Super Soldier in the City
Chapter 848 - 889: Tugging at the Heartstrings

Chapter 848: Chapter 889: Tugging at the Heartstrings

Xu Yingying had no idea how long she had slept when she woke up. Her body felt warm, but due to the low temperature in the room, her forehead was cold. For someone accustomed to living in heated and air-conditioned rooms, this was somewhat discomforting.

The room was dimly lit. After adjusting for a while, she could finally make out her surroundings. The first thing she did was look at Li Yifei beside her.

Li Yifei had very little quilt covering him, with most of it piled on her, making her part of the bed warm. But the thought of Li Yifei having only a thin layer of quilt in such cold weather troubled her.

Even though it was very cold, Li Yifei hadn’t taken the opportunity to slip under her quilt while she was asleep, which moved Xu Yingying to the brink of tears. Looking at his pale face from the cold, she almost became lost in thought. He was her husband, the man she had lived with for almost half a year.

Having just woken up, she genuinely couldn’t imagine how she ended up marrying Li Yifei, a man who seemed so out of sync. Yet, seeing how considerate he was now, Xu Yingying felt that Li Yifei truly was a good man, a suitable husband.

Noticing Li Yifei’s body twitch and his hand reaching for the quilt, seemingly about to pull it to his side, she saw that he didn’t actually pull it. The quilt remained on her.

This realization brought a pang of sorrow to Xu Yingying’s heart. Even in his sleep, Li Yifei remembered to keep her warm. What an incredible husband he was, yet she had persistently refused to acknowledge him and regarded him as a stranger.

She gently bit her lip and carefully lifted her quilt, then quietly draped it over Li Yifei, pulling his quilt over both of them. Now they both had two layers of quilts on them, and they truly shared the same quilt.

After doing all this, Xu Yingying’s heart raced uncontrollably. She was afraid Li Yifei would wake up and embarrass her, but fortunately, he slept deeply and wasn’t disturbed by her movements.

Li Yifei’s body temperature was clearly lower than hers. Although they weren’t touching, Xu Yingying could sense a hint of coolness, which only moved her more. Li Yifei, her husband, was truly good to her.

The quilts covering them were homemade from the countryside—bought quilt covers sewn together, which made them neither large nor substantial, measuring merely one and a half meters wide and two meters long. Sufficient for one person, but for two, it felt small. Combined with the distance between Xu Yingying and Li Yifei, and Xu Yingying’s arm being exposed, it was quite cold.

Li Yifei was in the same situation. Thus, neither of them was completely warmed.

Xu Yingying wanted to get closer to Li Yifei, but she lacked the courage to do so and was at a loss.

Given Li Yifei’s alertness, it was unlikely he hadn’t woken up from what Xu Yingying had done, which delighted him greatly. Yet, to avoid embarrassing her, he pretended to remain asleep.

Seeing Xu Yingying’s dilemma, Li Yifei felt a bit heartbroken. He couldn’t let the situation continue, as that would only result in Xu Yingying being cold. But making any movement that might embarrass Xu Yingying was also challenging.

Li Yifei was sharp-witted, so while Xu Yingying was inexperienced in these matters, he was not. He maintained the pretense of sleeping while subtly changing his position from lying on his back to his side, facing Xu Yingying. With this twist, he naturally drew the quilt toward her, wrapping her entire body, thereby bridging the gap between them and ensuring they both had enough quilt.

This sudden movement, however, terrified Xu Yingying, her lips parting slightly as her heart raced uncontrollably. She didn’t know if Li Yifei was awake and what he might do.

After waiting a while and seeing that Li Yifei didn’t do anything or touch her—just laying on his side, the warmth of his breath tickling her face pleasantly—Xu Yingying’s heart gradually calmed, and sleepiness overtook her once more.

The sound of footsteps and voices outside awoke Xu Yingying, and it was only seven o’clock. People in the countryside rise early, especially the elderly, who are light sleepers, meaning there was already someone up preparing breakfast.

After waking up, Xu Yingying immediately noticed an awkward situation. She was tightly cuddled up with Li Yifei, his arm under her neck, her arm on his chest, and one leg over his legs. From this position, it was clear that none of this was Li Yifei’s doing, but her own movement during sleep.

