By the end of the seventh lunar month, the lotus seeds thrown into the brook behind the house had unexpectedly budded.
Those were the lotus seeds Lin Si Yao had found from somewhere and thrown into the brook behind their house. In early spring, they didnât see any sprouts. They were not very expectant of any blooms, so the pair did not specially care for the seedlings.
Unexpectedly, as the summer sun rose high, lotus leaves had covered the entire place. The pink buds surrounded by the leaves were waiting for the right time to bloom.
Between the lotus leaves, the fish and shrimps âplayedâ the water, it was a captivating sight.
Su Shuilian seized the time in early morning when it was still cool to stand by the shore. While enjoying the scenery, Su Shuilian exercised by spreading her arms and taking in plentiful breaths of fresh air. Then, she went into the study room, wielding her ink brush to draw several drawings of red koi carps playing with the lotus.
After cleaning her brush, Su Shulian rolled the sketches and put them into the large round vase on the table. She planned to use them to make some embroideries.
Actually, she had made up her mind. She would embroider these drawings on her childrenâs dudou*. By the next summer, the twins would be able to crawl. Wearing the dudou with embroidered red carps playing with lotus, how adorable they could be!
(èć / dĂčdĆu â undergarment covering the chest and abdomen)
âIf you like it, weâll dig a pond in the new house and grow some lotusâŠâ Lin Si Yao approached her from behind. He reached out his hands to embrace her waist, which wasnât slim anymore. Rubbing her round belly, he suggested, chuckling.
âCan we?â Su Shuilian batted her black, feather-like eyelashes. Her bright eyes were filled with joy and surprise.
âIf you like, what canât we do?!â Lin Si Yao pinched her nose lovingly. âMoreover, we got two acres of land. We will use one acre to build the house, and you can do whatever you want with the other acre.â
âMmm⊠Then let us have a little pondâŠâ Su Shuilian leaned against him, letting him hold her as they sat on a chair.
In her previous Su Household, she recalled also having a small but fine lotus pond. It was filled with pink and white lotuses and a pair of black-and-red koi carps.
In the summer, the karps would show their vigorous lives. They would remain so until autumn. After all of the lotus finished their blooms with only the green hue of the leaves remaining in the calm water. The autumn rain rattled the window of oneâs heart, it would be another foreign scenery.
âI heard from Situ that you wanted a cellar in the new house?â Lin Si Yao watched the sun just rise above the treetops. He decided to sit at the chair by the table and bring Su Shuilian onto his lap. Placing his chin on her shoulder, he began to discuss their new houseâs design.
The house that was built over the four acres of land for Si Tuo and the other two had almost come to the final stage.
Besides planting some bamboos, grass, and flowers to decorate the house, all it needed to be cleaned and furnished with regular household items.
Thus, with autumn just at their doorsteps, and the weather was turning cooler, Lin Si Yao decided to start the construction of their new, two-acre house. Perhaps they could finish before his wifeâs delivery. Then, they could move into the new house to prepare for her labor and convalescence*. And he, he could focus better on taking care of her and the babies.
*(To convalesce for a month following childbirth, following a special diet, and observing various taboos to protect the body from exposure to the âwindâ)
Even if they couldnât finish it, at least, it would be seventy to eighty percents complete by the end of the year. When the spring came next year, they could complete the remaining parts, clean it, and then move in.
âWhat do you think? Digging up a cellar, is it a little too big of a labor?â Su Shuilian turned to see him. The cellar had many benefits. Not to mention storing the food or items they hadnât used yet, mostly, it was the summer time and they got various kinds of fruits, which could be fermented to make fruit wine. They would have some place to keep them. Just like Yunâer had said, if they kept digging up the ground to bury the jars under the trees, they could damage the roots.
âItâs okay. Iâve asked the workers to prepare for some designs. Although they havenât built any house with the basement, butâŠâ Lin Si Yao stooped and brushed the corner of her mouth with his lips. They werenât in a hurry to move out. It would only delay one or two months for a cellar. As long as she liked it, it was okay to him.
âYou look at this. Is it to your liking?â Hearing him, Su Shuilian took out a drawing of the cellar design from her drawer. She just had the idea and she drew it several days ago. It was the sketch of the cellar in her grandparentsâ house she used to visit with her cousin when she was a little girl.
âThis isâŠ.?â Lin Si Yao opened the drawing, studying it for a while. Then, he smiled at her. âSo they donât need to squeeze their brains a lotâŠâ
âIs it really okay?â Su Shuilian looked at him, feeling unsure. âIâm not an expert. I only casually drew it.â
âDonât worry, itâs detailed enoughâŠâ Lin Si Yao stole a kiss from her again. Trying to press down his flame of desire in his lower abdomen, he talked in a husky voice, âYouâre truly a chest that hides treasures; giving me joy in any moment.â
âIâm notâŠâ Su Shuilian blushed. She wasnât as good as he said.
Perhaps her fate was good enough. From young, although she hadnât learned a lot of things, the books she had read and the interesting things she had heard were quite a lot. Combining the two sources, she has twenty years of knowledge and experiences.
However, facing Lin Si Yaoâs sincere compliment, she felt a little guilty. It seemed everything was just the memory she had plagiarized from. It wasnât fair, was it?
âYou are. Anyway, only I can see it and that is enoughâŠâ Lin Si Yao couldnât control his affection anymore. He kissed her sweet, red lips deeply. She was his. Her beauty and her goodness were only his to enjoy alone.
