On the third day after the wedding, it is customary for the bride to return to her parents' home. Ye Jiao felt that she was a good learner as a little ginseng spirit, and since she had decided to be human, she should do it well.
However, on the night before returning, Qi Yun said he would accompany her back.
Hearing this, Ye Jiao felt reassured and obediently nodded, but did not immediately go to sleep.
"What's wrong?" The two were still sleeping in separate beds. Qi Yun had already covered himself with a quilt and lay down on the soft couch. Seeing Ye Jiao still standing beside him, he wanted to sit up.
However, Ye Jiao sat on the side of the couch and gently tugged at his sleeve.
The woman's face was upright and beautiful, with a pair of particularly bright and pretty eyes. Even without makeup, she was still beautiful.
She had always been underfed, which had made the little girl skinny with a small pointed chin. However, the essence of the ginseng spirit nourished her body, making her complexion look rosy white. Even though she was thin, it made people feel that she had an excellent complexion.
Perhaps it was because she particularly favored the osmanthus lotus root dish at dinner, but at this moment, Qi Yun seemed to still smell a faint scent of osmanthus from the woman.
The current posture of the two made Qi Yun's ears turn slightly red.
He had been weak and sickly since childhood, which was a problem he had from the womb. Even though Madam Liu had sought doctors and medicine for many years, there was no improvement. Now, Madam Liu had even started to believe in gods and Buddhas, but Qi Yun's health was still the same.
This made Qi Yun dislike seeing people since he was young, and he would usually just bury himself in books. Madam Liu also doted on him and prepared many things for him.
Among them, Qi Yun had also read erotic novels about men and women's intimacy.
Between husband and wife, there are naturally some specific steps that need to be completed.
But... now he would pant just from walking a few more steps, and he couldn't do anything else.
Qi Yun couldn't help but look at Ye Jiao, moved his mouth, and said in a low voice, "Jiao Niang, why don't you go to sleep?"
Ye Jiao hesitated for a moment, raised her eyes to look at Qi Yun, and then seemed to have made a big decision, "Husband, I have something I want to ask you. Don't sleep yet, okay?"
Qi Yun's heart sank, thinking that it was indeed this matter.
He felt awkward, and it showed on his face involuntarily.
Under the flickering candlelight, his originally handsome face now looked gloomy. His pale face looked a bit scary at night.
Ye Jiao was not afraid of his appearance. When she was a spirit before, she had seen many strange and bizarre things. Even when the little fox transformed, it had a fox head and fox paws but a human body, and Ye Jiao was not afraid at all.
Moreover, in Ye Jiao's eyes, her husband's appearance was extremely good-looking. Even if his face was a bit pale, it didn't matter. She only had love, not fear.
However, after interacting for this period of time, Ye Jiao could also tell when Qi Yun was happy and when he was upset.
Seeing him like this, Ye Jiao hurriedly grabbed Qi Yun's hand and patted his chest with the other hand. She spoke much faster than usual, "Don't worry. If you don't want to, I won't eat. It's okay, I can sleep even when I'm hungry."
...Huh?
Qi Yun raised his eyes to stare at her, dazed for a moment before realizing that his wife was hungry.
Thinking of this, Qi Yun couldn't help laughing and crying.
How could he not see it clearly? Ye Jiao usually only cared about eating or sleeping and never cared about anything else. What he was thinking about just now, Ye Jiao probably had no idea at all.
Suddenly feeling self-loathing for his previous bad thoughts, Qi Yun immediately held Ye Jiao's hand and said to her, "Do you want to eat snacks or a meal? If you want a meal, go and call the cook to get up and make it."
Ye Jiao also knew that after nightfall, everyone in the household was asleep, and she didn't want to trouble anyone, so she only said, "I'll eat snacks."
Qi Yun pointed to a small red wooden cabinet not far away, "There's a box inside. If you're hungry, just take it from there."
Ye Jiao immediately let go of Qi Yun's hand, ran over to open the cabinet door, took out the only food box inside, sat at the table, and looked at the snacks inside with a smile. She picked one up and stuffed it into her mouth.
Today's snacks had red bean filling, which tasted even better than the ones on the wedding night.
Ye Jiao happily narrowed her eyes, but her gaze would drift over to Qi Yun from time to time.
Eating now was not because she was greedy, but to prepare well for what she wanted to do tonight.
Qi Yun's poor health was not a disease, but a congenital deficiency and weakness.
Weakness would not kill a person, but because his constitution was frighteningly weak, even a common cold that ordinary people could endure could take his life!
The fact that he could live until now was also a stroke of good luck amidst his misfortune.
Ye Jiao knew that she was a ginseng spirit, and all she could do was nourish, not cure all diseases.
