Chapter 82: Catching His Wife Wiping Down!

Shishui Village.

Inside the house.

Xi Bao’er and Le Bao’er had just finished dirtying themselves and had their diapers changed. They were crying loudly, waving their little arms and legs with all their might, their faces flushed bright red.

Lin Muyu hurriedly began to breastfeed.

Tian Xiufen had also mixed some formula and was holding Le Bao’er to feed her.

The room finally quieted down. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law exchanged a look and let out a sigh of relief.

“Look at Le Bao’er. Her face is getting rounder and rounder. She looks so bright and cheerful.”

Tian Xiufen said in a low voice.

As she looked at her two granddaughters, she found herself loving them more and more with each passing day.

Especially since Xie Zhao and Lin Muyu were both exceptionally good-looking, the two daughters they had produced were even more delicate and beautiful.

After Lin Muyu finished feeding, she gently laid the sleeping Xi Bao’er back onto the bed.

She seemed a bit self-conscious. She glanced at Tian Xiufen before whispering, “Mom, I feel so dirty. I want to wipe myself down.”

It was truly unbearable.

More than half a month had passed since she gave birth, and Lin Muyu had only wiped herself down once while in the hospital. Since then, she had stayed in the room, spending most of her time breastfeeding and caring for the two babies.

She was prone to postpartum sweating.

Even in the freezing weather, her clothes were often completely soaked.

On top of that, the family had been so busy lately that Lin Muyu felt too embarrassed to ask Tian Xiufen to boil water for her to wash.

Just now, feeding the two babies and changing their diapers had caused her to break into another sweat.

Lin Muyu really couldn’t bear it anymore, which was why she finally spoke up.

“Look at me, I completely forgot about that!”

Tian Xiufen laid Xi Bao’er down. “My girl, Mom will go boil some water right now. But you can only wipe yourself down, you absolutely must not take a proper bath, do you hear me? You’re still in your confinement period, so you must not catch a cold.”

Lin Muyu nodded. “Mom, I know.”

Tian Xiufen quietly went out and closed the door behind her.

Lin Muyu stood up and walked to the innermost part of the room, where an extremely old camphor wood chest sat. It was her only dowry.

To be more precise, it was the only thing her mother had left her.

On the old camphor wood chest, faint traces of dark red lacquer could still be seen.

Lin Muyu opened it. Inside were her clothes and some old items she had brought from her family home.

Bits and pieces.

There was a tiger-head hat her younger brother had worn when he was a toddler, and a grass grasshopper her father had woven for her when she was a child.

Many of them were already broken, but she couldn’t bear to throw them away.

She stared at them for a moment, then looked away.

She took out a change of clothes and a comb, carefully letting down her hair and combing it neat. Then, she retrieved the Seagull shampoo that Xie Zhao had bought from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and quietly stepped out of the room.

In those days, households did not have dedicated bathrooms.

When women wanted to wash, they would go to the innermost part of the kitchen, the area used for chopping pig feed, to wipe themselves down.

By this time, Tian Xiufen had already boiled a full pot of hot water. She had also intentionally sent all the men in the family outside to collect river snails.

“Go on in. I’ll watch the babies in the room, and your little sister will keep watch outside. Don’t worry.”

Lin Muyu nodded, carrying the washbasin and her things inside to wash.

When Xie Zhao returned, he found that they were collecting river snails just outside the courtyard wall.

A massive crowd was lined up, and at a glance, most of them were not even from their village.

“Mom saved some food for you. Eat something first. We got quite a few wild rabbits and pheasants today. Once you’re done eating, hurry over and help. There’s just too much stuff.”

Xie Cheng poured the river snails into a wooden bucket as he spoke. “If you see Little Sister in a bit, tell her to come and do the bookkeeping. These numbers are giving me a headache.”

Xie Zhao nodded.

Walking into the courtyard, he saw Xie Tian holding a book, squatting by the kitchen door, completely engrossed in her reading.

She didn’t even hear him call her name several times.

“What are you reading that’s got you so absorbed?”

Xie Zhao reached out and snatched the book from Xie Tian’s hands.

“Ah! Second Brother? When did you get back?”

Xie Tian stood up happily, then ran to the stove. She lifted the plate that Tian Xiufen had kept covered and brought out a bowl of food for him. “Here, eat! Mom saved this especially for you. Don’t let it get cold!”

Xie Zhao took it and smacked his lips.

It was stir-fried eggs with chili over rice.

Bright red chilies paired with fragrant eggs. Tian Xiufen had used plenty of oil, which was now pooling around the edge of the plate, looking incredibly appetizing.

Although Xie Zhao had already eaten a chicken, they say a growing boy can eat his parents out of house and home.

Besides, he had just walked twenty li, so finishing this bowl of rice would be a breeze!

“Big Brother wants you to go help. I’ll head over as soon as I finish eating!”

“Sure thing!”

Xie Tian happily ran out to help with the bookkeeping.

She completely forgot what Tian Xiufen had instructed her to do.

Xie Zhao squatted by the kitchen door and finished off the bowl of egg over rice. Then he stood up, washed the bowl and chopsticks, and walked into the kitchen to put them back in the cupboard.

The so-called kitchen was nothing more than two interconnected earthen rooms.

The outer room was used for cooking, equipped with a brick stove, while the inner room was used for chopping pig feed and storing sweet potatoes and other provisions.

With no one in the courtyard, the kitchen was also dead silent.

Xie Zhao’s sharp ears picked up a sound.

It was faint, like a soft rustling echoing within the small space.

He paused.

His brow furrowed.

His first thought was that they had a thief.

It was no wonder he suspected the worst.

The family was doing business now, so they were being watched from all sides. Moreover, the inner room was where they stored their vital grain supplies.

With no one else at home right now, what else could a noise from inside be but a thief?

Xie Zhao’s heart leaped into his throat.

With a dark expression, he quietly picked up the wooden poker used for stoking the fire by the stove, then crept toward the inner room.

At that moment.

Lin Muyu had taken off her clothes and was carefully wiping her body with a warm, damp towel.

Her skin was exceptionally fair.

The areas usually covered by clothing were as fair as alabaster. Droplets of water ran down her neck, slowly trickling into the alluring curves of her body.

Beams of light filtered down through the gaps in the old thatched roof, making her look as white as jade, as beautiful as a painting.

Xie Zhao stood frozen in place, clutching the fire poker aggressively.

Huh?

Wait.

Was he… seeing his own wife wiping herself down?

“Who’s there?!”

Lin Muyu had clearly heard the noise behind her as well.

Panicked, she instinctively reached out to grab her scattered clothes, covering her body before turning around to look.

Their eyes met.

Both froze.

Lin Muyu’s face was flushed from the warm steam, and her eyes, wet, clear, and bright, looked as if they had just been fished out of water.

“Y-you… why are you back?”

She spoke in a small voice, her ears turning completely red.

Sitting on a small stool and clutching her clothes to her chest, she didn’t know whether she should stand up or carry on.

After all, Xie Zhao was her husband.

But they had only slept together that one time when they weren’t in their right minds.

To be precise, it was Xie Zhao who hadn’t been sober.

Lin Muyu, on the other hand, had known exactly what she was doing the entire time.

Xie Zhao was incredibly embarrassed.