The more she thought about it, the more she felt she'd gotten the short end of the stick. Mu Zibai had seen her completely naked, but she hadn't seen him at all! What a loss. No, she had to make it up to herself!
Huh! That thought was so embarrassing, but also so thrilling.
Wenren Lingmeng covered her burning cheeks, her mind in utter disarray, filled with all sorts of thoughts. She was starting to feel more and more like something was wrong with her.
Thinking back to the way she'd been before, she'd only ever read books and looked at the moon in her spare time. She'd been such a quiet, well-behaved girl.
Now she was always having these wild thoughts. Had she turned into a bad girl?
She shook her head, putting those thoughts aside, and continued to reminisce about what had just happened.
She touched her lips with her fingers, remembering the kiss Mu Zibai had just given her. She really had miraculously woken up, just like in the fairy tale he'd told her.
Everything was so magical. Though she didn't know what Mu Zibai had fed her, she knew she'd woken up because of him.
Her first kiss was gone just like that, and she felt it was such a loss. She stared at Mu Zibai, wondering, Should I kiss him back?
Her resolve grew stronger. She absolutely had to kiss him back. Mu Zibai had seen her and kissed her, while she hadn't done anything at all. What a rip-off!
Wenren Lingmeng felt deeply unbalanced, like a little rich girl who'd lent out money and couldn't wait to collect a little interest.
She cautiously lowered her head, trying to... It was clumsy. She was afraid of disturbing Mu Zibai and didn't want him to find out, so she tried to sneakily collect her interest.
"How long has it been?" Mu Zibai opened his eyes. He didn't know how long he'd slept, only that he'd slept very soundly that night.
"Not long. It's not even light out yet. Don't you want to sleep a little more?" Wenren Lingmeng said softly.
"No, I'm not tired. I just needed a little rest. What about you?"
"I'm not tired either. I've slept enough for the past six months. I don't want to sleep anymore. I want to take a good look around."
Though Wenren Lingmeng felt utterly shy, she still gazed steadily at Mu Zibai, her eyes full of affection.
That was right. Wenren Lingmeng had slept for so long. Now she only wanted to take a good look at the world—and at the person before her.
"You weren't just staring at me the whole time I was asleep, were you?" Mu Zibai asked with a smile, fixing his gaze on Wenren Lingmeng.
Wenren Lingmeng looked like a thief caught in the act. Avoiding his gaze, she said, "Of course not. Who was staring at you? It certainly wasn't me."
"Really?" Mu Zibai asked suspiciously.
"Of course not," Wenren Lingmeng insisted. How could she possibly admit to something so embarrassing?
Mu Zibai thought for a moment, then said, "Then why do I feel like someone kissed me just now? Who do you think it was?"
Wenren Lingmeng's face turned red in an instant, all the way to her ears.
She stammered, "No one did. You were asleep. You must have been dreaming. No one kissed you."
"Then I must have been dreaming," Mu Zibai said thoughtfully, nodding.
He gazed at the great beauty before him, the beauty he'd "met for the first time," and felt a jumble of emotions.
Mu Zibai had wondered what Wenren Lingmeng would be like when she woke up, and how they would meet.
Would she know him? Would she have forgotten him? Or would she not know him at all? Would the first thing she did after waking be to reject him?
In Mu Zibai's heart, points had already taken a back seat. They were no longer the most important reason for him to approach Wenren Lingmeng. What mattered now was his feelings for her.
He cared what she thought of him. He cared whether there was a place for him in her heart.
Fortunately, Wenren Lingmeng remembered him. She remembered everything about him, remembered how he'd stayed by her side day and night. Mu Zibai felt immensely relieved. Everything was all right.
"Why are you looking at me like that, dear husband?" Wenren Lingmeng pressed her lips together, feeling a little embarrassed under Mu Zibai's gaze.
"Our darling wife is so beautiful. I could look at you all day and never get tired of it," Mu Zibai said with a smile.
"Who's your darling wife?" Wenren Lingmeng shyly turned her head away.
"You are. What, are you unwilling?"
"Of course not." Wenren Lingmeng pursed her lips, then asked shyly, "How beautiful am I?"
Mu Zibai thought for a moment before replying, "When you're asleep, you're a beauty in a painting. When you wake up, you're an immortal who's stepped right out of one."
Wenren Lingmeng was delighted. So, in Mu Zibai's eyes, she was that beautiful? She secretly reveled in it.
Mu Zibai smiled and asked, "Then what do you think of your dear husband? Am I worthy of you?"
"You?"
She didn't answer right away, instead giving it some thought and keeping him in suspense.
In the end, she only gave him a sweet smile and said nothing, leaving Mu Zibai to guess.
"Are you going to tell me or not?" Mu Zibai moved closer.
Like a frightened kitten, Wenren Lingmeng shrank into the covers and leaned back, wrapping herself up snugly in the quilt.
"Nooo."
She said it in a coquettish voice.
Mu Zibai smiled gently and said, "All right, I'll stop teasing you. I'll go get Xiao E and the others. You've woken up—that's huge news. Everyone will be so happy."
Mu Zibai got up, ready to share the good news with everyone.
While Wenren Lingmeng had been unconscious, so many people had busied themselves caring for her, sincerely worrying about her. If they found out she'd woken up, who knew how thrilled they'd be?
Wenren Lingmeng grabbed Mu Zibai's hand. He turned back and looked at her, asking, "What's wrong?"
From the look in her eyes, it seemed she didn't want them to know just yet. She also seemed a little uneasy.
