Chapter 63.3

On New Year’s Eve, Jiang Nian and Xu Yan went to the supply and marketing cooperative, bought couplets and groceries, and returned. Lu Yu’s injury had healed almost nine days, and he could move freely now, though his wound couldn’t bear too much force. The yard was covered with a layer of snow. When Jiang Nian returned, Lu Yu was shoveling snow. She put the things in the kitchen, rushed over to grab the broom from Lu Yu’s hand.

Lu Yu held her hand back and, when there was no one outside, kissed her on her red-nosed tip. “Your hands are cold. Let me do the sweeping.”

Jiang Nian instinctively looked outside, hearing Lu Yu’s low laughter, “No one’s around.”

Hearing this, Jiang Nian blushed and ran back to the kitchen to paste couplets. Lu Yu watched Jiang Nian’s petite figure and wanted to report back to the original city as soon as possible. He wanted to openly hold Jiang Nian and publicly declare her as his wife.

After Lu Yu finished sweeping the snow and putting up the couplets, he returned to the kitchen. Seeing Jiang Nian standing in front of the cutting board in an apron, her slender waist outlined, even in a padded jacket, her slim figure was evident.

He rubbed Jiang Nian’s head and took the knife from her hand. “You go to the stove and warm up. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“You still need to rest your injury properly.”

Jiang Nian was worried about his injury, wanting him to rest inside. Lu Yu lowered his head, a smile playing on his lips. “It’s almost healed.”

This injury was nothing to him. He had suffered worse injuries in the past six months, gritting his teeth and continuing to lurk.

Jiang Nian sat by the stove with her elbow on her knee, chin resting on her hand, looking at Lu Yu. When he lowered his head and didn’t smile, his brows were sharp, his eyes cold and sparse. But once he smiled, the sharpness between his brows would soften a bit.

Thinking back to when she first met Lu Yu, he had gently held her shoulders.

“Sister-in-law.”

Suddenly, Lu Yu’s deep voice echoed in her ears. Jiang Nian was startled, her pupils not yet focused when Lu Yu lifted her up with one hand, spinning her around. By the time she saw clearly, she was firmly seated on Lu Yu’s lap. Jiang Nian widened her eyes in shock. “You—”

She was almost out of breath.

Lu Yu held her hand and the softness of her waist, his deep black eyes fixed on her. “You’ve been staring at me.”

Jiang Nian pursed her lips, cheeks reddening.

“I couldn’t help it.”

Lu Yu lingered around her earlobe, his breath hot like the spoon, causing Jiang Nian’s spine to tingle. She pushed against Lu Yu’s solid chest with both hands, eyes watery with tears, looking towards the kitchen door. “Someone might come.”

“No one will come now.”

Jiang Nian felt numb in half of her body, her feet unable to touch the ground. Her legs hung in the air, tightly pursing her lips, lowering her head without daring to look into Lu Yu’s intense and intimidating eyes, only staring at her own toes, her heart pounding incessantly.

Lu Yu lowered his eyes, looking at Jiang Nian’s slender waist.

He was somewhat surprised. She was indeed very thin, thin to the point of being frail.

Lu Yu’s breath fell on her nose, and Jiang Nian felt her eyelashes burning. She tightly held Lu Yu’s fingers, gradually feeling numb, her eyelashes damp. The air in her lungs seemed to be drawn away in an instant.

“Sister-in-law—”

“Sister Jiang.”

Song Bai and Zhang Xiao’s voices suddenly came from outside the courtyard. Jiang Nian shivered in fear, suddenly realizing Lu Yu’s grip had tightened even more. There was a fierce wind of mountain rain about to come. Jiang Nian couldn’t resist, tilting her head back, pushing away Lu Yu’s hand, her throat making a pitiful cry.

It wasn’t until footsteps entered the courtyard gate that Lu Yu let her go.

Jiang Nian’s body went weak, supported by Lu Yu’s waist. She stood up and leaned against the stove, shaking her hands while picking up the knife to cut vegetables, using the back of her hand to wipe the water stains from her mouth.

Lu Yu calmly sat by the stove, poking the fire with his tongue against the place where Jiang Nian had almost bitten him.

“Sister-in-law, we’re here for a meal.”

