Jiang He raised his wine cup and drained it in one go, then poured the last bit of wine from the jar into his cup, shaking the wine jar toward Jiang Chun: “No more wine.”
Jiang Chun grumbled in dissatisfaction: “How could it be gone already? This stuff doesn’t last at all!”
Song Shi’an rinsed the wine cup, poured her a cup of tea instead, and coaxed, “Drink tea instead of wine with Dad—it’s the same.”
Jiang Chun actually raised the tea cup, clinked it against Jiang He’s wine cup, and then gulped it down in one go.
Song Shi’an secretly let out a sigh of relief, feeling that she was surprisingly easy to coax this time.
But clearly, he had relaxed too soon.
Once they lay down on the kang in the west room, she wanted to drink water one moment, and the next she complained of being too hot and wanted to bathe.
Song Shi’an was drying his freshly washed hair and coaxed, “You’ve had too much wine—you can’t even stand steadily. Let’s not bathe tonight, we can bathe tomorrow morning instead—it’s the same.”
Jiang Chun was tugging at her undershirt as she shouted, “Song Shi’an, you’re something! Not letting me bathe—you’re just hoping I’ll die of heat, so you can marry a new bride, aren’t you?”
Song Shi’an: “.…”
He sighed, held her hands down, and tried to reason with her: “You can’t stand steady. What if you fall and bump your head on the edge of the well? That’s no small matter. I’ll go bring the washbasin in—you can bathe in this room, how about it?”
Jiang Chun tilted her head, her paste-like brain thought for a moment, and probably felt that as long as she could bathe, it was fine, so she nodded her head: “Okay.”
Song Shi’an let out a breath of relief, helped her lie back down on the kang, then went out to carry in the washbasin he had just used.
He first used a wooden bucket to fetch a few buckets of cold water and poured them into the washbasin, then added in the remaining half pot of hot water from the big pot.
He even reached out to test the water temperature with his hand, and feeling that it was just the right warm, he then went to call Jiang Chun: “The water is ready, you can get up and wash.”
Jiang Chun almost fell asleep, yawning as she sleepily sat up.
Song Shi’an reached out to help her down from the kang.
Originally, he wanted to leave the room, to let her wash by herself, but when he saw her swaying unsteadily, her eyes half-closed, looking like she could fall headfirst into the washbasin at any moment—
He sighed, reached out and took off his outer robe, then grabbed the panbo1Panbo [襻膊] – a cloth loop tied around the arms to roll up sleeves, typically worn during manual labor. hanging on the wall, and tied up the sleeves of his inner clothes.
Then he reached out to untie the knot of her undershirt, took off her undershirt, and then went to untie the waistband of her underpants…
Although at night Jiang Chun had often forced him to kiss her, those had all been on the kang, and whenever they kissed certain parts, under his insistence, they would always blow out the lamp first, and proceed in the dark.
This was the first time he had so openly and clearly seen her body like this.
He was so embarrassed that his face, ears, and neck all flushed completely red, his gaze flickering here and there, not daring to look at the places he shouldn’t.
But… he couldn’t help sneaking a few glances over for a few moments.
Then he’d hurriedly shift his gaze away in a fluster.
This repeated a few times, to the point where Jiang Chun grew impatient and huffed: “It’s so hot—I want to bathe.”
Song Shi’an quickly pinched her waist, picked her up, and set her down sitting in the washbasin.
The moment her body touched the water, Jiang Chun immediately felt the coolness, and couldn’t help sighing: “Feels so good…”
Then, like a child, she scooped up water and splashed it onto herself.
Her hand’s strength wasn’t controlled properly, and in no time, the green brick floor in front of the kang was splashed wet, and some even splattered onto the clothes trunk at the base of the west wall.
Under that clothes trunk was the camphorwood box that stored the Planting Beans Painting.
If it got splashed and the painting inside was damaged, that wouldn’t be a small matter—she’d definitely throw a tantrum, rolling around and making a huge scene, and would even turn the blame onto him.
