Chapter 61: A Leisurely Day
When Xiao Lihua was brought back, the lamp oil in the oil lamp was almost burnt out.
Qiu Henian handed Xiao Mao to Qingyan and went outside to find an oil barrel to refill the lamp oil.
Qingyan’s cheeks were still flushed, his beautiful eyes moist, and his lips were unusually red. He wrapped himself in a blanket, his inner garments were not worn, only the red undershirt, which he pulled down inside the blanket. Despite the soft fabric, the parts of his chest that protruded still felt sore, and that residual feeling wouldn’t dissipate for a while.
Qiu Henian took off his outer clothes when he returned to bed, and Qingyan gave him a half-angry, half-shy glare.
He sat down beside Qingyan, kissed his forehead, and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
Qingyan bumped his forehead against Qiu Henian’s, “It’s all your fault, it feels like it’s all chafed!”
Qiu Henian glanced down, his eyes darkened, and his voice hoarse, “Let me take a look.”
Qingyan didn’t dare let him see again, quickly rolled over and pretended to play with the cat.
After a while, seeing the oil lamp still not extinguished, Qingyan turned around again and asked, “Aren’t you sleeping yet?”
Qiu Henian leaned against the head of the bed, his gaze moved from the book in his hand to him, smiling, “We don’t need to get up early these days. You were upset when I took the cat away just now. Let’s play with it a bit more now, and then sleep after we’ve had enough fun.”
However, Qingyan didn’t play with the cat anymore. He rolled over, leaned against Qiu Henian, and the two read together.
After reading for a while, Qingyan hesitated and asked, “Henian, do you believe in reincarnation?”
He didn’t directly mention time travel because the concept was difficult to understand in this era.
Qiu Henian pondered for a moment and said, “The reason I like reading books is because what I can see is just a speck of dust in the vast world.”
He gently tapped the book in his hand, “This is another speck of dust seen by others. But even if I read all the books in the world, it might still be just a handful of dirt in the palm of this world.”
He looked at Qingyan, “As for reincarnation, I haven’t seen it, but I think it’s possible.”
…
On the first day, Qingyan was awakened by the purring of the little cat and the soft cat hair rubbing against him.
The sun was shining outside, and he had slept soundly. Qingyan happily lifted the meowing little cat high in the air, his bare feet raised high too, singing and dancing like a teddy bear and a doll.
When Qiu Henian heard the commotion and came in, although he couldn’t understand the song Qingyan was singing, he could tell that Qingyan was in a good mood.
He smiled and sat down on the bedside, saying, “Get up, breakfast is ready.”
Qingyan gently shook the little cat, “What about its breakfast?”
Xiao Lihua obediently meowed and looked at the person beside the bed with its owner.
Qiu Henian looked at the two big eyes and smiled softly, “It’s ready too.”
Qingyan was happy, put down the cat, and tried to get up from the bed in one go, but he found that every part of his body was sore. He lifted his undershirt and turned his head back, seeing red marks all over his waist and back, extending into the waistband of his pants.
Qiu Henian naturally saw it too. Before he could say anything, Qingyan had already sat up on his lap and said, “Massage.”
Qiu Henian looked down at him, lightly pinched his index finger with his thumb, and reached into his undershirt.
After a while, Qingyan’s eyes gradually became moist.
He gently pushed the chest of the person holding him and said, “No more.”
But the hand in the undershirt didn’t come out. Qingyan looked up tearfully and was kissed by the man lowering his head.
While kissing him, the man reached under the pillow and put on the black wristband, and grabbed Qingyan’s delicate wrist with his other hand, guiding him to grasp the wristband he was wearing.
Qingyan suddenly understood and struggled to avoid his kiss, crying and finding an excuse, “The kitten is here, you said not to look…”
Qiu Henian picked up Qingyan, raised his hand and put down the bed curtain, separating Xiao Lihua in the bed curtain.
They came to the ground, and Qiu Henian let Qingyan lean against the stove wall so that he wouldn’t catch a cold.
….
