Even though Liu Yizhu had a tiring night, he woke up early out of habit. He admired Li Mingwei's sleeping face for a while, his lips curled up into a smile. After planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, he carefully got up.
He dressed himself, tidying up the mess by the bed as light as a feather. Occasionally, he glanced at Li Mingwei, still sleeping peacefully, and quietly left the room.
Old Lady Wang was already awake, cleaning the dishes and utensils from the previous night in the backyard. Liu Yizhu put his dirty clothes in a wooden basin and took out a white handkerchief he had hidden away.
"Mother, who made the bed yesterday morning?"
Old Lady Wang snatched the handkerchief and examined it, not understanding what was going on. Due to being widowed early in life, she couldn't enter the new room or make the bed herself. She left those tasks to others, never expecting someone to play such a mean trick.
"It was Zhang's sixth grandmother," Old Lady Wang tucked the handkerchief into her bosom. "Don't worry about it. I'll talk to her later. How dare she mess with me."
She glanced at the room and signaled to Liu Yizhu with her eyes, "Are you not angry?"
"She didn't see it."
Old Lady Wang nodded. "Alright, pretend you don't know. It's not suitable for a man like you to meddle in such matters."
Liu Yizhu understood that too; otherwise, he wouldn't have entrusted her with handling the situation.
He helped his mother tidy up the dishes and washed and hung up the clothes, then returned to the room to find Li Mingwei still asleep. He quietly approached the desk and picked up a book to read.
Old Lady Wang prepared breakfast and knocked on their door. Liu Yizhu was startled and quickly opened it slightly. "Mother, please keep your voice down."
"She's not awake yet? Let's eat."
Liu Yizhu glanced back, but in the end, he couldn't bear to wake her up. He and his mother had to eat first. After breakfast, Old Lady Wang was going to buy groceries and then prepare lunch for the children at the school; there was no time to waste.
Old Lady Wang looked up at the already bright sky, her voice tinged with some complaint. "How can she sleep so much?"
In other families, daughters-in-law woke up early to cook for their mothers-in-law, but in their family, well, their daughter-in-law couldn't even get up to eat a meal they had prepared.
Liu Yizhu lightly coughed, explaining, "She slept late last night."
Old Lady Wang, being experienced, understood everything. She raised her hand and lightly tapped him twice, scolding, "You be more considerate! Be more considerate!"
"Her waist is broader, she can't handle your tossing and turning!"
Liu Yizhu rarely showed embarrassment in front of his mother. He sheepishly said, "Mother~"
Old Lady Wang sighed, keeping her mouth shut. It was also his father's fault for passing away early; there were many things he hadn't had a chance to teach him. Even if she wanted to teach him, men and women were different, and she couldn't bring herself to discuss certain matters.
Headache!
When Li Mingwei slowly woke up, the sunlight was already a bit dazzling. She squinted her eyes, trying to roll over to a shady spot, but with that movement, her waist ached. She held onto her waist, pressing it, and with determination, she stood up, only to find her legs a bit weak.
She plopped back onto the edge of the bed, feeling extremely frustrated.
Liu Yizhu helped his mother bring the groceries to the school and hurried back. He found Li Mingwei sitting by the bed, looking unhappy. He quickly approached her and embraced her, concerned. "What's wrong?"
Li Mingwei glared at him, wondering how he had the audacity to ask her what was wrong.
"Are you hungry? There's congee in the pot. Shall I bring it to you? Or do you want to freshen up first?" Seeing that Li Mingwei still ignored him, Liu Yizhu pondered for a moment and quickly apologized, "It's my fault. I shouldn't have left you alone at home. I went to help my mother with grocery shopping, and I'll be right back, I promise."
After he had been talking for a while without getting to the point, Li Mingwei was slightly exasperated and directly expressed herself, "My back hurts."
"Huh? Oh, then lie down, and I'll give you a massage. Where does it hurt?" Liu Yizhu snapped out of his thoughts, helped her lie down, and gently rubbed her back, assuring her, "I'll be gentle tonight."
He blamed himself for his lack of experience last night and being too rough. Today would definitely be much better.
Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Li Mingwei said, "Just go away. I don't want to see you recently."
Liu Yizhu quickly rolled away, but soon he returned with hot water and congee. He found a clean set of clothes for her from the small box that the Dong family sent yesterday.
Li Mingwei sat on the chair, spooning the congee one mouthful at a time, feeling that it lacked flavor, so she put it down.
Seeing that there was still a lot of congee left in the bowl, Liu Yizhu frowned and asked, "Is it not tasty, or are you full?"
"No appetite."
Liu Yizhu sighed helplessly, squatting in front of her, pinching her small face. "No appetite, no appetite. You have no appetite every day. How can you gain weight like this? Chunhua mentioned it yesterday. She asked me to make sure you eat more. If you get even thinner, I'll have to do something about it."
Suddenly, he remembered there were a few eggs in the basket he saw in the morning, so he asked, "If you don't want congee, how about having eggs? Fried eggs, steamed eggs, or omelette? I can make them all. Which one would you like?"
Li Mingwei raised an eyebrow, "You can cook?"
Liu Yizhu modestly said, "Just a little bit. It's not particularly good, but it's edible."
"Huh," Li Mingwei coldly snorted, grabbing both of his ears and said angrily, "You said you would cook for me, and then you said your cooking is bad. What's the meaning of this? You're making it difficult for me to retreat!"
"No," Liu Yizhu instantly backtracked, "I was just being modest earlier. My cooking is actually really good, I promise. You'll know once you try it."
"Is that so?" Li Mingwei blinked her eyes, a trace of slyness flickering in her eyes, "How about a boiled egg then?"
"My lady."
"Mhmm."
"If you don't believe me, just say it directly. There's no need to beat around the bush." Liu Yizhu's eyes were filled with helplessness. He knew she was teasing him, but he couldn't do anything about it. He tidied her hair by her temple and said, "Really not eating? It's still a long time until noon."
Li Mingwei held onto his neck, shaking her head earnestly.
Liu Yizhu had no choice but to go out and bring in peanuts and red dates that were left from yesterday. He quickly stored her belongings in the cabinet and then took her to the school.
Liu Yizhu went into the kitchen and asked, "Mother, is there anything to fill the stomach? Weiwei only had a few bites in the morning and said she has no appetite."
There was something indeed. Old Lady Wang wanted to make it up to them, so she bought a chicken this morning for stew. She lifted the lid of the clay pot and took a glance, saying, "Do you want some chicken soup? It hasn't been stewed for long, but it's almost ready to drink."
"Sure, I'll have a bowl."
"Alright, go wash a bowl, and I'll add some salt."
Old Lady Wang watched as her son carried the soup out, wiped her hands on her apron, and couldn't help but peek, seeing the two of them happily feeding each other the soup. Suddenly, she remembered when she first got married.
This child is just like his father. Back then, his father wouldn't let her do anything, afraid that she would get tired or hungry. Unfortunately, her luck wasn't good. The good days lasted only a few years, and when his father passed away, all the dirty, smelly, and tiring things fell on her.
The sweetness in the beginning was followed by bitterness.
"Ah!" Old Lady Wang lightly slapped herself. They were doing well, so why think about these unhappy things? She pushed aside the sadness in her heart, turned around, and continued with her work.
