. Stone had an extraordinary affection for Ye Jiao, and when he saw her, he stretched out his hand so Ye Jiao could hold him.

Ye Jiao wanted to hold him too. In fact, anything similar to a bear cub was likable.

However, Ye Jiao didn’t want to burn up the cute child, so she smiled and grabbed his chubby hand. She looked at the old lady: “Why didn’t eldest sister-in-law come? I didn’t see her at mother-in-law’s place just now.”

The old lady replied: “The Eldest Young Lady said she felt unwell last night, and even now she hasn’t gotten up.”

Hearing that Fang Shi was ill, Ye Jiao quickly asked: “Is she alright?”

The old lady shook her head: “Nothing’s wrong.” It was just troublesome. She’s followed Fang Shi for several years and she could see that the eldest young mistress had a small heart. Trivial details would make her angry, not to mention how embarrassed she felt yesterday.

A few days later, she’ll (the old lady) check in again. Fang Shi used to like this day the most, waiting for it every two months. Now she was afraid and hiding as much as possible.

It’s just that these words couldn’t be said to Ye Jiao, so the old lady held it in.

Ye Jiao smiled and said: “It’s good if nothing is wrong.” She then looked at Little Stone: “I’m free now – why don’t you take Stone to my place to stay for a while? It’s windy in this garden, and we don’t want it to blow on the child.”

The old lady naturally had no reason to refuse, and followed Ye Jiao with Stone in her arms.

Ye Jiao entered the yard and saw that the door to the small room was still tightly closed. She thought that Xiang Gong and Steward Song were having a longer conversation today than usual. Instead of going in to look, she brought Little Stone into the house.

Usually, Ye Jiao practiced calligraphy in the wing during this time, and today was no exception.

The table had pens, inks, papers, and inkstones. Ye Jiao grinded the ink and spoke at the same time: “Xiao Su, I remember that there was a plate of sand cakes [1] ; in the morning. Let’s bring some to Stone.”

Children loved to eat sweets, and usually Stone ate with Ye Jiao when they visited Liu Shi. Although the two were far apart in age, they had similar eating habits. Ye Jiao also treated him very well.

This sand cake was a steamed cake made of glutinous rice flour with a filling of mashed sesame seeds and sugar in the middle. It was soft and sweet, especially suitable for children.

Stone wasn’t attracted by the sand cake, but had his eyes on the writing brush on the table.

When Ye Jiao picked up the pen to write, Little Stone suddenly struggled in the arms of the old lady: “Auntie, Second Auntie!”

Ye Jiao immediately raised her head to look at him, but didn’t go over. She just smiled and asked: “What’s wrong, Stone?”

Little Stone was still young, and sometimes he couldn’t articulate what he was thinking. He only knew how to call Ye Jiao over and over again while pinning his round eyes on the brush.

The old lady didn’t understand, but Ye Jiao understood his heart: “You want to try it too?”

Stone immediately nodded. With his chubby cheeks, he looked like a porcelain doll.

Ye Jiao didn’t refuse, and asked the old woman to carry over Little Stone. She gave him a brush but didn’t dip it in ink, afraid that he would eat it. She just dipped it in water and let him draw on the cloth.

Fortunately, Little Stone couldn’t tell whether it was ink or water. Anyway, there were traces of it on the blue cloth and the little guy was also happy.

Writing and writing until the piece of canvas was full, Ye Jiao got up and went to change it with another one. Little Stone obediently held up the brush and waited.

At that moment, there was a voice from outside: “Sister-in-law.”

***

The author has something to say: 

Author flower: Jiao Niang, you are so good to Little Stone; is it because you’re so sympathetic between foodies?

Jiao Niang: … Hmph! [Eats a plate of sand cake with anger]

***

Footnotes:

[1] Sand cakes are local delicacies made by the Zhuang ethnic group in China. They have a light, soft, and fresh taste. Baike

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