Chapter 1494 - 1543: Carry on the Back
After eating to their heart’s content, Li Yifei and Meng Xiaofei bid farewell to the old fisher couple and returned to their temporarily rented home next door. They initially rented the place for half a year, but now can only stay a few days.
While sitting down to eat, Meng Xiaofei only felt pain in the upper thigh, but after standing up, it hurt so much that walking became difficult. She pouted and looked at Li Yifei with some grievance. Li Yifei had no choice but to turn around, squat halfway down, and let Meng Xiaofei giggle as she climbed onto his back.
Climbing onto Li Yifei’s back was painful for Meng Xiaofei, and she grimaced. Yet she gritted her teeth and continued, as being carried by Li Yifei was not a common occurrence.
"So heavy!" Li Yifei grumbled.
With hands supporting Meng Xiaofei’s thighs, Li Yifei gently adjusted her position to find a more comfortable spot, then he stepped out of Yoshino’s courtyard and walked slowly back to their own courtyard.
Meng Xiaofei’s hands were resting on Li Yifei’s shoulders, climbing onto his back. Her mood instantly lifted, humming an unknown tune.
Back home, Meng Xiaofei didn’t want to come down. Hugging Li Yifei’s neck, she whispered in his ear, "Can you carry me a little longer, please?"
"Give me a reason!" Li Yifei spun half a circle on the spot, turning his head to say, "Don’t you know you’re heavy? I’ve started sweating already."
Meng Xiaofei glared and replied, "How could that be? Sweating just from carrying this long? I’m clearly just around a hundred pounds... Brother Li, you’re despising me!"
"Haha, okay, I’ll carry you for five more minutes." Li Yifei laughed out loud.
Meng Xiaofei pouted, both dissatisfied and silent, resting her head on Li Yifei’s shoulder again and closing her eyes.
Li Yifei carried her, walking slowly around the house and courtyard. The sun was just right, with a gentle breeze, and didn’t feel too hot. Meng Xiaofei lay there for a while and began to feel sleepy, reminiscing about when she used to nap on her father’s shoulder as a child. She yawned, smacked her lips twice, and murmured, "So comfortable..."
Li Yifei maintained a steady pace and soon heard Meng Xiaofei’s even breaths in his ear, realizing she had truly fallen asleep.
After waiting two minutes, Li Yifei carried her back to the bedroom, gently placing Meng Xiaofei on the bed, pulling the blanket over her. Watching her slightly pouted lips, Li Yifei wanted to reach out and pinch them.
Controlling his thoughts, Li Yifei picked up a book, walked to the desk in the outer room, and quietly started reading.
At home, several women gathered together, each with a joyful expression. Ye Yunzhu was holding some diagnostic reports, analyzing them with Jiang Ningxiang, the only pregnant woman in the family. She just had a check-up today; although the doctor had explained the test results thoroughly, Ye Yunzhu analyzed them again for everyone.
The results were, of course, that the fetus was developing normally and there was no need for any special nutritional supplements.
The reason for such meticulous checks was the concern that both she and Li Yifei were Innate Experts, and even people like Murong Yuanqing didn’t know what unique traits their child might have, and any unexpected effects on the child would be terrible.
Thus, Jiang Ningxiang would check nearly every week, and if anything seemed amiss, the doctor would promptly take action.
After listening to the report, the women were even happier. Ye Yunzhu placed the report aside, organized it, and clipped it into a folder, then smiled, "The development is very good. In a few months, there’ll be another adorable baby in our family!"
Jiang Ningxiang smiled gently, her hand lightly touching her belly, exuding a maternal glow. She pressed her lips together and said, "Thank you, Sister Yunzhu, and to the sisters as well. I will be more careful in the future."
"Soon, hubby will be back in a few days. He just texted me," Su Mengxin said while smoothing Jiang Ningxiang’s hair. Mentioning Li Yifei brought a hopeful look to all the women’s faces. His narrow escape from death had worried everyone, but he managed to defeat the Japanese Martial God.
Regarding Li Yifei traveling with Meng Xiaofei, everyone had no issue and agreed, but at home, waiting and not seeing him stirred a faint resentment within the women.
With so many women, such emotions arise because they all chose Li Yifei and won’t leave him. These resentments stay hidden, kept to oneself, affecting the atmosphere of the whole family.
After staying at Jiang Ningxiang’s villa for a while, Su Mengxin and the others went to Song Lianyao’s house to see the little baby and chat for a bit.
After the women in the Li family give birth, those wishing to breastfeed will do so, while others worried about losing their figure can have a professional nanny feed the baby. But both Song Lianyao and Xiao Ling’er chose to breastfeed themselves, as it’s healthier.
Both children are now a month old, exceptionally spirited and unafraid of strangers. When visitors come, their eyes widen and, after a bit of teasing, they’ll start giggling.
Usually, Li Yifei’s two women like visiting here to play with the children. Li Yufei, the eldest sister, has already started taking on the role of the big sister, which in local dialect means she’s very nurturing and knows how to care for her siblings.
Her personality contrasts with Ning Xin’er, who sometimes feels unhappy, and Li Yufei will, in turn, comfort her mother.
Xiao Ling’er brought the children over, the two babies lay together, rarely crying and often giggling, both born on the same day. The women came by to discuss, waiting for Li Yifei to return, to hold a belated one-month celebration for the two babies.
