Chapter 141 140. Free time, play with Zhou Yi
"Miss me?"
"Um."
That very subtle and serious voice made Lei Li laugh softly. He didn't care about what he had just promised him and went back behind the screen.
But Zhou Yi said he missed him, but when he saw him coming back, his face turned red and he hid in the water, leaving only a pair of eyes on the water surface looking at him in embarrassment.
"Don't you want to say you miss me?"
Lei Li raised an eyebrow and said frivolously and mischievously, "How come I came in and hid so tightly in the water? Am I some bad person?"
"……no."
Zhou Yi slowly floated up a little, and when his mouth was out of the water, he said, "I'm taking a shower. I'm embarrassed for you to watch me here."
"Are you embarrassed about this?"
Lei Li laughed, unbuckled her belt with her fingertips, and walked towards him slowly, "Aren't you going to be embarrassed to death by this?"
"W-What are you going to do?"
Zhou Yi was suddenly embarrassed, but the clothes he was going to change into were hanging on the clothes rack far away. He was too embarrassed to come out of the water, as Lei Li would see him naked.
"Isn't it obvious what I'm going to do?"
“…It’s very obvious.”
Lei Li became more and more pleased and interested as he looked at Zhou Yi, who could neither run away nor hide, and could only watch him step into the bathtub.
"Just now you told me... what do you call husband?"
"……husband."
Zhou Yi said in a very small voice.
"What?"
"husband."
"Why can't I hear clearly?"
"husband."
"It's these two words..."
Lei Li seemed to suddenly realize something, and teased him with a smile, emphasizing each word, "Husband? Do you want me to call you that? Why are you silent again?"
As he spoke, he slowly moved closer to him. Zhou Yi's long legs were forced to bend tightly, and he was held across his arms, looking quite pitiful.
“…This is not good.”
"What's wrong?"
Lei Li smiled and asked him back, "You're not my husband? Is it illegal or against the rules for a husband and wife to take a bath together? Hmm?"
“…”
Zhou Yi couldn't say anything, but he didn't dare look at Lei Li. He couldn't help but look at him secretly, and he felt more embarrassed when he met his smiling eyes.
"good."
Lei Li was moved by what she saw. She touched his face, pinching and kneading it, like a lecher molesting a decent man. "Be good and listen to me. When I've had enough fun, I won't embarrass you."
"...What kind of game?"
"Of course, you can scream your throat out and no one will come to save you."
“……?”
Seeing that he was slow to think and didn't seem to understand, Lei Li leaned close to his ear and spoke softly, like a kiss, "It's the kind of play where I force myself on you and you scream for help or stop."
“…I don’t want to play.”
"If you want to play, then how can you call it saving your life?"
“…”
Zhou Yi pursed his lips and blushed.
—
Zhou Yi didn't call for help later.
Lei Li, on the other hand, was the talkative one, teasing the most. Zhou Yi, who was furious and knew he was not good at talking, covered his mouth and yelled at him fiercely, "Stop talking!"
Lei Li just sobbed.
He looked sobbing and pitiful.
Zhou Yi was tricked into thinking that he was vicious and made people cry, so he realized something was wrong and let go.
Just as he was racking his brains to think of something to say to calm him down, he turned around, hugged him close, and smiled cunningly like a fox.
"Husband, are you tired so soon?"
“…”
Zhou Yi was so embarrassed and angry that he didn't want to listen to a word he said and covered his mouth until late at night.
—
The next day.
As expected, Lei Li got up late.
He was not in a hurry to get up. He lay in bed and recalled the feeling of last night. When he heard the door open, he looked over and saw Zhou Yi who was already dressed neatly. A smile appeared on his lips and eyebrows again.
"My dear husband, you are up so early. You must be tired last night. Why don't you sleep a little longer?"
“…”
Zhou Yi felt a little embarrassed when he mentioned last night. He glared at the shameless Lei Li, but Lei Li laughed instead.
"Look at you, you're so angry, as if I didn't satisfy you last night. After all, I did it to you several times..."
"You still say that!"
Zhou Yilian covered his mouth, fearing he would say something vicious again. "It's broad daylight... I didn't mean to be mean, yet you say you're dissatisfied."
Lei Li raised an eyebrow and waited for him to let go of her hand so that he could speak, but he refused to repent.
"So you're satisfied?"
“…”
"Does not speaking mean satisfaction or dissatisfaction?"
Lei Li asked mischievously, raised his hand to let Zhou Yi support him, and fell into his arms, clinging to his neck, and laughed softly,
"You usually restrain yourself, but last night you used up all your energy even though you were half drunk. If you're still not satisfied... how much pain must my waist be in?"
"Wash up and get up."
Zhou Yi couldn't win the argument, so he changed the subject, but his change of subject was still so awkward and his movements were also stiff. After he finished speaking, he took the clothes and put them on Lei Li.
"Breakfast has been heated up twice in the pot. Seeing that you haven't woken up, your parents asked about it."
"Then you didn't tell me I was expecting a second child for you?"
"What second child..."
Zhou Yi was choked by him again and glared at him shyly, "Only you dare to say this to your parents, you have no shame at all... It's only been a short time since we started growing ginger, even if we want to do it, it can't be now, it has to be at least two years later."
"Two years is too long."
