Song Shi’an’s lips touched Jiang Chun’s lips.
Jiang Chun had great strength, usually did things in a fiery and vigorous manner, and her mouth was also sharp-tongued and quick-witted, most skilled at taking advantage of reason to not let things go and climbing along the pole.
But her lips were unexpectedly soft, warm and hot, even warmer and smoother than the best silk he had ever worn.
In Song Shi’an’s mind, there was a loud “boom,” as if hundreds and thousands of fireworks burst in the night sky at the same time. His face instantly turned completely red.
He touched and left immediately, intending to flee back to his own bedding.
But just as he slightly lifted his body, suddenly an arm wrapped around his shoulder, a strong palm gripped the back of his head, and then pressed downward.
His lips were once again pressed against hers.
Song Shi’an’s phoenix eyes suddenly opened wide.
This fellow, simply, simply…
He didn’t even know how to judge her, hurriedly struggling with both hands and feet, wanting to break free from her hold.
However, Jiang Chun was born with great strength.
And he, at this moment, had a weak body. Even if he had martial skills, it was of no use.
He simply couldn’t break free from her clamp.
On Jiang Chun’s side, she was already no longer satisfied with just lip-to-lip sticking.
She parted her vermillion lips, took one of his lip petals into her mouth, gently sucking and lightly biting.
Song Shi’an seemed to be placed under a petrification spell, his whole person froze, even forgot to struggle.
Jiang Chun was not like the villagers who didn’t care about hygiene. She had bought toothbrushes and tooth powder for her family, brushing twice daily without fail.
Before getting on the kang bed, she had just brushed her teeth, and now there still remained in her mouth a faint fresh scent of herbs and grass.
Conscientiously speaking, this scent did not make him dislike it.
He even somewhat liked it.
But her behavior, being so bold, made him somewhat at a loss.
He was very flustered inside.
But Jiang Chun was like a cat that had seen a small dried fish, holding his upper lip and grinding it for a good while. Still not satisfied, she then held his lower lip and sucked on it.
From time to time, she even used her teeth to lightly bite.
Song Shi’an, a person who didn’t get close to women, didn’t even have a tongfang maid in his room—how could he have experienced something like this? [tōng fáng: “shared-room maid” or “bed companion maid,” a maidservant who also served as a concubine or sexual partner in wealthy households.]
In just a short while, he was kissed by her until he was panting heavily, chest heaving violently, his mind a complete mess like a paste.
The upper bodies of the two were tightly pressed together. Song Shi’an was wearing inner clothing, and Jiang Chun wore a small inner shirt—both were thin layers of fine cotton cloth.
So it was easy to feel each other’s body heat, and the softness in front of Jiang Chun’s chest.
Song Shi’an felt he couldn’t breathe, his limbs turning to noodles. Originally kneeling and leaning on the kang bed, he ended up collapsing directly onto Jiang Chun’s body.
But down below, once again, it uncontrollably had a reaction.
Jiang Chun caught his soft and tender lips and kissed them until she was thoroughly satisfied. Only then did she reluctantly release him.
Mainly because this guy—who knows whether he was too nervous or too shocked—even forgot to breathe.
She was worried that if she didn’t let go, he might suffocate himself unconscious.
However, Song Shi’an reacted several beats too slow. He had already been released for quite a while before he realized it.
Then, using both hands and feet, he scrambled in a fluster back to the head of the kang bed, dived under the covers, and pulled the blanket all the way over his head, wrapping himself up tightly from head to toe.
Curled up inside the bedding, he reached out to cover his heart, which was pounding wildly, gasping rapidly for breath, his face burning hot as if set on fire.
Only after nearly 15 minutes did his breathing slowly calm down, and his mind begin to turn again.
He licked his own lip. After she had gone at him with kissing, biting, sucking, and nibbling, it now felt a bit numb, a bit swollen, and slightly painful in a tingling way.
He closed his eyes.
This fellow…
Simply made him not know what to do.
Even if he had seen much of the world in his past life, he had never seen a woman like her who didn’t even know what shame was.
