She sniffed, feeling apologetic.
Only now did she realize that she had never made any attempts of curbing her temper before Lu Yi; you can only behave this way before someone you are extremely close to.
Only those that care about you the most would tolerate all your tantrums, faults, and mistakes. In their eyes, all your actions are forgivable. Her mother was one of them; Lu Yi was another.
Lu Yi’s eyes opened at the noise. He sat up.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Worried that she might be ill, he felt her forehead. She had two babies inside her, and the burden of three people sharing one body was something Lu Yi could never understand.
“No,” Yan Huan shook her head. Her stomach growled.
She was hungry.
Lu Yi heard it too.
“You’re hungry?” he asked, incredulous. Despite having eaten a lot in the day and night, with snacks to top it off, she was hungry again. Lu Yi checked his watch.
“It’s 3 A.M. Would you like to eat something?”
“Yes,” nodded Yan Huan. “I’ll go cook myself some noodles. I can’t sleep when I’m hungry.”
“You are doing the cooking?” frowned Lu Yi.
“Yeah.” She put on her slippers. “Aunty has to go back at night. Her daughter-in-law had given birth recently, and I feel bad enough to keep her here all day. I can’t have her stay the night too. Plus, I’m fit enough to cook.”
There were all sorts of ingredients in the fridge, so cooking up some noodles or dumplings was easy. That was how she got by during the last month.
She slipped into her pajamas and stood up. Her tummy jutted out beneath her loose pajamas, but that didn’t make her any less lean or agile than a normal person.
Lu Yi’s eyebrows knitted together tightly. Yan Huan turned around, feeling light.
“Aunty told me that I eat too much and get hungry too quickly, so I have to move around more. Do I look like a masochist? I may not have money or my phone, but Liang Chen gave me access to hers.”
“I just want to do something by myself.”
With that, she rolled up her sleeves and headed into the kitchen. Don’t treat her like a poor, abused wife. There wasn’t a moment in the past few months when she and her babies suffered.
If she wanted to eat something, the nanny would bring it to her the next day. There were always snacks and fruits available in the house.
She cracked a tea egg on the bowl of noodles and was about to leave the kitchen when she remembered Lu Yi had not yet eaten. Lu Yi had followed her into the kitchen, watching silently as she set the water to boil and dunked the noodles in. He was visibly relieved when he saw that her actions were practiced and that she wasn’t pushing herself.
“You can have this,” she said as she passed the bowl to Lu Yi. “I’ll cook myself another one.”
Lu Yi took the bowl with one hand and her hand with the other, led her to the kitchen, and helped her sit down. He set the bowl before her.
“Go ahead. I’ll cook another bowl for myself.”
“Okay,” said Yan Huan. She picked up a pair of chopsticks and directed her attention to the food. She was famished.
Lu Yi shed off his jacket and went into the kitchen to make a bowl of noodles for himself. He wasn’t all that hungry, but he wanted to eat together with Yan Huan.
When he walked out with a steaming bowl of noodles, Yan Huan had finished all her noodles and was slurping the soup.
“Want more?” he offered. Yan Huan took the bowl of noodles, equipped her chopsticks, and began eating again.
In the end, Yan Huan finished both bowls of noodles, leaving Lu Yi not so much as a drop of soup.
Lu Yi finally understood the extent of “a lot” when the nanny told him about how much Yan Huan was eating. She was eating a lot, but why wasn’t she getting fatter? Except that she was–just in the tummy.
When Yan Huan slurped up the last remnants of noodle soup, she (and the two in her belly) felt satisfied through and through. It was so good. Lu Yi’s noodles were tastier than her own, she had to admit. The sour and spicy taste was unique to Xun River. She felt amazing.
“I want this again tomorrow,” said Yan Huan, placing her order in advance.
“Sure,” said Lu Yi, holding her hand and taking her on a stroll in the house. The place was too small, though. It will be much better after they return to their parent’s house, where there was more space and less people and fresher air. He would be more assured with Ye Shuyun and the nanny by her side.
“Let’s go back tomorrow,” said Lu Yi, stopping and holding Yan Huan’s shoulders. She was rubbing her eyes sleepily, but Lu Yi insisted on making her walk a little more. She had eaten too much, so it’ll be bad for digestion if she went to bed too soon.
Yan Huan rubbed her eyes again. Within her sleepy eyes was an inexplicable stubbornness; she still didn’t want to go back.
“It’s about time for another check-up,” said Lu Yi, feeling Yan Huan’s face. It was cold. The weather at this place was colder than back home.
Check-up? Only then did Yan Huan realize she had not gone through any check-ups for a month. She yearned and loathed to go at the same time. What should she do if the doctor told her that her children were unhealthy?
“There are some things we have to face,” Lu Yi sighed softly. Escaping wasn’t a solution. There were some things they couldn’t escape from, things they were bound to face and deal with some day.
Yan Huan parted her lips for so long they began to ache, but found nothing to say. In the end, she leaned her head against Lu Yi’s shoulder.
“I’m scared.”