Chapter 24 – The Tender Side of Ye Zhongjue
The instant Ye Zhongjue understood what had happened, he quickly drove the car into the garage.
In the elevator, he searched information about menstruation on his phone. When he read about menstrual cramps, his eyebrows wrinkled hard.
When he was carrying Mo Suqing, he could feel her body trembling. Was it because she had been in pain?
He read on. During the period, one should avoid getting wet in the rain or drinking cold water.
Now, Ye Zhongjue was in great alarm.
He was sure she had been in pain. What’s worse, she had got wet in the rain. His lips pressed together tightly. She really doesn’t know how to take care of herself, does she?
Ye Zhongjue continued to Google for information about how to alleviate period pains.
When the elevator reached his floor, he was still unsure of what to do. He dialed a number on his phone.
Ming Jinhua was delighted when she heard her son’s voice on the other side of the phone. What a pleasant surprise!
“Hello, dear. How are you?”
Ye Zhongjue closed his mouth. He had thought carefully about what to say, but now that the phone had got through, he was back to square one.
“Hello? Why aren’t you speaking? What’s up?” Ming Jinhua asked.
After staying silent for a bit longer, Ye Zhongjue finally readied himself.
There was no one around, but he still found himself extremely uneasy when he asked the following question with difficulty, “Mom, do you know any effective ways to combat menstrual cramps?”
“What… what did you say?” Ming Jinhua wasn’t sure if she had heard it right.
A flicker of blush passed across Ye Zhongjue’s usual poker face. His voice became even more unlike him, “I said, what do you do about menstrual pains?”
Listening to his weird tone, Ming Jinhua could not help but laugh.
It looked like her son had a girlfriend! This was good news, of course. He was a big boy now. In fact, he should have had a girlfriend long ago.
“Mom! Can you please stop laughing?” How Ye Zhongjue wanted to dig himself a hole and hide in there.
“Alright, alright! I won’t laugh anymore. Well, there aren’t real effective ways to ease the pain, but boiled water with brown sugar should help a little. Also, do not drink or touch cold water.”
Ming Jinhua paused a moment, then added, “If you have some fresh ginger, add a slice or two to the brown sugar water. It will help even more.”
“Okay, I get it now!” Ye Zhongjue quickly hung up, feeling he had just finished a conversation that was much more difficult than all the business negotiations he had conducted. He hoped his mother hadn’t guessed what he had in mind.
The day he and Mo Suqing registered the marriage, he had lied about telling his folks that they?had got married to put an end to her hesitation.
But the fact was, his family did not know anything about it.
His parents probably never expected that he would get married so soon. After all, he had always given women a wide berth.
After hanging up the phone, Ye Zhongjue returned to his normal self and opened the door to his apartment.
The Ye Residence.
Ming Jinhua had a big smile on her face when she hung up the phone. Ye Wentian looked up and inquired, “Is it Jue?”
“Yeah,” she replied, hardly containing her smile.
Ye Wentian turned a page of the book he was reading and asked casually, “What is he up to?”
Ming Jinhua was always fastidious about her appearance, so she was still very attractive even in her forties. Now, she gave Ye Wentian a confidential look and beamed.
“I bet your son has a girlfriend!”
Ye Wentian?instantly?put his book aside and looked at Ming Jinhua.
“How do you know? Doesn’t he hate anything about relationships? When did he start to find girlfriends on his own initiative?”
Ming Jinhua gave him a stern look. “What, can’t he find a girlfriend on his own? He is twenty-five! Many who are at his age?have?children already! Why can’t my son find a girlfriend, huh?”
Ye Wentian shook his head tiredly. The woman was obviously putting words in his mouth. It wasn’t the first time she distorted his meaning!
“Whatever… So he had a girlfriend. We’ll wait for him to tell us when he wants to.”
Ming Jinhua nodded, “You are right.”
……
When Ye Zhongjue returned to the bedroom, Mo Suqing had curled into a ball under the blanket like a wounded animal.
He could almost perceive the subtle shivering of the blanket. His heart wrenched.
She must be in great pain. Otherwise, she would never show her weakness. The thought made his heart ache even more.
Right, brown sugar water!
Bringing an umbrella with him, Ye Zhongjue hurriedly left the apartment for a supermarket near the estate.
Mo Suqing vaguely heard the sound of the door opening. Not long after, the door closed shut again.
She had been too weak to turn around. The only thing she had managed was to wrap herself in the blanket and curl into a ball.
After buying a hot-water bottle, ginger powder and brown sugar, Ye Zhongjue hurried back to the apartment.
The first thing he did was pour water into the?water pouch. He was going to buy an electric one, but then decided he couldn’t wait for it to slowly heat up.
