Chapter 24 - Intimacy, Change of Addressing Term
Chapter 24: Intimacy, Change of Addressing Term
Mo Qianxue carried the beef and joked with sister Fang, “This beef stewed with raw ginger is a great treasure to nourish yin and kidney. I heard it’s best for man! Most effective! It’s also healthy for women…”
Sister Fang continued, “You should cook something nutrient for your husband. If you can get pregnant this year…”
“Sister…” The tone sounded very shy.
The one who knew most about Ning Shaoqing’s condition was sister Fang, and she was the one most worried about him.
Of course Mo Qianxue didn’t hide from sister Fang the fact that the seventh young lord had sent a doctor here for Ning Shaoqing, and she even lied to her that Mr. Ning was getting better. Otherwise, if she had to face the pity and care about her belly from sister Fang day after day, she would be wanting to disappear due to shyness and embarrassment.
Fortunately, sister Fang never went too far, “Alright, alright. I stop.”
“In the afternoon when I spare a moment to stew it, let’s call up brother Fang too and enjoy the dish’s nutrition together. What a pity that this is too nutritious for children to eat…”
At the sight of the beef, sister Zhao’s eyeballs almost dropped out, and when she heard that the beef was nutritious, her saliva flowed out to all over the ground.
Mo Qianxue took the beef and herbs to the kitchen and found that sister Guihua and sister Zhao were still there. Considering that the tofu had been collected by Baiyunju and now they had no more work to do, so after some chatting, she displayed intention of sending them away. Sister Guihua pulled sister Zhao up and said goodbye. Sister Fang thought it improper to stay here alone, so she also followed them out.
Yet and yet, though sister Zhao followed their steps outwards, she kept looking back every few steps.
After seeing them getting out of the yard, Mo Qianxue put the beef in the kitchen and selected some raw gingers to put beside the beef, and then turned into the inner room.
*
Shortly after Mo Qianxue got into the inner room, the door of the yard was opened quietly. A figure flashed into the kitchen, taking away something and flashing out speedily with a complacent wicked smile on the face.
She didn’t find out that behind the door of the inner room, a pair of cold eyes were gazing at her every move. When she ran out carrying the staff, a sneer played on the face of the owner of those cold eyes.
This time, the beef shall not be that delicious.
“Qianxue, what are you looking at?”
Hiding behind the door and laughing, Mo Qianxue was taken aback by the gentle whisper from behind her. She turned around instantly and ran right into the arms of Ning Shaoqing who was full of curiosity about what she was looking at.
Mo Qianxue stepped back out of subconscious, but her heel tripped over the threshold before she bodily leaned back and was about to fall down entirely.
In panic, Ning Shaoqing held out his hand, pulling her back and taking the person in fluster into his arms.
When the two pair of eyes touched, time seemed to stop for that moment.
Mo Qianxue stared at the person before her, still in the shock, wondering he had been dying yesterday, now he got out of the bed? And, did this person make no sounds when walking?
Being stared by Mo Qianxue like this and with her puffs of gasp even shooting to his face, Ning Shaoqing was a little awkward, his ears getting heated from the bottom, “Are you okay, Qianxue?”
Qianxue? Was he calling her? Since when did he change the addressing term and stop calling ‘you’?
It was just the tone was a little cheesy, but it also generated somehow a flow of warmth and happiness in her heart.
Seeing Ning Shaoqing’s face looked healthy, Mo Qianxue breathed a long sigh of relief before noticing that the two people were hugging each other intimately and that her hand was on his waist to feel the firm touch!
She laughed in embarrassment and released him, “I’m fine! You can release me. Are you well to get out of bed?”
In fact, Ning Shaoqing had long been awake. This courtyard was small enough for him to hear clearly every word of their conversation in the kitchen.
Since he woke up last night, he had made up his mind, as long as he was alive, to protect her and to never let her hurt by anyone.
In the future, if anyone dared to bully her, walk over his dead body. Though it was improper for him as a man to interfere the matter between women, he didn’t have no methods.
For the vicious woman, Mo Qianxue already had her own decision. Of course he wouldn’t step in.
Accidently glimpsing at the hairpin in Mo Qianxue’s hair, Ning Shaoqing took away his hand on her waist and promised, in his mind, to gild gold and inlay a few high-quality gems to the hairpin one day.
A family heirloom should be a valuable treasue.
Mo Qianxue saw him standing still and thought he was too feeble to move, so she hurriedly held him to sit down at the table.
Since when he had been so fragile that he had to be taken care of by a girl like a chick being protected by a hen. Ning Shaoqing coughed with awkwardness, replying, “I’m fine. It’s late today, so I prefer not to start the lesson. Can you help me pass the message to village head?”
There wouldn’t be no filial son in front of a sick bed. It suited to every similar case.
Last time when Ning Shaoqing fell ill, the village head and elders were so worried about him, but now, except for a few kind parents of his students who had visited him last night, there wasn’t a single word from the village head or the elders. They might be afraid to spend money to send for a doctor for him.
Thinking of this, Mo Qianxue pissed off. But since Ning Shaoqing was already in poor health, she shouldn’t turn him down directly, so she fought back her anger and persuaded him with gentle words.
“Sir. Why still go to school? My tofu business goes pretty well. Why not give back the tuition fee…I’m so worried about your health…” She almost spat out the sentence of ‘I can support you’.
She instantly began to sweat at the thought of Ning Shaoqing’s expression. Fortunately, she was good at reading face and quickly swallowed the words at the tip of her tongue. Otherwise, his condition might get worse because of rage.
She almost forgot that this was ancient time when machoism was the dominant value. It would be most shameless for a man to be supported by his wife, even if this was the case for most of time, but it shouldn’t be expressed by straightforward speech. It was women’s duty to work hard without making it public.
Seeing her panic, Ning Shaoqing softened his stern face. Her struggle to maintain his face and endeavor not to make him feel back about himself lit up fire in his heart, which felt so warm that it almost burned. Fuck the stupid machoism.
Although this incident produced by that bitch made him disappointed, after all, the elders had saved his life and the children in this village were innocent. He couldn’t talk himself into giving up the school.
After a moment of silence and collecting himself, he responded seriously, “A person can’t live with dignity unless he keeps his words! Once they trust me to teach their children, then how can I quit halfway? Let’s talk about it after this year’s lectures.”
Mo Qianxue secretly smiled because Ning Shaoqing wasn’t irritated, but the smile was captured by him, which made him laugh, “Hurry and tell village head. Remember not to do what you did last time.”
Mo Qianxue turned around and stuck out her tongue. It turned out that he already knew what she had done last time.
Before going out, she especially went to the kitchen to make sure that the beef and gingers had been taken away. There would be an interesting drama tonight. They deserved that! The creep wouldn’t dare to do this anymore! Mo Qianxue hummed a song and went out.