"don't want!"
Ling Huanwu and Zhou Jiuzhen both blurted out their refusal.
Wang Guihua paused in her chopsticks-picking motion, looking up blankly, puzzled. "Why are you two reacting so strongly?"
She looked at Zhou Jiuzhen seriously and said, "My dear son, haven't you noticed that your wife has lost weight taking care of you this past year? I was busy taking care of your three nephews and didn't have time to come over in the evenings during those days. Now that your mother has time, are you complaining that your mother isn't good at taking care of people?"
"No, no," Zhou Jiuzhen glanced at Ling Huanwu and explained seriously, "I can take care of myself now, I don't need anyone to take care of me anymore. Besides, Mother, you have to take care of me, and Huanwu will get jealous later. I think Huanwu has taken care of me for so long, so from now on I should take care of her..."
Ling Huanwu stomped hard on Zhou Jiuzhen's foot under the table, the force of her foot seeming to say, "You're the one who's jealous," her little face flushed red.
After Zhou Jiuzhen finished speaking, he lowered his head, pursed his lips, and ate his food silently, his ears turning red.
Wang Guihua glanced at Ling Huanwu, then at her eldest son, and froze completely.
She hadn't expected that these two young people would already be so oblivious to the world before it was even completely dark.
After finishing her meal, the mother-in-law excused herself and hurriedly slipped back to her room.
No sooner had his mother-in-law left than Zhou Jiuzhen, with a loud bang and the door still shaking, grabbed Ling Huanwu from the wooden chair and pressed her against the wall to kiss her.
Ling Huanwu patted his shoulder, her eyes wide, "I just ate garlic and haven't brushed my teeth yet!"
But the man's strong and powerful hand lifted her limp and powerless hand above her head and pressed it against the wall.
When Ling Huanwu caught her breath, she realized that her legs were weak and she was clinging to Zhou Jiuzhen's neck, only managing to stay upright by his support.
"Are you a dog? You were unconscious for so long and recovered in just two days, and now you bite everyone you see!"
She leaned on Zhou Jiuzhen's shoulder, both annoyed and amused; she had never seen anyone so impatient.
He would never have been so proactive before; she was always the one who flirted with him first before he dared to come closer.
But she was just eating, she didn't do anything else.
Zhou Jiuzhen held the woman in his arms tightly against his chest, as if afraid he would never be able to hold her in his arms again. He buried his head in her neck and sniffed her gently, groaning softly.
God knows, the moment he saw her after she and her mother returned, he wanted to do just that.
Zhou Jiuzhen took her hand and led her to the public washbasin outside the guesthouse. Two enamel cups were placed close together, with the two toothbrush heads inside touching, just like an inseparable couple.
Ling Huanwu picked up her toothbrush to squeeze out toothpaste, but Zhou Jiuzhen snatched it away.
He applied the toothpaste, filled the enamel cup with water, and tilted his head to meet the gaze of his wife, who was pouting and looking confused. She only reached his shoulder.
The young woman's lips were slightly swollen, and her eyes were red, making one want to gently caress her again.
"Ah... open your mouth, I'll help you wash it."
His voice was very soft, and there was a hint of doting affection on his lips that he himself didn't even realize.
Ling Huanwu pursed her slightly numb lips and glanced around at the aunties and uncles on either side of her who were constantly glancing at the two of them with amusement.
"What...what do you want to do?"
She was very flustered the first time.
Even though she had attended countless grand occasions in her previous life, her heart had never pounded so hard.
The first time she saw Zhou Jiuzhen's gaze was so gentle and tender, it seemed to want to absorb her whole being.
She couldn't understand why Zhou Jiuzhen seemed like a completely different person after waking up from his coma.
Unlike the stubborn and argumentative Zhou Jiuzhen of the past, he was also unlike the childish and incessantly chattering Zhou Jiuzhen of eighteen.
Now, he seems to have been tempered, becoming calm and meticulous, sweet-talking but not talkative.
Most importantly, it seems like he can only ever see her.
Zhou Jiuzhen smiled and ruffled her hair, bringing the toothpaste to her lips. "I told you, from now on I'll take care of you."
Even though Ling Huanwu lived to her forties in the 1990s in her previous life, she was still stunned by his shameless behavior in public.
She lowered her voice, her face flushing, "Everyone's watching!"
"Oh, if you don't open your mouth, I'm going to kiss you in public!"
"Okay, okay, please don't!"
Faced with Zhou Jiuzhen's doting threat, Ling Huanwu immediately grinned, revealing a set of small white teeth, and let him brush her teeth and wipe her mouth.
Finally, amidst the steaming hot water from the kettle, he carefully washed her face with a towel, just like a mother hen.
He rubbed and warmed his slightly numb lips for a long time before reluctantly removing his stiff hand.
When Ling Huanwu looked up, she was surprised to find that his eyes were red and he was staring straight at her.
Standing by the public washbasin surrounded by people washing up, his gaze almost seemed to want to devour her whole.
Zhou Jiuzhen leaned closer to her, his breath hot against her ear, almost melting her.
"Let's try opening the space again tonight. I'll go borrow a bathtub from the guesthouse owner later..."
His words were full of meaning. Those who didn't understand him, looking at his righteous expression, would never have imagined that what he said would be so...shameless!
Before she could think any further, Zhou Jiuzhen squatted down and lifted her up in his arms, startling her into a soft gasp.
"Excuse me, everyone, my wife isn't feeling well, I need to carry her home!"
As Zhou Jiuzhen picked her up, he also weighed her in his arms, and then solemnly explained the situation to the other guests at the guesthouse who had been staring at them.
Those who came to stay at this guesthouse had all traveled a long way to the city with their relatives for medical treatment. They immediately believed Zhou Jiuzhen's words and hurriedly urged him to take his wife back to the room.
"Hurry up and take your wife home. Look how red her face is, she must have a fever."
"If you have a fever, take your medicine and take a hot bath right away! Yes, ask the guesthouse for the key, the girl there will bring you a bathtub, and a bath will bring the fever down..."
A group of kind-hearted aunties and uncles helped the two borrow a bathtub in just five minutes and even poured a tub of hot water at the right temperature.
The aunties and uncles chuckled and told Zhou Jiuzhen not to worry too much, and to quickly give his wife a hot bath. As they closed the door, they praised Ling Huanwu, who was being held in Zhou Jiuzhen's arms the whole time, for being so lucky.
Only the two of them remained inside.
As soon as Ling Huanwu's feet touched the ground, she clutched the man's collar tightly, too ashamed to look up.
She used to help him bathe and wipe his body when he was unconscious, and she didn't feel embarrassed at all.
But she was fully awake now, and she couldn't even bear to think about that shameful scene.
"You're so mean, even cursing me to get a fever. I'll just wash myself, you get out..."
Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Jiuzhen started preparing her sleeping clothes and placed them on a chair beside her. "Don't overthink it. I just want to open the space as soon as possible to see how Daya and Erya are doing. I want to rescue them as soon as possible."
This sentence left Ling Huanwu speechless.
She was a bit ungrateful; someone was giving her a bath just to save someone.
Saving lives, no matter what the process is, is not shameful!
In the misty steam, just as Ling Huanwu was about to refuse, Zhou Jiuzhen stood right in front of her.
He gently stroked her reddened eyes and slowly untied the long braid that had been hanging down to her waist...
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