She was wearing a loose nightgown.
Naturally sensitive, the moment the man touched her, her entire body melted.
To stop herself from getting lost in the sensation, Si Nian gave Zhou Yueshen’s waist a sharp 180-degree twist.
The man hissed and opened his eyes.
His gaze was clear, nothing like someone who had just woken up.
"You were pretending to sleep?" Si Nian glared at him.
Zhou Yueshen studied her for a moment before replying, "Just woke up."
Si Nian rolled her eyes. "Where’s Yaoyao?"
"Over here," Zhou Yueshen answered in a deep voice.
He had moved to the other side of the bed, afraid of crushing the child after Si Nian fell asleep.
Only then did Si Nian notice Yaoyao sleeping on the other pillow, while Zhou Yueshen had squeezed onto hers.
The bed was large enough that it didn’t feel cramped.
She hadn’t even noticed.
"Hmph!" The more Si Nian thought about it, the angrier she got. She kicked him lightly, gritting her teeth and keeping her voice low to avoid waking the child. "Take your hand back already!"
"Sorry," Zhou Yueshen murmured, his voice calm and deep. He withdrew his hand, but whether intentionally or not, his fingertips brushed against a sensitive peak.
"Ah..." Si Nian gasped softly, nearly collapsing.
Zhou Yueshen’s eyes darkened instantly. In the dim light, his breathing grew heavier.
He didn’t move further, only pulling Si Nian closer into his embrace. After a pause, he sighed. "Still mad at me?"
Si Nian wasn’t really that angry. She might hold grudges, but her temper flared and faded quickly. Thinking about it, she figured it was normal for Zhou Yueshen to have a past—he was thirty, after all. It’d be strange if he didn’t.
But now that he brought it up in such a gentle tone, something she had brushed off earlier suddenly made her nose sting with unexpected hurt.
"Who is Yang Yujie?"
Zhu Tao had only mentioned the name without elaborating.
Si Nian added, "When Zhou Tingting came to cause trouble, she said you refused to marry because of her. Is that true?"
Zhou Yueshen frowned.
"Yang Yujie?"
So her unhappiness wasn’t because Zhu Tao had asked him out to eat, but because she’d brought up that name?
At the second question, his eyes turned cold.
"She told you that?"
Si Nian nodded.
Truthfully, Si Nian’s past with Fu Yang was also complicated, but Zhou Yueshen had never questioned her about it.
She had assumed the past was the past—no big deal.
But now, she couldn’t help but wonder who this woman was.
After a long silence, Zhou Yueshen finally spoke.
His voice was low and steady. "I won’t hide it from you. I did promise to marry her once."
"Yang Yujie’s older brother was my closest comrade. He died saving me during a mission. His last wish was for me to take care of his sister."
Yang Yujie’s family situation was complicated. Though they were influential, her parents had divorced, and her father had remarried a woman with two children of her own.
Life wasn’t easy for the siblings.
After enlisting, Zhou Yueshen and Yang Yun became teammates. Yang Yujie often visited her brother, so they knew each other.
Later, Yang Yujie joined the cultural troupe, and their unit would attend performances.
When an incident occurred, it was Zhou Yueshen who rescued Yang Yujie and the others.
Perhaps because of his bond with her brother and the fact that he’d saved her, Yang Yujie developed feelings for him.
But back then, Zhou Yueshen had no interest in romance and paid no attention.
Yang Yun, aware of his sister’s feelings, often tried to play matchmaker.
When Zhou Yueshen’s sister had an accident, Yang Yujie even visited the Zhou household with Yang Yun.
That was how Zhou Tingting came to know her.
Later, Yang Yun died during a mission.
Honoring his promise, Zhou Yueshen agreed to look after Yang Yujie. Since she had feelings for him, he thought marriage might not be a bad idea.
But at the critical moment, Yang Yujie’s father arranged a politically advantageous match for her with another officer.
To secure her position in the family, Yang Yujie rejected Zhou Yueshen.
With three young children to care for, Zhou Yueshen chose to leave the military.
Everyone assumed he had been heartbroken and left because of Yang Yujie.
That was likely the source of the misunderstanding.
