Chapter 203: Back Home
Didn’t know when the rain stopped, but half an afternoon already passed when Li Man’s sore body was hugged by Li Mo and gently put on top of the cart, slowly traversing through the mountain road.
When they finally reached home, the sky was already completely dark. The small oil lamp in the kitchen was lit. Li Yan, Li Shu and Little Five was all waiting inside.
Hearing some sounds at the door, the three brothers ran out hurriedly together.
“Big brother, you both came back.” Li Shu rushed over, seeing Li Man that was picked up by Li Mo in a tight embrace, his heart sank as he anxiously asked, “What’s wrong with wife?”
“Nothing. The road was wet because of the rain. Third brother, go boil some water and send it to the West Room.” Li Man ordered Li Shu as he hugged Li Man and went inside the West Room.
Li Yan hurriedly brought over the small oil lamp over when he saw Li Mo put her on the kang bed, then carefully tugged her with the quilt. His heart suddenly jumped as a realization came in.
“Big brother.” Li Yan put the oil lamp on the window sill and looked at Li Mo. Her sight slowly went from his face down to his bare upper body.
“En?” Li Mo’s mind was all on Li Man, so he didn’t notice his strangeness.
“Where’s big brother’s outer shirt?” Li Yan asked casually, but his eyes fixedly staring at his shoulder that was traced with faint marks of scratching.
There’s no need to say anymore, those scratches were from a woman.
Under what circumstances will a woman scratch a man’s back like this? He can guess right even if he only uses his toes to think.
Li Mo paused. When he saw Second brother’s cold and drawn out gaze on him, he suddenly felt guilty and replied, “It suddenly rained when we went home so I brought Man Er to a shed to avoid the rain. Her outer garment was drenched all over, so I lit a fire…”
“Oh, so big brother’s outer shirt was burned by the fire?” Li Yan leaned at the head of the kang bed, squinting his eyes as he glanced at the lethargic Li Man, her tender lips were both red and swollen, if one sees clearly, you can also see a fine trace of teeth mark.
He knew that she liked to bite her mouth when she was in trouble, but what kind of situation she met for her to bite until her lips look like this?
Shit, Li Yan’s heart felt hurt, like it was torn apart into pieces.
“Yes, yes, it was burned.” Li Mo lowered his head because he didn’t dare to look at Second brother’s eyes.
“Oh, so you lit the fire to dry the wet clothes? Then why is it that Man Er’s cloth and your pant are still wet?” Li Yan said straightforwardly, his body then leaned forward and carefully examined the scratches on his back carefully as he sneered, “Big brother, which woman fought with you? She left so much scratches. Our wife is weak like that, did she got hit too? Let me see.”
Saying this, he reached his hand out to lift the quilt.
Li Mo hurriedly stopped him, he knew that he couldn’t deceive Second brother’s keen eyes, “Second brother, I—”
“Big brother, you said that two days from now would be a good day.” Li Yan starred at Li Mo with a pair of red eyes, both of his hands tightly clenched into fists. He really wanted to say that the man in front of him wasn’t his big brother anymore.
Li Mo bowed his head in silence, but he didn’t regret wanting her. He would really be good towards her for his whole life.
“Big brother, here’s the water.” Li Shu brought with him a wooden cask with Little Five following behind him. Carrying the barrel of hot water, they came in one by one.
Li Yan consciously leaned back and told Li Shu, “Just leave the hot water here.”
“En.” Li Mo didn’t dare to look at Li Shu so he only let out a hum and looked at Li Man with an entangled look.
Li Shu came over and reached out his hand to adjust some scattered damp hair on her forehead, softly calling out a few times, “Wife, get up and take a bath first.”
“Third brother, you should go out.” Li Yan blocked Li Shu at this moment.
Li Shu paused and stared at him, “Why?”
Suddenly, he seemed to smell something wrong, then he got closer to Li Mo and sniffed a few times. He curiously asked, “Big brother, what is this smell on your body?”
“What kind of smell?” Li Mo was shocked, he unconsciously turned his head down to smell his own body, when his face suddenly flushed red. It was Li Man’s subtle fragrance, mixed with the smell of two people’s entanglement. He didn’t realize it could be this strong.