Song Shi’an quickly squatted down, his big hands directly grabbing both of her wrists, and coaxed: “Don’t wave your hands around. I’ll help you wash.”
Thinking it over, he stood up, quickly went out and fetched a water ladle, came back in, grabbed both her wrists with one hand, and with the other hand dipped the ladle into the washbasin, scooping up a ladle of water, and gently poured it over her.
Feeling the cool refreshing water, Jiang Chun stopped making a fuss, closed her eyes, and sat obediently in the washbasin.
Song Shi’an let out a breath of relief, used the ladle to pour water over her once more, then put down the ladle, and used both hands to help her scrub.
Jiang Chun, after previously carrying sacks at the grain shop, had tanned quite a bit, but after being ordered by Song Shi’an to quit that job, her face and neck had lightened back up a fair amount.
But compared to the skin hidden under her clothes that hadn’t been tanned, there was still a stark contrast.
It was only now that Song Shi’an discovered this fellow’s skin underneath was actually so fair.
He had thought her skin tone was originally wheat-colored, but it turned out that wasn’t the case—the wheat color was from being tanned by the sun.
Which made sense—she went back and forth to town every day to sell meat at the stall, and also did farm work without slacking. No matter how fair one’s skin was, it would get tanned.
Song Shi’an let go of the hands he was holding at her chest, and awkwardly coughed lightly.
Not only was it fair, it was also smooth, tender—truly something that made people not want to let go.
Of course, this point he had known for a long time, after all, these past days, he had touched quite a bit.
After scrubbing the upper body, he continued scrubbing downwards.
His face couldn’t help but flush a few more shades redder, as if there was a fire burning on his face.
Such scenery—this was the first time in his life seeing it, yet it made it truly hard to look away.
It took him a lot of effort to finally move his hands away, and then he went to scrub her two legs.
This fellow’s figure, among women, could be considered outstanding—those two legs, even now as they were folded together, still showed as slender and long, beautiful to an unbelievable degree.
Even the pair of feet below, although a bit large, their shape was extremely perfect, making him unable to resist playing with them more—ah no, scrubbing them for a while longer.
Until the water in the washbasin gradually turned cool, only then did he pinch her slender waist and help her stand up, then used a cloth towel to dry the water on her body.
Afterward, he carried her onto the kang.
The now-comfortable Jiang Chun no longer shouted that she was hot, and very quickly fell asleep.
Having worked up a sweat, and with a ball of fire stifled in his body, Song Shi’an had no choice but to go out to the courtyard and take a cold water bath.
With his mind full of lingering, picturesque thoughts, he tossed and turned for half the night before finally falling asleep with great difficulty.
••
The next morning, Jiang Chun opened her eyes and flipped over to sit up.
The thin cotton sheet on her body slid down, and her body, without her undershirt, was revealed in the faintly bright morning light.
She furrowed her brow—where was her undershirt?
And down below didn’t feel quite right either. Reaching out to lift the sheet over her legs and taking a look—oh ho, her underpants were also nowhere to be seen.
She looked toward Song Shi’an, lying quietly beside her, no way… could this guy have, while she was drunk, taken off her undershirt and underpants, and secretly taken advantage of her?
How could he do this kind of thing sneakily behind her back?
This kind of thing, obviously, had to be done right in front of her face for it to be interesting!
If she’d known, she would have drunk less last night—getting really drunk, how could it be as fun as pretending to be drunk?
Her eyes spun a little, and she reached out to pull back the sheet covering Song Shi’an, then burrowed into his arms, nuzzling and rubbing against him here and there.
In no time, she had woken Song Shi’an up with all her burrowing.
His pair of long, narrow phoenix eyes slowly opened, like a young phoenix in the morning light, his gaze still carrying a bit of daze.
But Jiang Chun didn’t give him a chance to react—she sat up at once, pointed at her own body, and accused with righteous indignation: “Husband, my undershirt and underpants are both missing—tell me, did you secretly do something bad to me?”
