FID – Chapter 845

Chapter 845: She Had Already Forgotten What It Felt Like to Smile

The man finally looked at her directly.

He had always had a strong tolerance for alcohol and had never been drunk before.

Only that day, the slight intoxication was all she saw.

“That day I got drunk because I was happy inside. It’s not about whether I drank or not. You’re pregnant now, and no matter what reasons you come up with, I won’t let you climb the mountain. If you want to act spoiled until I can’t handle it, then I’ll have to call Grandma and Dad.”

Liu Yusheng shivered at the thought. Letting Dad come? Even having the idea of going up the mountain felt like a sin.

She completely wilted.

Listless, like a little cabbage dried out by the sun.

Feng Qingbai felt heartbroken.

He summoned Wei Zi, whispered a few words to him, and Wei Zi immediately took his leave.

Not allowed to go out to play, she suddenly felt utterly bored. Liu Yusheng rubbed her belly and went back to her room for a nap.

Right now, she was living like a pig—eating until full, then sleeping; sleeping until full, then eating with no moving about.

When pregnant, one sleeps very deeply, so when there was a little movement in the courtyard, Liu Yusheng didn’t notice at all.

When she woke up from her nap, she vaguely smelled a faint scent of grapes in the air. Curious, she got out of bed and followed the fragrance out of her room.

She was stunned as soon as she opened the door.

The courtyard was filled with grapevines.

Not just grapes — the grapes were still attached to the vines, as if they were growing right there in the courtyard.

Clusters of purple-red, glistening grapes nestled among lush green leaves, filling the whole courtyard with a rich fragrance.

What delighted her most was that the height of the grapevines was just a bit above her waist — she could reach out and pick them easily, no bending down or stretching up required.

By the grape trellis stood her eldest brother and his wife, her second brother and his wife, as well as Shi Xianrou and Qian Wanjin. Even her grandparents, father, uncle, and aunt were there.

Each of them smiled warmly at her.

And Feng Qingbai stood about ten steps away, gazing at her with a gentle smile, his slender eyes full of indulgent affection.

He had tiny beads of sweat on his forehead, his sleeves rolled up to reveal strong, smooth arms, with fingers stained purple from grape juice. He had just finished working.

She knew the grape trellis in the courtyard was definitely his idea, and he had personally helped build it.

It seemed that ever since he met her, his obsession with cleanliness had become more of a facade.

“Feng Qingbai…” she smiled softly and called to him.

“Weren’t you going to pick grapes?” He reached out his hand to her.

She stepped forward and tightly grabbed his hand, her eyes reddening.

She wanted to pick grapes and play with everyone, so he had set up the grape trellis right in the courtyard and called everyone who had just climbed to Xinghua Ridge back to help.

The inner courtyard wasn’t very big, but not small either. To put up a grape trellis covering more than half of the courtyard, and then carefully bring back grapevines with ripe grapes without damaging them, they must have put in a lot of effort.

And she had just acted on a whim.

Seeing everyone busy like this just for her fleeting desire to have fun, Liu Yusheng felt deeply ashamed. She lowered her head, sniffled softly, and said, “You can correct me when I’m wrong, but why let me act so willfully and throw a tantrum?”

He lifted her head, making her look into his eyes, and asked with a gentle smile, “Why do you think?”

Those eyes—narrow and cool.

Yet when they looked at her, they softened with a tenderness like a midsummer night’s sky full of stars.

What flowed in them was nothing but love for her.

Because he loved her, he would do anything for her.

If it could make her smile—why not?

“Hey, are you two done yet? Isn’t it a bit much? Come on, get over here and pick grapes already!” Qian Wanjin hollered, craning his neck. “We had just climbed up to Xinghua Ridge and got dragged back! I didn’t get to do a single thing all afternoon—just worked on this! Lucky Nannan, we’ve gone above and beyond for you! You have no idea how inhuman this tree is! He—”

Shi Xianrou slapped a hand over his mouth, forcing a smile at the couple while furiously signaling him with her eyes. Complaining in front of Nannan might feel good now, but Feng Qingbai would kill him afterward.

How many times had they learned this lesson already? 

He still didn’t know when to shut up.

You can’t mess with the King of Nanling, because she couldn’t cover for him if things went south!

And when the time came, all she could do was stand by and feel sorry for him.

It was totally not worth it.

Several of the Liu elders sat beneath the trellis, watching the younger ones laugh and play. Their faces bloomed with joyful wrinkles.

Liu Dalin was becoming more and more satisfied with Feng Qingbai.

In this world, if there was anyone who could match him in loving his daughter so unconditionally and without limits, it was Feng Qingbai.

Not bad.

Good thing he came up with such an idea.

Ordinary people really couldn’t have pulled it off.

Just look how moved his daughter was—seeing her like that made him happy too.

The commotion also reached the Empress Dowager in the neighboring room.

At first, she had no desire to move, but the bursts of laughter outside drifted into her ears. The sweet scent of grapes in the air mingled with the cheerful sounds, forming a vivid and complete picture.

Fragrant, sweet, and warm—something that stirred curiosity.

She rose and hesitantly opened a small gap in the front window. The lively scene in the courtyard immediately came into view.

Every face bore a smile—bright, hearty, or soft and gentle—but no matter the kind, they were all genuine and heartfelt.

It made her envious.

How many years had it been since she last laughed from the heart?

She could no longer remember. It had been so long that she’d forgotten what true happiness felt like.

In the late September afternoon, the sunlight was no longer harsh. It no longer burned when it touched the skin, and the grape trellises cast gentle shade. The air was filled with the fresh and rich fragrance of grapes mingled with bamboo leaves—immersed in it, one couldn’t help but feel relaxed and at ease.

Sunlight filtered through the window crack, shining on her silver hair, refracting with a faint, stinging brilliance.

As she turned her gaze, that glimmer of light was caught by Liu Yusheng.

She immediately had the urge to call the Empress Dowager out to join them, but then paused and gave a subtle signal to Grandma Liu, who was laughing and chatting loudly.

Grandma Liu followed her granddaughter’s eye signal and instantly understood. She patted her legs and stood up, saying, “You all go ahead and keep picking the grapes. I’ll go check on the Empress Dowager. We’ve been making noise in the courtyard for quite a while—might’ve woken her up.”

Saying that, she casually made her way to the Empress Dowager’s room, while Liu Yusheng gave her a discreet thumbs-up.

Pushing open the slightly ajar door, the Empress Dowager was lying on her side facing the inside, just like she had the past few days. The old maid was standing at her bedside, head lowered, looking subdued.

“Granny, have we disturbed Her Majesty?” Grandma Liu lowered her voice as she approached the bed. “I figured we probably did. Us country folk have loud voices. Once we get happy, we forget to hold back. I hope we haven’t upset Her Majesty.”

The granny wasn’t sure how to respond.

To say they hadn’t disturbed her would be a blatant lie—the Empress Dowager was clearly awake. But to say they had disturbed her? She feared the Liu family matriarch wouldn’t take it to heart and would just carry on as usual. What, was she supposed to expect everyone in the courtyard to disperse at once?

Not to mention that His Highness wouldn’t pay them any mind. In fact, just now she had clearly seen the look in the Empress Dowager’s eyes when she secretly glanced toward the courtyard—it was unmistakably envy. If the Liu matriarch could gently coax her to step outside, wouldn’t that be a good thing?

Being cooped up in bed all day was enough to make anyone sick.