Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Learning to Get Along as a Couple (2)

’So, this is how a husband and wife can be with each other.’

Without rigid rules, only flowing affection and natural intimacy.

“I… I get it now!”

Lin Jianqiu’s eyes instantly brightened, her earlier confusion replaced by a newfound, clear resolve.

She looked at Su Tang, her eyes filled with gratitude and the courage of someone who desperately wanted to change.

“Tang, thank you! I know what to do now. I’ll start by trying to be more proactive.”

She was no longer hung up on all the rigid rules and regulations.

A single thought consumed her: she wanted to be like Su Tang—to boldly and proactively draw closer to her Brother Jia, express her care, bring him warmth, and reclaim the affection that should exist between a husband and wife.

Su Tang smiled in satisfaction as she saw the fire ignite in Lin Jianqiu’s eyes.

’If Lin Jianqiu really does change, I’ll have to make sure Chang Jia repays me for that bottle of wine he drank.’

’After all, I’m the undisputed hero of this story.’

Lin Jianqiu had spoken with conviction, but when it came time to act, she discovered the first step was far more difficult than she had ever imagined.

Su Tang’s words echoed in her mind, along with images of the natural, flowing intimacy between Su Tang and Lu Xiao.

She wished she and Brother Jia could be like that, where every glance and every movement conveyed an unspoken warmth and understanding.

’Just start by trying to be more proactive!’

Su Tang’s encouraging words still echoed in her ears.

So, Lin Jianqiu began to try, clumsily.

Chang Jia returned from his drills covered in dust and sweat.

According to her old routine, Lin Jianqiu would have silently prepared a basin of water and a towel, placed them on the rack, and then withdrawn to the side.

But today, she took a deep breath and, carrying the basin, walked right up to Chang Jia.

“Brother Jia, wash your face. The water is the perfect temperature.”

Her voice trembled slightly, and her hands shook, causing the water in the basin to slosh.

Chang Jia was visibly stunned for a moment. He looked up at her, his expression unreadable.

He was silent for a few seconds, but to Lin Jianqiu, they felt like hours.

Just as she thought he was about to refuse, her heart sinking with each passing moment, Chang Jia finally reached out and took the basin.

Instead of wringing out the towel himself as he usually did, he handed it to her.

Lin Jianqiu’s heart leaped! ’Is he… asking me to help him?’

She quickly took the towel, soaked it, and wrung it out. Her movements were a little clumsy from nerves.

She carefully unfolded the towel, rose onto her tiptoes, and tried to wipe the sweat from Chang Jia’s brow.

Chang Jia was so tall that she had to strain to reach, leaning her body forward with a burst of determination.

Chang Jia didn’t move, but he did lower his head slightly to accommodate her.

Through the warm towel, Lin Jianqiu could almost feel the heat from his forehead, and her fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

The way she wiped his brow was stiff and a little fawning, nothing like the fluid, natural grace Su Tang had when she did the same for Lu Xiao.

But this clumsy, proactive gesture seemed to soften the tense line of Chang Jia’s jaw, if only by a fraction.

He didn’t speak, but after she finished, he asked in a low voice, “Jianqiu, is dinner ready?”

“It is! It’s almost ready!”

Lin Jianqiu replied in a rush, as if she’d been granted a pardon.

Her face was bright red from her bold move, but her heart was pounding out a joyful rhythm. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

’He… he accepted it! He didn’t push me away!’

Once planted, the seed of change grew tenaciously in Lin Jianqiu’s heart.

She began to observe Su Tang and Lu Xiao more intently—not spying, but with an earnest desire to learn.

One evening, Lin Jianqiu went to Su Tang’s house to borrow a shoe pattern.

As she reached the gate to the courtyard, she saw a scene that made her heart race.

In the yard, Lu Xiao was sitting on a low stool mending a hoe, while Su Tang sat at a small table beside him, snapping green beans.

The two of them were chatting idly.

The conversation was about nothing more than daily trifles and the harvest from the fields, as plain as boiled water.

Yet the atmosphere seemed to be gilded by the setting sun, edged in a warm, molten gold.

As Su Tang spoke, she suddenly laughed, as if she’d thought of something amusing.

She casually picked up a plump bean pod and tossed it lightly at Lu Xiao.

Without even looking up, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Lu Xiao reached out and caught it perfectly.

Then he tossed it into his mouth and bit down with a loud CRUNCH.

Su Tang shot him a helpless glare. “It hasn’t been washed! Isn’t it dirty?”

Though her words were a rebuke, her tone was filled with amusement.

Lu Xiao finally looked up, the evening sun’s last rays reflecting in his eyes like gentle ripples on water.

He held his hand out to Su Tang, not to ask for anything, but simply opening his palm to reveal stains of dirt and rust.

Su Tang understood immediately. She set down the beans, picked up a warm, damp towel from nearby, and, with practiced ease, took his hand and began to wipe it clean.

She carefully cleaned every part, from his rough knuckles to his broad palm.

Lu Xiao watched her quietly, a contented smile playing on his lips, as if she were wiping away not just the grime, but the fatigue of the entire day.

Standing at the entrance, Lin Jianqiu was so captivated she almost forgot to breathe.

There was no deliberate intimacy, no flowery language. It was just this silent understanding and thoughtfulness amid the trifles of daily life, like a gentle stream, quietly nourishing them both.

Su Tang’s actions were so fluidly natural, and Lu Xiao’s acceptance of them so self-evident, as if this was the most ordinary thing in the world.

’Now *that’s* a married couple!’

A wave of envy so immense it nearly drowned her washed over Lin Jianqiu.

She remembered her own stiff hands and wildly beating heart when she had wiped the sweat from Chang Jia’s brow, and she was overcome with a sense of her own inadequacy.

“Sister Qiu’er? What are you doing standing at the entrance? Come on in!”

Su Tang had spotted her and beckoned with a smile.

Lin Jianqiu snapped back to reality and hurried inside, her face still showing a mixture of envy and embarrassment.

“Tang, Brother Lu…”

She offered a greeting, but her eyes involuntarily flickered back to Lu Xiao’s now-clean hand as he picked up his tool, and then to Su Tang’s fair, nimble hands, which seemed to possess a magical, comforting power.

Su Tang followed her gaze, glanced at her blushing cheeks, and understood everything.

She didn’t call attention to it, simply smiling as she asked, “Here for the shoe pattern? Perfect timing. I just traced some new ones.”

Lin Jianqiu took the pattern, but her mind was still on the scene she had just witnessed. Mustering her courage, she asked quietly, “Tang, are you and Brother Lu always like this? I mean… just helping each other out so easily?”

While searching for a suitable pattern for her, Su Tang replied casually, “Of course, isn’t that normal? If his hands are dirty and I see it, I’ll wipe them for him. If I can’t reach something up high, I just call out and he comes over.

If he’s tired, I’ll rub his shoulders. If I’m thirsty, he’ll hand me a drink…”

She spoke of it all so naturally, as if she were describing something as mundane as eating or drinking.

“When a couple builds a life together, isn’t it just about you helping me and me helping you, lending a hand and looking out for each other? Why would you need to worry so much about ’should I’ or ’is it proper’?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep