Married Thrice to Salted Fish

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Lin Qingyu came to the door of the bedroom. It had been left open.

For his trip back to the Lin Residence today, he hadn’t brought along Huan Tong. Huan Tong was squatting beside Lu Wancheng’s wheelchair, covering his legs with a blanket. Huan Tong had grown experienced and knowledgeable after following him for so many years. Seeing that Lu Wancheng’s vigor was unusually good today, he wasn’t overjoyed like Hua Lu. He merely forced himself to put on an air of cheerfulness as he talked to Lu Wancheng.

“What would Young Master Hou like to eat tonight? I’ll have the kitchen make preparations.”DiisCoover updated novels on

Lu Wancheng thought about it and said, “I want to eat plum cake.”

Huan Tong said in a hoarse voice, “Alright.”

“What time is it?” Lu Wancheng asked, turning to the direction of the wardrobe.

Lin Qingyu followed and looked at the wardrobe too but couldn’t find anything special.

Huan Tong said, “Shen Shi is over.”

“Why hasn’t your Young Master come back yet?”

“He should be here soon. Young Master said he’ll be back for dinner.”

Lu Wancheng kept looking in that direction, a little worried, “Hurry up.”

Lin Qingyu withdrew.

In the yard, Hua Lu was still humming a little tune. The tune was brisk and melodious. She turned around and saw Lin Qingyu standing at the door. She said, puzzled, “Shaojun, why haven’t you gone in yet?”

Lin Qingyu came back to his senses and said, “Hua Lu, lend me your makeup box.”

Lin Qingyu has only ever put on makeup once in his life — on the day he married Lu Wancheng. Because it wasn’t suitable for a man to wear heavy makeup, he was extremely averse to the idea. When he got married, the matron of honor only painted his eyebrows, colored his lips and placed a huadian in the middle of his brows.

Lu Wancheng didn’t care whether he painted his eyebrows or lips. He seemed to just want to see him wearing his bridal attire with a huadian on his brows.

Lin Qingyu looked at himself in the bronze mirror. He suddenly found that he seemed to have lost a lot of weight. He picked up the brush and looking into the mirror, made stroke after stroke to recreate the huadian that had been painted between his brows that day. It was a simple symmetrical huadian. With just three strokes, it was enough to change a person’s qualities. He no longer seemed like himself, transforming into a wife that relied on her looks to please her husband.

It turns out even a gentleman can make himself beautiful for a friend who understands him.

Then, he took off the plain and simple clothes he had on, putting on the complicated bridal attire, layer by layer. He tied the jade belt around his waist and finally draped the embroidered tasseled cape on his shoulders. He took off the jade crown tying his hair and let his long, fine black hair fall like a waterfall. He picked up the bridal crown, thought about it, and put it back down.

It was already enough. In the end, he was sending him off, not marrying him.

“Young Master?” Huan Tong’s voice came from outside, “Young Master, are you back?”

Before Lin Qingyu could answer, Huan Tong rushed in and was stunned when he saw him.

Lin Qingyu stood up, the back of his wedding dress dragging against the ground. He didn’t have a crown on his head and he simply let his long hair hang down naturally. When he lowered his head, his hair blocked half of his face.

Huan Tong has never seen his Young Master look like this before — so bright and colorful, so made up; his every gesture was full of amorous feelings. He stayed dazed for a while. Until Lin Qingyu walked in front of him, only then did he slowly come around. “Young Master, why are you...”

Lin Qingyu asked, “Where is Young Master Hou?”

“Young Master Hou thought that Young Master hadn’t come back yet so he said he was going to wait in the yard.” Huan Tong remembered what he was here for and his voice grew choked, “Young Master, Young Master Hou, he-he...”

“I know.” Lin Qingyu was unusually calm. “Have them prepare dinner. Tonight, you and the others don’t need to serve by our side.”

