Chapter 14: Will It Be Cold to Sleep Like This?

After simply cleaning the wound, the sky in the courtyard had darkened.

There was really nothing to eat in the house, not even an egg.

Xia Li simply made a bowl of cornmeal into a flatbread, mixing the only available condiments and pickled chili to create a sauce. She brushed it onto the golden-brown flatbread, and the aroma of the sauce instantly filled the air.

The cornmeal flatbread had a slightly sweet and sticky texture on the inside, while the outside was crisp and chewy. Paired with the tangy and spicy sauce, it made for a rich and satisfying flavor, perfectly salty and filling.

Xia Li ate a large piece of the flatbread, while the man devoured an even larger piece.

He probably hadn’t eaten anything for lunch either, almost wolfing it down.

Still, he silently focused on eating, his large hands gripping the flatbread, not even leaving a single crumb in the pot; he scraped it all up and swallowed it.

The two of them crowded around the stove, eating while warming themselves by the fire.

Xia Li casually noticed that his hands were also long, with deep calluses on the sides of his fingers.

His palms were broad and clearly strong, with long, straight fingers that looked quite good.

What had these hands done in the past?

Finally, feeling full, Xia Li hesitated about the man’s injuries.

He pressed his forehead and blinked, looking very tired, his sharp features and slightly pursed thin lips made his voice drop low: “Li, I… I want to lie down…”

Xia Li thought he was tired, so she prepared the cotton mattress for him again, changing to a clean pillowcase and letting him lie down to rest.

She still wanted to see if he had any other more serious injuries, but decided to wait until he rested well to check tomorrow.

After all, he had come all the way back without saying a word, and it was late at night; she couldn’t just kick him out, could she?

The man’s tall body lay on the mattress, and he breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze sparkling as he watched his busy little wife.

Fortunately, his wife hadn’t chased him away and had let him stay.

He couldn’t imagine what would happen to her if he weren’t by her side.

Although he didn’t understand why his wife had taken him to that place today, where several people kept surrounding him and chattering away.

Being forgotten there by his wife also made him feel quite uncomfortable.

But he wouldn’t show it.

The moment he saw his wife appear before him again in the evening, the immense joy of having her back was more than enough for him.

Xia Li tidied up the small room a bit more.

Meanwhile, the man lay on the soft old mattress, feeling somewhat cramped, with his long legs extending off the edge of the mattress.

His figure was truly tall and superior; even though he looked a bit weak lying there, the strength conveyed by his broad shoulders and the lean muscles that were barely visible was still quite noticeable.

Suddenly, she remembered the big wolf dog from her childhood that belonged to the neighbor next door.

Looking sick and unhappy, the dog jumped up when it saw her pass through the yard, wanting to play and be affectionate, its black nose sniffing around her face.

Xia Li’s gaze fell into the man’s dark eyes as she asked, “Will it be cold to sleep like this tonight?”

The man slowly blinked, wanting to say: Yes.

But he honestly replied, “…Not cold.”

Xia Li nodded, “Then let’s rest well tonight.”

There were no lights in the small room, just the dim light filtering in from the outer hall.

The man watched his wife’s slender back, feeling nervous, and suddenly spoke softly, “Wife, I’ll go catch fish tomorrow, a lot of fish for you.”

“Wife… please don’t be so careless next time, okay?”

Xia Li had already gone outside, and he didn’t know if she heard him.

The room was dark, and he stared silently at the door for a long time, his brows furrowed.

The night grew quieter.

The entire small village seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.

Around nine-thirty, Xia Li was cleaning the seven-star grass she had gathered in a bamboo basket during the day when a sudden commotion erupted outside the door.

There was a loud banging on the door, accompanied by a woman’s sharp voice:

“You worthless scum, get out here!”

“You little bitch… don’t pretend to be dead!”

“Come out! I’m going to teach you a lesson today!”

The banging on the door grew louder along with the curses.

“Bang bang bang!”

The man almost instinctively jumped up the moment he heard the noise inside the house.

His brows furrowed deeply, and his sharp features took on a vigilant, cold expression in the darkness.

Xia Li recognized the loud voice of Xie Shuangxiu outside, her words filled with vulgarity.

She frowned.

First, she closed the door to the room where the man was resting and instructed him, “You stay inside and don’t make a sound.”

It would be very bad if they were discovered alone together in a room at this time.