Chapter 30

Qiao Wei used “The Three Little Pigs” to coax Yan Xiang to sleep by sucking on her pacifier. After that, she returned to the bedroom, where her husband, Yan Lei, had left the light on for her.

“I turned off the light.” Qiao Wei yawned and pulled the light cord.

It’s quite magical. She had only been in this world for four days, and her body had already adapted to the habit of going to bed and waking up early.

However, as soon as she lay down on the heated brick bed, she was embraced by a pair of strong arms.

The man’s breath was overwhelming.

In the past, she endured, restrained, and held back, but it seemed like a floodgate had opened yesterday. After that, how could she continue to endure and hold back?

Qiao Wei giggled as he kissed her, and Yan Lei quickly covered her mouth. “Shh—”

There’s a child in the house.

Qiao Wei complained, “You should shave.”

Yan Lei touched his chin and indeed felt some stubble. He promised, “I’ll shave tomorrow.”

After saying that, he tightened his arms and kissed her again.

After a long, long time, the dim room was filled with the sound of restrained breathing. Yan Lei asked, “How many more days of this?”

Qiao Wei lay in his arms, the skin on her back against his chest, lazily answering, “Short by four or five days, long by six or seven days.”

Yan Lei’s voice in the darkness carried a hint of grievance: “That long…”

Qiao Wei chuckled.

The new life was wonderful, so why not laugh more? She genuinely loved to laugh.

Yan Lei nibbled on her neck again.

His hands were large and rough, and the palms were hot.

During the menstrual period, one should not engage in certain activities. Qiao Wei pushed his hand away from her chest and turned to face him. “Sleep!”

Yan Lei made a sound of acknowledgment but didn’t release her hand. He pressed it against his chest.

These two nights, he also felt that Qiao Wei liked his body. She liked those robust and firm muscles, especially between his chest and waist.

He placed her hand on his chest, then pulled it down to his lower abdomen.

Qiao Wei was thinking of savoring the firm and elastic muscles when the man hesitated for a moment and began to reveal his true intention—carefully and tentatively continuing to pull her hand down…

In the past, Yan Lei wouldn’t dare think of doing such a thing. If he dared to do this, his wife would definitely scold him for being a hooligan.

However, after experiencing these two nights, he vaguely felt that Qiao Wei might not… reject it.

Taking advantage of the relative intimacy between the two, with their bodies close together, he boldly pulled her hand downward.

He was quite nervous inside and didn’t dare to use too much force. He was prepared to let her go immediately if she got angry.

Fortunately, Qiao Wei showed no resistance, seemingly not angry at all.

Her palms were dry and warm, covering his with a gentle touch.

Yan Lei felt relieved.

However, she seemed unsure of what to do, and her palm was gently rubbing against his. Yan Lei tried to hold her hand, guiding her.

No laughing, absolutely no laughing.

Don’t laugh! They were so close; laughing would immediately give it away.

Qiao Wei worked hard! Not only did her wrists ache, but she also had to suppress her laughter.

In terms of understanding and experience in intimate relationships, Qiao Wei could surpass Yan Lei by ten streets.

However, a person could change their personality and values due to special events, such as a failed elopement. But she absolutely couldn’t, really couldn’t, return from eloping for a few days and suddenly become an expert in bed.

That would be hard to explain.

So, even though Qiao Wei was an experienced player, she had to work hard to pretend to be a novice.

Yan Lei experienced this for the first time in his life.

Qiao Wei’s touch was extremely gentle, as if treating him as a precious treasure, handling it carefully, and learning attentively.

Towards the end, it was like being on cloud nine, much better than the inexperienced fumbling of their wedding night.

After it was over, Yan Lei held Qiao Wei tightly and didn’t want to let go. Feeling that she was also tired and seemingly exhausted, he helped her rub her wrists. “Are you tired?” Qiao Wei only made a sound, seemingly unwilling to speak.

It was too difficult for her. She, such an upright person, had to pretend to be a novice. It seemed like Yan Lei might be emotional, which put her in a difficult position. Although she didn’t refuse him, it must have been embarrassing for her.

