2024 Rainy Season 1/2

A sudden clap of thunder boomed across the sky. Shen Qingyi, who had been engrossed in staring at the screen at his workstation, was startled by the noise. He looked up at the window and saw dark, heavy clouds piled up on the horizon, already casting a shadow over the area.

She used to pay little attention to these kinds of weather changes. In early summer, there was always a plum rain season. "The light overcast can't be dispelled, and the fine rain in Jiangnan ripens the yellow plums." She could recite a long string of poems about the plum rain season off the top of her head. She even felt that this was a unique kind of romance in early summer in the Jiangnan region.

She doesn't feel that way now, because ever since the rainy season started, her wife has been suffering every day.

The sweltering heat, humidity, and stickiness were all things that Gu Wanlin dreaded most. With days of continuous rain, it was not only inconvenient to go out, but for the first few days, Gu Wanlin couldn't even get out of bed. It took a while for him to get used to it. Several air conditioners and dehumidifiers in the house were running 24 hours a day, without daring to stop for a moment.

Gu Wanlin almost never complained. Every time, Shen Qingyi had to notice her physical symptoms and ask her about them before she would casually gloss over them. Her psychiatrist felt that this might not be a good thing; in addition to medication, it was also important to express and talk about one's inner anxieties as much as possible in managing chronic pain.

Gu Wanlin felt she had nothing to say or confide in, since she would have to live like this for the rest of her life anyway. Constantly telling Shen Qingyi where she was in pain, causing her lover to worry about her all day long, did not solve the problem.

Medication can suppress the pain to a tolerable level, and exercise, massage, and hot compresses can also help a little. The rest is up to her to figure out how to get along with this body on her own.

For example, think about or do something else to distract yourself and relax your nerves.

Shen Qingyi was worried about his frail and helpless wife, so he left work early and went home.

The two had been back together for less than a month. On the first night Gu Wanlin slept in Shen Qingyi's room, Sister Zhang went to Gu Wanlin's bedroom in the middle of the night to help her turn over, but couldn't find her. The next day, she came to Shen Qingyi's room with a mysterious expression to help Gu Wanlin get up, saying, "Little Gu, Little Shen, no need to say more, I understand."

Shen Qingyi thought to himself, "Sister Zhang, you know quite a lot."

Taking the opportunity, Sister Zhang mentioned that although the pay for 24-hour live-in caregivers is generous, she recently brought her child to live with her and still hopes to go back to be with the child at night. She can take a pay cut and work a 12-hour day shift, from helping Gu Wanlin get up in the morning to taking her to rehabilitation. If Gu Wanlin doesn't have any other plans in the evening, she can still help her take a bath and massage her before leaving get off work. "The rest is just turning over in bed. I probably won't need to do that now."

Sister Zhang's expression became inscrutable once again.

Shen Qingyi thought, "Sister Zhang, you were right."

Both she and Gu Wanlin felt that this was more convenient, otherwise their time together would have been too crowded.

Shen Qingyi opened the living room door and saw Sister Zhang sitting at the dining table playing on her phone. He glanced at her and Sister Zhang pointed to the closed study. She said that after Xiao Gu got up, he couldn't stand it until noon and went back to bed for a while. Then he insisted on getting out of bed. He put down his food after only a few bites and went into the study.

Gu Wanlin hates lying down all the time; she prefers to stay in bed whenever she can sit up.

Shen Qingyi knocked on the study door.

She assumed Gu Wanlin was either reading or busy on the computer, but to her surprise, the room was dark, with dark clouds outside and a light rain falling. The faint sunlight shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows, barely filling the small area near the window.

Gu Wanlin sat facing the floor-to-ceiling window, her wheelchair in the shadows. The interplay of light and shadow made her silhouette appear so frail, like a mirage, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.

She did nothing; she just stared blankly outside.

Shen Qingyi watched her retreating figure, and suddenly felt a pang of heartache. He walked over and knelt down beside her. "Why didn't you turn on the light?"

