Title: Fortunate Wife
Chapter 100 - Jealousy (1)
Seeing that his expression had slightly stiffened, Li Man immediately realized that she had let something slip. Just like in modern-day, if someone said they didn't know where the capital was, it would create suspicion.
"I told you about this before." Seemingly in the next second, her expression turned desolate. In a low voice, she said, "Since that time I was hanged, I lost all of my memories. To be honest, I.... I don't even remember who you guys are. Honestly, I... feel really upset over this."
Li Hua didn't believe that she would tell lies, but it was hard to believe that she had forgotten everything. "Then... Do you want regain your memories?"
Li Man quickly nodded. Her limpid, big eyes looked at him, and she very seriously said, "En, I want to regain my memories of everyone."
Without a good reason, his heart felt warm. And yet, it was accompanied and followed by a bit of pain. "What if you regain your memory, and we don't exist in those memories?"
"How could that be possible?" She was also a member of this family. How could her memories not have them?
"What if?" Li Hua stubbornly continued to ask.
"If I don't have memories of this family?" Li Man couldn't figure it out. She was clearly a member of this family, ah. Oh… Right, perhaps, she had only recently joined this family. But then, had she married into this family? Did she have a maiden family?
"I want to ask you something."
Hearing her suddenly asking something, Li Hua felt a jolt of fear. "What?"
"You called me wife. Your second brother and third brother also called me wife too. What exactly is going on?" It didn't seem like they were just joking around.
"..." Li Hua stared deeply into her eyes. Her eyes were as clear as a spring without any trace of trying to conceal something. She truly had no idea that her current identity was... Li family's shared wife.
He suddenly felt guilty and didn't dare to tell her the truth.
"Tell me," Li Man felt anxious.
Li Hua's tightly pursed his lips moved. He hesitantly said, "This... it's not important. You'll know in the future."
"In the future? How long will that be?" Li Man continued to question.
"That..." Just as Li Hua wasn't sure how to respond, he heard a voice coming from the entrance. It was Little Five greeting his oldest brother and third brother.
"Oldest brother and third brother are back. I'm going to see them.” Li Hua hurriedly came down from the bed and ran outside.
"Oh." Li Man's heart felt so dejected. Why had he left when they got to the important part? Could it be that she had touched onto some secret that couldn't be told?
Li Shu put down a large bundle of bamboo under the eaves. Before he had even wiped off his sweat, he ran over to this hut with a big smile and called out, "Wife."
Leaning against the window, Li Man rolled her eyes. Wife. He was starting that up again.
Li Shu walked to the side of the bed. Seeing several books out, he curiously asked, "What are you doing? Reading? Wife, you can read fourth brother's books?"
"Yes." Li Man neutrally assented and neatly put Li Hua's books back into his bag.
"Really?" Li Shu's eyes brightened. His eyes were overflowing with adoration and worship, "Wife, you're so amazing. You can even understand fourth brother's books."
"Don't call me wife anymore." After Li Man placed the bag down, she got off the bed.
Li Shu followed behind her. "What should I call you? My old lady? Doesn't that sound worse than wife?"
Li Man instantly seemed like a bristling kitten that had its tail stepped on. "What wife? What my old lady? You say those words, and your second brother and fourth brother also say that. All three of you call me wife. It couldn't be that I'm married to the three of you, right?" That would be too ridiculous.
"It's not that." Li Shu hurriedly shook his head.
Li Man rolled her eyes at him. "Exactly, so stop." By calling her wife, they were verbally taking advantage of her.
Smiling as he looked at her, Li Shu added, "There's oldest brother and Little Five too."
Chapter 101 - Jealousy (2)
"What?" Li Man thought she had misheard. "What does this have to do with oldest brother and Little Five? Those two aren't like you guys. Is wife something that you can randomly call out?"
Li Shu very innocently said, "I'm not. If you don't like me calling you wife, I'll call you something else. Wife, what do you want me to say instead?"
"Say..." His words had confused Li Man for a moment. After shaking her she said, "This issue isn't how you're addressing me, it's..."
