He Teng continued, "You even helped me change my clothes and clean my body."
"I am your wife, you were drunk, these are the things I should be doing." He Zhilan responded.
A laughter full of ambiguity and apparent sarcasm came out of nowhere.
"He Zhilan, sometimes, I really can’t understand you—you change abruptly, and I always think, are you pretending? You’ve been pretending till now, isn’t it enough? But why does it seem like you plan to keep pretending? Why?" He Teng pressed his face closer to He Zhilan, his nose touching hers. As he spoke, his breath, mixed with the smell of alcohol, washed over her face.
"He Zhilan, listen carefully, even if you’re pretending, you have to pretend for me for a lifetime!" He lifted his hand to her eyes as they sparkled with innocence, confusion and hurt. He sighed, his voice softening, "If you really have changed, then never change back, okay?"
How helpless was his plea? He Teng seemed somewhat torn and scared of losing her.
Unexpectedly, He Zhilan felt a sting in her eyes and tears started rolling down.
How bad, how hurtful had she been in the past? To the point where even He Teng was stunned by her changes.
A pang of pain stabbed at He Zhilan’s heart. It ached both for their uncertain future and for He Teng himself.
"He Zhilan, you have to be good~" Because, I don’t want to hurt you. He Teng didn’t speak the latter part of the sentence – the remaining words were sealed within him by a kiss.
His kiss was light, neither too slow nor too rushed, as if he was delicately tasting her, carefully lapping up her tears along with it.
In He Teng’s memory, no one had ever cared for him this way.
Being the eldest son of the He family, he grew up taking care of the family’s matters and helping his parents look after his younger siblings.
His mother passed away early, and watching his father struggle to care for the entire family made him all the more eager to grow up quickly and become independent so that his father wouldn’t have to worry about him.
From a young age, he traveled long distances to school on his own. Because he knew they were short of money, he never told his father about the school fees. He would rather be singled out and reprimanded by the teacher than add to the family’s burdens.
At school, he put up with being bullied so that his parents wouldn’t be bothered by complaints from the school. However, if anyone dared to bully his younger brother, He Teng would be the first to stand up and risk everything to protect him.
Luckily, all these years, as the eldest son of the He Family, he made sure his father never had to worry about him. He joined the army when he was only fifteen. The thought of being able to reduce his family’s burden while also earning some money for them was a great comfort amidst his homesickness.
Once he was in the army, he bore all the hardship and weariness on his own. Over the years, he understood the distress of missing one’s family during holidays more than anyone. As he stood guard, he would think of his family and the times growing up, even the adopted sister whose face he could hardly recall.
In He Teng’s life, taking care was something reserved for the weak and the young, like how he cared for his younger siblings. He never expected that his new bride would bravely scold him while showing her little temper and care for him after he got drunk. She carefully cleaned him and changed his clothes, all to ensure he slept comfortably.