The Husband I Snatched Is Not Right!

Chapter 524 - 519: Longing Burns Hot

After Wei Zhao left, every fortnight Yu Tingwan would receive a family letter from Shangjing through Tan Jiang.

Each letter was thick.

The letter mentioned.

——"Passing by the pastry shop in the west of the city, I couldn’t help but remember how you would secretly eat the glutinous rice cake behind my back, causing it to stick to your teeth. You cherished grain so much that you wouldn’t spit it out, and when I noticed, you panicked and covered your mouth with your sleeve."

Yu Tingwan wasn’t amused upon reading this.

What secret eating?

That glutinous rice cake was obviously something she bought with her monthly silver.

As for covering her mouth, how could he mention that without shame?

Didn’t she hear the tea inside the room being knocked over and mistakenly thought something bad had happened to Wei Zhao? Her heart jumped, and she stuffed the remaining half of the glutinous rice cake into her mouth, almost too full to contain, and rushed into the room anxiously.

Yu Tingwan saw Wei Zhao listlessly standing to the side, unharmed, and felt relieved. As she picked up the broken pieces on the floor, she chewed with effort.

She ate so arduously that her cheeks ached.

The girl frowned, her tongue tip quietly pushing against her palate, trying to discreetly loosen the sticky and soft rice mass, but the more she tried, the stickier it became.

For a moment, she was flustered, using only her lips and tongue, and in her urgency, fine sweat appeared on her nose.

Usually listless, Wei Zhao, who was too lazy to speak, was annoyed by her constant urging to take medicine. Yet, seeing her so comically, he couldn’t help but watch expressionlessly for a while.

It was as if he were watching a monkey.

Yu Tingwan was quite embarrassed.

Halfway through cleaning up, she purposely stopped what she was doing, sighed helplessly with a nasal sound.

Wei Zhao couldn’t hold it in.

"Ha."

Yu Tingwan knew he was laughing at her.

She ignored him, carefully swept up all the broken porcelain pieces, and wiped the floor with a cloth.

By the time Yu Tingwan finished tidying up, the man who should have been standing behind her was nowhere to be seen.

Could he have sneaked out again?

Last time, when the young master went out, he tripped over a stone and fell.

After falling, he didn’t even try to get up. Who knows if it was because he had no strength or simply didn’t mind the embarrassment.

In the end, Fu Meng had to carry him back.

She was so frightened that she hurried out to search.

The young master hadn’t gone out; he was just standing in the courtyard, languidly looking at the glutinous rice cakes on the stone table.

He was observing.

Maybe he hadn’t seen them before?

He raised a hand to pick up a piece and took a bite. The taste was bad, the texture even coarse. Who knows how that young maid could enjoy it so much.

"Young Master!"

Yu Tingwan ran over.

"You can’t eat that."

Wei Zhao originally planned to throw it away.

But hearing those words, his rebellious streak flared up, and he ate the entire piece in front of Yu Tingwan!

There was no provocation on his face.

But his actions were all provocation.

Yu Tingwan: ?

If it were medicine, and she told him the young master couldn’t drink it, she was certain Wei Zhao would obediently turn and throw the bowl away.

Yu Tingwan frowned, saying, "That’s something I bought outside."

It’s not homemade, and what if it’s not clean?

Seeing no response from him, Yu Tingwan said, "Don’t go against me."

"It’s not easy to digest, and your health is already frail. If your stomach aches later, what will you do?"

Wei Zhao found her quite noisy.

He was weak and weary.

"You talk too much."

Yu Tingwan: "But are you listening, young master?"

Hearing this, Wei Zhao looked at Yu Tingwan with displeasure.

"I don’t like being controlled by outsiders."

Yu Tingwan knew he was displeased.

Whenever Wei Zhao wasn’t happy, County Magistrate Xiao and Elder Ge always had to coax him.

The girl thought for a moment, then softened her voice, speaking kindly, "I only do this for your good, young master, I care for you so much that I revolve around you day and night, with no room in my eyes for anyone else. Truly, you’re the first man I’ve ever worried about so much, dreaming about you even at night. You need to... get used to it."

This was no lie.

Straight from the heart.

But in Wei Zhao’s eyes, it was a load of nonsense!

He picked up a second piece.

Yu Tingwan: "These are quite expensive."

In a small voice, she said, "One bag cost me six coins. I couldn’t even bear to eat it myself."

Yu Tingwan was urgent: "Young master, give it back to me."

"I’ll ask the kitchen to make something suitable for you."

Out of all those words, who knows if Wei Zhao took any to heart.

Under Yu Tingwan’s watchful gaze, he put down the piece of cake and, with grandiosity, gathered the whole bag of glutinous rice cakes into his arms, like a bandit, albeit unsteady on his feet, and returned indoors.

Then...

It indeed wasn’t easy to digest.

That night he was in pain, his face pale as a sheet.

Elder Ge was so angry he scolded him.

"Are you out of your mind? Just greedy for a taste? That girl worked hard to buy herself some cakes, and you just took them?"

"Are you trying to make her angry or me?"

Wei Zhao lay listlessly, a strong sense of frailty encompassing him.

He attempted to cover his ears.

Elder Ge pried his hand away and continued to lecture with sincere persuasion.

He was truly brazen.

Outside, Yu Tingwan nervously twisted her clothes: "County Magistrate Xiao, it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have been greedy."

"What does it have to do with you?"

Xiao Huaian had rushed over upon receiving the news. He pressed his brows and didn’t hurry inside, nor did he vent his anger.

"He..."

Xiao Huaian harbored a blocked feeling in his heart, unable to find anyone to talk to.

Especially seeing Wei Zhao looking all despondent daily, he felt more distressed than anyone.

"Back when he first began his studies at the Imperial College, there was a glutinous rice cake shop in Shangjing that was quite popular; it tasted very good too."

"At that time, after school, besides their servants, some of the students’ parents would occasionally pick them up, often rewarding them with a piece of glutinous rice cake."

Xiao Huaian: "But he never had such a thing."

"Gui Zhi isn’t fond of sweets, also because his... mother was quite strict regarding food."

Yu Tingwan was puzzled.

"Why?"

"He’s a child of the Wei Family, who shouldn’t show his feelings. Even lingering over food would imply a flaw, eating to seven-tenth full could be seen as refined, while gluttony would give others leverage."

"His father is gone, and as for his relationship with his mother..., the memories surely stirred something."

Xiao Huaian knew he might have said too much and sighed before stepping inside.

He knew too well the balance between not liking and not having is impossible. That rascal Wei Zhao must have longed for it as a child.

Upon entering the room, Yu Tingwan followed suit.

Wei Zhao lay on the couch, usually devoid of spirit, now more lifeless, until he saw the girl’s reddened eyes.

"It’s just that I ate some of your snacks."

Wei Zhao was baffled: "Don’t cry, I’ll repay you."

So much time had passed, enough for Yu Tingwan to nearly forget.

Yet Wei Zhao mentioned it in his letter once more.

——"In Shangjing, there’s a glutinous rice cake shop that does great business. Passing by, I couldn’t help but think of you and bought some. But then I realized it wouldn’t last till it reached you. However... when you arrive someday, I’ll take you to buy it."

He wrote further in the letter.

——"Lately, I’ve been busy with rare leisure. Unbeknownst, the begonias in the courtyard have blossomed beautifully."

He never mentions court matters or his situation.

The letter is filled with his daily trivialities and... longing.

——"Last time I bet, you lost to me that pair of pearl earrings, which I carry with me every day. They’re almost worn to warmth."