Chapter 278: Chapter 115: Consummation (Part 3)

"Then you..."

"If we consummate our marriage now, how could I ever bear to leave you? I’d spend my nights tossing and turning, thinking of you until dawn."

Chen Wanqing’s cheeks flushed crimson.

On her enchanting, beautiful face, her watery eyes glistened.

She turned her head aside, flustered, revealing a delicate, rosy ear.

The sight was like a magnolia blossom blushing in shyness, or a lotus flower tinged by the sunset’s glow—so exquisitely beautiful she took one’s breath away.

She lay beneath him, completely defenseless, tempting him to partake.

Zhao Jing’s breathing grew heavy. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he lowered his head and kissed her hard.

But it was only a trembling kiss before he forced himself to pull back. "Wanqing, let’s wait until we return from the Prefecture. We have to leave for the county town early tomorrow. I’m afraid I won’t be able to take proper care of... you."

Zhao Jing hadn’t even uttered the last word, "you," when an irrepressible, long groan escaped him.

He lowered his head in disbelief. The woman who had been blushing furiously just a moment ago now raised her pale, slender arms and wrapped them tenderly around his neck.

Her expression was still shy, and her whole body seemed to be trembling slightly.

But instinctively, and with such determination, she gently began to suckle at his Adam’s apple.

Zhao Jing’s loss of composure and his flustered state all stemmed from this one act.

His stiffness made her hesitate, but Chen Wanqing still spoke the words she had held in her heart for so long.

"Jing, there’s always another tomorrow, but why wait? There’s no time like the present. Let’s make it today."

Those words seemed to unleash a beast hidden in Zhao Jing’s heart. His eyes instantly darkened, and he couldn’t stop himself from swallowing hard several times.

He didn’t say another word in response to Chen Wanqing. Instead, with unwavering resolve, he began to peel her clean from head to toe, like an onion.

As the night deepened, gusts of wind howled one after another.

Xiang’er was sleeping with her mother tonight. She had gotten her period today, which meant she was a young woman now.

Girls of that age were often awed and frightened by menstruation. They worried that if they bled too much, they might die. They also feared that blood-sucking insects would crawl into their beds at night and get into their clothes.

When the fierce winds began to howl outside, Xiang’er, who was a light sleeper, was startled awake.

The main gate was BANGING loudly. Normally at this time, her big brother would have already gotten up to bar the door with the wooden plank.

’Is it because they have to travel tomorrow? Did he go to bed early?’

Xiang’er listened again and thought she heard the sound of cats in heat. She was a little afraid of the cats that yowled on the rooftops in spring. Their cries were always so shrill, and sometimes they would break into screeching, squawking fights. When she slept alone, she was often so scared that she would huddle under the covers, afraid to even breathe.

But since she was sleeping with her mother today, Xiang’er felt braver. She asked her mother, "Have the stray cats from the village come to our house again?"

Mrs. Zhao replied in a soothing voice, "Perhaps. It’s springtime, after all. It’s normal for cats to be in heat."

She didn’t explain any further to her daughter, simply patting Xiang’er gently. "Go to sleep now. I’ll wake you up in the night to change your sanitary bandage."

"Okay."

Once Xiang’er was asleep, Mrs. Zhao got up slowly, preparing to go bar the main gate with the wooden plank.

Worried about waking her son and daughter-in-law next door, she was extremely quiet, even when sliding her own door open.

But precisely because she was being so quiet, the sounds from the next room became somewhat obvious.

A cold gust of wind blew past. Mrs. Zhao’s expression froze for a moment, then her face flushed red with embarrassment.

’That’s not cats in heat. That’s people.’

Mrs. Zhao’s face was beet red. Forgetting all about barring the main gate, she carefully and quietly closed her own door and hurried back inside to rest.

That night, Mrs. Zhao slept very, very well.

Even though she woke up once in the middle of the night to wake Xiang’er to change her sanitary bandage, she quickly fell back into a deep sleep as soon as she lay down. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

In her dream, under a bright sun, a small child who looked like a mix of Qing’er and Jing was waving at her. The toddler stumbled toward her, calling out "Grandma!" and "Sweetheart misses you!" over and over.

That sweet, childish voice completely melted Mrs. Zhao’s heart.