An Easy Spring (Part 1)
"What?" He Yinxin turned to look at her, his lips brushing against her wet hair.
Jiang Yichun smiled and nodded: "You didn't expect that, did you? Actually... the first time I saw you was when I was buying pig's trotters at the school gate."
"Back then, I thought you were a cool and aloof senior, just like the novel I was reading on the high-speed train."
He Yinxin turned around: "Second male lead?"
Jiang Yichun grasped his hand, her eyes shining: "No, I mean, you have a cool and aloof look that's more like the male lead... I just don't like the male lead's personality, I only like his face and the atmosphere the author created."
"I like the second male lead's personality."
He Yinxin's already flushed cheeks burned even hotter: "Xiaochun, you, you...you mean..."
“What I mean is, maybe, I might have had a little… attraction to you at first.” She lowered her head and pushed his back forward.
She said in a very soft voice, "Maybe... you are my ideal type. Although, I didn't realize it at the time."
"As for how I came to like you, I don't really know. Perhaps... it's because you're not like those other people who are unwilling to understand me and just want to barge into my world."
"No, you...you also barged in without permission, but...oh dear! I don't know what to say, anyway, I...I like you too."
Jiang Yichun lowered his eyes: "Perhaps it's not just because you're a very good and thoughtful silly robot dog, but also because I have the courage to like you, the first time I've wholeheartedly liked a boy."
The boy in front of her turned around, froze on the spot, his lips trembling, unable to utter a word for a long time.
Jiang Yichun pursed his lips, then suddenly realized: What nonsense had he just said?
She lowered her head and punched his chest: "Oh no, how did I become just as cheesy as you! How awful! He Yinxin, it's all your fault!"
"Actually, it's because of that box of cookies you gave me last time, they were so delicious! And the Basque cookies, and the braised pork knuckle you made for me at the convenience store were also very good! So... I, I can't bear to part with you."
"Who wouldn't want a boyfriend who's a master chef!"
The boy in front of her grinned foolishly, pushed up his glasses, and said, "Yeah, if you like it, I can continue. Okay, let's go back, it's getting late."
He raised his arm and pulled Jiang Yichun into his embrace, and the two walked toward the white car.
By the time the white car stopped in the old lady's courtyard, the setting sun had already painted a large part of the sky red.
Several elderly people returned from the fields carrying hoes, the roar of tractors filling the air and billowing thick black smoke.
Jiang Yichun glanced back at the field, then turned his gaze back. Because it was the height of summer, most of their clothes had dried, leaving only a few water stains.
She took off the shirt that He Yinxin had draped over his shoulders, and led him into the house.
A familiar figure appeared before her.
She had long, jet-black hair, wore a black T-shirt with ripped jeans, and had various silver ornaments on her wrists and two silver chains around her neck that jingled as she walked.
The woman's arm was around a man who was slightly taller than her, and the two of them were talking to the old woman.
"Mother?"
Hearing her trembling figure, Hu Fei immediately turned around.
Her big eyes widened, and then she ran towards Jiang Yichun:
"Yi Chun?"
Before Jiang Yichun could let go of He Yinxin's hand, she was hugged tightly by her mother.
Her mind was in complete chaos.
The last time I saw my mother, she was wearing an old-fashioned cotton coat, with her hair in braids, busy cleaning and tidying up at her home in the county town. She had two prominent dark circles under her eyes and smelled of tobacco or alcohol.
Later, when I went to university, I would either stay at school or go to my grandmother's house during holidays, and I rarely went back to my home in the county town.
Now, her mother's hair is jet black and shiny, with a faint fragrance, and her face, which resembles hers by seven or eight points, radiates an indescribable brightness.
Jiang Yichun released He Yinxin's hand and hugged his mother tightly: "Mom, it's been so long."
Hu Fei's eyes were sparkling, a light that Jiang Yichun had never seen throughout his entire middle school years.
Hu Fei half-squatted down and smoothed the stray hairs on Jiang Yichun's forehead: "Yeah, Yichun, I really didn't expect this... Sigh, never mind, let's eat first?"
"I made braised pig's trotters."
Jiang Yichun gently patted his mother's back, nodded, let go of her, and the two walked side by side toward the dining table.
He Yinxin, standing to one side, frowned slightly, said nothing, and quietly watched the two of them, following behind them.
"Oh, right." Hu Fei turned around and looked at He Yinxin, "Yi Chun, this is yours..."
Jiang Yichun froze on the spot, her face slightly flushed. She scratched her hand and said, "Uh... I guess you could say he's my boyfriend."
He Yinxin pushed up her glasses: "Hello, Auntie, I'm Xiaochun's boyfriend, my name is..."
"Mom, you can just call him Xiao He." Jiang Yichun took the opportunity to tug at his clothes and drag him in front of Hu Fei.
Hu Fei glanced at him up and down, then raised the corners of her mouth and said, "Yi Chun, you have good taste. He's a handsome young man."
"Hmm...not bad, really not bad, looks very sturdy."
She squinted, scrutinizing He Yinxin's half-dry T-shirt, chuckled softly, and whispered to Jiang Yichun, "How does he treat you?"
"Yes, it's fine."
