Chapter 10 – Bath Time for the Boys

Fu Ting also ate to his heart’s content.

As the saying goes, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Yesterday’s iron-pot stewed fish, today’s braised chicken, plus a rich chicken soup, and on top of that, Ruan Jiaojiao’s sweet, coquettish calls of “my man”—Fu Ting was already utterly bewitched.

Now he finally understood why foolish emperors were so easily ruined in the arms of beautiful women. Who could possibly resist?

But work hours couldn’t be delayed, so Ruan Jiaojiao didn’t hold Fu Ting back for too long.

When he finished eating, she mischievously gave his firm, muscular backside a squeeze, then happily took the two little beansprouts home.

Fu Ting: “……”

He didn’t even know how to describe what he felt.

His Jiaojiao was perfect in every way—except for one odd little quirk: she loved touching his butt.

Fu Ting couldn’t understand. That part of him was hard and solid, while her little hands were so soft. Wouldn’t it hurt when they met?

But Jiaojiao just loved it. Not only loved it, she wished she could hold on all the time.

In the end, Fu Ting could only let her be.

Back home, Ruan Jiaojiao cuddled the two little ones for a nap.

Xiaobao had another nightmare—Ruan Jiaojiao turning back into her old self, hitting and scolding him and Dabao, calling them burdens, saying they were just unwanted bastards, and that if her health had allowed, she would never have given birth to them!

He woke up crying, only to see that Ruan Jiaojiao wasn’t lying beside him or Dabao. Terrified, he burst into loud sobs.

Dabao woke up at the noise and asked anxiously what was wrong.

Xiaobao recounted his dream, and was immediately met with his brother’s “you poor idiot” kind of look.

Pointing at the blanket, Dabao said, “We’re sleeping under Mama’s quilt right now. That means your dream can’t come true. Dreams are always the opposite, got it?”

Xiaobao nodded blankly, still shaken from the nightmare.

Just then, Ruan Jiaojiao pushed the door open and said, “There’s sweet water on the table. Drink it up and come out quick—Mama’s going to give you little rascals a proper bath.”

The boys answered obediently, climbed out of bed, and sure enough, found two bowls of warm sugar water waiting on the table. They took a sip—sweet and delicious.

This was what having a mama felt like. It was wonderful.

After drinking, they went outside and found that while they napped, Ruan Jiaojiao had already cleaned up the entire courtyard.

The weeds were uprooted, dust and stones swept into neat piles against the wall.

All three rooms were tidied up bright and clean.

She had even sprinkled water on the ground to keep the dust down, so they wouldn’t choke on it.

“Hurry up before the water gets cold!”

Ruan Jiaojiao stood by the big vat with a clean, if a bit old, white towel in her hand. Behind her, the vat was filled with perfectly warm bathwater.

Usually, the boys bathed in the river, but now that winter was near, the river water was icy cold. It had already been almost a month since their last bath.

Fu Ting was too busy making a living, and as a rough man, never paid much attention to whether the boys were clean or dirty.

Xiaobao skipped over happily, but in a blink, Ruan Jiaojiao had stripped him bare. Blushing, he covered himself with his little hands and squeaked, “Mama, you’re bad!”

Dabao tried to run, but too late—she grabbed him by the collar and hauled him back with no effort at all.

Even if he was more mature than his years, Dabao was still only five. That skinny mutt Huo Yunshu wasn’t even her match—what chance did little Dabao have?

Soon, he too was completely bare, blushing red as a monkey’s bottom.

Ruan Jiaojiao tossed the two little stinkers into the vat and began scrubbing.

Dabao protested, “Mama, you’re scrubbing all the dirt off me! Then I won’t have my smell anymore! Men are supposed to have their own smell!”

Ruan Jiaojiao smacked his tiny butt with a loud slap, which sent Xiaobao into peals of laughter.

“Brother got his butt smacked! So embarrassing~”

Dabao: “……”

His pride was ruined.
His “big brother” dignity was gone.
His path to manhood—shattered.

“If you don’t bathe, germs will grow and you’ll get sick,” Ruan Jiaojiao explained patiently.

“Mama, what’s a germ? Is it related to that skinny dog Huo Yunshu?” Xiaobao asked innocently.

Ruan Jiaojiao burst out laughing. She really wanted to say that Huo Yunshu wasn’t even worthy of being compared to germs, but since this was a chance to educate her boys, she took it seriously.

“Germs are tiny, so tiny you can’t see them, but they make you sick. Even though they’re small, they’re very harmful.”

The boys nodded solemnly, thinking it over carefully.

“Then I’ll bathe every day from now on!” Dabao declared.

“Me too! I’ll bathe even more than Brother!” Xiaobao added quickly.

They were smart, eager to learn—just hadn’t had the chance before.

With Mama’s encouragement, the boys scrubbed obediently.

She had to change the bathwater three times before they were finally clean—no longer little black balls but fresh and shiny.

Afterwards, Dabao and Xiaobao felt light and refreshed, indescribably comfortable.

Ruan Jiaojiao had been busy the whole afternoon. She washed herself too, planning to have Fu Ting bathe when he got home—she could even scrub his back for him, hehehe.

Soon it was dinnertime.

She took the boys out to gather wild mushrooms, planning to make a sour-and-spicy soup—what she called “daughter-in-law soup.”

But that alone wasn’t enough. She also made five meat-stuffed flatbreads. Three for Fu Ting, one each for Dabao and Xiaobao. As for herself, she would just drink the soup—she didn’t like eating too much at night.

Of course, she would tell Fu Ting she’d already eaten, or else the straightforward man would force her to eat anyway.

The aroma drifting from their courtyard wafted next door, making a little dark-skinned boy drool.

“Mama, meat! It smells like meat! Second Uncle’s family is eating meat!”

“Nonsense, Jindan. Your Second Uncle’s family is too poor to even keep the pot boiling. How could they be eating meat every day?” A woman in green stepped out of the house and said, “That chicken at noon was just dumb luck—they found a wild one. Now hush. Mama bought pork belly. I’ll cook it for us later, but we won’t share with your sister or grandma. Just you and me, ha~”

The woman’s name was Shen Junmei, wife of Fu Ting’s eldest brother, Fu Jun.

Ever since Fu Ting separated from the family, Shen Junmei and Fu Jun had lived in the big house, caring for Fu Ting’s and Fu Jun’s elderly parents.