A delicate beauty takes a place in a marriage, while a cold, rough man seduces her every night.

In late April, a long, humid rainy season began.

Qingyan has finished her maternity leave and returned to school to teach as scheduled, resuming her daily teaching life.

The baby bottles that Qiao Ni had sent from Beijing came in very handy.

Xiao Jingye bought a refrigerator, and Qingyan would prepare breast milk in advance and store it in the refrigerator before going out every day.

When the child was hungry during the day, Zeng Yumei would take out some food, warm it up, and feed it to the child.

Qiao Ni wrote another letter, her handwriting lively. She told Qing Yan that the girl who was pursuing He Yannian was too bold. She slept with He Yannian and was now hiding from him, afraid to see him.

When Qingyan's gaze swept over the sentence, "Your brother is no longer a virgin," she burst out laughing.

She could almost instantly picture her aunt's expression; if she were to gossip about this matter in person, her eyes would surely be sparkling.

That evening, Xiao Jingye took Qiao Nianshan home for dinner.

At the dinner table, Qiao Nianshan put down his chopsticks, his expression calm yet tinged with melancholy, and said to Qingyan, "Chen Xiuying is gone."

Qingyan paused in her act of picking up food: "When did this happen?"

"She passed away last night. Chen Liang's family doesn't want to take care of her, and she's still lying in her ancestral home," Qiao Nianshan said. "We were husband and wife for a time, so I was thinking of buying her a coffin and giving her a peaceful burial."

"You can decide for yourself," Qingyan said.

Qiao Nianshan hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "Given how she treated you before, I think I should ask for your opinion. If you're not willing, then I won't do it."

"Father, I'm not so petty as to hold a grudge against someone who has already passed away. Just go and do it; it will put an end to the grudges and entanglements we've shared in this life."

Qiao Nianshan nodded in response.

Qingyan then casually asked, "So, now that she's gone, what about Qiao Yi? Is he living with his father now?"

Qiao Nianshan sighed: "That child was taken away by Jia Er and sold. I don't know which remote mountain village he was sold to. Originally, Chen Xiuying could have lived a little longer, but she went to confront and argue with Jia Er about her son and was strangled to death by him. However, Jia Er also contracted a serious illness and didn't live for many days. It can be considered that evil has its retribution."

Qingyan asked, "Then Chen Xiaomeng...didn't she go back to see her mother when she passed away?"

Xiao Jingye chimed in calmly, "I didn't tell you about these things when you were in postpartum confinement. Chen Xiaomeng has been mentally unstable for a long time, acting crazy. She disappeared a few days ago and we haven't heard from her since."

Qingyan felt a pang of sadness and her emotions were in turmoil; she barely ate a few bites of food.

Qiao Nianshan didn't have much of an appetite either. He left after eating and had someone make a coffin overnight. Before the body decomposed, he properly placed Chen Xiuying's body.

-

A few days later will be the baby's 100-day celebration.

The house was filled with relatives and friends, and the atmosphere was joyful and noisy. The relatives and friends who came rushed into the house to see the children.

The baby is three months old and already weighs 20 pounds. He has a chubby face and is wearing a red bib. His plump thighs and little fists make you want to take a bite. He is so cute.

Everyone smiled broadly and said:

"This chubby little boy is so well-fed! He's round and plump, and looks so robust!"

"Look at all that plumpness, it's a sign of good fortune, you'll definitely have plenty of milk."

"A chubby face means good fortune; this child has a blessed appearance."

"Look, her skin is as fair and delicate as Qingyan's, and her little nose and eyes look like Jingye's..."

Duoduo stood firmly on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), watching the group of people who were getting close to her little nephew warily. If anyone tried to reach out and hug him, she would fiercely stop them.

Qingyan reluctantly said it was nothing before she allowed the person to hug her for a few seconds.

The adults laughed and teased her, and some, seeing her protecting her little nephew like that, deliberately teased her:

"You'd better keep a close eye on this child, or I'll come and steal it from your family and sell it tomorrow."

Duoduo was so angry that her eyes turned red and tears streamed down her face. She hugged the little baby tightly and wouldn't let anyone touch him.

Qingyan gently wiped away her tears and coaxed her softly for a while, saying, "Your uncles and aunts were just joking with you."

After a while, the crowd inside dispersed.

Xiao Jingye came in from outside, bent down to kiss his son, and then picked the child up.

His palms were bigger than the child's head; the tiny infant looked like a chubby radish in front of him.

As soon as the little guy saw his father, he grinned and burst into laughter, stuffing his little fist into his mouth, smearing his milky drool everywhere.

Xiao Jingye sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), placed his son on his lap, and opened his mouth to teach him: "Say 'Dad,' Dad—Dad."

The little guy stared with his round eyes, his little pig-hoof-like feet kicking against his abs, and he kept making random "quack quack quack" noises.

"You're crazy," Qingyan said. "If he could call me 'Dad' right now, you'd probably faint from fright."

Xiao Jingye looked up at his wife.

After giving birth, Qingyan's body became more voluptuous and beautiful than before, especially her breasts, which were round and soft, and her whole body was surrounded by a milky fragrance.

He was so intoxicated by her every night that he wished he could die on her.

Qingyan lowered her eyes, realizing where he was looking, her face flushed, she glanced towards the door, and whispered fiercely:

"What are you looking at! You pervert!"

"Have you breastfed the baby?" Xiao Jingye asked.

She frowned: "I just fed her."

The man looked at her calmly, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down: "I want some too."

The bedroom door was closed, and Duoduo was locked out.

The courtyard was filled with the sounds of laughter and chatter from the crowd.

Qingyan stayed in the room for a while, and two small patches of her pale yellow shirt were wet. Her ears were also burning red.

