Lin Chu jumped at the sudden burst of light and pushed Yan Beicheng away. Yan Beicheng was unwilling to release her from his hold, but the lights being turned on meant that someone was coming down, so he could only reluctantly let Lin Chu go. He turned around and saw Aunt Chen standing awkwardly at the entrance to the living room.

"Haha." Aunt Chen chuckled dryly. "I was wide awake thinking about the old princ.i.p.al. I feared that I would be called over there sometime during the night, so I lay awake waiting. I didn't expect —"

Aunt Chen turned the lights off calmly. If the two of them had the mood to fondle and make out, then the old princ.i.p.al should be well.

"I'm relieved that the old princ.i.p.al is well. Go on, you two." Aunt Chen's voice rang out clearly in the dark.

Yan Beicheng, "..."

Lin Chu, "..."

The mood was ruined after Aunt Chen's interruption. The flames of pa.s.sion from earlier had been all but extinguished.

Yan Beicheng carried Lin Chu back to their room and laid her on the bed. He sighed, somewhat discontented, with a glum expression while he gazed at Lin Chu.

Lin Chu thought to herself that if she had to coerce him into preparing flattened cuc.u.mbers for her, so she might as well give him some incentive. Thus, she grabbed his hand with a sweet smile and pulled on it with an embarra.s.sed blush on her face.

Yan Beicheng's previously dismissed emotions came back in full force at the rare sight of her taking the reins. 

Lin Chu asked in embarra.s.sment, "You… Do you still want to do it?"

Yan Beicheng did not speak, opting instead to lower himself and kiss her squarely on the lips, smus.h.i.+ng her into his embrace.

The previous time was the first time Lin Chu had experienced an o.r.g.a.s.m without penetration. It was another sensation entirely. It crept up on her like a feather floating gently on water, as she trembled incessantly like flower petals in a rain shower. It also felt as if one was only getting a bite of a lotus seed. It was a sensation that she felt was impossible to gauge the depths of, and hard to describe with words to boot. It hurt, yet did not, made her joyous but at the same time deprived her of complete pleasure.

After all, it was not penetration. It lacked something but still felt different, like there were otherworldly delicacies in front of her that she could only taste whilst restrained but not eat to her heart's content. Like drinking alcohol but not being allowed to get drunk. 

Lin Chu was feeling somewhat tired, but Yan Beicheng was still uncomfortably aroused, so she extended her hand to help him.

After a period of attention, Yan Beicheng held her in complete satisfaction. It did not feel as good as direct s.e.x.u.a.l intercourse though, so Yan Beicheng could only peck at the corner of her lips regretfully. "I still have to persevere for another eight months."

He would have to wait for almost a year. Just the thought of it was enough to test his resolve.

Lin Chu used his arm as her pillow. His skin was covered in sweat, so it felt a little uncomfortable, but she eventually got used to it after rubbing it for a moment. She was tiny in his arms.

What Yan Beicheng had done for her was not easy, especially for a man. Although most dramas depicted such scenes, in reality, there were few who would do such a thing for their woman.

She was the only one Yan Beicheng did not shy away from.

It was impossible not to feel anything when she knew that he was willing to accommodate her whenever she got h.o.r.n.y once in a while. She whispered to him, "When you want it, I'll help you. It's only eight months, it will pa.s.s in no time."

"You'll help me?" Yan Beicheng's eyes brightened. He lowered his lips to peck at the corners of her eyes. "Really?"

Lin Chu did not reply while she poked his abs lightly.

"Should we try and give this a go next time, then?" Yan Beicheng poked at her lips.

Lin Chu's lips burned. She did not reply to the question, instead choosing to quickly change the topic, "My skin's sticky after my sweat dried up. I want to take a shower."

When did Yan Beicheng ever say no to her? He picked her up and carried her to the bathroom. Filling the tub would take too much time, so they took a quick shower together and emerged from the bathroom feeling clean and refreshed.

Lin Chu was carried back to the bed by Yan Beicheng. Ever since she got pregnant, her legs seemed like mere ornaments to her. As long as Yan Beicheng was with her, she did not need to walk anywhere.

"I'm hungry." Lin Chu patted her stomach. Her mind was still on those sour and refres.h.i.+ng pickled cuc.u.mbers.

Yan Beicheng was willing to do almost everything. He got up decisively and pecked her on the lips, but could not resist asking, "Will our kid end up with dark skin because you like eating vinegar so much?"

"..." Lin Chu was momentarily speechless. "What if you mixed the cuc.u.mbers with white vinegar instead? I don't like the taste of white vinegar though, it's not as fragrant."

"Fine, then. Just eat whatever you please. If the kid's too dark, a few whitening creams will do the trick." Yan Beicheng said in resignation, "Thankfully, you're still eating fresh cuc.u.mbers - at least they're hydrating. What if you start eating those wrinkly pickled cuc.u.mbers instead? What will we do if the kid's face is full of wrinkles?"

Lin Chu, "..."

She kicked him. "Where did you hear all these superst.i.tions?"

Yan Beicheng coughed dryly whilst looking a bit embarra.s.sed. "You woke up late this morning, so I chatted with the old lady and Aunt Chen for a while. Both of them said so. They said that you shouldn't take too much soy sauce, or else the child will have dark skin, so I was thinking was that it's probably the same for vinegar, as it's quite dark in color too. They also said not to eat too many pickles lest your child's skin becomes wrinkly. I think these sayings have no scientific basis, too, but we still have to take precautions."

"But I want to eat pickled cuc.u.mbers now. The kind that's super sour." Lin Chu caressed her stomach whilst feeling dejected. Could she not eat anything at all during her pregnancy?

"Okay, I'll prepare them for you now." Yan Beicheng nodded before putting on his clothes and heading downstairs.

He was not sure how much Lin Chu could eat, so he washed two cuc.u.mbers; After all, better more than less. He peeled them, and then rummaged around for a pestle and mortar, plucked a few cloves of garlic, and tossed them inside to grind into a paste.

The sound of him grinding garlic was loud in the otherwise silent night.

Aunt Chen had not gone back to sleep, so she put on her coat and walked outside, following the source of light to the kitchen only to see Yan Beicheng squatting on the floor grinding away with gusto. The image was quite hard to process.

A tall man like him looked pathetic squatting on the floor. His slender, long fingers struggled to wrap themselves around the pestle.

Aunt Chen, "..."

"Young Master, what are you doing?" Aunt Chen asked.

Yan Beicheng, "..."

He looked up with red ears whilst still squatting on the floor. He had the feeling that his image would go down the drain after tonight.

"Lin Chu wanted pickled cuc.u.mbers." Yan Beicheng said. 

"Garlic might upset the stomach this late into the night. Just sprinkle a little salt and pour some vinegar on them. Otherwise, she might not have a good sleep." Aunt Chen reminded him.

Yan Beicheng agreed with her after some thought. Thus, he tossed the pestle aside.

"Leave it be. I'll handle it." Aunt Chen said after picking up the pestle. She considered saving the garlic paste and packing it away.

Even the old couple were yet to have tasted garlic paste personally ground by Yan Beicheng before.

She dismissed the idea after further thought. It would not taste good overnight, so she should discard it and wash the pestle.

"I'll do it." Aunt Chen said.

"No, Lin Chu wants my handiwork." Yan Beicheng refused her help. He had to carry it out if it was what Lin Chu wanted. There was no need to look for external a.s.sistance for something as menial as this. If he did, then the finished product would not be totally his own.

Preparing the dish was not even that difficult, anyway. Also, he would be happy if he saw her eat his own handiwork.

Yan Beicheng held the knife up as a confused expression spread across his face. After a long time, he turned to ask Aunt Chen, "Lin Chu said that the cuc.u.mbers only need to be smashed. How do I do that?"

Aunt Chen explained and acted out the motion whilst resisting the urge to laugh. "Use the back of the knife and smash it until the cuc.u.mbers are flat. After that, you only need to cut them into small pieces and you're done."

Yan Beicheng smashed the two cuc.u.mbers loudly. Then, he cut them, tossed them onto a plate, and sprinkled salt on them. He did not pour any vinegar on it and instead brought the entire bottle into the room so that Lin Chu could add the vinegar on her own. 

Lin Chu extended her hands with a grin as Yan Beicheng carried the things up. "Thanks, hubby."

She had felt bored when she was in bed alone, so she had turned on the TV and started to watch a random variety show. She did not know what was going on and had merely tuned in for the noise and laughter. 