Perhaps it was because they'd been apart for so long. She was nervous.
Mu Zibai understood how she felt and lay back down. Wenren Lingmeng hesitated, then lifted the covers over him and carefully moved closer.
She rested her head lightly on Mu Zibai's chest. Back when she'd been in a vegetative state, she'd always lain against his chest like this, listening to his heartbeat—thump, thump.
It was peaceful and serene, making Wenren Lingmeng feel safe and comforted.
Mu Zibai looked at the beauty resting on his chest. It would have been a lie to say his heart wasn't stirred. He carefully wrapped an arm around Wenren Lingmeng's slender waist, but she smacked the back of his hand.
Awkwardly withdrawing his hand, he put on an utterly upright, scrupulous expression and sighed. The authorities could set fires, but the common people couldn't even light a lamp.
[Ding! +35 points]
Mu Zibai: "!!!"
His base points had actually soared to thirty-five. They were increasing so quickly? Sure enough, the more intimate the gesture, the faster the base points went up. In that case, wouldn't that mean—
A wicked idea came to him.
"I think I'd like to wait a little before telling them," Wenren Lingmeng said softly.
"Okay." Mu Zibai nodded. How could he refuse a reason like that? Of course, he guaranteed that it was one hundred percent for farming points, and absolutely had nothing to do with any other idea.
He just wanted to touch her a little. He had no ulterior motives at all!
"I want to talk with you a little longer."
Leaning against Mu Zibai's chest, Wenren Lingmeng only wanted to talk with him now. She had so much to say, but didn't know where to begin. A thousand words couldn't compare to the quiet of this moment.
Once her father and mother, her brothers and sisters learned she'd woken up, they would surely have so much to say to her. Her father in particular would never stop talking—crying one moment, making a fuss the next.
When she'd been in a vegetative state, her father had always spent several hours talking to her whenever he visited, crying and lamenting how tragic it all was.
At first, his behavior had moved her deeply. She was grateful to have a father who cherished her so much.
But then Mu Zibai came along. Every time her father rushed over, he acted like a child, and her husband could only go outside. Wenren Lingmeng couldn't even cuddle up to her husband.
A thousand miles away, Wenren Lanzhang sneezed again. His padded coat wasn't keeping him warm at all today; it kept letting in drafts. He'd have to change into a different one tomorrow.
Wenren Lingmeng looked at Mu Zibai. While she had the chance, she wanted to spend some quiet time with him.
She truly wished time would stop right here. Perhaps this was what the books meant by "he loves her, and she loves him in return"—two hearts in perfect harmony.
"You knew what was happening outside all along?" Mu Zibai smiled gently, admiring the beauty before him. He could look at her for a lifetime and never tire of it.
"Mhm." Wenren Lingmeng buried her face against Mu Zibai's chest, leaning on him completely. She'd thought that once she woke up, she wouldn't be able to depend on him anymore.
But, clearly, she'd changed her mind. She just wanted to cuddle up to her husband.
Suddenly, she remembered those things, and her eyes turned reproachful. "As soon as you arrived, you started touching my hand and said you were taking my pulse. I didn't believe you."
She looked as if she'd seen right through Mu Zibai, as if she'd long since figured out his intentions.
It was true that at first her heart had raced a little, instinctively, but who took someone's pulse and then refused to let go? He'd kept touching her hand afterward, too.
That bad guy had clearly been looking for an excuse to touch her hand.
Mu Zibai awkwardly scratched his head and explained, "Don't say that. Your husband was just—"
"Then tell me why."
Wenren Lingmeng smugly lifted her little head, looking rather proud, as if she'd got Mu Zibai all figured out.
Hmph, I saw right through you, and you're still pretending. Let's see how you explain yourself.
A bad guy was still a bad guy.
Mu Zibai smiled and took Wenren Lingmeng's hand. "This was obviously your fault, darling."
Wenren Lingmeng: "?"
"You touched my hand, and now you're saying it was my fault? Obviously, it was your fault."
Wenren Lingmeng stared at Mu Zibai in confusion, curious to see how he'd explain himself. If he didn't make things clear, he'd probably have to kneel on a washboard.
"How could it not be your fault? Who told our darling wife to be so beautiful? I was simply captivated by your beauty."
Mu Zibai smiled as he spoke.
After hearing him out, Wenren Lingmeng thought it over carefully. Mu Zibai seemed to have a point. She accepted his words without a care, thinking that perhaps it really was her fault.
Who told her to be so beautiful?
Though she'd lost count of how many people had praised her beauty, she knew she was beautiful. It was a fact everyone agreed on, not just Wenren Lingmeng boasting about herself.
But why did she like hearing it so much when Mu Zibai said it? She even found herself wondering whether he really thought she was beautiful. Her heart felt so happy.
For the first time, she cared so much about what someone thought of her appearance.
I'm changing the title. Recently, people keep calling my novel a "marry-a-wife" type story, which leaves me speechless. My title just happened to contain the words "marry a wife"; the story itself is different from that genre. To avoid misunderstandings, I changed the title. It doesn't sound as good as the old one, but I had no choice.
Also, I originally wanted to add an extra chapter to thank everyone for the tips, but the later part got a little steamy. Though I'm an upright, proper person through and through, I'm afraid of being reported for encouraging people to fantasize, so I'm editing it. Sigh. I'm also fleshing out the outline. And who said the story would end just because the heroine woke up?
Can't I knock her out with poison and keep farming points? (Wicked grin) _(:3」∠)_
Before you continue