Chapter 5: Sharing a Bed, Xiaoxi Can’t Rest Easy

Chapter 5: Sharing a Bed with Wen Xi, Hard to Rest Easy

Yan Fengan stared at the bowl of murky dark medicinal broth for a long while before forcing himself to drink it down, mouthful by mouthful, despite the discomfort.

Seeing the visible relief on Wen Xi's and Chen Lanfang's faces, Yan Fengan couldn't quite put his finger on what he was feeling.

After Chen Lanfang left, he scooted over, and with a weary look, closed his eyes and gave a light pat to the spot beside him.

"Come sleep up here."

That was the last thing he said before he blacked out.

Once he fell into a deep sleep, Yan Fengan could neither speak nor act, and with the threat neutralized, Wen Xi's fear eased a bit.

Sleeping on the floor would keep him from sharing the bed with Yan Fengan, but it would cause him a lot of trouble down the line. After going back and forth for a bit, he still picked up his own bedding and carefully climbed onto the bed.

Yan Fengan's bed was large and soft, with sheets that had been changed just yesterday and hadn't yet been steeped in the smell of herbs.

Wen Xi had never slept on a bed this comfortable. Lying on it, he didn't know what to do with his hands or feet.

Back home, when it was hot, he'd sleep in the woodshed, and when it was cold, he'd rig up a makeshift bed out of stools and boards and crash in Wen Liu's room.

Wen Liu always said he stank and had a weird smell, never allowing him near his bed.

Wen Xi felt really hurt—every night before bed, he scrubbed himself clean, and even if there was no hot water, he'd wash his face and feet with cold water. How could he possibly smell strange? Thinking of this, he raised his hand and sniffed himself again, only relaxing after confirming there was no odd smell. He slowed his breathing, hugged the edge of the bed, and slowly closed his eyes.

Maybe the bed was too comfortable, or maybe it was having someone else lying next to him, but Wen Xi couldn't fall asleep for a long time after closing his eyes.

Thinking back on everything that had happened that day, he found it hard to believe.

This was his second day as a bride in the Yan family—no beatings, no humiliation—he'd gotten a red envelope and been shown kindness. Compared to his days in the Wen family, it was like night and day.

This kind of life was almost too good to be true. Even if it meant sharing a bed with someone he didn't like, Wen Xi still felt satisfied.

He didn't have any big wishes—he just silently prayed that the Guanyin in the temple would bless him to stay with the Yan family a little longer.

Maybe it was the medicine and a good night's rest, but by the next day, Wen Xi's head wasn't so dizzy anymore.

Everyone in the house had chores, and being the only one with nothing to do made him uneasy. After breakfast, he volunteered to take over the job of brewing the medicine.

Li Wan asked him, "Do you know how to use the medicine stove? Want me to show you?"

Finally, he could be of some use. Wen Xi quickly shook his head. "I know how—no need to teach me."

Back home, he was always the one who took care of anyone who got sick, so he had plenty of experience brewing medicine. The work wasn't hard—it just took focus, since you had to keep an eye on the fire the whole time.

Wen Xi remembered one time when Li Qiaozhen was sick and he got so busy chopping firewood that he forgot about the medicine until it had already scorched. Li Qiaozhen insisted he'd done it on purpose and gave him a beating even though she was sick. From then on, Wen Xi was extra careful whenever he brewed medicine.

Li Wan smiled and said, "Then from now on, we'll have to trouble you to take care of Third Brother."

It was just a polite thing to say, but it still made Wen Xi feel warm inside.

Whatever the Yan family really thought of him, at least they genuinely treated him like a person.

Here, Wen Xi wasn't a workhorse or a beast that could be beaten and scolded at will—that alone was enough to make him grateful.

The doctor's prescription was for three days' worth of medicine, so today he just needed to heat it up. Once it had cooled a little, Wen Xi chugged his bowl down in big gulps like a thirsty ox.

Before he even had a reaction, Li Wan's face was already scrunching up, and she clicked her tongue and said, "Don't you find it bitter?"

Of course the medicine was bitter, but a little bitterness was nothing to Wen Xi. Back in the Wen family, unless he was literally dying, they wouldn't spend a cent on his medical care. For him, being sick and actually getting medicine was already a luxury, so why would he complain about it being bitter now? He rinsed out the bowl and replied to Li Wan, "It's fine."

