On the night when they reunited and slept in the same bed after a long separation, the older husband couldn’t stop chuckling for a long time. Yu Yao’s sadness lightened a lot from his laughter, and by the end, all she wanted was to hit him.

The next morning, Jiang Zhonglin woke up first. The old man woke up very early. Blinking his eyes, he felt something resting on his shoulder. Looking down, he saw a dark head.

He then remembered that last night, his wife had slept in the same bed with him. Even though it had been a long time, Jiang Zhonglin still remembered that Yu Yao’s sleeping habits were quite dominant. When she slept alone, she occupied the entire bed, moving around constantly. When they slept together, if it was hot, she refused to let him get close, taking up most of the bed by herself. But if it was cold, she insisted on being close to him, making him stick to her side. She would bury her head into him and remain still.

During those times, if he moved even a little, she would wake up as if she had a sudden dream of falling from a high place, and she would instinctively wave her hand or kick her leg. When they first got married, he found this habit very cute and interesting, so he would wake up earlier than her every day, deliberately moving away to see her wave her hand and groggily open her eyes before pulling him back.

In the summer, he would even secretly lower the air conditioning temperature before bed so that Yu Yao, while asleep, would come over and cuddle with him instead of complaining about the heat and sleeping on her own side.

That bit of youthful mischief was gone now. Jiang Zhonglin lay quietly, listening to the soft breathing beside him, feeling a bit dazed. During the time when Yu Yao had just disappeared, he often couldn’t sleep, and when he did, he would suddenly wake up and look beside him, feeling as if she was still there, her shoulder resting against his.

This sensation of touch felt like a long-lost dream. Jiang Zhonglin looked at the window where the morning sunlight was coming through, sighed softly, and closed his eyes again.

Eventually, Yu Yao woke up. She moved her head away, turned around, and snuggled back into the blanket. Jiang Zhonglin thought she wasn’t fully awake yet, so he got up to change and wash up. When he came back and saw her still hiding her head under the blanket, he approached and said, “Are you awake? We need to go out for breakfast.”

“No breakfast,” Yu Yao said, peeking her head out from the blanket, looking uncomfortable and frowning. She didn’t feel well, her head ached intermittently, and she felt chest congestion and nausea, with no appetite at all.

It might have been from standing by the lake after the bath last night, Yu Yao thought, and touched her forehead. Seeing her touch her forehead, Jiang Zhonglin immediately did the same and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you dizzy? Do you have a fever?”

Her forehead wasn’t very hot, but Jiang Zhonglin was worried that he might not feel it accurately, so he got up and said, “Wait a moment, I’ll get a thermometer.”

He brought back a thermometer, but found that Yu Yao wasn’t in bed. He heard sounds of vomiting from the bathroom and hurried over to find Yu Yao standing by the sink, rinsing her mouth. He said worriedly, “Why are you vomiting? Do you really have a fever? Let’s take your temperature first.”

The modern thermometer was very convenient; just stick it on the forehead for three seconds. When Yu Yao saw him place the flat thermometer on her forehead, she said, “Maybe it’s from the wind by the lake last night. I don’t think I have a fever, just feeling a bit nauseous.”

Jiang Zhonglin took off the thermometer and confirmed that she didn’t have a fever.

“Then you should rest a bit more. Cover up well, and I’ll get you something to eat. Have a little and then you can sleep again.”

After vomiting, Yu Yao felt a bit better but still didn’t want to go out, so she agreed with a nod. Jiang Zhonglin brought back a simple breakfast. Yu Yao had no appetite, drank half a bowl of porridge, ate a small bun, and then went back to sleep.

Jiang Zhonglin was concerned and stayed by her side, making sure she was okay in case she needed water or anything else.

Yu Yao slept quietly for two hours, feeling much better when she woke up, full of energy. Jiang Zhonglin was still worried and checked her temperature again.

“I’m fine now,” Yu Yao said nonchalantly, “Let’s go see the orchard. We didn’t get to see the nearby orchards yesterday.”

Reluctantly, Jiang Zhonglin agreed to go with her. In the orchard, there were orange trees, and they saw some association members picking oranges with their families. Yu Yao walked under the low-hanging branches and picked the largest orange from a branch.

The orange looked not fully ripe; although mostly yellow, there were still some green parts. The gradient from green to yellow was quite beautiful. Yu Yao peeled it and ate a slice, then handed the rest to Jiang Zhonglin.

Jiang Zhonglin also tasted a slice and shook his head, “These oranges aren’t ripe yet; they’re a bit sour.”

Yu Yao chuckled, “It’s not bad. I don’t think it’s sour.” She ate another slice and noticed two young girls picking oranges who saw her and waved, calling out to her as “Teacher Jiang’s wife.” They were the two who had asked the most questions during the bath the night before and were very curious about her.