"You bastard..."
"What are you two doing?" Auntie's voice suddenly rang out from the doorway. "I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything at all!"
Lan Yu seized the opportunity to push An Jing away, her face flushing red. "Auntie, I... he..."
"She's treating my illness," An Jing said, acting as if nothing had happened, smiling at Auntie. "After she treated me, I feel much better."
"You young people, you're still not settling down even when you're sick. You should take care of yourselves." Auntie didn't believe him.
Lan Yu quickly moved to Auntie's side and said, "Auntie, let me help you thread the needle."
With that, she took Auntie's hand and they left the room.
An Jing lay back down on the bed, his eyes closing in exhaustion, truly ready to sleep.
He had already tested that Lan Yu was saying one thing and meaning another, and that there was still hope for reconciliation between them. He then drifted off to dreamland.
When his uncle and aunt returned from the county with medicine, An Jing woke up, but Lan Yu was nowhere to be seen.
Auntie, holding the medicine and a cup of hot water, placed them by the bedside. "The pharmacy in the county said this cold medicine is the best. It can treat both coughs and fevers."
An Jing picked up the medicine box, looked at it, opened it, and took a pill. As he was drinking water, Auntie said again, "You can't sleep here tonight. I twisted my back when I was traveling by car today, so I need to sleep with your uncle tonight so he can massage it for me."
An Jing swallowed a mouthful of water, thinking that Auntie was indirectly trying to get rid of him again. He feigned weakness and said, "I'm still sick and have nowhere to go. Are you going to make me sleep in the yard?"
"You," Auntie said with a smile, "Of course, you'll go to Lan Yu's room. You'll help her take care of the baby tonight!"
An Jing's heart leaped with joy, but he still pretended to be hesitant. "Lan Yu... she won't forgive me, and she'll just kick me out."
Auntie poked him on the head and said, "Stop pretending. Mom already told me that you two did that that thing today."
An Jing's eyes widened. He hadn't expected Auntie to still think they had done something. He said playfully, "Didn't Auntie say she didn't see anything?"
"Move over yourself tonight," Auntie said, then walked out of the room to attend to other matters.
An Jing shouted "Yes!" in his heart. He hadn't expected Lan Yu's relatives to help him.
However, from the afternoon until dinner, Lan Yu didn't appear before him again, deliberately avoiding him.
During dinner, Lan Yu ate with the child in the room and didn't come out to join everyone.
An Jing sat at the table, eating and glancing towards the room where Lan Yu was staying.
"Xiao Xiao, you can't hit people anymore," Auntie suddenly said, speaking sternly to him. "If you and Lan Yu can reconcile, go back and live your lives properly. Don't bully her anymore."
An Jing quickly nodded and said, "Auntie, I understand. Please don't worry."
"Eat quickly. After you finish eating, go coax the mother and daughter." Auntie's tone softened slightly.
An Jing wanted to get closer to Auntie, so he smiled and asked, "Yesterday you said our zodiac signs didn't match. Do mine and hers clash?"
"They aren't the most compatible, but they don't clash either. If you live your lives properly, there won't be any problems," Auntie replied.
An Jing continued to press, "Can you teach me how to calculate this by counting on my fingers?"
Auntie suppressed a smile and remained silent.
Auntie couldn't help but laugh and went to get a zodiac book from home, throwing it into An Jing's hands. "After reading this old almanac, you'll know how to calculate it too."
"Ah." An Jing didn't quite understand. He opened the yellowed booklet and saw that it listed the compatibility and taboos for each zodiac sign. He couldn't help but say, "Auntie, are you talking about this?"
Auntie finally smiled and said, "Xiao Xiao, I was teasing you last night. You actually took it seriously."
"Every household in our village has this booklet, especially the elderly who like to look at these things," Auntie added, still laughing at him.
"Oh, oh." An Jing closed the booklet and put it aside. He hadn't expected an elder like Auntie to joke with him.
He suddenly liked this family very much. Although their life wasn't affluent, it made him feel warm.
He served dishes to Auntie, his uncle, and Auntie, and began to chat and laugh with them freely.
Lan Yu, hiding in the room, heard the cheerful sounds from outside. She hadn't expected An Jing to get along so well with her uncle's family so quickly.
She quietly peeked through the crack in the door, thinking that he had no other skills, but his mouth could coax birds down from the trees.
At night, Xiao Ning Yu had already fallen asleep, and she was also yawning continuously. However, Auntie hadn't come to her room yet, and she didn't know what she was busy with.
She didn't want to go out to find Auntie, fearing she might run into An Jing and he would attempt a forceful move again, which she might not be able to resist.
She didn't want to forgive him so quickly!
She was too sleepy to stay awake, so she went to sleep first, leaving space for Auntie.
As she drifted in and out of sleep, she felt someone pressing closely against her. She couldn't help but move towards the inner side of the bed.
In her sleep, she sensed that every time she moved, the person lying beside her also moved.
Suddenly, she realized that the person sleeping next to her wasn't Auntie. She woke up, wanting to get up, but was embraced by the person beside her.
"Don't be afraid, it's me."
She heard An Jing's voice and finally relaxed, but then instantly became tense again, afraid of waking Ning Yu. She lowered her voice and said, "What are you doing in my room? Get out!"
"Auntie asked me to sleep here tonight. She said she wasn't feeling well and needed Uncle to take care of her."
Lan Yu didn't want to be so close to him, but there was nowhere else to move. She was already pressed against the wall.
"Is Auntie sick? Then I need to go check on her." She said, trying to get up.
An Jing stopped her and said, "You can't go. It's a husband and wife sleeping at night. What would it be like for you to go into their room?"
Lan Yu thought about it and didn't move anymore.
Good heavens, Auntie said she was on her side, yet she didn't even tell her, just let An Jing run into her room.
"Listen to me. From now on, I will only focus on you and Ning Yu. I will never get angry with you again about Xiao Xiao's matter. I promise!"
Lan Yu quickly told him to stop talking. "Don't talk anymore, go to sleep."
"Okay, let's sleep." An Jing shamelessly pressed even closer to her.
Annoyed, she forcefully turned to face him and pushed him hard, only to find her hand touching his burning skin.
"You... you should put your clothes on quickly." Lan Yu's face turned red with shame. She hadn't expected him to have taken off his clothes under the covers.
"I'm not wearing them," An Jing said, then snuggled into her quilt.
Lan Yu kicked him hard. He grunted and pretended to be in great pain, saying, "My cold hasn't gotten better yet. How can you be so heartless?"
"Did I injure you? I was also forced by you..." Lan Yu stopped struggling. Confused, she was taken advantage of by him, and even went along with him, accommodating him.
Suddenly, she forgot the detestable things he had done, and their hearts were once again close together.
He craved to possess, while she was actually afraid of losing.
As the passion subsided, An Jing whispered in her ear, "Will you come back with me tomorrow?"
"I'm not going back."