The moonlight was cold and clear. A silver half-moon hung in the sky, lighting the way for travelers.
“What are you laughing at?” Luo Wangshu looked at Mo Li strangely. Ever since they came out of the village chief’s house, the man had been pursing his lips and grinning foolishly. Had he gone crazy again?
Mo Li shook his head. “Nothing.”
Luo Wangshu glanced at him and said nothing more. The two walked home under the moonlight.
As for sleeping arrangements, Mo Fang and Li Guang stayed in one room, with a small bed specially set up for Li Guang.
Luo Wangshu couldn’t exactly give Li Guang his own clothes, so he dug out a set from Mo Li’s clothes for him to wear. After washing away all the dirt, Li Guang wasn’t actually that dark-skinned. He just had a honey-colored complexion. Because there was barely any flesh on his face, his originally bright eyes looked a little frightening. Every bone in his body could practically be counted, and the scars covering him made people’s hearts ache.
Was that really a biological child?
Although Luo Wangshu had never experienced motherly love himself, he still knew that a mother’s love was supposed to be selfless. Abuse and cruelty were things stepmothers did, weren’t they?
But judging from Li Guang’s condition, even a stepmother probably wouldn’t have been this heartless.
What Luo Wangshu didn’t know was that when there were too many children and life was difficult, even family members could grow resentful. Added to the fortune teller’s words and Mrs. Li’s naturally selfish personality, the fact that Li Guang had survived until now was already a miracle.
After helping Li Guang bathe, Luo Wangshu stretched lazily and collapsed onto the bed, not wanting to move another inch.
Mo Li kissed his wife’s cheek tenderly. “Do your thighs still hurt?”
“They hurt. My whole body hurts.” It was even more exhausting than running three thousand meters. Horse riding really was a technical skill. Luo Wangshu thought hazily.
He suddenly heard rustling sounds, and then his thigh felt cold. Reflexively, Luo Wangshu grabbed Mo Li’s hand that was pulling at his pants and frowned as he whispered, “I’m really tired…”
Mo Li still held a medicine bottle in one hand. After staring at Luo Wangshu in surprise for a moment, he burst into helpless laughter and leaned close to whisper in his ear, “Be good. Once I apply the medicine, it won’t hurt tomorrow morning.”
Apply… medicine?
Only then did Luo Wangshu notice the medicine bottle in Mo Li’s hand. He immediately released him and scratched his hair awkwardly before pulling the blanket over his head.
“Then hurry up,” he muttered from under the blanket.
Mo Li merely smiled and continued what he had been doing.
The cold medicine touched the wounds and raised goosebumps across Luo Wangshu’s skin. He shifted awkwardly. “Are you done yet?”
“Almost.” Mo Li sped up his movements. After finishing, he pulled the blanket over him properly. It wasn’t summer, and catching a cold wouldn’t be good.
Feeling someone lie down beside him, Luo Wangshu automatically shared some of the blanket and moved closer.
Mo Li was dissatisfied that there was still some distance between them. He reached out and pulled the person into his arms.
“Wife,” he called softly.
Luo Wangshu answered with an “Mm.” After a long silence, he suddenly remembered something. He threw off the blanket, jumped off the bed, and rummaged through the chest for something.
Mo Li quietly watched him fuss around, the affection in his eyes practically overflowing.
Luo Wangshu pushed him. Understanding immediately, Mo Li moved further inside the bed.
After climbing back up, Luo Wangshu sat cross-legged and opened the money pouch in his hands. He dumped out the banknotes and silver pieces inside, then poured out all the copper coins from the clay jar too. In no time, a large section of the bed was covered in money.
Afraid he’d get cold, Mo Li draped the blanket around him. “Be careful.”
“Hehe, I’m counting how much there is.” So much money! Luo Wangshu nearly drooled looking at it. Ah, he had truly fallen into corruption.
Mo Li rested his head on one hand and watched Luo Wangshu excitedly count.
After counting the banknotes several times, Luo Wangshu carefully placed them into the clay jar. Then came the silver pieces, and finally the copper coins.
The jar wasn’t very large. After the banknotes went in, there was barely any room left, so the silver and copper coins had to stay in the money pouch.
Luo Wangshu shook the pouch back and forth. The sound of copper coins clinking together was unbelievably pleasant.
Only after counting everything clearly did Luo Wangshu carefully hide the banknotes away. As for the money pouch, he hugged it tightly and refused to let go.
Sure enough, from ancient times until now, nothing gave people more security than money.
Seeing how obsessed his wife looked with money, Mo Li deliberately tugged at the pouch in Luo Wangshu’s arms, earning himself a huge eye roll.
“What?”
“Wife, won’t you share a little with me?” Mo Li asked sadly.
Luo Wangshu stared at him in confusion for a while. Finally, he slowly dug out a single copper coin from the pouch.
“Here. For you.”
Mo Li couldn’t hold back his laughter.
Luo Wangshu became embarrassed from being laughed at and stiffly pulled his hand back. “If you think it’s too little, then forget it!”
Seeing him puff up like an angry cat, Mo Li quickly took the copper coin from his hand.
“Not little at all, not little at all.”
“Hmph!” Luo Wangshu hugged the pouch and secretly glanced at Mo Li from the corner of his eye. Feeling slightly guilty, he dug out another copper coin and handed it over.
“Here’s another one. Don’t go wasting money on random nonsense.”
“Alright. Wife is right.”
Mo Li carefully tucked the two copper coins beneath his pillow.
The corners of Luo Wangshu’s lips kept lifting uncontrollably. Having someone who obediently let him bully around actually felt pretty nice.
“It’s not that I’m stingy. If you want to buy something, just tell me and I’ll give you money. Otherwise, what if you spend it all on those shady people?”
“Hm?”
