Chapter 20

After Yu Ying said, "Take off your clothes and apply medicine," she and Fu Wei sat in silence for a long time, as if it was a tug-of-war, trying to see who had more patience.

After a long time, Fu Wei still had no intention of agreeing.

Yu Ying knew what he was worried about, so she suggested, "How about this, I'll only take care of the arms and back, and you can wipe the rest yourself, so don't be shy."

When Fu Wei heard her say that she was shy, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

Perhaps knowing her tenacity, Fu Wei finally accepted his fate after a while.

He lowered his head to untie the laces of his shirt, took it off, and revealed his lean upper body.

Fu Wei had a handsome appearance. After closing his eyes, he slightly raised his chin to reveal his neck, and then his Adam's apple rolled slightly. Yu Ying looked down along his Adam's apple and saw the clearly defined collarbone.

Fu Wei's appearance seemed to have a bit of abstinence.

This kind of scene is indeed pleasing to the eyes, but seeing the old injuries on his body, Yu Ying is not in the mood to appreciate this beauty.

She opened the bottle of medicinal wine and sniffed it, finding a faint scent of Chinese herbal medicine.

The bottle tilted slightly, and some brown liquid flowed into the palm of his hand.

Yu Ying glanced at the bruises on his arms and shoulders.

Apart from the new bruises on my arms, the bruises on other parts of my body aren't that dark. I guess they'll go away after two or three times of hot compresses and massage.

He slowly placed the palm of his hand filled with medicinal wine over the bruise on his arm, rubbing it gently at first so that the entire bruise could be covered with the wine.

His movements were gentle. Due to working for many days, his originally delicate palms had some thin calluses. But the moment he covered the affected area, Fu Wei's palms tightened slightly.

Seeing his tightened palms, Yu Ying thought he was in pain, so she said slowly, "If it hurts, just bear with it."

Upon hearing this, Fu Wei loosened his slightly clenched hands.

This slight stinging pain was like being pricked by a bug, but compared to having his legs broken and then having the bones straightened, this slight stinging pain was like being pricked by a bug, and had no effect on Yu Fuwei.

However, I don’t know if it’s the effect of the medicinal wine, but my arm is not only hot, but also a little itchy.

Just when Fu Wei thought that the medicinal wine was causing the heat in his arm, Yu Ying suddenly said, "It will get hot when you rub it. Just bear with it."

Fu Wei was silent and did not respond.

Yu Ying didn't expect him to respond, she just wanted to remind him.

The room was silent, with only the chirping of cicadas outside.

Yu Ying rubbed medicinal wine on his arm, and then on Fu Wei's shoulder. As she covered his arms with her palms, she felt Fu Wei's muscles tense slightly.

Yu Ying looked at his still closed eyes and tightly pursed lips and said, "Relax."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a light in the house and someone rolled up the straw curtain at the door.

Yu Ying turned her head and saw Fu An, who was lifting the door curtain, panicked and quickly let go and ran away.

Yu Ying frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled by his reaction, but because she had work to do, she didn't think about it too much.

Medicinal wine was also applied to his shoulders, and Yu Ying then massaged his shoulders, neck and back, pushing aside the crow-like black hair that was scattered on Fu Wei's back.

The fingertips and palms fell on the exposed skin without any hindrance. Because of the lubrication of the medicinal wine, the skin and palms were extremely silky.

Yu Ying originally had no romantic thoughts in her mind, but she accidentally noticed that there was a thin layer of sweat on Fu Wei's forehead and his skin was red.

Looking more closely, I found that his eyes were half-closed, his eyelashes were slightly trembling, and his originally pale thin lips were now somewhat bright.

Yu Ying thought about it and suddenly understood why Fu An ran away in panic just now.

After I understood, I realized that the atmosphere in the room was a little off.

The ancients were old-fashioned. The massage that was normal to her was considered too intimate by them, not to mention people like Fu Wei who always said that physical contact between men and women should not be allowed.

Yu Ying secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then blocked out all these distracting thoughts from her mind. Regardless of what they thought, she focused on massaging Fu Wei.

For Fu Wei, time seemed to pass exceptionally slowly. All his senses followed the movement of the hands on his shoulders and neck. His palms rubbed against his spine, and even his tailbone felt numb.

Fu Wei secretly adjusted his breathing, but the smell of medicinal wine and faint herbs lingered in his nostrils.

Fu Wei knew very well where the herbs came from.

Fu Wei couldn't help but think of the herbs she had dried in the yard. She happily picked a lot of herbs every day and dried a new round of herbs. Her house was probably full of herbs.

About half an hour later, Yu Ying was already sweating lightly, which showed how strenuous the massage was.

Yu Ying glanced at Fu Wei’s bare upper body. His skin color was cold white before, but now it was tinged with red.

It must be that the blood circulation has improved, Yu Ying thought.

"Okay, you may feel sore and painful, but that's normal. You can sleep well tonight. I'll give you another massage the day after tomorrow."

After Yu Ying finished speaking, she closed the bottle of medicinal wine and turned to leave the room.

Only after the person left did Fu Wei open his eyes, let out a long sigh, raised his hand and slowly placed it on his heart.