That she kissed him was one thing, but she even used so many tricks…
His mind couldn’t help but replay everything she had done to him just now, and the flush that had just faded from his cheeks burned up again.
No, he couldn’t keep letting her get away with it like this. If he did, who knows what even more outrageous things she’d do to him next time.
He suddenly pulled down the blanket, turned his body toward the foot of the kang bed, and was about to unleash a long and stern lecture to harshly criticize her. But when the words reached his lips, they turned into:
“You, how can you be like this? Simply—simply shameless…”
Jiang Chun was still smacking her lips, savoring the taste. Upon hearing this, she immediately shot back mockingly: “Aiya aiya, husband, what kind of talk is that? Clearly it was you who crept over to my side in the dark, sneakily kissed my mouth…If we’re talking shameless, then it’s you, the one who kissed me first, who’s shameless!”
Song Shi’an said irritably, “Wasn’t that because you forced me?”
Jiang Chun gave a light snort, taking advantage while pretending to be pitiful: “You could’ve chosen not to be forced, couldn’t you? Anyway, whether I forgive you or not isn’t something important to you, right?”
Song Shi’an fell into silence.
If it truly wasn’t important, then why would he get up in the middle of the night, not sleep, and crawl over to kiss her?
Seeing that he didn’t make a sound, Jiang Chun, who had felt a little guilty at first, instantly grew bolder. She snorted and said, “It was just a simple kiss on the mouth, not even a tongue kiss. What’s the big deal? Is it really worth all your nagging?”
Song Shi’an: “???”
Tongue kiss?
She even wanted to stick her tongue into his mouth? Or force him to stick his tongue into hers?
This—this would simply be enough to shame a person to death!
Just thinking about it made him so embarrassed he wanted to crawl into a hole, not only was his face red enough to drip blood, even his neck turned red.
In his heart, it was truly a regret beyond words.
If she didn’t forgive him, then so be it. The two of them were seeing each other day in and day out anyway, and she was the extroverted type—sooner or later there would come a day she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
He shouldn’t have backed down, shouldn’t have agreed to her unreasonable demand.
And now, look what happened—this greedy, shameless, and thick-skinned woman had tasted the marrow and now knew its flavor; how could she possibly stop here?
[“having tasted the marrow and now knowing its flavor”—meaning once someone experiences a pleasure or benefit, they’ll want more and more.]
Going forward, she’d definitely find all kinds of tricks to threaten and blackmail him.
Jiang Chun saw that he still didn’t say anything, and with a grin said: “Husband didn’t raise any objections—so this is agreeing to tongue kiss with me, then?”
Song Shi’an immediately said: “Don’t you dare!”
Jiang Chun pouted—she knew it would be like this.
But she didn’t continue pressing him either. Today was the first time he’d broken the vegetarian taboo. He needed some time to adjust. [Literally “eat meat again after being vegetarian,” figuratively used to refer to a man having his first romantic/sexual experience.]
If she pushed too hard, it might backfire, and he’d shrink back into his shell.
That would be troublesome.
She had to take it slow, nibble bit by bit—you can’t get fat in one bite.
- ••
The next day, after Song Shi’an finished washing up, he sat at the kang table, copying books while waiting for breakfast.
Usually it was Jiang Chun who came to call him. Jiang He, this father-in-law, rarely entered their west room, and Jiang Chun, this woman, never missed a chance to curry favor with him.
But today, the one who came to call him for breakfast was Jiang He.
What was she planning again?
Song Shi’an got off the kang with a cold face and headed to the kitchen.
Taking advantage of the moment when Jiang He went out to the courtyard to get something, he walked over to Jiang Chun and said coldly: “I’ve already done everything you asked. You’d better obediently forgive me, and don’t stir up any more nonsense.”
If she dared to say something like “you have to kiss me again or a few more times before I’ll forgive you,” then he definitely wouldn’t humor her anymore—he’d turn hostile with her on the spot.
Jiang Chun was stunned as she listened, and said in confusion: “I wasn’t planning to stir up any nonsense. Husband, what kind of wild thoughts are you having?”
