TTLJDFL Chapter 8

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The villagers all knew that Li Zhuzi usually looked after Li Jin. Whenever Li Jin had disputes with others in the village, Li Zhuzi would rush over to mediate.

But in reality, the original Li Jin was timid, cowardly, and only acted tough at home. He wasn’t capable of causing any real trouble, so with Li Zhuzi’s good reputation in the village, things were always easily resolved.

But this time, Li Zhuzi was openly praising Li Jin.

The villagers thought to themselves—"A divine doctor? That useless bum, Li Jin? Hope he doesn’t bite his tongue saying that."

Li Zhuzi saw that no one believed him, but he didn’t bother explaining.

If he hadn’t personally experienced how Li Jin had instantly set his bone right, he wouldn’t have believed it either.

Li Zhuzi pulled his ox cart to Li Jin’s house. Li Jin picked up his laundry basin and said, “Thanks.”

“What are you thanking me for? If anything, I should be thanking you. If it weren’t for you, I’d be laid up for a couple of days, and I wouldn’t be able to go into the mountains tomorrow.”

After bidding farewell, Li Jin entered his home.

Because his house was small, it made the yard seem relatively large. There was a well against the courtyard wall near the kitchen.

Behind the bedroom was a backyard with two persimmon trees. A hemp rope was strung between them, just right for hanging clothes.

By the time Li Jin returned, Qin Muwen had been awake for a while.

His body was still weak, and every movement brought pain. At first, when he woke up to find only himself and the baby in the room, he was momentarily panicked.

He tried calling out "Ah Jin" a couple of times, but there was no response.

The baby, on the other hand, wasn’t as sensitive and was sleeping soundly.

Qin Muwen listened carefully to the voices outside, hoping to hear their door open.

But all he heard were the voices of the village men returning from work.

None of them were Li Jin.

When he finally saw Li Jin return with a laundry basin in hand, he was so startled he nearly sat up in bed.

Li Jin didn’t bother hanging the clothes first—he went over to support Qin Muwen and tucked a pillow behind his back.

“What’s wrong? Are you hungry? There’s still some chicken soup in the pot.”

Qin Muwen shook his head. “The laundry…”

“I washed it. You’re not in good health right now, so rest is the most important thing.” Li Jin didn’t see anything wrong with "a man washing clothes by the river."

His family was poor, with only him and his husband. His husband had just given birth—was he supposed to let the dirty clothes pile up until his husband recovered to wash them?

Sorry, but Li Jin really couldn’t do that.

Qin Muwen stared at Li Jin, and now, his expression could no longer be described as merely "shocked."

“I—I should be the one doing the laundry. You’re a man… you can’t do that…”

Li Jin pressed down on his hand. “With your current condition, you want to do the laundry?”

Perhaps because Li Jin’s tone was serious, Qin Muwen didn’t know how to respond for a moment.

Back in the Shangshu Manor, from the maids to the servants, he had never seen a man doing laundry.

Later, when he was sold to Li Jin as his husband, Qin Muwen understood that this was his punishment.

Just like his brother who was exiled to the northern frontier and his sisters who were sent to brothels, he had simply received a more "respectable" form of punishment.

In this country, ger were of even lower status than women, so when sentencing, the Grand Court Minister had taken pity on him. Since he was just a ger and had been ignorant of everything, they decided that simply selling him off would be enough.

For the past two years of marriage, Qin Muwen had been working hard every day—farming, washing clothes, cooking, sewing to earn money. It was all like a form of atonement.

Though, he still had no idea what crime his father, had committed.

Qin Muwen was naturally a quiet, unassertive person. Even when injured, he would simply suffer in silence.

In these past two years, he had grown used to it.

All he thought about was giving birth to the child, raising them well, and finding them a good marriage in the future. That, to him, would be the greatest happiness in life.

But Li Jin… Why was Li Jin suddenly being so kind to him?

Qin Muwen looked at the freshly washed clothes, biting his lip.

He had once envied the "heavenly couples" described in books.

But now, he had long since given up all hope in Li Jin.

Perhaps, at the very beginning of their marriage, Qin Muwen had dreamed of a harmonious life as husband and husband.

But later, he realized—that was nothing but a fool’s dream.

Now, Qin Muwen felt as if he were living in a beautiful dream woven by the ants of Nanke.

Although the happiness was so sweet it reached the tip of his heart, in the end, it was still just a dream.

Li Jin saw that he wasn’t saying anything, like a stubborn child who had made up his mind.

He felt a headache coming on, and his tone naturally became more serious, much like when he was explaining important matters to the family members of a patient.

"Right now, you cannot be exposed to wind or cold. Why are you so concerned about washing clothes?"

But in truth, Qin Muwen was only worried that Li Jin’s kindness toward him would be short-lived.

What if, once he recovered, Li Jin reverted to his old ways—scolding and hitting him at the slightest provocation? Qin Muwen was afraid that he truly wouldn't be able to endure it.

Falling from the clouds into the mud—not everyone could handle such a drastic shift.

Qin Muwen lowered his head and said, "Once I get better, I can do the laundry again."

He could keep working just as he always had. As long as Li Jin’s attitude toward him improved a little, just a tiny bit, it would be enough.

Li Jin knew that postpartum people needed careful psychological care.

