Hearing the sound, Aunt Zhou was startled, her heart suddenly tightening.
Zhou Zhijun was also startled by Chuntao's cry, his movements instantly freezing as he quickly let her go. "What's wrong?"
Chuntao's little nose wrinkled, and she pushed him hard, pouting pitifully. "Your son kicked me again with his foot!"
"Scared me to death. These two little rascals are too naughty. Just wait till I spank your bottoms!"
Zhou Zhijun said this while raising his hand as if to strike, but when his palm touched her belly, it landed gently, light as a feather.
"Forget it. Once you two come out, I'll teach you a proper lesson. Not listening and just making trouble!"
He turned back and gently kissed her again. "Let me kiss you once more."
Standing outside the inner room door, Aunt Zhou had the words on the tip of her tongue but held them back when she heard Chuntao say the babies in her belly had kicked her. Her anxious heart finally settled.
But when she heard Zhou Zhijun say "let me kiss you once more," her heart lifted again. She gave a light cough.
Chuntao's body froze. "Let go!"
Zhou Zhijun, however, slowly straightened up, adjusted himself, and called out toward the door, "Mother!"
He lifted the curtain and saw Aunt Zhou standing at the entrance holding a bowl and a shallow dish. He quickly took them from her. "Mother, give them to me. Go eat."
Chuntao lay in the bedding, her little face red as cloth just pulled from a dye vat, her lips moist and tingling from his kisses.
Being so intimate in broad daylight, and having Aunt Zhou walk in on them—she was so embarrassed she wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground.
She shrank deeper into the blanket, pulling the cover over her nose and mouth, leaving only a pair of misty, wide eyes visible.
Her long lashes trembled like two small palm-leaf fans, scattering nothing but fluster.
Aunt Zhou didn't enter the room. She only shot Zhou Zhijun a glare, her eyes carrying reproach, though her tone remained gentle.
"The soup is still hot. Blow on it for Tao so she doesn't burn herself. Her lips are tender now." After giving her instructions, she turned and headed for the kitchen.
From the main room to the kitchen, just a few short steps, but Aunt Zhou's mind wandered far.
Since Zhou Zhijun turned eighteen, many families had come to propose matches—pretty girls, capable girls—but he hadn't taken a liking to a single one.
Back then, she'd secretly worried: Did the boy have some knot in his heart? Or was something wrong with his body?
She'd even considered taking him to the commune health clinic for a check-up.
It wasn't until she learned about him and Chuntao that the stone in Aunt Zhou's heart finally lifted, and she felt relieved that her son was a normal man.
But now, it seemed the boy was a bit "abnormal" again—too obsessed with his wife!
Thinking this, the corner of her mouth couldn't help but curl into a faint smile.
Her own son doting on his wife was ultimately a good thing, though she needed to make sure he knew his limits.
The moment Aunt Zhou stepped out, Zhou Zhijun turned back into the inner room.
Seeing Chuntao showing only her eyes, like a frightened little rabbit, he couldn't help but grin and let out a low laugh. "What's wrong? Got shy?"
"Annoying! Doing this in broad daylight! And Mother heard us—I'll never have the face to see anyone again!"
Chuntao's voice was soft and gentle, carrying a hint of grievance and playful reproach. It didn't sound like scolding at all, more like sugary sweet-talk.
"You're carrying my babies. We've done everything we're supposed to do. Everyone knows. I just kissed you just now—what's there to be shy about?"
Zhou Zhijun said this while carefully helping Chuntao sit up, slipping her cotton-padded jacket on, and propping a quilt behind her back so she could lean comfortably.
"Quick, try the pot-bottom soup Mother made. She even added peanuts. It smells delicious."
"No way! You can't do that anymore!"
Chuntao lifted her eyelids and shot him a glare, her little mouth pouting like it could hang an oil bottle, her cheeks still flushed, looking both adorable and charming.
"Alright, alright, I'll be more careful. I'll kiss you when no one's around."
Zhou Zhijun said this, then went to the kitchen to wash his hands, soaked a towel in warm water, and brought it back to the inner room to wipe Chuntao's hands and face.
