To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: She’s a Beast!

Because Yan An didn’t go out or do any work today, she didn’t wash her hair. She just took a comfortable bath. After Wen Ying came in and took the tub out, Yan An pulled her onto the bed as soon as she returned.

Wen Ying was stunned the moment Yan An grabbed her wrist. When she was pulled to the edge of the bed and pressed onto it, Wen Ying’s heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. She stared blankly at Yan An but didn’t make a move to refuse.

Just as she was thinking, “Is this day really going to happen?” she heard Yan An say, “What are you staring at? Hurry up and turn over. I’ll give you a massage.”

Yesterday, after Wen Ying massaged her, she fell into a deep sleep and didn’t have a chance to massage Wen Ying back. It was only right that she returned the favor today. She didn’t want to owe anyone.

Wen Ying: “…”

Under Yan An’s urging, she slowly turned over and lay on the bed, facing away from her. When she realized she had misunderstood, Wen Ying’s ears quietly turned red. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground, burying her face in her arms so no one could see her.

Recalling her frantically beating heart from before, Wen Ying bit her lip in shame. She was glad she hadn’t said anything. Yan An didn’t know what she was thinking. Otherwise, she would have no face to see Yan An again.

Yan An started massaging Wen Ying. In the past, her mother’s neck and shoulders were always uncomfortable from years of hard work. For this, Yan An had specifically sought out a traditional Chinese medicine doctor to learn how to massage her mother. This made her mother so happy she didn’t know what to do with herself, feeling that she had given birth to the best and most loving child in the world.

Her daughter was not only a good student but also had a good sense of art, which improved the family’s “nouveau riche” genes. Now, she was also very filial. This kind of child was like winning the genetic lottery for her. She treated Yan An as her pride and joy. Anyone who knew her would definitely know that she had a daughter, whom she praised to the heavens.

Yan An followed the old doctor’s teachings, massaging various pressure points. She could feel that when she pressed on some of the points, Wen Ying would even let out a muffled groan.

“Is the pressure okay? Tell me if you can’t stand it,” Yan An said, not worried. She was afraid that Wen Ying would rather bear the pain than say anything.

Although pain meant that the area was blocked, if she really couldn’t stand it, she could just apply less pressure and massage her more times to get the same effect. There was no need to go all-in at once.

“It’s fine. I can endure it,” Wen Ying’s muffled voice came.

Wen Ying buried her face in her arms, biting her lip to keep herself from making a sound. At this moment, she had no other thoughts, let alone a sense of shame.

Perhaps it was because Yan An hadn’t done much physical labor today, but her massage had some real strength behind it. When she accurately pressed on certain pressure points, Wen Ying felt a sense of comfort and her body felt much more relaxed.

Seeing that she could handle it, Yan An continued to apply the same pressure. She said a little proudly, “My technique isn’t bad, is it?”

Even the old traditional Chinese medicine doctor had praised her skills!

“Mmm,” Yan An suddenly thought. “What if I use this skill to open a massage parlor?”

After thinking for a moment, Yan An decided against it. She could accept massaging women, but not men.

If she only massaged women, she would have to open a women-only massage parlor, which was not very realistic in such a small place. There wouldn’t be enough customers.

Wen Ying listened to her proud voice. In her mind, a proud little tabby cat with its tail raised and a proud gait appeared, an adorable sight that softened her heart.

“Mmm, your technique is very good,” Wen Ying said, turning her head to the side. Her voice was much clearer this time.

Yan An’s eyes and brows lifted, and her face was full of joy.

After giving Wen Ying a good massage and making her feel comfortable all over, Yan An looked at her and found that she had fallen asleep at some point. Her brows were relaxed, and her face was calm. She was clearly sleeping very well.

Seeing her like this, Yan An’s movements couldn’t help but become much lighter. She pulled the blanket up to cover her and also carefully lay down beside her, pulling half the blanket over herself. Looking at the now-dark room, Yan An let out a sigh of relief.

Her sleep schedule, which she couldn’t fix in modern times, had become so healthy after only two days in this world.

The next morning, the rooster crowed on time.

Yan An hadn’t even opened her eyes yet. She instinctively reached out to her side, expecting to find nothing there. But to her surprise, she felt a soft, warm body.

Yan An was suddenly wide awake. She quickly opened her eyes and turned her head. She saw Wen Ying facing her, still in a deep sleep, not at all woken up by the commotion.

Yan An came to her senses. Remembering that her hand hadn’t been pulled back yet, her face flushed red, and she immediately retracted it. She didn’t dare to look at Wen Ying.