Now, before understanding the medicine of this world, Ye Jiao was prepared to use her own method to nourish Qi Yun well.
Holding hands for the past two days had a good effect, so today Ye Jiao was ready to try something else while Qi Yun was sleeping.
Treatment was also physical work, so naturally, she had to eat well to do it.
Qi Yun lay on his side watching her.
He had never thought that he could feel so comfortable watching someone eat. It was said that watching a beauty under the moonlight was the most moving, but he felt that the little wife eating with puffed cheeks under the candlelight was the most beautiful in his eyes.
Watching and watching, Qi Yun closed his eyes and entered dreamland.
In his half-asleep state, he felt someone grab his hand.
It was as smooth as silk.
Then, a soft body squeezed between his arms, with a fragrant osmanthus scent.
He could vaguely hear a soft voice, "Husband, you must be healthy and live a long, long life."
Qi Yun thought, this must be a dream. After all, until now, even Madam Liu no longer hoped for him to live a long life.
But he was still happy because the voice was Ye Jiao's.
Even though he knew that words in dreams were not to be taken seriously, Qi Yun still felt warm in his heart.
Qi Yun had sweet dreams all night.
It seemed that after Ye Jiao came, he rarely had nightmares.
He got up on time in the morning, but instead of waking up Ye Jiao, who was still sleeping soundly, he put on his outer clothes and quietly went to get the account books that had been sent over the past two days.
The Qi family had some spare money, but their previous generations had relied on land for a living. Even though they had become the largest landlord in the area with many villages, they were still ignorant about doing business.
In their generation, the imperial court had completely lifted the restrictions on commoners doing business. Whether they were officials, gentry, wealthy households, peddlers, or even monks in temples, they were all willing to do some business.
The Qi family also wanted a share, but the eldest son Qi Zhao was not sensitive to numbers, and the third son Qi Ming wanted to study for the imperial examinations. In the end, the task of keeping accounts fell to Qi Yun.
For Qi Yun, this was not troublesome and was even exceptionally simple.
He had been intelligent since childhood, with a photographic memory. Perhaps having a poor body compensated for a clever mind. Qi Yun could manage the family's wine and medicine shops properly with almost no effort, and there were some profits every year, not too much, not too little.
But he really couldn't muster any ambition. It was too much to expect someone who was waiting to die every day to have the mood to make the wine and medicine shops prosperous.
Now it was different. Qi Yun knew that he not only had himself but also a little wife who loved to eat and sleep waiting for him to support. Things he didn't care about before now became important.
It was like a person who had been walking in darkness suddenly saw a light. No matter how faint it was, it could make him develop some desire for life.
Qi Yun took out the account books he had previously looked at roughly, intending to examine them carefully.
However, as he flipped through them, he found an old account.
The Qi family's tavern had a bad debt. About half a year ago, someone did business with their tavern, lost money, and owed a sum of silver.
And this person was the second young master Ye.
Qi Yun had heard that the Ye family originally had some foundation, but after the eldest young master Ye left, the second young master Ye was always urged by the family to go out and make a living. However, he had no great ability and failed at whatever he did. He probably owed a lot of money, otherwise, he would not have exchanged his sister for money.
This debt should not be pursued. The second young master Ye probably owed a lot of money and might not remember this debt, which was normal. Besides, the two families were now married, so Qi Yun felt that this little money was nothing and could be written off.
But he had been slow to erase this debt and had not torn up the IOU that was clipped inside.
Looking at Ye Jiao, Qi Yun lowered his head, thinking about something unknown. He put down the pen and put the IOU back into the book clip. He was about to stand up after tidying his outer clothes.
But as soon as he stood up, he suddenly felt dizzy.
He staggered while holding onto the table, but eventually couldn't support himself. His vision went black and he fell back into the chair!
The pen holder on the table fell over, making a loud noise. Ye Jiao immediately opened her eyes and pulled open the bed curtain in surprise.
Last night, in order to nourish him more, she had hugged him and slept the whole night. It was only when the rooster crowed that she quietly left the couch and went to sleep on the bed.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Qi Yun sitting there with a pale face. Ye Jiao didn't even bother to put on shoes and ran to his side barefoot, hugging the man.
Qi Yun closed his eyes and frowned, allowing the woman to hold him in her arms. He was in a daze, as if he was awake, but couldn't even open his eyes.
"Husband, husband?" Ye Jiao was a little anxious and wanted to touch him, but as soon as her hand touched the man's face, she felt a burning sensation on her fingertips.
Qi Yun had a fever.

Author's Note:
Qi Yun: The first time I hugged my wife to sleep, I didn't even know...
Ye Jiao: The red bean cakes are really delicious
=w=