Li Wan added, "You're just like Third Brother that way—he doesn't mind bitter medicine either."

Then who was the one yesterday who wouldn't drink it because it was too bitter?

Wen Xi found it odd, but he figured Li Wan had no reason to lie about it. Could Yan Fengan have been messing with him on purpose?

With that question nagging at him, Wen Xi kept a close eye on Yan Fengan's reaction the next time he fed him his medicine.

"Little mute, why do you keep staring at me like that?"

Wen Xi thought his sneaky looks had gone unnoticed, so having Yan Fengan call him out so bluntly made him want to crawl into a hole.

Wait—what had Yan Fengan just called him?

Wen Xi's eyes slowly widened. He didn't dare talk back loudly to Yan Fengan, but he was too upset to stay quiet, so he timidly shot back, "I'm not mute."

"You haven't said a single word to me—if you're not mute, then what are you?"

It wasn't enough that he'd called him ugly and looked down on him for being illiterate—now he was calling him a little mute. How could anyone be so infuriating?

Wen Xi felt wronged and upset, defending himself in a small voice, "I did say two things to you."

Yan Fengan said, "Two doesn't count. From now on, you have to say at least twenty things to me every day."

Wasn't he just trying to make things hard for him on purpose? Wen Xi thought about it—in all these years, he and Yan Fengan hadn't even exchanged twenty words total.

Half confused, half complaining, Wen Xi muttered, "What's there to talk about between us?"

He hated him, and the feeling was mutual.

Yan Fengan was doing a bit better today than yesterday. He gave a wry smile and said, "We can talk about anything. I was pretty awful to you before, wasn't I? If you want, you can even cuss me out a little."

Wen Xi figured the fall must have rattled this guy's brain—who goes around asking to be yelled at?

He hung his head and said, "I don't know how to curse."

The person before him was as thin and delicate as a willow, always spoke in a soft, timid voice without any confidence. When his big, round, apricot-shaped eyes accidentally met someone's gaze, he looked like a startled fawn in the woods—timid and full of fear.

Yan Fengan shook his head. "So frail and timid—no wonder you're always getting pushed around."

That made no sense at all.

Maybe because he'd been bottling up his frustration, or maybe because a sick Yan Fengan was in a weaker position, no longer so arrogant and hateful, Wen Xi worked up the nerve to fire back, "So just because I'm weak and timid, I deserve to be pushed around by all of you?"

"Of course not." Yan Fengan paused, watching the tears spill down Wen Xi's face from sheer grievance. After a long pause, he said, "I was wrong about what happened before. I'm sorry."

Wen Xi hadn't wanted to cry, but the feelings hit him too fast, and the tears came before he could stop them.

There was no handkerchief around, so Yan Fengan had to use his hand to wipe the tears from Wen Xi's eyes. Feeling those cold fingers brush across his cheek, Wen Xi froze for a second, then shot up and hurried out of the room with the medicine bowl, all flustered.

He Jin saw how startled he looked and asked worriedly, "What's with the jumpy reaction? What happened?"

Wen Xi just shook his head and said nothing.

He stayed in the kitchen for a good while before his heart finally stopped racing.

He just couldn't wrap his head around it—this man who had once been disgusted by the mere sight of him had not only apologized to him out of nowhere, but had even wiped his tears with his own hand?

Was Yan Fengan, now unable to get around easily and dependent on his care, deliberately trying to win him over?

Wen Xi couldn't figure out what was going on in Yan Fengan's mind, only feeling like the man was a different person every time he turned around—proof positive he'd scrambled his brains in that fall.

In the days that followed, Yan Fengan kept treating him the same way. Compared to the malicious insults of before, he now seemed more like someone lying around bored, teasing Wen Xi like a kid.

For the most part, Wen Xi still didn't say much to him, only occasionally snapping back when he got fed up.

Though their interactions were still awkward, Wen Xi no longer felt as scared or on guard around him.

Wen Xi took his medicine on time every day, and the aches in his body gradually faded with the herbal treatments. When he moved around, his chest no longer felt like he couldn't catch his breath.

Surface wounds were easy to heal, but his body's underlying weakness wasn't so easy to fix.