Bridal attire or wedding dresses, were heavy and inconvenient to wear. If you weren’t careful, you might step on the hem. In order to get to Lu Wancheng quickly, he had to lift up his skirt like a woman, walking through the silent corridor, quickly reaching the courtyard——

Lin Qingyu turned his head and couldn’t bear to look at him. He heard Lu Wancheng ask him, “Qingyu, is this the kind of wine that we drank when we got married?” Before Lin Qingyu could answer, he said to himself, “Don’t tell me you drank the nuptial cup with the rooster as well.”

Lin Qingyu closed his eyes. “I... don’t remember.”

Lu Wancheng said, “Then treat it as though you drank it with me.”

Lin Qingyu restrained his emotions and opened his eyes again. The night outside the window was getting darker. Without him noticing, light snow had begun to fall. Fluttering, snowflakes fell to the ground; the snow and the moon were all entirely white.

This was the first snow of winter.

Lin Qingyu felt a hint of joy in his heart. He remembered that Lu Wancheng had said that he wanted to see him standing in the snow, holding an umbrella, his cheeks dyed red by his clothes. “Wancheng, it’s snowing outside, do you want to go and...” The word “see” was stuck in his throat. He couldn’t say it.

“It’s snowing?” Lu Wancheng didn’t seem to notice that Lin Qingyu was acting strange. His tone was light, “Then I’m quite lucky. Let’s go and enjoy the snow.”

Lin Qingyu had dismissed the servants in advance. They were all waiting in their own rooms. No one saw him standing in the snow in his bridal attire, holding an umbrella with his long hair cascading down.

No one... saw.

Lu Wancheng stretched out his hand and let the soft white snowflake fall on his palm. Away from the light of the room, his face quickly dimmed. His lips lost its rosy color and only his eyes remained bright. It was like a short-lived flower, withering quickly after trying to bloom.

...Too brief, so frighteningly brief.

Lin Qingyu didn’t know how to make his bloom last longer. He could only hold his cool hand in vain. “Is it cold?”

Lu Wancheng shook his head and suddenly asked him, “Qingyu, do you still like women?”

Lin Qingyu’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. He said, “Naturally.”

Lu Wancheng nodded and said with a smile, “That’s good.”

Lu Wancheng stared at the snow for a while, his eyes half-open, half-close. “Qingyu, I’m a little tired.”

Lin Qingyu’s heart felt empty and he said softly, “If you’re tired, then sleep.”

When you fall asleep, you’ll be relieved. You’ll no longer have to suffer from the pain of sickness and poison.

But Lu Wancheng didn’t listen to him, stubbornly opening wide his eyes. He smiled, embarrassed, “I’m sorry, Qingyu. I don’t think I can hold on anymore. But I’ve worked really hard. Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not.” Lin Qingyu knelt in the snow, holding an umbrella in one hand and holding Lu Wancheng’s cheek in the other. His voice soft as water, “I’m not angry.”

Lu Wancheng had probably already seen that the Eastern Palace affair hadn’t gone as they wished. Yes, Lu Wancheng was so smart, he knew everything. How could he not have seen it?

Lu Wancheng smiled under the umbrella, and told him one last joke, “On the day of Xiao Cheng’s tragic death, at the family ceremony, don't forget to tell your husband.”

Lin Qingyu couldn’t help but smile when he heard his words.

Lu Wancheng seemed to sense that he was smiling and kept looking at him. He kept watching him until he couldn’t hold it any longer and he finally closed his eyes. “Then, I’m going to sleep for a while. Remember to wake me up.”

Lin Qingyu promised him, “Okay.”

The snow came down heavier.

No matter how warm Lin Qingyu’s hand was, the man’s hand still grew colder little by little in his, so cold that it pierced through the bone.

The north wind brought evening snow, the cold color illuminated them, everywhere was silence.

He was wearing his wedding dress, a huadian on his forehead, just like when he and Lu Wancheng first met.