This time, Ye Li deliberately left the door unlatched for Jiang Ji.
When Jiang Ji pushed the door open, he saw Ye Li lying comfortably on the kang. His arms were folded behind his head, his legs crossed, his bare feet gently swinging in the air. The picture of ease.
A smile immediately appeared in Jiang Ji’s eyes.
Seeing him come in, Ye Li propped himself up with both hands and sat up on the kang. With a bright grin, he beckoned.
“Come on up. I’ll give you a massage.”
“Hm?” Jiang Ji looked surprised.
But the surprise lasted only a moment. He walked over to the kang, removed his shoes, and climbed up. Although Ye Liang had helped him in the afternoon, the soreness was still there.
“Lie down, lie down,” Ye Li said, clearing the center of the kang.
When Jiang Ji obeyed and lay prone, Ye Li swung a leg over and sat directly on his waist.
“And next time you massage me, do it like this,” Ye Li lectured casually. “Yesterday you insisted on sitting beside me all awkward and stiff. What haven’t we already done together?”
Jiang Ji: “……”
Before he could respond, Ye Li grabbed his shoulders.
Jiang Ji immediately clenched his teeth in preparation.
Sure enough, in the next instant a wave of sensations—soreness, pain, and pleasure—struck all at once, and with remarkable intensity.
If he hadn’t braced himself beforehand, he would certainly have cried out.
Soon, however, the soreness and pain faded, leaving mostly relief. The tension in his body slowly melted away.
At that moment, Ye Li said behind him,
“By the way, tomorrow I need to go to the county town. I’ll buy some meat and make lots of steamed buns so you can take some back to the academy.”
“…No need to trouble yourself. Just make a few flatbreads,” Jiang Ji said softly, shaking his head.
The academy where he studied had a communal kitchen.
Every three months the students contributed grain, and with that contribution they were allowed to eat there.
But the meals were either coarse vegetable buns with thin, watery porridge, or simply steamed sweet potatoes or potatoes with porridge. There was not even pickled vegetables to go with it.
Under such conditions, anyone from a family with decent means would eat outside or return home for meals.
Jiang Ji had no such option.
So whenever he returned to the academy, his Second Aunt Liang Erxiang would prepare several white-flour flatbreads and boil a few eggs for him, so he could eat a little better.
She would also give him a small jar of pickles.
Now that Ye Li wanted to take over this task, it was certainly acceptable.
But it really was unnecessary trouble.
A few white-flour flatbreads would be enough.
“How can you live on just flatbreads?” Ye Li objected immediately. “Studying drains both your brain and your body. If you don’t nourish yourself properly and you fail the exam, what then?”
“I can’t read a single character, so I can’t help you with your studies. But when it comes to food, I can certainly contribute.”
There was no way Ye Li would let his cheap husband return to the academy carrying nothing but a few flatbreads.
He simply hadn’t thought of it before. Now that the idea had occurred to him, this matter naturally took priority.
The bedroom activities could wait.
Life was long. One night would not matter.
But after hearing this, Jiang Ji fell silent for a moment before speaking quietly.
“What if I fail the examination?”
“Then you take it again,” Ye Li replied without hesitation. “It’s not like I can’t afford to support you.”
But as someone who had been through exams himself, Ye Li knew very well that students preparing for major tests should not be given too much pressure.
So he softened his tone and added,
“I would love to be the husband of a xiucai—or even a juren—but things like that are like getting rich. You can’t force them.”
“All you can do is try your best. The rest is up to fate.”
After speaking, he climbed off Jiang Ji’s waist and lay down beside him on his side.
He hugged Jiang Ji’s right arm and said with a smiling face,
“Good husband, don’t worry about all that. I’ve got you covered. Even if nothing changes and things stay the same, we can still live comfortably.”
Covered.
Those two words struck Jiang Ji deeply.
The hand that had been resting loosely at his side suddenly clenched into a fist.
Slowly, he turned his head and looked at Ye Li, who was only inches away.
In the hazy lamplight, Ye Li’s eyes gleamed like gemstones—bright and beautiful.
Something stirred within him.
