Jin Ruizhi’s hand suddenly froze. “I… Teacher Song… I didn’t mean to lie to you…”
The moment Song Xinya saw Qin Yuhe’s back, her eyes immediately reddened.
“Jin Ruizhi, go outside. I’ll treat the wounds on his back.”
Jin Ruizhi walked out, knowing the two of them had a lot to say to each other. He closed the door behind him.
Song Xinya walked over to Qin Yuhe and gently dabbed the cotton ball soaked in iodine on his back.
She said nothing. As she looked at the wounds covering his back, tears streamed continuously down her cheeks.
They were too severe.
Far too severe.
One whip mark lay over another.
His torn flesh gaped open, and beads of blood kept seeping out.
As she ran the cotton ball over his wounds, her hand trembled nonstop.
She disinfected the wounds, applied medicine, and bandaged them.
By the time she finished, Song Xinya’s eyes were swollen and red from crying.
Qin Yuhe cupped her face in both hands, then pressed his lips to her eyes, gently kissing away her tears.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. They’re only surface wounds. It’s nothing serious.”
With the tip of her nose red from crying, Song Xinya asked between sobs, “How did you get hurt?”
Qin Yuhe said, “I gave up my position as head of the family and left the Qin family. The forty-eight lashes were the punishment I had to receive.”
Song Xinya asked, “Now that you’ve left the Qin family, can you go back someday?”
“I don’t know whether I’ll be able to return in the future,” Qin Yuhe said. “But I know one thing for certain: I want to be with you.”
For the sake of being with her, he had betrayed his entire family.
He had sacrificed far too much for her.
And she couldn’t even…
Song Xinya’s tears flowed even more fiercely.
Choking back sobs, she said, “Qin Yuhe, there’s something I lied to you about. Actually, there was a problem with my medical examination results. I can’t…”
Qin Yuhe placed a finger against her lips. “Shh—”
Song Xinya looked at him through tear-filled eyes. Her eyes were red, and crystalline tears clung to her lashes, making her look heartbreakingly vulnerable.
“Actually, there’s something I lied to you about too,” Qin Yuhe said. “There was a problem with my medical examination results as well. I can’t have children.”
Song Xinya stared at him in stunned disbelief. “What?”
Her large eyes were naturally clear and bright. At that moment, they were filled with shock and bewilderment, making her look like an innocent, confused fawn.
Qin Yuhe said, “I can’t have children.”
“That can’t be true, can it?”
“Why not?”
Song Xinya glanced down along his abdomen. “Your body is so healthy.”
Qin Yuhe said, “I’m especially vigorous in bed, is that what you mean?”
Song Xinya: “…Yes.”
“Being vigorous in bed doesn’t mean the quality of my sperm is good. Those two things aren’t equivalent.”
“Did the doctor tell you that?”
“The doctor did.”
He looked at her and said, “I have azoospermia, so the reason you haven’t been able to get pregnant all this time is me.”
Song Xinya stared unwaveringly at his face, trying to find some sign that he was lying. But his expression was calm, as serene as still water, and no different from usual.
She still found it hard to believe. “Do you really have azoospermia?”
“Really.”
Qin Yuhe took a medical report from the pocket of his overcoat and handed it to her.
The report clearly stated that he had azoospermia.
It even bore the hospital’s official seal.
“It’s true!” Song Xinya exclaimed.
“Why would I lie to you? Otherwise, why haven’t you gotten pregnant after all the times we’ve slept together?”
“Actually… there’s something wrong with my body too…”
Qin Yuhe’s gaze traveled over her from head to toe. “What’s wrong? Are you too sexy and fiery?”
Song Xinya slapped his palm and glared at him through her damp lashes. “I’m talking about something serious.”
Qin Yuhe held both her hands, rubbing his thumbs over her palms. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”
Song Xinya lowered her head and murmured softly, “I can’t have children.”
Qin Yuhe cupped her face in both hands, lifting her head so he could look into her eyes.
“Baby Yaya, we really are a perfect match. Neither of us can have children. Isn’t that proof we were made for each other?”
Song Xinya: “??? There’s such a thing as being a perfect match because neither person can have children?”
“Of course there is. Neither of us can have children.”
Song Xinya: “…”
Why did it sound as though he considered that something to be proud of?
Qin Yuhe’s words greatly eased the guilt weighing on Song Xinya’s heart.
She stopped crying.
“Baby Yaya, help me find some clothes to put on. I’m still naked.”
Only now did Song Xinya remember that Qin Yuhe was shirtless from the waist up, with nothing on but bandages.
She hurriedly pulled the blanket over him. “Lie on your stomach first. I’ll find you some clothes.”
Before leaving the Qin family, she had secretly taken one of his suits and one of the pajamas he wore most often. She had planned to keep them as mementos, so that whenever she missed him, she could look at them.
If looking at them wasn’t enough, she could put his clothes on and pretend he was embracing her.
She had never expected them to come in handy now.
Song Xinya gave herself a hearty mental thumbs-up for her foresight.
She opened the wardrobe and dug out his pajamas. After helping him put on the top, she crouched down by his feet.
“I’ll take off your pants.”
Qin Yuhe grinned and teased her. “My hands aren’t injured. I can take them off myself. But if you really want to take my pants off, I can grant your wish.”