"What is it?" Li Shu looked at her in puzzlement. "Wife, you don't need to be anxious. You can take you time to think. I'll wait and listen to all of it."
"Aiya." Li Man was vexed enough that it felt as if her tongue tied up in knots. She finally found the right words to explain. "Li Shu, listen to me. You know what wife means, right? Only a husband can call his wife that. So, don't call me that anymore. Other than wife, you can call me whatever you want."
"But, you are my wife." Looking as if he had been wounded, Li Shu's face was scrunched up as he followed after her as she headed outside.
At the very least, he should only call her wife after they got married. If they had already gotten married, why wouldn't they be sleeping in the same hut? Li Man very scornfully thought Li Shu must have lost his mind from wanting a wife too much. Oh, no, that wasn't correct. It was that all three of these men had lost their minds. Right, men their ages would have normally gotten married by now in ancient times.
But, they couldn't address her as wife just because they wanted one, ah.
Li Man angrily snorted. When she went outside, she saw that Li Mo was sitting on a small stool underneath the eaves and weaving bamboo. As for Li Hua and Little Five, they were crouched down next to him and acting as assistants.
To be honest, Li Man felt an instinctive sense of respect towards Li Mo. It wasn't just because he was the head of the household and he had saved her once, it was more from the fact that he gave off a calm and prudent feeling that made people feel that he could be relied on. With him here, her heart felt at ease.
Li Man crouched down by Li Mo's side and found something to ask about, "Why are you weaving that?"
Li Mo's movements noticeably slowed down. He answered, "It'll be used for the roof. This will be the bottom layer, and some straw will be put on top of it. This will help prevent leaks."
Li Man nodded. "Oh, you've work hard." She felt very moved when she saw that his hair was wet, and the bamboo had cut his large hands in several spots.
Li Man turned around and went inside. She brought back a towel that she used to dry her hair and presented it to Li Mo. "Here, use this to dry your hair. You'll be more likely to get a headache when the wind blows by with your hair being so wet."
Li Mo stared at that clean piece of cloth. It exuded a grassy fragrance. He felt a bit overwhelmed by her favor. He stretched his hand out, but there was a lot of muddy water on his hands, so he hurriedly took his hand back. "It's okay. I'm used to it."
"Come on, use it to dry off. It won't be good if you catch a cold." She had learned her lesson in this area. When she was younger, she had heard that using a blow dryer would damage her hair. And so, every time she washed her hair, she would just let it air dry, even in the middle of winter. Sometimes, she would go to sleep with her wet hair draped over her shoulders. After a long time of doing this, she ended up getting serious migraines. So regretful, ah.
Li Hua looked at Li Man with a daze expression, then he looked at his oldest brother. In the end, he said in a low voice, "Oldest brother, just go along with it."
"No need, my hands are dirty." Li Mo rubbed his hands together and didn't take it.
Seeing this sight, Li Shu said to Li Man, "Wife, I'm wet from the rain too. Look, my hair is wet too. Help me dry my hair."
Chapter 102 - Jealousy (3)
He called her wife again. Annoyed, Li Man glared at him. "Go inside and dry your own hair." After saying this, she tossed the dry towel to him.
Li Shu didn't get annoyed. Instead, he acted as if he picked up a treasure. He even lifted up the towel and sniffed it. "Wah, it smells so good. Wife's stuff is naturally great."
"You?" Could this be considered taking liberties with a woman in public? Li Man was so angry that her face changed colors. She snatched the towel back and said, "You don't have to use it."
"Eh? Of course, I want to use it." Li Shu hurriedly stretched his hand out to snatch it back, but Li Mo glared at him and said, “Third brother, don't cause trouble."
Li Man clutched the towel in her hand. Seeing Li Shu being forced to yield and accept defeat, she bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. Sure enough, this fellow needed someone to keep him in line.
"Hey, looks like you guys are having a lively chat over here." At this time, Li Yan came around the corner of a hut. Seeing everyone was gathered underneath the eaves, he curved his lips into a smile.
Li Man could hear that there was a bit of sourness in his words. When she looked at him, he looked back at her with his mesmerizing phoenix eyes slightly narrowed. He only briefly glanced at her with an unfathomable look before looking away.