Gu Wanlin snapped out of her daze and turned to look at Shen Qingyi. "It's alright, it's not too dark." She gently inhaled the damp scent of rain on Shen Qingyi's body. "Go take a shower and change your clothes first, or you'll catch a cold."

She chuckled and gave Shen Qingyi a push, "Stop dawdling, hurry up."

Shen Qingyi only recently learned that Gu Wanlin tends to feel depressed whenever the weather is like this, not only because of the frequent flare-ups of neuralgia and phantom limb pain, but also because of the psychological trauma left by the car accident. She only discovered this after sleeping with Gu Wanlin.

On the first night of the rainy season, Gu Wanlin went to sleep first. Shen Qingyi had a sample book to read, so he took an e-reader, lowered the brightness, and sat quietly beside her, leaning against the headboard. Gu Wanlin's apartment was on a high floor, and the drizzle seemed sharper at that height, pattering loudly against the glass.

Gu Wanlin, who was already asleep beside him, frowned slightly. She shrugged restlessly on the sheets, her breathing becoming increasingly erratic. Shen Qingyi thought she was enduring pain in her sleep and was hesitating whether to wake her up to drink water and take medicine. Unexpectedly, Gu Wanlin's body suddenly trembled, and she suddenly opened her eyes. Her chest heaved violently, as if she had just escaped from a nightmare, feeling exhausted but relieved.

Upon asking, it turned out to be true.

Gu Wanlin was unwilling to say more, only that she dreamed that she had returned to the scene of the car accident. She was strapped to the overturned car with a seatbelt, and torrential rain poured in from the broken car windows. She could not feel her body and could not move at all. The water was getting deeper and deeper, almost covering her mouth and nose, and she felt like she was about to suffocate.

Shen Qingyi leaned on Gu Wanlin's shoulder and gently comforted her, "It's okay. Look around, you're safe now. We're sleeping together."

"Then I broke free and woke up feeling fine," Gu Wanlin concluded casually.

Shen Qingyi quickened her shower; she didn't want Gu Wanlin to sit alone for even a second longer.

When she came out drying her hair, Gu Wanlin was still sitting by the study window. Sister Zhang had already prepared dinner, so Shen Qingyi let her leave work early.

Shen Qingyi pulled up a chair and sat down next to Gu Wanlin.

Gu Wanlin asked her, "How was your day?"

Shen Qingyi said that going to work is just like that. The last project's publicity made her feel disgusted, but she still had to do her job diligently for the follow-up work. She felt like a cold-faced wife washing underwear at work. She often cursed the company and her boss in her heart, but in reality, she was sighing and working overtime, coldly checking the quality of her work eight hundred times.

"What did you do at home today?"

Gu Wanlin's mood gradually improved, and he felt like teasing Shen Qingyi. "What else can I do but miss you?"

Shen Qingyi said with disdain that Gu Wanlin's skills in coaxing young girls had really improved over the years, as he could say whatever he wanted, but he was secretly pleased.

Gu Wanlin's eyes flickered, and she said, "What? You don't believe me? Then come here."

Shen Qingyi moved closer to Gu Wanlin.

Gu Wanlin raised his arms and wrapped them around her neck. "Closer," he said, his soft lips brushing against Shen Qingyi's neck for a moment before he lightly kissed her.

Shen Qingyi sniffed the faint, refreshing, and sweet scent of Gu Wanlin's summer perfume lingering near her ear, and felt her warm breath brush against his thin neck skin, and couldn't help but shiver.

Gu Wanlin's kisses gradually intensified, first gently licking Shen Qingyi's neck, then turning into tender sucking and light biting. Shen Qingyi felt her entire body tense up, but her waist went limp. She desperately wanted to grab onto something, so she placed her hands on the armrests of Gu Wanlin's wheelchair, and even pulled the handbrake as a safety precaution.

