Fu Jiuxin looked over, his entire face hidden in the shadows where the moonlight couldn't reach, only his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness: "What? I didn't hear you clearly."
"I...I'll stay with you!" Dou Akou mustered her courage, raised her voice slightly, and repeated herself. She paused, then suddenly shouted, "I'll stay with you! I'll stay with you, sir!"
Her clear voice echoed in the silent night, and her eyes shone brightly. At this moment, she broke through the fog and finally took this step, regardless of whether there was a cliff or an abyss ahead.
Fu Jiuxin stared at Dou Akou for a long time. Only his Akou, after being hurt by him like that, could still smile and reach out her hands to him.
He spoke slowly, his voice somewhat hoarse: "I, Fu Jiuxin, swear on my life that I will never let Dou Akou suffer even the slightest grievance again. If I break this oath, may I not be reincarnated after death, but be reborn as an animal forever."
The resounding words were carried away by the wind. In this quiet spring night, heaven and earth remained silent, watching over the two children.
Suddenly relaxing, his legs, which had been kneeling for half the night, began to go numb, and even the pain in his chest, which had been numb before, returned. Fu Jiuxin coughed a few times and stared at Dou Akou: "Akou, come here."
Dou Akou happily rolled into Fu Jiuxin's arms, blanket and all, only to hear him let out a very slight gasp.
Dou Akou then remembered that Fu Jiuxin had just been hit by Dou Jincai, and quickly moved out of his arms to check on his injury.
"Don't look," Fu Jiuxin said calmly, pressing her hand down.
Dou Akou refused to give in. She twisted and turned on Fu Jiuxin for a while, until Fu Jiuxin had no choice but to let go. Finally, she got her hands on him and slowly opened his clothes.
Under the pale moonlight, a bruise the size of a bowl was visible on his chest, bluish-purple with faint traces of blood. A patch of white with a patch of blue was so striking that Dou Akou felt pain just looking at it.
Dou Akou felt a pang of heartache and wanted to touch him, but was afraid of hurting him. She looked up at Fu Jiuxin pitifully and asked, "Sir, are you in pain?"
"It's acceptable."
Dou Akou childishly blew on his chest, then suddenly stood up angrily and ran inside.
"Ako!"
Fu Jiuxin couldn't stop her no matter how much he called, and could only watch helplessly as she kicked open the door with a bang and rushed inside.
Dou Jincai was half asleep when he was startled awake by Dou Akou's kicking of the door. Thinking a thief had broken in, he jumped up and cautiously peered inside.
What they saw was Dou Akou charging in like a stampede of horses, kicking the bed legs repeatedly before rushing out again.
Dou Jincai was shocked. He followed after him, slipping on his shoes, and saw Dou Akou had rolled into Fu Jiuxin's arms again, carefully blowing air into his wound.
It took Master Dou a while to realize that his daughter was angry with him for hurting her lover by hitting him too hard, and that's why she was lashing out at him.
"It's going to rain, Mother's going to remarry, Dou Akou wants to go with Fu Jiuxin." Suddenly, Old Master Dou was overcome with grief, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed, "I'm doing this for her own good. She doesn't want her father anymore now that she has a man!"
Even with her ears plugged, the third concubine couldn't bear the disturbance any longer and had no choice but to get up and comfort the sensitive Master Dou: "Master, Jiu Xin had no choice. If it weren't for saving us, why would he be so wary of Uncle Chen? You know what kind of person Uncle Chen is. If he knew that Jiu Xin gave the stone grease from Siyou Kingdom to Xu Liren to save us, he would definitely kill A Kou. Jiu Xin has had a hard life. Can't you see how much he cares for A Kou? He'll probably regret those few blows he inflicted on A Kou for the rest of his life. Why did you do such a despicable thing as breaking up a loving couple?"
Dou Jincai muttered, "I'm just so angry."
He had always treated Fu Jiuxin like his own son, and genuinely liked him. He felt Fu Jiuxin was just as dear to him as he was to himself, and he only hit him in the heat of the moment. Now that his anger had subsided considerably, he had essentially forgiven Fu Jiuxin.
Looking out the window, Fu Jiuxin was still kneeling, while Dou Akou, wrapped in a blanket, rolled around happily in his arms, a long-lost joyful smile on her face.
Dou Jincai chuckled to himself, thinking, "Kid, you can kneel for another half the night. When dawn breaks, Akou will be yours."
32. Tea infused with vinegar...
The first rays of dawn appeared.
With a creak, Dou Jincai pushed open the door and looked at Fu Jiuxin, who was still kneeling outside.
He had switched from kneeling to sitting, not because he couldn't bear the pain of kneeling all night, but because Dou Akou was resting on his lap.
Last night, Dou Akou got stubborn and said she would kneel with him. However, after kneeling for half an hour, she became swaying and drowsy. Fu Jiuxin then hugged her, blanket and all, and she slept on his lap all night.
Fu Jiuxin was looking down at Dou Akou, his lips slightly upturned in a gentle smile. His eyes, like a deep pool, seemed to have turned into spring water, and one could even hear the soft sound of water rippling in them.
Hearing the door open, he looked up, his smile vanished, and his expression returned to its usual indifferent state.
He gestured for Dou Jincai to be quiet and mouthed, "Akou is still sleeping."
Dou Jincai walked up to him, looked down at Dou Akou who was still fast asleep, sighed, and said in a low voice, "This time I'll let it go. If there is a next time, you won't get off so easily. If you dare to treat Akou any worse than before, I will immediately marry her off to someone far away. Even if she refuses, I will never let her suffer any more grievances from you."
Fu Jiuxin was startled. This meant...
Dou Jincai snorted, somewhat unwillingly saying, "Get up. You've been kneeling all night. If you develop any health problems, how will you take care of Akou in the future?"
Fu Jiuxin understood something from Dou Jincai's eyes and said with emotion, "I will never let her down again."
Dou Jincai couldn't keep a straight face, but he still tried to act like a father-in-law, coughing a few times in a fake manner: "Alright, remember what you said from now on."
He went back to his room to wash up. Fu Jiuxin looked at the golden light on the distant horizon, then looked down at the person in his arms and slowly said, "Akou, are you tired of pretending?"
Dou Akou's eyelashes trembled violently. Upon hearing Fu Jiuxin's words, she suddenly opened her eyes: "Oh my! Sir, you're amazing!"
She had woken up as soon as Dou Jincai spoke. Hearing that Dou Jincai had agreed to their request, she was so excited that her heart was pounding. However, she also longed for Fu Jiuxin's embrace, so she simply lay on him and pretended to be asleep.
She got up, embarrassed. "Sir, I didn't pretend to be asleep."
Fu Jiuxin was standing up when he suddenly stopped. He endured the pain of his numb leg suddenly moving, but his expression remained extremely natural, so as not to let Dou Akou see through him. He said calmly, "It's nothing."
This was a brand new day for both Fu Jiuxin and Dou Akou. Fu Jiuxin was calm and composed, able to suppress his inner joy. Dou Akou was the first to lose control, pestering Fu Jiuxin and calling him "sir" countless times. She even held onto his clothes while walking, ignoring the laughter of her aunts. Their affection was as sweet as melted maple syrup, their cloying sweetness flowing all over the place.
They went to visit Longfeng Town. The feeling of visiting Longfeng Town with her husband was completely different from that of visiting with Huang Xiucai. Dou Akou found the town beautiful and novel everywhere. Even a stone brick on the arched bridge exuded a rustic charm.
Thirsty, the two sat down at a simple tea stall on the street corner. The owner brewed a large bowl of tea, and its rich, slightly bitter aroma filled the air.