Chapter 145: By the River

Chapter 145: By the River

Lin Shu couldn't see if her face was flushed, but she could feel her cheeks burning hot.

A Ye had embarrassed her!

When she teased A Ye, she was completely at ease, even leisurely enjoying the sight of him flustered and at a loss. But when A Ye turned the tables and teased her, she found herself surprisingly unable to handle it.

Lin Shu cleared her throat softly and asked in a low voice, "A Ye, you used to be so reserved, but now you've become... openly flirtatious?"

Zhou Ye's eyes burned intensely as he stared straight at her small face, which was no bigger than his palm and could easily be cupped in his hands. On that face, aside from her glistening eyes, her nose and mouth were both small—his large mouth could easily cover them with a single kiss.

Hearing Lin Shu's question, his eyes flickered slightly. He didn't deny it and instead gave a confirming "mm-hmm," "You're the one who made me this way, A Shu."

Lin Shu: …

A Ye actually "mm-hmm'd"? He actually admitted it?

"Hmph, don’t even think about it. I’m not going tonight. Do you think you can have fun every night? In your dreams."

Zhou Ye paused for a moment and suddenly asked, "A Shu, why did you tell Xiao Pu to sleep on the inner side earlier?"

Lin Shu went quiet right away.

Damn it, her little plan had been seen through.

That’s right, she had been thinking that if she slept on the outer side, it would be more convenient to sneak into A Ye’s bed in the middle of the night. But that didn’t mean she would definitely go tonight.

"A Ye, after figuring out my intentions, are you over the moon?"

Zhou Ye hummed again, a sly smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "Yes, over the moon."

He hadn’t been sure before, but seeing A Shu like this… he understood now.

He definitely hadn’t misunderstood her intentions.

Lin Shu was amused by his openly flirtatious manner. Actually, she quite liked it when A Ye was openly flirty. It was really exciting!

"I'm not talking to you anymore. If I keep chatting with you, the Termitomyces sauce in my pot will burn." Lin Shu averted her gaze, refusing to look at him anymore.

But just when she didn’t want to talk, the man who had been silent earlier suddenly became talkative. "A Shu, I noticed that some of the soil in this bucket still has a layer of white frost on it. What is that white frost?"

"That white frost is saltpeter crystals, but this little bit is far from enough. We need to extract more from the soil."

"By the way, A Ye, I’m using the iron pot. Can you boil some hot water in the clay pot? Mixing the soil with hot water later will work better."

Zhou Ye naturally did whatever she said, but after their earlier conversation, he became even more bold with his words. "A Shu, I’ll boil a little extra. You haven’t washed up yet tonight—I’ll save some hot water for you."

Lin Shu: …

She really couldn’t bring herself to refuse, especially since she was fanning the stove and stirring the Termitomyces sauce in the pot, sweating all over and feeling gross and sticky.

Especially the underthings she was wearing—they were probably soaked with sweat.

"Back in the marquis’s mansion, I used to bathe in a tub," Lin Shu muttered, getting nostalgic.

She really wanted to take a real bath. Earlier, she had thought about saving up to buy a large wooden tub, but then it occurred to her—their house was so small, where would they even put a tub? Unless they placed it in the main room, but who takes baths in the main room?

Zhou Ye also knew there was no space in the house for the tub A Shu wanted. After thinking for a moment, he said, "A Shu, after we finish our work, you can go wash by the river. The river water has been warmed by the sun all day and is still a bit warm. Soaking in it would feel really comfortable. I’ll keep watch for you while you’re at the river."

Lin Shu: …

Damn it, she was actually tempted!

Every night before bed, she only wiped herself down with warm water. She really wanted a full-body bath.

Though she thought so, Lin Shu didn’t want to go along with Zhou Ye’s idea too easily. She mumbled vaguely, "Let’s finish our work first. We’ll talk about it later."

Zhou Ye shot her a meaningful look and continued working, his movements becoming even more efficient. As he pounded the soil in the wooden bucket, he occasionally added more firewood to the small stove.

If A Shu went to wash by the river, this pot of water wouldn’t need to be boiled too hot.

After a while, Zhou Ye felt it was about ready and asked Lin Shu, "A Shu, take a look. Is the soil pounded finely enough?"

"That’s fine, that’s fine. The water in the pot is almost ready too. Pour that pot of hot water in and mix it well, stir it a few more times. The saltpeter I need is in the soil—we have to mix it so it dissolves into the water. After mixing, let it soak overnight. Tomorrow, we’ll filter out the solution. First, a rough filtration to remove the larger sediment particles, then use cheesecloth to filter it multiple times. The final filtered brine will be clear. We’ll put the clear brine into the old clay pot Aunt Lin lent us and simmer it slowly…"

Lin Shu explained unhurriedly, and Zhou Ye listened attentively, occasionally glancing at A Shu’s delicate and charming features under the glow of the oil lamp.

By the time Zhou Ye finished mixing the soil, Lin Shu had almost finished simmering the Termitomyces sauce. The freshly made sauce was still hot. She scooped it out, let it cool slightly, and put it into bowls. They would pack it into bamboo tube containers tomorrow. The oil left in the pot, after removing the Termitomyces residue, would be set aside to cool and then stored in an oil jar for future cooking.

After both of them finished their tasks, they exchanged a glance before quickly looking away.

"A Shu, are we going to the river?" Zhou Ye asked.

"Yes. Wait for me a moment—I’ll go get a change of clothes."

Zhou Ye murmured in agreement and also went into his room.

After A Shu finished washing, he would wash too.

He went to the river to rinse off every day—if he missed a day, he would feel uncomfortable all over.

In the room, Lin Xiaopu had already fallen asleep. From the other side, He Guixiang and Lin Dashan’s room came the sound of snoring.

