Chapter 122: Buying New Year’s Goods
It had been a long time since they had done this. The moment they entered, Qingyan’s whole body trembled slightly.
The man didn’t use any fancy moves; it was just the most primitive collision, straightforward and real. Each thrust was solid and real, only slowing down when Qingyan couldn’t bear it, allowing him to catch his breath.
Worried about Little Jindou sleeping next door, they didn’t dare to spend too much time. In the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the man fiercely kissed Qingyan’s lips, becoming intense and thrusting into him.
Qingyan raised his hand to pull him closer by the neck, and after dozens of times, the man quickly withdrew.
But Qingyan wouldn’t let go, holding onto his neck tightly, even lifting himself off the bed.
Qiu Henian hurriedly whispered in his ear, “Be good, you might get pregnant…”
Only then did Qingyan relax, lying back down. Qiu Henian couldn’t resist anymore, his forehead veins bulging, hurriedly retreating.
Immediately, Qingyan’s belly was hot and moist, his suppressed moans were once again kissed by the man.
After it was over, Qiu Henian lay on the bed for a while. When he got up to tidy up, he noticed Qingyan had a hand on his side, awkwardly stopping what was flowing down his stomach. Qiu Henian’s heart softened and found it amusing. He quickly took a cloth to help him wipe it away.
Qingyan let him take care of it, and once cleaned up, Qiu Henian covered him with the blanket.
He briefly wiped himself and then kissed his forehead, saying, “Rest for a while, I’ll check on Little Jindou.”
Qingyan was concerned as well, so he nodded.
Shortly after, when Qiu Henian returned, he brought a basin of reheated water and placed it by the bed, saying, “He’s sleeping soundly, don’t worry.”
Qingyan lazily stretched his limbs under the blanket. Then, he handed his hand to Qiu Henian, who pulled him up, standing at the edge of the bed. They washed their bodies briefly again.
Qiu Henian also cleaned the jade rod he had used earlier, placing it at the bottom of the wooden box, separate from the unused ones, ready to prepare medicine in the morning.
He brought a fresh rod and helped Qingyan insert it. After finishing, they kissed again in this position for a while. Qiu Henian was restless in his mind, his fingertip tracing the exposed silk, almost pulling out the jade rod he had just inserted.
Thinking it was too frequent and could harm him before the end of the month, he desisted.
…
After Qingyan’s postpartum recovery, it was already mid-November.
During the day, Aunt Li didn’t come over anymore but continued to work at Fragrant Melody Pavillion. Every day after returning from the shop, she came to help Qingyan take care of the baby. They bathed the baby together, and Qingyan washed and dried the baby’s small clothes, diapers, and blankets.
Qiu Henian tried to come home early every day to prepare dinner. Aunt Li ate here, then went home. Qiu Henian chatted with Qingyan, read books together, played cards, washed the clothes changed by the adults in the house before going to bed, and tidied up the house.
This way, the day passed until it was time to lie down and sleep.
With the arrival of the child, life changed a lot and became busier. The house also became more filled with the taste of home.
After the postpartum period, Qingyan gradually returned to his previous self. He no longer cried inexplicably over small matters or occasionally rushed into Qiu Henian’s arms to be comforted, though Qiu Henian felt that something was missing.
Occasionally, when Qingyan was tired, he would sit in his arms and bury his face in his neck, and then Qiu Henian felt complete.
After the postpartum period, Little Jindou drank milk three times a night and had his diaper changed three times, which made it much easier.
Qingyan felt sorry for Qiu Henian being too tired and brought Little Jindou back to him. He took care of the baby at night, and when the child slept during the day, he could sleep for a while to catch up.
However, Qiu Henian also followed him back and refused to sleep next door no matter how Qingyan persuaded him.
When night came, he woke up automatically, took the milk out of the pot in advance, and prepared the diaper. Little Jindou had just whimpered a few times when he had already wrapped the baby and efficiently fed the milk, changed the diaper, burped him, and soothed him to sleep before putting him down.