He had been busy all morning with fixing the vegetable garden, so his hands were muddy too. He went over to the hand pump water well to wash his hands before coming over.
Although the heavy rain had stopped, there was still a drizzle. He had been outside all morning, so his hair was wet too, and there were droplets of water trailing down his face.
Li Man couldn't stand seeing him like this. When he came over, she gave him the towel. "Here, use it to dry off." His hair and face were both wet. Ai, couldn't he have put on a raincoat before going out to work? Oh, wait, there weren't raincoats in this time period...
Li Yan was slightly stunned. Soon, his handsome face looked as if he had seen a clear sky with bright sunshine after the rain. The corners of his lips curved up, and there was even a smile in his eyes. He didn't say a word. He took the towel, lightly wiped his face, and slowly dried off his hair.
There was a stunned look in Li Mo's eyes, but then he lowered his head and silently worked.
Li Shu wasn't happy and wanted to snatch the towel from his second brother's hand. "Second brother, I want to use it to dry off too. Look, my hair is wet too."
"Just go inside and get another towel." Li Yan shot him a side-glance. He had finished drying off, but he didn't return the towel to Li Man. Instead, he folded it up and tucked it inside his clothes.
"What are you doing?" Li Man looked at him in surprise. That was a towel, not a handkerchief. He couldn't also want to keep it as part of his private collection or something, right?
Li Yan showed a slight smile at her. "I dirtied it. I'll give it back to you after I wash it."
Rubbish! Li Man almost couldn't resist using foul language. Since she had come here, she had been doing all of the laundry in this household. "No need. Give it back to me, I'll give it a quick wash."
Li Yan only roguishly smiled while looking at her. He didn't say a word, but Li Man had a thin face that quickly turned hot just from him roguishly looking at her. Annoyed but not daring to meet his eyes, she simply stretched her hand out. "Give it."
"Ha." A teasing look flashed through Li Yan's eyes, and he lightly scratched her palm with his icy fingers. It felt like a passing electrical current. Li Man hurriedly took her hand back, but he acted as if he was indifferent. He chuckled, then he simply turned around and left.
He... that jerk!!!
Li Man was stopped short with anger. She wiped the hand that he had touched against her clothes.
Li Shu seemed to desperately want their wife's belongings and chased after his second brother.
As for the people left underneath the eaves, Li Mo continued working while feeling irritated, and Li Hua continued to blankly look at Li Man. His inky black eyes looked lost and seemed unable to focus.
Chapter 103 - Jealousy (4)
When Li Man returned to her sense, her gaze collided with Li Hua's deep gaze. His eyes were very beautiful, but there was a distressing dimness to them.
He? He couldn't be feeling jealous, right?
At this time, Li Mo stood up with the finished woven bamboo and headed straight for the backyard.
Li Hua turned around and followed after him.
Li Man suddenly felt a bit upset. She could go cook. It should be around noon now.
Little Five seemed to have noticed her dejected expression. He stood up and walked to her side. He careful held her hand and raised his head to look at her.
"Little Five, let's go cook lunch. What do you want to eat?" Li Man patted his hand and went into the kitchen with him.
Little Five smiled. He wanted to say that he liked everything that she had made. Everything that she cooked was very yummy.
However, before he had time to speak, Li Man had already started to mumble to herself, "There's not much fresh vegetables left. I might as well cook noodles. That's fast and convenient."
Little Five seconded her idea by nodding.
"Vegetables have to be added to the noodles for it to taste good." But, the ground outside was very muddy. She couldn't go to the backyard herself. Otherwise, her embroidered shoes would be ruined.
Oh, right, didn't those men go around barefoot? Did they not even have wooden clogs? Walking around barefoot wasn't sanitary or safe, ah,
Thinking of this, Li Man felt worried and walked to the window that faced the backyard. She furtively looked out and saw that Li Hua was standing in the mud and lifting up a bundle of dried grass with a makeshift tool. Everyone else was probably up on the roof.
