Chapter 180, Part 1802
Luo Yan woke up, or rather, she wasn't sure if she had slept at all that night; she was just exhausted when she opened her eyes.
When she looked up, she saw Zhou Weifang staring at her with wide eyes, and instinctively pulled the blanket up higher to cover herself.
Zhou Weifang couldn't help but laugh and teased her, "Yanyan, you've seen them all."
Luo Yan retorted, "The lights weren't on yesterday."
It really wasn't open. Zhou Weifang pulled her closer to him and said, "It wasn't dawn later."
later……
Luo Yan regretted that she had such a good memory and managed to stammer, "Don't speak."
Besides, I'll probably have to sleep on the sofa tonight.
Zhou Weifang dared not utter a word, but there was one question he had to ask: "Is anything bothering you?"
Luo Yan's head was now outside the blanket. She shook her head slightly, and then, as if by magic, her whole body followed suit, and her hand, which was hidden under the blanket, began to move.
She felt like she had touched something, and when she tried to move away, her hand was being held.
The light filtering through the curtains made everything in front of her clearly visible. Luo Yan, with her head down, could only see the scratch marks on Zhou Weifang's chest from his fingernails. Looking up, she was too embarrassed to look him in the eye.
She could only whine, "Zhou Weifang, I want to sleep."
Zhou Weifang took a deep breath and smoothed her messy hair: "Yanyan, if you want to sleep, don't call me that next time."
Luo Yan insisted, calling out seven or eight times in one breath, then, realizing things were going badly, quickly closed her eyes and said, "I'm asleep."
Zhou Weifang could only pinch her cheek, his lips landing on her forehead: "Go to sleep, I won't disturb you."
Luo Yan was indeed sleepy. She mumbled an "uh-huh" and rolled over, causing the blanket to slip off and revealing her smooth back.
Zhou Weifang didn't dare to look, so he covered her with the blanket and went to take a shower.
After washing his hands, he hesitated for a long time on the doorknob of the room, but in the end he sat in the dining room, took out the book of gifts received yesterday, and counted the money to see if it was correct.
Luo Yan took a short nap, and this time she was truly awake.
Seeing that the bedside was empty, she quickly threw off the covers, got dressed, and cautiously left the room.
Zhou Weifang heard footsteps and looked up to ask, "Want breakfast or sleep a little longer?"
It's already lunchtime.
Today is the day for returning to her parents' home. Luo Yan couldn't imagine how she would tell her family that she had overslept, so she said, "I'll brush my teeth and wash my face before we leave."
Zhou Weifang thought he should at least have something to eat, so he made a cup of milk and turned the two bowls back and forth to cool them down.
After Luo Yan finished getting ready, she saw him busy at work and asked, "Have you eaten anything?"
There was a happy occasion at home, and we have plenty of food.
Zhou Weifang said, "Yes, I ate two wedding cakes."
Luo Yan took a sip of milk at just the right temperature, wiped her mouth, and said, "Let's go."
Zhou Weifang suddenly grabbed her: "Yanyan, change your clothes."
Newlyweds are expected to wear new clothes for the first three days of their marriage, and Luo Yan's outfit was made by her mother.
She asked, "What's wrong? Is something wrong?"
Zhou Weifang pointed to the area around his collar: "It's red here."
How dare you say that! Luo Yan glared at him and went back to her room to change, pinching him in anger.
Now, whenever Zhou Weifang is pinched, he thinks of what happened last night, and the way he looks at her is different.
Luo Yan, having eaten pork before, was so frightened that she turned and ran away, saying, "Hurry up, I'll wait for you downstairs."
She ran downstairs, and Zhou Weifang took all the prepared items, put on her shoes, and locked the door.
As he turned the corner of the stairs, Luo Yan said, "Why are you carrying so much stuff?"
Zhou Weifang told her to hold onto the handlebars she couldn't reach, saying, "It's just etiquette."
Luo Yan dislikes this phrase: "I don't need to observe etiquette when I go home."
It made her feel like a guest.
Zhou Weifang used another word: "Filial piety is just like giving money to your family."
That sounded much better, so Luo Yan stopped dwelling on it and kept urging, "Let's go, let's go."
It doesn't take more than five minutes to get back to the alley from the family compound; in fact, once you step onto the main road, you'll find familiar sights everywhere.