These days, while Li Yifei was away from home, things were busy. The Sun Family completely collapsed, major industries changed names, most now under the Li surname, while Song Family’s territory got steadily encroached upon. They don’t dare protest; had they wanted to resist, they wouldn’t have betrayed the Sun Family to survive.
The final wrapping-up tasks aren’t complete, but everyone is already quite relaxed.
Just waiting for Li Yifei to return, everyone will have a rare leisure moment.
Due to the busyness and Li Yifei’s absence, the one-month celebration was postponed. After some discussion, it’s decided not to invite many people, just some close friends and family, or perhaps just find a good place to collectively travel.
Su Mengxin suggested, "Let’s do it at home. When Yifei gets back, we’ll notify everyone."
Xiao Ling’er held the child and said, "Is this okay? If we notify people, many will come, won’t it be too high-profile..."
Xu Yingying shook her head and said, "It’s fine, our family has been unsettled these past few months. Now that things are settling down, it’s time to show some strength. After this, we’ll probably be the top family in the provincial capital. We’ll call over families that are close to us; this way, we’ll reassure them, or they’ll constantly feel uneasy."
Xu Shanshan followed up, "I agree too. Yesterday, there was someone from a family who indirectly asked me about our family’s next steps. I think what they really want to know is whether we’ll keep expanding without restraint and swallow them up."
"I have no objections either."
Everyone quickly agreed, so this matter was settled. Xu Shanshan and He Fangqing would go back later to draft the guest list.
The Li family is like this now. When Li Yifei isn’t home, major issues will be brought up for discussion. Although Su Mengxin and Xu Yingying have a lot of say, they rarely make direct decisions on major matters now.
Of course, their opinions are still very important, and the other women will also consider their views.
The Li family is harmonious now, although there are many external enemies. We’ll leave the distant ones for now; the nearby families have weak resistance and can’t really shake the giant that is the Li family.
Only occasionally, in the quiet of the night, Su Mengxin feels sad. The Li family lacks for nothing, except for her own child...
When Meng Xiaofei woke up, it was already two hours later. She opened her eyes, stretched lazily, and turned her eyes but didn’t find Li Yifei in the room.
She lightly coughed and tried to sit up. As soon as she moved, she groaned and fell back down. Not only were the muscles in her legs aching, but her arms were also sore.
Her head hit the pillow, and tears almost came out.
Upon hearing the noise, Li Yifei put down his book, flashed back into the room, and saw Meng Xiaofei looking up at him pitifully.
"Awake now." Li Yifei slowed his steps and walked to the bedside.
Seeing Li Yifei, Meng Xiaofei pouted, and her big eyes immediately became watery.
"What’s wrong? Had a nightmare?"
"No." Meng Xiaofei looked at Li Yifei with grievance and said, "I’m aching all over. My hands hurt, my arms hurt, my shoulders hurt, and my legs hurt. I can’t get up."
Li Yifei understood the reason and couldn’t help but smile. He sat down on the bed and pinched Meng Xiaofei’s nose, saying, "I would have given you a massage to ease the pain if you hadn’t fallen asleep."
Meng Xiaofei gently snorted and said, "It’s not my fault; Brother Li’s back was too comfortable. I fell asleep while leaning."
"Come on, let me massage you now. Tell me where it hurts," Li Yifei said dotingly.
Meng Xiaofei nodded repeatedly and said, "Sure, hurry up. I can’t move at all. What if the bad guys come tonight? I won’t be able to fight them!"
"You’re addicted to fighting," Li Yifei said, lifting the quilt. Out of instinct, Li Yifei looked away; the shift in Meng Xiaofei’s position revealed a snow-white expanse at her chest. This girl had genuine assets; a slight movement made her chest sway brightly, dazzingly, and Li Yifei dared not look more.
Meng Xiaofei noticed Li Yifei’s actions and rolled her eyes. Instead of adjusting her chest area, she twisted slightly, secretly pulling at the clothing under the quilt, revealing even more of a deep cleavage.
Li Yifei thought Meng Xiaofei had adjusted her clothes and turned back to see her intensifying the act. He couldn’t help but tap Meng Xiaofei’s forehead, saying, "You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?"
"What on purpose? I can’t move my hands; I can’t adjust my clothes."
"Let me help you." Li Yifei said, reaching for Meng Xiaofei’s clothes to tug it upwards. Meng Xiaofei immediately protested coquettishly, "Don’t touch my body!"
Li Yifei’s mouth twitched, and he quickly withdrew his hand.
Meng Xiaofei moved around a bit and realized she indeed felt better, happily grinning and said, "Thanks, Brother Li."
"No need to thank me. Be careful next time. It’s partly my fault; I wanted you to be happy, so I let you engage."
"No, no, it’s my fault. I don’t exercise normally, so I strained myself all of a sudden," Meng Xiaofei said with a lingering feeling, secretly resolved to exercise weekly after going back to avoid such issues again.
Li Yifei nodded and said, "Alright, get up and move around. Let’s watch the sunset together later."
Speaking of watching the sunset, Meng Xiaofei became very interested. The so-called ’long river round sunset’ is a spectacular sunset view, and the seaside sunset is equally magnificent. Meng Xiaofei had enjoyed watching it for several days and wanted to see it again, especially since it was their last day here.
From the bed, she got up and jumped onto the floor to move around a bit, then pulled Li Yifei, saying, "Let’s go now, it’s the last day. I want to take some pictures to show the sisters when we return."
"Okay." Li Yifei nodded in agreement.