18 – Brother Qin, did you lose the money?
“Hmm? What did you say?”
Qin Feng was somewhat distracted, his mind wandering because of the two soft mounds pressed against his back and the warm, ticklish breath against the side of his neck.
In that moment, he suddenly felt all the blood in his body rush downward.
Meanwhile, Taohua was lying on Qin Feng’s back, completely unaware of the changes in his body.
She only noticed that her man’s hands, which were holding her legs, suddenly tightened, and his thumbs seemed to rub heavily against the sides of her thighs a couple of times.
But she didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just her Qin-ge being careful to keep her from slipping off his back.
She repeated her question again, sounding a bit sullen: “What exactly did my mother say to you?”
“Really want to know?” Qin Feng’s voice was slightly hoarse.
“Yes!” Taohua nodded emphatically against Qin Feng’s shoulder and neck. “I want to know. I’m dying of curiosity.”
“Alright. I can tell you, but before that, you have to answer a question for me.”
“What question?” Taohua grew even more curious. “Just ask, Qin-ge!”
“We both know you’ve already cut ties with the Chen family. You finally managed to escape that pit of fire. But your mother is still the Chen family’s daughter-in-law. If you try to interfere in her affairs now, the Chen family will definitely not allow it. They might even accuse you of meddling in their business. So, do you still want to get involved?”
“Of course! She’s my birth mother—how could that be considered meddling?” Taohua was initially agitated, but her voice soon softened. “I know saying this now might be overestimating myself.
I’m fully aware that the only reason I was able to leave the Chen family was because of you, Qin-ge. Without you, who knows how Chen Dashan would still be harming me.
But precisely because of that, I want even more to help my mother escape her suffering. I want her to live a better life too. But, Qin-ge…”
Taohua bit her lip, pausing before continuing: “I’m your wife now, a member of the Qin family. If you’re bothered by this, I’ll hold back.
But I can’t just ignore my mother completely. Qin-ge, maybe you should put me down. I can walk on my own.”
“Why?” Qin Feng felt his little wife squirming on his back and instinctively held her tighter. “Why do you want to get down? Because you think I’ll stop you?”
Suddenly confronted with this question, Taohua fell silent, which was essentially an admission.
Since she refused to speak, Qin Feng spoke again: “You and your mother are so alike. She thought the same way.
Earlier, when she called me aside alone, she wanted to tell me not to get involved in the Chen family’s affairs.”
“My mother… she really said that?”
“Yes. She doesn’t want to burden you or me because of her. She only hopes I’ll treat you well and that our married life will be harmonious. She’s a good mother.”
“Then…” Taohua lifted her eyes to stare at the back of Qin Feng’s head, asking nervously, “Qin-ge, did you agree?”
Qin Feng could feel his little wife on his back tensing up, her spine straightening with anxiety. He couldn’t resist teasing her: “What do you think?”
“What do I think?” Taohua couldn’t handle being teased and grew impatient. “How would I know? I wasn’t there when the two of you were talking behind my back.”
Qin Feng knew his little wife was truly anxious, having even uttered words like “carrying her on his back.”
He sighed softly, tightening his grip on her legs and giving her a slight upward bounce. “I didn’t agree. I said I had to listen to Taohua.”
“Really?” Taohua was pleasantly surprised. “You told my mother you’d listen to me?”
Qin Feng hummed in agreement. “She’s your birth mother. How could I make decisions for you? My own mother suffered a lot too. Putting myself in your shoes, I think children shouldn’t be unfilial. After all, she’s the mother who carried us for ten months and worked hard to raise us.”
“Yes!” Taohua thought of the hardships Mrs. Zhou had endured over the years and couldn’t help but tear up.
Hearing the choked-up tone in his little wife’s voice, Qin Feng’s own voice softened unconsciously. “From now on, your mother is my mother. You go ahead and fulfill your filial duties. I’ll be right behind you, backing you up. There’s no need to distinguish between the Qin family or the Chen family.”
