Chapter 77: Bathing Together Sweeping across his broad shoulders, sliding past the...

Jiang Tong has always been a man of action. Once he made up his mind, he immediately took off his clothes and tiptoed into the water.

This bathtub is quite large. If Jiang Tong huddles opposite Su Guanqing, there is still some distance between them.

As soon as Jiang Tong entered the water, she closed her eyes in comfort. She walked along the wall of the tub and stepped to the opposite side of Su Guanqing, intending to sit down. However, as soon as she stepped down, her face changed.

She kicked Su Guanqing's calf! It turned out that Su Guanqing didn't curl up his legs at all, he was sitting with his legs propped up!

Although her kick was not heavy, Su Guanqing was still woken up by it.

Su Guanqing opened his eyes blankly and subconsciously reached out to untie the cloth in front of him, but someone grabbed his wrist and said, "Don't untie it."

"Tongtong?" Su Guanqing asked nervously, "There seems to be something in the water."

Jiang Tong felt a little embarrassed and could only bite the bullet and explain, "I kicked you. Um, I also wanted to take a bath..."

Su Guanqing hadn't expected this to happen. He panicked and tried to get up with his hands and feet. "Okay, then you go ahead and soak. I'm almost done. I'll get up first."

Jiang Tong grabbed him and asked, "Why did you get up? Are you not in pain anymore?"

"Much better now."

"It's much better, but that's because you soaked in hot water. It will hurt again soon!"

"But, but you..." Su Guanqing was almost crying in anxiety. He stood in the bathtub, at a loss for what to do.

"What do you mean by 'I'?" Su Guanqing panicked, but Jiang Tong calmed down. "Will I eat you?"

"No, no." Su Guanqing's voice was a little hesitant.

"Will you take the opportunity to flirt with me?" Jiang Tong asked again.

"No!" This time, Su Guanqing's answer was firm.

"That won't work. Sit back down." Jiang Tong ordered.

Su Guanqing had no choice but to sit back down obediently. This time, he didn't dare to open his legs wide, but instead huddled in front of Jiang Tong, hugging his legs in frustration.

There was a rumble of rain outside the window and flickering candlelight inside the house.

Jiang Tong leaned comfortably against the wall of the barrel, his eyes naturally falling on the person opposite him.

The blindfold had already been soaked through, sticking to Su Guanqing's skin, outlining a smooth and beautiful line.

Su Guanqing looked very nervous, his whole body tense.

Since moving here, the two of them no longer had servants to serve them, and Su Guanqing took on almost all the work he could do. The more physical work he did, the stronger he became.

Although he still looked thin when he was wearing clothes, it was obvious that after taking off his clothes, he was no longer as weak as when he was just released from prison.

Jiang Tong's eyes slid down along his beautiful and neat shoulder line, swept across his broad shoulders, and slid across his chest hidden under the water...

The water surface was moved by his rapid breathing, and was fluctuating slightly with the rise and fall of his chest muscles.

As Jiang Tong looked at him, she suddenly wanted to know what it felt like to touch him. She reached out her hand as if possessed by a ghost, placed her hand directly on his chest, and pressed hard.

Hmm...very elastic.

Su Guanqing was so frightened that he shrank back: "Tongtong?" There was disbelief in his voice.

"...Um, did you hurt yourself when you carried the bucket with your arm?" Jiang Tong came back to his senses and changed the subject awkwardly.

"No."

"I don't believe it. Let me see." Jiang Tong reached out and pulled his arm out of the water.

Su Guanqing tried to break free awkwardly, but he didn't use any strength.

In the candlelight, there were clearly several red marks on the middle of his forearm, obviously caused by the time he lifted the bucket.

"You said you weren't hurt! It's all red!" Jiang Tong rubbed him with her palm with some concern.

Su Guanqing didn't say anything. He didn't even face Jiang Tong anymore. Instead, he leaned sideways against the wall of the barrel, hunched over, his whole body tense.

"What about that one?" Jiang Tong asked again.

"...That one is fine." Su Guanqing bit his back teeth and hummed softly.

This time Jiang Tong was even more unconvinced: "You want to trick me again? Show it to me."