He picked up the bowl, scooped a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and only handed it to her lips when it was cool enough. "Drink the soup first. Warm your belly."
Seeing her open her mouth and drink, he added with a smile, "After you give birth and finish your month of confinement, I won't just kiss you—I'll really go at it, make up for all these months of loss..."
"Annoying!" Chuntao lowered her eyes and refused to look at him.
Zhou Zhijun fed Chuntao the soup spoonful by spoonful. After a steaming bowl of fragrant pot-bottom soup, her whole body felt warm, and a fine layer of little sweat beads formed on the tip of her nose.
Her little face was fair with a rosy glow, her lips plump and pink. Watching her made Zhou Zhijun's heart itch with longing to kiss her again, but he held back in the end.
"Want more? I'll get you another bowl!"
Chuntao touched her big belly, her brow furrowing slightly. "I can't eat too much. If the babies get too fat, it'll be hard to deliver."
Zhou Zhijun didn't press her. He tore off half a soft flatbread and handed it to her. "Then eat half a soft flatbread."
"Mm. You go eat too!"
For the past month or two, Zhou Zhijun had fed her every meal. By the time it was his turn to eat, the food was already cold.
Chuntao didn't want to trouble him, but her belly was so big that she could barely lift a bowl or even raise her hand to pick up food.
After Zhou Zhijun took the bowl to the kitchen to get his meal, Aunt Zhou immediately followed him out and called in a low voice, "Zhijun! Stop!"
"Mother, what's the matter?" Zhou Zhijun turned back, already knowing what was coming.
"Don't fool around anymore. Hold out for a few more months!" Aunt Zhou said bluntly, without the slightest embarrassment.
Zhou Zhijun, equally unflustered, the corner of his mouth curling into a slight smile. "Mother, I wasn't doing anything else. Just kissing."
"Kissing won't do either!" Aunt Zhou scolded.
She was a woman of experience, well aware that kissing between a man and a woman could easily spark a fire.
Besides, Zhou Zhijun was in peak physical condition. If he did something foolish and something went wrong, the trouble would be enormous!
Carrying his meal back to the inner room, Zhou Zhijun saw Chuntao nibbling on the soft flatbread, her eyes vacant, as if lost in thought.
In truth, Chuntao was thinking of her grandma, Grandma Shen.
When she was little, whenever the family had a treat, it meant soft flatbreads and pot-bottom soup.
She'd help her grandma stoke the fire in the kitchen, and the smell alone would make her mouth water.
Seeing how eager she was, Grandma always handed her the first soft flatbread.
Counting the days, it had been half a year since she last saw her grandma. She wondered how her health was.
Grandma Shen had asthma, and it flared up easily when the weather turned cold. At the thought, a layer of mist formed over Chuntao's eyes.
"Tao, what are you thinking about?" Zhou Zhijun waved his chopstick-holding hand gently before her eyes, his face full of concern.
"I wonder how Grandma is doing?" Chuntao wiped the corner of her eye, her voice a little choked. "I hope my sister-in-law hasn't been giving her and my brother a hard time."
Zhou Zhijun had long heard about Wang Lanhua from Wu Mingwei, but he'd been afraid to tell Chuntao for fear she'd overthink things.
He soothed her gently, "Don't worry. It's all fine. They're doing well."
Chuntao knew Zhou Zhijun was just trying to comfort her, so she pursed her lips and said nothing more.
But the very thing she was worried about was already happening.
Over in Lijia Village, Grandma Shen's asthma had indeed flared up. She lay in bed, breathless and struggling, her mind churning over and over with thoughts of Chuntao.
Scenes from her entire life played out before her eyes like a movie.
A tender little face, delicate and spirited features, and the little girl who always toddled behind her, calling out "Grandma" in her sweet, milky voice…
What a wonderful daughter she was, just cursed with such a bitter fate! Grandma Shen clutched the quilt, her heart aching.
She truly feared she wouldn't make it through this winter and would never see Chuntao again.