Jiang Nian didn’t dare look back. Her cheeks were now red, lips were red, and her eyes were watery. Once seen by others, it was inevitable that they would think too much. So when Song Bai and the others entered the kitchen, Jiang Nian quickly took a small red chili pepper and stuffed it into her mouth, taking two bites. Instantly, her forehead was sweating, and tears streamed down her face.

Lu Yu: …

“Sister Jiang, what’s wrong with you?”

Seeing Jiang Nian gasping, Zhang Xiao grabbed her shoulder.

Jiang Nian held half a chili pepper in her hand, turned around and kept fanning her mouth with her hand, speaking unclearly, “I wanted to try if this chili was spicy or not, but it turns out it’s really spicy.”

Song Bai was stunned and turned to get water for Jiang Nian, but saw Lu Yu already coming in with a enamel cup. His tone was somewhat inexplicable, “Drink some water to ease it.”

Jiang Nian picked up the cup and gulped down the liquid.

“Hiss…”

It was still too spicy.

Zhang Xiao smiled and said, “Next time, don’t eat chili. It’s not good to upset your stomach.”

Jiang Nian drank three cups of water in a row to alleviate the spiciness a bit. Then, when she handed the cup to Lu Yu, she glanced at him with complaint. Lu Yu took the cup, used his fingertip to wipe her palm, soothing her.

Zhu Jun and Zhang Xiao brought milk, candies, and two pounds of biscuits. Song Bai brought a prepared chicken, a fish, and a bag full of chocolates and various candies, which must have cost quite a bit.

Lu Yu said, “Next time, you don’t need to bring so much. Just bring yourselves.”

Song Bai raised an eyebrow. “I don’t eat for free.”

Jiang Nian wanted to make dumplings, and Lu Yu started to chop the meat filling nearby. Song Bai sat by the stove, starting the fire. Zhang Xiao leaned against the window, chatting with Jiang Nian while patting her belly. Zhu Jun didn’t have much to do, standing dryly by the side, watching Jiang Nian knead the dough. Finally, Jiang Nian directed him to peel onions, and Zhu Jun relaxed his body. “At least I’m not idle now.”

Lu Yu took over the task of chopping onions, which made his eyes sting a bit. Jiang Nian moved aside, her face full of laughter, teasing Lu Yu intentionally. “Are you crying?”

Lu Yu: …

The man finished cutting the onions and went out to wash his face with cold water. Jiang Nian said, “There’s hot water here.”

Lu Yu then fetched some well water. “The water in the well isn’t that cold in winter.”

Jiang Nian rubbed her eyes, feeling the sting from the onions. Fortunately, Lu Yu had already mixed the onions with the meat filling, so she only needed to add seasoning. Song Bai glanced at Jiang Nian, who was rolling out dough with her head lowered. Her scattered hair occasionally brushed her cheeks, and her long eyelashes were fluffy.

Song Bai cleared his throat and stood up. “I’ll go out first.”

Jiang Nian said, “You guys can wait in the house. I’ll finish making the dumplings soon.”

Zhang Xiao helped her to make dumplings, but hers looked different from Jiang Nian’s. Zhang Xiao smiled and said, “Sister Jiang, yours look really nice.”

Jiang Nian smiled, “Yours are good too.”

Zhang Xiao said, “We rarely eat dumplings during the New Year. Even when we do, they’re filled with radish and cabbage, and the flour is cornmeal. This is my first time having dumplings with pure meat filling, thanks to Sister Jiang’s guidance.”

Jiang Nian smiled, “Then eat more.”

She glanced at Zhang Xiao’s belly. “How many months?”

“Over four months,” Zhang Xiao replied, smiling and looking down at her belly. Jiang Nian felt a motherly glow radiating from her.

After making the dumplings, Lu Yu came over to help Jiang Nian cook. Zhang Xiao sat by the stove, tending the fire. Lu Yu took care of chopping the chicken and fish. Jiang Nian handled the cooking. Finally, by the time it was dark, the New Year’s Eve dinner was ready. Several people squeezed into Lu Yu’s house. Zhu Jun had specially gone to the supply and marketing cooperative to get three pounds of wine. With the holiday, they could enjoy a drink to satisfy their appetites.

Zhu Jun poured a glass of white wine for Jiang Nian and said, “Sister-in-law, let’s toast. Just a sip for you, warm your body a bit.”

