Chapter 40 1/2

Huo Shu had anticipated early on that she would cry.

He just didn’t expect it to happen before he even entered.

Seeing her lying on the bed with red eyes and two deep red teeth marks on her lower lip from biting in restraint, she was already crying so hard that she could hardly catch her breath.

Huo Shu hastily closed her clothes, quickly got out of bed, poured a glass of warm water, and helped her up from the bed.

Taoyu was soaked as if she had fallen into a water tank, sweat dripping all over her forehead.

The warm water slid through her mouth, slightly relieving her hoarse and sore throat.

Huo Shu let her lean against his chest, gently patting her trembling shoulders to comfort her.

After her breathing became smoother, Huo Shu asked, “Feeling better?”

Taoyu sniffed, not knowing whether Huo Shu was asking if drinking water had made her feel better or if he was asking if she was feeling better overall.

Thinking of the latter, she couldn’t help but shiver.

Not good at all.

She thought selfishly: It’s not that Huo Shu is not good; it’s just that the situation is not good.

She bit her lip, wanting to speak slowly, but couldn’t help but make a sound before she could speak, and her lower lip, already bitten by herself, hurt badly when touched.

If this continues, it will be…

“Is it, is it not right?”

Taoyu’s voice was hoarse, unable to endure any longer. Regardless of what could be said or not, she sincerely voiced her doubts: “Using one key to open one lock, if the lock and key don’t match, then how can it work?”

Although she didn’t see what size the key was when she dropped the curtain and covered herself with the red quilt, she could feel it on her body, and she could probably imagine its size.

Thinking of this, her face flushed again. The keyhole is only that big; if the key is too big, it naturally won’t open the lock. If you forcibly try to open the lock, won’t you break the keyhole?

When she was hiding in the quilt and looking at the picture book, she saw the fantastic scenes in the book, with the universe in harmony, and the words revealing how enjoyable and godlike it was.

Seeing her blush and thinking of Huo Shu’s tall and vigourous figure, surely capable of anything, she swallowed her saliva and secretly anticipated it.

In the days after the engagement, she had dreamed countless chaotic dreams.

Finally waiting for this moment in the morning, it unexpectedly turned out like this.

It seems that too much is also not good; why didn’t the picture book mention this? It’s all exaggerated.

He felt both surprised and somewhat sad in his heart.

Huo Shu frowned as he listened to this reasoning: “How can people be the same as locks?”

“Then, why does it hurt so much?”

Taoyu hastily defended her reasoning, her voice trembling slightly.

Seeing this, Huo Shu couldn’t help but feel distressed, and he had to admit his impatience: “Blame it on my impatience.”

He consoled her: “Your senses are more sensitive than ordinary people’s; it’s understandable.”

Upon hearing this, Taoyu suddenly lowered her gaze, with a hint of impending tears in her eyes.

Huo Shu couldn’t help but feel at a loss when he saw this. He had meant to comfort her properly but ended up making her cry.

He quickly set down the cup of water and tucked Taoyu back into the blanket.

Perhaps he was worried that the person he had finally obtained wouldn’t want to be with him anymore. Huo Shu said, “Since it’s already like this, there’s no turning back.”

Tears welled up in Taoyu’s eyes as she looked up at Huo Shu, who was lying next to her, holding her: “I don’t want to back out. It’s just, I’m afraid you’ll find me troublesome. Clearly, it’s supposed to be a major event in life, but it can’t be fulfilled.”

Huo Shu held the fragile Taoyu tighter: “If I found you troublesome, I wouldn’t have come this far.”

“Take it slow; don’t rush.”

This sounded like consoling Taoyu, but it also sounded like Huo Shu was reassuring himself.

Taoyu cried in Huo Shu’s arms for a while, then suddenly lifted her head to look at Huo Shu with an indescribable expression.

He stretched out his arm and hugged the man’s neck, leaning forward to peck him on the lips, his head resting against Huo Shu’s forehead. “You won’t return me, will you?”

Huo Shu held Taoyu’s slender waist, feeling indescribable palpitations in his heart: “Can I still do that?”

Taoyu felt uneasy hearing this, shrunk into Huo Shu’s arms, and gritted her teeth: “Then let’s try again.”

