The Ancestors' Laws Must Not Be Changed

The sunlight washed the curtains in a pale white glow, and motes of dust hung quietly in the beams of light.

The heating turned on last night had completely cooled down by now. Winter blankets possessed a certain magic, tempting people to stay in bed.

There was a faint sweetness in the air.

The world was very quiet today, until their breathing became increasingly distinct to one another.

Shen Nian opened his sleepy eyes, staring blankly in a daze, his mind still a bit messy.

Perhaps because of the subconscious little movements he made while waking up, the girl on the pillow next to his also stirred at the same time. Before she was even fully awake, a soft, subtle hum reached Shen Nian's ears.

Shen Nian finally snapped back to reality, his mind gradually clearing. He quietly glanced at Xia Yanchun. Fortunately, Xia Yanchun only hummed a little, shifted her hand, wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, and fell right back asleep.

Quietly breathing a sigh of relief, Shen Nian reached for his phone.

Well, it was already twelve noon.

Sleeping all the way until noon was a rare occurrence for Shen Nian. In the past, when he went to bed so early, he would usually wake up around eight or nine and then stay in bed to keep Chunbao company.

Today was an exception; he had genuinely slept until twelve.

"Mmm..."

Another soft murmur came from behind him. Shen Nian didn't dare to breathe too loudly, afraid that even the slightest movement would wake Chunbao, who was hovering on the edge of sleep.

It was to no avail. The eyelashes of the girl beside him fluttered lightly, opening to a narrow slit—the first sight of each other for the day.

"Shen..." Xia Yanchun mumbled. The newly awakened girl didn't even have the strength to speak. She wanted to call Shen Nian's name, but the word 'Nian' trailed off into a mere whisper of breath.

"Good morning, Chunbao."

As soon as Xia Yanchun woke up, Shen Nian stopped holding back his movements and quickly snuggled closer to her.

"What time is it...?"

"It's noon."

"Ugh, still early, let's sleep a little longer..."

"Okay, I'll go buy you breakfast."

"You're not allowed to go, hold me and sleep..."

"...Okay."

...

Who could understand the absolute bliss of waking up and then going back to sleep for another half hour?

Xia Yanchun understood, because she had just comfortably stayed in bed for half an hour, held in Shen Nian's arms.

After her drowsiness dissipated, Xia Yanchun no longer planned to stay in bed.

She wiggled around in Shen Nian's embrace before finally squirming out like a little caterpillar.

A faint chill made her instinctively shrink her neck. Realizing belatedly that she wasn't wearing anything, she pulled the blanket tightly around herself and looked at Shen Nian shyly. "Where are my clothes...?"

"Let me look..." Shen Nian got up, spotted her white nightgown near his pillow, and handed it to her.

The nightgown was easy to put on. Xia Yanchun didn't hide from Shen Nian; she just ducked under the blanket and wriggled around. By the time she lifted the covers, she was already dressed.

The shoulder straps rested loosely against her arms. Xia Yanchun shyly adjusted them, shooting a sideways glance at Shen Nian, only to realize that the guy had also taken the opportunity to put on his clothes while she was dressing.

"Chunbao, let me hug you." Shen Nian gently leaned in, pulling the soft and sweet Chunbao into his arms.

"You're stinky."

"How is that possible? I didn't even sweat."

"Stinky anyway." Burying her small face in the crook of Shen Nian's neck, Xia Yanchun couldn't help but greedily take in his scent.

Shen Nian wasn't annoyed. He brushed aside the loose strands of hair by Xia Yanchun's face, tucking them behind her ear to reveal the girl's fair, youthful face tinged with pink, breathing softly.

Shen Nian fell silent for a moment before asking in a low voice, "Does it still hurt?"

Xia Yanchun pursed her lips and said nothing, just nodding her little head against Shen Nian's chest.

"Is it really bad?"

"Just a little bit." Xia Yanchun pushed away slightly, her dark, almond-shaped eyes staring intently at Shen Nian's face as she mumbled, "I want to take a shower. Carry me there."

"Sure, I'll help you wash."

"I never said I wanted your help!"

"Then you must just be too embarrassed to ask." Shen Nian grinned, showing his teeth.

With a bend of his arms, he easily scooped Xia Yanchun up in a bridal carry. Startled, Xia Yanchun tightly wrapped her arms around Shen Nian's shoulders. Seeing that she was about to be carried into the bathroom, she wanted to say something, but when she looked up and saw Shen Nian's profile, she swallowed her words.

Today, he was the absolute best in the world.

...

Shen Nian had never taken such a long shower; his palms were completely wrinkled.

He now understood that the reason girls could spend half an hour in the shower was because they spent twenty minutes just standing under the hot water.

And that was without even washing their hair.

He was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday; he could only count himself lucky that they hadn't gotten dirty.

Xia Yanchun shuffled back to the bed in her slippers and sat down slowly. Just walking those few steps had felt quite uncomfortable. Afraid that someone might notice something was off, she had decided to avoid going out as much as possible today and tomorrow. She would bestow upon the smelly Shen Nian the privilege of being her subordinate and taking care of her. That smelly Shen Nian should be secretly thrilled.

Shen Nian had gone home to brush his teeth and had now run back over to Xia Yanchun's side. He sat next to her, but before he could even open his mouth, Xia Yanchun spoke first.

"If you go down to buy breakfast later, get me a cup of century egg porridge."

"It's already time for lunch."

"Oh, right." Xia Yanchun finally remembered that it was already high noon. "Then let's order takeout. We haven't had Orleans roast chicken in a long time."

"You're always thinking about your Orleans roast chicken," Shen Nian teased, casually pulling out his phone to order the food.

Xia Yanchun took the opportunity to lean against him, kissing his cheek, trailing kisses all the way to the corner of his mouth, and finally sneaking a quick peck on his lips.

Shen Nian had also just finished showering. Even though he smelled nice and fresh, Xia Yanchun still insisted he was stinky, because the laws of the ancestors could not be changed.

Although she wanted to keep relaxing like this, there were some things that had to be dealt with, and she quickly began to feel troubled.

Lifting the blanket, sure enough!

Even though they had laid down a towel, the duvet cover was still stained with a bit of red, and there were tear stains on the pillows, looking like little blooming flowers. While it wasn't a huge deal, it was definitely an eyesore!

Just looking at it made Xia Yanchun flush with embarrassment, her small face suddenly burning hot. She quickly shooed Shen Nian up and began to clean up the mess from last night that they hadn't had the mind to deal with.

So annoying, annoying, annoying!

"Let me do it, let me do it."

"You go take out the trash, I'll handle this," Xia Yanchun refused to let him.

Shen Nian scratched his head and turned to tie up the trash bag.

The trash can was filled with wadded-up tissues. Even Shen Nian felt a twinge of guilt. He quickly tied it up, double-bagged it with an extra plastic bag, and took it downstairs to throw away.

When he returned, the washing machine was humming away, and Xia Yanchun had already put on the new bedsheets and pillowcases.

"Phew, I've worked so hard." Xia Yanchun wiped away nonexistent sweat. "I'm eating two chicken legs later, you hear me?"

"Guaranteed, guaranteed. Hehehe, watch me play dumb and sneakily snatch a chicken leg from her later."

"Get lost, don't say your inner thoughts out loud with such a straight face, okay?!" Xia Yanchun put her hands on her hips in a huff, feeling like Shen Nian wasn't even from planet Earth.