She probably wouldn't be much help at repairing the roof. Never mind. Li Man closed the window, searched the kitchen, and found a jar of pickled vegetables. She smiled at Little Five and said, “Older sister will make you a meal of knife-cut noodles today. You haven't eaten that before, right?"
As she said this, she took out some pickled snow cabbage from the jar.
After rinsing the pickled snow cabbage and chopping it up, she put it on a clean plate. Then, she scooped out some flour into a bowl and mixed in the water.
A short while later, Li Hua came into the kitchen and saw that Li Man was holding a knife in one hand and dough in the other. The knife seemed to dance through the dough as noodles fluttered into a pot of boiling water like snowflakes.
Li Man finished cutting the rest of the dough and found time to ask, "Are you guys done?"
"Not yet." Li Hua walked to her side and wiped water from his face.
Feeling a sensation of wetness, Li Man turned her head and saw that Li Hua's fair and clear face was covered in droplets of water. Some of his wet hair was also sticking to his face.
She couldn't help but furrow her brow. "Is there nothing at home that can be used to block the rain?" One after another, they had gotten drenched by the drizzling rain and looked like drowned rats. Weren't they worried about catching a cold?
Li Hua didn't say anything. With his eyes half-lowered, he quietly listened to her speak.
Li Man stirred the noodles with a spatula, then she covered the pot. Seeing that Li Hua was still standing by her side, she asked, "What's wrong? You should hurry and go get a towel to dry off."
Li Hua made a sound of assent, but he stretched out his right hand towards her.
Li Man was startled when she saw blood oozing out from his right forefinger and middle finger. "What happened?"
Li Hua acted as if it was no big deal and lightly said, "It's nothing. I just got pricked by the bamboo a few times."
"How could you be so careless?" Li Man grabbed his hand and thought of the alcohol that she used to disinfect Li Mo's cut last time. She hurriedly went over to the cupboard, took out the alcohol, and poured out a little bit into a small bowl.
Not having anything else at hand, Li Man said, "Wait here, I'll go get some cotton."
After saying this, she hurriedly ran out.
Chapter 104 - Jealousy (5)
There was a shallow smile on Li Hua's lips as he stood by the stove with his right hand raised.
Little Five was leaning on the side of the stove. Seeing his fourth brother like this, he tried to keep his own smile a secret, but he couldn't stop the laughter from escaping his mouth. He hurriedly covered his mouth.
Li Hua had already heard him and turned his head to look at Little Five. The smile on Li Hua's face deepened, then he gestured for Little Five to keep silent by placing his finger against his lips.
Little Five nodded and tactfully sat back down and pretended that he was just empty air.
At this time, there was the sound of someone approaching here in a hasty walk. Li Hua raised his head and saw that Li Man had come back with a clean and old piece of clothing.
While he was feeling slightly stunned, Li Man had already stuffed the old clothing into his other hand. "I couldn't find much. Just use this to wipe off the water."
After that, she dipped a cotton wad into the alcohol, lifted his other hand higher, and carefully helped him clean his wounds.
When the cool alcohol seeped into the wounds, it felt as if countless needles were stabbing into his fingers. And yet, Li Hua suddenly felt that he liked this type of feeling. He even wished that he could feel this sensation forever.
Once the wounds were cleaned, Li Man tossed the cotton wads into the bottom of the pot. Then, she used tiny strips of clean cloth to wrap up his fingers and tied up the makeshift bandages with string.
"Done." Seeing the disinfected fingers, Li Man let out a long sigh and felt quite accomplished.
"En." Li Hua's heart felt comfortably warm. Seeing her smiling face, he felt a bit giddy too.
However, as soon as Li Man raised her head and saw that there was still water dripping down his forehead, she furrowed her brow. Displeased, she asked, "Why didn't you dry yourself off?" After asking this, she took the old piece of clothing from his hand, stood on her tiptoes, and wiped the water from his forehead to his cheeks. At the end, she even patted his shoulders, chest, and back with the old clothing to help him remove the excess moisture.
After having done this, she tossed the old clothing into his arms and said, "Hold onto this."
Water was bubbling out from underneath the lid. Li Man was worried that the noodles were going to be overcooked, so she hurriedly went over, lifted up the lid, and used the spatula to stir the noodles around. Then, as she sprinkled some of the already minced garlic into the pot, she asked, "Where's everyone else? Call them over to eat."
