Zhao Lifei woke up to an empty bed, her drowsy eyes scanned the area for her heater. He was gone and replaced by a large body-pillow. She sat up, puzzled at where Yang Feng could've went. It was a Sunday. Did he have to go off to work this early?
Rubbing her eyes, she wasn't aware of the door opening and closing with a soft click.
"Good morning, sweet child." A gentle, yet oddly familiar voice greeted her.
"Hm...good morning." Half awake and half asleep, she collapsed back onto the bed, but in less than a minute later, shot out of it. Her eyes were on high-alert and she skeptically stared at the woman in front of her.
W-wasn't this the vegetable stall granny?! Zhao Lifei had to do a double-take and rub her eyes again. That's strange. This woman had fewer wrinkles…? Or was it the makeup doing wonders to her skin? Perhaps her original features were also make-up. Zhao Lifei couldn't tell.
"Hi." Zhao Lifei curtly said, unsure as to why Ge Yafan was here. Did she wake up in the wrong house? What exactly is the identity of this woman?
"Your husband is cooking breakfast with the vegetables I harvested this morning. Sweet girl, you should get ready for the day." Ge Yafan's voice was how Zhao Lifei remembered it to be.
Freshly harvested vegetables?
"Uhm, I don't mean to sound rude but may I know who you are?" Zhao Lifei felt vulnerable on the bed. There wasn't any weapon for her to grab. Her body could be used as a weapon, but she already placed it at risk by sliding down the blanket-rope from yesterday. She was worried about the bun and unconsciously rested her hand upon it.
"Oh dear, you are with a child?" Ge Yafan's eyes widened in delight, softly clapping and clasping her hands together. The thought of a great-grandchild was a dream come true!
She knew Zhao Lifei's position in Yang Feng's life was permanent when the young woman stumbled across her the second time. To imagine her granddaughter-in-law had a heart of gold, while her bank was filled with more, Ge Yafan was very satisfied with Yang Feng's selection. An auspicious nose… she couldn't wait to marvel over her great-grandchildren!
Too bad Yang Mujian will never be sane enough to witness them — the one thing he desperately craved for. The man was rotting away in a senior citizen home where he was being "treated" for an unstable mental health condition. No one, except Yang Feng, Zhao Moyao, and her, knew that the elderly home was just a means of slowly torturing Yang Mujian.
"Please don't avoid my questions." Zhao Lifei patiently responded. She was always fond of the elderly, especially because of her grandfather. Speaking of him, she couldn't help but wonder how he was or what he was up to. She decided it would be good to visit him after visiting a gynecologist.
"My, you're very impatient." Ge Yafan teased, tilting her head, her clean-cut hair swaying with her. It was curled inwards at the ends and the hair framed her chin. "You seem to recognize me." She pointed out, cunningly smiling when Zhao Lifei squinted her eyes.
"Yes, someone does come to my mind, but I don't want to make any assumptions." Zhao Lifei was confused by the turn of events. This granny had the same appearance as the vegetable-selling granny outside the hospital, yet they were dressed completely differently. However, their behavior and voice were the same. This was odd.
"Your assumptions are correct. You have indeed encountered me twice, both of which were at the hospital."
Zhao Lifei was surprised. "But you look so different…"
"A little make-up and a week of spa treatments can do wonders to your skin. You seem very tired from my grandson's needy temperament." Ge Yafan walked over and pinched Zhao Lifei's cheeks. "You could use some moisturizer. How about you accompany me to the spa? We have a lot to talk about."
Grandson…?
Zhao Lifei's eyes widened and she barely had enough time to scramble out of the bed. "I didn't know." She tried to find something more presentable to wear. She prayed to the Heavens that she wasn't sporting a birds nest on top of her head and that her clothes weren't as crumpled as she thought.
"That's alright, I've seen you when you're dressed up. There's no need to rush. You might hurt the baby."
Zhao Lifei stiffened. "How did you know I was pregnant?" She glanced down and saw there wasn't a visible bump.
"I made a guess and you answered it just now." Ge Yafan brushed Zhao Lifei's loose strands of hair behind her perky little ears. How cute. "How far along are you?"
