Chapter 42: Aftereffects of the Bridal Chamber

Next day, Zhang Fan woke up already close to noon. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Ba Ke Er walking over holding a bowl of porridge. Feeling a bit embarrassed that he had slept until now without getting up, Ba Ke Er's eyes lit up at seeing Zhang Fan awake and he hurried forward.

"Fan Fan, you're awake, huh? Hungry? Come, I'll feed you something." Saying that, he placed his pillow behind Zhang Fan's back, raising it a bit. Zhang Fan felt especially uncomfortable all over, as if paralyzed, unable to move, especially his waist, legs, and a certain flower spot feeling sore and soft, a bit swollen but without any sticky sensation; likely Ba Ke Er had cleaned him up, thinking of this made Zhang Fan start to feel a bit sweet. When Zhang Fan saw Ba Ke Er preparing to feed him, he couldn't help but speak in his hoarse voice:

"Ba Ke Er, I'll do it myself." Saying that, he still struggled to lift his sore hands to grab the bowl. Seeing Zhang Fan like that, Ba Ke Er felt especially heartbroken. Before Zhang Fan could get the bowl, he insisted and said:

"Fan Fan, just open your mouth and wait for me to feed you." Zhang Fan saw Ba Ke Er's insistence, and since his hands and feet were indeed weak, even if he picked up the bowl he might not be able to eat the rice. So he lowered his hands and waited for Ba Ke Er to feed him. Although Zhang Fan was hungry, he knew it was better to eat less of this kind of thing; fortunately Ba Ke Er had prepared plain porridge. After eating about half a bowl, Zhang Fan reached out and pushed it away:

"Ba Ke Er, that's enough, I'm not eating anymore. It's almost noon now—why are you still at home? Have you eaten?"

"I already asked Father to help with hunting; once Father returns we can eat."

"Huh? Father and them are coming over to eat? Then I'd better hurry up and get up—lying in bed looks too bad." Saying that, he began to struggle to get up; Ba Ke Er saw Zhang Fan insisting on getting up and became anxious. He quickly put the bowl down, reached out and pressed Zhang Fan down, preventing him from getting up.

"Fan Fan, you don't need to get up; just lie down and rest. Father and them aren't coming to eat at our place; later I'll just cook some rice for myself."

Ba Ke Er had just finished speaking when he heard Lei Ya calling from outside the courtyard: "Ba Ke Er, hurry out to get something, quick—I'm still in a rush to go back and cook rice!"

"Father, just leave it in the courtyard, I'll be right away!" After saying that, a "thud" sounded from the courtyard. Ba Ke Er hurried out. Zhang Fan felt a black line—he hadn't expected his father-in-law, such a mighty man, to also have to cook rice.

Ba Ke Er arrived in the courtyard, saw that the game Father had brought back had already been processed and placed in a large wooden tub in the courtyard; he directly carried the tub back to the kitchen, chopped the meat into chunks and threw them into the pot to stew. Then he washed the rice and started cooking plain porridge, because Lei Ya had previously told Guo Ba Ke Er Zhang Fan that these days it's best to eat liquid food. After finishing with the kitchen chores, Ba Ke Er returned to the room.

Zhang Fan saw Ba Ke Er return, and his eyelids started to fight. Seeing Ba Ke Er still so energetic, he silently shed tears in his heart. Why is his physique so good? Why can he walk and jump while I have to lie in bed? Thinking and thinking, he fell asleep.

Ba Ke Er saw Zhang Fan asleep again, so he lay down as well, hugging Zhang Fan and rubbing his belly, beginning to act foolish. In his dream, Zhang Fan felt a heavy object pressing on his belly, so he rolled over, pulling Ba Ke Er's hand away. Ba Ke Er was also brought back to his senses by Zhang Fan's movement; looking at Zhang Fan's sleeping face, his heart softened and he couldn't help but kiss Zhang Fan's lips. At that moment Zhang Fan was dreaming about eating food, felt something invading his mouth, and bit down hard. He bit Ba Ke Er so hard it hurt, almost making him jump up.

Ba Ke Er struggled greatly to free his tongue from under Zhang Fan's teeth. After that he didn't linger in bed, got up straight away and went to the kitchen. Zhang Fan secretly opened his eyes, saw Ba Ke Er leave, and couldn't help but smile, his eyes crinkling. Actually he had woken up when Ba Ke Er started being bitten. Afterwards he was just pretending to sleep, seeing Ba Ke Er take advantage of his sleep to steal a kiss, then get his tongue bitten and suffer for it—his heart was overjoyed! "You're full of energy! You're strong! You want to be on top! Hahaha!"