But he had tried his best to change.
With that thought, he couldn’t help but gaze at her eagerly once more.
Seeing that his hands and face had not yet regained their color from being out in the cold too long, Dong Huiying quickly pulled him into the room and wrapped a blanket around him.
"The kang bed over here is warmer."
"Why don’t you sit down?" Why stand like a wooden post at the edge of the kang bed?
He hesitated for a moment, "Can I?" Clearly looking forward to it, wanting to join her, yet very cautious.
His overly cautious demeanor made Dong Huiying feel a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps, she had never truly understood him. Often, what she saw was only the surface and not the reality.
"Sit down, I can’t sleep anyway, we can chat for a bit."
His face broke into a big, silly grin of pure joy.
He was used to being rejected. He used to want his mother’s embrace, but she ignored him, and when he wanted to hold her hand, she would disdainfully shake him off. There were many such incidents.
He cherished her a lot, so he was also very careful, not wanting to make her angry again, wanting to make her happy, but there was so little he could do.
With that, the atmosphere turned quite cozy, until almost the dead of night, when the oil in the lamp was nearly spent.
She was so sleepy, she kept dozing off.
Seeing her drowsy, Liang Yuening quietly got up, approached her, and studied her face intently. He then opened his arms wide, miming an embrace, but did not actually hug her.
He smiled innocently, kinda dumbfoundedly.
The next day, dawn broke.
She lay on her back, looking up at Wood’s ceiling beams, took a laborious breath, then turned her head with a dark face to look at the man sleeping beside her.
Clinging to her like an octopus, his arms wrapped tightly around her, his long legs entangled with hers as if he were the Family Head of her legs.
Like a human shackle, he confined her, leaving her unable to move.
It was as if she had been struck by lightning!
They had chatted for a long time last night, and she was so tired that she didn’t know when she had fallen asleep. How come this man... didn’t leave?
She took a labored breath.
"Liang Yuening..." Could you move your leg first? You’re almost crushing me to death!
But he was snoozing lightly, sleeping so soundly, and from his curled up eyebrows and smile, it seemed like he was having a pleasant dream.
It looked like she had to fend for herself.
So, she gently wriggled out of his grasp and pushed away his long legs. Noticing that the blanket that had been covering both of them was now kicked aside, she pressed her temples with a resigned expression.
Then she crawled over to fetch the blanket and covered him with it, noticing that he seemed to furrow his brows. Maybe because the person he held in his arms was gone, he started to feel uneasy even in his sleep?
She observed him carefully.
Indeed a child that tugged at the heartstrings.
That’s what she thought.
Then she stuffed a pillow into his arms.
Soon, he was sleeping soundly again.
Dong Huiying put on her shoes and walked outside; after stepping out, she stretched languidly, took a breath of fresh air, and walked into the kitchen, glancing over the ingredients piled in the corner.
She thought to herself, maybe she should... be a little nicer to them, even nicer?
That morning, everyone was surprised to find that breakfast was more sumptuous than usual. Not that it was ever bad, but today both the porridge and the dishes had a few more varieties, and one could tell the care the cook had put in just from the appearance of the dishes.