Everyone sat around eating corn on the cob while chatting and doing small chores. The atmosphere was warm and lively. Jian Ru had grown up with very few family members, and later it had been just him alone. Sitting together with the Li family like this still felt a bit unfamiliar, but he genuinely enjoyed it.
Now he understood why Madam Li had deliberately kept him here: to help him integrate into the family as quickly as possible. However, there was one thing Madam Li had said that wasn’t quite right.
Her eldest daughter was not the type to “hold no grudges” at all.
As everyone chatted casually, Li Qinglan didn’t talk much, only occasionally exchanging a few words with Li Jinhe and Jian Ru. Li Jinrong had also put down her medical book, but her expression remained flat.
Even though she was sitting directly across from Jian Ru at such close distance, she seemed to only now be noticing what he looked like. She stared at the scar on his face for a long time, frowning slightly, as if somewhat displeased.
When Jian Ru stood up and walked around, she also stared for a long time at his slightly limping leg. Still, she didn’t say anything unpleasant. She just looked, and Jian Ru didn’t mind.
Li Jinhui, meanwhile, got along very well with her mother. The two of them were extremely compatible in temperament, often making Madam Li laugh out loud. But when Jian Ru stood up to refill everyone’s tea, Li Jinhui glanced at him, coughed lightly, and asked, “Now that Jintong is better these days, shouldn’t you two go back to your natal home?”
Jian Ru responded with a simple “Mm.”
“In two days. Mother said we’re preparing the things to bring.”
At that, Madam Li smiled, saying, “I’ve already spoken with your uncle. We’ve set the return visit for the day after tomorrow, and Jinfeng will go with you.”
Jian Ru didn’t really have a natal family anymore. This “return visit” was to Steward Li’s horse breeding estate. Although he had been adopted into that family in order to facilitate the marriage, once the formal rites were completed, they still counted as his adoptive parents.
The Li family had treated him well, so after the wedding, it was proper etiquette to visit them, but Li Jinhui rolled her eyes thoughtfully and smiled.
“Speaking of which,” she said, “Uncle’s third son’s husband, Sun Yushuang… he almost married into our family as Jintong’s wife back then!”
“Li Jinhui!”
Madam Li’s expression changed immediately as she cut her off sharply, and Li Jinhui turned her head away and fell silent. Madam Li then looked awkwardly at the frozen Jian Ru, coaxing, “Don’t listen to her nonsense. That’s all old gossip from years ago…”
“It wasn’t that long ago,” Li Jinhui turned back again. “Just a couple of years. How is that ‘old gossip’?”
Then she looked straight at Jian Ru, her eyes narrowing slightly as she asked, “Jian Ru, you don’t actually know about it, do you?”
Madam Li wanted to interrupt again, but doing so would only make things look suspicious, so she could only glare at her daughter in frustration.
“I know,” Jian Ru coughed lightly, while his expression remained completely calm. “Jintong already told me.”
“…”
Well… This answer surprised everyone. It had once been a taboo topic in the household, and no one dared mention it in front of Li Jintong. Yet unexpectedly, he had already told his new husband himself.
Even Li Jinhui looked confused now, unsure whether he truly knew or was just pretending.
As for Jian Ru, he clapped his hands lightly, stood up, and said casually, “Mother, I should head back and start cooking. Jintong needs medicinal porridge at noon, so I need to prepare it early.”
Madam Li studied his expression carefully. Seeing no abnormal reaction, she finally nodded and let him go.
Jian Ru bowed respectfully to Madam Li, greeted his sister-in-law and the others, then calmly left the room. Outside the door, he could vaguely hear Madam Li scolding Li Jinhui.
Jian Ru walked steadily through the snow as if nothing had happened, but inside, his thoughts were already in turmoil. All those awkward encounters with Sun Yushuang finally had an explanation.
So that person had a past with his new husband.
He recalled that delicate, fair-skinned young man, elegant in every gesture… he felt that even Zhang Jiao, who had gone who knows where, couldn’t compare.
Therefore, Jian Ru couldn’t help clenching his teeth.
“Really…”
He stomped lightly on the snowy ground.
…Really what?!
He didn’t know, nor could he quite put it into words.
The sun broke through the thick clouds just enough to show a thin edge of light. Standing in the snow, Jian Ru stared blankly at his own shadow.
The Second Young Master had been born in spring and was now twenty. At his age, having a past was normal. Jian Ru himself had once liked that damned Jiang Maocai who deserved death by a thousand cuts.
But…
He really wanted to roar at the sky.
He admitted it: this jab from Li Jinhui had hit exactly where it hurt, and it had successfully gotten back at him.
So infuriating!
…………………
When Jian Ru returned to the small courtyard, the Eldest Young Master had already left. Xiao Ning was stoking the stove in the small kitchen and greeted him when he came in. “Young Master Jian, you’re back!”
“Mm,” Jian Ru answered weakly. “Has the rice been washed?”
“It’s all done. The dishes are ready too.”
“Alright, I’ll be there in a bit.”
With that, Jian Ru went inside.
In the room, Li Jintong was sitting by the window, tidying up the unfinished chess game he had played with his elder brother. Hearing the movement outside, he put down a piece and came over.
A faint smile hung on his lips as he looked over the newly returned little husband, but upon seeing his flushed cheeks and hands reddened from the cold, he frowned slightly.
“Weren’t you wearing a scarf and gloves when you left this morning? Why are they gone when you came back?”
Jian Ru lowered his head and only then realized his neck and hands were bare. “I probably left them in the main house,” he said quietly. “After we finish eating, I’ll have Xiao Ning go get them.”
He took off his padded robe and changed into the thicker cotton vest he usually wore while cooking.
He didn’t show much, so the Second Young Master didn’t notice anything wrong for the moment. His mind was still on what his elder brother had told him earlier.
Li Jinfeng had been married for more than ten years and had never once quarreled with his wife, so Li Jintong really wanted to ask him about how to be a good husband.
In his heart, he genuinely wished to treat his husband well, but he always felt he couldn’t find the right way to do it. Jian Ru was too capable, and there was almost nothing he needed help with. And he knew his own limits: if he tried to force things and made himself ill again, it would only end up with Jian Ru taking care of him.
“You’re newlyweds,” his eldest brother had advised him, “It’s normal not to be used to each other yet. Talk to him more, stand up for him a bit.”
At that, the Second Young Master had given a wry smile, saying, “I do want to stand up for him, but before I even speak, he’s already solved everything himself!”
His elder brother had thought of what happened in the main hall and couldn’t help but laugh, coughing lightly. “That boy Li Xianyu is spoiled rotten,” he admitted. “What he needs is precisely someone like this to handle him.”
Li Jintong also laughed. After some more talk, Li Jinfeng reflected that in his own marriage, he hadn’t actually worried much either. The outside affairs were his responsibility, while everything in the household was managed entirely by Li Qinglan, who never complained about him.
There was only one imperfection: after so many years of marriage, they still had no children. Despite trying every possible method, given that both families were full of doctors, it still hadn’t happened. The family didn’t say much, but Li Qinglan often felt upset about it. And because the old matriarch spoke bluntly, she tended to overthink things.
Still, whenever this came up, Li Jinfeng would comfort her privately and buy her jewelry or clothes to soothe her. So after thinking it through, he summarized, “As long as a couple has each other in their hearts, life will be good. You’ve just married, so you’re still unfamiliar and may not know how to talk things through. It’ll get better once you open up.”
As for how to “open up”… he didn’t elaborate. After thinking for a while, Li Jintong concluded that he should simply be closer to his husband.
And at the moment, he was still thinking about being closer, so he followed behind Jian Ru and helped straighten the folded edge of his vest. When Jian Ru turned back, he murmured, “Look at how cold your face is…” With that, he raised his hand, intending to warm Jian Ru’s face, but Jian Ru stepped back, brushed the dust from his clothes, and said, “I’m going to cook,” before leaving.
By then, the Second Young Master still hadn’t sensed anything wrong.
That night, after Xiao Ning banked the stove fire with coal ash and went off to sleep, the couple had also washed up and were lying side by side in bed.
The candle was out, and the room was dark. But Li Jintong’s senses were sharp, and he listened to Jian Ru’s light breathing, his gaze falling on the thin hand resting above the quilt.
The timing felt right. He was comfortable now. As a husband, it was time to do what a husband should do, so… he turned over, about to lift the quilt and pull the person into his arms.
But just as he raised his hand, the small, thin figure beside him suddenly turned over as well, with surprising force, flipping the quilt up in a gust of air.
Li Jintong squinted slightly at the movement.
When he tried again to reach for the other’s arm, the person lying with their back to him said coldly, “I’m tired. Go to sleep.”
His hand froze mid-air.
Only then did the Second Young Master finally realize…
Something was wrong with his little husband.
T.N: If you like his novel, you can read up to chapter 23 on my Patreon, with new updates coming every week!
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