The house was quiet.

Moving like a thief, Lin Shu tiptoed to the chest in the corner and took out her change of clothes, including her underthings.

By the time she went out, Zhou Ye was already waiting in the courtyard. He was carrying a basket with a change of clothes inside.

When Lin Shu approached, Zhou Ye naturally took the clothes from her hands and placed them in the basket. His gaze accidentally brushed against the silk undergarment inside, and he quickly averted his eyes as if burned.

"A Shu, follow me. I’ll take you there," Zhou Ye said.

Lin Shu muttered under her breath, "It’s not like I’ve never been to the river before."

"I’ll take you to a more secluded spot. There’s a big boulder in the river that can hide you—no need to worry about being seen."

"Sounds good."

In the courtyard, the two walked separately. But as soon as they stepped out of the courtyard gate, Zhou Ye immediately took Lin Shu’s hand. "It’s dark outside, and the path isn’t clear. A Shu, I’ll hold your hand."

Lin Shu laughed at him. "Why don’t you just carry me on your back?"

She meant it as a joke, but to her surprise, Zhou Ye immediately swung the basket around front. Without crouching down, he grabbed Lin Shu’s arm with one hand and her waist with the other, lifting her up effortlessly. With a surprised yelp from her, he turned around, and before Lin Shu could react, she was already on his back.

Lin Shu thumped his shoulder. "Next time you do something like this, can you at least give me some warning?!"

Zhou Ye: "...Hmm." He thought A Shu liked it.

Because he discovered A Shu really enjoyed those positions where he could display his strength—like scooping her right up, holding her by the hips while kissing her, making her feet completely leave the ground.

"A Ye, are you really carrying me?" she said. "It's not even late at night now—what if some family comes out to enjoy the breeze and sees us like this?"

"Let them see. I'm carrying my future wife—what's wrong with that? Besides, who in the village doesn’t know you’re my future wife by now?"

Lin Shu tsk-tsked twice. "A Ye, listen to that self-assured tone of yours. It’s only been a few days, and you’ve already become such a bold one. You’re not the A Ye I used to know anymore. Give me back the A Ye gege from before!" she said. As she spoke, she tugged at his ear.

Only when she tugged did she realize A Ye’s ear was burning hot.

"It seems A Ye gege isn’t as thick-skinned as you pretend to be, huh? Look, your ear is all red and hot—you could probably slice it off and serve it up as bar snacks." Lin Shu couldn’t help but laugh.

"A Shu, hold still. Don’t squirm around so much, or you might fall." Zhou Ye’s expression remained calm.

"You wouldn’t let me fall. If you can’t carry me steadily and drop me, I’ll never let you carry me again, got it?" Lin Shu giggled, toying with his ear.

Though she couldn’t see A Ye’s expression, Lin Shu guessed it was probably equal parts exasperation and affection. But A Ye had always been good at pretending—he might look completely serious while secretly feeling delighted inside.

The walk to the river usually felt quite long, taking a good fifteen minutes. But with A Ye carrying her, it felt like they arrived in what felt like no time. They weren’t heading straight to the usual spot by the river but went a bit further upstream. The place where they finally stopped not only had lush vegetation along the bank but also several large rocks in the river. The river in Sweetwater Village was naturally shallow, with a bed of smooth pebbles, clear enough to see the bottom, almost like a stream.

"A Ye, the water seems a bit shallow." Could she even take a bath in such shallow water?

Zhou Ye, however, said, "A Shu, it only looks shallow. Once you go in and squat down, the water will come up past your shoulders. Go wash behind that big rock in the middle of the river later—the rock will block you from view, so no one can see you."

Lin Shu couldn’t help but smile and ask, "And who exactly is this 'no one' you’re talking about?"

Zhou Ye didn’t answer, only saying, "A Shu, go ahead. I’ll wait right here for you. Call me if you need anything."

As he spoke, he walked over to behind a large tree by the bank, turning his back to the river.

Lin Shu didn’t tease him further. She had spent a long time wandering in the mountains today, and even with breaks, she felt a bit tired by the end of the day.

Glancing back, she saw A Ye standing as still as a wooden stake behind the tree, head bowed, the picture of innocence.

Lin Shu trusted that he wouldn’t peek. But even if he did see something, she wouldn’t mind—after all, he was her boyfriend. If A Ye weren’t so old-fashioned, she would’ve liked to test the waters before marriage.

In her previous life, most people lived by the principle of "seize the day." Though Lin Shu was relatively conservative, she actually agreed with the idea. It was just that she couldn’t even make ends meet back then, and her standards were a bit high, so she never found someone who suited her and remained single until her death.

But now she had found someone. Since she had, she naturally wanted to follow her heart, making this second chance count.

"A Ye, I’m going to take off my clothes now," Lin Shu said deliberately.

Zhou Ye murmured in response. "A Shu, wash up without worries. I’m keeping watch."

Lin Shu muttered "you dummy" under her breath and confidently stripped off her clothes, even removing her undergarments.

When taking a bath, it’s most comfortable to be completely naked.

Zhou Ye wasn’t as old-fashioned and earnest as Lin Shu thought.

He simply didn’t look, but he didn’t deliberately cover his ears either. So he heard the rustling sounds of clothes being removed behind him, the splash of water as A Shu stepped into the river, the sound of her wading step by step toward the center, and finally, her squatting down behind the large rock he had mentioned.

Soon after, the sound of water splashing over her body followed.

A Shu must have been scooping up river water and pouring it over her shoulders, neck, then her outstretched arms, and chest...

As Zhou Ye listened, images began to form in his mind. Unconsciously, he was already breaking out in a sweat.