Once she figured out what he meant, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing. While scooping porridge into a bowl, she teased: “So husband is this afraid I won’t forgive you, huh? Looks like I hold quite the place in your heart.”
Only then did Song Shi’an realize he had misunderstood. His face couldn’t quite hold itself together—flushing red, he stiffly said: “I—I was just afraid Dad would be worried, that’s all. Don’t go imagining things.”
Jiang Chun didn’t argue with him, just nodded vigorously like pounding garlic: “Yes yes yes, husband is right.”
That attitude—was even more annoying than if she had argued with him.
Ashamed and angry, he turned away and sat at the dining table, ignoring her.
Jiang He walked in from the courtyard, his face carrying an excited smile: “This mule is great! After coming to our house, it eats and drinks just fine, not acting out of place at all—it’s an easy one to raise.”
Earlier, Jiang He had taken Jiang Wan with him to Xiao Lizhuang, took one look and set his sights on that mule. Then yesterday afternoon, they went back and bought it.
Because they were somewhat related and Jiang Wan knew the trade, the seller gave them a discount—only cost them fifteen taels and six qian of silver.
Jiang Chun’s original budget was seventeen taels. So this way, they saved a whole one tael and four qian.
Jiang Chun joked: “They say livestock can understand human nature. Maybe it knows it’s come to our home to enjoy blessings—probably couldn’t be happier in its heart.”
Jiang He was amused and laughed heartily, nodding in agreement: “That’s right, exactly the truth!”
After the meal, Jiang He went to nearby villages to purchase pigs.
Because of Jiang Chun’s matter, the meat stall in town hadn’t opened for three days. Some regular old customers in a hurry to buy meat had even asked villagers to inquire when the shop would reopen.
If pigs weren’t collected today, then there would be no pig to slaughter tomorrow, and they still wouldn’t be able to set up the stall.
So the task of going to town to hire a carpenter to custom-build a mule cart fell to Jiang Chun.
Jiang Chun tucked a few taels of broken silver into her money pouch, then went to the west room to ask Song Shi’an: “Husband, do you want to go to town with me for a stroll, and also drop by to check on Wang Yin’er?”
These past few days she had been busy with her own affairs and didn’t know how Wang Yin’er had been doing.
The main thing was to give her some peace of mind. Earlier, Liu Qitan’s actions at the Wang family were clearly seen by Wang Yin’er, and she had timely warned her.
Now that everything was settled, Jiang Chun figured she could drop by and say something, so Wang Yin’er wouldn’t worry about her.
Song Shi’an neither agreed nor refused, only said indifferently: “With my current physical state, I’m afraid I’d collapse from exhaustion before even reaching town.”
Jiang Chun gave him a sideways glance: “Do you take me for a fool? Since I asked, of course it means I’ll be going to the village head Zou’s house to rent a mule cart.”
Song Shi’an raised his eyes and glanced at her askance, then gave a light snort: “Don’t talk big. Why don’t you go rent it first and then ask me? What if someone else rents it out first?”
Jiang Chun felt that what he said made sense, so she didn’t argue with his awkward attitude and lifted her feet to head to Village Head Zou’s house.
Luckily, the mule cart was home. Jiang Chun took out twenty copper coins and handed them to Madam Qian, the wife of Village Head Zou, and successfully rented the cart.
She drove the mule cart back home, stepped into the west room, and said in a deliberately strange tone: “Mule cart’s rented, Lord Song, please trouble yourself to move over and board the cart.”
Song Shi’an gave her a glare.
His phoenix eyes were full of imposing dignity, but Jiang Chun wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. Smiling brightly, she said: “Do you need me to carry you? If so, just speak up, don’t stand on ceremony with me, alright? After all, we’ve already ki—”
“No need!” Song Shi’an immediately cut her off, speaking with rage and embarrassment: “Can you not speak so shamelessly? If someone hears it, see how you’ll face people from now on!”
Jiang Chun didn’t mind at all: “What’s there to be ashamed of? I kissed my husband—it’s perfectly justified and right. Who does it offend?”
