Han Jiaojiao laughed.
It was true that she was admiring her husband’s stunningly handsome face, but it was also true that she wanted to make him shy and embarrassed before making her move on him.
Han Jiaojiao caressed his cheek, and the scorching heat radiating from her palm—she couldn’t tell whether she had warmed his face with her hand, or whether Shen Junshan’s face had burned her hand.
Shen Junshan’s face grew hotter and hotter, and his rosy cheeks even revealed a shyness that only young girls would show.
He stammered, “J-Jiaojiao, what are you doing?”
“I suddenly realized that you, Junshan, are truly handsome—more handsome than everyone I’ve ever met combined. How did you manage to turn out so good-looking?”
“You…”
Shen Junshan turned his head away, the two fiery clouds on his face having spread all the way to the roots of his ears.
Han Jiaojiao suddenly realized that her mood was at its best whenever she teased him.
She piled a lot of eel onto Shen Junshan’s plate and gave him an entire bullfrog leg too.
“Hubby, eat more!”
She flashed him another radiant smile, making him so embarrassed that he hurriedly focused on his meal.
Han Fang also stuffed eel and bullfrog into his mouth, and before long, a small mountain of bones had piled up in front of him.
Seeing how her little brother could pack away food like that, she found it amusing and pinched his little ear.
“You’re the smallest, but you eat the most. It’s your turn to do the dishes later!”
“As long as Sis cooks every day, I’ll wash dishes every day.”
“I’ll do it today. You have the entrance exam tomorrow, so finish reviewing and get some rest early.”
Shen Junshan took over the conversation and placed two new pencils on the table.
Although pencils weren’t expensive, they still required ration coupons to buy. Most families would use them down to just the stub and then attach a holder to the end to keep writing with them.
Han Fang’s pencil still had about a third left, yet Shen Junshan had gotten him two new ones.
She looked a bit worried. “Aren’t you spoiling him too much? I saw those pencils yesterday—why buy new ones before the old ones are used up?”
“If he can make it into the top three on this entrance exam, he’ll be recommended directly to a key middle school. A Fang usually does well in his studies, so it would be best if he could get in.”
Han Fang suddenly fell silent.
His wish since childhood had been to become a real man, to take care of his older sister and younger sister, and to protect them.
Ever since Shen Junshan appeared, it seemed he had helped fulfill that wish.
But he didn’t want to lose either, and he certainly didn’t want to bring shame to his family.
“I heard from the teacher that No. 2 Middle School offers boarding—five yuan per semester, meals included—and there are also teachers from the big cities coming to teach there. I’ll definitely do well on the exam and get in!”
Han Jiaojiao’s sharp eyes caught him pressing his lips together and clenching his little fists.
It was clearly a sign of nervousness and pressure.
She teased him, “How old are you? Don’t go trying to save your brother-in-law some living expenses. Your brother-in-law has money; he doesn’t need you to scrimp on his behalf.”
“Sis, you…”
Seeing Han Fang’s reaction, Shen Junshan finally understood how much pressure his words had put on the boy.
He quickly explained, “A Fang, that’s not what I meant. I just thought that since you do well in school, it wouldn’t hurt to go for it.”
“Brother-in-law, don’t listen to my sister—she’s just talking nonsense!”
Seeing him red-faced and flustered, Han Jiaojiao burst out laughing.
Her bright and cheerful demeanor captivated both the young man and the boy.
She had never laughed like this before.
So beautiful!
Shen Junshan was about to go crazy. He had met so many people—those from the army, from the city, and even foreigners.
All those men and women combined couldn’t hold a candle to even a fraction of Han Jiaojiao’s beauty.
Han Jiaojiao, completely unaware of their reactions, carried on.
She patted her younger brother’s head and said with a smile, “Tonight, I’ll make the sacrifice and help you with your homework. In the future, when you get into a key middle school, then high school, then college, and after you start working, don’t forget your big sister! The woman behind every successful man!”
“Sis, you’re such a fool!”
Han Fang called her foolish with his words, but he couldn’t suppress the smile on his face.
That morning, the teacher had looked at the problems he’d solved and even praised him—he and the class study committee member were the only ones who’d gotten them right.
He was more and more certain that his sister wasn’t an idiot; it was just as his brother-in-law had said—she was simply too naive.
After dinner, the sun had already set behind the mountains.
When Han Jiaojiao had come back, she’d deliberately pulled two old-fashioned, shabby-looking eye-protection light bulbs from her Kongjian.
Now, as they finished dinner and dusk was falling, she quickly climbed up and swapped out the lights while Shen Junshan was washing the dishes, also taking down the fluorescent tube and tossing it to the ground.
When Shen Junshan came out, she had just turned on the light.
“Honey, does this light hurt your eyes?”
“What is this?”
Shen Junshan’s expression paused slightly.
Because of his eyes, he’d done research on the lights available on the market.
He’d never seen this model before.
Counting this time, she’d done five miraculous things in just two days.
Shen Junshan said thoughtfully, “Where did you buy it?”
“I saw someone selling it at Wushi today and bought it. Why?”
“Nothing. The light is very soft. It’s comfortable.”
“Good, as long as it’s comfortable.”
Han Jiaojiao leaned close to him, stood on her tiptoes, and gently pried open his eyelid with her fingers.
She only wanted to check the condition of Shen Junshan’s eyes, but in the eyes of the two men, this gesture was incredibly intimate, incredibly suggestive.
“Jiaojiao…”
“Shh, don’t talk. Let me look.”
Han Jiaojiao pressed down on his restless hand and carefully examined both eyes.
Her initial assessment was that it was corneal epithelial damage from the injury, compounded by eye strain from overuse without proper rest.
But she couldn’t rule out that a head injury was compressing the nerves.
If only she could knock Shen Junshan out and get him into her Yiliaoshi, she could run a detailed examination.
So frustrating. How was she supposed to knock Shen Junshan out? That wasn’t easy.
“Jiaojiao.”
“I told you not to move. Stand still! Crouch down a little—I’m exhausted from standing on my tiptoes!”
Shen Junshan was scolded for no reason, yet he obediently bent his knees and lowered himself to a height slightly below hers.
Han Jiaojiao suddenly felt something warm moving against her.
She looked down and saw that her left hand was gripping Shen Junshan’s two thumbs tightly, pressing both his hands against her chest.
This…
Awkward…
“Sis, you’re getting smarter and smarter! Hurry up and consummate the marriage with my brother-in-law—who knows, maybe next year I’ll be an uncle!”
Han Fang was almost in middle school, and even though he didn’t fully understand the matters between men and women, he knew that after marriage, you had to consummate the marriage to have a baby.
To consummate the marriage, you had to sleep in the same bed every night.
It had been so long, and they’d only slept together once. That probably wasn’t enough.
The sister-in-law downstairs had been married for three years and only got pregnant after sleeping together every single night. There was no way his sister could give him a nephew after just one night.
If she had a chubby baby boy sooner, it would put an end to the ideas those outside women had.
Han Fang said in a grown-up tone, “You two need to move faster. Dragging your feet like this—there’s no efficiency at all.”
Han Jiaojiao choked and turned red in the face. “What does a kid know! Go do your homework.” “Yes.” He stuck out his tongue, his homework spread all over the desk, but his eyes kept stealing glances at them.
After all, the scene was too pleasing to the eye, and too rare—far more interesting than the textbooks.