“What’s wrong?” Luo Wangshu asked blankly. He’d already stripped him naked, so why wasn’t he making a move?
Mo Li coughed awkwardly. A trace of panic flashed through his usually calm eyes. He quickly looked away, wrung out the cloth, and then—
“Hey! Be gentler! This is human flesh, not pigskin!” Mo Li was using way too much force. After enduring it for a while, Luo Wangshu finally couldn’t help shouting.
Mo Li paused, then lightened his touch. Only then did Luo Wangshu sigh in relief.
Damn it, he’d nearly scrubbed a layer of skin off.
Out of the corner of his eye, Luo Wangshu glanced at his right arm. A long red mark had appeared on his jade-like pale skin, and it looked pretty serious.
Seriously, what was wrong with this guy? Had he offended him somehow? Suddenly using that much force—he hadn’t even asked Mo Li to help wipe him down. The man volunteered on his own and still had an attitude. What kind of person was that?
By the time Mo Li finished, he draped clean clothes over Luo Wangshu and carried the wooden basin out. Luo Wangshu, whose entire body had been scrubbed red, looked utterly resentful, as though he’d just been thoroughly ravaged.
After leaving the room, Mo Li let out a long breath and wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. His palms still retained the soft touch of Luo Wangshu’s skin.
After mocking himself with a bitter smile, he went off to do other chores.
Luo Wangshu waited forever, but Mo Li never came back. Holding in his frustration, he awkwardly dressed himself. In the process, he accidentally tugged at the wound, and the pain twisted his features.
After finally getting dressed, he climbed out of bed, grabbed the water from the table, and gulped it all down in one breath. Only then did he feel slightly better.
Thinking about it, Mo Li was probably out working.
Luo Wangshu carefully walked outside and just happened to run into Mo Li returning with a bowl of porridge. Fortunately, Mo Li reacted quickly enough to stop the bowl from falling.
“Wife, why are you out of bed? Hurry back and lie down. Be careful not to tear the wound open.”
Mo Li wrapped an arm around him and guided him back toward the bed. Slightly helpless, Luo Wangshu said, “I don’t want to sleep anymore.”
“Hmph!”
As soon as Luo Wangshu said that, Mo Fang happened to walk in. With a sour face, he glared at him unhappily.
“You sure are troublesome. Go back and lie down.”
Then he turned to Mo Li. “Change the medicine again. Half an hour after he finishes the porridge, give him a bowl of medicine. The medicine pot’s on the stove. I’m heading out for a bit.”
Mo Li nodded. “Something happened again?”
Mo Fang waved his hand dismissively. “That cripple Li from the village entrance got bitten by a snake.”
“Why are so many people getting bitten by snakes?” Luo Wangshu remembered hearing about someone else being bitten before. Including him…
Mo Fang seemed to know what he was thinking. He rolled his eyes at Luo Wangshu and said, “How are you the same as them?”
Then he sighed. “They found the snake that bit Shitou earlier. His family took it to the medical hall and sold it for twenty taels of silver. That’s enough to pay this year’s taxes, and they’ll have a much easier winter than most people. You could say it turned misfortune into fortune.”
Hearing that, Luo Wangshu frowned. “So that cripple Li wanted to catch a snake to sell too?”
Mo Fang nodded. “Alright, I’m leaving. Save me some lunch.”
“You’re not eating outside?” Luo Wangshu remembered that when Mo Fang treated patients, he didn’t charge medicine fees and only accepted a meal in return.
Mo Fang once again expressed his disdain for Luo Wangshu. “I want to!” Then he pinched his goat beard and left.
Luo Wangshu didn’t feel angry. He just found it amusing.
Seeing that he wasn’t upset, Mo Li smiled and explained, “Wife, don’t mind him. When I carried you back two days ago, Father stayed up busy until the middle of the night, worried you’d develop a fever.”
“Mm, I’m fine. I was just wondering what’s for lunch today. Coming back to eat after making a house call really doesn’t fit Father’s personality.”
Luo Wangshu sat by the bedside. Though his face was pale, those pale golden eyes were as lively as ever.
Mo Li scooped up a spoonful of porridge, blew on it to cool it, and brought it to Luo Wangshu’s lips. Luo Wangshu subconsciously opened his mouth to accept the feeding.
“Wife, don’t you remember the mushrooms you picked?”