When Qingyan woke up groggily, Qiu Henian had already placed Little Jindou next to him. When Little Jindou was put down, he opened his eyes. Qingyan turned over, gently patted the baby’s buttocks, and closed his eyes again.
Qiu Henian took off his outer clothes, extinguished the oil lamp, lay down beside Qingyan, turned sideways, and embraced both Qingyan and Little Jindou, feeling completely satisfied.
By the end of November, the weather had become very cold, and winter had arrived.
Qiu Henian took the dairy goat from the backyard to the outer room and built a fence inside, laying straw so that it could move and sleep inside.
They cleaned up on time every day, so there wasn’t much odor.
The milk from this goat was Little Jindou’s food, and both Qiu Henian and Qingyan took care of it diligently.
San Yao brought alfalfa hay every other day. Since there was no green grass in winter, they supplemented it with carrots.
When the sun was good, Qingyan took Little Jindou for a walk by the river, sometimes also taking the dairy goat out.
Children grow very fast; almost every day they change, and when their beautiful big eyes open, they look around curiously, fascinated by everything.
Qiu Henian fixed the cradle he had made earlier to the roof of the inner room. Inside, Qingyan laid down soft cotton mattresses, placed small pillows and blankets.
Qingyan personally made a small mouse and a small kitten. Ah Miao jumped over, sniffed the mouse’s head, then circled around the kitten disdainfully lifted a paw and swiped at it, then twisted its cat butt and walked away.
Now it was a big cat and its temperament wasn’t as timid as when it was young. It often ran out from the cat door to play and didn’t come back for a long time.
It was only when other people’s children mentioned it to Qingyan that he found out. This small tabby was the local cat overlord and it managed all the cats in the neighborhood, regardless of size.
Qingyan finished making the small mouse and small kitten, so Qiu Henian used flexible willow twigs to enclose them and tied them to the side of the cradle with fine hemp rope.
When Jindou lay in the cradle, whenever he was awake, his hands and feet would never stop moving. It would make the mouse or kitten stir up, and Jindou would either chase the mouse or the mouse would chase the kitten. Jindou watched with wide eyes, not making a sound for a long time, allowing Qingyan to eat a good meal by himself at home.
After getting tired of watching and eating, Qingyan would lightly push the cradle and Jindou would fall asleep, which saved him a lot of trouble.
Qiu Henian was still unoccupied, but he had already made a small table and a small chair for Jindou, as well as a small cart with wheels that allowed Qingyan to push Jindou outside to bask in the sun, even though he didn’t need it yet. The other children said they were good, and had the carpenter make them a little similar.
December was approaching and the New Year was about to come. Because the child was still young, the couple couldn’t go hunting in the mountains for the past two years.
The previous New Year’s goods were arranged by Qiu Henian, and he also bought most of them this year.
As the New Year approached, Aunt Li had time off and came to help with the children. She also urged Qingyan to go out and walk, so she and Qiu Henian went to the county together for a day and bought everything they wanted to eat. They didn’t return until it was almost dark.
When they returned, they brought Aunt Li pastries from He Xiangzhai and large candied haws that were frozen stiff.
Qingyan also bought himself a candied haw, but he couldn’t eat it outside and slowly took it home.
Large hawthorns were stuffed with sesame and bean paste, and the outside had a crispy sugar shell. With one bite, it was sour, sweet, and fragrant.
Qingyan was happily eating when he suddenly saw Jindou lying on the bed had woken up, looking at the candied haws in his hands, his little mouth watering.
Qingyan squatted down beside the bed so Jindou couldn’t see him, and secretly ate. As he ate, he couldn’t help but smile.
Qiu Henian finished unloading the New Year’s goods from the carriage and was busy in the outer room. Passing by the doorway of the inner room, he happened to see this scene. He couldn’t help but stop in his tracks, watching for a while before smiling.
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
Qingyan obediently let himself be pressed down by the heavy body, raising his hand to touch the other’s brows, eyes, and nose bridge. Qiu Henian stared at him fixedly for a while, then his large hand slipped inside Qingyan’s robe.
