Chapter 29 The Difference Before and After Marriage

Chapter 29: The Difference Between Before and After Marriage

The cut on the back of Gao Yan's hand wasn't big.

About as big as a soybean.

The bleeding had stopped and clotted.

Lu Yingxiao cleaned the wound with saline, then disinfected it with iodine.

Lu Yingxiao was extra careful, worried the pain might wake the sleeping Gao Yan. As she treated it, she gently blew on the edges, hoping to reduce the pain.

Maybe Gao Yan was quite sensitive to pain.

When she touched his wound, his hand gave a slight tremble, and even blowing on it didn't help.

Lu Yingxiao then gently cupped Gao Yan's injured hand in her palm, her fingertips lightly stroking the area around the wound to comfort him, while her free hand continued to disinfect it.

It took quite a while before the wound on Gao Yan's hand was fully tended to.

Lu Yingxiao let out a sigh of relief.

Gao Youhe opened the car door, inviting Lu Yingxiao to get in and rest. "Sister-in-law, are you really tired?"

Watching Lu Yingxiao so carefully tend to Gao Yan's wound, Gao Youhe had also held her breath, not daring to speak.

Lu Yingxiao shook her head. "I'm not tired, I was just afraid of waking your brother."

Gao Youhe propped her chin in her hands, gazing at Gao Yan, still asleep in the driver's seat, and sighed with concern. "My brother sleeps so deeply. Is it really alright for him to sleep this much?"

Lu Yingxiao understood Gao Yan's sleepiness quite well.

Because she'd been through a phase like that herself.

When she was awake, she could go non-stop for 24 hours, but once she lay down, overwhelming drowsiness would overtake her, and she wouldn't wake up until she'd gotten her fill of sleep.

Lu Yingxiao: "Your brother's probably just exhausted. He'll wake up once he's slept enough."

Gao Youhe: "When will that be?"

Lu Yingxiao: "He should wake up around dinnertime. Even when you're asleep, you can still feel hungry."

This made perfect sense to Gao Youhe. "It's awful to be hungry. Last year, in the middle of the night, I woke up from a dream starving, and then I couldn't get back to sleep. I didn't feel sleepy again until Aunt Liu made me a bowl of noodles and I ate my fill."

Lu Yingxiao: "So don't worry too much."

Gao Youhe: "Mhm!"

The two women sat in the back seat, quietly waiting for Gao Yan to wake up.

But the waiting was boring.

To pass the time, they started whispering.

Gao Youhe asked Lu Yingxiao, "Sister-in-law, what time are we going to the flower and bird market tomorrow?"

Lu Yingxiao: "In the morning."

Gao Youhe counted on her fingers. "That's over ten hours from now. Such a long time."

Lu Yingxiao chuckled. "Are you that eager to go to the flower and bird market?"

Gao Youhe: "I've never been! And most importantly, this is our first outing as a family of three. I'm so excited, I wish someone would knock me out so I could wake up tomorrow morning and go straight to the market." Keeping her voice low to avoid waking Gao Yan, but her excitement was practically overflowing from the car.

It was contagious, filling Lu Yingxiao with anticipation for tomorrow's trip.

Gao Youhe: "Sister-in-law, have you been to a flower and bird market before?"

Lu Yingxiao: "No."

She used to be all about making money. She didn't waste time on anything else. Even her basic needs were just quickly taken care of.

Gao Youhe: "My brother probably went all the time before he took over the company. After all, he loves plants and flowers, and the flower and bird market is full of them. Tomorrow, let's get brother to be our tour guide and show us around."

"But I wonder how big the market actually is. Can we see it all in one morning?"

"I checked the forecast. Tomorrow's supposed to be beautiful. It'd be a waste of a beautiful day to just go home afterwards."

After saying this, she blinked her big, round eyes, looking at Lu Yingxiao full of expectation.

Lu Yingxiao instantly understood. She continued, "If we're done by morning, I'll go anywhere you want tomorrow afternoon."

Gao Youhe: "Sister-in-law, you're the best!"

Overwhelmed with joy, Gao Youhe threw herself into Lu Yingxiao's arms, cheering excitedly. In her excitement, her voice rose a little.

That ended up waking Gao Yan in the passenger seat.

Gao Youhe apologized, "Brother, sorry for waking you."

Gao Yan was like a super-powered phone that charged for ten minutes and lasted twenty-four hours. He would have woken up soon anyway.

He asked, "What were you and your sister-in-law talking about? You sounded so excited."

Gao Youhe eagerly told him.

Gao Yan caught on. "So, she'll only go with you tomorrow afternoon if you finish the market first?"

Hearing this, a bad feeling came over Gao Youhe. "Brother, don't tell me the flower and bird market is huge and can't be finished in one morning."

Gao Yan smiled. "Back when I had nothing else to do, I could spend a whole day there."

Gao Youhe was disappointed. "So you mean the market is big, and we can't go anywhere else tomorrow afternoon?"

