Chapter 13
Who Is Your Wife?
Su Wanqing glared at him, her tone carrying a hint of playful pride. “Itâs not even that far. Why would I need you to pick me up? Too much trouble.”
Lu Shiyan didn’t argue with her. He pulled a roasted sweet potato tightly wrapped in oilpaper from his pocket. The fragrance of the sweet potato wafted through the paper, oozing a bit of honeyed syrupâit looked exceptionally sweet and delicious at a glance. “For you. Just freshly roasted. Eat it quickly, it’s still nice and warm.”
“Wow, smells so good.” Su Wanqing immediately took it. Her fingertips flinched slightly from the heat, but she still couldn’t wait to take a small bite.
The sweet potato was soft, sticky, sweet, and honey-sweet. She narrowed her eyes in satisfaction like a content little cat, with a tiny crumb of sweet potato sticking to the corner of her mouth.
She chewed a couple of times, then lifted the sweet potato and held it to Lu Shiyanâs lips, tilting her chin up. “You eat some too, it’s really sweet.”
Lu Shiyan looked at the place where she had bitten. A gentle warmth rippled in his eyes, and his throat rolled subconsciously. He deliberately took a gentle bite right on top of her teeth marks.
The sweetness of the sweet potato mingled with the trace of her breath, making it sweeter than any other time he had ever eaten it, sweet right down into his heart.
He looked at her bright eyes, an unknown fire burning deep within his gaze.
Lu Shiyan reached out and gently wiped away the sweet potato crumb from the corner of her mouth with the pad of his thumb, his movement unbelievably tender.
Felt his touch, Su Wanqing’s cheeks grew hot, her heart skipped a beat, and she slapped his hand away while pretending to be angry. “What are you doing? People are watching.”
Lu Shiyan let out a low chuckle, his voice dropping very low. “Let them watch. You’re my wife. What’s wrong with me touching my wife?”
Su Wanqingâs face flushed even redder. She glared at him and lowered her head to take big bites of the sweet potato to hide her fluster, muttering indistinctly with her mouth full, “Who is your wife? We haven’t even registered for the certificate yet.”
Looking at the tips of her reddened ears, Lu Shiyan smiled even more cheerfully. He didn’t expose her, just standing there quietly by her side, watching her eat, the love in his eyes practically overflowing.
The two walked side by side toward the brigade headquarters. Su Wanqing would take two bites and then hand him a bite, sharing it back and forth, one bite for you and one bite for me.
When they entered the brigade headquarters, the brigade chief was already waiting for them.
He also froze for a moment when he saw Su Wanqing, clearly not expecting her to dress up so strikingly today. After staring for a few seconds, he let out a cough and averted his gaze to hide his awkwardness.
“Right… the authorization papers are ready,” the brigade chief handed the two pieces of paper to them. “Take this and go to the commune to register. Remember to bring your household registration booklet and letters of introduction, don’t leave them behind.”
Su Wanqing took the papers, looked down to check them, folded them up carefully, placed them into her pocket, and said with a smile, “Thank you, Brigade Chief.”
Lu Shiyan also put away his own portion, said thank you to the brigade chief, and led Su Wanqing outside.
As the two came out of the brigade headquarters, the sun was just right, shining down on them with a cozy warmth.
“Let’s go,” Lu Shiyan took her hand. “Uncle Li’s tractor is waiting at the village entrance, we’ll take his ride to town.”
Su Wanqing nodded, letting his large hand pull her along as she followed him toward the village entrance, a smile hanging on her lips the whole time.
Arriving at the village entrance, a walking tractor was indeed parked there. A white-haired old man was sitting on the vehicle, puffing away on a pipe. It was Uncle Li.
Seeing them arrive, Uncle Li exhaled a smoke ring and tilted his chin up. “You’re here? Get on, any later and it’ll be late.”
Lu Shiyan climbed onto the tractor first, then extended his hand, firmly holding Su Wanqing. “Slow down, be careful.”