Gu Wanlin pressed Shen Qingyi down with his arms, bending her waist slightly, and then kissed her all the way up from her neck to her lips. His arms slid down, one hand holding her cheek and the other going around the back of her head, stroking her hair like a pet. His hands were gentle, but his lips were forceful.

Shen Qingyi's eyes were already misty with tears, and a soft hum escaped his lips. "Baby, I don't think I can hold on much longer. My back is aching from standing like this."

Gu Wanlin released her, and both of them began to breathe heavily.

Gu Wanlin lifted the armrest of the wheelchair. "Get in."

Shen Qingyi: ……

"Why are you sitting? Your legs don't hurt anymore, right?"

Gu Wanlin caught her breath before speaking, "It hurts. So you have to help me. Help me distract myself."

Seeing that Shen Qingyi didn't move, Gu Wanlin said, "Come here, sit down for a while, it won't hurt me."

Shen Qingyi scrutinized Gu Wanlin. Gu Wanlin's eyes were as soft as spring water, with a light blush at the corners, like blooming peach blossoms, both alluring and endearing. She knew this was how Gu Wanlin looked when she was deeply in love.

Shen Qingyi's heart stirred slightly, and not wanting to spoil Gu Wanlin's mood, she hesitantly straddled Gu Wanlin's wheelchair, but dared not put all her weight on him. She did not expect that Gu Wanlin would release the handbrake of the wheelchair, push it forward a little, press her body against the floor-to-ceiling window glass, and then release the handbrake again.

The two kissed passionately, with Shen Qingyi completely yielding to Gu Wanlin's every request. Gu Wanlin's requests were not domineering at all; rather, they were passionate yet gentle. Shen Qingyi gradually felt as if her body had softened into a puddle of water, losing all shape, and in the vast white sea of ​​consciousness, only the thought of wanting to envelop Gu Wanlin securely within her remained.

She wanted to meld her into her own body. She clung to Gu Wanlin in a daze, her mind drifting, her reason slowly fading away. Fortunately, there was glass behind her that prevented her from falling.

Gu Wanlin gradually felt short of breath. She tried to find opportunities to breathe deeply in the gaps between their intertwined bodies, but her paralyzed intercostal muscles weren't cooperating. She vaguely wondered how long this kiss had lasted, whether it was even half as long as before. She resolved to work even harder on her breathing exercises every day starting tomorrow.

Shen Qingyi felt Gu Wanlin's chest heaving more rapidly, realizing her breathing was erratic. She instantly regained her composure, sprang off Gu Wanlin's lap, and began counting her breaths to help her catch her breath, gently massaging her chest to help her breathe. Gu Wanlin leaned back in her wheelchair, trying to catch her breath. She couldn't speak yet, but waved her hand to indicate she was alright. Only then did Shen Qingyi feel relieved.

Looking at Gu Wanlin's appearance, Shen Qingyi thought to himself, "Who's messing with whom here? Nobody would believe it if I told them."

Although the two had a history of give-and-take, and Shen Qingyi even felt that Gu Wanlin was more skilled, she was mindful of Gu Wanlin's health condition and had long been prepared for him to be relegated to a submissive role in the future. She secretly resolved to learn more about related knowledge, improve her service awareness, and hone her service skills.

She now thinks it might not be the case, but it's not the right time yet; she has to wait until Gu Wanlin's health improves further.

She recalled their first intimate moment a few days ago after their reunion, and felt the same nervousness and awkwardness as seven or eight years ago. The tacit understanding she had cultivated over the years made her intimately familiar with all the keys to Gu Wanlin's secrets. But Gu Wanlin's body was different now; she could feel and control very few parts of her body, and they both had to acknowledge and readjust to these changes.

Although she had bathed Gu Wanlin many times, Shen Qingyi wasn't entirely clear on the exact boundary of Gu Wanlin's physical sensation. She had some basic medical knowledge. She knew it wasn't a clear-cut dividing line between "having sensation" and "not having sensation," but rather a gradual zone where sensations gradually blurred, became distant, and eventually disappeared completely, with no signal able to penetrate the severed nerves to reach her brain.

