Chapter 19 Come with me
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the covered windows, casting a hazy, grayish-white glow onto the kang (a heated brick bed).
Wen Xiaoxiao woke up first. Her body felt like it had been disassembled and reassembled; it was sore and weak, yet strangely relaxed.
She lay on her side, feeling Zhao Fei's warm, firm chest behind her and his steady, long breaths.
Everything from last night is still vivid in my mind; it's no longer the chaos of being drunk, but a sober indulgence.
This realization made her cheeks burn, and her heart felt like it was pounding with a restless rabbit.
She dared not move, afraid of waking him, and also afraid of facing an even more awkward situation after he woke up.
She wanted to quietly get up and slip back to her east wing.
"Don't go." Zhao Fei's voice rang close to her ear.
Wen Xiaoxiao's body stiffened.
Zhao Fei turned her over so that she was facing him.
In the dim light of dawn, his eyes were deep and profound.
He spoke, his voice not loud, but each word clear: "Xiaoxiao, come with me."
Wen Xiaoxiao's eyes widened suddenly, thinking she had misheard.
"I'll take you away," Zhao Fei repeated.
“I’m quitting this pig farm. Let’s take Yidi, the three of us, and leave this place. Let’s go to another city and live a different life. I’m young and I have skills. I can raise pigs or do something else. I can always support you.”
These words were like a boulder thrown into a lake, creating a stormy sea in Wen Xiaoxiao's heart.
Elopement? With the child? Giving up everything he had worked so hard to build? Did she really hold such a heavy place in his heart?
Is she so important that he would abandon his career, reputation, and everything he knows, just to take her away?
After the initial shock came even greater anxiety and realistic considerations.
This isn't child's play; you can't just leave whenever you want.
Zhao Fei's pig farm is the culmination of his many years of hard work and the foundation of his livelihood.
Zhao Yidi is currently in school. Would it be good for her to suddenly transfer to a completely unfamiliar place?
And... this stolen, forbidden warmth, once it left this specific environment.
Won't life slowly wear you down amidst the mundane realities of daily life and exile?
How will she cope then?
She looked at Zhao Fei's face, which was so close to hers.
He was serious.
This realization sent shivers down her spine.
She reached out and gently stroked his stubble-covered cheek with her fingertips.
This gesture was gentle and sorrowful.
“Brother,” she said softly, “thank you. Really. Thank you… for letting me know that being a woman can be so wonderful, and that I can be thought of so tenderly.”
These words were sincere, filled with boundless gratitude.
“But,” she changed the subject, looking at the gray window,
“I can’t leave. And I can’t let you leave. Your foundation is here, and Yidi’s studies can’t be delayed…”
Sure enough, the light in Zhao Fei's eyes dimmed, turning into a deep pain.
If some things are said outright, even this stolen moment of tenderness will be lost.
Wen Xiaoxiao dared not look at the disappointment in his eyes any longer. She got dressed and left the main house without looking back.
The cold wind instantly enveloped her, bringing her back to her senses.
Return to the east wing and close the door.
Some things have changed completely.
The atmosphere was a little tense at breakfast, but no one deliberately avoided it.
Zhao Fei broke the silence first: "It's almost the end of the year, and the pig farm is going to have a batch of pigs ready for slaughter, plus there's breeding going on, so we're very busy. I might... have to stay there for two or three days and won't be able to come back at night. But I'll try to come back and check on things when I have time."
Wen Xiaoxiao was stirring the porridge in the pot when she heard this, she nodded and said, "Okay, you go ahead with your work. I have to get busy too, there are a lot of people asking Sister Hu to make new clothes at the end of the year."
She paused, then added, trying to keep the conversation going, "Although department stores have a wide variety of clothes, ours are cheaper and fit well, so we still have quite a few regular customers."
Neither of them mentioned the events of last night and this morning again, as if nothing had happened.
But something in the air was clearly different.
When they arrived at the tailor shop, Sister Hu was busy taking measurements for an older woman. She glanced up and saw Wen Xiaoxiao come in, and teased, "Oh, Xiaoxiao, you look great today! Your eyes are glowing. What, have the men at home started to pamper you?"
Wen Xiaoxiao was picking up a half-finished product that needed to be hemmed when she heard this. Her hand trembled, and she almost pricked her finger with the needle.
She hurriedly lowered her head and mumbled, "Sister Hu, don't talk nonsense..."
"What nonsense am I talking about?" Sister Hu said with a smile. "Women need to be loved and cared for; that makes them more energetic and spirited."
Wen Xiaoxiao felt a mix of emotions.