Su Wanqing stepped on the tractor wheel, using the leverage to jump upward. She was pulled straight into his embrace by him, sitting firmly right beside him, her shoulder leaning against his arm, giving her a great sense of security. Thinking back to when his arms held her before…
She hurriedly shook those colored, improper thoughts right out of her mind.
Uncle Li glanced at them, smiled, and didn’t say much. He stuffed his pipe pouch into his pocket. “Hold on tight, we’re off.”
Chug-chug-chug-chug…
The tractor started up, puffing out faint black smoke as it drove out of the village. The speed wasn’t fast, just unhurriedly rolling over the small pebbles on the dirt road, making a crunching sound.
Sitting on the vehicle, the wind gently blew Su Wanqing’s hair, the red yarn on her braids fluttering around. She leaned a bit closer to Lu Shiyan, her shoulder pressed tight against his arm, her heart completely sweet and filled with joy.
The tractor bumped along up and down on the dirt road.
Leaning against Lu Shiyan, Su Wanqingâs body bumped along with the tractor, her hair brushing past his face from time to time, making him feel itchy.
Lu Shiyan looked down at her. She was narrowing her eyes, gazing at the crop fields by the roadside, her lips curled up high, secretly rejoicing about who knows what.
“What are you looking at? So happy.” He reached out and casually played with her braid.
Su Wanqing immediately pointed at the field. “Look at those sunflowers, they grow so well, each of their heads facing the sun, just like little dummies.”
Lu Shiyan found it somewhat amusing. It was his first time hearing someone describe sunflowers as little dummies, what a chaotic choice of adjectives.
But he still followed the direction she pointed to take a look, his lips curling up as well. “Yeah, they are good. When they are ripe, I’ll pick two for you to eat.”
Su Wanqing turned her head to look at him. “Have you seen sunflowers before? Let me tell you, many of those youths who came from the city have never seen them, like me for example.”
“I’ve seen them,” Lu Shiyan said. “I hadn’t seen them before coming to the countryside, but after being here for these two years, I’ve seen plenty, they are everywhere in the fields.”
Su Wanqing nodded, then turned her head back, staring endlessly at the roadside.
Plots of crop fields receded along the roadside. The corn stalks grew taller than a person, their leaves lush and green, rustling when the wind blew, sounding like singing. At the edge of the fields, green beans were planted, their vines climbing high along the trellises, blooming with little purple flowers, very pretty. Further away was the vegetable plot, the eggplants shiny purple, and green and red chili peppers hung all over the branches, looking full of life.
She watched with great interest, her eyes reluctant to turn away even for a second.
Lu Shiyan looked at her, suddenly feeling a bit of heartache.
Lu Shiyan just watched her quietly, a wave of heartache suddenly hitting his heart.
This girl used to be a young lady from a wealthy family, raised with gold and jade, using the absolute best for her food and clothing. Where would she have seen these things in the crop fields? Having been in the countryside for over a year, she probably hadn’t even left the village a few times, cooped up in the youth point every single day, even having to share a room with those people she didn’t get along with, she must have taken a lot of grief.
He reached out, gently tucking a stray lock of hair that had been messed up by the wind behind her ear.
Touched by him, Su Wanqing turned her head to look at him, her eyes carrying a bit of confusion. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” Lu Shiyan looked at her, his tone completely indulgent. “After we finish registering for the certificate in a bit, I’ll take you for a stroll around town.”
Su Wanqingâs eyes instantly lit up, her body sitting up a bit straighter. “Really?”
“Why would I lie to you,” Lu Shiyan looked at her shining eyes, his lips curling up even higher. “Wherever you want to stroll, we’ll stroll there; whatever you want to buy, we’ll buy it, everything is up to you.”
Su Wanqing blinked, deliberately teasing him. “Then it’s a promise. I want to buy lots and lots of things, spending all your money.”
“Spend as much as you like,” Lu Shiyan smiled, his tone very straightforward. “As long as you’re happy.”