He let out another long sigh.

*

When Yu Ying came out of the house, she saw Fu An sleeping on the table. There were already some lychee fruits drying on a winnowing basket beside him.

Yu Ying withdrew her gaze and turned to wash her hands.

Perhaps the sound of washing hands woke Fu An up. He raised his head and rubbed his eyes blankly.

But when Yu Ying turned around and looked at him, he didn't know what he was thinking of, his face suddenly turned red, and his eyes turned away.

Yu Ying: ...

She didn't know how to explain it. In the eyes of others, she and Fu Wei were husband and wife, and it seemed normal for a couple to be a little intimate.

She didn't say anything, but tiptoed into the house. She glanced at the grandparents and grandchildren sleeping side by side on the straw bed, and then Yu Ying gently took the bamboo tube filled with water out of the house.

After taking a sip of mint water, I felt refreshed all over and even the heat dissipated a lot.

After a while, Aunt He and others came and continued to work.

Around 3 p.m., the toilet, kitchen, and bathroom had been cleaned up. Song Sanlang and He Jiadalang even went to the river to load up a lot of sand and gravel, including some pebbles.

A layer of gravel and pebbles was laid in the bathroom, still lower than the kitchen to prevent water from overflowing.

By sunset, the two thatched houses had been reinforced.

Aunt He repeatedly told me not to cook for them, so she went back as soon as she finished cooking.

The yard returned to peace. Yu Ying looked at the newly built toilet, kitchen and bathroom, and felt like she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Finally, I don’t have to go to the bathroom anymore, and I don’t have to hold it in all night.

After simply scrubbing my body for so many days, I can finally take a good bath.

The happiest people were undoubtedly the two children. They were so excited to see the brother and sister going in and out of the newly built toilet, kitchen and bathroom.

Yu Ying looked at the brother and sister having fun, smiled, and then went to do some simple cleaning.

The toilet is in the corner of the yard.

Yu Ying picked some wild flowers this morning and placed them next to a water tank, sprinkling some water on them from time to time to prevent them from wilting. She divided the wild flowers into several parts.

A small bunch is hung in the toilet, and another small bunch is hung in the bathroom, adding a little difference to the simple thatched house, which is very pleasing to the eye.

She then got two bamboo tubes, filled them with water, and put the flowers into the tubes.

I put a tube of flowers in the room I lived in, but because there was no other place to put them, I could only put them on the ground next to the bed.

Another tube of flowers was brought into the room where Fu Wei was and placed on the table, adding a touch of bright vitality to the gray room.

Seeing that Fu Wei seemed to have rested, Yu Ying did not call him and went straight out of the house to prepare dinner.

After she left the house, Fu Wei, who had his eyes closed, opened them and turned to look at the brightly colored wild flowers on the table.

The face that originally had no expression and was even desolate, now had less of a gloomy look and more of a lively look.

*

Yu Ying moved a wooden stool that was about knee-high into the kitchen, placed the ceramic stove on it and started cooking.

I'm just making a simple porridge tonight. I put a few dried red mushrooms in the porridge, added half a spoonful of lard, and sprinkled some salt.

When the porridge was brought into the room, Fu Wei had just woken up. He glanced at her but didn't say anything.

Yu Ying said, "I'm still busy. Let's eat after I'm done."

Fu Wei nodded lightly in response.

Not knowing where Fu An had gone, Yu Ying placed five bowls on the table and divided the porridge among the people.

After dividing the porridge, she took the clay pot out of the house, cleaned it, filled it with water, and went into the kitchen to boil the water while making medicine.

At the end of the day, Fu An was excited for a while when he saw the new house, but he didn't say much before and after. It was so strange that even Luo Shi, who couldn't see, felt something was wrong, so she quietly pulled her grandson to the corner to talk.

Mrs. Luo asked him, "I haven't heard you speak much this afternoon. What's wrong with you?"

Fu An opened his mouth, said the word "noon", then didn't know what to say, so he closed his mouth.

Mrs. Luo thought something had happened at noon, and hurriedly asked, "What on earth happened? Tell me quickly!"

Fu An stuck his head out to look towards the kitchen, and when he saw his aunt busying around in the kitchen, he retracted his head.

He drew circles on the ground with his toes, hesitated for a while, and finally said with a red face, "I saw my uncle taking off his clothes at noon today, and my aunt's hands were touching and kneading my uncle's body..."

Mrs. Luo was stunned. Before she could react, she heard her grandson say, "Grandma, are my uncle and aunt going to have a baby?"

Luo: ...

Yu Ying, who came to call them for dinner: ...

Fu An's little head is really capable of thinking and he dares to think.

Neither the grandfather nor the grandson noticed Yu Ying around the corner. Mrs. Luo lowered her voice and said, "Don't talk nonsense. That's your aunt applying medicine to your uncle."

Luo Shi wanted to see the two of them achieve a happy ending, but she didn't dare to think about it.

They have too many family matters and are not worthy of Yu at all.

Yu Ying thought about it, then turned around and walked back to the kitchen silently. She called out from outside the kitchen door, "It's time for dinner."