But Luo Yan just felt something was different; even Huang Laishun seemed exceptionally pleasing to the eye.
But Huang Laishun only showed her the dog's butt, which seemed to indicate that he was throwing a tantrum.
"That's strange," Luo Yan called out, "Mom, what's wrong with Lai Shun?"
Liu Yinfeng poked her head out from the kitchen: "I tied him up all day yesterday, and he had a long face all night."
When celebrating a happy occasion at home, with people coming and going, the front door is always open. They have to keep the puppy tied up in case it runs away.
Luo Yan found the phrase "with a long face" particularly funny. She put food in its bowl and asked, "Why are you the only one here?"
Liu Yinfeng: "Your brother just got up and went to the bathhouse, and your dad went out to buy soy sauce. Didn't you run into each other?"
Luo Yan said no, and put the things on the ground.
Zhou Weifang, being more perceptive, said, "Mom, I'll help you."
Alright, new son-in-law, show some affection.
Liu Yinfeng ordered him, "You pick these vegetables."
Zhou Weifang preferred to be informal, chatting casually with his mother-in-law and asking, "Where are my mother-in-law and the others?"
Liu Yinfeng: "Luo Hong booked a day trip to the Great Wall for them at the hotel front desk, and they went to climb the Great Wall."
Luo Yan was unaware of this and asked in surprise, "How old is my mother-in-law? Can she even walk?"
Liu Yinfeng knew her mother's health well and said, "She can still farm at home and raise forty or fifty chickens. She's very healthy."
She added, "If she can't walk anymore, she won't go any further. She's come all the way to the capital, so she has to go and see it."
"That's true," Luo Yan said, leaning against the kitchen doorframe. "My brother didn't cause any trouble in the middle of the night, did he?"
Speak of the devil, and he appears. Luo Hong pounded on his door: "Are you questioning my drinking etiquette?"
Luo Yan sneered: "You don't even have any integrity, let alone good drinking manners."
Luo Hong clenched his fists so tightly they cracked, and as he passed Zhou Weifang, he gave him a hard pat on the shoulder.
Zhou Weifang was left bewildered and felt wronged: "I didn't say anything."
Luo Hong: "So, should I hit her?"
Zhou Weifang knew perfectly well: "You wouldn't have hit her anyway."
My childhood friend is always trying to scare my sister, but everyone knows you can't take his words seriously.
Luo Hong really couldn't bring himself to hurt his sister, saying, "You're saying that originally, but now that you're here, of course you're the one who has to shoulder the burden."
It was a fallacy, but it struck a chord with Zhou Weifang. He thought to himself: That's right, we are husband and wife, it should be me.
In this way, he felt it made perfect sense.
Luo Hong had been waiting for him to argue with him, but now he felt it was pointless and said, "By the way, are you going to pay the final installment this afternoon or should I go?"
Today? Zhou Weifang glanced at his wife: "What are we going to do this afternoon?"
How could Luo Yan possibly say "I want to catch up on sleep" in front of her family? She then turned her gaze to her mother.
Liu Yinfeng said, "Your mother-in-law and the others will be back this afternoon. Your father and I plan to take them to Xidan for a stroll and then take the subway for some fun."
He added, "Why are you joining us on our wedding day? Go have some fun."
Luo Yan thought for a moment and asked her brother, "Are you free this afternoon?"
Luo Hong drank way too much yesterday, and his stomach is still churning and he hasn't recovered yet.
He said, "I want to sleep at home."
That's great, being able to say it so openly.
Luo Yan showed a hint of envy, but then she thought that she could sleep too, and said, "Then let's go get married."
"Anyone can pay," Luo Hong said. "I'll pay you back later."
Luo Yan retorted, "You actually still have money?"
Her dowry was enormous, emptying the savings of everyone in her family.
Luo Hong replied, "It's just the final payment, how could I not afford it?"
Luo Yan was relieved: "I thought you didn't have a single penny in your pocket."
Upon hearing that she knew nothing about business, Luo Hong said, "How can I open a shop if I don't have money?"
That seemed to make sense, and Luo Yan was completely relieved. Just as she was about to argue with her brother, she remembered: "Why did it take Dad so long to buy soy sauce?"
Zhou Weifang, eager to make a splash in his new role, jumped up and said, "I'll go take a look."
