RPS – Chapter 85 Trivial Warmth

For Li Feng, who was pregnant and staying at home, finding something to pass the time was very necessary.

Usually, Li Feng was the one taking care of the baby. But whenever he got tired, Nuo and the others would take over. When Li Feng was with the baby and had some free time, he would recite poetry aloud. The baby loved his voice—whenever Li Feng began reciting poems, the baby would quiet down significantly and cry less than usual.

Of course, Mo and Lu were also required to stay at home and “study”—which really just meant listening to Li Feng recite poems. Nuo too. But unfortunately, because Li Feng only recited rhymed Tang poetry, although they thought it sounded nice, none of them actually understood a word. Adults, children, and even the baby all sat there, drowsy under the sweltering summer heat, drifting off to sleep as Li Feng recited his poems. Honestly, his recitations worked just as well as any stuffy old teacher’s voice to lull people to sleep. When he finished, he looked up and saw that everyone—young and old—were nodding off like pecking chicks.

“Hmph! How dare you all fall asleep! So you’re telling me none of you listened to anything I just recited, huh?” Li Feng said, knocking each of them on the head. “Time to wake up!”

“Huh? What? Morning already?” Nuo raised his head, squinting as he wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth.

Mo and Lu were also rubbing their eyes with their small hands, bleary-eyed as they looked at Li Feng—Is it really time to get up? So sleepy… One of them even let out a huge yawn.

“Hmph!” Li Feng hummed in protest, holding the baby who was also drooling in his sleep. “You’ve all gotten pretty bold, huh? This was supposed to be class, and you all fell asleep?”

Now fully awake, Nuo rubbed his head. “Come on, Li Feng, couldn’t you have let us sleep a little? We didn’t even understand what you were saying—it just made us super sleepy. I’m going back to bed.” It was prime nap time, after all. Even if he hadn’t been sleepy before, Li Feng’s voice had definitely hypnotized him into it.

“You lazy good-for-nothing! I was teaching you knowledge! Don’t you know what they say? Knowledge changes your fate!” Li Feng shot back, clearly agitated by Nuo’s lack of enthusiasm. Didn’t this guy understand how important culture was? And these poems he recited were the distilled essence of thousands of years of history!

“Nope.” Nuo and the kids shook their heads without hesitation. That whole “knowledge changes fate” thing—yeah, that went right over their heads.

“You all…” Li Feng was truly hit where it hurt. He had forgotten—they hadn’t even invented writing yet, and they’d only just solved the problem of having enough to eat. How could they be expected to care about this kind of thing? And honestly, maybe he was being too impatient. Trying to cram this stuff into them wasn’t going to work. Fine. He’d just take it one step at a time. Anyway, he was feeling a bit sleepy himself. Time for a nap.

Carrying the now somewhat heavy baby, Li Feng headed off to rest. Sitting for too long had made his back ache a little. And he wasn’t even that far along in the pregnancy yet—these symptoms were already so obvious. Wouldn’t it get worse later? His thoughts started to wander again.

He gently laid the baby on the bed and covered him with a small blanket. Then he lay beside the child, thoughts spiraling: imagining himself waddling around with a big belly, suffering through all the discomforts to come. Naturally, he couldn’t help but curse Li—the one responsible for all of this. That guy had it easy, working hard every night and leaving Li Feng to endure the ten months of pregnancy. He probably looked ridiculous with a huge stomach. Still… he wondered when the baby inside would make its presence known. He’d better prepare in advance—he didn’t want the time to come and find himself completely unprepared.

After all, childbirth in this kind of environment was incredibly risky. There was no birthing technology at all. Every birth here came with high odds of death—sometimes the mother, sometimes the child, sometimes both. He hadn’t forgotten how the previous owner of this body had died—and how he’d come to inherit it. He definitely didn’t want someone else taking his place again. He wanted to raise these babies himself, to see them grow up, get married, and have children of their own. There was no way he was going to let himself die over this.

But what could he do? Li Feng thought and thought, but couldn’t come up with a great solution. Especially when it came to childbirth techniques. He had considered teaching Nuo some basic birthing skills to help out when the time came. But from ancient times to now, countless people had died giving birth. Even in modern, technologically advanced societies, childbirth was still full of unavoidable risks. He remembered all the news reports. No matter when or where—having a baby was never easy.

The only thing he could do now was to take good care of his body—so he’d have the strength to give birth when the time came. And to nourish the baby in his belly so that it could be born healthy and safe. Everything else, he’d just have to figure out slowly. Next time, he’d start teaching Nuo some basic delivery techniques. Better to be prepared than to be flustered and cause a mess when it actually happened. If only a C-section were possible. Honestly, he didn’t even know if that little hole at the back could actually deliver a child. Even natural childbirth was already hard for women—how was a man supposed to manage it?

Feng had died trying to give birth and still didn’t manage to deliver the baby. If Li Feng hadn’t reincarnated into Feng’s body, it would’ve been a double death. And at the time, he’d just thought he was constipated and had pushed really hard…

His thoughts continued to spiral. Maybe it was because of the pregnancy, but even worrying made him tired. Before he knew it, he’d drifted off. It seemed like the pregnancy really was draining his energy. Normally, he never napped during the day, but now he found himself needing rest every afternoon—he’d get sleepy even when his mind was active.

He had no idea how long he’d been asleep when the door opened. Nuo tiptoed inside and saw the father and son sleeping soundly side by side on the bed. The baby’s rosy lips were puckered up as he sucked on his tiny clenched fist. His little pink tongue poked out slightly, like he was trying to eat his own chubby hand. His nose was small, his face delicate, his eyelashes long, dark, and thick. His soft hair lay neatly against his round little head. That plump bun-like face made Li Feng’s heart melt. Their baby really was the cutest—so pure and innocent. Just like Li Feng always said, “Look how pretty and adorable our little angel is!” Not that Nuo had any idea what an “angel” even was. When he asked, Li Feng would just say, “Just look at the baby and you’ll know.”

The baby slept on the inside, with Li Feng on the outside, guarding against the baby rolling off the bed. The little one could crawl really fast now—he’d probably start walking soon. Nuo leaned down and gently kissed the small furrow between Li Feng’s brows. Who knew what he was worrying about in his sleep, frowning like that. Nuo reached over to pull the thin animal-skin blanket up to cover Li Feng more completely. Through the gaps in the blanket, he noticed that both of Li Feng’s hands were carefully placed over his slightly rounded belly, gently protecting it as if afraid to disturb it.

Nuo smiled. Li Feng was clearly being very careful with the baby inside him. After all that talk about not wanting the child, was it all just a moment of weakness?

“You’re back?” Li Feng sleepily opened his eyes and looked at Li, who stood beside the bed dazedly holding a blanket. He mumbled his words, still drowsy—why was Li home so early?

“Mm, just got back. Go back to sleep.” Li gently laid the blanket over Li Feng’s chest. Even though it was hot, he still shouldn’t catch a chill.

“Mm… okay…” Li Feng murmured in a half-asleep daze, turning over and quickly drifting back off. He turned to face the baby and absentmindedly tugged the baby’s blanket higher, tucking it in more snugly before falling completely asleep again.

Li gazed at the sleeping father and child with eyes full of warmth and affection. He quietly adjusted their blankets a bit more, then gently kissed both their foreheads before softly closing the door behind him, leaving them to rest. He’d cook tonight’s dinner himself.

By the time Li Feng woke up, night had fully fallen. Considering it was summer and sunset came late, he was surprised to find he’d slept through the entire afternoon. Rubbing his face to shake off the lingering sleepiness, he noticed the baby wasn’t next to him—seemed like someone had taken him out of the room. He’d really slept too long this time… hadn’t dozed off like that in ages. Now he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to fall asleep tonight.

“You’re up? Hungry? Dinner’s still warm—just wash your face and you can eat!” As soon as Li saw him come out, he quickly handed the baby to Nuo and went to support Li Feng.

The baby, who had just been playing a “toss in the air” game with Li Feng, found himself suddenly in Nuo’s arms and looked aggrieved, his mouth trembling. Li Baba always handed him off like this—he still preferred being with Li Feng Baba. Unfortunately, Li Feng didn’t even glance his way as he was led outside. Resigned, the neglected baby accepted reality and wrapped his chubby little arms around Nuo’s neck, starting to gnaw gently with his few baby teeth.

“What time did you get home today?” Li Feng asked while sipping warm pheasant soup, glancing at Li, who was sitting beside him, watching him eat.

“A bit earlier than usual. How’s the soup? It’s my first time making it,” Li asked nervously. He had just caught the pheasant that day and had started simmering the soup right after getting home. He’d cooked it all himself over the course of the afternoon.

“It’s really good. You should try some.” Li Feng scooped up a spoonful of soup with a piece of meat and fed it to Li. The meat, though from a wild bird and usually coarse, was surprisingly tender—clearly simmered a long time. It had very little gamey smell too; Li must have cleaned it very thoroughly.