But Yang Yujie later regretted her decision and didn’t marry the officer.
She started writing to him, but Zhou Yueshen had no feelings for her. His proposal had only been out of duty to his late friend. He had given her a chance, and she had refused.
When Zhou Tingting visited, she must have seen some of those letters, leading her to believe Zhou Yueshen and Yang Yujie were still involved.
And now, she had even used that to taunt Si Nian.
Zhou Yueshen’s eyes turned icy.
Letters from the military were occasionally delivered directly to him.
He rarely replied or even read them.
He hadn’t cared who they were from.
Hearing Yang Yujie’s name today only reminded him of his fallen comrade.
He never expected Si Nian to see it and misunderstand.
……
Si Nian fell silent after hearing his explanation.
Alright, so this man might seem cold and detached, but she had come to realize he was exactly the type to marry a woman out of loyalty to a dying friend’s wish.
It was just fate that they never ended up together.
She stopped struggling and settled into his arms. After a long pause, she asked slowly, "Was she pretty?"
Zhou Yueshen pinched her cheek with his rough fingers. "Not mad anymore?"
He hadn’t expected this seemingly carefree girl to dwell on things so much.
He didn’t find her nosy—if anything, he was pleasantly surprised.
It seemed she did care about him, after all.
Si Nian blinked. "Who’s prettier, her or me?"
Zhou Yueshen: "You."
Si Nian: "Oh, so you still remember what she looks like after all these years?"
Zhou Yueshen: "......"
Could he say it was because Yang Yujie and her brother were twins?
"What about the letters?"
She suddenly remembered the locked drawer in Zhou Yueshen’s desk.
Were they in there?
"Burned," Zhou Yueshen said.
"Those letters were from the military. Keeping them could cause problems."
After a pause, he added, "Not because of her. I never had feelings for her."
Si Nian felt better. "Then who do you have feelings for?"
Maybe it was the openness between them, but she suddenly felt closer to him. Her voice softened into a sweet, almost coquettish tone.
Zhou Yueshen’s Adam’s apple bobbed as his large hand brushed against her delicate neck. "Be reasonable, Nian Nian."
His voice, still rough from sleep, was deep and velvety, laced with indulgence.
It sent shivers down her spine.
Si Nian’s lashes fluttered.
"H-How am I not being reasonable?"
"You ask who I have feelings for—who else but you?"
Si Nian’s face burned. "I don’t believe you."
The next second, the man leaned over, his tall, muscular frame pressing her down.
The scorching breath brushed against her face.
A low voice murmured, "Then I'll keep going until you believe me."
Si Nian: "......" She was wrong—she was just pretending.
...
Downstairs, after eating breakfast and waiting for a long time without seeing their parents come down, the two brothers knew they'd have to walk to school by themselves again today.
Used to this by now, the boys grabbed their little umbrellas and headed out.
Outside, a fine drizzle fell.
The autumn rain carried a chilly bite, and both children had bundled up in their jackets.
Zhou Zehan's little face was flushed red, completely unaffected by the cold wind.
As soon as they stepped outside, he excitedly asked, "Brother, have you heard the story of Snow White?"
Zhou Zedong had noticed his younger brother's unusual excitement since morning.
The boy had been itching to tell him something but kept quiet, afraid of disturbing their parents.
Now that they were outside, he finally spoke up.
Zhou Zedong tilted his head, puzzled. "No, I haven't."
Snow White?
Where had his brother even heard a story like that?
Did Mom tell him? When? How come he didn’t know?
The more Zhou Zedong thought about it, the deeper his frown grew.
"You haven’t heard it? I knew you wouldn’t have! But I have! Last night, Mom told me the story of Snow White and her evil stepmother..."
With his missing teeth, his words came out fast and slurred, spraying tiny droplets as he spoke. But the little guy didn’t care, waving his arms animatedly as he recounted the tale.
"That evil stepmother was so shameless! She kept asking, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?' How ridiculous—the most beautiful person in the world is obviously Mom!"
Zhou Zedong: "......"
Was that really how the story went?
Chatting away, the two boys disappeared around the corner, their small figures fading into the rain as they made their way to school.
...
