Chapter 49: Chapter Forty-Nine

Lu Bao'er ate this meal nervously.

She thought that usually Xie Junling liked to return to his room early, either to read a few pages with her or to chat.

Today she took the initiative to return to her room early, but unexpectedly halfway she was called out by Xie Junling: "Madam, why are you back in the room so early? You've only just finished eating, not even a quarter hour ago—aren't you supposed to digest in the courtyard?"

In freezing weather, digesting food in the courtyard wouldn't fear being choked by the cold wind. This "choked stomach" is a dialect phrase from Lu Bao'er's childhood in Jinhua Town, meaning that after just finishing a meal, blowing cold wind makes food unable to digest, causing nausea. When she was young, her spleen and stomach were weak, and she often had this problem; Lu Jin would use a folk remedy, whisking egg white and feeding her a mouthful; the fishy thickness of the egg liquid was enough to induce vomiting, bringing up everything in her stomach that couldn't be digested, and then she'd be fine.

Lu Bao'er was about to retort, but Xie Junling said to himself: "I understand, madam wants to be close to me earlier, so she returned to her room so early today."

Xie Junling was obviously trying to tease her with a straight face; Lu Bao'er felt choked up, and at this moment she didn't care about maintaining the image of a virtuous wife and good mother, she stamped her foot: "Who wants to be close to you? Husband, you have no shame saying such things."

Seeing her puffed up like a frizzy cat, Xie Junling couldn't help but puff out a laugh, his shoulders trembling slightly, indeed he was struggling to hold back: "Okay, okay, I'm shameless and thick-skinned."

Seeing Xie Junling lower himself and act humble, Lu Bao'er's anger eased a little. She gave him an out, saying to him: "It's too cold outside; I don't want to catch a chill, lest I upset my stomach."

Xie Junling naturally knew her constitution was weak; he also nodded: "Then let's go back inside to rest; the floor heating is on, it's warm enough."

"Okay." Lu Bao'er took two steps and asked, "Husband, do you still have official business to handle tonight?"

Since Xie Junling was promoted to Scholar-attendant Academician, after returning from the Hanlin Academy, at night he still had to work late before he had time to return to his room to rest. Lu Bao'er calculated that he otherwise only had four hours of rest, and even then he had to spend one hour fooling around with Lu Bao'er; despite that, he remained energetic, and the next day when on duty he was full of vigor; Lu Bao'er couldn't help but admire him.

Xie Junling said: "Tonight I don't need to; it's rare to have a leisurely day."

In other words, would Xie Junling spend tonight playing with her? Thinking of this, Lu Bao'er smiled with eyes crinkling. Usually, aside from his days off, Xie Junling rarely spent time with her in ordinary days, which made Lu Bao'er have to think of ways to amuse herself; whenever she got something new, she would constantly mention wanting to show it to Xie Junling. Now that they finally had a chance to be together, Lu Bao'er forgot what treasure she should show him.

After returning to the room, it was still Xie Junling who rummaged out a bamboo chest from the inner chamber and said to Lu Bao'er: "Come over and take a look."

Lu Bao'er asked in surprise: "What's inside this red lacquer box?"

Xie Junling's words, both inside and out, hinted at mystery: "You'll know once you open it and look."

"Oh." Lu Bao'er nodded slowly, opened the box, and inside lay a dazzling array of items, all things a girl would own.

"I originally meant to give these to you earlier, but I forgot as time passed. Later, seeing that your food and clothing were already fine items, I thought you didn't need these." As Xie Junling spoke, he felt somewhat ill at ease; he deliberately avoided Lu Bao'er's inquisitive gaze and glanced away.

Lu Bao'er saw that they were not valuable but delicate ornaments and clothing, etc.: a silver hairpin with a pomegranate red stone, a porcelain box of rouge stamped with peach blossoms, and even her favorite bizarre tale of supernatural power; if these items were placed nowadays, an old grandmother would surely frown and hide them, not letting Lu Bao'er wear them out of the mansion, but these were chosen by Xie Junling for her, all tokens of his affection. Lu Bao'er felt heat at her heart, as if a fire burned in her chest, scorching her so she could barely breathe.

She couldn't help but ask: "Husband, when did you buy these trinkets?"

Xie Junling was sipping tea from the table; at that moment he raised his sleeve to cover his mouth, took a sip, and said: "When I came to the capital to take the exam, there were peddlers selling hair ornaments on the street; I glanced, thought you would like them, and picked a few."

He remembered that at the time there were fellow examinees he was acquainted with, who teased him about how deep his marital affection was, noting that even when setting out for the exam he remembered his wife's preferences.

Xie Junling was not used to being teased; he only gave a light reply: "They're just little things to amuse people; since I've come to the capital, I ought to bring some back."

Although he spoke offhandedly, he had actually spent a long time choosing. Thinking that Lu Bao'er usually liked bright colors and would secretly read miscellaneous books behind his back, each time he thought he had hidden them well, they always ended up stuffed under the pillow; he then had to have Xie Junling smooth out the book covers and silently tuck them back behind the pillow, pretending nothing had happened.

Lu Bao'er's smug, fox-borrowing-tiger's-might, arrogant and domineering demeanor—he saw it all. He said nothing, exposed nothing, just watched the little girl brandish her claws day and night, leaving a vivid impression in his years.

Although Xie Junling said that, Lu Bao'er could see that each and every item had been bought according to her wishes; for example, the apricot blossom pattern on the hairband matched that on one of her apricot blossom skirts, so they could be made into a set to wear—this shows Xie Junling had put thought into it.

Lu Bao'er originally felt that Xie Junling didn't dote on her as much as others did; he never spoke sweet nothings to her, nor would he utter vows of eternal love. Yet compared to those lovers who only exchanged sweet words but didn't know how to care for a person, Xie Junling had a slight edge. Knowing her spleen and stomach were weak, he would order people to put extra effort into her meals; knowing what kind of pastries she liked, he would mention it to Ye Daniang; even the incense burned in the inner chamber he never let her worry about.

Which husband could attend to a person as quietly and attentively as Xie Junling? She ought to know his goodness.

Lu Bao'er felt sweetness well up in her heart; at this moment she inserted the pomegranate-flower silver hairpin into her hair, smiling charmingly: "Husband, do I look good or not?"

Xie Junling, unaccustomed to her burning gaze, spoke hoarsely and stiffly: "It's still somewhat nice-looking."

"Husband, are you always this unreserved?"

"Huh?"

"If it looks good, then praise me as good-looking; if you like it, you can also just tell me you like it." Lu Bao'er lifted her face, leaned into Xie Junling's chest, and spoke earnestly.

She was considerably shorter than Xie Junling, leaning against his embrace like a little bird depending on a person.

Actually being laughed at by a little girl for not being forthcoming, Xie Junling burst out laughing helplessly.

He suddenly lowered his head, drawing near to Lu Bao'er. The man's peerlessly handsome face loomed before her eyes, making Lu Bao'er feel dizzy.

Xie Junling's fingertips lightly pinched Lu Bao'er's chin, forcing her to lift her head. With nose touching nose, he murmured seductively: "Since you feel I'm not frank enough, let me be frank now."

"Huh?" Lu Bao'er's heart pounded like a drum; not understanding, she hummed a sound.

"Then, right now, I actually want to kiss you." Xie Junling rarely spoke a sincere sentence; at this moment his cool lips covered Lu Bao'er's, gripping her waist so she couldn't struggle. Thereafter they clung to each other, unwilling to part.

-----Side note-----

Have you all eaten zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival?

The domestic struggle fiction turned out to be so fresh and innocent, hahaha.