Chapter 170: Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (Votes Appreciated)
"What is going on with you?"
Liu Liping felt somewhat bewildered.
"Let's go back to the bedroom."
Lu Kun's expression was serene, his voice seemingly carrying a reassuring power that inspired trust.
"???"
"Back to the bed-room!"
Lu Kun enunciated each word clearly, offering no further explanation as he took her by the hand and walked towards the bedroom.
...
"Go ahead, tell me."
Liu Liping took a deep breath, as if she had mentally prepared herself for the worst, her gaze carrying a hint of pity as she looked at Lu Kun.
A man whose lower back was already giving out—what kind of happiness could one possibly hope for in the future?
Liu Liping assumed Lu Kun had been indulging far too frequently in the past.
How could a young man constantly have only that kind of marital intimacy on his mind?
Was technique important?
Of course it was very important.
However, one must never trade the vast expanse of a lifelong journey for fleeting moments of pleasure.
"Hurry up!"
Lu Kun had no idea Liu Liping’s mind had wandered so far in such a short span of time; his breathing was heavy, and he spoke with a slightly stuffed nose.
"???"
"Wait, I'll go get the ant wine for you."
Believing she understood Lu Kun's intentions, Liu Liping turned to fetch the jar of ant wine from the shelf.
"Come back!"
Lu Kun's face darkened.
This woman—why did she have to pull this stunt when they were about to get down to business?
Since when did she learn the art of playing hard to get?
...
The ant wine Liu Liping mentioned was something she had secretly commissioned an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor to brew for him some time ago.
The main purpose of this ant wine was to clear the meridians, activate blood circulation, dispel wind-dampness, relieve pain, and strengthen muscles and bones.
In other words, it was meant to prevent lower back pain afterwards!
"What? It's extremely effective, it's not like you haven't had it before!"
Liu Liping brushed off Lu Kun's hand, still intent on getting the wine.
Lu Kun wore a dark expression.
Of course he knew the medicinal wine was potent.
Anything concocted by veteran practitioners, seasoned doctors, or master artisans sounded reliable just by hearing its description.
"Strip!"
Lu Kun looked up at the ceiling, feeling somewhat speechless.
"..."
"Hey?" Lu Kun grabbed Liu Liping's hand, his eyebrows twitching violently.
"I said clothes! I didn't tell you to pull down my zipper!"
"Aren't they pretty much the same thing?"
"Not even close!"
...
A cigarette after the deed.
"Well? Wasn't I impressive?"
Lu Kun exhaled a cloud of smoke, flicked the ash, and assumed a slightly dreamy expression.
"Impressive you were, but you'd better explain where you learned that new move just now."
Liu Liping had already regained her composure, though her focus had evidently drifted somewhere else.
"???"
Lu Kun scratched his head, letting her pinch his neck to force a confession.
"..."
"So that's how it is. Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Upon learning the whole story from beginning to end, Liu Liping patted her chest in relief, not forgetting to shift the blame onto him instead.
In matters like this, Lu Kun possessed absolute expertise.
"Mmm-mmm..."
...
"Darling, the thing you mentioned last time about us going to school together—how are the arrangements coming along?"
Liu Liping hugged Lu Kun's waist from behind, resting her head against his back as she whispered softly.
"I've already started making arrangements."
Lu Kun had grown accustomed to lying with a straight face. With how busy he had been lately, where would he find the time to arrange something like this? For now, he just had to keep his wife pacified.
"Mmm."
Liu Liping tapped her chin lightly against Lu Kun's back.
"Darling, what do you think university is like? And what would it be like for both of us to go to college together?"
Going to university had always been one of her greatest regrets.
Usually, she could only catch snippets of university life from television dramas and then use her boundless imagination to fill in the blanks.
"University?"
"It's just so-so. Probably nothing more than a slightly larger cage."
Lu Kun directly shattered Liu Liping's various fantasies.
"Hate you!"
Liu Liping rained a flurry of small punches onto Lu Kun's back.
Lu Kun didn't feel any pain at all.
His wife was completely limp and sore all over right now; she couldn't possibly muster any real strength. A flurry of random punches felt just like a light tickle.
It was actually rather comfortable!
There was a saying that the best thing in the world was the one you could never attain.
"Once you actually start school, you'll find out. University isn't as fun as they show in the TV shows," Lu Kun turned his head, pinched his wife's chin, and said with a chuckle.
Liu Liping swatted Lu Kun's hand away. "It's not like that at all!"
...
"The sun shines brightly in the sky, and the flowers smile at me. The little bird says early, early, early, why are you carrying a bundle of dynamite on your back? I'm going to blow up the school, the teacher doesn't know, as soon as I pull the cord I run away, look back and the school has been blown to smithereens..."
Lu Kun awkwardly mimicked the tune Er'ya usually hummed on her way to school, almost making Liu Liping cough up blood from anger.
"You'd better watch out lest the upper beam is crooked and the lower beam twists!" Liu Liping gave Lu Kun a shove, speaking in an irritated huff.
Normally, Liu Liping could never stand Er'ya's mischievous antics and constantly worried that Lu Kun would raise their second daughter like a wild boy.
Liu Liping was most satisfied with their eldest daughter, Da'ya, for one simple reason: she was just like her.
...
"Don't you worry about us going to school. I figured we probably have to wait until Yiming is weaned before we can go."
It wasn't that Lu Kun wasn't enthusiastic; it was simply that this matter couldn't be rushed.
His wife still had to nurse the baby at home; how could they possibly abandon an unweaned child and run off to a university to show off their affection?
As for feeding powdered milk, Liu Liping had brought it up once, only to be flatly rejected by Lu Kun.
He didn't bother her with any grand philosophies; he just asked her one question: Isn't it only natural for a mother to nurse her child?!
Lu Kun figured that rather than leaving her to worry anxiously, it was better to lay it all out for her right now.
"Then... are we waiting until the spring semester?"
Liu Liping's mood dipped somewhat.
Counting on her fingers, it was still so far away! It wasn't even National Day yet.
"Don't worry, good food is never late to the table."
Lu Kun put his arm around his wife's shoulders and gently comforted her.
...
"Hisss!"
Just as Lu Kun tried to get out of bed, a sharp pain shot through his lower back.
"What's wrong?"
Liu Liping hurriedly asked, "Look at you showing off. I told you just two or three rounds were enough, but you had to overexert yourself! Wait there, I'll go get the medicinal wine for you."
Lu Kun's face darkened.
He muttered inwardly, wondering just who it was that had been using reverse psychology earlier.
A real man doesn't talk back—if you can, you must; if you can't, you still have to!
"Which one do you want to drink?"
Liu Liping brought over a small bowl and a tiny porcelain spoon, tapping them one by one against a circle of bottles.
"When did you brew so many kinds of medicinal wine?"
Lu Kun's face was covered in black lines.
Taking a rough glance at the large box Liu Liping had carried over, there were over a dozen different medicinal wines, each labeled separately: Ant Wine, King Snake Wine, Tiger Bone Wine, Deer Penis Wine...
"Don't ask, just drink them all," Liu Liping interrupted Lu Kun, fearing he would scold her for wasting money on such things.
These were all treasures. Although the amount in each small bottle was less than a catty, the cost of brewing these medicinal wines was substantial.
Lu Kun's face turned pitch black.
"Drink them all? If your man really drinks all this medicinal wine, he'll probably explode right on the spot!"