Chapter 8: Husband and Wife

Chapter 8: Husband and Wife

Under the moonlight, a slender figure leaned against the window, gazing blankly at the bright orb in the sky.

Jiang Huailiang returned from his parents' room to his own, stepping in to find his wife's face half-hidden in shadow.

That once vivacious, beauty-loving girl—how much pain must she have endured when her face was burned by the candle flame?

He walked over quietly and embraced her from behind.

The petite Xu Shi was nearly suffocated by the bear-like hug.

"What are you doing? Just got a bit of success, and now you're trying to murder your own wife?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? You're a mother of three now, why are you still as sharp-tongued as a child?"

Jiang Huailiang grumbled, scolding his wife, only for her to grab his ear and twist it several times.

"Then let go! Don't you know your own strength? If you squeeze any harder, I'll have to go join my sister underground!"

The scolded man obediently released his grip but grumbled indignantly.

"Hmph, you're always complaining about my strength, calling me a brute, aren't you? I knew it, neither you nor your sister truly appreciated me. Two women with no taste, what a waste of a good man like me!"

Xu Shi rubbed her waist in exasperation. Even after so many years apart, it took just three days for all of this man's bad habits to come flooding back to her mind.

"Just shut up, you'll only make people laugh if this gets out. You look like a black bear, yet you're so vain and clingy. If we hadn't been desperate back then, my sister wouldn't have been 'cheaply given' to you!"

"True, I certainly got a great deal marrying your sister. But then why did you insist on becoming my wife afterward?"

"Must've been blind!"

She pushed him away irritably. At this moment, where was the virtuous and gentle demeanor Xu Shi displayed in front of her in-laws and children? She was clearly a fiery, unreasonable character.

"Heh heh heh, no way. I know my wife well—you have excellent taste. Didn't you just snag a fine man like me?"

Xu Shi ignored him, moving to the chest to continue packing her belongings. Jiang Huailiang shamelessly followed, squeezing in beside her in the stifling heat, sitting intimately close to his wife.

"Yu Jie'er, we..."

"Stop right there!"

Xu Shi shot her husband a glare.

"How old am I? There's no 'Yu Jie'er' anymore—I'm her mother!"

Hearing this, Jiang Huailiang raised a hand to touch his wife's face.

"Nonsense again.

Don't think I'm still illiterate like before. I'm telling you, your man is quite learned now. Do you think I don't know how old a 'half-aged beauty' is?

As the old saying goes, 'a woman is a flower at forty.' You're not even twenty-eight yet, still fresh and lovely!"

"Pfft—"

Xu Shi couldn't help but chuckle at her husband's teasing, then playfully slapped his hand away. She touched the two coin-sized scars on her face, her voice tinged with an indescribable self-loathing.

"Stop feeding me sweet talk. My face is so badly burned I look like a ghost—how could I be beautiful? I don't even dare look in the mirror myself. If you're disgusted with me, actually..."

Her unfinished words were fiercely captured and swallowed by the man beside her.

The already muggy summer night grew even hotter as the intimate candlelight burned on, filling the room with warmth.

Jiang Huailiang used his actions to tell his wife that, whether in the past or the future, it would always be the esteemed Xu woman who might disdain the big black bear Jiang, never the other way around.

After a night of passionate union, the couple woke up the next morning noticeably closer.

Jiang Huailiang watched his wife comb her hair in the mirror, recalling how his parents had recounted the family's hardships over the years.

His eyes filled with a fierce glint.

The lecher who had dared to intrude that night had already been tracked down and dealt with—three stabs, six holes.

But his beloved Yu Jie'er, who cherished beauty, could never be brought back.

He clenched his fists, closing his eyes in guilt.

He, Jiang Huailiang, had failed his parents, his wife, and his children!

After narrowly escaping death among the defeated imperial troops, he had, by a twist of fate, joined the bandit army with his sworn brother. For years, he had lived a perilous life, daring not send any word home.

He feared that if he failed, he would bring disaster upon his family.

But he hadn't expected his wife, children, and parents to suffer so much.

"What's wrong? Still sleepy?"

Xu Shi, now groomed, turned to her husband and bent down to push his arm.

"Don't sleep, we have things to do today. Ah—!"

He pulled her back onto the bed, and she angrily pounded the oaf's shoulders.

"I just did my hair! You're going to mess it up."

"If it gets messy, I'll comb it for you, alright? Stay with me for another hour. We were busy all night—can't you show your man some affection?"

"You shut up!"

Women were naturally less thick-skinned than men. Hearing such brazen talk in broad daylight, Xu Shi's cheeks flushed as beautifully as the morning glow outside the window.

Jiang Huailiang coaxed her, a smile in his eyes.

"My wife is truly beautiful. Our two daughters will surely be just as lovely once they fill out a bit. They take after your Xu family—so very good-looking!"

"Weren't you boasting last night about being a learned scholar now? How come all you can say is 'good-looking'? Have you run out of words?"

She pushed him away forcefully, and he wisely let go. Xu Shi sat on the edge of the bed, tidying her clothes and hair, which he had ruffled.

"Stop joking around and get up quickly. Later, take some people to the ancestral grave and level your cenotaph. Be careful not to disturb my sister's grave. Before we leave, I want to take the children to pay our respects to her."

"Don't worry, we won't move Sister's grave for now. I'll find someone to repair the tomb first, then move her there. When we return to our roots, we can simply lie there together."

"You arrange it, just don't let my sister be wronged!"

"Understood."

Urged by his wife to get up and wash, Jiang Huailiang tidied himself while chatting with her.

"Now that our Zhaodi has recovered from her simple-mindedness, she's even smarter than most clever children! And Hudie is also so bright and charming! Hehehe, I'm truly blessed—I married a wonderful wife and have two wonderful daughters!"

"Don't join Father and Mother in using those nicknames, or our daughters might turn against you, their father."

"I know, I know, I'm just saying it to you, aren't I? The eldest is Jiang Wan, the second is Jiang Han, right? I remember!"

He picked up the towel from the wooden rack to wipe his face, then frowned and grumbled about their son.

"But the third one has clearly been spoiled rotten, such a coward. A dignified man, yet he gets beaten by his sisters all day long, squealing like a stuck pig—if this gets out, it'll completely disgrace me!"