“Third brother, go out with Little Five. I want to talk with big brother.” Li Yan obviously didn’t want Li Shu to know much as he pushed out both brothers out with a cold expression.
Li Mo saw that Li Yan was really angry this time. His second brother was rarely angered, and even if he got angry, he wouldn’t express it rashly, as his face would always be painted with a slight smile.
“Second brother—” Li Mo wanted to explain.
“Big brother, you should also go out.” Li Yan made a gesture for Li Mo to go out.
Li Mo was worried, “Second brother, what do you want to do?”
Li Yan stared at him blankly, “Big brother was also drenched from the rain, you should go wash and change your clothes too. Furthermore, we already cooked dinner and left some for you both, so you should eat them after you washed up.”
“Second brother?”
Li Mo’s heart suddenly felt remorseful and uneasy. He was very happy when he was at the shack together with Li Man, and forgot about the brothers who worriedly waiting at their home.
“Go now.” Li Yan gave him a slight smile, “Let me handle this one here.”
Does Second brother want to help Li Man wash? Li Mo felt nervous, “Second brother, have you eaten yet? We should go and eat together.”
“I—” When Li Yan just wanted to say something, Li Man moved on the bed, her long eyelashes quivered twice before she finally opened her eyes.
Under the dim yellow light, the first thing she saw was Li Mo’s face. Li Man’s face subconsciously turned red, “Big brother, where is this?”
“You only went out for a day and you already forget your own home?” Li Yan stood at the edge of the kang bed with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
“Ah!” Li Man was shocked as she jumped up while hugging the quilt in her arms, her eyes dumbfoundedly stared at Li Yan, “Li Yan, you, why are you here too?”
“Can’t I live in my own home?” Li Yan saw her attitude, he really wanted to push her down and hit her buttocks a few times.
Li Man didn’t answer, because when she woke up, she could feel the uncomfortable feeling on her body. Its as if she saw pictures of her and Li Mo’s passionate acts this afternoon. She faced the man [Li Yan] who could be counted as her second man, and a guilty feeling rose up inside her heart.
She didn’t say anything, but the fire in Li Yan’s heart was lit in anger as he glared more ferociously at Li Man for a while, then he lifted his foot and went out without saying another word.
Li Man looked at his back walking out the door, she faintly glanced at Li Mo, “Big brother, Li Yan, he—”
“There’s nothing to worry about.” Li Mo went near her, gently rubbing her hair and said, “The hot water is ready, you should wash and warm yourself up, change into a clean garment. I’ll bring the food in a moment.”
“Oh.” Li Man let out a voice, watching as Li Mo went out, then she took off the quilt.
It’s just, when the tip of her feet touched the ground, both of her legs were numb and soft, and after walking two steps forward, her lower intimate part felt a burning ache from the friction.
She endured the pain and tried hard to find some clean clothes from the big cabinet, put it at the edge of the bed, then took off her clothes before going inside the tub.
The warm water slowly enveloped her body and she almost let out a satisfied scream.
Li Mo stood at the door, looking at Second brother standing under the eaves, looking up at the sky with a melancholic and lonely expression, as if there’s something he’s unable to say out loud.
“Second brother, today I—”
“You don’t have to say anymore, this thing should only be known by me.” Li Yan answered expressionlessly.
Li Mo was dumbfounded, “What?”
Li Yan turned his head and glanced at him, “Big brother also know Third brother’s temper, if he know that you guys already did that, I’m afraid that he couldn’t stop anymore. According to that girl’s situation right now, do you think that she can endure him?”
Li Mo was fully ashamed, and after some time passed he finally said one sentence, “What you said is right.”
“Big brother, you should go and change your shirt. The smell is getting heavier.” Li Yan furrowed his brows.
Li Mo can’t help but let out a helpless smile, “I’m going.”
Waiting until Li Mo went away, Li Yan once again leaned on the corner of the house, looking at the dark gray sky in a secluded position. Actually, letting Big brother to have her first time was him and his brothers’ idea. When he’s angry that Big brother finally ate their wife today, it wasn’t only because of the suddenness, but also because he didn’t realize until now that he had no magnanimous heart that he thought he had.
However, it was precisely because of what Elder brother did today that he also wouldn’t have too many misgivings in the future with their wife.
Even if he has to wait, he would eventually get his turn.
When he thought about how when Li Man just woke up, looked at him like a ghost, the corner of Li Yan’s mouth coldly hooked up, plastering his face with an evil aura.
Girl, this plank I prepared to hit your buttocks with, you really have to taste it terribly.
Li Man was reluctant to part with the comfortable warm water and waited for a long time until the water turned cold before she got up. When she finished changing her clothes, she heard a knocking sound at the door.
“Man Er, have you finished?” Li Mo brought the food that had been heated twice and stood outside of her room.
“En, I’m done.” Li Man tidied her hair up and checked if nothing’s wrong, then she went and opened the door.
Li Mo gave her a bowl of food, “Are you hungry? Hurry and eat while its still hot.”
“Have you eaten?” Li Man saw that he already changed his clothes and her heart finally settled down. But she still didn’t dare to look at him too much.
Li Mo looked at her soft white cheek dyed with a pink blush and couldn’t help remembering this afternoon’s taste that nibbled at his soul and bones. His lower abdomen suddenly tightened and his throat parched dry.
He abruptly drew back his line of sight from her and quickly went around her, taking out the basin of cold water.
“Slow down a bit.” The barrel of water was really heavy, Li Man was afraid that he could sprain his waist taking the it like that. But when thinking about ‘waist’, she suddenly thought of something else and flushed her cheeks a deeper shade of red. She quickly brought her food to the edge of the bed and silently ate it.
Li Yan stood by the door and saw how she walked shakily with her two legs apart and subconsciously frowned.
With her condition like this, he still had to wait for a few days.
After the meal was finished, Li Man stood up and closed the door. Someone blew on the small oil lamp, and the courtyard became pitch-dark, but she still couldn’t fall asleep.
After she took a bath, her body became more aching as time passed by. It felt like her body was torn apart by someone, and thus she couldn’t fall sleep no matter what posture she tried.
Furthermore, she had more things to ponder about after doing such intimate act with Li Mo.
After all, in the Li household, her husband wasn’t just Li Mo alone. Her body already felt like this with him, how could she do that with more people added?
In the deep dark night, Li Man helplessly imagined a small sheep that was torn apart by several hungry wolves.
When she thought how the Li brothers pulled her body apart, she was so scared that she broke out in a cold sweat. She shook her head and forced these weird thoughts out as an attempt to comfort herself.
They were her husbands; they would know how to cherish her.
She tossed and turned for a long time before finally fell to a light slumber. She woke up at the crack of dawn, wanting to cook breakfast, but her body was all soft like a pile of mud; she simply can’t move it.
Fortunately, this wasn’t the first time that she woke up late. Even if she didn’t make breakfast, there would be someone else doing that, so she simply hugged her quilt back and lied down once more.
She could hear some movements in the courtyard not long after; she knew that someone in the family had gotten up, but she didn’t know who this person was when she heard two coughs.
When she heard that it was Li Mo’s voice, her heart trembled slightly. Could it be that he caught a cold after yesterday’s rain and strenuous activities?
She hurriedly pushed open the quilt, wore her outer garment and opened the door. She saw Li Mo holding a bundle of firewood at the courtyard, so she wanted to go and ask about his condition.
Who knew that when she wanted to cross the door threshold, the torn place [hymen] from yesterday burningly ached? She quickly reached her hands out to support her body on the door frame; she didn’t dare to take big strides anymore, so she tremblingly took little steps carefully to the front.
“Heavens, girl, what happened to your legs?” Li Yan’s cynical and ambiguous voice suddenly rang behind her.
Li Man abruptly straightened herself up, dumbfoundedly staring at the ground beneath, not daring to look at him.
Even if she didn’t look back, it didn’t mean that Li Yan wouldn’t come over. He slowly walked in front of her, as his arms surrounded her in an embrace. He unhurriedly looked at her up and down, “Was the road too difficult yesterday?”
“What?” Li Man said with a pause, but she immediately understood what he meant. Did he already saw through her unusual condition?
She nodded with a blush, “The rain yesterday made the road wet and hard to pass through.” When she thought about it again, she shook her head in apprehension. He didn’t catch us red-handed; he wouldn’t have known about it.
“Ah, so Big brother dared not letting you sit on the cart?” Li Yan’s lips hooked in a teasing smile as he turned around and looked at Li Mo, “Big brother, this is your fault. Man Er is a girl, how could you let her walk down the road herself?”
Li Man didn’t expect that he would pull Li Mo into their conversation so she hurriedly said, “I sat down on the cart.”
“Oooohhh—-” Li Yan expressed his uncertainty, deliberately lengthening his voice in a teasing manner and making Li Man’s heart beat like a drum.
Li Mo couldn’t stand his second brother’s bullying towards Li Man and came over, “Second brother, you don’t need to say anymore. The things happened yesterday was all my fault.”
“What? What happened yesterday?” Li Yan acted confused, “Weren’t you guys went to the market to sell wild garlic? Third brother also said that he would pick up more later.”
Li Man saw that the topic was successfully averted so she busily chimed in, “That’s right, there were a lot of people that still wanted to buy our wild garlic yesterday.”
“Really?” Li Yan looked at her with a faint glance, “Are you sure you can go to the market again today?”
“Eh?” Li Man’s heart skipped a beat. She really couldn’t move around. Did Li Yan already catch something unusual and deliberately probed her?
She stared at Li Yan suspiciously, but Li Yan acted normal and took the pile of firewood from Li Mo’s hand, “Big brother, let me cook breakfast. Little Five doesn’t like what you cook.”
He walked away to the kitchen, leaving a lingering laughter in their ears.
Li Man looked at his back and asked herself, did he really not find anything? She couldn’t extricate herself from the uneasiness in her heart.
“Is it still hurting?” Li Mo’s deep and gentle voice suddenly rang out from the top of her head.
“Ah?” Li Man stared as she dumbfoundedly recovered from her thoughts. She gazed at the gentle and burning eyes that reflected her blushing face. She lightly nodded, “Just a bit.”
“I just saw your walking posture was a bit strange.” Li Mo dejectedly looked at her, blaming himself for not controlling himself more yesterday, “Then, how about you take a rest today?”
“There’s no need.” Li Man busily shook her head. If I rest at home all day, other people will start noticing my unusual condition, right?
“Big brother, wife.” Li Shu came over while slipping on his outer garment. When he saw that Li Man was as good as before, he smiled, “Wife, why aren’t you sleeping more? Looking at your tired appearance yesterday, even when I called you up many times over, you still wouldn’t wake up.”
“Ah? Really?” Li Man was a bit shocked; how could she not know about this?
“Truly.” He gestured on how Li Man slept like a cat yesterday.
Li Man subconsciously looked at Li Mo, thinking how he’s still full of energy, and how she’s finding it hard to even walk right. Li Mo was warmly looking back at her, with gentleness practically flowing out of his eyes like water.
Li Man quickly took back her line of sight, “You brothers should talk with each other, I’ll go back to my room.”
She turned back and walked away. This time, because she’s afraid that people could see her weird posture, she gritted her teeth and walked in big strides.
“What’s wrong with wife?” Li Shu stared at Li Man with a puzzled look, feeling that something’s not quite right.
Li Mo was also staring fixedly at Li Man and casually answered, “She’s too tired from yesterday.”
“Ah?” Li Shu was a bit dumbfounded, “Big brother, how can you let wife get tired like this? Didn’t you bring a cart?”
Li Mo felt awkward and so he vaguely replied, “She wanted to walk by herself for a long way down the road, then later I let her sit on the cart.”
“En.” Li Shu gave a confirmation, but he still felt worried, “Next time let me go with her. Wife likes to sit when I pull the cart.”
Li Mo laughed slightly and declined to comment.
Later, Li Shu suggested that they should pick up more wild garlic. He wanted to go with wife to sell them at the market together, but Li Mo thought about her body’s condition and resolutely rejected him.
This made Li Shu felt depressed, so he took the initiative to find Li Man.