Luo Wangshu didn’t explain.
He clearly understood one thing: once a husband had money, he couldn’t be trusted. In this era where men could have multiple wives and concubines, he absolutely had to keep control of the money.
“Oh right, let’s rebuild the house. It leaks whenever it rains. And Xiao Guang and Dad can’t keep living together forever. Xiao Guang’s household registration is already under our family—under both our names too. In the future, when he gets married, he can’t still be living with Dad, right?”
Mo Li listened seriously and nodded from time to time to show he understood.
Luo Wangshu rambled on for a long while before eventually talking himself to sleep.
Mm. Life would definitely get better in the future.
Winter welcomed its first rain.
The drizzle carried the bleakness of autumn.
Bored, Luo Wangshu squatted inside the temporary shed built for the jujube-red horse and fed it hay.
Li Miaomiao and Li Guang sat side by side on little stools, practicing writing in a wooden basin filled with sand that Luo Wangshu had prepared before the rain started.
The older and younger child both looked so serious that their “teacher,” Luo Wangshu, didn’t even dare breathe loudly. Feeling pitiful, he could only play with the horse and build a cloth shelter for the strawberries.
The strawberries inside his space had already ripened who knew how many times over, but the strawberries planted outside had only just grown large enough to start turning slightly red.
Seriously, how long would it take before they fully ripened?
Seeing Luo Wangshu staring blankly at the strawberry shed, Mo Fang coldly said, “They’ve only just started turning red. They probably won’t survive many more days. Stop thinking about it and wait until spring.”
Luo Wangshu casually waved the hay in his hand around, making the horse dizzy enough that it snorted unhappily and startled him badly.
Once the hay stopped moving, the horse leisurely lowered its head and ate the hay from Luo Wangshu’s hand with quite a bit of force.
Ungrateful thing. He had specially gone out to gather hay for it, yet it immediately turned against him and even scared him.
Luo Wangshu was unhappy inside, but he didn’t actually start arguing with a horse.
Cough. He definitely wouldn’t admit it was because the difference between his body size and the horse’s was way too large.
“Dad, when are we fixing the house?”
Mo Fang glanced at him sideways and continued working. “At the very least, after spring starts. If we repair the house now, do you want to freeze to death during winter?”
Actually, Luo Wangshu didn’t have much feeling toward winter.
When he was little, he had even seen snow before. But after growing older, the greenhouse effect became increasingly severe. Living in the south, he hadn’t seen heavy snow for five or six years now. At most there’d be a bit of frost.
And back then, he even had air conditioning. Winter felt no different from spring.
“You little brat! Daydreaming again!”
Mo Fang angrily smacked Luo Wangshu on the head.
Luo Wangshu rubbed his head silently. It didn’t hurt anyway.
Mo Fang himself wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination. Clearly this was a banished jade-born person, yet his behavior and mannerisms were hardly different from a man’s. Sometimes it felt less like he had gained a daughter-in-law and more like he’d gained another mischievous son.
“Mom-Dad, I memorized all of them.”
Li Guang—no, he should be called Mo Guang now—excitedly shouted toward Luo Wangshu.
That title…
Absolutely terrifying.
Luo Wangshu shivered with goosebumps all over his body. Honestly, even being called “Auntie” would sound better than “Mom-Dad.” Really.
“Cough… um, what about Miaomiao?” Luo Wangshu stiffly walked over and asked.
Li Miaomiao scratched her braids worriedly before counting on her fingers. “Not yet… I only remembered five.”
“Mm, both Xiao Guang and Miaomiao are very amazing. When I was your age, I could only memorize three characters a day.”
Though secretly, he added in his heart: But I could also memorize three ancient poems.
Li Miaomiao blinked in shock. “Really?”
“Of course. Miaomiao is younger than Brother Xiao Guang, and you’re a girl too. Remembering five characters is already very impressive.”
Luo Wangshu didn’t want to hurt the child’s confidence. He thought that since Xiao Guang was older than Miaomiao, he should understand what he meant.
Mo Guang lowered his eyes gloomily and bit his lip before firmly saying to Luo Wangshu, “Mom-Dad, I’ll work hard and memorize twenty characters!”
“Huh?” Luo Wangshu blinked in confusion. Did this kid misunderstand something?
Actually, compared to characters, what Luo Wangshu most wanted to teach them was the multiplication table. But considering Li Miaomiao’s age, he decided to wait a bit longer. Teaching too much at once would only make children hate learning.
“Well then, once Xiao Guang memorizes everything, teach Miaomiao too, okay? It’ll also help you review. If I quiz you later and you can’t write them, you’ll be punished with extra copying.”
Luo Wangshu spoke casually, but the two children nodded with extremely serious expressions.
That made even Luo Wangshu feel embarrassed.
Maybe tomorrow he should have Mo Li buy some beginner learning books from town?
After all, this world was different from his own. He wasn’t a professional teacher either, so it would be better to teach them systematically and avoid misleading the children.
As for brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones…
Mm. He heard those things were expensive. Even if they weren’t short on money anymore, they still couldn’t spend it recklessly. Better wait until the two children had practiced for a month or two first.
The winter rain lasted two whole days.
What surprised Luo Wangshu most was that the strawberries planted in the corner had actually ripened!
Even Mo Fang was shocked speechless. They actually hadn’t frozen to death…
That day, Luo Wangshu smiled so hard his mouth nearly split open. He picked the strawberries, washed them clean, and prepared to bring them to town for Mo Li to taste.
It just happened to be market day too, so he could buy some meat while he was there.
“Do you two want to go to town and play?”
Without surprise, Luo Wangshu received two clean and enthusiastic replies:
“Yes!”
They had been stuck at home for several days already. Going out for a walk was only natural.
Most importantly—
They weren’t short on money anymore!