Chapter 576: Dunlun
Spring stood outside the door and hesitated for a moment before interrupting the family of three’s interaction. “Fourth Master, Fourth Madam, the hot water is ready.”
Qi Haoran looked regretfully at his son, who despised him, before pulling Mu Yangling towards the bathroom.
Mu Yangling quickly retracted her hand and said in a low voice, “What? Go wash yourself.”
Qi Haoran looked as if she was abusing him. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Are you going to walk over yourself, or do you want me to carry you over?”
Seeing Mu Yangling glare at him, he said aggrievedly, “How long has it been since I last saw you?”
Mu Yangling looked at their son hesitantly.
Qi Haoran immediately picked up his son and handed him to Spring, who was outside the door. “Bring Third Young Master to Second Young Master.”
Little Bear was still in a daze when Spring brought him to Zhaode Hall. However, the trace of grievance he initially had dissipated when he saw his brother. He struggled to crawl out of Spring’s arms and ran to hold Little Treasure’s hand. Then, the two of them played with mud in the courtyard, picked grass, and picked flowers. Soon, their faces became dirty and they even barged into Qi Xiuyuan’s study hand in hand, shocking the servants behind them.
Looking up, Qi Xiuyuan saw the two children whose faces and hands were covered in mud. He waved his hand to dismiss the servants and personally got up to carry the two children to sit on his knees. He took out a Three Character Classic and said, “Come, I’ll teach you how to read. ‘Man at birth is fundamentally good in nature.’ ”
Little Treasure recited seriously, “Man at birth, good.”
Qi Xiuyuan laughed and taught him again seriously. “Man at birth is fundamentally good in nature.”
After repeating it three times, Little Treasure learned it. At least there were no more missing words. Qi Xiuyuan looked at Little Bear. The child was tilting his head and studying the pen wash on his table. Seemingly attracted by the drawing on it, he reached out to take it, but he couldn’t because his arm was short.
Qi Xiuyuan passed it to him and coaxed him. “Little Bear, can you study with me? ‘Man at birth is fundamentally good in nature’.”
Probably because he had taken something from Qi Xiuyuan, Little Bear cooperatively made some noises in accordance, but they were all “ah ah ah” words. He did not even manage to pronounce a proper word.
Frowning, Qi Xiuyuan took the pen wash from his hand and said seriously, “Study first, then I’ll let you play. ‘Man at birth is fundamentally good in nature.’ ”
Stunned, Little Bear looked up at Qi Xiuyuan seriously. He tilted his head and thought for a while before letting out two “ah ah ah” sounds. Seeing that Qi Xiuyuan still didn’t give it to him, he slapped the book in front of him angrily with his tiny hand, leaving behind his little imprint upon it.
Qi Xiuyuan was speechless. Just as he was about to educate Little Bear, he saw Little Treasure snatch the book excitedly and leave his own imprint on it. Little Bear stopped thinking about the pen wash and started competing with Little Treasure to see who left the most handprints.
However, there was only so much dirt on their hands, hence they couldn’t print anything after a few seals. Both of them were very sad. In the end, Little Treasure looked at his palm and seemed to have thought of something. He struggled to slip off his father’s leg and ran outside. Under the surprised gazes of the servants, he squatted down and rubbed his little hands on the ground. Then, he raised his dirty little hands and rushed back. He struggled to climb up again to leave his handprint on the book. However, he didn’t have enough balance, so he couldn’t raise his hand. So in the end, he simply grabbed his father’s clothes and left dirty little handprints on them.
This time, Little Treasure was no longer afraid. Instead, he tilted his head and looked at the claw mark on his father’s sleeve. As if he had suddenly realized something, he pressed his small hand against Qi Xiuyuan’s chest.
When he moved his hand away again, there was a faint handprint on Qi Xiuyuan’s chest.
Little Treasure laughed happily. Little Bear, who had been watching, couldn’t sit still anymore. He hurriedly broke free from Qi Xiuyuan’s arms and ran out with Little Treasure to get some mud before returning to imprint it on Qi Xiuyuan’s clothes.
Qi Xiuyuan’s face was as black as charcoal. In the end, he took a deep breath and suppressed the reprimand that was on the tip of his tongue by telling himself that the children were still young and insensible.
When Li Jinghua came over, she saw the two boys laughing and tugging at Qi Xiuyuan’s clothes. Li Jinghua smiled knowingly and was about to say that Eldest Master and the children were getting closer when she saw the dense little handprints on Qi Xiuyuan’s clothes. She swallowed her words.
The corners of her mouth twitched. She should get someone to take the two children downstairs to bathe and change.
At this moment, Mu Yangling was scrubbing Qi Haoran’s back.
Mu Yangling said with heartache and disdain, “How many days has it been since you took a bath?”
She had already changed the water twice for him. It was only on the third try that the color of the water appeared a little more normal. She almost rubbed his skin raw.
Qi Haoran lay comfortably in the wooden bucket and said contentedly, “I couldn’t even drink a mouthful of hot water, so where would I get the water to take a bath?” He counted in his heart and said, “The last time I took a bath was after I saw Big Brother. The two of us found a small stream nearby to take a cold bath. Because it was such a cold day, we only took a quick bath.”
Mu Yangling was stunned. “Hasn’t it already been a month?”
At the thought that the weather was getting hotter and that Qi Haoran had been traveling and fighting a war, sweating was inevitable. So he had not washed himself for a month?
Seeing that Mu Yangling’s disdainful look coincided with his precious son’s disdainful look just now, Qi Haoran instantly flew into a rage out of humiliation and said, “You still dare to despise me?”
With that, he reached out and pulled Mu Yangling into the wooden barrel.
Mu Yangling screamed. When she came back to her senses and saw that she was wet, she pinched him angrily. “What are you doing? Look, my clothes are wet!”
Infuriated, Qi Haoran reached out to tug at her clothes and said, “It’s good that it’s wet. Bathe with me and save water. You don’t know how precious water was when we were on the march. We even had to drink water sparingly.”
With Qi Haoran’s words, Mu Yangling’s disdain turned into heartache, and her attitude inevitably softened.
Seeing this, Qi Haoran hugged Mu Yangling even tighter. His breathing gradually quickened, and hot air gushed onto her neck and ears. He whispered, “Ah Ling, I’ve missed you.”
Mu Yangling’s hand that was pushing him away paused slightly. She said in a low voice, “Let’s not do it here. We’ll be laughed at.”
“There’s no one outside. Besides, who would dare to laugh at us?” As Qi Haoran spoke, he quickly stripped Mu Yangling clean and groped her up and down. Embarrassed and timid, Mu Yangling’s face was flushed red. In the end, she simply closed her eyes and let him do whatever he wanted.
Liking it even more, Qi Haoran hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear, “I’m so happy… That you’re so obedient…”
Mu Yangling’s face flushed red, but Qi Haoran’s kisses fell like raindrops. While Mu Yangling was in a daze, he lifted her leg and rushed in. Then, he started a fierce battle…
Mu Yangling’s head was buried in Qi Haoran’s chest. After he carried her and placed her on the bed, she directly pulled the blanket over and buried herself in it. With a satisfied look on his face, Qi Haoran patted the blanket and said, “I’ll get someone to come in and clean up.”
Mu Yangling shrunk like a quail and pretended not to hear him.