Warmth is indeed stolen, it cannot be seen in the light, it is like drinking poison to quench thirst.
Even so, the feeling of being cherished both fascinated and terrified her.
When I returned to the courtyard house that evening, it was indeed deserted.
Zhao Fei didn't return, and Zhao Qingda was nowhere to be seen either.
The honeycomb briquettes in the stove were only half-burnt, emitting limited heat, and the room remained bitterly cold.
Wen Xiaoxiao sat in front of the sewing machine, but didn't press the pedal even once for a long time.
My fingers are cold, but my heart is even colder.
This time, however, it was even more unbearable than before.
Because she had received warmth.
I've experienced the feeling of being tightly embraced and carefully cared for.
Just like a person who is frozen stiff in the snow and ice, once they are dragged into a warm room and warmed by a fire, and then thrown back into the snow and ice, they will only feel colder and more piercing than before.
As she gazed at the flickering, weak firelight, a thought popped into her head: Could she be... pregnant?
This thought filled her with both anticipation and fear.
It turns out that once people have tasted the sweetness, they will start to crave it.
The pigsty beds were as cold as ice.
The thin blanket was no match for the cold wind.
Zhao Fei lay there fully clothed for less than two hours before being woken up by the cold, or rather, he hadn't slept much at all.
My mind is a mess, and all I can see is Wen Xiaoxiao.
"I miss her." This thought emerged clearly, with an undeniable force.
Without further hesitation, he sat up abruptly, quickly put on his cotton-padded clothes and trousers, slipped on the cotton gloves she had made, pushed his bicycle, and plunged into the thick, impenetrable winter night.
At two in the morning, all was quiet.
He pedaled hard, and the burning urgency in his heart actually dispelled much of the chill.
Back in the courtyard house, he tried to move as quietly as possible.
Pushing open the courtyard gate, a soft creaking sound was particularly clear in the quiet night.
He didn't go to the main house, but turned towards the east wing.
With her hand on the cold door, she hesitated for only a moment before gently pushing open the slightly ajar door.
The room was dark, with no lights on.
On the kang (a heated brick bed), a figure sat up almost immediately, clearly tense and wary.
Wen Xiaoxiao's heart clenched when she heard the sound of the courtyard gate. It was so late; it could only be Zhao Qingda.
Fear and disgust gripped her instantly, and she instinctively sat up, her mind racing as she tried to think of a solution.
But then, the deliberately light footsteps... were not Zhao Qingda's unsteady, staggering steps.
Is it...Big Brother?
She held her breath and opened her eyes wide in the darkness.
The door was pushed open, and a tall, familiar figure stood in the doorway, carrying with him the chill of the outside world.
"Big brother?" she asked in a low voice, still shaken by the experience. "Weren't you... busy at the pig farm?"
Zhao Fei gently closed the door behind him, shutting out the biting cold wind.
He walked to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), bent down, placed his hands on the edge of the kang, and spoke in a low, hoarse voice:
"miss you."
The three simple words were like water droplets thrown into a hot oil pan.
She didn't ask any more questions, nor did she back down. She simply reached out and gently took his cold, rough hand.
Everything fell into place naturally.
This time, it was no longer an accident, nor was it a drunken descent into depravity.
After the rain stopped and the thunder ceased.
He lay on his side, holding her tightly in his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head.
His rough, large hands gently stroked her smooth back, filled with endless tenderness.
It was as if I wanted to convey all my warmth and comfort to her through this touch.
Wen Xiaoxiao nestled obediently in his arms, her cheek pressed against his strong, warm chest, listening to his steady, powerful heartbeat, one beat after another.
I feel physically exhausted and my eyelids are getting heavier.
In that comforting embrace and caress, she drifted off to sleep, sleeping more soundly and peacefully than ever before.
She didn't know how much time had passed, maybe just over an hour, when Wen Xiaoxiao sensed Zhao Fei's departure.
"Go to sleep." Zhao Fei gently kissed her forehead, his voice soft and low. "I have to go. A batch of pigs needs to be weighed and loaded onto the truck before dawn."
Wen Xiaoxiao barely opened her sleepy eyes and, by the dim light filtering in from the window before dawn, watched him quickly and efficiently put on his clothes.
That figure was tall and steadfast, carrying a reassuring power within her.
"Be careful on the road," she said in a hoarse voice.
"Mm." Zhao Fei fastened the last button, turned around and looked at her deeply, as if trying to etch her image into his heart.
Then, without further hesitation, he turned around, silently opened the door, blended into the still-dark night outside, and gently closed the door.
Dawn is breaking.
And the secret deepened in the darkness before dawn.
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