Li stared blankly as he accepted the bite, not even registering the flavor, his entire mind caught up in the sensation of being fed by Li Feng.

“Did you all eat already?” Li Feng asked, looking at the others with a bit of surprise—there wasn’t that much soup, and he didn’t want to hog it all even if he was pregnant and needed the nutrition.

“Li Feng Uncle, we already ate. Baby did too! I fed him!” Mo said proudly, puffing out his little chest. He used to be the one who mostly looked after the baby, but ever since Li Feng and the others had been home, he hadn’t had many chances. This time, he’d finally gotten one—and decided he wouldn’t go out to play next time. He’d rather stay and care for the baby. The baby had been ignoring him lately… was he mad that they hadn’t played together in so long?

“Mm, good job, Mo!” Li Feng smiled and patted Mo’s head in praise.

Because of the pregnancy, Li Feng had been eating more than usual. Besides the soup and chicken, there were light vegetables and fruit, and some steamed buns—freshly made that day. They were fluffy and soft from being freshly steamed that evening. Since it was hot and food spoiled easily, Li Feng didn’t make too much at once. Unexpectedly, he ate both buns himself. They were quite large, after all. Truly, pregnant people had impressive appetites—especially now that his morning sickness had passed. Fortunately, his symptoms hadn’t lasted long.

Later, lying in bed with a full belly, Li Feng couldn’t fall asleep—no surprise after his long nap. His stomach felt a bit tight from eating too much, adding to his discomfort. The weather was hot, so Mo and Lu were sleeping in another room where it was cooler and less crowded. They’d switched to reed mats, which felt especially cool after being wiped with water.

“What’s wrong?” Li woke up from Li Feng’s restlessness.

“Can’t sleep,” Li Feng grumbled in frustration. Not being able to sleep when you wanted to was annoying—he regretted napping earlier. “It’s your fault! Why didn’t you wake me up when you got home? Now I can’t sleep!”

Li touched the back of Li Feng’s neck, looking innocent. He hadn’t wanted to wake him—Li Feng had looked so peaceful sleeping. Who could’ve guessed he’d end up wide awake at night? And now he was mad at him. Still, Li didn’t mind. Since he couldn’t sleep… well, he could help.

“What are you—mm…” Li Feng gasped softly in the dark, his voice stifled and low.

“Helping you sleep,” came the simple reply.

“You—mm… ah…” His words dissolved into breathy, stifled moans.

The baby had been sleeping in another room with Mo or Nuo lately—Li was afraid the baby might kick in his sleep and accidentally hit Li Feng’s belly. It was safer this way.

Even if Li held the baby, it wasn’t a problem, but when Li Feng was also in bed, the baby would absolutely not agree to sleep without being in Li Feng’s arms. If not allowed, he’d cry loudly until moved to another room. Fortunately, he’d adapted well to the others. So now, Li and Li Feng didn’t need to worry about disturbances.

“Mm… faster…” Li Feng arched his neck, revealing the curve of his throat and collarbone. In the pale moonlight, Li could make out his flushed cheeks, sensual expression, bitten red lips, and the tears of pleasure clinging to the corners of his eyes—both alluring and pitiful. In Li’s eyes, he looked stunning.

Taking a deep breath, Li leaned down and gently kissed Li Feng’s lips, soft and lingering. His kiss was slow and tender, but his hands moved with wild passion. His rough fingers rubbed Li Feng’s body with intensity, sending waves of sensation through him. Even the smallest sensitive spots were carefully teased, until Li Feng’s whole body trembled.

Warm slickness helped Li’s movements, and before long, Li Feng came undone in his hand—his body spasming, toes curling, followed by a full-body relaxation. Blissful, drained, and flushed, he looked like a beautiful painting.

Naturally, in this summer heat and passion, once wasn’t nearly enough. Li himself had held back far too long.

After several rounds of release and relief, Li Feng was exhausted. Though there was no penetration, the intensity still left him worn out. His belly felt a little tight during the peak, but not uncomfortable—it wouldn’t affect the baby.

Li Feng rubbed his belly gently and soon fell asleep. Li quietly cleaned up the aftermath, then returned to bed and pulled Li Feng into his arms. One hand stroked Li Feng’s belly, feeling his heartbeat as he closed his eyes with a smile. In the moonlight, the two embraced closely, arms and legs entwined. Their peaceful, slightly smiling faces looked like a beautiful painting, with only the moon as witness to their loving entanglement.