Chapter 10

At those words, everyone who had been startled let out a "Shh!"

Zhou Jinian rushed over to stand in front of Xie Ning, reached out to cover his mouth, and soothed him softly. "Don't be afraid. I'm here. It can't bite you."

Zhou Liufeng's wife said, "Oh, stop screaming! You scared us half to death! You've terrified my son!"

"What happened?"

"Seems he got frightened by a stray cat..."

Liufeng's wife went over and shoved Xie Ning. "Oh, stop screaming! If you're ill, go see a physician!"

Xie Ning's legs gave way, and he fell into Zhou Jinian's arms.

Zhou Jinian felt Xie Ning's soft, moist lips kiss his palm, leaving it tingling. Then Xie Ning tumbled into his arms, and he scooped him up and carried him back to their room.

Frightened by Xie Ning, the stray cat delivered four kittens in one go. Without tending to her newborns, she found a way out and bolted, soon disappearing.

"Oh, damn it all, that screaming has my heart pounding. I won't dare sleep tonight. I'll probably have nightmares..."

Lin Jin rolled his eyes at his sixth sister-in-law. Unable to sleep? Was that really necessary? Who didn't have something they were afraid of?

His sixth sister-in-law had probably forgotten that she could sleep straight through until noon. The families took turns tending the fire and cooking, and hadn't she screamed and jumped about at the stove fire, insisting she was afraid of fire? She had made a fuss for a whole day, calling in a physician and taking medicine. After that, she never entered the kitchen again, though she certainly enjoyed eating food cooked over a wood fire.

Lin Jin pulled Zhou Sanfeng back to their own quarters. He wanted to check on their son's husband, but when they heard Zhou Jinian soothing his husband inside, the two returned to their own room.

When Lin Jin heard Zhou Sanfeng say that his eldest brother had called him over to catch a wild boar, he immediately clung to him with all his strength. "You're not going anywhere! With your leg like that, do you have a death wish?"

Zhou Sanfeng explained, "We caught one last year, and I saw how much you liked eating it. Besides, there are five of us."

"Well, I don't like eating it this year! You're not allowed to go. My lower back has been aching terribly these past few days. Give me a massage." Lin Jin took a gentler approach.

Zhou Sanfeng rarely heard his husband complain to him about lower back pain, but he knew that when Jinlang had given birth to Jinian, he had carried the baby, washed clothes, and cooked without properly recovering his health.

"Does it hurt badly?" Zhou Sanfeng hurriedly helped Jinlang lie down, rubbed his palms warm, and slipped them under his clothes to massage his lower back. "You should still go see Physician Hu tomorrow."

Hugging a square pillow, Lin Jin murmured his assent.

Lin Guihua found some scraps of cloth and made a nest, setting it beside the newborn kittens. Farming folk had experience with this: the stray cat would certainly sneak back in to nurse her kittens. With a soft cloth nest beside them, the kittens would suffer less.

"It was only a stray cat..."

Zhou Jinian had barely begun when the word "cat" made Xie Ning shudder in his arms. He could only stop and soothe him again. "Don't be afraid. Sit on the bed by yourself while I fetch some water. Then you can stay in the bath barrel, all right?"

Xie Ning had drawn both hands into his sleeves and tucked them against his chest. Had his boots been taken off, it would have been clear that even his toes were curled tightly.

His two slender, dark, sword-like brows were knitted tight, and fear still lingered in his eyes. He really looked like a dead fish that had run into a blind cat, frightening himself half to death.

Author's note: Thank you to all the little angels who gave me Tyrant Tickets or watered me with nutrient solution between 2020-09-14 22:44:19 and 2020-09-15 21:29:20~

Thank you to the little angels who provided nutrient solution: lin, 36 bottles; Kongmeng Yishang and Shumi, 5 bottles each;

Thank you so much for your support, everyone. I'll keep working hard!

Chapter 10

Xie Ning's sight and hearing were intensely focused, his gaze fixed firmly on Zhou Jinian's chin.

A cat might be hiding in any dark corner of the room, a gleam shooting from its slit pupils as it sniffed out his fishy scent, ready to pounce and tear him to shreds...

Seeing that the person in his arms remained silent for a long time, Zhou Jinian tentatively tried to lower him onto the bed.

"Jiyinian~"

That single cry from Xie Ning conveyed grievance, fear, and misery. His body gave a shiver along with it, making Zhou Jinian fully aware of how badly he had been frightened.

Still, he understood. It was the work of a natural enemy.

Zhou Jinian tightened his arms around him again. "I have to get you some water."

"Mm..." Xie Ning whimpered like a little animal.

"Then will you come fetch the water with me?" Zhou Jinian asked.

"..."

Zhou Jinian sighed. How could someone who caught snakes bare-handed be frightened like this by a stray mother cat? The cat had even been giving birth and had barely any ability to attack.

"Get on my back. I'll carry you while I fetch water." This time, Zhou Jinian did not ask, instead putting his plan into action by force.

With someone on his back, Zhou Jinian had to make five trips to fill the bath barrel. He did not mind the trouble; he was simply worried about how to help Xie Ning recover from such a severe fright.

"All right, will you take off your clothes and get in yourself?" Zhou Jinian gripped the wrists of the arms around his neck, preparing to peel Xie Ning off.

Xie Ning used both arms and legs to cling even tighter. Not even a medicinal plaster could have stuck so firmly.

Zhou Jinian pressed his lips together. Even arranging battle formations to kill enemies in his previous life had not left him as mentally exhausted as he was now. "Talk to me. If you don't speak, how am I supposed to know what you want?"

"I'm your husband. You can ask me for anything."

Hanging from him, Xie Ning was about to slip down. He wriggled upward, trying to hook his chin over Zhou Jinian's shoulder for support, but accidentally pressed his lips against the side of Zhou Jinian's neck.

Zhou Jinian's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. Xie Ning's lips were moist and a little cold, yet they made him want Xie Ning to touch him again, with his lips...

Xie Ning himself was unaware. After wriggling upward and winding his legs around Zhou Jinian's lean, firm waist, he finally spoke timidly. "Could you move the bath barrel beside the bed? I want to be next to you."

Zhou Jinian said nothing. He stood still for a while to compose himself, waiting until the tingling subsided before pushing the bath barrel right up beside the bed.

But when Xie Ning undid his clothes and undressed, he did not avert his eyes for propriety. He openly stole glances at Xie Ning, whose back was turned to him as he loosened his clothes and sash.

Still unaware that he was being watched, Xie Ning kept asking Zhou Jinian to speak from time to time to prove he was there. "Jinian!"

"Hmm?"

"Take a couple of steps. I want to hear you."

"...All right."