"It wasn't long. It was over in the blink of an eye."
When Zhou Yi first traveled through time, he also felt that two years was a long time, but in the blink of an eye, it was already four years. Not only did he have a partner he loved, a considerable family business and several close friends, but his child was also nine months old.
If someone had told him this a few years ago, he would have thought it was a scam.
—
The Sheep Festival has just passed.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi received some bad news from Meng Luo.
A locust plague broke out in Nanjiang.
Almost overnight, swarms of locusts swept across the countryside, covering the area in a sea of red and yellow, leaving not a blade of grass or a leaf behind wherever they passed.
The people who suffered from the floods last year had just returned to their villages and became victims of the disaster again this year. Their half-dead crops were wiped out, and they were forced to migrate to other places to make a living.
The only three prefectures close to Nanjiang are Xiling, Dongyuan and Songyong.
The weather is not good this year.
Most of the territory of the Dayou Dynasty was hot and dry. The Dongyuan area was mostly plains, with fewer rivers than the Nanjiang River. The local people also suffered from severe drought. The Songyong area was full of mountains and ridges, and the terrain became increasingly difficult to walk on.
Although Xiling is also mountainous, it is rich and produces a lot of fish and rice. It is also the source of many rivers in Nanjiang. Although it is hot and dry, it will not cause water shortages and food shortages, but it will only affect some harvests.
There are also refugees in Nanjiang who understand these principles.
The leader ran along the river in the opposite direction towards Xiling, and the others followed like headless flies. The closer they got to Xiling, the more they could see water and green, and they concentrated more on walking towards this direction.
"I heard that there are already disaster victims in the villages and towns closest to Xiling and Nanjiang. It's okay at first because there are only a few of them. As long as you have the strength and the will, you can always find some work in the town or county to fill your stomach. If that doesn't work, you can always dig wild vegetables to eat."
"But then, the increase in disaster victims is also a disaster. Cheap disaster victims are excellent labor, and an increase in them drives down local market prices, disrupting the local livelihood balance and causing locals to reject and dislike the disaster victims."
Meng Luo knew both sides had their difficulties, and being biased would not be good for anyone. He could only sigh that life was difficult. "Besides, not every disaster victim can find a job. There are beggars and people selling their bodies in the county market. But even livestock wouldn't be needed that much, let alone people."
"They have families to support, and it's unacceptable for adults to go hungry for a few meals and become like children. As a result, thefts and robberies have increased, and even the county jail is full of people."
"Some of the victims have become bandits, while the majority continue to head towards Xiling. Our Qingmi County is not too far from Nanjiang, so we expect more victims to arrive soon."
It sounds like a huge change overnight, but in fact the drought and locust plague have been happening for quite some time.
Transportation in Dayou Dynasty is not convenient and the flow of information is slow. The port has shipping, which is considered the place with the most accessible information in Qingmi County.
But Lei Li and Zhou Yi no longer opened a shop at the port. They were busy with the spring plowing school in the village, business in the county town, and their children at home. Zhang Daqiang, Niu Dashu and Niu Ershu were taking care of their families and had long stopped going to the port to move goods.
Although Meng Luo got the news from home quickly, he had lost several pounds in the past few months because of Mei and Qingchou. He was too afraid to tell his family, for fear that his parents would urge him to get married and have children again.
It was not until Zhou Yi mentioned it at the Fuyang Feast that he picked up the matter. He wrote a letter to ask his elder brother and found out that the situation in Nanjiang had become so serious.
"And this year, not only are we experiencing hot weather, but the nomadic tribes bordering the Dongyuan region are also suffering from drought. They can't grow crops to begin with, and rely primarily on grazing cattle, sheep, and horses, trading their meat and milk with the Dongyuan people for their daily needs."
Meng Luo said, "Now that Dongyuan is already short of food, it's even harder to trade with the nomadic tribes. Plus, Dongyuan and them already have some dirty dealings, so now tensions are rising. War might break out."
"fighting?"
Lei Li took a deep breath and asked, "What old grudges do Dongyuan have with those nomadic tribes? Why are they fighting again?"
"There are also herders living on the edge of Dongyuan, and they often fight over grassland and livestock. One side says they are taking our grassland to graze sheep, and the other side says we stole their horses."
Meng Luo was also troubled. "Who took advantage of whom? How can we tell? Besides, sometimes those barbarians just make up excuses to justify their actions and rob people with impunity."
"Dongyuan is also the most heavily guarded area. Those who commit crimes in the county seat or prefectural capital are exiled to the border, and half of them go to the border of Dongyuan."
"This year has been really unlucky."
Lei Li also sighed.
"Indeed."
Zhou Yi nodded solemnly and asked Meng Luo, "What about the drought and locust plague in Nanjiang? The locust plague was sudden and difficult to deal with, but the drought didn't happen overnight. Local officials shouldn't be inactive."
"Just last year, we cracked down on a group of corrupt officials who profited from the national disaster during the floods. Now should be the time to get back to work and make achievements, right?"
"That's what I think."
Meng Luo was also filled with indignation as he spoke, "It just so happened that the crackdown last year was too severe. Those who had something to do with it were either demoted or dismissed. It frightened those lower-level officials so much that they tried to suppress the incident. As time went by, the disaster became even worse."
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