☆ 31. Good Intention

“Dad, it’s fine if you and Mom are in love and have little brothers or sisters, Qiuqiu will like it.” Qiuqiu said seriously, her little hands clasped behind her back.

She will not be like Zhuangzhuang, who doesn’t want mom and dad to have babies. She will be a good sister.

Su Cheng was at the well, washing the family’s clothes. He was quick at it, and just as he finished scrubbing the soap off the clothes, he suddenly heard those words. His hands moved too forcefully, and with a rip, a hole appeared in the garment he was holding.

Looking down at the piece of clothing in his hands, it was the red dress Ji Meng had worn that afternoon.

Earlier, when Ji Meng went to take a shower, Su Cheng had asked her to take it off and hand it out to him. He had done the same thing before, at first, Ji Meng was a bit shy, but now she could confidently stand behind the old wooden door and extend her hand to pass out her clothes.

Su Cheng pulled the dress open to take a look. The seam at the shoulder had ripped open, creating a hole the size of his palm. The fabric was sheer chiffon, and the edges were frayed, making it difficult to repair.

Su Cheng’s brows furrowed as he felt a pang of frustration. He glanced at his soapy hands, expressionless, then looked up at his daughter.

“Where did you hear the words ‘in love’? You’re so young, how did you come up with that?”

Su Cheng had an unusual level of affection for Qiuqiu, he had never used a harsh tone even to wake her up, and this time, his gaze was more serious than ever, and his voice was cold.

Qiuqiu was a bit frightened, her small shoulders shrinking: “Dad.”

“Hmm, who told you that Mom and Dad are in love and can have little brothers and sisters together?” Not wanting to scare his daughter, Su Cheng ultimately suppressed his anger and softened his voice.

“Zhuangzhuang said so.” Qiuqiu fiddled with her fingers and lowered her head, answering honestly.

“Zhuangzhuang said his mom and dad told him that he’s already a big kid and can’t sleep with them anymore, or it will interfere with their being in love and having a little baby.”

Children cannot distinguish what can be said and what cannot. Zhuangzhuang liked Qiuqiu a lot and shared everything with her, so she learned many things that little kids shouldn’t understand yet.

For example, Dad and Mom need to be in love, it’s not enough just to sleep in the same room, they also need to hold each other, and she shouldn’t be in between them.

For another example, if mom and dad want to have a baby, they will be more in love, so they won’t be apart anymore.

These days, Qiuqiu felt that her parents’ relationship had improved a lot, at least better than before.

But she was still very worried that her parents might separate.

After hearing Zhuangzhuang’s words, she had been thinking how to tell her parents that she wanted to sleep alone. However, since she couldn’t bear to be away from them, this matter had been postponed. Now that her sister had come, she had a companion, so there was no need to delay any longer.

“Dad, aren’t you and Mom a couple? Zhuangzhuang said couples need to sleep together, and Qiuqiu has decided that from now on, she will sleep with her sister and not with Dad and Mom anymore.”

“……” Raising a daughter is really not an easy task, who would have thought that a child just starting kindergarten could understand so much?

Once again, Su Cheng wanted to raise his hand to press his forehead, but after rinsing the soap off his hands, he looked up at his daughter, who was hanging her head but secretly watching him. After thinking for a moment, he said:

“Dad and Mom’s matters are for Dad and Mom to handle. Qiuqiu, you’re still a little girl, and your task is to focus on your studies. You’re not allowed to discuss these things with Zhuangzhuang anymore, otherwise, Dad and Mom will have to talk to his grandma.”

“Oh.”

Seeing his father’s unusually serious expression, even contemplating talking to Zhuangzhuang’s grandma, Qiuqiu dared not disobey, pouting slightly in response.

“Good, Qiuqiu is a good girl.”

When Su Cheng saw Qiuqiu comply, his expression softened a bit, but the next moment, her question caused his brows to furrow again.

“Then, Dad, can I sleep with my sister tonight?”

“Sure.” Su Cheng finally agreed, there’s no reason to refute, Qingyu indeed should not sleep alone right now.

“Yay! Then I’ll go tell my sister.”

Qiuqiu happily jumped in place, then turned to leave. But after taking a couple of steps, she turned back to look at her dad, her small face hesitant.

Noticing this, Su Cheng had no more temper left and just asked her, “What else is there?”

“Dad, do you like Mom?”

Hearing her father’s question, Qiuqiu quickly moved closer, standing beside Su Cheng, and quietly asked him.

“If you like Mom, you need to treat her better and be loving.”

After asking, Qiuqiu didn’t wait for her dad’s reply and continued talking on her own.

“Many people like Mom. Uncle Zheng and Uncle Fu from the market both like her. If you don’t treat Mom well, and she gets angry, she might divorce you and leave.”

As she spoke, Qiuqiu grew anxious.