"En." Li Hua deeply looked at her for a moment. Then, he looked at Little Five, who was tending to the cooking fire, and smiled at him before turning around and walking out.
Repairing a roof took time. The parts of the ruined thatched roof had to be completely removed and that area had to be cleaned. Li Mo along with Li Yan and Li Shu had been busy with this work for quite a while, but the work was only half done. They didn't come down from the roof until Li Hua came over and told them it was lunchtime. They washed their hands and got ready to eat.
Li Man had already taken out the noodles and portioned it out into bowls on the table. There was one large bowl of noodles for each person, and there was still steam wafting above each bowl.
Li Shu had gotten hungry a while ago. He started eating as soon as he picked up his chopsticks and ate half of his bowl without pausing. Once he was done, he raised his head and smiled at Li Man, "Wife, how did you make these noodles? They smell really good."
"This is called knife-cut noodles. There's no meat at home. If there was meat, I could have added braised minced pork..." Li Man amicably explained. However, when she reached halfway, she remembered that she was still feeling annoyed that he kept calling her wife, so she closed her mouth and stopped talking.
Since she had trailed off, Li Shu couldn't resist asking, "Braised? What's that?"
Li Man diligently ate her noodles and didn't say anything.
Li Mo took a sip of the noodle soup and said, "Let's eat. There's still work left to do after lunch. The rain will most likely get worse in late afternoon."
"Oh." Li Shu nodded as he ate. He didn't want to climb back onto the roof when the rain got worse. It was really uncomfortable to work when it was pouring outside.
At this time, Li Yan looked at Li Hua and asked, "Fourth brother, is your hand okay?"
Li Hua's fingers instinctively stiffened for a moment. "It's fine."
Chapter 105 - Jealousy (6)
"That's good. You don't need to come with us. It'll be enough with your second brother, third brother, and me." said Li Mo.
"It's okay. I can help with handing over the straw," Li Hua hurriedly said.
Li Shu finished eating the last bite of noodles and chimed in, "Just stay inside. Your hand is already injured. I can stay on the ground and toss up the straw instead."
After that, he asked Li Man, "Wife, is there any more left?"
Li Man had been thinking that these brothers got along really well. Caught off guard by Li Shu's question, she instinctively got up while answering, "There's more." She took his bowl, went over to the stove, and filled his bowl with more noodles.
Li Shu was stunned. "Wife?" He had just been worried that his wife would be annoyed with him for eating too much. He hadn't expected that she would personally add more food to his bowl.
He was still calling her that? Feeling a fresh burst of annoyance, she placed his bowl down in front of him, glared at him, and didn't respond.
However, Li Shu's heart was still happily skipping even after his wife had given him a supercilious look. Holding up the bowl of noodles, he took a big gulp of the soup first. This soup smelled so yummy, and his heart felt so at ease as he drank it.
It didn't talk long for the family to finish eating lunch. Li Mo and his two younger brothers went to the backyard to continue work. Li Hua felt bad, so he wanted to at least wash the dishes. But, his fingers were injured, so how could Li Man possibly let his hands get wet? She hurriedly pushed him away.
After she was done with the dishes, Li Man returned to her hut and heard thumping sounds from the roof. She knew that they were fixing her roof, but when she looked at bed, she saw that half of it was still very wet. It would take at least a few days of sunny weather before she could sleep on it again. What to do? Where would she sleep tonight?
Even though she was felt depressed over this, she still had to take care of the piglets and chicks. The yellow chicks had been moved into a corner of the kitchen with the fence surrounding them. They only needed to be feed some food and given some water. But, what about the piglets that were in the backyard? The backyard was full of mud. How could she go over there to feed them? She already skipped feeding them this morning and could hear them wailing for food.
Would... would she have to go barefoot in order to feed the piglets?
After struggling over what to do, Li Man went over to ask Li Hua, "Are there any wooden clogs?
"Eh? Where are you going?" Li Hua doubtfully asked.
"To feed the piglets." Li Man said with a miserable expression on her little face.