Huo Shu rubbed Taoyu’s soft hair: “There’s still time; no need to rush.”

Taoyu breathed a sigh of relief: “You said it, so don’t blame me if it doesn’t work out.”

“Mm.”

Taoyu nestled into Huo Shu’s arms, thinking that this person was really easy to talk to.

But in a moment, he looked at Huo Shu again and said, “Then, aren’t you uncomfortable?”

Huo Shu was about to ask what he meant by uncomfortable when he saw Taoyu’s gaze drop.

He frowned slightly. How could this guy, who used to be so innocent, say anything now?

“Sleep faster; don’t oversleep in the morning.”

Taoyu didn’t get an answer but was suddenly covered by a large hand over his eyes.

He could only respond in a muffled voice, “Oh.”

Huo Shu didn’t sleep well all night. With the addition of a soft little guy in his arms, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

That’s okay. When guarding the frontier, life and death were on the line, and he had few desires.

But now, the person in his arms was as soft as satin, with a waist as soft as silk. When he hummed and cried beneath him, those suppressed desires were completely aroused, yet he couldn’t vent them.

With a little force, Taoyu couldn’t bear it and cried. He was even more excited, but he knew he couldn’t force it, not knowing what would happen if he did.

He couldn’t feel good about himself like this.

However, even though it was uncomfortable to see the person sleeping peacefully in his arms, he was still willing to restrain and endure.

As the joy candle burned out, a faint grey light seeped through the paper-covered window sill, indicating that dawn was approaching.

Huo Shu opened his eyes. He was used to getting up at this hour to practice martial arts, but today… It didn’t matter.

He was about to close his eyes and doze off for a while when the person in his arms suddenly trembled, took two quick breaths, and abruptly opened their eyes.

Taoyu’s back was covered in sweat, and he suddenly woke up.

“What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

Hearing the somewhat hoarse voice, Taoyu finally regained her senses and remembered that Huo Shu was still by her side.

She raised her gaze to the person showing concern between his eyebrows and buried her head in Huo Shu’s neck, whimpering, “I dreamed that a big python was coiling around my leg, opening its mouth to bite me, and I woke up as soon as it hurt.”

Huo Shu coughed dryly at the words and rubbed Taoyu’s head.

“It’s okay, just a dream.”

“It’s all your fault. I never had nightmares like this before.”

Although it was a complaint, Taoyu lay on Huo Shu for a while without getting up, instead pressing closer to him.

“You’re so warm, like a big heater.”

Even though they didn’t use a foot warmer last night, her hands and feet didn’t feel cold at all, and the bed had never been this warm before.

She liked being close to Huo Shu; no wonder they said to get married before the New Year.

Huo Shu sighed. This fool was indeed warm.

“I’m going to sleep a little longer.”

After Taoyu finished speaking, her voice trailed off, and when Huo Shu lowered his gaze again, Taoyu had already fallen asleep.

But this time, she slept until the sun was high in the sky.

“I’ll wake her up.”

Huo Shu couldn’t lie still once it was bright outside, so he tightly tucked Taoyu into bed and got up.

He practiced martial arts in the courtyard, chopped wood, and fetched water. In just fifteen minutes, he finished all the chores, making the ox feel embarrassed.

Seeing that it was getting late and Taoyu hadn’t gotten up yet, Huo Shu called out.

Ji Yangzong thought this girl was really outrageous. It was one thing to sleep in usually, but on the first day after getting married, she slept so long, not afraid of being laughed at. The son-in-law had already done a round of chores.

He was about to agree to go wake her up, but was glared at by Huang Manjing. He didn’t know why. He was just about to say that it was lucky they were at home. If they were married off, could the mother-in-law tolerate her sleeping so much?

Glancing at Huo Shu, who was wearing autumn clothes and carrying firewood into the kitchen, everyone else was bundled up like bears, but he was still wearing thin clothes and seemed lively.

He noticed that she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, had done a lot of heavy chores early in the morning, and still had the energy to plough two acres of land. Suddenly, he remembered something and couldn’t help but cough.

“She’s always sleepy when winter comes. Let her sleep. Let’s eat first.”