She knelt on either side of Gu Wanlin, her hands resting on her ears, and kissed Gu Wanlin's forehead, brow, and eyes with caressing affection to ease her tension. She knew Gu Wanlin was nervous; Gu Wanlin's long, curled eyelashes brushed against her cheeks, trembling slightly and tickling her.

"Gu Wanlin, don't be nervous. If you feel unwell, please tell me immediately."

Gu Wanlin closed her eyes, feeling Shen Qingyi's gentle kisses, like spring rain nourishing the earth, lightly landing on her face. However, her mind was inevitably distracted, and her hand reached down to her lower body. After Shen Qingyi finished bathing Gu Wanlin and confirmed that she had completely emptied her bladder, he temporarily removed the drainage bag, closed the tube in her abdomen, and carefully sealed it with a dressing.

Although she had put a nursing pad under her body just in case, Gu Wanlin was still constantly worried about her body. She had completely lost her sense of security and was unsure how she would face such a humiliating moment if leakage actually occurred.

Shen Qingyi noticed Gu Wanlin's little movements, straightened up and moved her hand away, placing it on his waist before leaning down again, "Where are you touching, baby? Don't get distracted, be good."

Gu Wanlin's voice was already tinged with a bit of panting: "I...I'm not sure if I can..."

"It's okay, we'll try it slowly."

Shen Qingyi decided to start with the spot she and Gu Wanlin used to like the most. She moved down a little.

The sensation had changed. She assumed that Gu Wanlin at least had some feeling here, so she decided to do more research and lingered there for a long time.

Gu Wanlin actually didn't, not at all.

Shen Qingyi's head was pressed against her chin, making it impossible for her to even look down. Gu Wanlin stared at the ceiling, cradling Shen Qingyi's head in her hands, stroking her soft hair. Even the sensation in her hands was blurred; the rest of her body was as still as death. Only when Shen Qingyi finally raised her head and looked at her questioningly did she gently shake her head.

Shen Qingyi said with regret, "I should have asked you sooner."

She realized how careless she had been. They had only just begun exploring their relationship; she should have sought feedback from Gu Wanlin before making hasty judgments based on preconceived notions. No one likes being touched or manipulated by someone who has no feeling in their body, and she was even more afraid of upsetting Gu Wanlin.

Gu Wanlin knew that Shen Qingyi was blaming herself, so he tried to prop himself up on his elbows, tilted his head back and kissed Shen Qingyi.

"I didn't want to interrupt you just now because I felt that even if I couldn't feel it, it would be fine if you liked it. You don't have to focus only on my feelings. The areas of my body that I can feel are too limited, and I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable about that."

"You can like my body wherever you want, however you want."

Before she could finish speaking, her meager strength finally gave out, and she collapsed back onto the pillow, panting slightly.

Shen Qingyi certainly didn't feel wronged. She had some new ideas about how to continue trying other things, but Gu Wanlin's strength was already waning, and it was late at night. They both had to get up early the next day, so they felt there was no need to rush. After kissing for a while, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Shen Qingyi's thoughts returned to the present moment.

She patted Gu Wanlin's head, pushed her out of the study and stopped at the dining table, served her rice, and put her braces back on. "Stop making a fuss. Eat quickly. Sister Zhang told me that you barely ate anything at lunch. You're just going to fob me off when I'm not home, are you?"

Gu Wanlin glanced at her sideways, "Can't you speak properly? You're going to turn your back on me after you've had your fun, huh?" After saying that, she looked at her bowl, "It seems like there's a bit too much, I can't finish it."

Shen Qingyi didn't stop serving her food. "Don't be modest, I think you can do it." Then she whispered in Gu Wanlin's ear, "You should eat more and save your energy. Are you free tonight? There are a few questions I'd like to discuss with you."