Chapter - 58 - Sleeping Arrangements

"You're thinking beautiful!" Gu Xiulan wanted to scold again, but Yi Wanjing looked at Yi Minghuan next to him, then at Tang Li, and gritted his teeth and agreed: "Okay! Then I'll give you two more bags of grain!"

"If you keep making trouble, it won't be a matter of two bags of grain anymore." Tang Li looked at Gu Xiulan and said, "Minghuan is concerned about the blood relationship between you, but I have nothing to do with you. It's not that I'm scaring you, but warning you. I'm crazy, I can do anything."

Gu Xiulan stared fiercely, and wanted to go peel her skin angrily, but was pulled by Yi Wenjing, so she didn't dare to scold her.

Seeing that Yi Minghuan had lit the lamp, Tang Li restrained her aggressive side, walked up to him, and said, "Don't bother with them, let's go back to sleep."

Yi Minghuan took a deep look at her, followed her back to the room, and thought that when she was not hiding her true nature, she was actually so fierce.

As Tang Li returned to the room, her eyes widened in disbelief.

The once neat and orderly room had been transformed into a chaotic mess, with items strewn about like discarded memories.

A fiery frustration ignited within her as she surveyed the wreckage.

"If I stay here for one more day, I will lose ten years of life! Arguing as soon as I have nothing to do, why is the old woman so annoying? It's so irritating!" Tang Li's voice quivered with exasperation, her teeth clenched as she vented her frustration.

"I thought you were having fun arguing," Yi Minghuan remarked, stooping to collect the scattered items from the floor. His tone was mild, but his words held a hint of amusement and hilarity.

Tang Li shot him a sidelong glance, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Are you mocking me?" she questioned, her irritation still palpable.

Yi Minghuan was taken aback, and then sincerely shook his head. "Really not. You looked so lively at the time, I thought you were enjoying yourself," he explained earnestly.

"..." Tang Li.

Tang Li fell into a brooding silence, her frustration giving way to exhaustion. She didn't want to continue the conversation; she just wanted peace and quiet.

As they jointly gathered the scattered belongings and ensured that nothing was missing, Tang Li finally heaved a sigh of relief.

She tidied up the room in haste, washed her feet, and prepared for bed. However, her respite was short-lived as a new predicament presented itself.

How were they supposed to sleep in this cramped space?!

Tang Li stared at the small, 1.2-meter-long bed, her anxiety mounting. It had already been a tight fit for one person, and with her current physique, it seemed impossible for two to share without being pressed shoulder to shoulder.

The pressure of the situation weighed heavily on her mind, and she debated her options.

'Forget it, what's the point of being hypocritical!'

After a brief internal struggle, she decided to abandon any pretense. This man was her husband now, and they were merely sharing a bed; there was no need to complicate it further.

Besides, in the harsh and uncertain environment they found themselves in, there was little room for personal preferences.

Summoning her resolve, Tang Li performed a bit of psychological self-coaching. She turned to Yi Minghuan with a candid and generous proposal. "You can grab the quilt; let's make do. We can sleep on opposite sides, and it shouldn't be too crowded."

Yi Minghuan had a different idea. "Sleep on your side with the quilt," he suggested, his tone gentle as he extended a quilt towards her.

"Okay," Tang Li acquiesced, carefully climbing onto the bed. She crawled beneath the covers and observed Yi Minghuan's actions.

He took his cotton-padded jacket, folded it into a makeshift pillow, then extinguished the kerosene lamp. Finally, he settled onto his side of the bed, leaving some distance between them.

Tang Li, with her back pressed against the wall, felt the tension ebb from her body. On the other hand, Yi Minghuan occupied the space closer to the edge of the bed, leaving more than half a meter of space between them.

As Tang Li reached out and encountered the arm's length of empty space between them, an inexplicable sense of amusement bubbled up inside her.

She couldn't help but burst into laughter in the darkness, eliciting an inquisitive gaze from Yi Minghuan, even though he couldn't see her expression.

"What are you laughing at?" he inquired.

Tang Li chuckled softly, her voice carrying a hint of playfulness. "I'm laughing at the two of us. Feel it; there's a big space in the middle."

Yi Minghuan's reply was sincere. "I'm not used to sleeping with two people," he admitted as he moved back, his voice carrying a sense of vulnerability that surprised Tang Li.

"I'm not used to it either," she confessed, her body relaxing as she tried to make herself comfortable.

She tentatively extended her arm toward the empty space between them, nearly brushing against Yi Minghuan's body. In a fit of embarrassment, she hastily withdrew her hand, coughing softly as she whispered, "There's still space; you can come here a bit if you want.".....