“Wash…”  

Wen Tang blushed.  

But she still obediently replied, “Oh, okay!”  

She was obedient, soft, and delicate. Gu Yanli thought to himself, Thankfully, I specifically had the new bed made sturdy.

Moreover, he had changed the position of the new bed—no longer pressed against the wall next to the Lin family’s side. Tonight…  

Well, he had cooked dinner early. The night was long indeed.  

And indeed, the night was long. In the end, Wen Tang was done until she fainted.  

“Wen Tang, Wen Tang…”  

Wen Tang let out soft whimpers before suddenly falling silent. Her already limp body went completely slack. Gu Yanli looked up and realized she seemed to have passed out.  

He checked her breathing, then gently patted her face and called her name a couple of times, but Wen Tang showed no signs of waking.  

He quickly got out of bed, not even bothering to cover himself, and hurriedly fetched clothes for Wen Tang. Then he pulled back the blankets to dress her.  

After all, it was already winter, and the air was chilly. As the cold air hit her, Wen Tang let out a faint moan and slowly came to.  

Her beautiful eyes, even under the dim glow of the oil lamp, were misty with tears.  

Gu Yanli felt his throat tighten again at the sight.  

He cursed himself for being a pervert.  

“I…” Wen Tang struggled to speak, only to find her voice hoarse beyond recognition.  

The mist in her eyes thickened, and her face was full of grievance.  

Gu Yanli rushed to pour her a glass of water, still stark naked.  

After drinking, her throat finally felt somewhat soothed.  

Wen Tang had originally meant to say, Did I scare you?

But after glancing at his still-enthusiastic “fighting spirit,” she changed it to, “I don’t know how I ended up fainting.”  

Gu Yanli took the cup from her and touched her forehead. “Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”  

“I’ll take you to the commune clinic.”  

As he spoke, he started pulling on his clothes.  

Wen Tang quickly grabbed his arm and shook her head. “I’m not unwell.”  

But Gu Yanli still wasn’t reassured. He frowned.  

Wen Tang immediately raised her hand. “I swear, there’s really nothing wrong.” Then she muttered under her breath, “Besides, how would we even explain this to the doctor?”  

She considered herself thick-skinned, but the thought of others finding out about this was pure social suicide.  

Unexpectedly, Gu Yanli was completely unfazed. “Doctors see all kinds of patients. They won’t judge.”  

Wen Tang still shook her head.  

She didn’t know whether the doctor would judge, but if she were in their place, she definitely would.  

With that thought, she burrowed deeper under the covers, refusing to come out.  

Seeing her like this, Gu Yanli could only say, “If you feel unwell at all, you have to tell me.”  

Wen Tang immediately nodded like a chick pecking at rice.  

Gu Yanli didn’t climb back into bed right away but continued dressing instead. Wen Tang asked curiously, “Aren’t you going back to sleep?”  

Gu Yanli looked down at her.  

Wen Tang blinked innocently.  

Gu Yanli kept putting on his clothes. “Going out to relieve myself.”  

As soon as he said it, Wen Tang’s gaze drifted to his enthusiastic “little brother.” Gu Yanli’s fingers clenched around his pants, his knuckles cracking audibly.  

The look in Wen Tang’s eyes confirmed that her earlier question wasn’t just his imagination.  

When she had asked, Aren’t you going back to sleep? she had definitely meant it the way he thought.  

For a moment, he didn’t know whether to say Wen Tang was too bold or whether his image in her mind was worse than he’d thought.

No matter what, she had fainted—surely that meant they couldn’t continue, right?  

Even though he really wanted to.  

After dressing and stepping outside into the cool night breeze, Gu Yanli finally felt his heartbeat slow down, no longer pounding so fiercely.  

By the time he returned to the room, Wen Tang was already asleep under the blankets.  

Curled up in the quilt, her fair little face peeked out from a nest of black hair. Gu Yanli measured it with his hand—it wasn’t even as big as his palm.  

He fetched warm water, gently wiped her down, then undressed and got into bed.  

The moment he lay down, the person under the covers automatically nestled into his arms. Gu Yanli almost suspected she was pretending to sleep.  

But aside from burrowing into his embrace, she showed no other reaction.  

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, wrapped his arms around her, and soon drifted off contentedly.  

The next morning, Gu Jinfeng and Zhong Meixian still didn’t get up to cook.  

Expecting Wen Tang or Chi Yue to do it was even more impossible—both were still sound asleep under their blankets.  

Back in the modern era, they often stayed up all night and slept until late morning.

Now, even though they weren’t staying up late, they had physical activities at night, so they still couldn’t get up.  

Luckily, Gu Yanli woke early and was proactive. With no one else making breakfast, he took it upon himself to cook.  

Not only did he cook, but he also washed his wife’s dirty clothes before starting.  

By the time he finished laundry, Lin Jingshen finally stumbled out of bed, his hair sticking up like a bird’s nest.  

Lin Jingshen scratched his head and asked, “Uncle, what time did you get up?”  

“Five o’clock.”  

He hadn’t actually checked the time, but his military routine had ingrained a reliable internal clock—he was sure it was around five.  

By the time he finished washing clothes, the sky was just beginning to lighten, likely around five-thirty.  

Then, Gu Yanli received a big thumbs-up from his dear nephew.  

As usual, Gu Yanli cooked porridge, boiled eggs, and steamed buns.  

When Gu Juyuan got up, he called to his wife, “Aren’t you getting up?”  

Zhong Meixian rolled over. She wasn’t asleep anymore, but she still refused to rise.  

Since she wouldn’t get up, Gu Juyuan could only sigh and mutter, “You’d even pick a fight with your own daughter.”  

The situation with Gu Jinfeng was nearly identical.  

Lin Liansheng called for her, but she ignored him. He said, “Why are you mad at Mom?”  

“It’s not like she’s an outsider.”  

Gu Jinfeng was still young—if no one mentioned it, she could hold it in, but now that it was brought up, she felt a surge of anger and blurted out, “Even if she were an outsider, she shouldn’t have treated me like that!”  

“What kind of mother—what kind of grandmother—acts like that?”  

Lin Liansheng: “…”  

What could he say?  

On one side was his mother-in-law, on the other was his wife. No matter which side he took now, he’d end up the villain later.  

Lin Liansheng could only sigh and walk out, taking the empty bowls from the room with him.  

Gu Jinfeng had eaten all the eggs, sweet potatoes, and steamed buns Lin Jingshen brought her.  

In her words: “Why wouldn’t I eat?”  

“Wouldn’t I be at a loss if I didn’t?”  

“That old woman clearly has plenty of money. If I didn’t eat these eggs, I’d be doing her a favor.”  

(Really, she was just hungry by nighttime.)  

That morning, when the Gu and Lin families gathered for breakfast, not a single woman could be found at the table.  

The four men exchanged glances, then silently buried themselves in their meals.  

Before heading out to the fields, Lin Liansheng thought it over and called to his son, “If you’ve got nothing else to do later, why not go to your Second Aunt and Third Aunt’s place? Ask them to come and talk some sense into your mom.”  

He looked at his own yard, then at his father-in-law’s, and shook his head with a sigh.  

There was no way he could mediate this. Not a chance.  

Fortunately, Gu Yanli’s second and third sisters didn’t live far away. After breakfast, Lin Jingshen hopped on his bicycle and soon brought both aunts back home.  

The moment Gu Yinfeng and Gu Xiaohua stepped through the gate, they saw Gu Yanli sweeping the courtyard.  

Gu Yinfeng, the second sister, immediately asked, “Where’s your wife?”  

“Why are you the one sweeping?”