Outside, the sky was gradually brightening. Her upper body, without her undershirt, was so fair it was practically glowing, and it was so outstanding, faintly flushed pink, it almost blinded Song Shi’an’s eyes.
His breath caught, and only after a while did he return to normal, turning his gaze away and replying calmly: “I’m not you. I’m a proper gentleman. I never do things like taking advantage of someone. Don’t go wrongfully accusing me.”
Jiang Chun twisted her body, grinning mischievously: “Husband, when you say this, why don’t you dare look at me? Are you feeling guilty like a thief? If you have the guts, look at me and say it!”
Song Shi’an: “.…”
He speechlessly said, “Put your undershirt on, then I’ll look at you.”
Jiang Chun curled her lips and let out a huffy laugh: “You’ve got the nerve to take off my undershirt and underpants while I was drunk, but no guts to look at my body when I’m awake, is that it? In three days, you’ll have stopped taking the medicine for a full seven days. I’ll see then if you dare to look at me. If you don’t dare, be careful you can’t find the way. Let’s see how I’ll laugh at you!”
Understanding the hidden meaning in her words, Song Shi’an’s face immediately flushed red like the evening glow, and he weakly complained: “You, at the very least, are a woman. Can’t you be a little more reserved?”
Jiang Chun huffed: “You’re allowed to not find the way, and I’m not allowed to laugh at you?”
Song Shi’an: “.…”
How could he possibly not find the way?
Ehem, last night, he had observed quite carefully, and had even used his hands to scrub her all over. In his heart, he already had a plan.
But these truths, he didn’t dare say out loud.
He could only let out a disdainful snort: “I advise you, don’t underestimate people—especially not a clever man like me.”
Jiang Chun hooked her arm around his neck with one hand, and rubbed her body against his, grinning mischievously as she said: “Only three more days, and we’ll see whether Husband is truly clever or not. Husband, don’t let me down, oh~”
Song Shi’an reached out to push her away, and calmly said: “Whether you’re disappointed or not—when it comes to that point, can you still swap out a husband?”
Jiang Chun gave him a sidelong glance, grinned thick-skinnedly: “Swapping husbands would definitely be too late, so I’ll just have to trouble myself to teach properly—maybe I can even teach you into a disciple.”
Song Shi’an this time fell silent.
Although he was a man, in both his lives, he had never been intimate with a woman. When it came to matters between men and women, he was completely clueless—he even learned how to kiss by following her demonstrations.
When it came to intimacy, he was probably going to need her guidance.
Of course, he could also fumble around blindly, but in that case, it would probably end up a complete mess, with neither of them able to enjoy it properly.
For such a good first time, if they ended up leaving such a bad memory, it would ultimately be somewhat regrettable.
So he was willing to be a humble and diligent student—if she was willing to teach, he’d learn properly.
Jiang Chun leaned in closer again, wrapping her arms around him, smiling as she teased: “Husband, why aren’t you saying anything? Could it be that you’re also happy to let me teach you? Ai ya ya, I’m truly overwhelmed by the honor~”
It seemed all those hundreds and thousands of pig-running videos she’d watched in her past life could finally be put to good use. With her incredible skill of photographic memory, she was definitely going to be an excellent teacher.
Hehehe, looks like she was in for a blessing.
Song Shi’an didn’t take her bait, and instead reached out to push her again: “It’s getting late—you should get up and make breakfast. If I go hungry, it’s no big deal, but if Dad goes hungry, that won’t do.”
Jiang Chun turned her head to glance at the window—outside, it was already fully bright. Thinking that in three more days, the two of them could consummate the marriage, she didn’t tease him further and quickly grabbed her undershirt and put it on.
After all, he was already meat in her bowl—could he still run away?
But consummating the marriage, in the eyes of ancient people, was a big matter. It couldn’t be done too casually—she had to make some preparations first.
After all, life needed a bit of ritual. That way, when they recalled it in the future, the memories would be even more beautiful, wouldn’t they?