"Oh." Li Hua got down from the bed with a slight smile. Then, he rolled up his pants and said, "I'll do it."
"You?" Li Man looked at him. He was such a gentle, refined, and elegantly handsome scholar. Wouldn't it be a crime against nature to have him go feed the pigs?
Just as she was about say no thanks, Li Hua had already gone outside before her and went to the kitchen. He filled a small cask with slop and some fodder and wheat bran. He lifted up the cask and was about to go out.
"Wait." Li Man saw that he was going outside while only wearing cloth shoes and asked, "It can't be that this family doesn't even have a pair of wooden clogs, right?"
There really weren't any other shoes. Back when there wasn't any woman in this family, they would just walk barefoot when the ground was too muddy from the rain. But now, looking at Li Man, Li Hua thought it would be a good idea to have a pair of clogs for Li Man's convenience.
"When the sky clears up, I'll go buy a pair of them from the town." After saying this, Li Hua walked to the doorway, took off his shoes, and walked outside in his bare feet.
Li Man looked at his slender and white feet. His feet were so attractive, but they were stepping into mud. She suddenly had the urge to cover her eyes to block out this sight.
However, Li Hua didn't have this feeling at all. He brought the slop over to the pigpen and came back after feeding the piglets.
At this time, Li Man had already brought over a basin of water and was waiting by the doorway. Seeing him coming back, she said, "Here's the basin. I'll help you wash your feet."
"Oh." Li Hua looked bashful. "I can do it myself."
(T/N: It's so sweet how much Li Hua's older brothers baby him.)
Chapter 106 - Jealousy (7)
"It won't be easy for you to do it yourself, right?" Li Man moved the wooden stool forward. "Come closer and lift up your feet. I'll pour water over them. This way, your feet will get cleaner faster, and you'll be able to wear your shoes sooner."
Li Hua obediently sat down on the stool and stretched his feet out.
Li Man thought it was a bit strange. This teenager had an attractive face, attractive hands and feet, and even his legs were slender and straight. She went forward and poured his water over his muddy feet.
The water washed away most of the thick mud, but there were still some dirty spots that needed to be cleaned by hand. Li Man looked at him.
Li Hua felt a bit embarrassed. He stretched down to wipe away the remaining mud. But, the stool was too small, so he lost his balance and started to fall forward. Li Man instinctively stretched her hand out to support him, but as she did so, the basin tilted, and the rest of the water poured out onto both of them.
Never mind that, Li Man dropped the basin and tried to help up Li Hua, who had fallen into her arms.
"Are you okay?" It seemed as if his entire body had gotten soaked.
"F-Fine." Li Hua moved away from her chest. His cheeks were flushed red like fire. A moment of carelessness and he had ended up falling into her arms. His face had touched those two soft, fragrant....
Li Man hadn't noticed. She just felt a bit dejected when she saw that their clothes were soaked. It hadn't been a good day. Her quilt was wet, and now their clothes were wet too. There wasn't even a place to dry off.
Li Hua stood up with his feet still bare. Seeing that her upper garment and pants were completely soaked, he felt very apologetic. "I'm sorry. You're all wet now."
Li Man mustered up a smile as she said, "Oh, you can finish washing up by yourself. I'm going inside to change my clothes." Then, she brushed off the water from her clothes as she headed inside.
Li Man felt so upset. Her new clothes had gotten wet the first time she wore them. Fortunately, Li Hua had made her two sets of clothing, so she still had another set of cleaning clothing to wear.
And so, she took out the other set of clothing from her wardrobe and slowly took off her wet clothing.
There was still thumping sounds coming from the roof, and from time to time, wet straw would fall down.
She didn't pay attention to it. The windows were closed, the door was closed, and she didn't think anyone would try to sneak a peak. She completely didn't think about how the Li brothers were on the roof and cleaning away the rotten straw.
And so, Li Mo was caught off guard when he saw a woman below through a small hole in the roof.
At this time, Li Man had untied the strings for her undergarment halter top, taken it off, and placed it inside the wardrobe. From Li Mo's angle, he happened to see her clean, snow-white figure, her smooth and delicate shoulders, the elegant curve of her chest...