-

Before the banquet began, Qiao Liping, who had not been invited, arrived uninvited with her daughter-in-law and gifts.

With a deliberately ingratiating smile on her face, she grasped Qingyan's hand and tried to get closer to her:

"Qingyan, time flies! Your baby is already over three months old. Look at those eyes and eyebrows, they're exactly like yours when you were little, so pretty and bright. I remember when you were little, you always loved to come visit your aunt..."

Qingyan subtly withdrew her hand, a distant and polite smile on her face:

"Since you're here, Auntie, please sit down and have a meal before you leave."

She politely declined the gifts the other party brought, saying, "No need for gifts. We have everything we need at home. You can take them back for your grandson."

Qingyan was fully confident that she could ruthlessly drive Qiao Liping away, but she didn't do so.

She refused to accept anything from the other party, gave them no chance to curry favor, and didn't let their smiles fall to the ground.

Xiao Jingye often said: "It's better to offend a gentleman than a petty person."

Qiao Liping is a typical petty person who is narrow-minded, opportunistic, and ungrateful.

Qingyan disdained to get too entangled with her, and even less wanted to make enemies and cause further trouble.

However, at the banquet, Qiao Nianshan and Qingyan's uncle's relatives and friends had already seen through Qiao Liping's thoughts and character. They all spoke rudely and sarcasticly about her, leaving Qiao Liping speechless and pale. She left in a hurry after sitting for a short while.

Fang Zhijie and Chun Ya rushed back from the city to attend the banquet and gave the baby a generous red envelope.

Inside the house, Chun Ya held the soft, cuddly baby tightly, unwilling to let go, sometimes touching its face, sometimes stroking its white, lotus-root-like arms.

After the child fell asleep, Chun Ya gently placed him on the kang (a heated brick bed).

She leaned close to Qingyan and whispered, "I'm pregnant."

Qingyan's eyes lit up, and she teased with a smile, "Who said before that only a fool would have his child?"

Chun Ya blushed and gently patted Qing Yan: "Oh dear, he forced me."

Qingyan drawled out an "Oh," and said, "Zhijie is quite something, forcing you for so long."

Chun Ya said, "Why is your mouth as bad as Jin Ye's now? Did you catch it from kissing too much?"

Now it was Qingyan's turn to hit her, and the two of them laughed and joked around.

Outside the courtyard gate, Xiao Jingye and Zhijie stood side by side under a tree, with a large firewood pot beside them steaming and white mist drifting in the air.

Xiao Jingye handed a pack of cigarettes to Zhijie, who waved his hand and said, "I've quit too."

"Really?" Xiao Jingye raised an eyebrow, seemingly disbelieving.

"It's true, my wife is pregnant."

Xiao Jingye smiled and patted his shoulder: "Congratulations!"

Fang Zhijie rubbed his face: "What's so great about him? He's always so grumpy and makes a scene."

"That's how it is," Xiao Jingye said. "The doctor said it's caused by progesterone, it's a normal phenomenon."

He didn't mention it to Zhijie, but he actually really liked Qingyan's little temper and antics.

Saying it out loud would make me seem a bit pathetic.

-

Qingyan loves to eat all kinds of sweet fruits and vegetables.

This year, Zeng Yumei specially cleared out a plot of land at the foot of the mountain behind her house, personally tilled the soil, and planted a patch of watermelons and cantaloupes.

That evening, Qingyan got off work and saw a car parked in front of her house, but Xiao Jingye was nowhere to be seen in the yard.

When asked, Zeng Yumei replied with a smile, "He went to the melon patch on the back hill to help me water the melon vines."

Qingyan went back inside to hold the baby for a while, then went out and headed towards the melon patch on the back hill.

Halfway there, a fine drizzle suddenly began to fall from the sky, dampening the grass and trees in the mountains.

Qingyan lifted her leg and ran quickly towards the melon patch.

In the melon field, lush greenery abounds, and the melon vines are full of vitality.

Xiao Jingye was carrying a bucket of water and bending down to irrigate the melon seedlings one scoop at a time.

He had just received a businessman from out of town this afternoon, and he was still wearing his white shirt and trousers. There was a strange sense of incongruity in his attire as he stood in the field during the busy farming season.

After the rain started, he poured the last bit of water from the bucket into the field. Just as he turned to go home, his gaze suddenly froze.

In the hazy, damp rain, a slender figure in a white dress came into view.

Qingyan held a large, fresh, green lotus leaf above her head to shield herself from the rain, and held another leaf in her hand. Stepping on the damp mud, she walked towards him step by step.

The rain was misty, and the mountains were verdant.

The white figure was clean and pure, and that face... overlapped with that of the seven or eight-year-old girl from many years ago.

Xiao Jingye's heart pounded wildly. He narrowed his eyes, feeling that this scene was somewhat unreal.

Seeing him standing there blankly, letting the drizzle soak him, Qingyan quickly quickened her pace and ran forward.

A few tiny specks of mud accidentally got on the hem of her pristine white dress. She hurried to him, slightly out of breath.

Xiao Jingye saw that her eyebrows and eyes were wet with raindrops, her clear and soft eyes glistening with moisture.

She smiled and handed him a lotus leaf, her voice as sweet as honey:

"What are you staring at me for? Hurry up and hold it up, you'll catch a cold if you get wet."

The man remained silent and lost in thought. Qingyan noticed that his face was covered in raindrops, so she took out a handkerchief from her pocket, stood on tiptoe, and gently wiped his face clean.

"Husband~" Qingyan handed the lotus leaf forward again and gave him a sweet smile.

She tugged at his sleeve and urged softly, "Hurry up and hold it up, let's go home."

(The End)