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Xia Muxin sighed, her unfortunate and torturous married life was beginning again...
Three days later, it was finally time to remove Child Gu. During these three days, Xia Muxin had been confined at home, with Shen Muhan not allowing her to go anywhere or do anything. He insisted that she take good care of herself, even regulating her meals. That morning, Xia Muxin got up early and immediately pinched her face, noticing that Shen Muhan had also opened his eyes. She complained:
"Husband, look at me, I think I've gained some weight. If this continues, I won't be able to do anything."
Pinching the flesh on her face, she lowered her head slowly until the pinched skin loomed large before Shen Muhan, her clear eyes filled with grievance.
Shen Muhan had been busy preparing medicine for himself these past few days while also researching Mother Gu. As a result, he had been going to bed late every night, only getting up to work after Xia Muxin had fallen asleep. Still not fully awake, he merely opened his eyes a slit. However, with Xia Muxin's movements and words, he became completely alert. He reached out and pinched the other side of her face until he was satisfied with the sensation in his hand before hoarsely saying:
"This feels just right."
Xia Muxin choked slightly, nearly swallowing her own saliva. What did he mean by "feels"?
Instantly, countless black lines crossed her forehead as she shot him a few glances but said nothing further. She knew that no matter what she said, Shen Muhan would respond with even more intimate and ambiguous words to explain it all. So she chose to remain silent.
Seeing the girl sitting there with her hands withdrawn, Shen Muhan raised an eyebrow and pulled her into his embrace. He pressed a kiss on her smooth forehead and then said wearily:
"It's still early; stay with me a little longer."
Feeling sorry for his busyness over the past few days, Xia Muxin reached out to smooth the slight furrow on his forehead and nestled against him in response.
Holding her felt reassuring. Shen Muhan smiled slightly and closed his eyes to continue sleeping. Soon, his breathing became even and steady. Xia Muxin tilted her neck back from his embrace and gazed at his sleeping face for a long time before finally yawning and drifting off into a drowsy sleep herself.
When she woke up again, the sun was already bright in the sky, and Shen Muhan was no longer beside her. The thin blanket still held his warmth and the unique scent of mint. Xia Muxin turned over, sat up, stretched lazily, and began to get dressed and groom herself.
"Hey, sis, hurry up and eat breakfast. We've been waiting for a while now. It's getting cold; do you want me to heat it up?"
As she came downstairs, she bumped into Songzi, who was busy arranging the bread. Upon seeing Xia Muxin, Songzi immediately pointed to the table and reminded her, which warmed Xia Muxin's heart.
No matter how much they bickered or teased each other, the bond between the siblings remained unbreakable. In fact, their relationship seemed to be growing stronger. Although they often targeted each other in jest, when it came to serious matters, Songzi was always the first to show concern for Xia Muxin. This made her think of Shen Muhan; perhaps their relationship was similar.
"Is this freshly baked bread? Yan Zhouwan is really becoming more diligent."
She smiled in response and walked over to Songzi, glancing into the basket with a hint of surprise in her eyes as she spoke sincerely.
Yan Zhouwan's baking skills had indeed improved significantly. During this time, she hadn’t given any guidance, yet the bread not only came in various shapes but also featured peanuts and sunflower seeds on top. She remembered casually mentioning it one day, not expecting that Yan Zhouwan would actually take it to heart.
"Yes! We just shared one earlier, and it tasted great."
Songzi filled the basket and then grabbed an empty one before hurrying out the door after saying a quick word to Xia Muxin. She didn’t say anything further and walked over to the table to start her breakfast.
The breakfast consisted of lean meat porridge and spicy rolls—dishes that Xia Muxin had previously taught her aunt, Xia Jihua. Naturally, since she preferred spicy and savory flavors, everyone had prepared these for her. Taking a gentle bite of the spicy roll, she smiled knowingly; today’s rolls were made by her mother. Her mother always added more chili than her aunt did, and if it were sweet rolls, there would be extra sugar as well. Even in the lean meat porridge, there was just a tad more minced meat than usual.
It seemed that her aunt had been overworked and had developed a habit of being frugal and not wasting anything. The family wouldn’t blame her; they just occasionally felt a pang of sympathy for her past.
Just as she finished her breakfast, Shen Muhan returned with his backpack. The bag was filled with fresh plants still glistening with droplets of water. Xia Muxin recognized them as freshly picked medicinal herbs, likely related to gathering Child Gu.
"Are you full?"
Shen Muhan glanced at the empty bowls on the table with a teasing smile that held deeper meaning.