He couldn’t possibly?feel exactly what she was feeling, but seeing her hurt like that made him almost as pained.
After the hot water was poured, Ye Zhongjue quickly brought it to the room.
For a time, Mo Suqing thought she had fainted and lost consciousness, until she heard the door open once again.
Ye Zhongjue went inside. He gently lifted the blanket, placed the water pouch against her belly, and covered the blanket back up. Then, he increased the temperature of the air conditioner before leaving her alone.
Mo Suqing heard steps getting nearer and felt warmth seep through her belly. The throbbing pain seemed to ease a little. Her face smoothed out.
In the kitchen, Ye Zhongjue stared at the instructions on his phone, his brow as high as it possibly could.
It shouldn’t be difficult. He would just add some brown sugar and ginger powder to the water and wait for it to boil.
After half an hour, Ye Zhongjue followed common sense and made some very satisfactory ginger tea.
He walked back to the room with the ginger tea. Mo Suqing’s expression was less intense and pale than when they just came back home.
Ye Zhongjue placed the tea on the nightstand and gently propped Mo Suqing up.
Mo Suqing moaned, which Ye Zhongjue responded with even gentler motions. He spoke with a voice as soft as a breeze brushing one’s face, “Come, Suqing. Be a good girl and finish this tea, so you will feel better.”
Mo Suqing shook her head without thinking. She remembered her mother had also prepared some ginger tea for her in the past. And she remembered she hadn’t liked the taste. Since her mother passed away, she hadn’t tasted it for a very long time.
Ye Zhongjue spooned some tea to her lips to feed her, but she frowned and resisted, so the tea just trickled down her cheek.
Ye Zhongjue frowned himself, his handsome brows lifting. At this rate, the tea would go cold before she finished it.
He took a huge gulp of tea and held it in his mouth. Then. He kissed Mo Suqing directly on the lips and slowly pushed the liquid into her mouth.
After she swallowed it, he continued to feed her a second gulp in the same method.
Mo Suqing vaguely felt something warm cover her mouth and then there was that strange taste.
However, after she drank it, her belly seemed to hurt less.
Again and again, she expectantly waited for the warm stuff to cover her mouth and pour the liquid into it.
Ye Zhongjue half coaxed, half forced Mo Suqing to finish the entire bowl of ginger tea.
When the last gulp was fed into her mouth, he gave a sigh of relief. Finally!
Looking at Mo Suqing’s reddish lips, he?could not help but give them another peck.
He knew that she was not well, so he only did it lightly and briefly.
Then, he gently tucked her into bed and went outside with the empty bowl.
Only after he had tidied everything up did he noticed that his shirt was clinging to his body.
He laughed lightly. When it came to her, he became an incurable big fool.
Ye Zhongjue took a hot shower afterwards. When he went to bed, he saw Mo Suqing’s cheeks had become rosy and her countenance healthy. She must have got better.
Ye Zhongjue quietly lay down beside her, listening to her even breathing and feeling a sense of deep satisfaction that was new to him.
In the middle of the night, Ye Zhongjue was woken by Mo Suqing’s movement.
He was a light sleeper. Therefore, he was awake the instant Mo Suqing had shifted.
He turned on the lamp and saw that Mo Suqing had again curled into a ball, holding her belly with both hands.
Ye Zhongjue slowly pulled her hands away and replaced them with one of his own big hands. He began to rub her belly gently.
Mo Suqing felt a pleasant, warm sensation on her belly which helped soothe the throbbing pain. Gradually, she quieted down and slipped into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Mo Suqing opened her eyes and discovered that Ye Zhongjue was sleeping right next to her.
They were so close to each other that she could hear his breathing.
On her belly was his warm, big hand. Suddenly, she felt touched, a feeling she hadn’t had for ages.
Did he rub her belly to make her feel better last night??They had only known each other for a couple of days. Why would he do such a kind thing?
She looked at Ye Zhongjue’s eyelashes, long as a pair of hand held fans. Also, his face, when he was asleep, was especially handsome and charming.
Mo Suqing nearly forgot herself when she thus stared at him.
Then, Ye Zhongjue shifted a little. Expecting him to be awake at any minute, she quickly?shut?her eyes.
Mo Suqing decided to sleep a little longer. By the time she woke up, it was almost ten. Mo Suqing found the space next to her empty. Ye Zhongjue had got up.
She glanced over at the alarm clock. It was nearly ten o’clock!
She immediately rolled to her side and jumped up. Oh no! She had overslept!
She knew she could not make it on time to work. Regretful about going back to sleep, she started to get dressed.
As soon as she was fully dressed, Ye Zhongjue came in with a bowl of ginger tea.