Song Shi’an closed his eyes. He wanted to say, it offends me, but he didn’t dare.
He was afraid if she heard, she’d go crazy and come over to kiss him again without restraint.
So he could only silently turn over, get off the kang to put on his shoes, then walked outside without saying another word.
Jiang Chun followed behind with light, cheerful steps.
Song Shi’an’s back was straight as a rod, like green pine and bamboo. His footsteps were steady, each step as if measured by a ruler.
Truly, he had the bearing of a noble son from a great family.
Tsk tsk, now that his body was recovering a little, he really looked different.
It was hard to imagine what kind of appearance he’d have once fully recovered.
One must know, he was no frail scholar. He had practiced martial arts since childhood, skilled in both pen and sword, and from a young age, he was the top dog among the younger generation of the noble clans in the capital.
And then this “top dog” was carried by Jiang Chun—arms around the waist and knees—into the back of the mule cart.
Song Shi’an’s face instantly flushed red. He was just about to open his mouth to refuse when he was already settled down onto the straw mat in the back of the cart.
Jiang Chun grinned and said: “I carried you up—surely that’s better than watching you stick your butt out and grunt and puff for half a day just to climb up awkwardly, right?”
Song Shi’an’s half-open mouth immediately shut closed.
Sticking his butt up and grunting while crawling toward the front of the cart—was far too unrefined, it was simply a disgrace to scholarly elegance!
Anyway, he’d already been carried around by her who knows how many times. One more time didn’t make much of a difference.
Jiang Chun curled her lips into a smile, jumped up onto the mule cart shaft, and cracked the whip to drive the cart toward town.
Upon arriving at Hongye Town, a woman by the roadside recognized Jiang Chun and loudly asked: “Jiang Shi, your family’s meat stall hasn’t opened for several days—when are you opening again? We’re nearly out of lard at home and need to buy some pork suet.”
Jiang Chun replied with a smile: “Had some family matters that delayed us a few days—we’ll be open tomorrow.”
“Open tomorrow? That’s good, that’s good.”
The woman showed a smile and reminded her, “Save me half a piece of pork suet—I’ll come get it after feeding my little grandson in the morning.”
Jiang Chun responded cheerfully: “Alrighty.”
On the way to the carpenter’s shop, she ran into several customers like that woman who asked when the stall would open. Jiang Chun responded to each one good-temperedly.
For those who asked her to reserve something, she agreed to all of them.
Song Shi’an sat in the back of the cart, watching all this with a complicated expression.
Her behavior while doing business clearly showed her to be patient and mild-mannered—completely unlike the rumors of her being a fierce and unreasonable Sea Patrol Yaksha.
Well, true enough—the fierce and unreasonable Sea Patrol Yaksha referred to the Jiang Chun of the previous life. She was just a wild ghost who had taken over Jiang Chun’s body.
Really, he must’ve gone mad. This kind of ghost with an unknown background—he had actually taken the initiative to kiss her.
If someday he was swindled to death by her, it would be his own fault. He couldn’t blame anyone else. Who told him to lack self-restraint?
But… would she really harm him?
Just as Song Shi’an was lost in thought, the mule cart suddenly hit a bumpy patch of potholes, and the back jolted and rocked violently.
Unsteady, he pitched forward.
And crashed headfirst into Jiang Chun’s back, startling him into immediately throwing his arms around her waist, afraid the next jolt would fling him off the mule cart.
However, the road ahead was flat, and the cart barely moved an inch.
Song Shi’an: “……”
Jiang Chun looked down at the fair hands clasped around her waist. She couldn’t help but lift the corners of her lips and sighed in an exaggerated helpless tone: “Husband, you’re really clingy. Even sitting this close doesn’t satisfy you—you just have to hug and cuddle close with me…”
“Ai, you’re just like a little kitten.”
Song Shi’an hurriedly let go of his hands, quickly scooted his body backward, and then used his sleeve to cover his head.
He felt like he couldn’t face the world anymore.