On the day of Lin Sisi’s wedding, Si Nian woke up early.
She prepared extra food in the morning since they might return late in the evening.
The kids could just heat it up when they got home.
As for Yaoyao, Si Nian decided to take her along.
The little girl was growing fast, and the clothes she’d bought her before were already getting too small.
Perfect timing—she still hadn’t spent the money Si's Father had given her.
She could buy Yaoyao some new clothes and pick up a few toys for Little Dong and Little Han.
A trip to the city meant shopping—otherwise, what was the point of her man earning so much money?
The kids were already this old, yet they didn’t have a single toy to call their own. The ones she’d bought before were practically enshrined, treated like treasures they couldn’t bear to play with.
As for Si's Father’s advice to dress up, Si Nian let it go in one ear and out the other.
She was already as pretty as a fairy—why bother with extra embellishments? If she overdid it, where would that leave Lin Sisi, the bride of the day?
She threw on a simple casual outfit instead.
Just as she finished getting ready, Zhou Yueshen returned.
The man carried a faint dampness with him.
He rarely showered at home.
Si Nian, reminded of her own bathing situation, tied up her hair and said, "Zhou Yueshen, I want to get a bathtub. It’d make washing up easier."
At home, they only had a large basin for bathing. It worked fine for the kids, but for an adult? Awkward.
Si Nian had been showering standing up—a tragic state of affairs.
Zhou Yueshen wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel and nodded. "Alright."
They’d agreed to take the motorcycle into town.
Si Nian wasn’t fond of the buses in this era—cramped, smelly, and guaranteed to leave her backside sore from all the jostling.
Zhou Yueshen’s motorcycle was faster, and he drove steadily.
Since he was heading that way too, they settled on riding together.
They planned to leave early to shop for the kids first.
Zhou Yueshen studied her for a moment before rummaging through the wardrobe for clothes.
For once, he put on a jacket.
Normally, the man stuck to sleeveless shirts, wearing the same style year-round.
Si Nian, now done with her hair, glanced over just as he fastened a watch around his wrist.
Si Nian: "......" He was taking this seriously.
But was it really necessary?
She blinked but didn’t dwell on it.
Once he was ready, he walked over, took Yaoyao from her, and they headed downstairs together.
After leaving out a day’s worth of food for Da Huang, they mounted the motorcycle and set off.
Villagers working in the fields watched enviously as the family zoomed past on their way to town.
"Why does the Zhou family keep going into the city lately? Isn’t the pig farm busy?"
"Haven’t you heard? Si Nian’s mother got beaten up—badly. Her uncle’s son did it. Caused a huge scene—it’s been the talk of Lin Family Village for days."
"Seriously? Why would her uncle hit her mom? Is he insane?"
"From what I heard, the Lin family’s second branch started making money selling pastries. Then Si Nian was about to teach her mom and sister-in-law how to make braised meat to sell too. Her uncle’s family got jealous, went over to demand they share the recipe, and when the second branch refused, they started fighting."
"Yeah, I heard the uncle’s son got arrested and still hasn’t been released. They’re demanding compensation."
"No way… They’re family. How can they take it this far? What about future gatherings?"
"Honestly, if you’re making money, shouldn’t you help your own relatives? What’s so hard about sharing? They’re just being selfish!"
"Exactly! Making a scene like this—people will laugh at them."
"I think there’s something off about Si Nian. Everyone says she’s great, but look—ever since she came to the Zhou family, Zhou Yueshen’s stopped talking to his relatives, even his own sister. Now her own uncle’s getting sued? She’s ruthless!"
"I agree. She’s cunning. Rumor has it she got her brother into Zhou’s pig farm by kicking out Zhou Tingting’s brother-in-law, then accused him of harassing her. Now Zhou Yueshen and his sister are estranged, and her brother’s the one driving the trucks—even got sent to get a license. Zhou Yueshen used to be so indifferent, but now he’s wrapped around her finger!"
"Now that you mention it, it does seem fishy. Zhou Yueshen used to be swamped with work, but now he’s hired extra help just to free up time for her. And he’s running around for her family’s sake too. Tsk tsk..."
Aunt Zhang, passing by, shot them a sharp glare.
