Chapter 89: End of Confinement
It’s true what they say about children growing up in the blink of an eye. In a flash, it was time for Zhou Lian’s postpartum confinement to end. Nuonuo was already forty-five days old—a chubby, round, fair-skinned little girl who was impossible not to adore.
First thing in the morning, Zhou Lian urged Li Xiu to hurry. She could finally wash her hair and take a bath; she had barely managed to endure the past month and a half.
Seeing his excited wife, Li Xiu couldn’t help but laugh. ’Just how badly does she want to wash her hair and take a bath?’ In his last life, his wife had loved being clean, but surely not to this extent. ’Besides, she’s already washed her hair twice!’
Finally, around eleven in the morning—the warmest part of the winter day—Li Xiu brought the prepared ginger water into the room. He watched as Zhou Lian eagerly stripped off her clothes and settled into the wooden tub. She let out a long, comfortable sigh. "Finally, a proper bath! I feel like I’ve gone sour."
"Don’t be so dramatic. Didn’t you have a sponge bath twice? Don’t soak for too long. Your body has only just recovered. On a cold day like this, you absolutely can’t catch a chill," Li Xiu said as he walked to the front of the tub, crouching down to scrub her back.
No matter how well she had recovered, her body had still just gone through childbirth. Zhou Lian lay on the edge of the kang, letting Li Xiu dry her hair, and fell asleep halfway through. Seeing that she was asleep, Li Xiu didn’t have the heart to wake her. He just quickly finished drying her hair, then adjusted her position so she could sleep more comfortably.
As he was cleaning up, Grandma Li arrived. She smiled when she saw Li Xiu pouring out the bathwater. She had known her granddaughter-in-law would insist on bathing and washing her hair today, and sure enough, she was right.
"So, Nuo Nuo’s mother washed her hair and took a bath?" Grandma Li asked Li Xiu with a smile.
"Grandma, you’re here." Seeing his grandmother, Li Xiu quickly finished tidying up and helped her into the room.
Gazing at the mother and daughter sleeping on the kang, Grandma Li patted Li Xiu’s hand. She turned, walked back to the kitchen, and only spoke after sitting down. "Don’t go in there; you might wake them. Have you two eaten yet?"
"Not yet. She just finished her bath and fell asleep before her hair was even dry," Li Xiu said, sitting across from Grandma Li. "Grandma, have you eaten?"
"I have. I came over after I ate. I calculated that today was the forty-fifth day, so I came to check. Nuo Nuo’s mother was fussing about taking a bath, wasn’t she?" Grandma Li asked with a smile.
"Yeah, she’s been excited about it since first thing this morning."
"She likes being clean. It’s been forty-five days, so it’s fine for her to wash up."
Looking at her grandson, Grandma Li asked gently, "The spring plowing is starting soon. Nuo Nuo’s mother will have to go to the fields. Should I come and watch the baby then?"
"There’s no need, Grandma. I’m not planning on letting her work in the fields anymore. Nuonuo needs to nurse every two or three hours right now. If she goes out to work, Nuonuo won’t be able to eat on schedule. The family doesn’t need her work points that badly. She can just stay home and take care of Nuonuo," Li Xiu said, pursing his lips. ’Work in the fields? My wife has finally gained a little weight. The moment she starts that work, she’s guaranteed to get tired, tanned, and thin again. How could I bear to let her suffer like that?’
She gave him a long look. ’For the baby, he says. This boy just dotes on his wife.’ "Fine, then. Have you spoken to the team leader about this yet?"
Looking at Grandma Li, Li Xiu smiled. "I have. The team leader agreed."
When the mother and daughter on the kang woke up, Li Xiu took care of his own little girl while Grandma Li held Nuonuo, cooing and playing with her, urging her grandson and his wife to hurry up and eat.
After the meal, Grandma Li stayed for a little while longer before heading home.
"Bao’er, what do you feel like eating? I’ll make it for you tonight," Li Xiu said lazily, lying on the kang with his wife in his arms.
