12: Chapter 12 While cooking...

The room was very quiet; they could hear each other's breathing.

After a while, Zhao Yaqin said softly, "Alright, if you don't let go, we won't be able to eat dinner tonight."

Wang Yang finally let go and kissed her on the cheek.

"Go ahead, I'll wait."

Zhao Yaqin shot him a glare and turned to rummage through the things she had brought.

She had gone back during the day to pack and brought some ingredients over.

Cured meat, vegetables, eggs, and a bag of flour.

Wang Yang sat on the edge of the bed, watching her work.

Zhao Yaqin put on an apron and took out the ingredients one by one.

She sliced the cured meat, washed the vegetables, and cracked the eggs into a bowl to whisk.

Her movements were skillful; one could tell she was someone who had been cooking for decades.

Wang Yang watched her back.

The apron strings were tied in a bow behind her waist, accentuating how slender and soft it was.

She leaned forward slightly to wash the vegetables.

The curve of her hips was pulled tight against her pants, round and full.

His Adam's apple bobbed.

His gaze lingered there, unable to look away for a long time.

Yet, his mind was racing with other thoughts.

Zhao Yaqin alone was clearly not enough.

The system rewarded twenty million for her pregnancy.

Once the child was born, it would give at most another few tens of millions.

Adding it all up, it would be fifty million at most.

Fifty million sounded like a lot, but if he really wanted to do big things, it wasn't enough.

He wanted his parents to live a good life, to build a new house for the family, and to let his grandparents enjoy their later years in comfort.

He needed to establish a firm foothold for himself.

All of this required money.

And it required even more system rewards.

Only by getting more women pregnant could he get more money, more skills, and more benefits.

Wang Yang clenched his fists.

Tomorrow.

He had to go out and look tomorrow.

He couldn't wait any longer.

Just as he was thinking this, a fragrance wafted from the kitchen.

The sound of cured meat hitting the pan sizzled, smoke rose, and the aroma drilled into his nose.

Wang Yang snapped back to reality, stood up, and walked to the kitchen doorway.

Zhao Yaqin was standing in front of the stove, stir-frying with a spatula.

The oil from the cured meat had been rendered out; the fat had become translucent, and the lean meat was charred and fragrant.

She added a handful of garlic sprouts and stir-fried them a few times, making the aroma even richer.

Wang Yang watched her.

He watched her back as she wore the apron, watching her curves sway gently with her movements.

He watched that slender waist beneath the apron strings.

A sudden restlessness stirred in his heart.

Wang Yang then walked over and hugged her gently from behind.

Zhao Yaqin's body stiffened, then immediately softened.

"What's wrong?"

Wang Yang didn't speak; he buried his face in the crook of her neck, smelling her scent.

The smell of cooking oil, the fragrance of gardenias.

And her own scent, all mixed together, smelled incredibly good.

Zhao Yaqin felt ticklish from him, shrank her neck, and said with a smile,

"Stop messing around, I'm cooking."

Wang Yang didn't let go; instead, he hugged her tighter.

"Sister Yaqin."

"Hmm?"

"You're really beautiful."

Zhao Yaqin blushed and muttered softly,

"I'm at this age, how can I still be beautiful..."

"You are beautiful."

Wang Yang's lips brushed against her earlobe as he whispered,

"And your figure is great too."

His hand moved up from her waist, through the apron and clothes, and gently covered that softness.

Zhao Yaqin shuddered, and the spatula in her hand almost dropped.

"Xiao Yang, the food... the food is going to burn~"

Wang Yang didn't stop; instead, he gave it a gentle squeeze.

"If it burns, it burns."

Zhao Yaqin's legs went weak, and she had to lean against the stove to keep from falling.

"You, you shouldn't do this..."

Wang Yang turned her around to face him.

Zhao Yaqin's face was flushed red, her eyes were glistening, and her lips were slightly parted.

Smoke drifted behind her, and the pot was still sizzling, but she couldn't care about any of that anymore.

Wang Yang lowered his head and kissed her lips.

