Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
After dinner and a wash, Ye Mo went to Liu Duo’s room, took off his outer garments, and fell onto the bed. It was rare of him to not sneak under Liu Duo’s blanket. Liu Duo had her back to him as she leisurely slipped into her dreams.
Ye Mo kept recalling that remark, and it made him terribly uneasy. Ye Yang had told him not to force her. Li Wazi was right, having a wife was like living the life of a monk!
In the middle of the night, while she was sound asleep, Liu Duo suddenly felt as though she was near a heat source and getting hotter by the second. She squinted her eyes open to find Ye Mo tightly wrapped around her, touching her here and there. She slapped his hands away and moved aside.
In a blur she said, “Go to sleep, don’t touch anything.”
By then Liu Duo was so sleepy her brain was not working right. She did not want to argue with him. She just wanted to sleep.
In the beginning Ye Mo had also been fast asleep, and he was not sure what happened next, but Li Wazi’s words kept invading his mind, and in a blur he had snuck under Liu Duo’s blanket and held on to her. He didn’t want to be a monk. He had a wife!
“Say, Liu Duo, do you want us to become monks?” Ye Mo asked softly, his voice hoarse, and he somehow sounded aggrieved.
“…” Liu Duo, who was terribly tired, had no desire to listen to him in detail. Her mind was totally blank.
Having received no response, Ye Mo stopped talking, as though he was muttering in his dreams.
In the morning, when Liu Duo woke up, Ye Mo was not by her side. She did not care. She turned about in bed and slept for a while longer before finally waking up.
On that morning, Ye Ling made noodles. He only started cooking when Liu Duo went to wash up.
“Ling, the noodles taste great,” she giggled after a mouthful.
Ye Ling smiled too, “As long as you like them.”
He was happiest when Liu Duo was eating the food he had prepared, because he felt he wasn’t good at anything else, besides cooking.
“Mo…” With a ‘bang’, the door to their yard was forcefully pushed open.
In came Li Wazi, looking very anxious. The four looked at him curiously, wondering what the emergency was so early in the morning.
Realising it was his friend, Ye Mo had no kind words to say, “Li Wazi, what’s this about? If you broke our door you’ll have to repair it!”
Having ran there in a rush, Li Wazi caught his breath, “I came here in a hurry, to tell you guys.”
He heaved another breath and added, “Just now, I saw your grandmother with a few strangers, and they are heading towards your parents’ graves. They have hoes with them, like they’re planning to dig something.”
Hearing that, Ye Yang leapt up immediately and rushed outside. He had surely underestimated his grandmother. She could not get help in the village, so she had asked for assistance from strangers in town?
Ye Ling watched Ye Yang run off. He stood up and wanted to follow. Ye Mo asked, “Ling, what happened? Are you hiding something from me?”
Upon seeing Ye Yang’s reaction, he had guessed that something must have happened the previous day.
“Your grandmother wants to dig up your parents’ graves, saying they’re getting in the way of Ye Xuan’s scholarship!”
Ye Ling could not say anything. A look of resentment was plastered on his face. Liu Duo could not stand it.
Another ‘bang’ and this time Ye Mo threw aside his bowl. Filled with rage, Ye Mo dashed outside too, quickly followed by Li Wazi. Then Ye Mo doubled back, grabbed the shoulder pole under the roof, and rushed out again with a stern look on his face.
He initially wanted to take the axe, but that could cause some bloody injuries, and that wouldn’t be acceptable in front of his parents’ graves. He did not want them to see. But a blunt weapon, while still painful, would not shed blood!