In truth, Qin Feng had only revealed half of what happened tonight to Taohua. The other half remained unspoken.
Taohua had gone to the Chen family today precisely because she was worried that Chen Dashan might have beaten Mrs. Zhou.
Although Mrs. Zhou claimed Chen Dashan hadn’t done anything to her, when she poured tea for Qin Feng today, he noticed bruises on her arm.
Qin Feng had always looked down on men who beat and abused their wives and children, especially this Chen Dashan, who dared to provoke him.
His voice turned grave. “Don’t worry. I won’t stand by and do nothing about this.”
But Taohua couldn’t set her mind at ease. “Then what do you plan to do?”
Qin Feng replied calmly, “Return the favor in kind. Anyway, you don’t need to worry. You just saw your mother is fine, so you should be happier.”
“That’s true.” Taohua was quickly persuaded.
Thinking of how good her man was, she couldn’t help but tighten her arms around his neck, turning her head to plant a firm kiss on his cheek.
Before Qin Feng could react, she kissed him again, even making a soft smacking sound.
Now Taohua felt shy. She buried her head in the crook of Qin Feng’s neck and refused to move.
…………
After washing up, Taohua lit the oil lamp in the room.
Before going to bed, she wanted to count the leftover money from selling the pelts today with her man.
But no matter how she calculated, it didn’t add up:
“Brother Qin, did you lose some money? How could there only be ten wen left? Look, we spent nearly five hundred wen on fabric. Firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, plus the chicken and fish—these two big items add up to about one tael of silver. Let’s not count the wontons and tea we bought.
But we earned over two taels from selling the pelts. How could only ten wen be left? Could it have been lost at the market, or accidentally left in the basket? I need to search carefully.”
As she spoke, Taohua started to get out of bed.
But Qin Feng grabbed her arm. “Don’t look. It’s here.”
“Where?”
Taohua asked, then watched as Qin Feng pulled a bronze mirror from under the pillow and handed it to her.
The mirror was even bigger than the one she had seen at Xiao Lan’s house—as large as both of Qin Feng’s palms! And the reflection it cast was much clearer!
Such a fine thing! Taohua was stunned. “Is this for me?”
“Mhm,” Qin Feng spread Taohua’s hand open and placed the bronze mirror into her palm. “You married me without even a proper banquet, without any new clothes or jewelry. When I saw this mirror today, I bought it for you. Do you like it?”
Taohua looked at the mirror in her hand, then at the man before her. Tears suddenly welled up uncontrollably in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
“I like it, I like it so much. Brother Qin, why are you so good to me?” Taohua’s heart felt warm, and she threw herself into Qin Feng’s embrace.
Caught off guard, Qin Feng fell back onto the bedding under the force of his little wife’s momentum.
To prevent his overly excited little wife from rolling off him, he wrapped one arm tightly around her waist.
This reminded him of the time he had rescued his little wife from the river.
At first, he had only noticed how slender the young girl’s waist was, and nothing more.
But after pulling her ashore, he saw her thin, damp clothes clinging to her skin.
And the porcelain-white figure beneath those clothes.
Qin Feng suddenly felt a surge of heat. His large hand slowly moved upward.
Caressing her, he tugged open the collar of his little wife’s garment.
Unexpectedly, his little wife wasn’t in the mood today. She sat up again, her face stern and serious as she discussed with Qin Feng:
“Brother Qin, I think you’re right. Since ancient times, men have been responsible for external affairs while women manage the household. I think from now on, I should be the one in charge of our family’s money. Although I really like this mirror, you’re too wasteful. You can’t keep buying things like this in the future.”
“Alright, you manage it,” Qin Feng replied absentmindedly, clearly not fully listening to his little wife.
His heart was still burning with desire. When his little wife got out of bed to find a place to put the mirror, he followed closely behind.
Later, Taohua could no longer hold onto the bronze mirror, and the newly bought treasure slipped from her grasp with a clatter onto the floor.
She gasped softly in surprise, then quickly bit her lip, letting the candlelight on the table flicker and sway with their movements…