It had lightly snowed last night, and the temperature wasn’t low enough. When they reached the ground, it melted away. This morning, the ground was still soft and moist. With a gentle effort, the shovel dug in.
Finally, when they had breakfast, the sun was almost at its zenith.
The food for both people and cats tasted a bit burnt and too soft, and it was because the food in the pot had been heated for too long, causing the water at the bottom of the pot to evaporate.
…
Throughout the year, there were few times as enjoyable as this.
In the summer, when the shop closed and there was nothing to collect on the ground, it was fine too. But the weather was too hot, and nothing beat the comfort of burning the stove as hot as one liked in the winter inside the house.
Qingyan named the little tabby cat Ah Miao. Since he gave it a name, he became Ah Miao’s true owner.
When he and Qiu Henian went to town to prepare food for the mountain trip, they also bought fabric and cotton for Ah Miao. Aunt Li said she would help make a small cotton coat and a bed for the cat, so Ah Miao wouldn’t freeze when they went up the mountain together.
The blacksmith’s shop had good business this year. Although Xiao Zhuang was still weak in health, he greeted guests coming in and out and ran errands to carry materials.
He could even wield the hammer a few times. It had been hard work all year round, so Qiu Henian wanted to buy him some new clothes to reward him.
Qingyan said, “Xiao Zhuang has many brothers and sisters. If you buy for him alone, others can only watch. Why not bring over a pig’s hind leg? It’s almost New Year’s, and with so many people, they can have a feast for a couple of meals.”
The two went to buy pork, and on the way back, they turned to Xiao Zhuang’s house, left it at the door, and didn’t enter.
Xiao Zhuang’s parents were very happy. His mother even wiped away tears. Xiao Zhuang himself only stared at the pig’s hind leg and drooled. His father knocked his head before he remembered to thank his Master and Madam.
Since the shop closed early, Qiu Henian planned to stay on the mountain for a few more days. Qingyan was also willing, so it was settled.
However, there were more things to prepare, but fortunately, they worked together this time, so they didn’t feel tired.
Before going up the mountain, Qingyan went to Old Liu’s house again and gave a hen to Qi Yinglan to nourish his body.
To his surprise, in just over ten days, Zhuangzhuang had changed a lot. He became fairer and fatter, with short arms and legs, chubby and with big watery eyes. He no longer had that wrinkled and ugly appearance.
The more Qingyan looked at him, the more he found him endearing.
Qi Yinglan’s complexion was even better than before giving birth. With his parents here during this period, she didn’t need to worry about anything. He ate and drank every day as he was used to. His husband cared for him tenderly, and his elder brother and sister-in-law were considerate to their whole family, so he naturally recovered well.
Seeing Qingyan like this, Qi Yinglan couldn’t help but cover his mouth and laugh.
He said, “You’ll understand when you have your own child. Newborn babies change every day. If they drink milk well, they grow very fast.”
Back home, Qingyan sat on the edge of the bed, his hand on his lower abdomen, feeling waves of heat there. Without opening his robe, he knew it must be red again.
These days, during the day, it had turned red several times, indicating that Qingyan was in another fertile period.
With the house being idle recently and the room being warm, he couldn’t wear thick clothes. If it weren’t for Qingyan’s inability to bear it, they could have done it every day.
Even now, it was every two or three days, and they always had another round.
During breakfast, Qiu Henian said he would heat water for a bath tonight.
Counting the days, it had been two days since the last time.
Qingyan bit his lip, feeling his heart beat faster.
He still couldn’t imagine himself with a big belly, but the child… seemed quite cute.
He also thought of Qiuniang’s family, how sensible and educated Qiuniang was, and how Qiu Lan’s daughter spoke with a childish voice and was as pink and tender as a dumpling, dependent and affectionate towards her mother.
Liu Fa’s words echoed in Qingyan’s mind again.
The day Blacksmith Wang passed away, Qiu Henian sat alone in the courtyard all night.
Let nature take its course.
Since he had said this, he would naturally keep his word.
Qingyan thought, if it happens, it happens.
Just let nature take its course!
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
Warm, moist kisses gently brushed the nape of his neck and ears.
