Chapter 112: Recovery
Qiu Henian lowered his head and kissed Qingyan’s small bulging pregnant belly, then lifted his head to kiss his lips. However, Qingyan tightly closed his lips, refusing to open them.
Pressing his lips against Qingyan’s, Qiu Henian asked, “What’s wrong?”
Unable to speak or move, Qingyan blinked his eyes.
Qiu Henian smiled, gently touched his head, and said, “If you don’t want to kiss, let’s just talk.”
He wrapped Qingyan in the blanket and held him in his arms, saying, “I was released from prison three days ago. Before I came out, Yang Huai was arrested and sent in. Along with him, the magistrate of Muling County was also arrested.”
“After I got out, I wanted to find you, but I was worried about missing you, so I waited at home. A few days ago, I heard Feng Lao San’s caravan was returning, so I waited at Fragrant Melody Pavillion for you. I heard you had gone to the county office, so I planned to take his carriage to the county, and coincidentally saw you coming back.”
Qiu Henian’s large hand stroked Qingyan’s cheek, his lips touching his forehead, as he said, “Qingyan, I missed you very much.”
After a while, he felt warm drops of water on his hand. He looked down and saw Qingyan crying with tears streaming down his face, eyes red, mouth opening and closing without sound, looking pitiful.
Qiu Henian’s heart ached instantly. He hugged Qingyan tightly, kissing his cheeks and neck incessantly.
…
Qingyan lay on the bed like this for another day. His body gradually recovered, and he could finally get out of bed, though his throat was still not better.
As soon as he could move, he eagerly wanted to take a bath. Unable to speak, he went to the granary’s bath barrel on his own.
Seeing this, Qiu Henian understood his intentions. He asked him to wait in the room while he heated water and cleaned the bath barrel.
Once everything was ready and the water temperature was just right, Qingyan, who had been leaning against the bed, wanted to get up. Qiu Henian pressed his shoulder lightly to stop him.
Later, Qiu Henian smiled at him and didn’t let him do it himself. He helped Qingyan take off his clothes one by one until he was naked. He also untied his hair. His gaze lingered on Qingyan’s swollen belly for a while. Then he bent down, lifted him horizontally, and walked him to the bath barrel.
He gently placed him in the water, soaking his skin in the warm water. Qingyan sighed comfortably, and Qiu Henian patiently washed his hair and body.
After washing, he helped Qingyan wash his face, brush his teeth, and dry his hair.
When everything was done, Qiu Henian carried him back to bed and covered him with a blanket.
Seeing that Qiu Henian had no intention of undressing, Qingyan looked at the bath barrel and then back at him, silently asking, “Aren’t you going to bathe?”
Qiu Henian said, “Not in a hurry, we’ll talk about it later.”
Qiu Henian sat down on the edge of the bed, picked up a book, and started reading. Qingyan was still weak, barely listening, and his eyelids drooped. Unconsciously, he fell asleep.
As he slept, he could faintly hear the sound of water in his ears, presumably Qiu Henian was bathing. He also felt the warm, furry little body rubbing against his cheek from time to time before leaving.
He heard someone whisper softly, “Ah Miao, be good, don’t disturb him.”
The little calico meowed a couple of times as if in response.
However, Qingyan slowly opened his eyes and woke up, feeling tired but having slept more these past two days. Unable to fall back asleep after such a short nap, his body felt somewhat recovered.
When he opened his eyes, Qiu Henian was still sitting beside him, reading a book. His collar wasn’t as tightly fastened as usual, revealing his neck and a bit of his collarbone. His hair was still half-wet, and Ah Miao was obediently lying on his leg, being gently stroked on her thick little cat fur.
Qingyan moved slightly, and Qiu Henian heard the movement, so he put down the book and looked over.
Supporting himself with his elbow, Qingyan reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
“What’s wrong, do you need to go to the bathroom?” Qiu Henian asked as he looked at him.
Feeling embarrassed, Qingyan shook his head and looked at his lips.
Qiu Henian understood his meaning, leaned closer to him, and just before he kissed him, he whispered softly, “Was it because I didn’t bathe yesterday that you didn’t want me to get close?”
Qingyan blinked, and Qiu Henian smiled before finally kissing him.
Their lips and tongues intertwined, and Qiu Henian held Qingyan’s hips, letting him sit on his lap.
With a meow, Ah Miao was mercilessly pushed away by her own master. She jumped off the bed, turned back to protest with a few meows, and then trotted out of the room on her four light paws, playing on her own.
The two on the bed kissed for a while before catching their breath. Qingyan felt something under his buttocks and blushed, looking down.
Qiu Henian kissed his brows and eyes with tiny kisses, softly hoarse, “Don’t mind it.”
This trip to the capital had taken a toll on Qingyan’s body, and he needed a few days to recover.
Even if Qiu Henian wanted to, he wouldn’t want to disturb him at this time.
Qingyan softly leaned on his shoulder, facing his neck, rubbing against it and sighing contentedly.
…
Two more days passed. Qingyan’s throat finally got better, and he could talk again. His body also recovered almost completely, and he could go out for a stroll.
In the cool morning, Qiu Henian accompanied him to walk by the river. Back home, they sat under the grape arbor to bask in the sun, played with Ah Miao, fed the chicks, and touched the eggs.
Just over a dozen days away, when Qingyan returned, he felt everything in this home was particularly good. Even those few chicks looked pretty and lovely.
As soon as he could go out, the house became lively.
Aunt Li and Qiuniang sent delicious food to the house every day. Chen Yu even specially stewed a pot of broth and sent it over to him.
Seeing him recovering well, Aunt Li mentioned about Huani leaving the shop.
“She said she didn’t want to continue. I gave her this month’s salary, but she didn’t accept it,” Aunt Li sighed.
Qingyan sighed as well after hearing this. “If she wants to leave, let her go. Given the current situation, tensions have already arisen. Even if I treat her as before, over time, there will likely be more problems.”
“I thought the same way, so I didn’t force her to stay,” Aunt Li said.
Qingyan said, “However, we still need to hire someone recently. I’ll return to the shop in a couple of days, and we can discuss it then.”
Aunt Li nodded in agreement.
During Qingyan’s recovery these days, Liu Fa and his wife also came over with lots of things in their hands, looking very guilty.
Qiu Henian and his wife didn’t say much about their own family. However, they mishandled Liu Xiang’s matter, dragging it out when they should have made a decision. This led to trouble for both of them. Liu Yongfu and Zhang Ju even took Yang Huai’s money and falsely accused someone, nearly causing an innocent person’s death.
Liu Fa and his wife felt ashamed to face Qiu Henian and his wife. They came to apologize.
Qiu Henian said, “Brother Liu, I understand what’s going on in your family. You have your difficulties. You’re not at fault. There’s no need to apologize to me.”
Qingyan also said, “The past is behind us. We’ll be as we were before.”
Qingyan accepted everything they brought with them, which helped ease their minds a bit.
However, when they tried to repay the remaining one hundred taels of silver and offered an additional fifty taels as thanks, Qingyan refused to accept anything more.
He only said if the family ever ran into financial difficulties again, they could ask him for help. Liu Fa and his wife finally took back the fifty taels.
…
Another day passed. Qiu Henian changed into his traveling robe and prepared to make a trip to the county.
Qiu Yan, the herald from the capital, was about to return to Beijing. Before leaving, he sent word to Qiu Henian, hoping to meet him in person.
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
“Even though I forced you to relinquish your military achievements to Qiyuan, used your subordinates’ lives to coerce you into taking poison to erase your memory, and caused you to live as a poor blacksmith in a remote village, don’t you resent me?”