Gao Yan: "You could understand it that way."

Gao Youhe was utterly dejected.

Lu Yingxiao, who had been watching quietly, couldn't help speaking up to Gao Yan. "Don't bully Youhe."

Gao Yan gave a light, helpless sigh. "If I don't 'bully' her, I'll be the 'empty nester' at home tomorrow afternoon."

Lu Yingxiao: "Don't you really like the flower and bird market? You could spend a whole day there."

Gao Yan: "I could before. But now that I have a family, I can't do that anymore."

Lu Yingxiao pressed her lips together.

Gao Youhe was utterly confused.

Was she losing her mind?

What was she not getting about her brother and sister-in-law's conversation?

The thing was, she didn't even feel like her brother had bullied her.

Gao Youhe pondered for a while but still couldn't figure it out, so she just asked directly: "Brother, sister-in-law, what are you talking in riddles about?"

Gao Yan looked at Lu Yingxiao and replied, "No riddles. Your sister-in-law gets it."

Gao Youhe then looked at Lu Yingxiao, hoping she could explain.

Lu Yingxiao couldn't help but glare at Gao Yan.

She said to Gao Youhe, "Your brother is threatening us. If we don't take him along to other places tomorrow afternoon, he'll take us around the bird market all day."

Gao Youhe finally understood.

She imitated Lu Yingxiao and also glared fiercely at Gao Yan. "Brother, you're so sneaky! If you want to go, just say it. Why beat around the bush so much? You made me think the bird market was really huge."

Gao Yan: "My mistake, I apologize."

Gao Youhe: "Since you admitted your mistake, I forgive you."

Also, considering Gao Yan was her biological brother, Gao Youhe asked for him, inquiring if they could take him along tomorrow afternoon. She added, "Sister-in-law, I'm just asking for my brother. It's totally your call. Your own feelings are the most important."

In Gao Youhe's view, even though her brother was family, he shouldn't take precedence over her sister-in-law's personal feelings.

Because she really liked her sister-in-law.

When you care about someone, you respect their wishes.

Lu Yingxiao didn't mind having Gao Yan along. She wasn't as resistant to him as before.

She also knew that Youhe actually really hoped the three of them could go out together.

She had subconsciously assumed Youhe would put in a good word for Gao Yan to persuade her. But she didn't expect Youhe to value her personal wishes more.

Lu Yingxiao was touched.

She affectionately ruffled Gao Youhe's head and said, "Going out requires a driver, and someone to foot the bill and put in the effort so we can enjoy ourselves. If your brother is willing, I don't mind." After saying this, she looked at Gao Yan, waiting for his response.

Almost as soon as Lu Yingxiao finished speaking, Gao Yan immediately chimed in, "It would be my honor to be your driver and cover the costs and do the heavy lifting. I'm naturally willing."

Lu Yingxiao: "Since you're willing, come with us tomorrow afternoon."

Gao Youhe listened nervously.

Seeing that Lu Yingxiao ultimately agreed, Gao Youhe hugged Lu Yingxiao's waist and exclaimed, "Sister-in-law, how are you so amazing?"

Lu Yingxiao hugged her back. "You're amazing too."

Gao Youhe pressed further: "So amazing you'd never want to leave me?"

Lu Yingxiao replied firmly: "Yes!"

Gao Youhe smiled, her radiant smile comparable to a blooming lotus, looking particularly vibrant and full of life.

Her mindset had changed a lot compared to a few days ago.

Back then, she had hoped to matchmake her sister-in-law and brother. Now, she felt it was more important that her sister-in-law had her in her heart.

As for her brother, he's on his own.

Since Gao Yan was already awake, the three of them got out of the car. Lu Yingxiao, linking arms with Gao Youhe, walked in front, while Gao Yan, carrying the first-aid kit Lu Yingxiao had brought, walked behind them.

The first-aid kit was something Lu Yingxiao had gotten from Butler Zhan.

Gao Yan returned the kit to Butler Zhan.

Butler Zhan looked Gao Yan up and down, asking with concern, "Sir, I heard from the Madam that you were injured?"

But no matter how he looked, he couldn't see where Gao Yan was injured.

Gao Yan raised his right hand, which Lu Yingxiao had already carefully treated, and said, "Yes, I was injured, but the Madam has already taken care of it."

Butler Zhan squinted for a closer look.

Perhaps he really was getting old, his eyesight wasn't great. No matter how he looked, the wound was so small it could be ignored. Because the sir had liked flowers and plants since childhood, and while tending to them, small wounds on his hands were inevitable. But the sir never paid them any mind, and over time, he had also stopped paying attention.

Gao Yan smiled and said, "Perhaps this is the difference between being single and being married."

Before marriage, he could be careless as he pleased.

But after marriage, everything about him, including his body, was also a claim of his spouse. Naturally, he couldn't be as casual as before.