Chapter 40

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

It was nighttime, and there were no lights in the room, so Du Xi didn’t tease her anymore. He carried her to the bed and placed dinner on the bed table. Not only were there stewed soft ribs for dinner, but there were also sausages made by the villagers and sour beans that had been stored for the winter. It was very appetizing.

However, even though she had an appetite, Jiang Ju, who had eaten very little every day for the past half a year, still couldn’t eat that much. In the past, she could only eat two bowls of rice at most. Now, no matter how hard she tried, she could only eat one bowl and was so full that she even started to burp.

Her stomach was bloated, and she really couldn’t sit still anymore. She placed a pillow behind her waist and leaned against the bed while looking at Du Xi’s large palms. Those hands were rougher than they were half a year ago. Perhaps it was because he did physical work often, but there were many cracks on his hands, and they looked very painful.

Du Xi didn’t mind her gaze. He scooped half a bowl of soup and brought it to her as he said, “Drink some soup to warm up.”

Jiang Ju felt uncomfortable, but didn’t have the strength to resist. She could only pick up the soup and drink it in small mouthfuls. After drinking it, she was completely unable to move anymore and collapsed beside the bed. When Du Xi reached out, she didn’t have the strength to resist.

Du Xi was eating the pork ribs with one hand and slowly rubbing her abdomen with the other. It wasn’t that he didn’t notice the disdain in the child’s eyes, but he just pretended not to see it. This place was dirty and dark, but she could tolerate it for more than seven months. Before cooking, he even specifically washed his hands, but she still despised him for being dirty.

Jiang Ju frowned slightly. She was really worried that his greasy hands would touch her. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had eaten too much and couldn’t move at all, she definitely would have avoided his hands.

She had lived in this village for so long that her mysophobia was much less intense than before. Now, she could turn a blind eye to dirt and dust, but she really couldn’t tolerate these greasy hands.

After Du Xi rubbed her stomach for more than twenty minutes, all the pork ribs in the pot were eaten. Du Xi got up and went to clean up the table. After everything was done, he returned and stood by the bed. He looked at her, who had hidden under the blanket again, and asked, “Do you want to shower or wash your feet?” Jiang Ju looked at him in confusion. Thinking that he was asking about her, she said blankly, “I’ve already washed up.”

She didn’t go out often, and it was extremely cold here these few days, so she took a shower early in the morning every day. The water she splashed out when he entered the courtyard was what was left after she took a shower.

As Du Xi looked at her fair and tender face, he clicked his tongue and said, “I’m not talking about you. Even if you don’t shower for a month, you’d still smell good.”

Jiang Ju blushed and hid under the blanket as she said in a muffled voice, “Do whatever you want! You can shower wherever you want!”

Du Xi nodded with a smile. Then, he took the bucket and clothes before he went out and the sound of the door closing could be heard. The small hill on the bed moved, and a fair face poked out from under the blanket. Her facial features were all scrunched up. There was only one bed and a blanket in her small house, but it seemed like he had no intention of going to the village to stay overnight. He would definitely stay under her blanket at night. From the time she could remember, she had always slept alone. Now that there was suddenly someone else, and it was a burly man, how could she sleep?

Moreover, her blanket was a single blanket that was short and narrow. How could the two of them share it together? She was so worried that she was about to cry when she heard the door creak. When Du Xi entered after showering, she was so frightened that she hurriedly crawled under the blanket.

Du Xi entered with a chilly breeze. He wasn’t in a hurry to get on the bed. Instead, he went to the fire pit to warm himself up. Jiang Ju pricked up her ears to listen to his movements. The room was pitch-black and she couldn’t see anything, so her ears were much more sensitive than during the day.

She could clearly hear Du Xi’s every movement and every step he took as he approached. She heard him get up, blow out the candle, walk to the bed, take off his shoes, and turn over. The blanket on her body was lifted, and the chilly breeze assaulted her. Then, she felt a sense of warmth again.

His warm chest was pressed against her body, and every time she breathed, the heat would be bounced back by his chest. She was afraid of heat in the first place, so the burning fire and warm bed in the room made the temperature in the room just right. Now that she was in his arms, and the heat from the man’s body kept emanating, she was already so hot that a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead.