Although it was Qin Yuanzheng's first time, he truly and profoundly experienced the joy of such matters.
He had originally intended to restrain himself a bit. After all, Qiao Lanshu was still young, and he needed to take good care of her.
Furthermore, these things couldn't be rushed; the first time definitely shouldn't last too long.
In the end, he was simply too excited and lost control...
By the time he came back to his senses, he didn't even know how many times it had been. He thought back and guessed it must have been three or four times, though he couldn't remember clearly.
He didn't know when, but Comrade Xiao Qiao had already fallen asleep.
Halfway through, he had called out to his little wife a few times, but she had only looked at him with aggrieved eyes, not saying a word, looking as if she had been loved silly.
Once Qin Yuanzheng sobered up, his heart ached for his little wife.
He quickly went to boil some hot water, then brought over a hot towel to wipe Qiao Lanshu's body.
Qiao Lanshu's skin was fair, making the marks on her body look incredibly prominent.
Qin Yuanzheng's heart ached terribly. He felt deeply remorseful that he had been so heavy-handed and vowed to be more careful in the future.
Moreover, he realized that he hadn't used any protection the entire night. Fortunately, he was infertile; otherwise, he really didn't want Comrade Xiao Qiao to get pregnant so quickly.
Thinking of this, he placed the hot towel on Qiao Lanshu's stomach to apply a warm compress.
Qiao Lanshu groggily opened her eyes, only to see Qin Yuanzheng sitting beside her, his head lowered as he gazed at her with affectionate eyes.
She asked in a low voice, Brother Zheng, what are you doing?
Looking at her sleepy, dazed appearance, Qin Yuanzheng simply didn't know how to dote on her enough. He whispered, Applying a warm compress to your stomach. Didn't you say it hurt?
Qiao Lanshu was speechless.
She really didn't know what to say.
Didn't Qin Yuanzheng know perfectly well why her stomach hurt?
That wasn't something a hot compress could relieve.
She moved the hot towel away, pulled the quilt over herself, and said, Brother Zheng, let's sleep. It's getting very late.
She guessed it was already the middle of the night. After all, Qin Yuanzheng had tossed her about endlessly; she even felt like it was almost dawn.
Qin Yuanzheng said softly, Alright, I'll go empty the water and come right back.
Saying that, he got up, emptied the water from the basin, hung up the towel, and quickly returned. He climbed onto the heated brick bed, slipped under the quilt, and reached out to pull Qiao Lanshu into his arms.
He used one hand to rub her stomach and asked softly, Does it still hurt? Do you want to drink some hot water?
Leaning against his broad chest, Qiao Lanshu blushed and said, It doesn't hurt anymore.
In truth, she still felt uncomfortable, but she was too embarrassed to say so.
Of course, it was also because she was too exhausted and really didn't want to talk anymore.
Outside the window, the north wind howled. Looking at the weather, it seemed like it was going to snow again.
Qin Yuanzheng's embrace was like a furnace, warm and toasty. Qiao Lanshu found it very comfortable, so she closed her eyes, feeling drowsy.
Qin Yuanzheng, however, had no sleepiness at all. He whispered in Qiao Lanshu's ear, Was it a bit too much? Is that why your stomach hurts?
Saying that, he sighed again, speaking as if he were both relieved and regretful, Good thing I have infertility, otherwise...
He didn't continue.
However, these words touched Qiao Lanshu's heart.
In her past life, when she was with Qin Yuanzheng, he was infertile, and her body was too damaged to bear children.
Therefore, they had been together for five years in their past life without having any children.
This time, Qiao Lanshu had avoided the tragic experiences of her past life and possessed a healthy body. But Qin Yuanzheng's infertility was innate, they called it something like asthenozoospermia, which seemingly couldn't be cured.
Feeling a bit melancholic, Qiao Lanshu took the initiative to kiss Qin Yuanzheng on the cheek and whispered, Brother Zheng, if you want a child, we can go to the orphanage and adopt one. I heard there are quite a few children there. We can pick one who is destined to be with us.
Holding Qiao Lanshu, Qin Yuanzheng said softly, No need. Raising you is enough. I don't want to raise a child.
It had taken him so much effort to finally get married and take a little wife. He wanted to spend a few more years living a beautiful, harmonious life with her.
His little wife was still young and pure-hearted; he needed to look after her more.
Right now, he truly didn't have any thoughts about having children.
Hearing him say this, Qiao Lanshu didn't bring it up again.
She was simply too tired, so she just closed her eyes and fell asleep nestled in his arms.
She slept very deeply. By the time they woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
Qin Yuanzheng had been awake for a long time. According to his routine, he usually got up between five-thirty and six o'clock.
Then he would attend morning training, eat breakfast afterward, and head to the mining area and various construction sites.
But today, after waking up, he didn't get out of bed.
He continued to hold his soundly sleeping little wife in his arms, reluctant to let go.
Looking at the fragrant and soft little wife in his embrace, he thought to himself, no wonder people say women are made of water.
She really was like water, smooth, soft, and smelling faintly of soap. He absolutely loved it.
Unwilling to let go, he just lay there on the heated brick bed, using his arm as a pillow, and held Qiao Lanshu as they slept until past ten in the morning.
Since the beginning of his memory, Qin Yuanzheng had never slept in this late.
But after all, it was the joyful occasion of their wedding; indulging for a day was fine.
When Qiao Lanshu woke up, she rolled over, then frowned, let out a low hiss, and reached out to press her lower back.
Qin Yuanzheng immediately leaned over nervously, reached out to rub her lower back, and asked softly, Wife, what's wrong? Does your back hurt?
Qin Yuanzheng's palms were broad, warm, and rough, but he held back his strength, gently rubbing and pressing for her, which actually made her feel a bit more comfortable.
Lying on her stomach on the bedding, revealing her fair and lustrous back, Qiao Lanshu said to Qin Yuanzheng with grievance, My lower back is so sore, and it's all your fault.
Qin Yuanzheng was speechless.
Qin Yuanzheng swallowed hard, tugged at his pants somewhat guiltily, and then said, I'm sorry. I'll be careful next time. Don't be mad at me, okay?
How could Qiao Lanshu be mad at Qin Yuanzheng? She laughed softly and said, I'm not mad.
Qin Yuanzheng's heart softened, and he asked, Do you want porridge for breakfast? Millet porridge.
Qiao Lanshu nodded. Okay.
Qin Yuanzheng quickly got off the heated brick bed and went to cook porridge for Qiao Lanshu.
Qiao Lanshu was going to report to the food factory next Monday, so they only had these two days to be affectionate at home. Qin Yuanzheng cherished this time in his heart.
He decided that for these two days, he wouldn't go anywhere; he would just spend them right here on the bed!
...
Soon, it was time to officially start work.
In the personnel department's office, Wei Zhengye had also brought his daughter, Wei Hongmei, over.
Wei Hongmei was previously supported by Sun Mingyong; she didn't have a job herself.
Sun Mingyong would occasionally receive remittances from his parents in Yangcheng, and with Wei Zhengye's subsidies, the family of four never had to worry about food and drink.
But now that Sun Mingyong had been sent to a labor camp, leaving behind a debt of over a thousand yuan, how could Wei Hongmei possibly pay it off?
Although Wei Zhengye's heart ached for his daughter, for the sake of her long-term future, he swallowed his pride and applied for a temporary position for her.
When Wei Hongmei came to handle the onboarding procedures, she was still very reluctant. She said, "Dad, aren't you a director at the food factory? How could you just arrange a temp job for me? Temp workers get low pay and no subsidies. They're treated as inferior in everything they do. I don't want to do it."
Wei Zhengye's face darkened. Angry yet helpless, he said, "You still have two children to raise. How can you survive without working?"
Wei Hongmei replied self-righteously, "Don't I still have you? Dad, are you saying you don't want to take care of us anymore?"
Wei Zhengye was speechless.
He sighed and said earnestly, "It's not that Dad doesn't want to take care of you, but you have to stand on your own two feet. You don't have a husband to rely on anymore. If you don't work, what will you do when I'm no longer around?"
At the mention of this, Wei Hongmei started crying again. She said, "I wonder how Mingyong is doing over there. Is the labor camp hard? Does he have money to bribe people to make things easier?"
Through her tears, she continued, "It's all that woman's fault. Couldn't she just stay in Yangcheng? Why did she have to come all this way? Just how ugly is she? Does no man want her?"
Wei Zhengye kept a dark expression and pulled Wei Hongmei into the personnel department office. "Just keep your mouth shut and let's get your job sorted out first."
Because of Sun Mingyong's incident, Wei Zhengye had been scolded by the factory director and told to rest at home for a week. Over the past two days, for the sake of his daughter's job, he had shamelessly gone to the director again. After much pleading, the director also felt that Wei Zhengye and his daughter had been deceived by Sun Mingyong.
In a way, they were victims too. Seeing that his daughter was still struggling to raise two children, the director agreed to hire Wei Hongmei.
After all, it was just a temporary position. If she did well, she could strive to become a regular employee; if she did poorly, she would be fired. It wasn't a big deal.
Of course, to prevent any awkward encounters between Wei Hongmei and Qiao Lanshu, Factory Director Yang Wenyan told Wei Zhengye to assign his daughter to the brewing workshop to make pickled vegetables.
Therefore, upon coming in, Wei Hongmei was handed the onboarding form for the brewing workshop.
Walking out of the factory, Wei Hongmei was still asking, "Dad, did that woman go back to Yangcheng?"
Wei Zhengye said impatiently, "Why do you keep asking about this? Why do you care where she went? It has nothing to do with you."
Wei Hongmei was speechless.
Wei Hongmei simply couldn't swallow her anger. She always felt that her beautiful life had been ruined by that woman.
Her heart was filled with hatred.
Qiao Lanshu, on the other hand, held no grudges against Wei Hongmei.
Her mind had only been set on finding Qin Yuanzheng and getting revenge on Sun Mingyong.
Now that Sun Mingyong had gotten his retribution, she had also married Qin Yuanzheng.
She didn't pay much attention to anyone else.
She and Qin Yuanzheng had been affectionate at home for a few days. Last night, she told Qin Yuanzheng that they could only do it one more time and couldn't fool around anymore.
It was her first day of work, and she wanted to leave a good impression on her colleagues.
So, bright and early on Monday morning, Qin Yuanzheng drove a high-spirited Qiao Lanshu to work.
Qiao Lanshu wore a newly made army-green cotton-padded jacket, a red scarf wrapped around her neck, and a woolen hat on her head. Her small face was snow-white, and her nose was red from the cold.
Breathing out puffs of white air, she arrived at the factory and casually asked someone, "Hello, comrade. Could you tell me how to get to the pastry workshop?"
Wei Zhengye, the person she had asked, froze for a moment. He looked Qiao Lanshu up and down before replying, "Over there. It's the second workshop on the right."
