Main room, bedroom, on the kang (heated brick bed).

The ceiling fan creaked and groaned, bringing a touch of coolness to the two people in bed on this hot summer night.

Li Chu carefully moved his wife, who was lying on top of him and had fallen asleep, onto the bed.

Then he got off the bed and saw the cheongsam he had torn into strips on the floor and on the bed, and grinned triumphantly.

It had been a long time since he had gone all out like this, but it was indeed tiring. He had rested for half an hour, but even now, standing on the ground, his legs still felt a little weak.

A forty-year-old woman is indeed formidable in combat. If it were a few years ago, under his full-force attack, Ding Qiunan would have been unconscious in about twenty minutes at most.

But he managed to hold on until the very end, almost embarrassing him.

He slowly walked to the bathroom, took a shower, and then brought a basin of warm water to the bedroom, gently wiping his sleeping wife's entire body.

Only after everything was finished did I lie back down on the bed.

Listening to the sound of the ceiling fan turning, he couldn't help but think of air conditioning. Sigh, he wondered when he would be able to install one of those things in his house.

Although most air conditioners nowadays are window units and they can be a bit noisy when running, at least they keep you cool.

However, air conditioning is different from other things. Nowadays, apart from a very few research institutes that need to control the temperature year-round and a few hotels that cater to foreign guests, he has never seen it anywhere else.

Lost in thought, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Ding Qiunan, who had slept all night, was too sore to get out of bed. She was so angry that she pinched Li Chu until he was covered in bruises.

He didn't dare to say a word when his wife pinched him, since he was the one who caused it.

By the time he returned with breakfast, the three children, Ding's parents, Li Qin, and Wang Ziwen had all gotten up and were coming over. Even Wang Jiadong and his wife had brought their child over.

Ding's mother stood in the yard for a long time, not seeing her daughter, and asked Wenhui, who was about to eat, "Huihui, where's your mother?"

Wenhui looked up and around: "Grandma, my mom probably hasn't gotten up yet."

The child is already used to this.

Ding's mother felt a little dazed. Her son and daughter were taking the college entrance exam, and she, as their mother, couldn't even get a good night's sleep.

Li Chu placed the breakfast he had bought on the dining table and told everyone to help themselves.

He then made a bowl of tofu pudding, seasoned it, and took two steamed buns to go inside.

As soon as Ding's mother saw his movements, she knew he was going to deliver food to Ding Qiunan, so she grabbed her son-in-law.

"Xiao Chu, what are you doing?"

"Uh... Mom, Qiu Nan isn't feeling well. I'll take her in. You guys eat first, I'll be right out."

The three children quickly lowered their heads and tried to eat, afraid that they would burst out laughing.

If you're not feeling well, it's probably because Mom is too lazy to get up, so Dad took you to eat while you sat on the bed. That's just standard procedure.

"Xiao Chu, is Qiu Nan alright?" Ding's mother became a little nervous when she heard that her daughter was not feeling well.

"It's okay, Mom. You just need to rest. You should eat quickly, or it will get cold and won't taste good."

"Aunt Ding, please eat quickly. Qiu Nan is being taken care of by Li Chu, so she'll be fine."

Li Qin, who was standing nearby, pulled Ding's mother down to sit and made her a bowl of tofu pudding.

Seeing that everyone had started eating, Li Chu picked up his bowl and went inside.

Ding Qiunan was sitting on the bed with her back against the headboard. When she saw her husband come in, she snorted and turned her head to the side.

"Alright, don't be angry, honey. Come and eat, then take a nap." Li Chu didn't care about her attitude. He closed the bedroom door, placed the small kang table next to her, and put the food on it.

"You're just ruining my life." Ding Qiunan was so angry that she gritted her teeth. She also remembered that the whole family was here, but she, the lady of the house, was holed up in bed and wouldn't go out. It was really a bit outrageous.

But I just tried it and almost fell. My legs were so weak I couldn't use any strength at all.

She pointed to the strips of cloth on the ground and said through gritted teeth, "Look at this, look at this! These were perfectly good clothes. I spent days painstakingly sewing them together, and after wearing them for only one morning, look what you've done to them!"

As she spoke, she wanted to pounce on her husband and bite him.

Li Chu plopped down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and pulled her into his arms: "Alright, wife, don't be angry. I was too excited last night and couldn't control myself. I'll be more careful next time."

Upon hearing this, Ding Qiunan couldn't help but reach out and pinch his waist again: "You think there will be a next time? You're dreaming."

Despite the pain in his lower back, Li Chu picked up the bowl, scooped up a spoonful of tofu pudding, and began to feed her himself.

Ding Qiunan felt a little embarrassed: "Oh dear, you can put it down and eat by yourself. You should go out and eat too."

She woke up angry in the morning, but it was just because she felt she was losing face; she wasn't really angry with her husband.

When she chats with other older women, wow, at their homes the men are always begging for mercy, but in her house it's the other way around!

Those older women often say that their husbands are useless and they are afraid when it comes to sex.

Why isn't her husband like that? It's always her who's completely defeated.

Last night was even worse; she fell into a deep sleep. Her legs were still weak this morning. She felt utterly useless and could only vent her anger on her husband.

"Come on, wife, ah... open your mouth."

He fed her a bite of tofu pudding, then picked up a steamed bun and let her take a bite. Watching his wife munching like a little hamster, Li Chu's face was full of smiles.

Ding Qiunan looked at the man feeding her with somewhat unfocused eyes, and a sentence suddenly popped into her mind: "Your family's ancestral graves must be emitting auspicious smoke."

Yes, their Ding family's ancestral graves must be emitting auspicious smoke, otherwise how could they have managed to meet such a good man?

After eating a few bites of the food her husband fed her, Ding Qiunan firmly refused to let him feed her anymore, telling him to go out and eat quickly, as she still needed to take the child to school later.

“Okay,” Li Chu said, placing the bowl on the small kang table. “After you finish eating, put it aside. I’ll come in and clean up later. Put your pajamas on properly, in case Mom comes in.”

"Okay, I understand. Go ahead."

After dinner, Li Chu drove to take his child to the exam.

Before leaving, he specifically instructed his mother-in-law not to wake Ding Qiunan up, but to let her sleep a little longer.

"Dad, aren't you getting annoyed by how you're always so clingy with Mom?"

Sitting in the car, Li Wenhui finally asked the question she had wanted to ask for a long time.

Li Chu glanced at his daughter sitting in the back seat in the rearview mirror: "That's my wife. Why should I bother her? We're going to live together for at least 30 or 40 years, or even longer. If I bother her now, how will we get along in the future?"