“Dad, what I’m saying is true. You need to treat Mom better, look at how good Uncle Fu is to Mom. Uncle Fu even came to see me and Mom yesterday.”

The fact that Fu Junyan had come over had already been mentioned by Ji Meng to Ji Qinghe during dinner. At that time, although he felt a subtle sensation in his heart, it was fleeting and quickly passed.

But now, hearing his daughter’s words, that subtle feeling returned, growing like wild grass, rooting and spreading densely in his chest, squeezing his heart tightly and creating a sense of suffocation.

“Adult matters are not for children to worry about. Your sister is waiting for you, so hurry up. Dad is washing clothes,” Su Cheng said, his gaze blank as he looked down, taking the torn dress and tossing it aside.

Why can’t children be involved in adult matters?

Qiuqiu couldn’t understand, but she didn’t know how to argue with her dad yet. She pouted and replied, “Okay,” before walking away.

When Ji Meng finished her shower and came out, Qiuqiu had already fallen asleep with Qingyu in the small room, and Ji Qinghe had also returned to her room. In the yard, only Su Cheng remained, he had finished washing the clothes and was now hanging them out to dry.

Seeing this, Ji Meng wiped her hair with a dry towel and walked over, “Are they all asleep? What about Qiuqiu?”

Upon hearing Ji Meng’s voice, Su Cheng paused briefly in his movements. The garment he held was indeed Ji Meng’s torn dress.

“Yeah, they’re all asleep.”

Su Cheng quickly arranged the dress on the hanger and hung it on the drying rack. He responded quietly and then bent down to take another piece of clothing from the bucket to hang up.

Ji Meng glanced at the two large buckets of clothes in front of him, noticing that he hadn’t even finished half. She had already washed her own underwear while in the bathroom, and since her hair was half-dried and there wasn’t much else to do, she couldn’t help but ask, “Do you need help?”

Su Cheng turned his head to look at her. She had just finished her shower, her half-dry hair casually swept back, wearing a light green cotton dress that was wide and loose-fitting, without a waistline. It looked a bit oversized on her, yet there was a certain charm to it, subtly highlighting her graceful figure.

She seemed to really enjoy wearing dresses.

Casting a glance at the red dress hanging on the drying rack, which you would notice had a torn shoulder seam if you looked closely, Su Cheng pressed his lips together uncomfortably. “No need. Your hair isn’t dry yet, go back and blow-dry it first. I’ll be done here soon.”

Since he said no, Ji Meng didn’t insist. Her hair was indeed uncomfortably damp, so she went back to the room to get the hairdryer.

This hairdryer, which she had gone through great lengths to buy at a high price from Haishi, was an old metal one. Compared to the refined and lightweight models from decades later, this one wasn’t very convenient and required extra care to avoid electrical leakage. But at least it meant she didn’t have to go to bed with damp hair every night.

After drying her hands and plugging in the hairdryer, Ji Meng felt like she had overlooked something but couldn’t recall what it was. She didn’t dwell on it and turned the dryer on to start drying her hair.

With her thick hair, even after wringing it out with a dry towel, it took her quite a while to get it dry.

Just as she finished drying her hair, Su Cheng came in with the clothes he had hung out to dry, carrying a basin of water.

When Ji Meng saw the basin of hot water, she paused for a moment. During the days they went to pick up Qingyu, she had been coming back from class very late every day, and after taking a shower and dealing with her clothes, it had been even later, leaving her with little time for anything else. So, she hadn’t soaked her feet in quite a while.

But now that he had brought it in, she didn’t want to waste it. She sat by the bed to soak her feet. It was at this moment that Ji Meng remembered what she had overlooked: Qiuqiu wasn’t on the bed, nor was she in the room.

As she was about to place her feet into the wooden basin, she hesitated: “Is Qiuqiu sleeping with Qingyu?”

During dinner, Ji Qinghe mentioned that Qingyu was going to sleep, but at that moment, Qiuqiu had diverted the topic by asking for help with the dishes. When Ji Meng was taking a shower, she hadn’t thought about it, and when she came out and didn’t see anyone, she assumed that Qingyu was sleeping with Ji Qinghe and that Qiuqiu had gone back to her room.

Upon hearing this, Su Cheng glanced at her and said, “Yes, Qiuqiu is sleeping in the small room with Qingyu tonight, just the room next to ours.”

“Oh.” Ji Meng placed her feet into the basin, responding absentmindedly.

This was actually the best arrangement, but Qiuqiu not being in the room meant that it was just her and Su Cheng in the bed.

Ji Meng couldn’t tell the feelings swirling in her heart at this moment. Ever since she had given up on the idea of divorce, she had done countless mental preparations for this day, knowing it would come sooner or later.

As a couple, if they wanted a harmonious relationship, it was impossible to avoid their marital duties.

But she didn’t expect it to come so quickly, it was too sudden, and she instinctively felt panic rising within her.