"You can decide. I don’t have any particular cravings," Zhou Lian said nonchalantly. Even though her confinement was over, their daughter still needed to nurse, so she had to stick to a strict diet.
That evening, after they had eaten and washed up, Li Xiu held Zhou Lian as they lay on the kang and said, "Bao’er, I want you."
Zhou Lian stared at him, speechless. ’To be so shameless! He really has some nerve.’
He held his wife and teased her for what felt like an eternity until Zhou Lian was on the verge of flying into a rage out of embarrassment. Only then did he calmly rise, plant another kiss on her, and get off the kang. Inwardly, however, he was thinking, ’I can finally have my fill tonight. It’s been almost half a year since I’ve been with my wife. You can’t blame me for wanting a little taste first!’
"Oh, right, Bao’er, Grandma asked today if she could help watch the baby, but I turned her down," Li Xiu said as he peeled an apple for his wife.
"Because of the spring plowing, right?" Zhou Lian said, looking at Li Xiu with an understanding expression. ’Now that my confinement is over, I’ll have to start working again.’
"You don’t have to go to the fields. I’ve already worked it out with the team leader. You won’t have to work this year; you can just stay home and look after the baby," Li Xiu said gently.
"Okay," Zhou Lian agreed readily. ’Next year, the household responsibility system will be implemented. No one will have anything to say about it then.’
The moment dusk fell, Li Xiu washed himself clean and climbed onto the kang. ’It’s been so long since I’ve touched my wife. Now that she’s finally recovered, I’m going to get my fill.’
The lamp was blown out, and a large quilt covered them both. Beneath it, Zhou Lian was held tightly in Li Xiu’s embrace.
After their passionate night, Zhou Lian was so exhausted she fell fast asleep. Li Xiu suppressed an internal sigh and resignedly got up to tend to their daughter, who had woken up hungry for a midnight feeding.
After lulling his daughter back to sleep, Li Xiu was too excited to go back to bed himself. He didn’t have the heart to bother his wife again, so he decided to get up and write her a love poem. They weren’t his own poems, but ones from an old book he had read, full of verses perfect for teasing his wife. ’The look on her face when she sees the poem tomorrow will be absolutely beautiful!’
He set to work at once. Tiptoeing out to the main room, Li Xiu lit a lamp, found paper and a pen, and began to recall the verses.
’One poem per sheet of paper, for a total of nine. One for each day—how romantic! When we’re old, we can take them out and look back on this.’
’None of these seem quite right for tomorrow.’ After thinking for a long time, a roguish smile spread across Li Xiu’s face. Zhou Lian was asleep and couldn’t see it; otherwise, she would have certainly spat a "Pah!" at him and called him a scoundrel.
Elegant characters materialized on the paper. ’I’ll give this one to her tomorrow.’ Li Xiu eagerly anticipated the look on his wife’s face when she saw this poem. ’It’s bound to be beautiful!’
Uncle Ge, who had taught Li Xiu for many years, had attended a private classical school in his youth. Having been immersed in traditional Confucian thought and the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood, he used the same texts for Li Xiu’s early education. Li Xiu had been his true inheritor, mastering the unrestrained, free-spirited style of the Wei Jin period. However, the hardships of his previous life had crushed that spirit, turning him into a mediocre, ordinary man who would disappear in any crowd.
With the experiences of two lifetimes and an innately stubborn and unrestrained nature, he just wanted to live more freely, more wantonly in this life. Besides his wife, only his two children occupied his heart. But children would eventually grow up and leave home; only his wife was his and his alone. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her.
’I was repressed my whole last life, frustrated my whole last life. Now that I’ve been reborn, I’ll live as wantonly as I please. My wife is my one and only obsession. I have to get her to slowly grow accustomed to me—to the man I am now.’
Thinking about his wife’s reaction tomorrow, Li Xiu couldn’t help but chuckle. ’In our last life, she was always so self-restrained, so gentle and sincere. This time around, I have no intention of letting her live like that. I’m going to make her live a little more freely—a lot more freely!’