Chapter 31 "Can You Not Go?"
Chapter Thirty-One: "Can You Please Not Go?"
Before returning to the city, Lin Su had mentally rehearsed what she would do: cling to him, give him all sorts of hints when they were together, and if all else failed, flirt openly. She refused to believe he wouldn't have any feelings for her.
But when she went to the compound that day, although he didn't talk much about his childhood, she could sense that he missed the time when his parents were alive.
Yes, if his parents were still alive, he might have already established himself in the capital, just like other young men.
However, the reality is that the house they used to live in has changed owners, and he is burdened with huge debts from the sugar factory and cannot return to Beijing.
She could only truly understand this disparity by coming and seeing it for herself.
Lin Su realized she had been naive; someone like that wouldn't even consider finding a partner.
If it were her, she wouldn't be interested in looking either.
He treats her well, perhaps in the way he calls her his cousin, as if she were family, as if she were a child he is responsible for taking care of.
Calling him cousin is fine now, Lin Su thought silently. He would be returning to the southwest soon, while she had to take the college entrance examination. It would be most irrational to be infatuated with him at this time.
Lin Su called out to him again, seemingly oblivious to his feelings, "Cousin, let's go eat first, then go buy some things."
Finally, Zhou Yunqi said impatiently, "You've gotten addicted to shouting."
Lin Su smiled and said, "It's quite friendly."
"Can you please stop yelling?"
Lin Su looked at him, puzzled: "Why?"
“I only say that when the management asks. I don’t know anyone here, and living here doesn’t feel like living in a family compound where there are no secrets,” he said. “You don’t need to call me cousin all the time; I’m not used to it.”
Lin Su: "Oh, then what should I call you? I can't keep calling you 'Farm Manager'."
He was speechless: "Before, they didn't just call me by my name, they called me by my full name and surname."
Lin Su always felt that calling him by his full name back then was somewhat ambiguous and selfish, but perhaps he had gotten used to it.
So he nodded: "Okay."
Zhou Yunqi sighed. She didn't hesitate for a second when asked what to call him. It was really a headache.
When they went downstairs to eat, Lin Su said, "If we have pots and pans, we can cook at home too."
He asked, "Can you cook?"
Lin Su said, "I can only do simple things."
"Then let's buy pots, pans, and bowls."
Lin Su: "Or I can gradually add them myself, and when I come home from school and am hungry, I can simply cook a bowl of noodles."
But he said, "Since I'm going to buy them, I'll buy them all at once."
Lin Su asked, "Can we move all this stuff back?"
He suddenly laughed: "Find a small tricycle, and you're not worried about not being able to carry it back?"
Lin Su: "Oh, that works too."
However, after they bought bed sheets and other items at the department store, when they came out, the same jeep that had picked them up after they got off the plane was waiting for them.
All she knew was that the car was specially arranged by a certain leader to pick him up, but she didn't ask who it was. Now Lin Su was curious: "Wasn't it supposed to be a tricycle?"
He took the things from her hands and put them on the back seat, then urged her to get in the car quickly: "Three-wheeled vehicles are hard to find right now, but four-wheeled ones are easy to find. We'll go to the nearby market to buy quilts, pots, pans, and other household items."
In one afternoon, they bought everything they wanted and moved everything from the car back to their dormitory.
At 4:30, Lin Su was so tired that she sat on the sofa and didn't want to move. Watching him take things apart, she suddenly realized that she was sitting on a soft sofa where she could lie down comfortably.
Perhaps because her period was approaching, she kept feeling lower back pain, so she lay down and asked, "Why did you buy a soft sofa? It's very expensive."
He looked over casually: "I remember you once said you liked sitting on soft sofas."
Lin Su stared at him intently, suddenly speechless.
I don't remember which day it was, but she mentioned it in his office, saying that it was more comfortable to sit on a soft sofa. He even said that she was indulging in comfort.
I never expected him to spend so much money on a soft sofa.
Zhou Yunqi said nonchalantly, "If you feel tired, take a nap. I'll pack these things up and then go to the nearby market to buy groceries and have someone install the gas while I'm at it."
Lin Su responded, feeling exhausted and sleepy, and fell asleep right away while clutching her coat.
I slept very soundly, and only woke up when I vaguely heard the voices of outsiders.
The workers came to install the gas, quickly finished the installation, and left immediately.
Lin Su sat up and glanced blankly out the window. It was already quite dark, and the lights from the houses across the street shone with a warm, light orange hue.
He walked over with a smile, touched her forehead as if to check if she had a fever: "Finally awake?"
"Don't tell me you haven't slept well these past few days at home."
Lin Su stared blankly at that handsome face and murmured, "I didn't sleep well."
Seeing her adorable expression, Zhou Yunqi couldn't help but pinch her cheek and smiled gently, "Wake up first, I can start cooking."
Lin Su went to the bathroom, and later peeked into the kitchen. Zhou Yunqi was chopping chicken into pieces with a swift motion.
He glanced back at her and said, "We'll have chicken soup tonight; that'll be considered 'entering the fire' (a concept in Traditional Chinese Medicine)."
Lin Su was stunned.
They really looked like a young couple who had just moved into a new house and were going to live together for the rest of their lives.
No, no, they're not a young couple, they're a young lovers.
She picked out the styles when buying towels, toothbrushes, and slippers, and she specifically bought two sets, thinking that this was his dorm room and he would often stay there. When he saw the double sets of items, he didn't say anything, just smiled.
