Chapter 386: Chapter 386: An Embrace
In the middle of the night, Ji Huan was startled awake by the pattering of the rain. ’This is bad!’ she thought. She quickly got dressed and climbed off the kang.
Just as she pulled open the door to the main hall, she saw the door to the east wing open as well.
Guan Shan emerged, wearing a straw rain cloak and a bamboo hat. He frowned when he saw the umbrella in her hand.
"You stay home. The rain is heavy outside. I’ll go."
But how could Ji Huan possibly stay put?
Guan Shan added that Dabao couldn’t be left alone.
Ji Huan considered it. She really wasn’t comfortable leaving a small child home alone in the middle of the night.
"Be careful, then."
Guan Shan nodded. Seeing her shivering from the cold, he instructed, "It’s nothing serious. Go wait on the kang."
After watching Guan Shan disappear into the curtain of rain, Ji Huan returned to the east room, but she was too anxious to sit still.
They had managed to get an extra half-month this year, promising the military delivery by the end of the month. Even rushing, she worried they wouldn’t make the deadline. If the rain were to soak and ruin everything...
About half an hour later, Guan Shan returned.
Ji Huan helped him take off his straw cloak and brought a dry towel to wipe away the rain, asking, "How is it? Is everything alright?"
Guan Shan wiped his face and said everything was fine.
People who have farmed for most of their lives can usually discern changes in the weather from small details.
That evening, Ji Liansong had sensed something was off. He and Shi Yong had run to all the production sites, reminding everyone to move the vegetables piled outdoors into the houses, cellars, or temporary sheds.
Over at West River Gully, things were simpler because they had already built a long row of sheds, so the vegetables were never left in the open.
Furthermore, all the tools had been put away, and the earthen stoves were covered with straw mats.
When Guan Shan arrived at West River Gully, the main branch of the family was already awake. They checked everything and confirmed there were no problems. Afterward, he and Ji Liansong went separately to check on Widow Xie, Aunt Gao, and Sixth Sister-in-law Feng.
There were no issues, so he had returned.
’It feels pretty good, not having to worry because someone else has already taken care of it for you.’
Ji Huan breathed a sigh of relief. Noticing his faintly blue lips, she went to the kitchen to get him a bowl of hot water.
"I just boiled it. Drink it quickly to warm yourself up."
As Guan Shan took the bowl, her fingers brushed against his, and she found they were as cold as ice.
She looked troubled and hesitated before speaking. "Why don’t you sleep in the east room? It’s getting colder, and your room doesn’t have a heated kang..."
Guan Shan paused his drinking and looked up at her.
Ji Huan quickly added, "I’ll sleep in the west room with Dabao."
’Actually, the best solution would be for Guan Shan and Dabao to share a kang, but I know without asking that Dabao would never agree.’
’The boy has always felt that Guan Shan is here to compete for my affection, and he still holds a baffling hostility toward him.’
"There’s no need."
Guan Shan let the water cool a bit before drinking it all in one go. He then left with the bowl.
"Get some sleep."
Lying on the kang, Ji Huan tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She got up, opened the kang-side cabinet, and took out their wedding quilt. Holding an umbrella, she went to the door of the east wing and knocked.
Guan Shan clearly hadn’t been asleep, as the door was pulled open after a single knock.
Before Ji Huan could speak, she and the quilt were pulled into the room.
Guan Shan took the bright red wedding quilt, placed it on the bed, and turned to look at the shivering Ji Huan, momentarily speechless.
’It’s normal to feel a bit chilled after going out on a rainy winter night, but I’m not actually cold.’
’Ji Huan has brought the thickest quilts in the house to this room. I’m already using a heavy winter quilt that makes me sweat most nights.’
’But she’s still worried I’ll freeze. She probably feels guilty that she and Dabao have a heated kang while I don’t, so she brought me another quilt.’
’She doesn’t know that back when I was on the march, I could sleep anywhere, even in ice and snow. We were never this comfortable, not even in the barracks.’
’Still, this feeling of being cared for... it’s not bad.’
Having come from her warm room, Ji Huan’s teeth were chattering violently.
"You should get some rest. I’m heading back."
She opened the door and had just unfolded her umbrella when she heard footsteps. An instant later, she was swept up into his arms.
The cold wind made her gasp, but Guan Shan’s embrace was like a high, impenetrable wall. Nestled against him, Ji Huan couldn’t feel the slightest trace of the wind and rain.
Guan Shan carried Ji Huan with wide strides through the main hall and straight into the east room before setting her down.
He didn’t place her on the kang, but in an armchair.
"Wait here."
With those two words, he turned and went to the kitchen, returning a moment later with a basin of hot water.
He placed the wooden basin in front of Ji Huan and reached down to take off her shoes.
Ji Huan recoiled instinctively, her eyes widening. "What are you doing?"
Guan Shan glanced at her, then pointed to the water stains spreading across her shoes. "Soak your feet before you sleep."
When Ji Huan ran outside, she had only put on simple house shoes. The courtyard had puddled with water, and the sides of her shoes were soaked through.
’No wonder they felt so damp.’
"I can do it, I’ll do it myself."
Since she had climbed straight off the kang, she wasn’t wearing any socks. Ji Huan took off her shoes and immediately plunged her feet into the hot water.
Guan Shan caught only a glimpse of dazzling white before averting his gaze.
’But the shape of her foot lingered in his mind; it seemed smaller than his palm.’
At the thought, his hand involuntarily clenched into a fist.
’I was so focused on stopping him from removing my shoes that I only just realized how... inappropriate it was for me to take them off myself in front of a man of this era.’
"Um... ahem, you can go back to your room. I’ll take care of the water later..."
But Guan Shan ignored her. He found a pair of dry shoes on the rack beside the wardrobe and placed them next to the basin.
Too embarrassed to linger, Ji Huan soaked her feet for just a moment. As soon as the numb coldness faded, she dried them and slipped on the clean shoes.
Guan Shan took the basin outside to empty it. He didn’t come back in this time, only calling for Ji Huan to bolt the main hall door.
By the time she was tucked back into her warm blankets, the night was already waning.
Ji Huan thought she would lie awake for hours, but she fell asleep almost instantly.
Her dreams were a fleeting montage of shifting scenes. She couldn’t remember any of them clearly, only that a familiar face appeared in every one.
When she woke up, she clutched her forehead and let out a weak groan.
She had originally planned to go to Yeyang the next day, but with the rain still falling, the trip was impossible. To make matters worse, Ji Huan had fallen ill.
Her head had been aching the day before, and getting chilled by the night wind had predictably led to a cold.
It wasn’t serious, however—just a low-grade fever, and they had common remedies at home.
Ji Huan didn’t think it was serious, but Guan Shan disagreed. He insisted she stay resting on the kang and forbade her from getting up.
He brewed the medicine himself and watched her drink it down. He didn’t let her cook breakfast or lunch, either.
Perhaps knowing that she and Dabao were sick of pickled vegetable congee, Guan Shan tried to make something different. The result... well, Ji Huan forced herself to finish it and then strongly requested they just have pickled vegetable congee for the next meal.
When Dabao found out Ji Huan was sick, he forgot all about being a picky eater. He lay on the edge of the kang, watching her, and reached out to touch her forehead, just as she always did for him.
Afraid of getting him sick, Ji Huan told him to go back to his room, but he refused. In the end, Guan Shan simply picked him up and carried him out.
This, of course, infuriated Dabao.