Inlaid With Jade - Chapter 44

Chapter 44 
Bad Guy 
  
Li Heming was usually solemn, but Lin Yu couldn’t resist once he became ridiculous. Fortunately, because they were in the carriage, he didn’t lose his mind and did whatever he wanted. He only rubbed Lin Yu’s br*asts heavily without even opening her clothes. 
  
Looking at the way he stared at her snow-white neck, it was not difficult to guess that if it weren’t on the street, he would have pressed Lin Yu down and sucked her br*asts before he stopped. 
  
His powerful palms attached under the unloosened clothes. He used a little strength to stretch them so that the outline of his fingers under the fabric could be seen clearly. The carriage swayed back to Li Mansion, and when Lin Yu got off, she felt her chest swell from his rubbing. 
  
Li Heming did something terrible but was very calm. He smoothed her clothes and suppressed his desire. He calmly got off the carriage first and reached out to help Lin Yu. 
  
Lin Yu’s ears were still hot. She looked at Li Heming’s outstretched palm, held it, and pinched it hard at his knuckles. 
  
Bad guy. She complained in her heart. 
  
Li Heming seemed to have heard her voice, looked up at her, and asked in a low voice: “Are you scolding me in your heart?” 
  
Lin Yu opened her eyes wide in surprise, looking at him like she had seen a ghost, thinking he was indeed one. But the relationship between the two had finally eased a little, and she would not admit it. She pretended to be at a loss and shook her head innocently: “I didn’t.” 
  
Although she said so, she guiltily pulled her hand out of his palm, and her fingertips gently hooked over Li Heming’s knuckles, which made her feel itchy. She walked away from him and entered the mansion, whispering, “Lord Li, don’t wrongly accuse me.” 
  
Li Heming snorted lightly and took a bundle from the carriage. He walked with his long legs and quickly caught up with her in a few steps. 
  
Lin Yu’s lying skills were poor, but her eyebrows and eyes showed a rare cuteness as if she were still a girl. 
  
When Li Heming went to various places for work, he saw Lin Yu from a distance outside the Lin Mansion before leaving. At that time, Lin Yu was only in her teens, and Li Heming was only 19 years old. His mother had passed away not long ago. Perhaps it was because of family changes or the hard work of the job, but his temperament looked very different from his peers. He had long lost the sharpness of a young man and became condensed and calm. He still remembered that Lin Yu was wearing a moon-white dress, and the hem of her skirt swayed like spring water. She held a tender flower branch she had picked from somewhere and secretly whispered to Lin Jing. After Lin Jing listened, she pretended to be ignorant, shook her head, chuckled, and argued with him. 
  
Li Heming couldn’t hear her voice, but he could read her lips and saw that she was saying, “Brother, please don’t wrongly accuse me.” 
  
The siblings were talking happily, and Li Heming didn’t interrupt them. He only looked at Lin Yu from a distance across the street for a moment, then rode his horse out of the city. Time had passed, and it was three years later when he came back. 
  
No one else knew about this except himself, and Li Heming didn’t plan to tell Lin Yu about these trivial matters. However, things were different from the past. Although there were many frictions in the middle, the person he once admired from across the street has now become his bedside companion. The hardship had paid off this year, and everything would start again; this was indeed a good omen. 
  
On New Year’s Eve, the streets were bustling, and the Li Mansion was also decorated with lights and colors. Everyone was busy arranging New Year’s auspicious signs. Before getting married, Lin Yu came to the Li Mansion several times. She felt indescribably cold whenever she saw the rockery in this vast mansion. When she checked the accounts two days ago, she found almost no extra expenditure on various festivals in previous years. Uncle Chen told her that there were few people in the Li Mansion and Li Heming did not like extravagance, so the New Year atmosphere was weak during the years when Xu Qingyin was in charge of the family. 
  
Lin Yu didn’t like extravagance, but she also didn’t like loneliness, so she ordered people to buy charms and lanterns and asked Uncle Chen to give the servants New Year’s money. Compared with the previous New Year’s Eve, this year’s mansion was joyful. 
  
Li Heming’s eyes swept over the sesame straw inserted in the eaves and suddenly said: “When my father and brother were alive, my mother would also ask people to go to the market to buy sesame straw and insert it on the eaves.” 
  
It was the first time Lin Yu heard him talk about the past, and she couldn’t help but look up at him. Most of the nobles in the capital had prosperous descendants, but he was the only one who supported the prestigious Li Mansion. 
  
Lin Yu’s parents and siblings were still alive, and she was loved. Sometimes, when she thought of Li Heming losing the protection of his relatives, she felt sorry for his loneliness. She suddenly felt an inexplicable pity in her heart and asked: “When you were young, did your mother ask people to spread sesame straw in the yard for you and your elder brother to step on it?” 
  
Li Heming thought for a second before he realized that the “mother” and “eldest brother” she mentioned were referring to his mother and elder brother. He stared at Lin Yu momentarily, asking, “Why step on it?” His mother had never done that. 
  
Lin Yu said in surprise, “It means prosperity in the coming year and peace every year. Haven’t you stepped on it? I stepped on it every year when I was a child. The sesame straw would crackle like firecrackers when I stepped on it.” 
  
Li Heming said: “No.” 
  
Lin Yu sighed regretfully, but she immediately became interested again. She asked him: “Then do you want to step on it?” 
  
Li Heming glanced at her, obviously unable to understand why she suddenly became excited. He said, “No.” 
  
However, Lin Yu wanted to see Li Heming remove his official uniform and step on the sesame straw like a child, so she advised: “Step on it; there’s nothing wrong with stepping on it. It means good luck. En?” 
  
Li Heming looked down at her bright eyes and said slowly: “Instead of dwelling on this matter, you might as well think about how to “apologize” to me tonight.” 
  
Lin Yu was about to forget, but when Li Heming mentioned it, she remembered what she had promised him in the Lin Mansion. Her face flushed, and she immediately stepped away from him and kept silent. She secretly complained: Why is he thinking about this all day?