Zhao Lifei awkwardly scratched the back of her head. She didn't know. "Well, I—"
"Why are you out of bed?" Yang Feng opened the door to see a disappointing sight. He didn't know where his grandmother had wandered off to until one of the maids informed him of her whereabouts. "You should be resting. You've had a long past couple of days." He worriedly said, gently shutting the door behind him and placing an arm around her shoulders.
"Grandmother, I didn't want anyone disturbing her." Yang Feng didn't sound angry or disappointed. His voice was neutral and mellow, unlike the way he spoke to Yang Ruqin. "She needs her rest."
'Ho ho ho, henpecked.' Ge Yafan laughed inside of her head, watching the First Young Master flip the blankets and guide Zhao Lifei into bed… Why did she feel like the young woman was being forced to sleep longer?
"I think you're the one who needs more rest. You've averaged 1 to 2 hours of sleep and you woke up ahead of me. I hope you weren't being a workaholic again. Putting so much strain on your body isn't good for you." Zhao Lifei brushed his hands away and tried to force him into the bed instead.
"I was cooking breakfast." Yang Feng's emotionless face softened as he sat on the bed, resisting the pressure against his shoulders. She was trying to push him onto the mattress, but her tiny little body barely did him any damage. She could easily knock a normal man onto his back, but he was not a normal man. There was nothing normal about Yang Feng.
Ge Yafan didn't realize she was smiling until her hand touched her lips.
This was a healthy relationship.
It was nothing like the one she had with Yang Mujian. They met when she was barely of age
Everyone was so happy for her, celebrating and congratulating her. No one realized her fear and hesitation about marrying Yang Mujian. He was originally going to wait for her to at least turn twenty, but after being pressured by the late Yang Patriarch, Yang Mujian reluctantly married her the day after she turned eighteen.
"The pen mark on your finger says otherwise." Zhao Lifei sniped, taking his large hand into her small, soft ones. "You shouldn't spoil me like this. I'm already a pampered brat as it is," She sighed, dropping his hands. She reached towards his face, almost as if she was going to touch it, but decided against it at the last minute.
Disappointed at her actions, he demanded, "Where are my morning hugs and kisses?"
A light flush of pink-tinted her cheeks. "You're not getting any today." She was hoping to punish him for not getting enough sleep. Her hand dropped, but he grabbed it like a small child hesitant to reach for an adult's caress.
"Why?" He sullenly asked, lips curled whilst his hands tugged her forward. She was amused by his tiny pulls until he abruptly yanked her hard. He almost succeeded in landing her onto his lap, but she rested her hand on his shoulder and stabilized herself.
"That was dangerous!"
"That was dangerous!"
Ge Yafan and Zhao Lifei blurted out at the same time with equal panic in their voice and eyes. Yang Feng suspiciously raised a brow, "How so?"
He was always careful with her body, therefore, didn't use a lot of force when he tried to pull her towards him. But seeing the upset look on both women's faces, he felt guilty and tried to make it up to her by lightly kissing her fingers. She tried to retract her hand, but he gripped it firmly and was adamant on peppering fluttery pecks onto each finger before ending at the top of her hand.
"I could've fallen and injured myself on you." Zhao Lifei didn't want to tell him about the pregnancy yet. She wasn't sure if she was actually pregnant...Her eyes glazed over when she recounted her miscarriage. A second later, she rapidly shook her head to clear the thought.
"I would've caught you." Yang Feng mumbled, his bottom lip jutted so slightly, it could barely pass as a pout. "You would've never gotten hurt in my arms." All he wanted was to be closer to her and touch more than just her hand. He liked it when she sat on his lap, her legs on either side of him, whilst her fingers lazily played with his hair.
"I know." Zhao Lifei said, brushing the hair away from his eyes. "We were just worried, that's all."
Yang Feng slowly nodded his head and encircled his arms around her waist, guiding her towards his legs. He opened them slightly, to give her room to stand in between them. She smiled at his actions and wrapped her hands around his head. His face rested against her stomach and allowed him to lean against her.
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