As soon as she stepped out, she saw Xia Zheng waiting at the entrance of the main hall, looking at her with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, his face radiating with the contentment of being pampered by his wife.
Seeing his smirk that deserved a punch, Lin Yuan stuffed the bedding in her hand into his arms and tossed out a sentence before she returned to fetch the remaining bedding, "Hold these!"
Xia Zheng buried his head in the lofty bedding, feeling the softness in front of him, convinced that it was warmer than all the other blankets he had ever slept with.
After Lin Yuan had made the bed, Lin Yi had also prepared the hot water. Lin Yuan’s house didn’t have a large tub, so they used the biggest wooden basin, typically for laundry, as a makeshift bath. It just meant that they couldn’t sit inside to soak as one would do in an actual tub, but had to pour water over themselves with a scoop to bathe.
That’s how they always bathed at home.
Lin Yuan had initially worried that such rudimentary bathing conditions would be uncomfortable for Xia Zheng, but to her surprise, when Lin Yi brought over the large basin, Xia Zheng didn’t show any disdain at all, and after Lin Yi prepared the hot water, he simply waved him away.
The change of clothes and the bathing beans had been readied by Shopkeeper Liu before their arrival. Luxuries like bathing beans were not something Lin Yuan’s family had; even using a bean pod was considered extravagant.
Seeing that Lin Yuan was still standing at the door with no intention of leaving, Xia Zheng hooked his lips and casually undid a button at his throat, raising an eyebrow to say, "Oh, does Eldest Miss Lin want to admire the graceful figure of this young master, or is she planning to take advantage of him?"
Lin Yuan was taken aback, finally realizing he had already begun to unbutton his garment to bathe, and she was still obliviously worrying about whether he would find their large laundry basin disagreeable.
Her cheeks flushing, Lin Yuan cursed under her breath and stamped her foot before turning to run, "Don’t flatter yourself! With all those chicken bones on you, where’s the graceful figure? Hmph, I’d rather go check out Lin Yi!"
Lin Yi, who was standing by ready to serve, suddenly slipped and nearly fell. My goodness, quarrel all you want, but don’t drag me into it. With the needle-like pride of our Second Young Master, one might take it seriously! That’s it, I’m done for, about to have bad luck again.
Surely enough, Xia Zheng was stroking his chin, probably scheming some wicked idea.
Lin Yuan thought Xia Zheng wouldn’t need anything else, so she closed the door behind her with a snap upon leaving. Just as she was about to return to her room to sleep, the door creaked open behind her, and Xia Zheng’s cheerfully teasing voice followed, "Yuanyuan, I’m hungry."
Hearing the overly coy call, Lin Yuan felt goosebumps all over her body. This guy was hungry? Who was that person who had three bowls of porridge, ate two bean paste buns, three pieces of jade bean cakes, four ribs, and two plates of vegetables that evening? And who was the one moaning and groaning about being too full and insisting she massage his stomach?
Seeing that Lin Yuan wasn’t moving or speaking, Xia Zheng leaned against the door frame, this time twisting his voice even more, "Yuanyuan."
Lin Yuan shivered, truly at her wits’ end with him, and turned around almost pleadingly, "Alright, alright, I’ll make you something to eat. Just please stop calling me in that tone; you don’t want to attract wolves, do you?"
Xia Zheng let out a chuckle and called out again, happily, sending Lin Yuan scampering to the kitchen covered in goosebumps.
Lin Yi stood at the corner of the wall, curling his lip in disdain at his young master’s whining methods. Just as he covered his ears, planning to shut out someone’s pretentious humming, his vision suddenly went dark as a dirty, sweat-stinking robe was thrown over his head.