Su Guanqing almost buried his face in the water and said in a trembling voice: "...I'm really okay."

Seeing that Su Guanqing was not cooperating and kept hiding his hand between the bucket wall and his body, she thought that there was something wrong with his hand and would not let Su Guanqing hide. She just reached out and pulled it hard.

Her chest was facing Su Guanqing's shoulder. She knelt and stood up. She used her left hand to hold his shoulder to support her body balance, and her right hand reached over Su Guanqing's body to pull out his hidden hand.

Su Guanqing was almost completely held in Jiang Tong's arms. He didn't dare to move at all and was stretched like a stone sculpture. But this was not the end. As Jiang Tong moved, he clearly felt something soft rubbing against his shoulder!

Su Guanqing's head buzzed, and something that had been suppressed for a long time was almost out of control.

"Tongtong... please... don't get close to me," Su Guanqing begged, "Just sit still, okay."

When Jiang Tong heard this, the boss unhappily let go of him, kicked the wall of the tub, and put a galaxy of distance between them. He angrily slapped the water surface: "Su Guanqing! You despise me!"

The water splashed on Su Guanqing's head and face, and then slid down from the tip of his nose and the corners of his lips.

Su Guanqing did not wipe it, but turned around and sat facing the wall of the barrel.

After Jiang Tong finished his outburst, he looked at Su Guanqing again and saw that he was hunching his back, his shoulders twitching, and his whole body seemed to be trembling slightly.

Jiang Tong then realized that Su Guanqing was abnormal. She moved closer to him and grabbed his shoulder: "Does it still hurt?"

Su Guanqing didn't know how to explain and just responded vaguely.

Jiang Tong didn't dare to move anymore and waited there nervously. After a long time, Su Guanqing seemed to have lost his temper and his tense back relaxed.

"Guan Qing? How are you? Are you feeling better?" Jiang Tong asked cautiously.

Su Guanqing nodded and said something, his voice was stuck in his throat and very unclear.

But Jiang Tong still understood what he said. What he said was: "The water seems to be cold."

"I'll go pour some hot water, you continue soaking." Jiang Tong said as he used his hands and feet to get out of the bathtub, picked up the wooden bucket that had been placed aside, and poured water into the bathtub.

"Tell me when it's ready." Jiang Tong said as he poured water.

However, Su Guanqing just lowered his head, curled up, and said nothing.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Jiang Tong reached out to test the water temperature, and it was a little hot.

"That should be about right, right?"

"How is it? Is it still cold?"

Su Guanqing still didn't speak.

Jiang Tong looked at him in the candlelight and saw that his whole body was red. Thinking that it was because the water was too hot, she did not pour more water. At this temperature, it was only because Su Guanqing could tolerate the heat that she dared not crawl in anyway.

She put down the wooden barrel, went to the side to dry her body, changed into clean clothes, and took out some green salt to rinse her mouth.

Su Guanqing heard her footsteps towards the door and was secretly relieved, but unexpectedly Jiang Tong opened the door and stopped again.

Su Guanqing's breath got stuck in his throat and his whole body tensed up again.

Jiang Tong held the door open and turned to Su Guanqing and said, "Guanqing, I'm going to rinse my mouth and will be back soon. You can soak yourself well."

After saying that, he went out without waiting for Su Guanqing's reaction.

When Su Guanqing heard the sound of the door closing, he completely let out a breath and leaned back against the wall of the tub as if he was exhausted.

…

The next morning, Jiang Tong walked into Su Guanqing's room yawning. When she was about to help him tie his belt, she found that Su Guanqing was not in the room.

She walked out suspiciously, then heard a noise from the kitchen. She went in and saw Su Guanqing already kneading the dough. He was hunched over, his waist looking even slimmer against the wide robe.

However, Jiang Tong thought of what he saw underwater last night. Although he was a little thinner, he looked quite strong. He swallowed for no reason and suddenly felt a little regretful. Why did he focus so much on his arms last night that he didn't even touch them?

Su Guanqing heard her footsteps, but contrary to his usual behavior, he did not turn around: "Tongtong, go back to the room and rest. The steamed buns will have to wait a while."