Yan Lei felt a slight sense of shame and guilt in his heart.

But there was also joy—she was willing to do such a thing for him, showing that she really wanted to settle down and live a good life with him.

A big man wouldn’t easily shed tears, but he felt a slight stinging in his eyes—a feeling of bittersweetness.

He held Qiao Wei tightly and didn’t want to let go.

Qiao Wei had it hard.

She wasn’t a professional actress, and it was difficult for her to pretend to be a beginner. Feeling that Yan Lei seemed to be emotional, she didn’t know how to respond. She simply closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Indeed, she was tired. Pretending or not, she fell into a daze.

The man continued to mutter to himself as he held her, saying something, but she didn’t know what.

“… live together… all for you… promise…”

What was he saying? Just go to sleep already.

Waking up too early in the morning, coupled with a hard day’s work, Qiao Wei fell into a daze and fell asleep.

When she woke up in the morning, the heated brick bed was empty, and Yan Lei was gone. Qiao Wei felt something was amiss under her body, and when she looked, indeed, it had leaked out, and the little mattress was dirty.

She regretfully got up to change the paper.

There was a chamber pot in the room.

An iron thing with “Double Happiness” printed on it. To prevent the smell from spreading, this thing even had a lid.

Qiao Wei used to watch videos where foreigners used this thing as a meal basin, which was hilarious. She just didn’t expect that one day she would also use such a thing.

The night was pitch-black outside, and the toilet was in the corner of the courtyard without any light. It was not necessary to go to the toilet for a small task; it could be handled in the room using this chamber pot.

Qiao Wei used this pot for changing the paper as well, throwing it inside first.

After changing, she carried the pot to the toilet to dispose of the waste.

Yan Lei was in the yard, and upon seeing her, his cheerful face was full of sunshine. “Awake?”

Seeing her carrying the chamber pot, he walked over with two steps. “Give it to me.”

Qiao Wei certainly wouldn’t compete with him for it.

While heading towards the toilet, Yan Lei called out, “Wait for me; I’ll fetch warm water for you to wash your hands!”

Qiao Wei touched the pot, needing to wash her hands.

Feeling drowsy, Qiao Wei leaned against the door frame and dozed off.

Yan Lei disposed of the waste, rinsed the pot, placed it back inside, and then came out.

Qiao Wei, with her head tilted against the door frame, unhappily said, “The mattress got dirty.”

“Never mind that; leave it as it is for now. When you finish, I’ll take care of it. You can’t even sew,” Yan Lei said while washing his hands.

Qiao Wei felt happy and smiled at Yan Lei.

Yan Lei asked, “Why are you laughing?”

Still feeling sleepy, Qiao Wei said, “You’re early. I’m going to wait for you to fetch warm water for me to wash my hands.”

Yan Lei, smiling, replied, “You’re drowsy. Just wait for me to take care of it.”

Qiao Wei perked up, and with a smile, she said, “Alright.”

After disposing of the waste, Yan Lei came back and held the pot for her. “Give it to me; I’ll take care of it for you.”

Qiao Wei handed him the pot, and he said, “Wait here; I’ll bring warm water for you.”

Qiao Wei was in a better mood now and replied, “Sure.”

Yan Lei went to the kitchen to fetch water and soon returned with a pot of warm water.

Qiao Wei washed her hands and face, brushed her teeth, and wiped her face with a towel. Feeling refreshed, she asked, “Why did you wake up so early?”

Both of them had been fooling around the night before and slept late. She even got up in the middle of the night to change the paper, so she couldn’t wake up early.

Yan Lei glanced at her and said, “I knew you wouldn’t wake up, so I made breakfast for you.”

Qiao Wei was surprised, but since the original host’s memories were not very reliable, she couldn’t determine if the original host knew whether Yan Lei could cook or not. She didn’t want to reveal anything, so she simply asked, “What did you make?”

“Wait to eat,” Yan Lei said, disappearing into the kitchen.

Qiao Wei sniffed, and indeed, there was a hint of fragrance in the air.