After regaining some of her energy, she had intended to go down and see how Yan Beicheng was faring, but then overheard the conversation between him and Aunt Chen. It warmed her heart, as if she had just drunk an entire mug of warm cocoa.

Although Yan Beicheng was sometimes a rascal, he was very forward with his affection.

Yan Beicheng was very willing to get up at night to prepare a full course dinner if the right person asked it of him. This was just how happy he was to have Lin Chu beside him.

"I didn't pour any vinegar on them, in case you felt that it was too much or not enough. Pour however much you want." Yan Beicheng said while he opened a small folding table on the bed and set the plate on it.

Later, he watched Lin Chu fill half the plate with vinegar. He could almost taste the sourness just from looking at it.

Lin Chu finished the plate of cuc.u.mbers, and the two of them went to wash up and get ready for bed.

She got up to relieve herself in the middle of the night. She forgot that they lived in the old house now instead of the Ding City house, so she accidentally went in the wrong direction as she stumbled around, barely awake, with eyes half-open. There now stood a thick wall in the location where the washroom would have been in the Ding City home.

The room was dark in the night. Lin Chu's eyes were almost fully closed, and her eyelids were drooping down as if they were welded together and slathered with glue. There was a slit in her eyes, but it was only as big as the tip of a needle. She could only see a rough outline of her steps as she stumbled forward with nothing but her memory as a reference. 

Not long after, her head collided with the wall with a loud 'bang'.

Yan Beicheng was woken up when she had left his embrace but then went back to sleep as he knew that she was only going to the washroom. When he heard the sound, he immediately jerked awake and shot up like a bullet to her side. 

"What happened?" Yan Beicheng was completely overwhelmed by drowsiness. His eyes had not even opened yet. 

However, his nighttime visibility was much better than Lin Chu. He had not told Lin Chu this, because he did not think it important and so had dismissed it as trivial. As the heir of the Yan Family, his ability as the head of the family had emerged when he was young: night visibility. 

He did not know if this ability was useful or not. In any case, he had already developed the ability and had gotten used to it after years of having it, so he had neglected to see it as anything special and thus did not feel the need to inform Lin Chu about it.

Lin Chu held her forehead between her hands as the pain caused her eyes to well up with tears.

"I was so drowsy that I thought I was in Ding City. I followed my memory to the washroom and b.u.mped into a wall." Lin Chu said whilst feeling miserable from pain.

She had only wanted to relieve herself, but now she was hurt from the b.u.mp.

Yan Beicheng's heart ached at the sight. He blew on her forehead and said, "Wake me up the next time you want to go to the washroom, and I'll lead the way for you. Don't cry. Or I can discuss with the old couple and change the layout of the room so that it is the same as our room in Ding City."

Lin Chu answered, "Mm, don't. We're not going to live here for long anyway. If we change it, we'll disturb the old couple. What happened to me today was an accident."

Yan Beicheng kneaded her forehead gently. "How do you feel now?"

"I feel much better. Go to sleep." Lin Chu said while pus.h.i.+ng Yan Beicheng away.

After being forcibly woken up by her collision with the wall, she could now perceive her surroundings much better.

Yan Beicheng did not say anything as he held her and led the way to the washroom before turning on the lights for her. 

The sudden burst of light was almost painful since she had gotten used to the dark. She stood with her eyes half open for a while until she acquainted herself with her surroundings.

Then, she hurriedly blocked Yan Beicheng's way as she realized that he wanted to follow her in. "Go back to sleep this instant!"

After this, she closed the door on him. With no other alternative, he could only go back to sleep.

His eyes gleamed in the dark, more so than they did in the day.

The pain on Lin Chu's forehead slowly subsided as she washed her hands. The water was too cold at night, so after she finished was.h.i.+ng her hands, her hands were so frigid that she could not stop rubbing her palms together. After coming out from the warm blankets for a brief instant, even her feet were cold. After momentarily s.h.i.+vering from the cold, she jogged back and dived inside the blankets. 

The warmth inside the blankets felt so comfortable that she sighed with content. Her body had not yet become completely warm yet when she was s.n.a.t.c.hed and pulled into Yan Beicheng's embrace. His warm palms completely covered her freezing hands, and her back was pressed onto his warm chest as his legs interlaced with hers. She was warmed up in no time.