As it happened, a doctor from Baoning Hall in town came out to the countryside to check on Yan Fengan, and Chen Lanfang asked him to take a look at Wen Xi too.

Upon learning that Wen Xi's frailty was just from years of hunger holding back his growth, and that with enough good food he'd be fine and it wouldn't affect his ability to have kids, Chen Lanfang finally felt relieved.

As for Yan Fengan, the doctor said he was recovering well. His family could help him get up and move around a bit, and while his diet couldn't be too greasy yet, they could add some nutritious extras to his porridge.

Now that caring for Yan Fengan had fallen entirely to Wen Xi, he quietly kept the doctor's advice in mind. When making the porridge, he added finely chopped lean meat and greens, then salted it once it was cooked. Though the ingredients were simple, to Yan Fengan, who'd been drinking plain porridge for days, it was a real treat. He usually only ate half a bowl, but these days his appetite had picked up and he was eating more.

Once his appetite picked up, his body started recovering too. Chen Lanfang silently thanked the Bodhisattva, and she warmed up to Wen Xi more and more.

On the autumn equinox, the weather was crisp and clear. After lunch, the sun was nice and warm. Wen Xi helped Yan Fengan out to the courtyard to soak up some sun.

At this time of year, the work in the fields was starting to wind down. Chen Lanfang and her daughters-in-law sat in the courtyard, chatting with him while doing some sewing.

The autumn sun was no longer as scorching as summer; it felt like a light blanket over you, warm and cozy.

Yan Fengan lay on the bamboo chair, the sunlight pouring over him like a warm current, flowing through his limbs and into his chest, soothing his soul.

He held out his hand and looked at it in the light. In the bright glow, the hand looked almost pale, with visible veins on the back, distinct palm lines, and calluses on the middle finger of his right hand from years of writing.

It was indeed his body.

Feeling his eyes sting, Yan Fengan closed them and took a deep breath. He'd finally gotten his body back after three long years.

Three years ago, a wandering soul had appeared from nowhere, taking advantage of his weakened condition from a cold to seize his body, forcing his soul out and leaving him to drift in the darkness like a lost ghost.

The shock and sheer absurdity of it all washed over him. If it hadn't been for his fierce determination to get his body back, his soul might have faded away to nothing long ago.

Having gone through something so bizarre with no one to tell, Yan Fengan found himself recalling past events these days, and he kept feeling like none of it was real.

It wasn't until this moment, with the sun warming his whole body, that he truly felt alive again.

Wen Xi, clueless about what was really going on, thought Yan Fengan had found something interesting. Sitting nearby, he secretly copied him and carefully spread his own hand.

Sunlight slipped through the gaps between his fingers, making a few coin-sized spots of light on the ground. When he made a fist, the spots disappeared; when he opened his hand, they came back.

It was nothing special, but Wen Xi thought it was fun—how come he'd never noticed before that sunlight could turn into coins?

A soft chuckle came from next to him. His childish behavior had been seen by someone else, and Wen Xi's face turned bright red in an instant.

He quickly hid his hand behind his back, trying to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. In the end, he could only lower his head and stare intently at his own feet.

In the ten or so days since marrying into the Yan family, Wen Xi hadn't done any heavy work, but his shoes had still managed to wear a hole in them. If he wasn't careful, his big toe would stick out from the opening.

Knowing Yan Fengan was still looking at him, the already embarrassed Wen Xi felt even worse. Whether it was a crack in the ground to crawl into or a tree hollow to hide in, at that moment he just wanted to get as far from Yan Fengan as he could.

His usually slow mind suddenly started working fast. Wen Xi stood up, rushed over to Chen Lanfang, and stammered, "Mother, I'd like to... go to the river to catch some fish and shrimp, to give Yan... Scholar Yan something different to eat."

"What's this 'Scholar Yan'? That's your husband. You're a married couple now—don't be so distant." Wen Xi's injuries had mostly healed, and Chen Lanfang wasn't going to hold him back, but since this was his first time going out since marrying into the family, she was a bit concerned: "Take Tiezhu and Tao'er with you."

The two kids loved playing by the river more than anything. Hearing that, they stopped looking for ant holes and scrambled to grab the fish baskets. "Let's go catch fish!"

Wen Xi let that comment slide and said quietly, "I'll take good care of them."