This made her both embarrassed and shy. She stealthily glanced at Li Yifei, who still seemed to be sleeping deeply, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief. Carefully, she first lifted her leg and then her arm to change into a lying position, but she didn’t dare move Li Yifei’s arm, fearing it would wake him. For now, that’s how it had to be—even if Li Yifei woke up, she wouldn’t be afraid anymore.

Just as everything was in place, barely two minutes later, Li Yifei’s body slightly moved and Xu Yingying’s heart immediately started to pound. She hurriedly closed her eyes tight, pretending to be asleep.

Li Yifei had actually woken up earlier but waited until Xu Yingying had finished before he pretended to wake up then. Feeling her in his arms was a boundlessly blissful experience for him that night. He had never realized before how blissful it was to hold his wife while sleeping, but after having lost this feeling once, experiencing it again felt profoundly different.

At that moment, Li Yifei certainly couldn’t let Xu Yingying feel awkward. This hard-earned happiness could not be lost again, so he quickly acted startled and very carefully, little by little, withdrew his arm from underneath Xu Yingying’s neck.

From the corner of her eyes, Xu Yingying saw Li Yifei’s apprehensive look and really felt a bit guilty inside, but at that point, she could only play dumb—otherwise, she didn’t know how to face Li Yifei.

Both had pretended once, and then they lay flat, continuing to feign deep sleep for a while.

In fact, Li Yifei really didn’t want to wake up just yet. Being in the same blanket with Xu Yingying genuinely made him happy, but maintaining one position was fine for sleeping, not so when he was awake; it was indeed painful. He couldn’t let his own happiness cause discomfort to Xu Yingying, so he was the first to open his eyes and then pretended to be surprised as he said, "I... How did we end up in the same blanket?"

Xu Yingying too immediately opened her eyes. She had been lying uncomfortably and seemed very surprised as she stared at Li Yifei, asking, "Did you do this on purpose?"

Confronted with Xu Yingying’s feigned anger, Li Yifei felt secretly delighted inside, but his face showed an expression of grievance as he said, "I really don’t know. I fell asleep and just woke up now. I definitely didn’t do it on purpose. You have to believe me!"

Xu Yingying huffed and pretended to be magnanimous as she said, "Alright, I believe you. Hurry and get up."

Li Yifei repeatedly agreed and jumped out of bed, quickly getting dressed.

Xu Yingying secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Being so hypocritical was truly uncomfortable, but she didn’t know how else to face Li Yifei, so that would have to do for now.

After Li Yifei got dressed, he also tucked Xu Yingying’s sweater into the blanket and said, "It’s cold in the room, your clothes are chilly too. Warm them up first before you get dressed."

"Oh..." Xu Yingying watched Li Yifei leave, suddenly feeling a surge of happiness inside.

She had always been strong-willed, managing everything by herself since she was young. Besides her parents, she never needed anyone else’s care, and such intimate attention from others seemed like a very distant memory.

Often, it’s not necessarily the big events that show how much one person cares for another but rather the accumulation of little things in daily life. A simple act, a simple word from Li Yifei, touched Xu Yingying’s heart profoundly.

After a while, Xu Yingying got up to get dressed. The sweater and thermal pants felt warm on her body, warmth that felt like it was given by Li Yifei, which was truly comforting and sweet.

Xu Yingying hadn’t finished getting dressed when Li Yifei came back carrying a basin of warm water, saying, "I got you some hot water. Come wash up quickly."

Xu Yingying got out of bed, frowning and teasingly said, "Really, I am perfectly capable of doing it myself. If your cousins see this, they’ll certainly laugh at you."

Li Yifei grinned and said, "Let them laugh. Showing I care about you in front of your relatives actually gives you more face. If I acted all macho, wouldn’t that just worry your relatives?"

Being strong-willed and somewhat concerned with appearances, Xu Yingying found his words appealing to her pride, and she smiled at Li Yifei, saying, "Alright, alright. When we go to your relatives’, I’ll make you look good too."

However, Li Yifei suddenly felt uneasy inside. At his relatives’, Ning Xin’er was his wife, and he would definitely have to visit them for the New Year. How would he explain the situation to Xu Yingying then? It seemed like a trivial matter, yet it appeared to be a problem hard to solve.