If she hadn’t felt wrong just now, her hand had landed on Wen Ying’s chest…

“Ah!”

Yan An covered her face in a state of collapse. “How did my hand accidentally go there?” she thought. “Fortunately, Wen Ying didn’t wake up, or I wouldn’t know how to face her!”

“And…”

Yan An’s mind raced, and she felt even more devastated. “How did my hand remember that feeling? I’m a beast!”

After her mental breakdown, she took a deep breath and quietly got up, stepping over Wen Ying’s body to get out of bed. She didn’t want to wake Wen Ying so she could get a little more sleep.

After getting up and putting on her clothes, she went to the courtyard with her long hair down to wash up. After she was done, she went to feed the chicks some vegetable leaves, just as Wen Ying had shown her last night.

Yan An felt a little comforted seeing that the little chicks were still alive and well. She had been worried that such fragile creatures wouldn’t make it through the night.

Seeing that they were doing so well, Yan An’s mood became much more cheerful. She took a broom and started sweeping the courtyard. Halfway through, she heard the sound of the bedroom door opening. She looked over and saw that Wen Ying was already awake, fully dressed. She looked much better than before.

“Good morning,” Yan An said with a smile, very pleased that Wen Ying had finally gotten a little more sleep.

Her spirit was completely different.

Wen Ying stared at her for two seconds. Just as Yan An’s face was about to stiffen, she smiled slightly and nodded, also saying good morning.

Then Wen Ying went to wash up.

Yan An looked at Wen Ying’s back with a little trepidation. She couldn’t understand why she had reacted like that. It was a little unusual for her.

“Mmm… she wouldn’t know something, would she?”

Yan An’s hand, holding the broom, tightened. Her face was a little tense as she considered the possibility of Wen Ying knowing. “Could it be that Wen Ying was already awake when I touched her?”

“But that can’t be, right? At that time, Wen Ying looked like she was sleeping soundly!”

Yan An forced herself to calm down, telling herself that she was overthinking. She then continued sweeping the rest of the courtyard with a mind full of worries.

“Yan An, come here. I’ll help you comb your hair,” Wen Ying said after she was done washing up.

“Okay,” Yan An quickly put the broom away and washed her hands. She then sat on the bench in the courtyard, letting Wen Ying style her hair.

Even after all these days, she still hadn’t learned how to tie up her hair. Yesterday, without Wen Ying to help her, she had her hair down all day.

Wen Ying stood behind Yan An. Her movements were very careful as she combed Yan An’s hair, as if afraid of hurting her.

After she had combed all the hair smooth, Wen Ying put it up and tied it with a hair tie, making sure it wouldn’t come loose. She then helped Yan An tidy up her clothes.

Although Yan An now knew how to wear the clothes of this era, some of the details were still not put together well. Wen Ying usually helped her fix them after she had tied her hair.

“What do you want for breakfast later?” Wen Ying asked, patting the hem of her clothes.

Yan An looked down at her movements. After thinking for a moment, she asked, “Can we have noodles?”

Fortunately, Wen Ying had bought flour yesterday. She really didn’t want to eat that coarse rice anymore.

“Mmm, we can. I’ll go prepare it,” Wen Ying said gently. Seeing that Yan An was all tidied up, she went to wash her hands and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Yan An unconsciously smoothed her clothes that Wen Ying had just fixed. She always felt that they were more comfortable to wear after Wen Ying had fixed them.

She slowly walked into the kitchen. Wen Ying was already preparing the dough. She sat beside her and watched her knead. She propped her face up with both hands and asked, “When are you going to ask the village teacher to come over and look at the books?”

Wen Ying kneaded the dough, feeling a little helpless at her words. But she still said, “I ran into Teacher Yi when I went to town yesterday and talked to her about it. She said she would come over after she finishes her morning class.”

It would probably be close to noon by the time she finished her class and came over.

“Oh, good. I’m glad she’s willing to come,” Yan An said, finally at ease. She thought about how she could find a way to get her to teach Wen Ying how to read earlier.

Thinking this, she quietly glanced at Wen Ying.

She wasn’t sure about other people, but Yi Shuhua… she probably would, right?

She pouted, and a cold snort came from her heart. She felt a little bitter.

In the book, Yi Shuhua had a mix of gratitude and admiration for Wen Ying. As they spent more time together, her admiration slowly grew into a subtle affection, so she naturally taught Wen Ying with all her heart.

Thinking about this made Yan An’s teeth ache.

“I’m not dead yet!” she thought. “There shouldn’t be that kind of melodramatic thing happening again, right?”