Chapter 253: The Road to High Office 53

Chapter 253: The Road to High Office 53

By the time Xu Zeping returned to the county office, it was already 5:45 PM, the end of the duty shift. He took the opportunity to give Officer Zhou and Officer Zeng, who were on duty at the office, a few days off to spend time with their families.

With Officer Zhou and Officer Zeng gone, the county office was even more short-staffed. Xu Zeping had no choice but to recruit some strong laborers while also assigning the two constables to patrol duty.

Since the office wasn't holding any court sessions at the moment, it was better to have them patrolling than sitting idle.

After arranging the next day's tasks, Xu Zeping finished his duties and headed home.

"Pingping, is tomorrow your rest day?" Cheng Ge Er asked cheerfully as he took the cloak Xu Zeping had removed.

Originally, he had planned to meet with Mrs. Cao Zhou tomorrow, but when he checked the calendar, he realized it was Pingping's rest day.

"Yes, do you want to go out and have some fun?"

Cheng Ge Er had been with him in Lingbei for several months now. Apart from the first day when Xu Zeping had spent the whole day with him, the rest of the time had been busy with work. Thinking about this, Xu Zeping felt a twinge of guilt. It was time to spend some quality time with Cheng Ge Er.

"Let's have dinner first, and then we can talk about it," Cheng Ge Er said as he hung up the cloak and instructed Xia Tian to prepare the meal.

Winter in Lingbei was harsh, and supplies were scarce, so the variety of food was limited.

The meals were mostly the same few dishes. Cheng Ge Er wanted to change things up for Xu Zeping, so besides the usual potato and bone soup and pickled beans, he had specifically learned how to make dumplings from Autumn today.

Xu Zeping looked at the unevenly sized steamed dumplings in front of him, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. He picked up one of the dumplings and ate it, then said with great sincerity, "Cheng Ge Er, don't you think today's dumplings are especially delicious?"

"Really?" Cheng Ge Er asked, a bit embarrassed, his cat-like eyes blinking with shyness.

His cooking skills had always been terrible, and his sister had often teased him about his poor cooking.

She would joke that with such poor cooking skills, how would he ever find a husband?

"Yes, the cabbage and pork filling is especially tasty," Xu Zeping said, placing another dumpling on Cheng Ge Er's plate. "Try it."

Cheng Ge Er picked up the dumpling and took a bite, only to find it bland.

He suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to add salt today.

Looking at Xu Zeping's smiling face, he glared at him in mock annoyance. "Pingping, why are you so mean?"

Xu Zeping suppressed a laugh and said seriously, "I really do think it's delicious. How about I finish the dumplings, and you can have some rice?"

"No way! Why should you get to eat all the dumplings I made?" Cheng Ge Er retorted, taking five or six dumplings and putting them in his bowl.

In the end, Xu Zeping ended up finishing all the dumplings in Cheng Ge Er's bowl.

Since being adopted by the Xu Family, Cheng Ge Er had always eaten well, and Xu Zerou, who loved good food, made sure he never lacked for delicious meals.

So while he could handle one or two bland dumplings, three was his limit.

After dinner, to pass the time, the two of them played a game of weiqi.

While playing, Xu Zeping suddenly remembered the unfinished conversation from the other day and brought it up. "Cheng Ge Er, what were you saying about your brother-in-law's letter yesterday?"

"Pingping, my brother-in-law is pregnant!" Cheng Ge Er, reminded of the unfinished topic, happily gestured. "Pingping, you're going to be an uncle, and I'm going to be an uncle too!"

Xu Zeping's eyes lit up with joy. "Then we should start preparing some toys and clothes for the baby."

Speaking of baby clothes, Cheng Ge Er’s interest in playing Go faded, and he dashed into the inner room, opened the wardrobe, and took out two light blue summer clothes: "Pingping, look, these are what I embroidered for the baby. Aren’t they pretty?"

Since they can’t have a baby girl, their baby will either be a young master or a little boy, and light blue suits both.

Xu Zeping looked at the two summer clothes embroidered with a flying snake in Cheng Ge Er’s hands, his eyes soft. Next year will be the 20th year of the Sheng'an dynasty, the Year of the Snake.

The baby’s zodiac sign will be the snake, the same as his sister’s.

The summer clothes are made of the finest cotton, soft and sweat-absorbent.

"They look beautiful, I absolutely adore them."

"Elder brother-in-law said the baby is due early next summer," Cheng Ge Er’s voice trailed off, tinged with sadness: "Pingping, when will we have our baby? I really, really want to have a baby with you."

"Xiang’er, these things depend on fate, you can’t rush it. Look, elder brother-in-law and brother took nearly two years after marriage to conceive, right? How long have we been married?" Xu Zeping comforted him, pulling him into his arms and gently patting his back: "Besides, don’t you want to enjoy more of our private time? If we have a baby, you’ll be busy with the baby, and just thinking about it makes me jealous."

"Stop talking nonsense," Cheng Ge Er, hearing Xu Zeping’s playfully teasing tone, turned around and covered his mouth: "Pingping, why have you become so bold after marriage?"

Before, even holding hands made him shy, and he often had to be the one to make the first move.

Xu Zeping grabbed his wrist, kissed the back of his hand, and then seductively guided: "Xiang’er, do you really want to know why?"