Luo Hong was startled by his sudden reaction and said, "You're being a bit too enthusiastic."
Zhou Weifang's excessive enthusiasm failed to materialize because Luo Xinmin returned.
As soon as he entered, he said, "Let's chat with Old Zhang."
Luo Hong immediately knew: "Once Uncle Zhang retires, he'll chat with anyone he can find."
Luo Xinmin muttered, "Next year it should be my turn."
He's always been a diligent person; I reckon he'll be bored after retiring.
Luo Hong earnestly invited, "Dad, you can be my accountant then, and I'll pay you a salary as my secret stash."
Luo Xinmin glanced at his son-in-law: "I never save money on the side."
"Exactly!" Zhou Weifang immediately declared, "What do men need secret stashes of money for?"
Luo Hong didn't hold back when talking to his own father: "It's exhausting for me to talk to either of you!"
"Still struggling?" Liu Yinfeng interjected from the kitchen, "I think you're the one who's struggling now."
He then said, "Bring the soy sauce over quickly."
Luo Xinmin handed it to his wife, saying, "But I'm more than capable of being your accountant."
He had worked in logistics for decades and always kept meticulous records of incoming and outgoing goods.
That's perfect. Luo Hong said, "You can handle the accounts now. I'm thinking of getting into the motorcycle business."
Motorcycles? Luo Xinmin looked out into the yard: "Can these sales pick up?"
Nowadays, even a bicycle costing around a hundred yuan is considered a big purchase, and the cheapest motorcycle costs two or three thousand yuan. Who can afford that easily?
But Luo Hong thought, "The economy is developing too fast now, and there will definitely be more people who can afford it in the future. I'll secure the market first."
He had a whole set of arguments, but Luo Xinmin really didn't understand business and just let his son do as he pleased.
He said, "Then I'm looking forward to retirement."
If Liu Yinfeng said she should have retired long ago, she would bring out a dish that had just come out of the pot and say, "Old Chen's injury wasn't as serious as yours, and he would have retired a few years ago."
People have different ideas. Luo Xinmin: "I can't stand him like that."
That's just how her husband is, what could Liu Yinfeng say? She took the vegetables her son-in-law had prepared from his hands and said, "Get the rice and bowls and chopsticks."
The last dish was cooked quickly, and the family of five sat down to eat lunch.
Luo Yan caught a glimpse of Huang Laishun wagging his tail and approaching, and said, "Wait, where did your temper go?"
The puppy had no temper in front of food, and it pawed at the table leg and jumped up.
Liu Yinfeng said to it, "Wait a minute, can't you see it's hot?"
Zhou Weifang found his mother-in-law's words amusing, thinking: The puppy is indeed too tall to see, but I guess he can only smell it, and his mouth is practically watering.
But he just liked the atmosphere at the Luo family home, so he picked up a piece of meat, blew on it, and put it in Huang Laishun's bowl.
With Huang Laishun's tail wagging so much, Luo Hong couldn't help but say, "You might as well call yourself Zhou Laishun from now on."
The more Huang Laishun talked, the more excited he became, and he even performed a bowing gesture.
The whole family was shocked and exclaimed in surprise, "When did it learn that? Where did it learn it?"
Nobody knew, but everyone praised it as the smartest dog in the world.
The meal ended amidst Huang Laishun's hundred and eighty performances. Luo Yan quietly yawned, too embarrassed to show her family that she hadn't slept well the night before.
But the parents, being experienced, noticed something amiss and said, "Let's go pay the bill as soon as possible, so people don't think we're dragging our feet."
Luo Yan also felt it was best to settle the transaction as soon as possible, so she took two books from her room before leaving.
They went to the restaurant to settle the bill first, and then took the film they had taken yesterday to be developed.
Luo Yan felt sleepy as soon as she left her parents' home, and she still had to take a shower as soon as she got home.
When she came out of the shower, her skin was fair and rosy, which made Zhou Weifang grit his teeth again. But seeing that her eyes were almost closed, he said, "You sleep. I'll go to the shop and bring you dinner."
Luo Yan nodded and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Zhou Weifang has been busy with wedding preparations these past few days, and there's a lot going on at the shop, especially anything related to money that has to go through him.
But even sitting in his office, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He was afraid that if he went back, he wouldn't be able to hold back his thoughts. So he stayed up until five o'clock, closed the ledger, and went to buy dinner before going home.