Most of the people he had met tended to become more delicate after childbirth, expecting more care from their husbands and families—which was completely normal.

After all, pregnancy lasted ten months, and when the child was finally born, the mother had suffered the most.

It was precisely because of this that Li Jin had been taking care of Qin Muwen with such meticulous attention.

He wasn’t sure what kind of temperament his "husband" had, but the youth had delicate, youthful features.

He was still just a child himself, yet he had to bear so much on his own. Li Jin couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

After all, since Li Jin was both a doctor and a family member, if he didn’t take care of the young man, who would?

But this situation gave Li Jin a headache.

Why wasn't the boy acting even a little spoiled?!

Was he really planning to keep working even though he had just given birth?

What kind of useless man had the original host been to let things reach this point?

Depending on his husband for survival yet still treating him poorly—unbelievable.

Li Jin said, "You don't have to worry about housework for now. The most important thing for you is to recover. Understand?"

Hearing his slightly stern tone, Qin Muwen suddenly flinched.

Li Jin: "……?"

Did the original host actually abuse him?!

Li Jin sighed. He rubbed his hands together to warm them up before slipping them under the quilt to hold the young man's hand.

The hand was calloused but not rough, which meant Qin Muwen hadn't been doing this kind of labor since childhood.

It must have been after getting married that he was treated as a workhorse.

Li Jin said, "I won’t hit you. In the future, if you have any thoughts or concerns, you can tell me, and we’ll discuss them together."

Qin Muwen was caught off guard by the warmth of Li Jin's hand, suddenly feeling lost.

Even though this same pair of hands had held him earlier and helped him put on his pants,

Li Jin hadn't said anything back then, so Qin Muwen had pretended it wasn’t a big deal.

But this was different.

The man’s voice drifted gently from above his head, making Qin Muwen too nervous to entertain any stray thoughts.

He simply nodded hurriedly, afraid of making Li Jin unhappy.

Seeing that he agreed, Li Jin went to the backyard to hang up the clothes before heading to the kitchen to ladle out some chicken soup.

"You didn't eat much earlier. Have some more soup," he said.

Li Jin was hungry himself, but he could bear it.

The chicken soup had been simmering for a long time, making it incredibly flavorful.

Before scooping it out, he carefully skimmed off the fat, making it light and suitable for the young man to drink.

After taking two sips, Qin Muwen suddenly said, "Ajin."

Li Jin’s hand paused. "Hm?"

"You eat first. I'm not hungry."

But just as he finished speaking, his stomach growled loudly.

Women who gave birth naturally shouldn’t eat within the first two hours postpartum, but that time had long passed.

And giving birth was an exhausting ordeal—he must have been starving by now.

But Qin Muwen had guessed that Li Jin hadn’t eaten anything either.

And as for this chicken… Who knew where it had come from?

A single chicken cost forty wen, and it had been a long time since they had any meat in the house.

Seeing that Li Jin was only feeding him and not eating himself, Qin Muwen quickly blurted out those words—only to embarrass himself.

—He had just claimed he wasn’t hungry, yet his stomach had betrayed him immediately.

The young man was too sensible, but Li Jin remained unfazed.

He simply lifted another spoonful of broth with shredded meat and brought it to the boy’s lips.

"Open your mouth."

It seemed that Qin Muwen was still a little afraid of him.

The moment Li Jin's tone lowered, he became obedient, carefully following every instruction, as if terrified of making him angry.

By the time he finished the entire bowl of soup, the young man couldn’t help but hiccup.

Li Jin chuckled. "Are you full now?"

Qin Muwen nodded. "Mm."

"Was the soup good?"

Another nod. "Delicious."

"Do you know why the soup is all for you?"

The young man grew nervous and shy, staying silent.

Li Jin was treating him far too well.

In the past, his father had also saved the best food for him…

Li Jin’s voice came again. "Drinking soup is good for milk production."

Qin Muwen: "???"

Well… That made sense. Otherwise, why was it that pregnant women were always given so many nourishing soups?

Qin Muwen’s eyes turned red, as if he were about to cry.

Li Jin patted his head and stood up. "I won’t tease you anymore. I'm going to the village to buy some goat’s milk. The baby hasn’t eaten yet."

Although newborns ideally needed breast milk, Li Jin figured that the world probably wasn’t so absurd that "ge’er" could produce milk.

So, for now, he could only cook some rice porridge and add goat’s milk when it was almost done, making a simple food substitute for the baby.

It was still not dark yet, and a group of villagers was chatting at the entrance of the village.

Li Jin thought that he couldn’t always take from Li Daniu, so he decided to go to Li Zhuzi’s house to ask if they had any goat milk. If they had rice, that would be even better.

Li Jin had recalled something earlier—Li Zhuzi was probably the person in the village who treated him the best. So naturally, he thought of going to his house first.

As soon as he arrived at Li Zhuzi’s doorstep, he saw the man holding several bottles and jars.

Upon seeing Li Jin, Li Zhuzi smiled and said, “Gēr is not good at producing milk, and your baby was just born, so I brought you some goat milk and eggs. There’s also a bag of rice.”

Li Jin: “???” Can gērs actually produce milk???

Is this world really about to shatter his understanding of reality???

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