"I..." Lu Yu didn't know how to answer.
Actually, she didn't particularly want children. She had heard that men giving birth here was even more dangerous than women giving birth in the past, and the medical skills were not developed. There was no way to perform a cesarean section. If Shen Xuan had any accidents, she wouldn't be able to bear it.
Lu Yu only found out later that men here, during pregnancy, would automatically open a small opening in their abdomen in the third month of pregnancy to prepare for childbirth. Less than a month after childbirth, the opening would automatically disappear.
Seeing Lu Yu hesitate, Shen Xuan's heart sank. He grabbed Lu Yu's arm, his eyes full of anxiety, "Wife, you don't want the baby?"
"It's not that I don't want it. These things should happen naturally, no need to force it. Besides, we just got married, and I haven't had enough of our time together yet. Stay with me a little longer."
Lu Yu casually pulled Shen Xuan into her arms, explaining her hesitation in a clingy manner.
"Knock knock!"
The waiter, holding a plate of food, knocked on the door. Upon hearing Lu Yu's invitation to enter, he pushed the door open and came in.
Hearing the knock, Shen Xuan quickly broke free from Lu Yu's embrace, sat to the side, and checked his appearance with his hands.
The waiter left after putting down the food. Shen Xuan heard Lu Yu's suppressed laughter beside him, turned, and glared at Lu Yu with feigned anger.
"You're never serious."
"I'm not serious, and you don't like it, husband?" Lu Yu leaned in again, smiling at Shen Xuan's tightly held face.
Every time Shen Xuan said something like this to Lu Yu, Lu Yu would retort with this sentence, and it always hit the mark.
It wasn't that Shen Xuan liked this; rather, no matter what Lu Yu was like, Shen Xuan would like her.
"Eat quickly."
Unable to argue with Lu Yu, Shen Xuan picked up the chopsticks and handed them to Lu Yu. Seeing her take them, he didn't bother to see if she ate, and lowered his head to eat his own meal.
"Eat more vegetables, don't just eat rice." Lu Yu occasionally picked up a piece of food and placed it in Shen Xuan's bowl.
Shen Xuan was already accustomed to this; when they ate at home, his wife always served him food.
After eating and drinking their fill, Lu Yu personally draped a cloak over Shen Xuan and they walked out of the restaurant.
The temperature had dropped quickly in the past few days, and it would snow within days. The cloak Shen Xuan was wearing was a bit thin; it was time to go to the tailor shop to buy some cold-weather clothing for Shen Xuan, especially since Shen Xuan was so sensitive to the cold, he should get dressed warmer sooner.
As they arrived at the entrance of the tailor shop in a carriage, a shop assistant greeted them warmly, "Are you two here to buy clothes? Please come in, our shop has all kinds of clothes, everything you could possibly want."
"Buy some thick clothes and cloaks for my husband." Lu Yu helped Shen Xuan take off his cloak, skillfully draped it over her arm, and said to the shop assistant.
"Then please follow me. I'll take you to see the cloaks first." The shop assistant's eyes kept glancing at Shen Xuan, thinking to himself, how beautiful must this husband be? He had never seen a wife so naturally handle clothes for her husband.
The shop assistant mentally pictured Shen Xuan as a handsome, alluring man.
It was a pity that he was wearing a veil, so he couldn't see anything.
Lu Yu, seeing the shop assistant's frequent glances at her husband, became displeased. She blocked Shen Xuan and held his hand, following the shop assistant.
Shen Xuan couldn't see clearly inside the veil, but Lu Yu saw everything clearly. The shop assistant's eyes were lecherous, always trying to find an angle to peek under the veil.
"You can go attend to other matters. We'll pick out a few things ourselves here." After being led to the cloak section by the shop assistant, Lu Yu pulled Shen Xuan behind her and spoke coldly to the shop assistant.
The shop assistant understood the unconcealed hostility in Lu Yu's tone and dared not stay any longer. He bowed and left dejectedly.
"Wife, what's wrong?" Shen Xuan also heard the coldness in Lu Yu's tone. He reached out from his sleeve, tugged at Lu Yu's collar, and asked in confusion.
"It's nothing." Lu Yu subconsciously didn't want Shen Xuan to know about such things. Changing the subject, she reached out and lifted the veil from Shen Xuan's hat, placing it on the hat.
"See which one you like?" Lu Yu patiently showed Shen Xuan one piece after another.
Shen Xuan stopped in front of a smoke-blue cloak. Next to it was a women's cloak, bright white. Both had light pink plum blossoms printed on the hem, clearly a matching set.
"Wife, these two..." Shen Xuan turned to look at Lu Yu.
Lu Yu received the message conveyed by Shen Xuan's gaze, smiled, and held Shen Xuan's hand tighter, "We truly are of one heart."
After selecting several other cotton clothes, Lu Yu called for the shop assistant to wrap them all up. Unexpectedly, the shop assistant who came was the same person.
Shen Xuan's veil had been lowered after choosing the clothes. The shop assistant wanted to sneak a peek but was deterred by Lu Yu's presence.
While Lu Yu was looking down to get money, the shop assistant couldn't resist. She really wanted to see what kind of man could make a woman cherish him so much.
She gently picked at the edge of the veil, leaned in, and tried to peek through the gap.
She didn't fear being discovered by Shen Xuan, believing that Shen Xuan, having his veil lifted and his appearance seen by another woman, wouldn't dare to tell his wife.
But she didn't expect Shen Xuan to be that kind of person.
Shen Xuan saw the woman in front of him slowly leaning closer, the dark shadow of the veil growing larger, and even a corner of the veil being lifted. He panicked, quickly stepped back, and grabbed Lu Yu's hand, which was holding money.
The shop assistant was startled by this sudden movement and froze. When Lu Yu looked up at her, her hand hadn't retracted yet. Seeing that she had been discovered by Lu Yu, she quickly pulled her hand back, stammering with a forced smile.
Lu Yu grabbed her retracting hand, used a clever move to twist her arm behind her back, and said coldly, "I think you don't want this hand anymore, do you?"
"It hurts! It hurts, it hurts! I won't dare again, I won't dare again, spare me, spare me!" The shop assistant cried out in pain, attracting the attention of other customers.
Lu Yu didn't want her husband to be the subject of discussion again. To protect Shen Xuan's reputation, she released the shop assistant's hand and shoved her hard.
"I'll let you go for today. Hurry up and package them."
Lu Yu pulled the startled Shen Xuan behind her, shielding him from everyone's gaze.
"I just wanted to see your husband's celestial beauty." The shop assistant, having been let go, still wanted to defend herself.
Lu Yu had no intention of wasting time with her here. She snatched the bag of clothes and pulled Shen Xuan away.
Lu Yu hadn't expected Shen Xuan's birthday to be marred by such an incident. Sitting in the carriage and looking at Shen Xuan's still-shocked face, Lu Yu felt even more self-reproach.
"Xuan'er, don't be afraid, it's alright now." Lu Yu sat beside Shen Xuan, put her arm around his shoulders, and tightly held Shen Xuan's slightly cold fingertips with one hand.
"I'm fine, I was just startled," Shen Xuan said softly, rubbing his face against Lu Yu's shoulder, as if comforting Lu Yu by saying he was alright.
"Whoa—"
Lu Yu saw the carriage stop and was about to ask a question when she heard the driver's voice from outside, "Master, there are two small cats blocking the road."