Luo Wangshu’s eyes widened. “You brought them back?”
Mo Li smiled and hummed in acknowledgment. Honestly, that expression looked exactly like Mo Fang’s.
“Soup?” Luo Wangshu asked weakly, anticipation faintly flickering in his eyes.
“Fresh mushrooms don’t taste good in soup. They’re best cooked with rice noodles. If you want soup, in a couple of days I’ll buy a chicken and some dried mushrooms to stew for you, alright?”
As he spoke, he fed him another spoonful of porridge.
Luo Wangshu obediently swallowed it, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes.
As a modern person used to eating all kinds of delicious food, what had he been eating lately? Not only had it made his complexion look sickly, but his mouth felt completely tasteless.
Now that he had something delicious to look forward to, the bowl of porridge was quickly emptied.
Only after finishing did Luo Wangshu realize that Mo Li had fed him the entire time.
Mo Li gently wiped the porridge from the corner of Luo Wangshu’s mouth with a cloth. His normally sharp eyes were unusually gentle.
“Don’t move. I’ll change your medicine.”
Luo Wangshu obediently cooperated, turning his head whenever instructed.
Honestly, what right did he have to complain? Mo Li was taking care of all his food, clothing, and shelter…
But what exactly was he to Mo Li?
“Mo Li.” Supporting his head with his right hand, black hair cascading loosely around him, Luo Wangshu asked intently, “Do you know what a wife is?”
Mo Li didn’t answer.
He skillfully changed Luo Wangshu’s medicine as though he’d done it thousands of times before. After finishing, he reached out and lightly pinched Luo Wangshu’s cheek.
“What are you thinking about? You’re my wife.”
Luo Wangshu frowned slightly but tolerated the gesture. “But I’m a man. I can’t have children.”
Wasn’t ancient society all about carrying on the family line? Then why would Mo Fang allow Mo Li to buy him back?
In Mingyue Kingdom, everyone knew that men could bear children. Mo Li interpreted Luo Wangshu’s words as “unable to give birth.”
No wonder someone with such beauty had still been exiled to the Dayuan Empire.
Seeing the man fall silent, Luo Wangshu lowered his eyes, suppressing the strange emotion rising in his chest.
Smiling faintly, he said, “So you should still marry a woman who can have children.”
The response he received was still silence.
Confused, Luo Wangshu looked up, only to find those deep black eyes fixed steadily on him.
“In this lifetime, having you is enough.”
The tightly stretched strings in Luo Wangshu’s heart seemed to be plucked by something.
Panicked, he hurriedly avoided Mo Li’s gaze.
Oh no.
Before he’d even figured out whether he was straight or not, was he already bent?
Mo Li cautiously placed a kiss on his forehead.
Luo Wangshu’s body stiffened slightly. He tried hard to keep a blank expression, but the faint redness at the tips of his ears completely betrayed him.
Sensing Luo Wangshu’s resistance, Mo Li stood up, took the bowl, and left.
Only after the man had fully gone did Luo Wangshu finally let out a breath. He couldn’t even describe how he felt inside. It was a mess of mixed emotions.
However, all that tangled confusion was completely forgotten once he ate the mushrooms.
The so-called rice noodles weren’t long noodle strands, but powdered rice flour. After stir-frying the mushrooms, they were cooked together with the rice flour and topped with two green peppers. Soon, a fragrant pot of mushroom rice noodles was ready.
Even Luo Wangshu, who usually couldn’t eat much, finished a huge bowl.
Luckily, they had picked plenty of mushrooms. One big pot was just enough for the three of them to eat their fill.
After eating, Luo Wangshu happily sprawled across a long bench, swaying back and forth. Since he was considered an injured patient, even Mo Fang had surrendered the bench to him.
After injuring his shoulder, Luo Wangshu was strictly forbidden from going outside. Staying indoors all day had nearly made him moldy.
“Auntie, what characters are you teaching today?”
Early in the morning, Li Miaomiao came knocking excitedly at the door. Her enthusiasm made it impossible to scold her.
Luo Wangshu looked up at the sky.
It was barely dawn. Mo Li had only been gone for a little while, and this girl was already pounding on the door…
Hm? There was another person?
The large, burly Li Hu standing at the entrance awkwardly scratched his head when he saw Luo Wangshu’s eyes were still half-closed from sleepiness.