Jiang Tong didn't realize at all that Su Guanqing meant to drive people away. Instead, he walked behind Su Guanqing, stretched out his arms, and hugged his waist.

Su Guanqing's hands trembled, and the dough almost rolled onto the ground: "...Tong, Tongtong?"

"It's okay, just knead your dough." Jiang Tong leaned against Su Guanqing's back, not noticing that his ears were already red. She closed her eyes and asked, "Does your hand still hurt?"

"No, it doesn't hurt anymore."

"Why don't you wait for me to tie your belt?" Jiang Tong's eyes fell on his tightly tied belt, and his tone was a little dissatisfied.

Su Guanqing's voice lowered: "...I said this morning that I would try it myself, and who knows, it will work."

Jiang Tong was about to speak when she heard the sound of boiling water. She let go of Su Guanqing and turned around to see that the pot was indeed boiling. She patted Su Guanqing on the shoulder and said with a smile, "You're so good now that you can even scoop water yourself. Doesn't that mean I won't have to do anything in the kitchen from now on?"

Su Guanqing picked up the kitchen knife beside him and cut the dough he had rolled into strips into small squares. He whispered softly, "Actually, I can still do it if I take my time. You won't have to help me do so much in the future."

Jiang Tong looked at him and saw that although his cutting movements were a little unsteady and clumsy, he was able to cut it. He smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll be waiting for you to serve me from now on."

"I couldn't ask for more," Su Guanqing said with a faint smile, "Tongtong, go back to the room and sit for a while."

Jiang Tong hugged his waist from behind again: "No, I'll wait for you."

Su Guanqing's back stiffened, then suddenly relaxed: "Okay."

…

After the autumn rain, the continuous winter snow will soon come.

One day, Su Guanqing was teaching his students. Seeing that no one needed her to demonstrate calligraphy, Jiang Tong quietly slipped out of the house and ran to Aunt Wang's house.

Aunt Wang was the aunt who had kindly told them that the wild vegetables they picked from the mountains were not edible.

Aunt Wang welcomed her in and asked her to sit down.

"It's snowing heavily. You're just a young girl. Don't get frozen." Aunt Wang was busy brushing the snow off Jiang Tong.

"Auntie, I came here today to ask you something," Jiang Tong pulled out a silver hairpin from her hair. "I wonder if Uncle Wang is still in town recently? I wanted to ask him to help me pawn this."

"Oh," Aunt Wang took the silver hairpin, "it's a very delicate hairpin. Why would you pawn it? Your husband has a salary now, so he won't have to worry about not having enough to eat."

Jiang Tong curled her lips and explained the whole story.

In this small village, other seasons are okay, but winter is really unbearable.

Their house had no kang, so they could only burn stoves. They lit two stoves that night, and the amount of charcoal they consumed was too much for them.

The two of them relied on the meager salary Su Guanqing earned from teaching, which was barely enough to make ends meet.

They haven't eaten meat for a long time since winter began.

Jiang Tong sneaked out today just to ask Aunt Wang to help her pawn one of her hairpins in the town so that she could at least survive the winter.

"Two stoves?" Aunt Wang looked at Jiang Tong suspiciously. "You guys... haven't consummated your marriage yet?"

Jiang Tong didn't expect Aunt Wang's focus to be here, so she could only say "hmm" vaguely.

"Oh my! It's almost the New Year, aren't you two wasting time? I said it's been so long, and I haven't seen any movement in your stomach."

Jiang Tong was completely helpless and held her back: "Auntie, there's no rush. The key is this hairpin..."

"Hey! Let your aunt tell you to stop being a hairpin and move into his room tonight." Aunt Wang stuffed the silver hairpin back into Jiang Tong's hand.

"Didn't I mention this before? But he didn't agree. He insisted that we couldn't cross the line until we got married." Jiang Tong simply put the blame on Su Guanqing. Anyway, he did say this.

"Well! This is a simple matter. Just listen to what your aunt teaches you..." Aunt Wang looked around and saw that her husband was not around. She pulled Jiang Tong and insisted on teaching her her experience.