My Mother Has a System but Won't Use It

In the passage of time's whispering little hymns, days moved. In one small bamboo forest, in a bamboo hut, Ruo's belly started growing in size at some point, and she became very religious.

Han Li felt it to be quite dumb but he couldn't help but say it was the cutest thing ever.

Like, the white-haired woman had drawn a picture of their mother, and she would kneel in front of it with a puffy face the first thing in the morning. She would then cry or laugh, maybe even bicker, then pray for a good afterlife for their mother.

It was a funny sight, and it made him melancholic. Due to being so forgotten in hatred, he couldn't see this in his past life. The sight of a cute Ruo struggling with a pregnant belly and her wish to pray.

If he didn't wake up early in the morning and help her pray, the woman would totally blow her top and kick him awake. This was one fierce wife with no respect for her husband.

Praying had replaced their morning training. Han Li rarely ever trained anymore. Once a week or so. Most of the time, he would sit outside the bamboo hut and sing his flute. He was getting better at it.

Ruo would be gardening most of the time, but she would also pause to listen. She seemed to like mocking him a bit too much, though she was very abrasive about finding out his false.

"You are such an annoying little woman, aren't you?" he asked, irritated.

"Of course, you'd call me that when I call your flute bad. And, of course, I am pregnant and "

"Because it's not bad. It is better than any I've heard."

"Nah," Ruo rolled her eyes. "I've heard mother say that good music would make the children inside bellies dance. My little ones don't kick me in the gut when you sing, so it is bad."

"Nah, nah," Han Li gave her head a small smack. "They don't kick you because they know their dad would be mad at them if they did. They fear their old man."

"Yeah, yeah, big man," Ruo rubbed her belly and laughed. "You be the vicious dad, and I'll be the kind mom. Let's see who our babies love and who they hate. Don't come to me when they ignore you after growing up."

Han Li glared at her and rubbed his nose. "You are so irritating, and I can't even push you to bed and punish you for it because your belly is so fat."

"Oh god, it's not fat!" Ruo elbowed the side of his stomach, and Han Li grimaced. "I'll not even give you head if you say that again."

Her belly was not that big of an issue in having their bedtime. Pregnancy and sex was never a conflicting subject. One could have both at the same time if their was no complication. It was just that they liked to refrain from anything rough for now.

She liked it that way.

Han Li squinted at her. "So it is time, Miss Ruo."

"For what?" she squinted at him.

"I will now go out to buy milk. You should look after our kids well. Let me see if I can get head from somewhere else."

Her squint turned into a bemused glare. "You are incorrigible, you rascal. I always knew it. Did you fuck some other woman while you were out in the war?"

"Harsh," Han Li's expression darkened. "I was filled with thoughts of saving Mother and coming back to you; where did I have time to do something else?"

"Ah, ah, Han Li, do you think I am seeing my hubby for the first time?" Ruo pushed his face away from hers—his kiss attempt failed. "You can't lie to me, tell me. Who do you love the most, me or some other wench?"

"Of course. Nobody is more important than my Ruo to me now." Han Li hugged her and planted a forceful kiss on her cheeks. She wiped it away. He kissed again. She wiped it away. This time, Han Li's face darkened for real.

"What are you doing?"

Ruo rolled her eyes. "Who is this Liyue you speak of?"

"Li…Liyue? When did I talk about her?"

"I knew it, dumbass." She muttered under her breath and snorted. Sighing, she laid back on the wooden floor of their home and looked up at the sky. Han Li's gaze followed, and he gently clasped her hand.

Through the bamboo shoots, he could see the horizons. In the blue sky, white clouds floated past, along with some birds at times. Sun's harsh rays also gently drifted down in warm coziness.

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked.

"Says the cheater who told me nothing about this Liyue woman. I don't want anything."

"What if I say it is going to be something sweet and something you never ate before?"

Ruo hesitated. Her face scrunched up. "Get lost fuckface; I don't care."

Han Li smirked. "What if it is something good for the babies?"

"That's unfair!"

"You know what? Never mind." Han Li laid back on the floor himself. She blinked and scooted closer to him before using his hand as a pillow and his chest as something to hug.

Han Li smirked. "You are so easy. I just have to sleep beside you, and you come running to hug me."

"Hugging doesn't count. Maybe kissing, too. I am still very mad. It is just that my face doesn't show it. You see, acting angry is too tiresome, and I am very lazy…"

"Does an expression of bliss on your face count?"

"No, that doesn't count either, and let me tell you. This expression is because of the warm sunlight and totally not because of me hugging you."

"Surely."

"Why are you being sarcastic? I am very serious here."

"Surely not."

"Fuck you, believe whatever you want."

Han Li gently placed his hand on her belly and sighed. "Don't teach them your cocky personality, please. Make them more like me."

"Yeah, yeah, now I only have to go find this Liyue so that I can ask her to teach my children her personality."

"Eh…" Han Li sighed. "Liyue is a good girl, you don't have to be angry at her of all people out there."

"So she is good, and I am bad?" Ruo actually bit Han Li's cheek, and he could only sigh inwardly. Thankfully, his body was tough.

He hugged Ruo tightly. "So Ruo, now we will have to wait some more days before this place becomes noisy with children's cries and your shouts, huh? Our little peace would be broken."

"Don't villanize my children." Ruo smiled and hugged him back tightly. "They wont break the peace but make it more peaceful. No matter how many I have from now on."

Han Li didn't oppose it.

Ruo smiled. "Actually, Big Brother, I don't mind any Liyue. If you want to, maybe, bring her here and I will treat her like my younger sister. I am kinda lonely all by myself too—and I will have a woman to talk about all these things."

"Why do you need a woman for when you have me?" Han Li brooded.

"Oi, fuckface." Ruo bit his cheeks again. "I am letting you bring another woman home, so don't act like you are giving me charity. I am the one doing that. I have some things I can only talk about with other women."

"What kind of things?"

"I won't tell you, heh."