Soon, Yan Lei came out holding two bowls. “Be careful, it’s hot. Blow it cool before eating.”

Surprisingly, it was two bowls of noodle soup.

Qiao Wei exclaimed, “Wow!”

She scooped up a spoonful, let it cool, and brought it to her mouth. Qiao Wei was pleasantly surprised. “So fine.”

The noodle strands were thin and small and thoroughly cooked, providing not only a good texture but also a rich taste.

Yan Lei explained, “When pouring water into the flour, you have to pour a little at a time, stirring while pouring. This way, the noodles will be small. Your way of pouring water quickly creates big noodles, not tasty.”

Qiao Wei thought to herself; luckily, she didn’t say anything extra; she couldn’t reveal her true knowledge in such trivial matters.

She carefully tasted the soup.

In fact, she knew how to make noodle soup; her mother taught her. Usually, she would stir-fry tomatoes until they were fragrant, add water, salt, soy sauce, and eggs, and then cook the noodles. Her personal touch was adding some minced chicken for flavor, making the soup especially delicious with a meaty aroma.

It was clear that preparing minced chicken wasn’t possible in the current conditions. There were chickens in the market, but they were live. Qiao Wei checked every day but didn’t dare to buy.

She couldn’t slaughter a chicken and didn’t dare to.

Next time, she’d ask if the market offered slaughtered chicken.

Even without minced chicken, the noodle soup Yan Lei made was delicious.

Qiao Wei, with her agile mouth, quickly deduced, “Did you add lard?”

Yan Lei admired, “Your mouth is really sharp.”

He said, “The pot you fried, use it quickly; it’s getting hot.”

Living without a refrigerator was really inconvenient.

Qiao Wei looked at the yard and asked, “Should we dig a cellar?”

Aren’t there cellars in the countryside? Very cool, suitable for storing food and vegetables. Qiao Wei had seen several pastoral life bloggers who had dug cellars. One cellar could provide material for many episodes, attracting a lot of views. It seemed like many people in the cities were yearning for the countryside in their 996 work schedules.

She drank the noodle soup, looked around the yard, and thought about where would be a suitable place to dig a cellar. Thus, she didn’t notice that when she mentioned this, Yan Lei paused slightly, glancing at her.

After a pause, he asked, “Do you want to dig one?”

Qiao Wei turned her head, excitedly saying, “Can you dig? If you can, let’s dig one.”

Yan Lei gave an agreeing grunt and lowered his head to continue eating breakfast without saying anything else.

He remembered very clearly that the year he wanted to dig a cellar, Qiao Wei rejected him with a sentence like, “Don’t mess with those rural things. Remember, you are already a cadre.”

Her idea of digging a cellar was extinguished.

It wasn’t Qiao Wei’s fault for being crude. It was just that this matter was mentioned briefly, and even Qiao Wei herself might not remember. In her memory, things she didn’t want to think about were covered in a gray filter, and this particular matter was insignificant, almost entirely forgotten.

Qiao Wei had a clear understanding of the incident where Yan Lei grew vegetables and made compost, which angered Qiao Weiwei. It was memorable because the original host was especially angry about it, making it a significant event.

Carefully choosing her words, she said, “I think the vegetables planted in Captain Zhao’s yard are good. I’ve considered it; if you don’t use that fertilizer, I can accept it.”

She deliberately brought up the fertilizer issue to emphasize that she was “Qiao Weiwei.”

“Otherwise, let’s tidy up the yard first. I think there’s still space behind the house. Otherwise, we can pile up unused items back there, out of sight,” she suggested.

There was about a meter-wide space between the house and the surrounding wall, and unused items could be stacked there. The yard would look much neater and more pleasing to the eye.

While enjoying the noodle soup, Qiao Wei gazed at the chaotic yard, imagining how to transform it into a beautiful pastoral courtyard.

Yan Lei looked at her.

She smiled with light on her face, contemplating the messy yard as if she were seeing some beautiful scenery.

For a moment, Yan Lei couldn’t take his eyes off her.