As the candle extinguished, Lin Xingxue’s eyes were plunged into darkness. After adjusting for a while, she regretfully put down the book as she couldn’t see the words on it in the faint moonlight.
She pulled the blanket higher, pulling it up to just below her nose, and listened to the sounds behind the screen. She only felt at ease when she was sure Shen Hanxing had gone to bed, and then she closed her eyes to sleep.
The room was quiet, with only the shallow rising and falling of breaths.
After a while, a muffled “thud” sounded, followed by silence.
Shen Hanxing slowly opened his eyes, sighing silently.
After waiting for a while without any signs of the person outside the screen waking up, he reluctantly got up, put on his outer robe, and pushed the wheelchair around the screen.
As expected, he saw a massive chrysalis lying on the ground in front of the chaise lounge[1]. The girl wrapped in the chrysalis of blankets seemed unaware that she had fallen to the floor, still shifting over to find a comfortable position.
Shen Hanxing didn’t bother to call and try to wake her up, knowing for sure that it wouldn’t work.
He wheeled the wheelchair over to Lin Xingxue, and picked her up along with the blanket. Just as he was about to casually throw her onto the chaise lounge, the deeply sleeping girl suddenly reached out, hooked onto his shoulder, and even nudged forward, as if trying to find a comfortable position.
The girl’s sleeping face was serene, with red marks on her right cheek from the pressure. Despite the commotion, she didn’t wake up at all; instead, she seemed to be sleeping even more soundly.
Shen Hanxing glanced at the narrow chaise lounge, contemplating Lin Xingxue’s antics for the past two nights. He decided to one-handedly pick her up, while the other hand pushed the wheelchair back to the big bed. He tossed her onto it, pushed her inside, removed his outer garment, and lay on the bed, covering himself with a blanket.
He thought, this time he should be able to sleep peacefully….
Before he could even finish his thought, a slender and pale arm slapped him on the face, roughly patting him, and then reached under the blanket to wrap around his waist.
Shen Hanxing took a deep breath, turning his head to look at Lin Xingxue, who was still smiling contentedly. For the first time, he began to suspect whether this girl married him just to fuss with him.
As the night turned into dawn, Lin Xingxue woke up from a comfortable sleep. Stretching out her arms, she tried to loosen her muscles, but when she extended her arm, it hit something soft.
Following her arm’s path, she looked up and was horrified to see her hand patting Shen Hanxing’s cheek. Meanwhile, her entire body had rolled to the outer side and slipped under Shen Hanxing’s blanket.
Shen Hanxing woke up at some point. Without saying a word, he watched her wake up, meeting her gaze with a faint and benevolent smile.
Lin Xingxue’s heart sank, and immediately she withdrew her arm, attempting to maneuver out of the “accident scene.”
However, as soon as she made a move, her arm was firmly caught, and Shen Hanxing smiled, asking her, “Why run? This time, it wasn’t me who initiated the hug.”
Feeling particularly guilty, Lin Xingxue struggled to free her arm but couldn’t. She could only raise her pitiful peach blossom eyes, attempting to seek his forgiveness.
“Pretending to be pitiful won’t work. Let me help you remember the great things you did last night, okay?” Shen Hanxing leaned closer, intentionally whispering in Lin Xingxue’s ear, “You first rolled down from the chaise lounge, and I kindly picked you up. But you clung to my neck and refused to let go. You wore me down, so I had to carry you to the big bed. But you still wouldn’t let go.”
“So, you didn’t want to sleep on the big bed; instead…” Shen Hanxing deliberately slowed down his tone, emphasizing each word, “You wanted to sleep with me.”
Lin Xingxue’s cheeks flushed red. She actually knew that she could be a bit restless in her sleep, but she hadn’t expected it to escalate to this extent.
She vigorously shook her hands, denying Shen Hanxing’s words.
She absolutely didn’t intend to sleep with him. Yesterday, it was he who pushed her onto the chaise lounge; she couldn’t possibly be that spineless.
However, the undeniable fact was right in front of her – she had indeed clung to Shen Hanxing and slept with him all night.
Shen Hanxing watched her vigorously shake her hands and leisurely added, “Don’t deny it; denial is just a cover-up.”
He intentionally raised his left hand, showing faint bite marks, “Yesterday, someone bit me because I hugged her. Today, when it’s about herself, she won’t admit it. Quite bold.”
Lin Xingxue pouted, silently rebutting in her mind.
It wasn’t because he hugged her; clearly, it was him being unreasonable, threatening to cut off her hand. Anyway, no matter how they looked at it, he had excuses. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Lin Xingxue reluctantly extended her right hand, offering it to Shen Hanxing’s lips. Her left hand was still being held, so she had no choice but to sacrifice her right hand.
Seeing Shen Hanxing’s lack of response, she nudged his lips, indicating that he should bite quickly.
The girl’s hand was soft, and when the back of her hand touched Shen Hanxing’s lips, he was momentarily stunned. He became a bit distracted, gazing at the back of the girl’s hand without moving.
Lin Xingxue became anxious, tugging at his sleeve to signal him to hurry up; she was afraid of pain too.
Shen Hanxing, after a plethora of words, truly hadn’t expected the girl to come up with such a method to resolve this matter.
He chuckled lightly, genuinely amused by her ingenuity this time.
Suddenly seeing his smile, Lin Xingxue’s face seemed to deepen with a hint of rosy blush.
Shen Hanxing pushed away her hand, released her arm, and sat up with both hands supporting the bed. He rang the bell and then said, “I won’t bite you.”
Lin Xingxue looked at him puzzled. Not biting her – did that mean pretending this incident never happened?
Shen Hanxing easily understood her thoughts and smirked, “Of course I won’t let you off so easily. I have a better idea.”