Song Xinya placed both hands on his belt buckle. “I just happen to love taking your pants off.”
“Your back and waist are connected. It’s inconvenient for me to exert myself right now. If you really want it, you can just climb on top and move yourself.”
Song Xinya’s cheeks flushed a brilliant red. She leaned over and kissed him on the face.
“Once your back has healed a little more, I’ll sit on top and move myself.”
Qin Yuhe picked up his phone and held it toward her lips. “Say that again. I’m recording it so you can’t go back on your word.”
Song Xinya played along and spoke into the phone. “Once the wounds on Qin Yuhe’s back have healed a little more, I’ll sit on top of him and move myself.”
“Okay,” Qin Yuhe said. “Everything you say from this moment on will be entered into evidence. If you fail to follow through, I sentence you to life in prison.”
The two of them dissolved into laughter.
After taking off Qin Yuhe’s pants, Song Xinya cast a deep glance between his legs, then helped him put on his pajama bottoms. Her little face flushed bright red as she hurried out of the bedroom.
Song Tingye craned his neck to study her face. “Sis, why is your face so red?”
Jin Ruizhi grabbed him by the hair and dragged him away. “I still have a whole pile of paper blessings to put up. Come help me.”
He shoved a paper blessing into Song Tingye’s hand. “Put one on the broom.”
Song Tingye’s eyes widened. “Who puts a blessing on a broom? Isn’t that just wasting money?”
“There are too many blessings to use up. Not putting it up would be a waste too. We might as well use it.”
“Fine, I guess that makes sense.”
Her little brother immediately forgot about his sister’s flushed face.
Song Xinya prepared the New Year’s Eve dinner, but the dishes stayed warming in the pots, and they still hadn’t started eating.
Song Tingye, a little glutton, walked over while clutching his flat stomach.
“Sis, are we still eating New Year’s Eve dinner? If we wait any longer, the New Year will be over.”
The important thing was that Qin Yuhe had already gotten several hours of sleep.
Song Xinya went into the bedroom and kissed Qin Yuhe on the forehead. “The princess has kissed the sleeping beauty awake. Your Highness, it’s time to get up.”
Qin Yuhe opened his eyes and reached out to pinch her cheek.
Song Xinya said, “My lips have magical powers. They really did wake you up!”
Qin Yuhe replied, “Or maybe I woke up the moment you walked through the door.”
“Ohhh.”
She wrapped her arms around his and helped him out of bed.
The two of them came into the living room, where the four little ones’ eyes were gleaming with the green light of hunger.
Once Qin Yuhe and Song Xinya had taken their seats, everyone began eating their New Year’s Eve dinner.
Qin Yuhe poured Song Xinya a glass of orange juice and poured himself a cup of tea. “Yaya, this is our first New Year’s together. I’ll toast you with tea instead of wine.”
Song Xinya raised her orange juice and clinked glasses with him.
He pressed the rim of his cup beneath the rim of hers.
Song Tingye raised his orange juice. “Sister, brother-in-law, I want to toast you too. I’m joining in.”
Clink—
Clink—
The cup in his hand bumped against Song Xinya’s and Qin Yuhe’s in turn.
The other three little ones also raised their orange juice and reached over. “Let’s all clink glasses together.”
“Cheers, everyone!”
The New Year’s Eve dinner came to an end in a warm and happy atmosphere.
There would be a fireworks show at midnight.
The four little ones watched the fireworks from the balcony off the living room, while Song Xinya and Qin Yuhe watched from the balcony of the bedroom.
Qin Yuhe sat in a chair, with Song Xinya sitting in his arms.
At the stroke of midnight, fireworks exploded overhead, bursting into a dazzling array of colors across the sky.
The two of them gazed into each other’s eyes, their sights entwined.
Song Xinya brought up something she had been meaning to say. “Qin Yuhe, when you took me up the mountain to watch the meteor shower, I made two wishes.”
“My first wish was that the people I love and the people who love me would always be healthy.”
“And my second wish—I’ll tell you now.”
“My second wish was for Song Xinya and Qin Yuhe to be together morning and night, year after year, forever and ever—to stay by each other’s side until our hair turned white.”
The two of them naturally leaned toward each other and kissed.
Song Xinya extended the tip of her tongue and brushed it against Qin Yuhe’s lips.
Without the slightest hesitation, he opened his mouth, caught her tongue, and began to entwine and suck on it.
There was still a faint taste of orange juice in her mouth, and even her lips tasted sweet.
His large hand closed around the back of her neck, pulling her closer as they pressed tightly against each other, not a sliver of space between their bodies.
It was winter, with temperatures below freezing, yet their passionate, lingering kiss made the cold air feel scorching hot.
Beneath the fireworks, they shared a long, lingering kiss.
When Qin Yuhe finally released Song Xinya’s lips, both of them were gasping for breath, their breathing hopelessly ragged.
They rested their foreheads together and gazed into each other’s eyes.
“Yaya, have I ever told you that I love you?”
“No. You’ve never said those three words to me.”
“Yaya, I love you.”
He confessed his love to her with solemnity and deep emotion.
“Song Xinya, I love you.”
Two streams of hot tears rolled down her cheeks, and once again, Song Xinya couldn’t stop herself from crying.
Qin Yuhe tenderly and lovingly kissed away her tears.
“Song Xinya, tell me that you love me. I want to hear you say it.”