When he got downstairs, he saw that the lights in his house were on, so he quickly went upstairs.
Hearing the door open, Luo Yan mumbled while brushing her teeth, "We're really on the same wavelength, I just woke up too."
Zhou Weifang raised both hands higher to show her: "There's lots of delicious food."
Upon hearing this, Luo Yan realized she was indeed a bit hungry. She quickly washed up, barely drying her face, and sat down at the dining table.
The two of them had eaten together many times, but Zhou Weifang felt that today was particularly different. He poked at his rice and said, "Yanyan, I just saw the lights come on downstairs, and I was so happy."
Luo Yan knew that what made him happy was not the lamp, but the fact that someone was waiting for him.
She said, "From now on, this will be our home."
"We"—what a wonderful word.
Zhou Weifang pondered it repeatedly, a faint smile appearing on his face.
Luo Yan suddenly felt a pang of heartache, her eyes filled with emotion.
Zhou Weifang opened his arms to her: "Give me a hug?"
We agreed that I would carry him, but his hands started moving around.
Luo Yan slapped his hand away: "At least wait until I finish eating."
Zhou Weifang hadn't planned to do anything that evening and wanted her to go to work properly the next day. But he felt he couldn't ignore her, so he said, "Eat, you need to eat to have the energy."
Luo Yan gave him a light kick and started talking about trivial things.
Zhou Weifang did have something rather important to say: "Yanyan, you'll be in charge of the money at home from now on."
He added that Luo Yan asked him the same question she had asked her brother that morning: "You still have money for me to manage?"
Aside from wedding expenses, Zhou Weifang used all his money for the bride price.
He said, "I definitely won't have any this month, but I'll have money next month."
Luo Yan asked him with concern, "You must have enough money to refuel your motorcycle, right?"
There's naturally money in the account of a shop owner, and the shop is open for business every day.
Zhou Weifang: "I definitely have around a hundred yuan."
Luo Yan doesn't care anymore, saying, "It's more than my salary."
He then said with great enthusiasm, "I'll be officially hired in two months, and then I'll get performance bonuses and subsidies, which will add up to seventy yuan a month!"
Zhou Weifang was happy for her, not because of the amount of money, but because he could see the joy of being recognized in her work.
He said, "Yanyan, you are the most suitable person for working in the world."
Luo Yan loves going to work as much as she loves going to school, and she treats every small task given to her by her boss as if it were an exam.
She said, "Likewise, you are also the most suitable person I have ever met for doing business."
Zhou Weifang teased, "You wouldn't say that to Luo Hong's face, would you?"
Luo Yan pretended to look at the ceiling: "What did you say? I didn't hear you."
Zhou Weifang wasn't really comparing his status to his childhood friend's; he said, "I'm telling you, you have to kiss me later."
Luo Yan, looking as if she had just come to her senses, smiled and agreed.
The two ate and talked. After they finished eating, Zhou Weifang cleaned up the table and washed the dishes.
Luo Yan swept the floor, and after she finished, she remembered the book she had brought from her parents' home and opened it to read.
When Zhou Weifang came out of the kitchen, he saw her engrossed in her book. Without saying anything, he went to take a shower first. After he finished, he went over and pressed down on the book, saying, "Let's go to bed early."
He was talking about breakfast, but it turned into quite a hassle.
Luo Yan was so angry she bit him: "Liar!"
At this moment, a bite was no different from an invitation to Zhou Weifang. But thinking that his wife had to go to work the next day, he just patted her and coaxed her to sleep.
Luo Yan's eyelids gradually grew heavy, and in her hazy state, she seemed to hear Zhou Weifang go to take a shower.
Her last thought before going to sleep was: "As expected of my husband, he's so clean."
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A note from the author: I'd like to mention that this book is actually much longer than I initially planned. No matter how the content changes in the middle, the main text will end after the child is born.
In my opinion, raising children will inevitably cause Yan Yan to lose a part of her personality, but I hope she will always be the most important person in the eyes of her parents, brother, and lover. This is also my personal reason for not giving Luo Hong a romantic storyline. However, I will still write some stories about the little girl in the side stories, but not as much as in "True Couple". If you like reading about raising children, I recommend "True Couple in the Seventies" in my column.
good evening!
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