Chapter 188: Adjusting the Trajectory

Grandpa Huo glanced outside. After looking for a while and seeing no sign of Wen Ci, he asked doubtfully, "Where’s Ah Ci? Why are you by yourself?"

"She’s still sleeping."

The words had barely left his mouth when Huo Jingyuan realized how that might sound. He quickly explained, "Last night, Ah Ci asked me to stay in Hangzhou and spend a few more days with you, so she only just got to sleep a little while ago."

As a more experienced generation, the two elders knew exactly what Huo Jingyuan meant by "only just got to sleep a little while ago."

Grandma Liu shot him a look and grumbled, "Your grandpa and I might be eager for you two to have a baby, but that doesn’t mean you have to be in such a rush."

With that, she turned toward the kitchen and shouted to the housekeeper, "Xiao Li, make some chicken soup for lunch! We need to help the Young Madam properly recover her strength."

"That’s not necessary. Her flight is at eleven."

At his words, Grandma Liu stared at Huo Jingyuan with a look of utter disdain, roasting him syllable by syllable. "Huo Jingyuan, you’re really something else. Ah Ci has a flight at eleven this morning, and you wore her out until dawn."

"That’s right," Grandpa Huo chimed in.

"It’s not like that..."

Huo Jingyuan pressed a hand to his forehead. ’I couldn’t explain my way out of this if I had ten mouths.’ He had only planned on one round, but Wen Ci had been the one to agree to more.

"Add some goji berries, too. You can have some on the way to the airport with Ah Ci." After a pause, Grandma Liu asked, "So how many more days are you planning to stay in Hangzhou?"

"Three or four days."

’Any longer than that, and I won’t be able to hold back.’

"Good, good."

After breakfast, Grandma Liu went to the kitchen to check on the soup, while Huo Jingyuan headed to the study to make a cup of coffee. As the one who’d been plowing the fields, so to speak, he was tired too.

He had to force himself to stay awake so he could take his wife to the airport later.

「Nine-thirty.」

When Huo Jingyuan returned to the room, Wen Ci was still fast asleep. Moving with extreme care, he gently lifted the silk comforter to shield her eyes from the light before scooping her up in his arms, princess-style.

As Su Wanqing happened to be passing through the courtyard, she saw Huo Jingyuan carrying Wen Ci princess-style. A bitter feeling welled up inside her, and her eyes filled with raw envy.

She clenched her fists. ’I should have listened to my friends back then. I should have drugged him before he returned to the country and forced his hand.’

’That way, even if we were living in different countries, a man like Huo Jingyuan would have taken full responsibility. But unfortunately, I had just turned eighteen back then.’

’I didn’t have the guts to go through with it.’

An hour later, Wen Ci slowly opened her eyes. Her head was pillowed on Huo Jingyuan’s muscular thigh, a thin blanket draped over her.

"You’re awake?" Huo Jingyuan asked, his voice calm.

’I’ve been in this position for an hour without moving,’ he thought. That part wasn’t so bad. The problem was that his wife would shift around in her sleep from time to time.

’And her head is so close to...’

’With her head on my lap, every little movement makes me tense up. I even have to adjust my... trajectory occasionally, to avoid poking her and waking her up.’

Wen Ci sat up, gave a lazy stretch, and hugged Huo Jingyuan’s arm. Looking out the window, she asked, "Where are we?"

"We’re almost at the airport, Young Madam."

Wen Ci rubbed her eyes. She glanced over and noticed the dark circles under Huo Jingyuan’s eyes; he looked completely exhausted. "You didn’t get any sleep?"

"I didn’t."

As he spoke, Huo Jingyuan took out a thermal container. His voice was gentle. "Are you hungry? Do you want some chicken soup now, or would you rather have it on the plane?"

Flights in the eighties served lunch, too.

And it was about the quality you’d expect from a state-run cafeteria.

"Why didn’t you sleep?"

Wen Ci looked at him, her expression serious.

’Last night, Huo Jingyuan did most of the work,’ she thought. ’He must be much more exhausted than I am. *I’m* so sore all over, I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck.’

While Huo Jingyuan might not have felt like he’d been run over by a truck,

he was definitely still exhausted.