On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the night of New Year’s Eve, was a day for family reunions.
On the third day of their marriage, coinciding with New Year’s Eve, they naturally couldn’t return to her maidan home. The Lin family decided to postpone their return to the day after New Year’s Day, conveniently the day when married daughters returned to their parents’ home.
When Lin Xingxue woke up, she saw Luo Yan directing servants to paste couplets on the doors. Lanterns of various shapes hung under the eaves, adding a festive atmosphere to the usually cold East Transverse Courtyard.
She walked to the kitchen door, seeing the cooks busy, and the entire house filled with the aroma of delicious food.
Lin Xingxue only found out yesterday that Shen Hanxing hadn’t dined with everyone in the main courtyard during family reunions for the past two years; he spent those times in the East Transverse Courtyard alone. Back then, there was no mistress in the house, making it much lonelier than it was now.
This year, perhaps due to the addition of a mistress, even though Shen Hanxing still dined alone in the East Transverse Courtyard for the New Year’s Eve dinner, others including Luo Yan felt something different.
It seemed livelier and more relaxed, no longer as silent as usual.
Lin Xingxue stood in front of the kitchen door for a while, but soon someone persuaded her to leave.
The kitchen was filled with thick smoke, and staying there for too long would leave her smelling like it.
Lin Xingxue didn’t mind the smell; it was just that the small kitchen was crowded, and she had found it more convenient to cook during the past two days when it was empty in the afternoons.
She sat in the long corridor, looking up at the servants hanging lanterns. Towards the end, they added an extra lantern shaped like a rabbit. Luo Yan looked around and walked over, handing it to Lin Xingxue, “Madam, we have an extra rabbit lantern. Do you like it?”
The rabbit lantern looked cute and adorable. Lin Xingxue nodded with a smile, about to take it when a hand suddenly reached out, snatching the rabbit lantern away.
“This is bought with my money,” Shen Hanxing said proudly, flicking the rabbit lantern.
Lin Xingxue turned her head, ignoring him. She now realized that the rumors were greatly mistaken; Shen Hanxing was just an unreasonable and childish troublemaker[2].
Seeing her ignore him, Shen Hanxing whispered something to Luo Yan. Soon, Luo Yan came back with a black wooden pole.
He[3] held a small knife and started carving the wooden pole. Lin Xingxue couldn’t help but be drawn to him, partly anxious about him getting cut by the knife, and partly curious about what he was carving.
After finishing the carving, Shen Hanxing drilled a small hole at one end of the wooden pole, cut the lantern string, and tied it through the hole. Then, he handed it to Lin Xingxue. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Lin Xingxue cautiously took it. Seeing that he didn’t retract it, a subtle smile appeared on her face. She lowered her head to look at the carving on the wooden pole and found that Shen Hanxing had carved a rabbit peacefully sleeping, quite suitable for the lantern.
With the pole, she could now carry the lantern.
Lin Xingxue extended her thumb and bent it twice toward Shen Hanxing, a sign language for thank you.
The girl’s laughter was as radiant as flowers, as if she had received some extraordinary treasure.
Shen Hanxing watched her smile, and the surrounding noise seemed to fade away. The girl’s smiling face lingered in his eyes, not dispersing for a long time[4].
It wasn’t until the late evening that the bustling activities in the small kitchen came to an end.
As a servant girl opened the window to dispel the smell of oil and was about to leave, she was startled to see Lin Xingxue pushing Shen Hanxing in.
The servant stammered, her voice trembling, “G-General.”
Although she hadn’t served him up close before, and there was still a lingering fear of Shen Hanxing in her heart.
“Help her,” Shen Hanxing merely muttered a few words, letting Lin Xingxue hand over a piece of paper with instructions on the tasks the servant needed to assist with.
The tasks were not many, just cleaning and chopping potatoes, with the main emphasis on preventing Lin Xingxue from getting in contact with water.
At first, the servant girl didn’t understand what to do. However, when she saw Lin Xingxue standing in front of the pot, cooking and frying with her own hands, she stared wide-eyed, forgetting her fear.
Shen Hanxing gave her a faint glance, and the servant girl, startled, quickly retreated.
In the small kitchen, only the two of them remained. Lin Xingxue was busy frying potato strips, while Shen Hanxing watched her, playing the role of yesterday’s Luo Zhi.
When a plate of fried potato strips was ready, sprinkled with salt and spicy powder, Lin Xingxue picked up a piece to taste. Before she could put it in her mouth, her hand was slapped, and the chopsticks were snatched away.
Shen Hanxing carried away the plate of fried potato strips, saying, “No eating.”
Lin Xingxue looked at him in disbelief. After all her hard work, she couldn’t even taste a single bite?
They had agreed this morning to make a plate of fried potato strips to reconcile the matter of her clinging to her husband.
But Lin Xingxue hadn’t expected that Shen Hanxing wanted to eat alone!
As the evening approached and darkness fell, firecrackers outside were bursting in the sky.
On the table, various delicacies were arranged, and the plate of fried potato strips was placed closest to Shen Hanxing.
Lin Xingxue sat to the side, watching someone leisurely finish nearly a whole plate of potato strips until only one piece remained.
Shen Hanxing picked up the last piece of potato strip. Seeing someone unwillingly watching him, he twirled his chopsticks and fed it to Lin Xingxue’s lips with a slight smile, “Open your mouth.”
TLN:
Fox: HELPPP HES FEEDING HER ITS TOO CUTE AHHH
Anon: ….but he basically ate everything😩😩
[1] you guys might see longue or lounge in the previous chapters. Apparently longue is the French word for it, but I’ll just be using lounge in the future. Sorry for the inconvenience
[2] girlie…me thinks that he’s only like that with you
[4] my boy here falling in LOVE