He raised his arm and pulled Ye Li into his embrace. His large hand gently brushed Ye Li’s cheek before he lowered his head and kissed him.
Ye Li naturally looped his arms around Jiang Ji’s neck.
But tonight, his inexpensive husband seemed unusually intense. Not only did he hold Ye Li tightly, pressing him firmly into his chest, his tongue moved boldly within Ye Li’s mouth.
In mere moments, Ye Li’s body temperature rose and his breathing grew unsteady.
Still, he understood.
He understood completely.
Jiang Ji had lost both parents at thirteen. For five years he had lived under others’ roofs, working and studying, worrying constantly about his younger brother. Truly, he had lived like a pitiful little cabbage left in the cold.
After hearing those heartfelt words just now, it was perfectly natural that he would feel moved and excited.
But—
Ye Li took a deep breath and gently pushed Jiang Ji’s chest.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Ji pulled his lips away slightly. Yet before Ye Li could answer, he dropped another soft kiss near his mouth, lightly nibbling and sucking at his lower lip.
“….”
Ye Li had to push him again.
This time Jiang Ji finally leaned back a little.
But only his lips withdrew. His arms still held Ye Li firmly as he frowned.
“Your body still hasn’t recovered?”
“No.”
Forehead pressed against Jiang Ji’s, Ye Li steadied his breathing before explaining,
“I really am going to the county town tomorrow to buy meat for the buns. I also want to fry some snacks for you to eat during breaks between lessons. I’ve already planned it all out.”
“How could I bear to send you back to the academy with only a few flatbreads?”
“Good husband, tonight let’s just touch a little, alright? No more than that.”
Jiang Ji: “……”
He slowly tightened his arms around Ye Li. His legs also trapped Ye Li’s legs.
Their difference in size made it easy for him to gather Ye Li entirely into his embrace.
Scenes from recent years—and from the past month—flashed through his mind one after another, until his nose stung and his eyes grew hot.
In truth, words like these and this kind of concern had never stopped over the years.
Every time he came home, his Second Aunt also carefully planned what good food she could prepare for him.
But because of their poverty, the best she could do were flatbreads and eggs.
He knew what his uncle hoped for.
And he had long prepared himself to care for his uncle in old age.
Yet he and his uncle’s family were not truly one family.
Even Yage’er, once he grew older and sensible, no longer clung to his aunt’s arms. How much less could Jiang Ji, already grown.
But Ye Li was different.
This was his husband.
His family.
They would spend their lives together, sharing the closest intimacy.
His parents had set an example for him. Before he had even met Ye Li, before he knew what kind of person Ye Li was, he had held countless hopes and imaginings about marriage.
Thus when he first discovered Ye Li’s true temperament, the pain had been almost as great as when his parents died.
Other couples might separate if they were incompatible.
But the Ye family had nearly drained their own resources to support his education.
How could he easily speak of divorce?
Yet who would have imagined that after all that suffering, Ye Li would change?
Good.
Very good.
Though his temperament was a little fiery, the married life Jiang Ji had once imagined was slowly becoming reality.
Ye Li.
Ye Li.
Ye Li…
Suppressing the surge of emotions in his heart, he spoke as calmly as he could.
“Alright. Tonight we’ll just touch.”
He tried to keep his voice steady.
But Ye Li was so close that he could hear the faint hoarseness in it.
This time, however, Ye Li did not tease him.
He simply smiled, called him “good husband” again, and kissed him warmly.
They had already developed a certain understanding of each other—knowing where the other was sensitive, knowing how to bring stronger pleasure.
Though it was still like scratching an itch through a boot, Ye Li did not complain tonight.
There was a lot to do tomorrow.
After Jiang Ji finished wiping him clean, he carried the basin of water away.
Ye Li was too lazy to climb down and bolt the door. Jiang Ji would lock the main hall door anyway.
He lay there planning the next day’s schedule.
A short while later, Jiang Ji returned to the main hall and locked the door.
But this time the footsteps continued toward the west room.
Curious, Ye Li lifted his head to look at the doorway.
Sure enough, Jiang Ji pushed the door open and came in.