Lin Su was momentarily dazed as she watched him cook, finding even the sight of him so captivating.
At that moment, she really wanted to be in a relationship with him.
I want to snuggle in his arms, or hug him from behind and act all cute and affectionate.
Seeing that she was still leaning against the door frame, he turned around and glanced at her: "What's wrong? Need cooking advice?"
"Without guidance, my cooking skills are not good enough." She was a little flustered. "I'll go make the bed first."
I smoothed out the mattress, then put on the newly bought standard bed sheet, and tucked the quilt I was using into the duvet cover...
Lin Su made the bed, lay down on it, and looked at all of this, feeling that it was all unreal.
If only Zhou Yunqi hadn't left.
...
As the rich aroma of chicken soup wafted into his nostrils, he said it was time to eat.
On the table were mushroom and chicken soup, stir-fried pork with wood ear mushrooms, and stir-fried cabbage with vinegar. It was the first time Lin Su had tasted his cooking, and she kept praising it as she ate.
He questioned, "You don't need to praise me against your conscience. After all, I haven't cooked much and I know my own limitations."
Lin Su said, "But it really tastes delicious. You have a talent for cooking."
He said irritably, "What kind of talent is this? If you watch others do it a lot, you can at least learn about 50% of it."
"Anyway, they're more talented than me."
After dinner, Lin Su volunteered to wash the dishes. Just as she put the dishes in the sink, Zhou Yunqi came over with a kettle of boiling water and said, "Let me do it."
Lin Su had no choice but to continue watching him wash the dishes while leaning against the door.
His hands were very beautiful, with distinct knuckles, long and strong. He said that when he first became a sent-down youth, he also did farm work, and his hands were blistered. Later, during the sugar-pressing season, he went to operate the machines in the sugar factory and found that the factory's efficiency was too low and the sales channels were too rigid, and they could not get large orders.
So he offered many suggestions and worked in sales for a while. Although he no longer did farm work, his palms still had thin calluses, which were especially noticeable when he touched her face, causing a slight stinging sensation on her skin.
Zhou Yunqi washed the bowls, drained them in a basket, shook the water off his hands, and said to the person standing blankly at the door, "There's still some chicken soup in the stew pot. You can use it to cook noodles tomorrow morning. I have to go."
Lin Su snapped out of her daze: "Where are you going?"
"Where to?" he couldn't help but laugh. "Silly girl, I have to go back to my uncle's house."
Lin Su looked at the man and almost instinctively said, "Can you please not leave?"
His bright, gentle gaze turned hesitant for a moment: "Are you afraid to live alone?"
Lin Su shook her head, then nodded.
The man asked helplessly, "Are you afraid or not?"
"I'm not afraid, but I don't want you to leave."
Seeing that she looked upset, he asked, "If I don't leave, am I supposed to sleep on the sofa?"
Lin Su's throat was dry: "Is it okay?"
Looking into those pleading eyes, Zhou Yunqi took a deep breath and finally said helplessly, "Okay."
Lin Su raised the corners of her mouth, and after a while, she belatedly said, "This is your dormitory, so why don't I sleep on the sofa?"
He scoffed, "If you didn't say so earlier, it's too late now."
Lin Su added, "But there are no extra quilts, only blankets."
“It’s alright, there’s heating here,” he said. “But I need to go out for a bit and make a phone call to my uncle.”
As he spoke, he went out the door.
Lin Su had heard Xu Yaodong mention that his uncle's family were from old Beijing and that their ancestors had some wealth, but she didn't know the specifics of his uncle's family.
Fortunately, he still has his uncle.
The room was quiet and peaceful. Although small, it was very warm. Lin Su, wearing a sweater, sat on the sofa and pondered for a while.
Although she didn't know how she managed to bring it up, she managed to keep him there.
She boiled some water in the electric kettle and then took a short bath.
When she came out of the bathroom, Zhou Yunqi had already returned. Seeing that she had changed into thicker pajamas, he asked, "Ready to go to sleep?"
Lin Su: "No, I just finished washing up, I'm not going to sleep yet."
He responded softly, "Then it's fine to go to bed and read a book."
Lin Su asked, "Are you going to wash up and go to bed?"
"Almost there. I've been running around all day, and it's past nine o'clock now."
There was no television or radio in the house; everyone went to bed early these days.
Lin Su entered the bedroom and applied face cream. Hearing the noise outside, he seemed to be preparing to wash up as well.
Looking at the lights outside the window, she didn't feel embarrassed at all; on the contrary, she felt very at ease.
She had slept for quite a while, but as she leaned against the headboard, she picked up a book to read and fell asleep without even realizing it. She didn't even know when the light was turned off or whether he had tucked her in.
I slept without any dreams.
He was cooking noodles in the kitchen in the morning. When Lin Su got up, she felt something was wrong. She went into the bathroom and saw that her pants were covered in bright red blood.
Lin Su changed her pants in a depressed mood and then washed herself with soap.
She vaguely heard Zhou Yunqi calling her to eat noodles. Her stomach was in pain, and she couldn't make a loud sound, so she opened the bathroom door and said, "You eat first."
Zhou Yunqi waited outside for a while, but no one came. He wondered what she was up to. Puzzled, he went to the door and peeked out, just in time to see her washing her panties under the tap.
Zhou Yunqi: "..."
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Author's Note: [Cracked] Sorry for being a little late.
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