Ji You said, “You have to wash my feet.”
Fang Yi thought it was natural for a husband to wash his pregnant wife’s feet. Even if she were not pregnant, it was still the right thing to do.
With the crisis resolved, he felt joyful inside but did not want Ji You to notice. He kept his expression neutral and quickly agreed, “Okay, I accept the punishment.”
After dinner, he went for a walk downstairs and returned. Fang Yi took the initiative to carry Ji You’s special foot basin to the water room. Ji You, confident in her request, said, “I am pregnant. The water for washing my feet cannot be too hot, and I cannot soak for too long.”
Fang Yi kept agreeing, “Okay, you go inside and wait for me.”
He busily grabbed Ji You’s foot basin, went to the water pipe to wash his hands, added cold water, went to the kitchen to pour hot water, stirred with his large hands, felt it was a bit too hot, went back to mix in cold water, checked that the temperature was right, and finally carried the basin toward the room.
After he brought back cold water, he picked up a thermos of hot water. Zhang Guilan was knitting a sweater for Ji You and glanced at Fang Yi, asking, “Are you washing your wife’s feet?”
Fang Yi answered frankly, “Yes, Ji You cannot bend easily.”
In other households, wives served their husbands, not the other way around. Giving someone water for a foot bath was normal, but his son insisted on washing his wife’s feet himself.
This young man did not understand. Ji You was very capable at work and surely liked strong men. Even if Fang Yi washed her feet for a lifetime, she would not like him more.
If it were not for Fang Yi’s father passing away the year he took the college entrance exam, which delayed him by a day, he could have gone to university and not joined the army. If he had been a university student, Ji You would not have looked down on him.
Thinking of this, Zhang Guilan felt a pang in her heart, lowered her head, and continued knitting without saying anything.
Fang Yi carried the foot basin into the room. Ji You was seated steadily on the edge of the bed. He put the basin down, brought a small stool, sat, and began helping her remove her shoes and socks. His large hands held her ankles, immersing her feet in the water.
Ji You’s skin was delicate and smooth, like silk. Her feet were very fair, reminding Fang Yi of pale pig trotters, only her feet were even whiter and smoother.
Fang Yi soaked her feet, gently rubbed them, applied some soap, and asked, “Is this pressure okay?”
His hands kept moving while his mind worked quickly.
From the pig trotters sold at the market, he thought of the delicious braised pig trotters and compared which was more fragrant, hers or the trotters.
Ji You focused on the man sitting on the stool. His head bent low, thick black hair gleaming under the light. From her view, she could see his soft, relaxed eyebrows and eyes.
His long fingers held her feet. Calluses on his palms and fingertips brushed her skin. The roughness against her softness created a strange sensation.
She pulled her feet slightly and said, “A bit ticklish.”
Fang Yi hurriedly said, “Then I will be gentler.”
Ji You was puzzled. Was he playing with her feet? Was it fun for him?
For this man, it was not a punishment at all. He seemed to enjoy it.
It was remarkable that in her previous life, she had even missed him, but that was in the past.
Ji You had rested well these days and was full of energy. Waking at five was not difficult.
From six thirty to seven in the morning, she would relay the central news and newspaper summary programs. At seven, she and her partner would broadcast the local news. She had to be at her post by five thirty.
After getting up at five, she did not eat breakfast, just got dressed and washed. Time was not too tight.
Fang Yi always woke up early with her to take her to the radio station. Today was no different.
At five, it was still dark with only a little light. Fang Yi changed his pajamas and asked, “Getting up this early, are you tired?”
Ji You was energetic and said, “Not tired.”
Fang Yi had noticed her love for sleep. He worried that as her belly grew, getting up this early every day would exhaust her.
After washing, they could quickly leave. Fang Yi was surprised that Ji You had stuffed a handful of milk candies into his jacket pocket, saying, “If you crave a cigarette, eat candy.”
Fang Yi had never received such treatment. Was Ji You caring for him? Had he not even fully woken up yet?
These candies were meant to prevent Ji You from getting hungry.
If she treated him just a little well, he would feel overjoyed, yet Ji You seemed unaware.
Pressing the bulging pocket, Fang Yi smelled the candy and nervously said, “Okay, I won’t smoke or smell smoke anymore. Let’s go.”
They left for the radio station.
They were earlier than Zhang Guilan. She only set out to sweep the streets after they left.
They had moved from the mountain valley to the city center. At the time of Ji You’s engagement ceremony, she had been abandoned, and in anger married into the valley.
Fang Yi’s adoptive parents worked at a third-tier factory in the valley. As the era progressed, the factory closed. After they married, Fang Yi received housing at the agricultural machinery station.
This house was near the radio station, making Ji You’s commute very convenient. If they lived far away, she might have had to get up at four thirty.
The air was cool, the streetlights cast a cold glow, stretching their long shadows on the ground. No words could describe Ji You’s joyful mood.
In her previous life, she had felt disconnected from Fang Yi, had no feelings for him, was pregnant which affected her work, and he had a deceased first love, making her unable to tolerate it and impulsively went to a clinic to abort.
No clinic could legally perform an abortion without her husband’s signature.
She had paid the price.
At that time, her health was poor. She had to rest at home and could not return to work at the radio station.
Xue Xiaocheng had replaced her on the morning news, making frequent mistakes.
Ji You did not expect her weak health would trouble her for three years. When she recovered, her voice had worsened, preventing her from broadcasting, forcing her to change careers.
Now, she was lively, healthy, and walking to broadcast with vigor.