Chapter 19 I Like You More Every Day Than Yesterday
It was late at night.
After washing up, Shen Zhixia prepared to go to bed.
"Time to sleep." She patted the bed next to her.
Since returning, Huo Chenzhou has been silent and taciturn, as if he has something on his mind.
"About what happened during the day..." Huo Chenzhou's Adam's apple bobbed as he said earnestly, "I will never let anyone hurt you again."
Looking at his focused expression, Shen Zhixia suddenly reached out and hooked his chin with her fingertip, her watery eyes staring straight at him: "Huo Chenzhou, do you know what's most charming about you?"
She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, her warm breath brushing against his tense jaw.
Huo Chenzhou's body suddenly stiffened, and he didn't dare to move at all.
Before he could answer, Shen Zhixia leaned closer, her cherry lips almost touching his earlobe: "You've already helped me so much, yet you feel guilty for me. The way you were so earnest and clumsy was so...so..." She paused deliberately, her eyes sparkling, "...it was so captivating."
The flame of the kerosene lamp flickered gently, casting the shadows of the two people onto the courtyard wall, where they intertwined.
Her breath was fragrant, and Huo Chenzhou felt his head spinning: "When you stood up for me, I thought, how could there be such a reliable and handsome person in the world?"
Huo Chenzhou's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty. He suddenly pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head: "Don't tease me..." His voice was hoarse, "I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself..."
"Can't help what?" Shen Zhixia chuckled softly, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Can't help liking me more? That's perfect, I also want you to like me a little more every day than yesterday."
She suddenly tilted her head back and gently pecked the corner of his lips.
Huo Chenzhou tensed up like a string, his heart pounding. However, he glanced at Shen Zhixia's stomach one last time before restraining himself and pushing her away.
"Are you disgusted by my big belly, that's why you don't touch me?" Shen Zhixia suddenly let go of her hand, sat up angrily, her almond-shaped eyes wide open, "You fall asleep as soon as you get your head down every day and you won't even touch me! Do you think I'm not pretty anymore?"
As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes, and she looked extremely aggrieved.
A hint of panic flashed across Huo Chenzhou's cold face. He hurriedly explained, "Don't overthink it. I'm just worried about hurting you and the baby."
"You're lying!" Shen Zhixia turned her face away, her voice trembling with tears, "You just think I'm ugly!"
“No.” Huo Chenzhou took a deep breath and softened his tone. “You are very beautiful, but the doctor said that I should be careful during pregnancy, and I… I can’t take the risk.”
He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty, "After the baby is born, I..."
"Hmph, waiting again!" Shen Zhixia burrowed under the covers, only her fluffy head peeking out. She knew Huo Chenzhou was telling the truth, but she still deliberately said, "You always use the child as an excuse, I won't listen!"
Looking at her puffed-up face, Huo Chenzhou felt both heartache and helplessness. He lay back on the bed and gently patted her through the blanket: "Stop making a fuss."
Seeing that she didn't react, he whispered again, "Go to sleep."
In the darkness, Shen Zhixia gave a coquettish hum, turned her back to him, and quietly moved closer to Huo Chenzhou until their backs were pressed together. Only then did she close her eyes contentedly.
...
On the other side.
Officer Li frowned, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seeming to deepen. He watched his mother pacing back and forth in the main room and sighed, "Mom, I told you not to cause trouble. After today, what will everyone think of me? My relationship with Commander Huo will never be the same again."
"What is Commander Huo?" Old Mrs. Li tapped the ground with her cane. "Back when your father passed away, I was the one who went to the commune to beg for grain coupons! Now look at you, you don't even recognize your own mother over such a small matter? What does that little slut know? I think she's just using a chicken feather as a token and giving orders blindly."
"Mom!" Officer Li suddenly raised his voice, startling the dust on the beams into falling down.
This was the first time he had yelled at his mother. His Adam's apple bobbed, but then his voice softened, "Commander Huo's wife's method is to save the land. Don't talk nonsense about it in the future."
"Now you're starting to blame your mother." The old woman wiped away her tears and leaned against the doorframe. "Don't you even have any respect for your mother? Today in the fields, he used his official power to intimidate me, and you didn't dare say a word!"
She suddenly slapped her thigh and burst into tears, "How could I have raised such an ungrateful child!"
Officer Li's fingernails dug deeply into his palms. He remembered when he was a child, his mother carried him for ten miles to exchange for cloth coupons, and stuffed all the eggs she had saved for half a year into his body. But now, looking at the white hair at his mother's temples, and recalling the way she apologized to Shen Zhixia on the salt flats, he felt a pang of sadness in his heart.
Grandma Li also felt uneasy. Today, she had originally planned to make Li Xiuying the center of attention so that Huo Chenzhou could see Li Xiuying's virtuousness.
Little did they expect Shen Zhixia to suddenly interfere, and Commander Huo would protect her so much.
Shen Zhixia is such a despicable person!
Strangely enough, even though Huo Chenzhou stood up for Shen Zhixia, Old Madam Li didn't blame Commander Huo; instead, she only hated Shen Zhixia.
Huo Chenzhou's display of official authority today convinced her that he was the right son-in-law.
Even his son is afraid of him. If Li Xiuying could marry into his family, that would be perfect. Huo Chenzhou is the most powerful man in the military camp right now. Only someone like him could be her son-in-law.
Since he refuses to divorce, she'll give him a push.
In the middle of the night, Old Mrs. Li came to the cellar with her cane. Her trouser legs were wet with dew. She took out a few pieces of brown sugar. Although she felt bad about it, she thought of her plan and said breathlessly, "I'll teach you to bully an old woman."
The next morning, just as the sun was rising above the eaves, Zhang Weihong's loud voice pierced through the courtyard wall: "Xiao Shen! Are you home? Come and show your sister-in-law my vegetable seedlings."
Before he could finish speaking, the courtyard gate creaked open, and Zhang Weihong strode in, her leather tool bag jingling at her waist, while she clutched a few vegetable seedlings with curled leaves in her hand.
Shen Zhixia came out from the main room to greet her, and immediately noticed the vegetable seedlings on the stone table: "Sister-in-law, are these the bok choy you grew in your private plot?"
Zhang Weihong plopped down on a stool, fanning herself vigorously with a palm-leaf fan. Her bronze face wore an unusual look of worry: "That's right! In previous years, the vegetables I planted were so juicy you could squeeze juice out of them. But this year, I don't know what's wrong, they're all drooping as soon as they sprout."
"Have you encountered a new problem?"
Shen Zhixia squatted down, her fingertips gently tracing the curled veins of the seedlings, then carefully examining the soil around the roots. "The soil has been turned deep enough, and plenty of manure has been applied..."
Her eyes suddenly caught something. She parted the vegetables to examine them closely. "Sister-in-law, look! There are tiny red dots on the back of the leaves. They're spider mites."
Zhang Weihong took a closer look and suddenly slapped her thigh: "I knew it! In previous years we've only dealt with cabbage worms, never this thing before. I've tried chili water and garlic peels, but nothing works!"
Shen Zhixia thought for a moment and said, "We need to soak it in lime water mixed with tobacco, and add some laundry detergent to increase adhesion. Red spiders reproduce quickly, so we need to reapply it three days after the first spray."
"You really have a way!" Zhang Weihong's eyes lit up. "I'll write it down and try it when I get back."
She was in a hurry to go back: "Once these vegetables are planted, the first batch will be yours."
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