Cheng Ge Er, looking into his deep eyes, felt like he had fallen into a trap and hesitated before nodding: "Yes."

"First, I was afraid of scaring you off before marriage," Xu Zeping gently lowered his head, smiling as he whispered in his ear: "Second, if I didn’t hold back a little, how would you come to me?"

Cheng Ge Er widened his eyes in surprise, turning his head to question Xu Zeping, but ended up kissing Xu Zeping’s cheek.

"Ah, Xiang’er, you’re always so passionate, it’s a bit overwhelming for me."

Xu Zeping, with an innocent look but mischievous intentions, held Cheng Ge Er firmly on his lap and said righteously: "Since you’re so passionate, shouldn’t I return the favor?"

Before Cheng Ge Er could protest, Xu Zeping leaned down and kissed his pink lips...

From a clumsy start to now mastering the art of kissing, Xu Zeping had learned on his own, and in just a few moments, Cheng Ge Er was completely overwhelmed.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was already stripped and thrown onto the bed.

Everything happened so fast, it was beyond Cheng Ge Er’s expectations.

He reached out to push against Xu Zeping’s chest, trying to refuse.

But Xu Zeping grabbed his wrist, seductively staring at Cheng Ge Er: "Xiang’er, don’t you want to have a baby?"

"I do."

His mesmerizing phoenix eyes made it impossible for Cheng Ge Er to refuse.

After a passionate session.

Since they wanted to have a baby, Xu Zeping didn’t rush to clean up. He took a cotton cloth from the bedside and wiped the sweat off Cheng Ge Er, then rested his head on his arm to calm down.

There were two basins of burning charcoal in the room, keeping it warm.

Afraid that Cheng Ge Er might catch a cold, Xu Zeping covered him with a blanket, his usually clear voice now slightly hoarse: "Cheng Ge Er, have you decided where to go tomorrow?"

"Not yet, how about we go to Baoyue Tower, a well-known jewelry shop, to get a peace charm for the baby," Cheng Ge Er turned to his side, habitually nestling in Xu Zeping’s arms, weakly saying: "Pingping, carry me to clean up, I feel all sticky and gross."

"Hold it in, as it’s believed to help with conception," Xu Zeping patted his butt, mumbling.

Cheng Ge Er, hearing that he could have a baby sooner, stopped fussing. He rested his head on Xu Zeping's arm, habitually placing his hand on Xu Zeping's chest, feeling the warmth of the skin, and soon drifted off to sleep.

Xu Zeping looked at his peaceful sleeping face, knowing why Cheng Ge Er so desperately wanted a baby.

Because Cheng Ge Er wanted a blood relative.

After about half an hour, Xu Zeping put on his underpants, went to the side room, and fetched a basin of warm water that had cooled down. He brought it into the inner chamber, cleaned Cheng Ge Er, then poured the water back into the side room before returning to rest.

As soon as Xu Zeping lay down in the bed, Cheng Ge Er automatically rolled into his arms.

There's no denying that Cheng Ge Er had become more and more spoiled under Xu Zeping's care.

"Ping, Ping," Cheng Ge Er murmured sleepily, instinctively rubbing against the skin beneath him, mumbling indistinctly.

"I'm here, sleep now."

Under the gentle soothing, Cheng Ge Er quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Before Xu Zeping drifted off to sleep, he thought the side room in the east courtyard was quite nice, with a small door leading to the kitchen, which allowed for timely use of hot water.

Today, it was Autumn who was on duty. After making sure the masters were asleep, he quietly removed a basin of charcoal from the inner chamber, aired out the outer room, and went back to his room to rest.

Watching Xia Tian snore loudly, he shook his head with a mix of amusement and exasperation—still such a kid.

Autumn took off his clothes and lay back in bed, his pre-sleep wish was to become a respectable head steward like Winter.

The next morning, around 7 to 9 AM, Cheng Ge Er woke from his sleep, unusually still nestled in Xu Zeping's arms.

He propped himself up and reached out to pinch Xu Zeping's nose, aiming to tease him.

But as soon as he pinched it, his wrist was caught.

Xu Zeping opened his sharp, phoenix-like eyes, feigning innocence as he said, "Cheng Ge Er, how can you be so naughty? And here I was kindly trying to warm the bed for you."

Cheng Ge Er quickly retracted his hand, urging Xu Zeping to get up: "Pingping, get up quickly, we still need to go and get a protective charm for the baby."

What else could he do with the person he doted on?

Of course, indulge him.

Xu Zeping pretended nothing had happened, got up and dressed.

Then Xia Tian brought in hot water to attend to Cheng Ge Er's morning ablutions. Seeing Cheng Ge Er still brushing his teeth with a willow twig, Xu Zeping remembered that he hadn't prepared toothbrushes for Cheng Ge Er and himself.

Tonight, he planned to sketch a design for a couple's toothbrush, aiming to surprise Cheng Ge Er.

After breakfast, the two stepped out of the government office, oil-paper umbrellas in hand, ready to face the day.

Although the temperature had dropped to more than ten degrees below zero, today the sun came out for once, and under the warm sunlight, with the cold wind stopped, it was a good day to go out for a stroll.