His hand froze, and his breathing stopped. Li Mo felt as if drunken rabbits had been stuffed into his heart, and they were erratically jumping around.
"Oldest brother?" Li Shu brought bamboo over. He had called a few times, but Li Mo hadn't responded.
"Ah, nothing." Li Mo hurriedly took the bamboo from him and covered up that hole. However, right after he did that, he saw that Li Yan was half-kneeling on the thatched roof and staring down at the scene below. His black hair had fallen down and was covering half of his face, so no one could see his expression. However, Li Mo immediately realized something after looking at him, and a feeling of anger rose in his heart without reason. He shouted, "Second brother."
"Hmm?" Li Yan slowly stood up straight and gathered up some straw to cover up the hole. Then, he raised his head and looked at Li Mo. "Oldest brother, what's wrong?"
Chapter 107 - Jealousy (8)
Seeing that the desire in Li Yan's eyes hadn't been hidden away yet, Li Mo's gaze gradually turned chilly. He continued to stare at his younger brother without saying a word.
"What's going on?" Li Shu looked at his oldest brother, then he looked at his second brother. He couldn't figure out what was going on.
Li Yan suddenly chuckled. While continuing to work, he said, "Oldest brother, you should hurry. It looks like it's going to rain again. Wife has already left the hut."
"Wife?" Li Shu suddenly thought of something and wanted to move the straw aside to have a look. "Did wife go inside? What was she doing?"
"It's nothing." Li Mo blocked him way. Who knows if his second brother was telling the truth? What if their wife hadn't finished changing her clothes yet?
Li Yan stood up. Grinning, he walked over to Li Shu. He patted his shoulder and said, "Third brother, go down and bring up more straw." The layer of straw on the roof was too thin. He had accidentally made a hole in the roof and saw something that he shouldn't have. That girl was petite, but when her clothes were completely taken off, her clean and snow white figure...
Well! Li Yan felt a bit woozy and hot just thinking about it. When he lowered his head, it felt as if something warm was going to spray out of his nose. He hurriedly stopped Li Shu and said, "Third brother, stay here. I'll go down."
So that the blood wouldn't drip out from his nose, he kept his head tilted up as he hurriedly went over to the ladder to go down.
Li Man had no idea what was happening on the roof. From her perspective, she only saw that the roof was covered in straw and couldn't see anything through it. She had no clue that a small hole on the roof would be enough to clearly see everything inside the hut.
She came out of the hut once she had changed into dry clothing. Li Hua had also finished cleaning his feet by now and had put his shoes back on. He was standing at the doorway and seemed to be waiting for her.
Feeling a bit awkward, Li Man smiled.
"Is everything okay?" Li Hua's voice was a bit hoarse.
Li Man self-depreciatingly laughed. "What could have possibly happened? That water wasn't even cold."
"Yeah." Li Hua suddenly changed the topic. "It’s too wet inside, and your bed is too wet to sleep on too. There's a bamboo couch in the kitchen. We'll move it to our hut later. You can sleep there tonight."
"Ah? I'm going to sleep in that hut again?" Li Man widened here eyes. Wouldn't that be too inconvenient?
Li Hua also knew that this was a bit improper, but there weren't any other options. He could only comfort her by saying, "It's only until the weather clears up."
"Oh." Li Man bit her lip and comforted herself by thinking that it was fine. Nothing had happened when she shared a bed with them last night. So, what was there to worry about? She would be sleeping on separate furniture from them tonight. Moreover, they had seemed more nervous than her last night. Don't be scared. Don't be scared.
The two of them were chatting underneath the eaves when Li Yan hastily came around the corner of the hut while clutching his nose. He quietly glanced at the two of them, but he entered the kitchen before either of them had time to say anything. Once he was inside, he scooped up a ladle of cold water and started to wash his nasal cavity.
Li Hua followed Li Yan into the kitchen. Worried, he asked, "What's wrong?"
