"Wife, wife-lord." Afu struggled for a long time before finally uttering the difficult two words. As soon as he spoke, his ears turned red. "I'm not even three months pregnant yet."
Gu Yitong was very pleased with Afu's address. She smiled, turned sideways, and loosely embraced Afu's waist, not daring to go further, for fear of scaring him.
"Mmm, I know."
He had emphasized it several times today.
"So, I can't, I can't with you right now..." Afu bit his lip. No matter how determined he was, the shameful word still swirled in his mouth, unable to be spoken. "But, if, if you want, I can serve you. I learned yesterday."
Even Gu Yitong, as bold as she was, noticed something was amiss. She swallowed with disbelief, slightly sat up, moved Afu's shoulders, and had him lie flat on the bed facing her.
Looking at Afu's small, pitiful face flushed red, Gu Yitong suppressed the wicked thought in her heart. "You've always thought I was a beastly person, haven't you? That I wouldn't let you go even during the first three months of your pregnancy?"
Gu Yitong hesitated, knowing Afu was shy. She silently replaced the word "coitus" with the more common "consummate the marriage," but Afu still blushed upon hearing it. She, she had actually said it so openly.
Afu didn't speak, but nodded silently with a flushed face, his gaze somewhat evasive.
"Do you think I'm such a beastly person in your heart? That I wouldn't let you go even during the first three months of your pregnancy?" Gu Yitong spoke with difficulty, feigning heartbreak.
Meeting Afu's confused gaze, Gu Yitong dropped a bombshell. "I just wanted you to rest, the kind of rest where you lie on the bed."
After speaking, Gu Yitong sighed helplessly. It seemed they had been on completely different wavelengths throughout their conversation, talking past each other, yet managing to complete this dialogue was truly remarkable.
Afu was stunned by this news. He blinked blankly, and then, as if finally processing the information, he whimpered, turned, and buried his head in his arms, his whole body curling into a ball.
He was truly embarrassed and didn't dare to face Gu Yitong. He shrunk into a tight ball, wishing he could disappear on the spot.
It was too shameful. As a newly married man, the first day hadn't even passed, and he had already... already!
He had conjured so much in his mind, and that too when his wife-lord had no such intentions. It was too embarrassing, sob—
He felt his whole body burning, especially his face, as if it were emitting smoke. This was not his imagination; it seemed like smoke was indeed rising.
"Okay, okay." Gu Yitong, afraid Afu would suffocate, gently picked him up and held him in her arms.
"It's my fault. If I hadn't spoken carelessly, my husband wouldn't have misunderstood. Please be merciful, husband, and forgive me. Don't be angry anymore."
Instead of directly telling Afu not to be angry, Gu Yitong immediately took the blame, indicating it was her fault and he was blameless.
Afu remained silent in Gu Yitong's embrace, his head bowed, making it impossible to see his expression. However, Gu Yitong could still feel his distress.
This misunderstanding was indeed quite absurd, yet it was hard to blame anyone.
Afu remained listless in Gu Yitong's embrace, not speaking much, his face still flushed.
How could he have thought of that? Would Gu Yitong think his mind was filled with such things? Would she misunderstand? This was too embarrassing.
"What are you thinking, husband?" Gu Yitong swayed her arms, causing Afu's body to move along with them.
"Weren't you just eager to drink the nuptial wine? Let me get it for you."
As Gu Yitong spoke, she helped Afu lean against the bed and got off to pour wine from the table.
It was better when Gu Yitong didn't mention it. Her words reminded Afu of what had just happened. If he had known it was just ordinary rest, he wouldn't have been so eager to drink the nuptial wine.
When she returned with the wine, Afu's cheeks seemed to have reddened a bit more. Perhaps it was more noticeable against the backdrop of the bright red wedding quilt. Gu Yitong couldn't quite tell, as Afu's face had been red since he entered the room, and she could no longer distinguish a slight increase or decrease in redness.
This was naturally not real wine. Afu was pregnant and could not drink alcohol, so Gu Yitong found a fruit juice with a similar flavor to wine and put it in a wine bottle, serving it as a form of nuptial wine.
After drinking the nuptial wine, the ceremony was considered complete. The joy of the completed ceremony dispelled the recent awkwardness, and Afu finally showed a smile.
Afu took out a sachet from his chest and shyly handed it to Gu Yitong. "This is a hair-binding sachet, embroidered by myself."
"Good."
Gu Yitong responded softly and walked to the cabinet, picking up the prepared scissors. She cut a lock of hair from each of them and tied them together with a red thread.
Their black hair intertwined, becoming one. They looked at each other and smiled, all their affection conveyed without words.
The candlelight in the room burned all night, and the red candles lasted until dawn. While the red candles were not fully consumed, their affection would last forever.
Inside the room, the couple was engrossed in sweet talk and affection. Outside, several people were diligently fending off drinks for their sisters.
Zheng Yu, as Gu Yitong's future sister-in-law, naturally had to perform well. All the wine offered to Gu Yitong was intercepted by Zheng Yu, who drank it all.
After Gu Yitong left, Zheng Yu also handled most of the remaining drinks. By the end, Zheng Yu was already groggy, not quite unconscious but close to it.
Shen Xuan and Gu Yi, along with a few male guests, were in another room. Gu Yi was responsible for entertaining them. There were fewer male guests, and most of them knew each other.
Shen Xuan and Wu Rong were chatting happily. Wu Rong had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl, after the new year, which was the envy of everyone. Sister Li was so excited that she couldn't sleep for days.
The auspicious birth of twins was seen by the villagers as Wu Rong bringing them good luck.
However, this also came with immense pain.
A few days before Wu Rong's delivery, Wu Shao stopped going to the medical clinic and stayed home to accompany him, as did Sister Li, who rarely went out.
Lu Yu went two days in advance to check the pulse of Madam Li and confirmed her due date was within those two days. Sister Li directly hired a midwife from town, not begrudging the extra money, for fear that they wouldn't make it in time if labor started.
Lu Yu had also prepared medicine for Madam Li well in advance, but even with such thorough preparations, Madam Li still had a difficult labor.
This was within Lu Yu's expectations. Madam Li's body had been severely depleted in the previous months, and even with careful conditioning in the last two months, it couldn't be fully replenished.
When Madam Li went into labor, Wu Shao quickly ran to the medical clinic to bring Lu Yu back. Madam Li was carrying twins, so the labor was slower. When Lu Yu returned, Madam Li was still following the midwife's instructions, leaning on Sister Li and walking back and forth with great effort.