To be honest, Jiang Nian had never touched alcohol from childhood to adulthood, at most having some low-alcohol fruit wine.

She picked up the enamel cup and looked at it. The white wine of this era was made from pure grains, and the flavor was strong. Jiang Nian smelled it but still found it a bit pungent. Lu Yu turned to her. “If you don’t like it, give it to me.”

Jiang Nian shook her head. “It’s okay.”

Zhang Xiao also took a sip. They clinked their glasses, and Zhang Xiao happily said, “Happy New Year.”

Jiang Nian also said, “Happy New Year.”

After saying that, she tilted her head back and drank the white wine. It was just a sip, but Jiang Nian still felt the burn in her throat. After drinking, she coughed for a while, quickly ate a few bites of food to suppress it, and then drank half a bowl of chicken soup before feeling a bit more comfortable. Zhang Xiao turned to Jiang Nian and stared for a moment. ” Sister Jiang, your face is so red.”

“Red?” Jiang Nian touched her cheek, feeling it warm.

Zhu Jun nodded and smiled. “It’s a bit red, sister-in-law. Have you never had alcohol before?”

Jiang Nian felt a bit dizzy but could still see clearly. “Never.”

Zhu Jun chuckled. “No wonder.”

Song Bai sat across from Jiang Nian. When he looked up, he saw her blushing face and fluttering eyelashes blinking. He wondered if it was because of the alcohol. Her lips were moist and reddened, and she looked soft and charming, a completely unfamiliar sight to him.

He stared blankly for a few seconds, then quickly lowered his head and poured himself another glass of wine and gulped it down.

Lu Yu glanced at Song Bai, his eyebrows wrinkled slightly. He scooped another half bowl of chicken soup for Jiang Nian, leaned closer to her, and let his breath linger on her forehead. “Have some chicken soup to calm down.”

Jiang Nian nodded, feeling a bit woozy.

Maybe she had drunk too much chicken soup, so she wanted to go to the bathroom. Seeing Jiang Nian’s dazed look, Lu Yu knew she was probably feeling the effects. When Jiang Nian got up to go to the bathroom, Lu Yu also stood up and followed her. Zhu Jun was stunned. “Deputy Commander Lu, what are you doing?”

Lu Yu said, “Just watching over my sister-in-law. She might be feeling the effects.”

Zhu Jun suddenly felt a bit awkward. “I should have known not to give Sister-in-law any wine.”

Song Bai held the enamel cup, turned his head to look at the two who walked out of the door one after the other, and finished the half cup of white wine in his cup. Gradually, his eyes showed a reddish bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead were taut. Zhu Jun asked, “Deputy Commander Song, did you drink too much?”

Song Bai pressed his palms against his temples and said, “A bit.”

Zhu Jun said, “Then let’s all stop drinking.”

Outside the courtyard, lights were on. It had started snowing again in the afternoon, and by now, a thin layer of snow covered the ground. Jiang Nian walked on the snow to the outhouse. Her brain, already a bit fuzzy, felt the wind, and the alcohol suddenly hit her. Leaning against the wall for support, she felt like the courtyard wall in front of her was tilting to one side.

Jiang Nian shook her head and, after using the bathroom, slowly walked out, supporting herself against the wall, afraid she might fall into the pit.

She definitely didn’t want the first day of the Lunar New Year to become known as the day Deputy Commander  Lu’s sister-in-law fell into the pit.

A dark shadow covered her vision. Jiang Nian blinked and looked up, seeing Lu Yu, who seemed a bit blurred. She smiled and asked, “Why are you here?”

After finishing speaking, she let go of his hand and walked forward, staggering a bit. Lu Yu caught her arm, “Are you drunk?”

Jiang Nian’s reaction was a bit slow, her mind unable to keep up with the pace. Especially when Lu Yu held her, it seemed like she found a focal point, leaning straight towards him. Lu Yu caught Jiang Nian, turned his head to look towards the window, then carried her into the house and laid her on the bed. Jiang Nian rarely hugged Lu Yu’s neck and didn’t let go.

With one hand supporting her head and the other on her waist, he leaned close to her, his deep eyes staring into Jiang Nian’s eyes, “Sister-in-law, tell me, who are you?”