Li Yan finished washing. Feeling that his nose was okay now, he raised his head and answered, "I'm fine. I just accidentally touched something." As he said this, his gaze drifted to Li Man, who was standing at the doorway. Feeling a trickle of warm blood dripping down, he hurriedly scooped up cold water and splashed it over his face.
"Second brother, you should rest. I'll go over there to take a look." Seeing this sight, Li Hua was very worried. He left the kitchen without waiting for a response from Li Yan.
Since Li Hua was going to the backyard, and she wasn’t busy with work herself, Li Man picked up the basin and brought it back into the kitchen.
Chapter 108 - Jealousy (9)
Li Yan was sitting on the stool and looking up. Seeing her coming into the kitchen, he only cast a glance at her from the corner of his eye.
Knowing what kind of person he was, Li Man didn't feel comfortable being alone with him. And so, after putting the basin down, she hastily started to leave.
"Wait." Seeing that she was scurrying away like she was fleeing from something, Li Yan felt irritation welling up in his heart. He stood up, caught up to her in one big, sudden stride, and forced her into a corner.
"What are you doing?" Li Man felt a trembling in her mind. She looked at him with widened dark, limpid eyes.
"Why are you running away when you see me?" Li Yan did his best to keep his eyes on her face and not let his gaze wander down.
"Who's running away?" Li Man's back was against the wall. He had her completely cornered. She felt both embarrassed and indignant.
"You weren't running?" Without him being consciously aware, Li Yan's gaze had drifted down to her slightly heaving chest. Something flicked through his mind, and he felt a burst of dizziness. He hurriedly shook his head to compose himself and asked, "Then, why didn't you ask me anything?"
Li Man thought he was being ridiculous. "What am I suppose to ask you?"
Li Yan suddenly moved closed to her ear. His warm breath blew into her ear as he murmured, "I had a nosebleed."
Li Man abruptly pushed him. "I didn't you hit you." What did his nosebleed have to do with her, ah?
Li Yan got choked up. "You're not going to ask me about it? Show a little bit of concern?"
Li Man secretly gritted her teeth. Since he was still looming over her, she resigned herself to asking, "Are you okay? I hope it's not serious."
"What do you think?" Faced with her indifferent appearance, Li Yan felt as if a kitten was clawing at his heart. She had recently given him a towel to dry his face, so he had though her attitude towards him had improved. Unexpectedly, she went back to her bad behavior.
Li Man looked at him. "It doesn't seem serious. Your complexion looks fine. If there's nothing else, don't keep me here. The kitchen is quite stuffy."
"It is a bit stuffy." Li Yan nodded in agreement. He couldn't resist look down at her body again. His gaze lingered there.
Li Man immediately stiffened. She felt as if he was stripping her naked with his eyes. She stretched her hand out to push him again. If she couldn't push him away, then she would resort to scratching him. "Li Yan, if you continue to bully me like this, I'll -"
Before she could finish her threat, Li Yan's vision turned black, and he slumped over her.
Li Man instinctively tried to support him. Seeing that his complexion had turned as white as paper, and there was cold sweat on his forehead, she couldn't help feeling startled. "What's wrong?"
Li Yan was leaning on her and seemed to only have the strength to weakly gasp for breath.
Li Man touched his forehead. His temperature was frighteningly hot. She anxiously said, "You have a fever."
His head was resting on her shoulder, and he weakly opened his eyes halfway. He stopped responding after groaning out, "Oh."
Li Man had both her arms around his waist to keep him from falling over. He was so tall and heavy, and her petite body could barely support his weight. She was almost about to be crushed by him, so she could only yell, "Li Yan, are you still conscious? If you haven't fainted, please hang on for a bit. I'll help you to your room."
He slightly opened his eyes again and weakly said, "Oh, okay." But as he was saying "okay, " he fainted, and his body collapsed onto Li Man.
It was as if a behemoth had fallen on top of her. How could Li Man possibly bear this weight? Her foot also tripped on something, and her body started to fall towards the ground.
Fortunately, Li Yan's strong hands had been behind her head, so they cushioned her fall and kept her from harm.
Although there was no pain from her back from the fall, his sturdy body was pressing down on top of her, and she felt as if her internal organs were being squeezed out. She almost couldn't breathe!