Chapter 26: Didn’t Even Take Off His Pants

“Giggle… giggle…”

Hearing his sister’s laughter, Li Xiaohai curiously poked his head out. Seeing his sister getting happier and happier as she played, he couldn’t resist getting up and walking over, plopping himself down on his father’s stomach.

“I want to play horsey too!”

Li Xiangdong let out a muffled grunt, “Li Xiaohai, cough cough, cough cough, you could have at least told me!”

Li Xiaohai’s sudden plop on his stomach made his stomach acid rise, and a wave of alcohol fumes choked him, causing him to cough incessantly.

“Are you okay?”

Hearing the commotion from the courtyard, Zhou Yuqin came back into the room and saw Li Xiangdong covering his mouth and coughing, unable to speak, his face flushed red.

She put down the washbasin and foot-wiping cloth in her hand and hurried over to shoo the two children off him.

She grabbed Li Xiaohai’s bottom and slapped it hard a couple of times, “Look what you’ve done to your dad! Why are you so naughty!”

“Sister was there too! Mom, you can’t just hit me!”

“Hit… giddy-up…”

Seeing her brother being hit and crying out, Li Xiaozhu joined in the commotion.

“Don’t you see what time it is? Go to sleep right now.”

Zhou Yuqin urged the children to go to sleep while patting Li Xiangdong’s back to help him catch his breath.

“Mom… play…”

“Mom, I can’t sleep. I want to play with my sister.”

“Play what? I’ll spank whoever doesn’t listen.”

Seeing Zhou Yuqin’s display of authority, the two children obediently lay down and closed their eyes.

Seeing that Li Xiangdong was much better, Zhou Yuqin walked over, picked up the small blanket, and covered the two children’s stomachs. Seeing her daughter staring at her with wide eyes, she poked her daughter’s head with her finger.

“What are you still staring at? If you don’t go to sleep, you’ll get a spanking.”

“Giggle… giggle…”

“Let me see who’s not sleeping properly. I’ll give a shot to whoever doesn’t listen!”

Li Xiangdong had recovered and was no longer coughing. Knowing that his daughter was afraid of shots, he said this to scare her.

“…Mom… hold.”

Hearing the word “shot,” Li Xiaozhu shook her head in fear and reached out for a hug.

“Don’t scare her.”

Zhou Yuqin got on the heated brick bed and lay down, gently patting her daughter. “We’re not afraid. You sleep obediently, and Mom won’t give you a shot.”

“Mom, I’m hot.”

Li Xiaohai restlessly kicked off the small blanket.

“I know.”

Zhou Yuqin was not impatient. She got up, picked up the cattail leaf fan, then lay down on her side again, propping her head up with one hand and fanning the two children gently with the other.

She turned her head to Li Xiangdong, who was lying beside her, and said, “Turn off the light.”

“Click.”

Li Xiangdong pulled the light cord tied to the head of the bed, and the room was immediately plunged into darkness.

The heated brick bed in the room was quite large, and the four of them were not crowded lying on it. Their son slept on the innermost side against the wall, then their daughter, his wife, and he slept on the outermost side.

“Mom, I can’t sleep.”

“Close your eyes, and you’ll fall asleep in a moment.”

Li Xiaohai made a condition, “Mom, sing ‘Little Swallow’ for me. I can fall asleep if you sing ‘Little Swallow.’ Sister Xiaomei sings it so well.”

Seeing her daughter open her eyes as well, Zhou Yuqin put down the cattail leaf fan in her hand, closed her daughter’s eyes, and then began to hum in a low voice, “Little swallow, in your flowery dress, you come here every spring…”

Li Xiangdong lay on the bed, close to his wife, his nose filled with her scent. This scent was both familiar and reassuring, and slowly, his eyelids began to feel heavy.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, Zhou Yuqin patted him. He asked drowsily, “What is it?”

Zhou Yuqin turned on her side and looked at him, “Don’t go to sleep yet. You still have something to tell me.”

“What is it?”

“What do you think it is?”

Being questioned by his wife, Li Xiangdong was now wide awake.

“Are you talking about the furniture? The table is an old rosewood piece from the Ming Dynasty. And the stools I brought back are a set with the table in our house. They’re all good things, family heirlooms.”

“Really heirlooms? How much are they worth? Why don’t we sell them?”

Zhou Yuqin’s tone was filled with excitement.

“No, they’re not worth anything.”

Seeing his wife like this, Li Xiangdong didn’t have the heart to discourage her.

“If they’re not worth anything, why are you bothering with them! You’re so idle all day. And you even said you want to keep them as family heirlooms. Who wants your junk?”

Zhou Yuqin had thought they were real treasures, but it turned out they were worthless junk. Her mood went from high to low, and she angrily slapped Li Xiangdong a couple of times.

“Why are you hitting me? They’re not worth anything now, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future. Just don’t worry about it. I’m not that stupid. If they were really junk, would I have gone to so much trouble?”

Li Xiangdong grabbed his wife’s hand, caressing it and refusing to let go.

“If you say they’re not junk, then you can keep them. I’m not going to bother with it anymore.”

The room was pitch black. Although Zhou Yuqin couldn’t see Li Xiangdong’s eyes, she heard his rapid breathing. She quickly struggled free from his grasp, turned her back to him, and ignored him.

“What’s wrong with you? Sleepy? Let’s chat a little more.”

Li Xiangdong rolled over and moved closer.

“What are you doing? I’m sleepy. We can talk about it tomorrow.”

Having given birth to two children, how could Zhou Yuqin not understand what he meant?

But she couldn’t act too… that way. She still had to be reserved.

Li Xiangdong forcefully turned his wife over and said with a smile, “What do you think I want to do?”

“I’ll get a contraceptive first.”

Zhou Yuqin had just reached under the bedsheet to get a contraceptive when she felt Li Xiangdong, who was pressing down on her, tremble as he held her.

She quickly turned on the light and looked at Li Xiangdong, who hadn’t even taken off his pants, in surprise. “What’s wrong with you?”

What the hell!

Li Xiangdong cursed in a low voice, got off his wife, and angrily took off his large shorts and threw them on the floor!

Zhou Yuqin couldn’t hear what he was muttering, but how could she, not being a fool, not understand the situation?

“What’s with that look? It’s because I drank. Yes, I drank a little too much tonight!”

Li Xiangdong was extremely embarrassed now. Why did he have to act so horny for no reason? Now he had made a fool of himself in front of his wife