Handing over the basket in his hands, he said, “I’m heading to the docks to earn some money. I’m not comfortable leaving Miaomiao home alone, so I’ll trouble you to look after her. Is that alright?”
Still half asleep, Luo Wangshu grabbed the basket and nodded repeatedly.
After Li Hu left, he pulled Li Miaomiao into the house and casually set the basket aside. Stretching lazily, he lifted the cloth covering it—and instantly froze.
Inside the basket were a pound of rice, five eggs, and half a pound of cured meat.
Luo Wangshu blinked.
So that was why Miaomiao’s “toy” had been so heavy. It was food.
Having been here for quite a while now, he naturally understood what these things meant to an ordinary family.
Li Hu had probably emptied out all the best food in his house.
Li Miaomiao tugged at the dazed Luo Wangshu. “Auntie?”
Luo Wangshu covered the basket again and rubbed her head. “Your father treats you really well.”
Li Miaomiao was still young and didn’t understand much, but hearing Luo Wangshu praise her father made her eyes curve happily.
“Yep! Daddy likes Miaomiao the most!”
“Then you have to treat your daddy well in the future too,” Luo Wangshu said with a smile.
Li Miaomiao nodded seriously. “I definitely will!”
“Then today I’ll teach you how to write the two characters for ‘Daddy,’ alright?”
“Mhm!”
In such a tiny little space, what could two people really do?
There were no books, no internet, nothing at all.
Yet Luo Wangshu felt that his life had somehow become more real.
Even if every day was just sweeping the courtyard and teaching Li Miaomiao how to read.
“Auntie, what are you teaching Miaomiao?”
A small voice suddenly sounded behind them.
Luo Wangshu tilted his head to look over. Li Miaomiao had the exact same expression as him.
Two pairs of large eyes stared at him in confusion.
Li Guang’s face instantly turned red. Twisting the corner of his clothes nervously in his hands, his eyes darted around in panic.
Only after a long moment did Luo Wangshu remember that this child was Mo Fang’s little apprentice.
It seemed like he hadn’t visited in quite a while.
“Auntie is teaching Miaomiao to write. Big Brother, do you want to join too?”
In the end, Li Miaomiao answered first, saving Li Guang from wanting to crawl into a crack in the ground from embarrassment.
Coming back to his senses, Luo Wangshu smiled awkwardly. “Well… Father isn’t back yet, so you can practice writing with us.”
Li Guang stared at the two neat characters written on the ground, the burning desire in his eyes impossible to hide.
“Can I?”
Luo Wangshu stood up and moved the little stool farther away to make more space.
“Miaomiao, bring the stool next to you over for Big Brother.”
Li Miaomiao obediently twisted her little body as she carried the stool over. Li Guang hurriedly took it from her, afraid she might fall.
“It’s fine. Miaomiao’s very steady.”
Then Luo Wangshu turned to Li Miaomiao and praised her, “Miaomiao is amazing.”
“Miaomiao’s the best!” The little girl giggled as her two braided pigtails bounced around.
Li Guang quietly sat down.
Luo Wangshu told Li Miaomiao to practice the characters he had just taught her, while he himself used a wooden stick to write two large characters on the ground.
“Here, watch carefully how I write them. Later, you’ll copy them in this exact order… Mm, use the stick to practice first. Once you’re familiar with it, write them beside or underneath the original characters, understand?”
“Mm.” Li Guang shrank into himself as he nodded, carefully watching Luo Wangshu’s movements.
After finishing the characters, Luo Wangshu traced over the strokes again with extra force.
“Did you see clearly? If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask me.”
Holding the small wooden stick, Li Guang’s hand trembled slightly as he followed the movements he remembered from Luo Wangshu.
Because the character “爹” had too many strokes, it was still difficult for a beginner. His stick stopped at the second stroke of the “多” component, unsure where to go next.
Luo Wangshu gently held his hand.
Li Guang’s body stiffened.
Then he heard Luo Wangshu say, “I’ll guide your hand through it once. Watch carefully.”
Li Guang stared intently at the wooden stick.
Seeing how serious he was, Luo Wangshu guided him through it once more before finally letting go.
“How was it?”
Just as Li Guang was about to nod, a furious shout erupted from outside the door, instantly changing his expression.
“Li Guang! You little bastard, where the hell did you run off to?! The house is already a complete mess, and you still dare run around outside? See if I don’t beat you to death!”