Chapter 18 Successful Insomnia

"Ah?" Chu Ran was bored and silently counting the stars in the sky. When Li Fu asked him this out of the blue, he reacted.

"I forgot..." Chu Ran looked at Li Fu and smiled embarrassedly.

I promised to bring food back, but because I was telling Li Dingning a story for a long time, I forgot the time to come back.

"But it doesn't matter." Chu Ran stood up, "Even if there is no food, we can still drink wine."

He walked to the well and grabbed the rope at the well mouth. Li Fu also came over to help, and together they pulled up the pot of wine soaked in the well water.

It feels cool to the touch. In the hot summer, the wine bottle in my hand seems to be the only coolness.

"Wait a moment, I'll go into the house and get two glasses of wine."

The wine glass was taken out and Li Fu had already opened the lid of the wine pot. Chu Ran took the wine pot from Li Fu's hand and poured it for himself first, then for Li Fu.

Li Fu took the wine glass, looked down at the wine in the glass, then looked at Chu Ran's, "Why is mine only half full?"

"Oh, you are young. Children can't drink alcohol. Even if they drink, they can only drink a little."

"Really?" Li Fu asked, "Then why did you pour yourself a full glass?"

"Because I'm an adult."

Chu Ran took a sip and it tasted cool and refreshing at first, but after a moment, a burning and spicy feeling surged into his mouth.

Chu Ran smacked his lips. He actually didn't like drinking white wine. It was too spicy, unlike beer. In the summer, when watching TV or eating barbecue, he would take out beer from the refrigerator, open it and take a sip. The cool hops would burst in his mouth and flow down his throat. All the pores on his body seemed to open up, emitting coolness. It was so refreshing.

But now there is no beer, so I can only use white wine instead, and then recall the past that can never be returned to.

But it was clear that his recollection was not going smoothly.

After taking two sips, Chu Ran couldn't drink any more.

This white wine is too spicy. It doesn't taste good at all.

Chu Ran turned his head and glanced at Li Fu beside him. He also took only one sip and put the glass on the ground.

"What story did you tell Li Dingning?"

"It's a fairy tale."

Li Fu turned his head and looked at Chu Ran, and asked in confusion: "What is a fairy tale?"

Chu Ran then realized that he had just said something ridiculous, so he carefully tried to make amends, "I mean, they are just some very ordinary stories."

"An ordinary story..." Li Fu repeated Chu Ran's words and said, "Then tell me about it too."

Chu Ran was suspicious: "Do you really want to listen?"

"yes."

Chu Ran thought about it and told Li Fu the story of Sleeping Beauty.

After finishing speaking, Chu Ran looked at Li Fu. He really wanted to know what Li Fu thought, so he asked curiously: "What do you think?"

Li Fu: “Not very good.”

Chu Ran: "This is the most famous story in our country...in our hometown. Children love to listen to it. How come it's not so popular anymore?"

"The princess has been dead for so long, how could she wake up again?"

Chu Ran explained: "It was because of the prince's true love's kiss that woke the princess up."

"Heh." Li Fu said, "According to this, there will be no dead people in this world. As long as someone dies, you can kiss him and he will come back to life."

Chu Ran: "No, ordinary kisses are not enough, it must be true love! Only the kiss of true love can wake up the princess!"

"Impossible." Li Fu said again.

"That's not the point." Chu Ran hesitated for a moment, then explained seriously, "This story is actually mainly to tell us that the power of love is great. True love can overcome everything, even transcend life and death."

Li Fu: "That's impossible."

Chu Ran was helpless. After a while, he sighed as if to compromise and said, "You are right. It is indeed impossible."

Li Fu turned his head and looked at Chu Ran, his expression serious and earnest: "So don't have such unrealistic fantasies."

Chu Ran slumped his shoulders and said weakly, "No."

"Um."

After a while, Li Fu asked again: "Are there any other stories? Tell me another one."

Chu Ran looked at Li Fu dimly, "Are you sure you still want to listen?"

"Um."

"But I don't want to talk about it."

Li Fu frowned, "Why?"

Of course it’s because there’s no point in talking about it!

Li Fu doesn't understand fairy tales at all, so it's useless to tell him fairy tales.

Li Fu looked at Chu Ran and saw that he was frowning and looked unhappy. He hesitated for a while and said, "Tell me another one."

"Okay, then I'll tell you one more story."

So Chu Ran told Li Fu a story about a little match girl.

After finishing speaking, Li Fu said "hmm".

"Do you think this story is interesting?" Chu Ran looked at Li Fu expectantly.

Li Fu looked at Chu Ran's expectant eyes, hesitated for a while, and finally nodded and said "hmm".

Chu Ran felt that his "hmm" was an encouragement, so Chu Ran passionately told Li Fu several stories in succession.

More and more stars dotted the small night sky surrounded by the courtyard wall, like an unfolding strange and magnificent painting.

After telling stories all night, Chu Ran realized that it was getting late. He had not touched the drink in his hand since he took two sips at the beginning.

Chu Ran felt it was a pity, as alcohol in the palace was harder to get than food. Although he was not used to drinking white wine, he was reluctant to throw away the remaining wine.

After thinking about it, Chu Ran decided to keep it for now, in the hope that it might be useful in the future.

When the weather is not so hot, it is not a big deal for two people to sleep together, but as summer approaches, even one person lying in bed feels hot, let alone two people squeezing into one bed.

It was not just Chu Ran. In the middle of the night, Chu Ran also always heard Li Fu tossing and turning in bed. He must have been unable to sleep due to the heat.

The next morning, Chu Ran woke up first. After waking up, he began to pack things in the house.

Li Fu heard the sound and sat up. He looked at Chu Ran walking around the room and rubbed his sleepy eyes. "What are you doing?"

Chu Ran put all the things he had packed on the table. Originally, there was only one bed in Li Fu's room. Many things in the room were bought after Chu Ran came.

"I'm going back to bed."

Chu Ran turned his head and looked at Li Fu and said, "I see you couldn't sleep well at night because of the heat. I'd better go back to sleep."

Li Fu pursed his lips and watched Chu Ran busying around in the house.

Chu Ran didn't have much stuff, so he packed it up quickly. He finally walked to the bed and folded the quilt on the bed. Just as he was about to use his arm to hold it, Li Fu suddenly said, "I'll help you."

Li Fu got off the bed and was about to take the quilt from Chu Ran, but Chu Ran pointed to the packed package on the table and said, "Take that one."

The quilt is not easy to carry, so let him carry it himself. As for the package, there are not many things in it, and it is not heavy to carry.

Chu Ran moved back to the yard where he lived.

Looking at the house he hadn't returned to for a long time, Chu Ran couldn't help but sigh.

After living with Li Fu for so long, he was a little uncomfortable living alone.

Li Fu obviously didn't sleep well these past few nights because of the heat and crowding. He couldn't just think about himself and ignore Li Fu. Li Fu must be embarrassed to chase him away, but he should know his own limitations.

On the first night after moving back, Chu Ran successfully suffered from insomnia.

Chu Ran thought, maybe it was because he hadn't slept in this bed for a long time, so he started to get used to it. But it didn't matter, he would get used to it after sleeping in it for a while.

However, this insomnia lasted until the second half of the night. It was not until dawn that Chu Ran finally couldn't stand the sleepiness anymore and fell into a drowsy sleep.