The night sky was piled up with a dense layer of clouds, obscuring the moon and leaving not a single starlight visible.
Hua Xiaomai leapt into ng Yuhuai’s arms without a thought, grabbing his shoulders tightly and cradling his neck. She freed one hand to turn his face toward her for a close inspection. Her eyes curved into a smile, and she chuckled, pressing her cheek firmly against his neck.
Her pounce used all the strength she had, and though ng Yuhuai was tall and strong, he was still rocked backward by the impact. He hurriedly steadied himself, lifting her slightly as he did so, his smile carrying a hint of amusent as he patted her back.
People who had been traveling for a long ti always carried with them an air of the hardships they faced, and their clothes were cold, but their hands remained warmly comforting, inexplicably offering solace. Neither of them was in a hurry to speak. They stood outside in the courtyard for a while. Finally, Hua Xiaomai reluctantly lifted her head and cheerily said, "Why have you co back at this hour? It’s the middle of the night. It would have been less tiring to stay at the Escort Agency for the night."
ng Yuhuai answered earnestly, "It was too late when I reached the borders of Fuzhe County, and I couldn’t enter the city. If I didn’t co ho, where would you have sleep, in the wild?"
...Great, after all this ti, still no progress, not a single sweet word to charm soone! Is it so hard to say, ’I missed my lovely wife and couldn’t wait to co ho to see you’?
Hua Xiaomai inwardly grumbled to herself, just as she was about to say sothing else, she heard him say with a smile, "Did you miss ?"
"What about you?" She raised an eyebrow, not answering his question but responding with her own.
ng Yuhuai chuckled softly, then nodded earnestly, "Every single day."
Hua Xiaomai finally felt a bit of relief in her heart, "Well, I also..."
Before she could finish, a loud cough suddenly ca from behind her. Turning around, she saw ng Yuhuai’s mother standing at the doorway with a stern face and hands on her hips.
Startled, Hua Xiaomai quickly slid down from ng Yuhuai’s embrace and stuck out her tongue.
ng Yuhuai’s mother paid her no mind, staring only at her beloved son, and coldly said, "You’re back?"
ng Yuhuai called out, "Mother," and then said, "I ca back too late and woke you up."
Getting a wife really changes a man, ng Yuhuai’s mother almost sneered, flicking her eyelid, "When you used to leave for escorts, I never saw you rush back ho in the middle of the night. I knew you’ve long stopped caring about your mother!"
Just returned and without any chance to explain, ng Yuhuai was already being unpleasantly criticized in a sarcastically biting tone. His face turned slightly sour, his brows furrowed, and his smile entirely disappeared: "What are you talking about? If you’re dissatisfied with , it’s better to speak straightforwardly instead of beating around the bush. Why drag Hua Xiaomai into this unrelated matter?"
Tsk tsk tsk, this mother and son, really...
Seeing the atmosphere turning sour, Hua Xiaomai quickly interjected, smiling at ng Yuhuai’s mother, "Mother, you misunderstand. Normally, after returning from an escort, Yuhuai would first go to the Escort Agency to report to Uncle Ke, to reassure him. He only ca back to the village tonight because it was too late to enter the city..."
Once ng Yuhuai’s mother was truly angered, not even the heavens could save face, let alone the re Hua Xiaomai. She imdiately waved her off, full of impatience, "There’s no need for you to make excuses for him. You’re no good yourself! You know it’s already late, yet why haven’t you heated water for him to wash up so he can rest early? Why just cling around him, what kind of decorum is this?"
Hua Xiaomai, thick-skinned as ever, was not hurt by a couple of harsh words. She just smiled at her, answered, "I’ll do it now," and dragged ng Yuhuai back into their room.
Once inside and the door closed behind them, Hua Xiaomai sighed, "I don’t know what the exact problem is between you and mother, but no matter what, you’ve just returned. Couldn’t you have spoken more gently? You weren’t ho all this ti, and mother has been looking out for , you..."
At this mont, ng Yuhuai lacked the patience to listen to her complain about these matters, leaned in, wrapped his arms around her waist, and his lips found hers.
The couple shared a mont of tenderness in the dark, then sat down by the table, lit a lamp, and stoked the fire in the brazier to a greater blaze.
It was only then that ng Yuhuai rembered Hua Xiaomai’s earlier words, glanced at her face, and asked in a low voice, "You said mother has been looking out for you? Has sothing happened at ho?"
The incident with the vegetable garden being burnt could not be hidden since a simple walk in the fields would give it away. Hua Xiaomai didn’t intend to hide it from him. She sighed and said, "Isn’t it just about hiring help at Sauce Garden? So local ruffian surnad Huang, unhappy that he didn’t earn our wage, burned our fields on Chinese New Year’s Eve. Luckily, Great Saint helped catch him and brought him before , or our family would have suffered a big loss!"
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