Li Man didn’t refuse, but she let the two brothers to go and sell instead of her. Furthermore, she remembered that Li Hua will go far away in a few days. Although she’s not afraid of the long journey, but she’s still worried about disaster and illness and whatnot that could happen on the road. Li Hua was such a refined and gentle person; she really couldn’t settle her heart down thinking about him.
So, after breakfast, she found Li Mo and let him tell Li Yan to go to the old doctor’s house and get some cold and sprain medicine and give them to Li Hua.
Li Yan thought that this was right, so he didn’t ask too many questions and went straight ahead.
Heeding Li Man’s suggestion, Li Mo brought Li Shu along to pluck some wild garlic at the back of the mountain. They plucked a full two baskets and brought them back home.
After the matter was done, Li Yan also came back. He brought with him a large pack of medicine. He said that the old doctor insisted on giving it to them and didn’t want to receive any money.
Li Man smiled in appreciation and nodded. Then, she stuffed the pack of medicine inside the basket and let them give it to Li Hua.
“Wife, you’re really not going?” Li Shu suddenly lost interest because his wife wasn’t going with him. He ran about plucking the wild garlic in a hurry, but when he heard Li Mo’s words, he couldn’t help but felt that he was treated unjustly.
“You guys should go. I want to accompany Little Five learning words at home.” Li Man replied with a smile.
Li Shu felt down, but when he saw his wife’s smile, he forced himself to agree. Thus, the two brothers pulled the small cart and went away. Li Yan also wanted to find some small jobs, so he went together with them. There’s only Li Man and Little Five left at the Li House now.
Li Man cleaned the rooms while urging him to write. Little Five was really smart as his progress was quite fast. He not only could write the names of people in the family, but also recite the poems she taught him, all in just a few days.
What’s with ‘waking up at the dawn of spring’, ‘the hungry goose’, ‘the song for the sky’, ‘the daylight against the mountain’… [titles of Chinese poems etc] Now he’s writing the poem ‘waking up at the dawn of spring’ on the sand plate silently.
After she’s finished with tidying up the house, she moved a stool and sat underneath the eaves, lazing under the sun.
Looking at the bright sunshine, she felt it very strange. Why did it suddenly rain like that yesterday?
What’s funnier was that it only rained on her side of the mountain. Separated by only one mountain, the Goddess’ Ravine village didn’t get any rain at all. Li Man thought, was this god’s intention to arrange her passionate love with Li Mo?
However, thinking about yesterday’s situation, how can a mere blush and palpitating heart beat describe it? She never knew that she could have had such a moment of ecstasy too.
“Sister, look at my writing. Do you think I wrote it right?” In a moment, Little Five brought with him the writing sand plate over.
Li Man abruptly collected her mind and carefully checked his work, “This ‘sleep’ [眠] word is wrong. It should use ‘eye’ [目] side character, not ‘sun’ [日]. You should add one more horizontal line here, alright?”
“Oh.” Little Five gave a short reply as his gaze looked at Li Man strangely, “So this character means sleep? Sister, did you sleep [眠] well last night?”
“Ah?” Li Man paused, dumbfounded at his abrupt question, she forced a smile, “Little Five, you can’t just say this carelessly. Sure, this character means ‘sleep’, but when you want to use it in your question just now, you should instead use, ‘did you sleep [睡觉] well last night?’”
“Sister didn’t sleep well last night.” Little Five stated as he grinned broadly.
“Eh, how did you find it?” Li Man busily rubbed her face.
Still grinning, Little Five said in a teasing manner, “I saw sister has been dozing off.”
Li Man felt a little embarrassed. She wasn’t actually dozing off; she was actually squinting her eyes as she lost in fleeting thoughts of yesterday’s matter.
When she wanted to explain to him, Little Five’s line of sight suddenly went to the yard’s entrance gate and shouted, “Second brother!”
Li Yan’s already back? Li Man’s heart went down to the pit of her stomach as she instinctively looked back and looked at Li Yan’s graceful steps coming towards her. His deep gaze firmly stared at her and made her panicked. She immediately turned her head away as her back was facing him, her heart jumping wildly out of her mouth in nervousness.