The spatula dropped into the pot with a muffled thud.

The two of them kissed as they slowly moved out of the kitchen.

Someone must have bumped the light switch, and with a snap, the kitchen light went out.

The room was lit only by the moonlight filtering in from the window, faint and cool.

Wang Yang scooped her up.

Zhao Yaqin wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest.

"Xiao Yang."

"Hmm?"

"You, you be gentle... it hurt a little that night~"

Wang Yang lowered his head and whispered in her ear,

"Alright."

He carried her toward that dilapidated wooden bed.

The moonlight shone through the window and fell on the bed.

A night of romance ensued.

The next day.

Sunlight shone through the tattered curtains and fell on the bed.

Zhao Yaqin woke up first.

She opened her eyes and found herself held in Wang Yang's arms.

One of his arms was tucked under her head, and the other was draped over her waist, encircling her completely.

She moved, feeling sore all over, with a certain place still aching a little.

Memories of last night flooded back.

Those wild scenes, those heart-racing moments, the things she had never experienced in the dozen years she had been a widow...

Zhao Yaqin's face flushed instantly.

She turned her head and looked at Wang Yang's sleeping face.

Young, handsome, with long eyelashes, he looked like a big boy when he slept.

But those things from last night didn't look like a big boy at all.

He was too strong.

Zhao Yaqin sighed softly and tried to move.

As soon as she did, the hand on her waist tightened.

Wang Yang opened his eyes and looked at her groggily.

"Awake?"

Zhao Yaqin nodded, her face flushed red.

Wang Yang smiled, pulled her closer into his arms, and lowered his head to kiss her forehead.

"Did you sleep well?"

Zhao Yaqin bit her lip and said softly,

"...It was alright."

"Alright?"

Wang Yang raised an eyebrow, "Does that mean I wasn't trying hard enough?"

Zhao Yaqin was stunned for a moment, then shyly pounded his chest.

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Wang Yang smiled and grabbed her hand, kissing it.

"I'm not talking nonsense. You just said it was 'alright,' so I must not have performed well enough."

Zhao Yaqin glared at him, her eyes turning red.

"You clearly know, I... I'm still sore right now."

Wang Yang looked at her appearance, his heart melting into a puddle.

He reached out and gently stroked her face.

"Does it hurt?"

Zhao Yaqin nodded, then shook her head.

"Just a little..."

Wang Yang lowered his head and kissed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'll be gentler next time."

Zhao Yaqin leaned into his arms and whispered,

"It's okay."

The two of them held each other like that as the sunlight grew brighter.

Just then, a phone suddenly rang.

It was Zhao Yaqin's phone, sitting on the nightstand, its screen glowing and vibrating with a hum.

Zhao Yaqin reached out to grab it, glanced at the caller ID, and instantly stiffened.

Liu Qian.

Her fingers trembled, and she almost dropped the phone.

Wang Yang saw her reaction, glanced at the screen, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"Answer it."

His voice was very light, carrying a hint of playfulness.

Zhao Yaqin glared at him, her hands still shaking.

The ringtone continued to sound, one ring after another.

She took a deep breath and swiped to answer.

"Hello, Qianqian..."

Her voice still held the languor of having just woken up, which she didn't even notice.

From the other end of the phone, Liu Qian's voice came through.

"Mom, where did you go? You weren't home when I got up this morning."

Zhao Yaqin's throat tightened.

"I, I came out to take care of some things."

"What things? You went out so early?"

Liu Qian's tone was suspicious.

Just as Zhao Yaqin was about to answer, the hand on her waist suddenly tightened.

Wang Yang leaned in, resting his chin on her shoulder, his lips against her earlobe, and blew a breath gently.

Zhao Yaqin shuddered, almost crying out.

She bit her lip tightly and glared at Wang Yang.

Wang Yang looked at her with an innocent expression, but his hand wasn't idle, gently caressing her waist.

"Mom? Mom, what's wrong?"

Liu Qian's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Zhao Yaqin quickly steadied her voice.

"No, nothing, I just... I just bumped into something."