âA YaoâŠâ She sat on his thighs, tilting her head to receive the rolling heat he had created.
Oh, my heavens, Iâm getting bolder and bolder. This is the study room, and we are in broad daylight!
âNo one will come hereâŠâ During the recent several days, Situ Yun had gone to the city to do his mission. Tian Da Bao was working under his instruction to check the big houseâs construction. If they needed any item, they would have to go to the city. That way, it would save a lot of construction time.
Thus, except for the two of them who would climb the walls (if the gates were closed) to get into the house, Lin Si Yao didnât worry that someone would break into his house.
âButâŠâ Su Shuilian buried her head to the nape of his neck. She could die from embarrassment.
âHahaâŠâ His beautiful lips parted and his quiet laughter escaped. He immediately took her back to their bedroom. Although she had become more passionate lately, she didnât have the courage to have sexual intercourse with him in the study room. Moreover, lying on the bed would support her better. She didnât need to deal with him and her heavy body at the same time.
Su Shuilian let him take her back to their bedroom. Her blushing pink body had revealed her shyness. It hadnât even been two hours since she put these clothes on, and now, he was about to take them offâŠ
âA YaoâŠâ She couldnât help but let out a slight moan.
âBe obedient⊠Relax, and itâll be fineâŠâ He caressed her smooth and soft skin. After she got pregnant, Su Shuilian did not develop any freckles like most pregnant women. Quite the contrary, her skin became more soft and white, which made Lin Si Yao admiringly tease it.
Even he didnât understand, a previously cold-hearted assassin, once fallen in love, could be so passionate. So much so that he couldnât restrain himself.
It seemed she had ignited the affection he had been suppressing in the bottom of his heart for more than twenty years. Once it was ignited, the fire would never cease.
âShuilianâŠâ He groaned as he used his lips to ask for her hot responseâŠ
The scorching summer sun was overwhelming outside. Inside the room, heat waves of passion were burning the two.
Beads of sweat rolled down his handsome, proud face, dropping on her white chest. His deep eyes showed unfathomable amount of love.
He crouched between her thighs, his hands supporting her full, round buttocks. Two groans, one low and one satisfied, came after a thrust. He had smoothly entered her bodyâŠ
Itâd been a been a while since they had last did it. After it was ignited, the fire couldnât be controlled. Moreover, being crazy about her, he was willing to do soâŠ
ââ
âShifu, my father said that the house is done. Do you want to go there and check?â In an afternoon on a early eighth lunar month day, Tian Dabao ran into his yard as Lin Si Yao was about to take Su Shuilian for their lunch nap.
âOh? That fast?â Lin Si Yao raised his brow. He thought that it would take ten or fifteen days more before everything was done.
âYes, my father said that we should seize the time of good weather to build the two-acre house, tooâŠâ It could be convenient for his workers to have a nice Lunar New Yearâs holiday.
If this project was to continue smoothly, they could earn the salary that would usually take two years to get.
Of course, Tian Dabao wasnât too foolish to tell the other the reason. He had overheard it from the workersâ chat during break time.
âWe should carry out the work as your father has suggestedâŠâ Wasnât this what he had in mind? Lin Si Yao nodded indifferently. âI will give him the sketches later.â
âSureâŠâ Tian Da Bao smiled until his eyes narrowed and nodded. He was about head back to report to Tian Dafu when a thought flashed in his mind. He turned around and asked, âShifu, where has Situ been lately?â
Situ Yun had stayed here long enough to befriend the innocent Tian Dabao their relationship was neither too close nor too distant.
Befriending, but they are actually more like partners. Theyâd partners ordered to protect Su Shuilian Lin Si Yao.
âHe went to the city for some businessâŠâ Lin Si Yao helped Su Shuilian onto the bed and pulled a thin blanket to cover her, âRest well. Iâm going to the Tian House. Iâll be right back.â
âOkayâŠâ Su Shuilian nodded. âIf you have time, you should rest too. Donât overwork yourself.â
During the summer time, there were many things to do with the fields. Seeing him getting up early in the morning and busying himself until late night without much time to rest, she worried for him.
âI know. SleepâŠâ The corners of Lin Si Yaoâs mouth curved up. He pecked her lips as he asked her to rest. Then, he called Tian Dabao, who was drinking tea in the main house. âLetâs go. Letâs find your dad so we talk about the new house.â
âOh hey, teacher, after you got the new house, what would you do with this house?â This house was decorated much more beautiful than his own house. It would be wasted if no one lived here.
âDemolish and build a new oneâŠâ Lin Si Yao walked ahead of Tian Dabao, striding toward the Tian familyâs house.
âWhat? Demolish⊠Rebuild? You still want to build more houses?âŠâ Tian Dabao was bewildered for a while. Then, he beamed sillily. âDad and uncle Fang are gonna smile till their teeth fall off!â
Working on three big constructions continually, even if they didnât work the next year, they wouldnât need to worry about their living expenses. Not to mention the other things, the carpenters and workers, who didnât get a job in the other two towns, would have their eyes red in jealousy.
However, there are just two people, Shifu and Shi Niang, ah, and the sisters or brothers in her belly too⊠still only four people in total. How could they live in two houses? Sigh, I would never understand Shifuâs thoughts. I should just remain as an obedient construction supervisorâŠ