The panic made Ji Meng feel almost detached from the warmth of the water beneath her feet.

Once her feet were soaked, Su Cheng took the wooden basin outside to empty the water. Ji Meng, unusually, didn’t go straight to bed, she sat on the edge for a while. The anxious panic in her heart didn’t settle down, in fact, it intensified, causing her heart to race continuously.

She found herself pacing the floor in her shoes for a couple of rounds. After a moment, she placed her hands on her hips and stood still, feeling the need to do something to calm herself down.

Every night, she would do her school assignments and also set aside time to write about herbal medicine. Tonight, however, she had taken a leave and had no assignments, but she hadn’t finished writing about the herbal medicine materials.

Thinking of this, Ji Meng went to the wardrobe to get her notebook and the herbal medicine compendium and sat down at the small table to start writing.

As she was writing, Su Cheng walked in, and Ji Meng had just written down one line.

Then her attention was drawn to Su Cheng, and she couldn’t move the pen anymore.

But she also didn’t budge, still sitting on the stool with her body slightly stiff.

As Su Cheng entered the room, he noticed her stillness. He paused his steps, didn’t approach her, and instead looked at her and asked, “Aren’t you going to sleep? Do you still have homework to finish?”

At this point, it was getting late, almost nine o’clock.

“Yeah, you should go to bed first. You must be tired after staying up for two or three days on the train. I still have a while here,” Ji Meng replied, not daring to look up at Su Cheng and tugging at the corner of her mouth.

She was nervous.

Su Cheng’s hand slowly clenched into a fist as he gazed at her fair, jade-like profile. After a long moment, he lightly pressed his lips together and replied, “Then don’t stay up too late, you can finish what you can’t do now when you come back tomorrow at noon.”

“Mm, okay.” Ji Meng nodded absently.

Su Cheng glanced at her again but didn’t say anything more. He walked to the side of the bed, but suddenly, his gaze unintentionally caught sight of the items on her desk, and his large hand tightened abruptly.

What was on the desk wasn’t her homework, it was the herbal medicine materials she had prepared for Fu Junyan. She had been working on this earlier, not hiding it from him.

At that time, he had felt a slight discomfort in his heart but hadn’t thought much of it.

However, at this moment, he suddenly couldn’t pretend not to see it.

The carefully organized materials on the desk now felt like they were covered in sharp thorns, stabbing at his eyes painfully.

He knew that when he returned back then, she didn’t brought up the topic of divorce, which already indicated her stance. She didn’t seem to have deep feelings for Fu Junyan like that woman did, nor had she developed any romantic feelings.

He also knew that given the relationship between the Fu and Ji families, along with the Fu family’s values, Fu Junyan wouldn’t do anything immoral.

Neither would she.

But at this moment, he still felt a suffocating sensation in his chest, as if his throat were stuffed with cotton, making it hard to swallow.

“Can you do me a favor?” Su Cheng suddenly turned around and looked at Ji Meng.

“What?” Ji Meng subconsciously turned her head.

Su Cheng pressed his lips together tightly. Seeing the look in Ji Meng’s eyes, he replied, “Help me apply some medicine.”

“Are you injured?”

Ji Meng was taken aback for two seconds. She immediately stood up and quickly walked over to Su Cheng. “Where are you hurt? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Right, I haven’t asked you yet. You only said that Qingyu’s uncle’s family resolved it, and her mother also gave up on signing. What exactly happened? Did you have a conflict?”

Ji Meng was anxious. During their earlier phone call, she had asked Su Cheng if he had a conflict with Qingyu’s uncle’s family and if he was hurt. He had paused for a moment and said no, so she believed him. When she returned and saw that Su Cheng was fine and doing everything, she didn’t think to ask about it again.

“I got a few minor injuries,” Su Cheng replied, pulling out some medicine from his bag, which included ointment for both his arm and back.

The injury on his back was more severe. These past few days, Ji Qinghe hadn’t been in good condition, so Su Cheng didn’t want him to feel guilty or worried. He had been avoiding applying medicine in front of him, some areas were hard to reach, causing delays.

Earlier, when he took a shower, he checked it, and the bruising still hadn’t faded after many days.

He originally didn’t plan to let Ji Meng know…

“Minor injuries…”

“How did you get hurt? You still haven’t told me how you resolved things with Qingyu’s uncle’s family.”

Earlier at the dinner table, she had avoided the topic out of consideration for Qingyu, planning to ask about it later in the evening, but she had been too nervous to remember.

“Take off your shirt, show me.” Ji Meng quickly said as she took the medicine from Su Cheng’s hand.

Su Cheng paused for a moment, then raised his hand to unbutton his shirt.

As he removed his shirt, his broad and solid chest was revealed.

His body, honed by years of training, was muscular and well-defined, with a slim and powerful waist.

With Su Cheng’s naturally pale skin and his well-toned physique, he exuded an air of restraint and a seductive allure of hormones.