After dinner at the Yang family home, Chen Yichen carried a bucket of hot water, and the two of them returned to their new house behind the main courtyard. Since they had no firewood at home and hadn’t cooked dinner there, the hot water for bathing had been brought over from the Yang household. Taking advantage of the long summer daylight, Yang Tao bathed first. After she finished, Chen Yichen came over to pour out the water before taking his turn.
Only after sitting on the bed did Yang Tao belatedly realize that tonight was their wedding night. Thinking of that made her face heat up involuntarily. Although she had seen and heard all sorts of things in the information-saturated modern world, she had never personally experienced them. After starting work, she had once dated a boyfriend through an introduction, but perhaps because it wasn’t a relationship born of love, it had always felt like something was missing. They broke up in less than three months. Even while they were together, they rarely held hands, much less did anything more intimate.
When Chen Yichen came in, the wedding candles illuminated Yang Tao sitting on the bed in a daze. Thinking she was waiting for him, he said, “You should sleep first. Don’t wait for me. I’ll be done in a moment.”
Knowing he had misunderstood, Yang Tao still softly acknowledged him before lying down first. She slept on the inside, against the wall.
A few minutes later, after closing the doors and windows, Chen Yichen lifted the mosquito net and climbed into bed. They had bought the mosquito net in the city. There were too many mosquitoes in the countryside, and without one, sleeping would be difficult.
With another person lying beside her, Yang Tao stiffened for a moment when their shoulders brushed together. But realizing it had only been accidental, she relaxed again. She didn’t even know whether she was hoping something would happen or hoping nothing would happen at all. Her thoughts wandered endlessly, yet at the same time seemed completely blank. Her mind was a mess.
She hadn’t heard what the person beside her had been saying earlier. It wasn’t until Chen Yichen turned onto his side to speak to her that she finally heard him clearly.
“What are you thinking about? Are you nervous? Your whole body is tense. It can’t be comfortable sleeping like that, can it?”
Hearing his words, Yang Tao instinctively relaxed her body. Then she immediately regretted it. Wouldn’t that be admitting she was nervous? Looking at the teasing expression in his eyes, however, she stubbornly replied, “Why would I be nervous? Anyway, I’m not the one who’ll be doing the work later.”
The moment the words left her mouth, her face turned scarlet. She wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground and disappear. Whenever she got nervous, she blurted out whatever came to mind. It was mortifying.
She heard Chen Yichen chuckle softly.
It sounded like he said, “It’s good that you’re not nervous.”
His voice was so quiet that she couldn’t be sure she had heard correctly. Before she could think further, the man above her moved.
At first, Yang Tao still had the presence of mind to think about what was happening. Later, with her lips occupied, all her attention was drawn away by him.
Outside, moonlight mingled with the chorus of insects.
Inside, soft, suppressed whimpers occasionally mixed with a man’s gentle words of comfort…
When it was finally over, Yang Tao was too exhausted to pay attention to anyone. Fully aware that he was at fault, a certain someone got up, brought over the cup of cooled water that had been left on the dining cabinet, and held it to her lips. After feeding her some water, he obediently poured a little hot water from the thermos into a basin. The two of them wiped themselves down with a simple wash before returning to bed and falling asleep in each other’s arms.
The next day, Yang Tao unsurprisingly slept in.
Fortunately, newlyweds who could afford the luxury usually rested for an extra day.
When she finally got up, no one was home. On the table sat a bowl of porridge and an egg. Beside them was a note left by Chen Yichen.
It said that he had gone to work in the fields and told her to eat breakfast on her own after waking up.
After washing up and finishing her breakfast, Yang Tao washed the clothes they had changed out of the previous day. Then she headed to the Yang family home, planning to pick vegetables and help prepare lunch.