Xia Muxin's expression faltered as she turned her head away from him. Over the past few days, he had been urging her to eat more, and she realized that her appetite had indeed increased. At night, he would often touch her belly with a grin that was somewhat annoying and joke about whether she would turn into a little pig who only ate and slept after having children.
Of course, this was just a joke, as Xia Muxin could eat anything without gaining weight. Her figure could only be described as hot and slim. Naturally, only Shen Muhan, who had been with her, understood this well enough to tease her.
"Take a break; I'll go sort out the medicine."
Shen Muhan was already accustomed to Xia Muxin's silence. He reached out and ruffled her hair before grabbing his backpack and heading outside to get busy.
Xia Muxin cleaned up the dishes and washed them. When she left the kitchen, she found that Shen Muhan had already tidied everything up. He then took her directly to the bathhouse. Water was boiling on the stove, but the fire had long since gone out. It seemed that the water had been boiled before the fire was extinguished, and it was also prepared by Shen Muhan for later use.
"This looks really strange; it shouldn't be a plant from Daimiao Mountain."
Shen Muhan had already scooped water into a basin and started washing the medicinal herbs. Seeing those peculiar plants, Xia Muxin casually picked one up and examined it closely before confidently saying.
She was quite familiar with Daimiao Village; she had been everywhere there while foraging for mushrooms and hunting game meat. However, she had never seen anything like the translucent plant in her hand. The stem was transparent, and she could vaguely see a green viscous liquid slowly moving inside, almost as if it were alive, which sent a chill down her spine.
"Yes, these were brought from Linshan County. I’ve traveled so many places but only found them there. I brought some back and planted them in your garden; I didn’t expect they would actually survive."
Shen Muhan was somewhat surprised by Xia Muxin's words. His wife remembered even the flowers and plants of Daimiao Mountain so clearly that he found himself at a loss for words. He studied her seriously for a moment before explaining.
Fortunately, he had informed his family beforehand; otherwise, they would have been cleared away as weeds.
Then Shen Muhan took out a bowl—no, to be precise, a golden bowl. Xia Muxin found it somewhat familiar until Shen Muhan added some firewood to the stove and watched as it crackled to life. He then placed the various herbs he had just crushed into the golden bowl. After mixing them together until a strange smell wafted from the bowl, he stopped his actions. Next, Xia Muxin watched in surprise as he cracked an egg into the golden bowl, unable to help but exclaim:
"The Crimson Plague has laid an egg again."
She had seen a Crimson Plague egg once before; although it wasn't large, its surface was red and covered with fine red veins resembling capillaries. At first glance, it looked terrifying, and upon a second glance, it made one feel nauseous. She had heard that it was a rare item that could not only detoxify but also hatch small pythons. She remembered Shen Muhan saying that the Crimson Plague only had three chances to lay eggs in its lifetime: one for his mother—her mother-in-law—to cure her illness, another that hatched Little Gold and Little Chi. So this... was its last chance to lay an egg. Xia Muxin couldn't help but feel a bit regretful about it.
"They are already satisfied with Little Gold and Little Chi. Here, chew this and swallow it."
Shen Muhan naturally understood Xia Muxin's meaning, which was quite straightforward. Moreover, this was all voluntary on the part of Python Brother and Crimson Plague. With Crimson Plague laying eggs so frequently, its body had taken quite a toll and needed proper rest during this time. However, because it was Xia Muxin, they were determined to go through with it.
He also had to thank Python Brother; sometimes he felt that this snake was almost becoming sentient, as nothing could escape its notice. Even the fact that Xia Muxin had Child Gu inside her hadn’t slipped past it. He often imagined what would happen if one day Python Brother suddenly transformed into a man and crawled out from that little nest—would it scare everyone in the room? Of course, Xia Muxin and Xia Xiaosong would be exceptions, including little Xue Er, who was also an exception.
At the same time, he handed a vibrant green herb to Xia Muxin and urged her to eat it.
Xia Muxin stared blankly at the herb for a while but didn’t bring it to her mouth.
She already hated taking medicine, and the thought of eating this raw made her want to vomit.
"Just eat it; otherwise, the Child Gu won’t come out."
Seeing her hesitation, Shen Muhan’s eyes flickered slightly as he urged her on.
Xia Muxin let out a small sound of acknowledgment and crumpled the herb into a ball before stuffing it into her mouth. At that moment, Shen Muhan quickly covered her mouth and said in a commanding tone:
"Don’t spit it out."
- End of Chapter -
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