“Something else?” Ye Li asked in confusion.
“Sleeping,” Jiang Ji replied naturally as he walked to the kang. He blew out the oil lamp, removed his shoes, and climbed onto the bed.
Ye Li stared at him.
“You’re not going back to the east room?”
“This was my room to begin with.”
Jiang Ji removed his shirt and trousers, then pulled the quilt over himself and slid underneath.
At this time of year, only one quilt was needed. Ye Li lay naked beneath it, so the moment Jiang Ji got in, he brushed against Ye Li’s warm arm.
Still, he lay flat and proper, looking as though he intended only to sleep.
There was only one pillow.
And lying flat like this left a gap where their shoulders met.
Speechless, Ye Li rolled over and draped his leg across Jiang Ji’s thigh.
“Turn on your side. Hold me.”
At those words, Jiang Ji had to exert great effort to keep the corner of his mouth from lifting.
What newly married couple slept in separate rooms?
He already spent most of the year at the academy. If they did not even sleep together at night, how could they ever grow familiar?
In excellent spirits, he closed his eyes and pulled Ye Li into his arms once more.
It was Ye Li’s first time sleeping while being held like this. He tugged the pillow over, wriggled around for a bit, and finally found a comfortable position.
“Husband, sweet dreams.”
With those five words, he yawned and happily drifted off.
Jiang Ji’s thoughts churned wildly—joy one moment, confusion the next.
But he had worked far too hard that day.
Before long, sleep overcame him.
When Ye Li woke the next morning, Jiang Ji was already gone.
He slapped the cold sheet beside him, then dressed and climbed down from the kang.
Outside, he saw a faint yellow glow coming from the mill room and walked straight there.
“Jiang Ji.”
Jiang Ji stopped, wiping the sweat from his forehead before answering.
When Ye Li pushed the door open, Jiang Ji said immediately,
“Go back and rest. I’ll finish grinding.”
“You ran off pretty fast,” Ye Li complained. “We finally slept together and then you disappeared again.”
“I had to grind soybeans for tofu, so I got up early,” Jiang Ji explained.
Heaven knew that after daring to stay in the west room last night, he certainly was not afraid of awkwardness in the morning.
“Is that so? Then give me a kiss first. After that I’ll make breakfast. Once we eat, I’ll head to the county town. You can handle the tofu.”
As Ye Li spoke, he walked up and rose onto his toes to kiss him.
Jiang Ji jumped back in shock.
“I handle the tofu?”
“You don’t expect to keep this job tied to me forever, do you?” Ye Li frowned.
“But that’s your way of earning money,” Jiang Ji insisted.
“Then yesterday you watched the whole process when I made the preserved eggs. Why didn’t you avoid seeing that?”
Jiang Ji: “……”
“If Xiaomai weren’t so young, I’d even teach him. This job is like a dog chain tying me down. Last time I went to the county town, all the pork belly had already sold out.”
“Today I need to buy meat, sugar, and spices. I’ve got to run all over town.”
His schedule was packed.
His cheap husband had to learn!
Ye Li’s reasoning was rough but sound. Jiang Ji could not argue.
Seeing that Ye Li truly meant to teach him, he finally agreed.
So after breakfast, before dawn had fully broken, Ye Li slung a basket over his back and left the house.
He bought meat from the butcher, sugar from the sweet shop, along with salt, vinegar, and various other things.
By the time he returned to the village, the sun was already high.
Entering the courtyard, the two little ones were nowhere to be seen. Jiang Ji was crouching by the well washing chives.
For steamed buns, chive filling was the best.
Seeing Ye Li return, Jiang Ji stood up and walked over, taking the heavy basket from his back.
“Go check the tofu,” he said.
“Alright.”
Ye Li hurried to the kitchen.
Inside, the tofu had already set in the mold.
He pressed it lightly—it had a nice spring to it, exactly like the tofu he made.
A wide smile spread across his face.
His cheap husband was quite capable.
Turning around, he saw Jiang Ji carrying the basket inside.
Ye Li immediately bounced toward him with a grin.
Good.
Next they only needed to mince the meat into filling—and then they could start making steamed buns.
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