Jiang Yichun bit her lip, holding He Yinxin's hand. She nodded, her eyes constantly glancing at He Yinxin.
He Yinxin remained standing beside her, scratching the back of his head and giving a silly grin.
Hu Fei's smile widened: "Oh, Xiao Chun, you finally have a boyfriend, that's great."
"Mom was already pregnant with you when she was your age!"
"You and your boyfriend..."
"Mom! We...we were just kissing and hugging!"
Jiang Yichun and He Yinxin both blushed, holding hands tightly.
"Oh, that's good. Having children too early is actually..."
"Fei, don't say these things in front of the child!" Li Jianfang rushed over and patted Hu Fei on the back as if scolding a child.
Hu Fei laughed a few times, then pushed Li Jianfang toward the dining table, while the tall man busied himself in and out of the kitchen, occasionally glancing at Hu Fei.
Jiang Yichun glanced at the man and tightened his grip on He Yinxin's hand.
"Your mother...has always been like this?" His warm breath brushed against my ear.
Jiang Yichun swallowed hard: "Yeah. Although I didn't talk to her much before, she's always been pretty open-minded. She often tells me that if I'm going to do 'that' with a guy... I should take precautions and protect myself."
"I... um, it's nothing. I think she's fine the way she is. Okay, okay, let's go eat!"
He Yinxin smiled and nodded: "Your mother's approach is correct. I've been reading related books recently."
Why are you looking at that?
"I'm not..."
"rogue!"
“It’s a proper book, I’ll give it to you now…” He Yinxin hurriedly took out her phone from her pocket.
Jiang Yichun pinched his arm: "Okay, okay, you stupid robot dog, eat first. Who wants to read literature on an empty stomach?"
She dragged him to the dining table and plopped him down.
The whole family finally settled down at the round table in the house.
Jiang Yichun glanced at the steaming pig's trotters in the bowl, then looked up at his mother sitting opposite him and... that tall man.
Li Jianfang began, "Fei, you and Xiaolin..."
Hu Fei smiled and took the hand of the tall man beside her: "Him? Oh, not my boyfriend. Lin Cheng... is he one of my old fans? He's a famous singer now."
She coughed a few times: "I never expected that someone would actually come all the way to Qinglin just to find me. Acheng is really a nice guy. He's been taking care of my business at the bar lately. He even said... he'd take me into the music business."
"It's just that my voice isn't very good now, so I can probably only do music behind the scenes."
Hu Fei lowered his eyes, smiled, and sighed.
Lin Cheng remained silent, only nodding with a smile, and continued to eat his meal with his head down.
"Oh, I see."
"Chunnan, Xiaoxin, let's eat!"
The grandparents simply nodded and turned to urge their two grandchildren to eat.
Jiang Yichun frowned slightly, looking at the backs of the hands of the two people in front of him that kept rubbing together. His mother's lips would always ripple with a smile, while Uncle Lin's ears would turn red.
She tapped her chopsticks lightly with her fingertips.
Really... just a fan?
Why is my mother behaving similarly to how I reacted when I met Lao He?
No, that's not right!
Jiang Yichun smiled slightly, thinking that she could perhaps understand Yang Fei and the others' mentality of egging them on.
After all, those involved are often blinded by their own perspective, while bystanders can see things much more clearly.
However, all of this requires the mother's consent.
She understood immediately, picked up a pig's trotter from the table, and put it into He Yinxin's bowl: "Come on, Lao He, eat more, you'll gain weight."
"Pig trotters are rich in collagen, which can beautify the skin."
He Yinxin looked dazed. He pushed up his glasses, gave a soft "hmm," and picked up a piece of pig's trotter, putting it into her bowl: "You too, you like to eat this."
"However, the main component of pig's trotters is fat, so they don't actually have much of a beautifying effect on the skin."
Jiang Yichun kicked his leg under the table and muttered under her breath, "You think you know everything?"
A sweet feeling welled up in her heart. Since the robot dog had been with her, its appetite had indeed improved a lot, and she was even surprised by its sudden increase in food intake.
He Yinxin smiled and took her hand, which was resting on her leg, and pulled her towards herself: "But fat and protein are good too. Look, Xiaochun, haven't I gained a little weight recently?"
“…You scoundrel!” Jiang Yichun groped him a few times, then pinched him a few times before immediately pulling his hand back and lowering his head to eat.
She muttered to herself, "Not bad."
He Yinxin's cheeks were flushed, but she continued eating with a smile in her eyes.
After dinner, dusk gradually enveloped the earth outside the window. Rural families always go to bed early, and the grandparents had already returned to their rooms to rest.
After taking a shower, Jiang Yichun wanted to lie down on the bed and sleep until dawn, but the interaction between her mother and Lin Cheng at the dinner table kept flashing before her eyes.
Mom... if you really get together with that person, will he betray you like Dad did?
Won't people in the village gossip about you?
Would you give up your dream again because of him?
She thought back to her high school days, when her mother would cook for her from dawn till dusk and even work at a bar to supplement the family income.
The mother gave up those bright lights and those fleeting dreams, becoming her root, supporting her, yet also binding her.
Jiang Yichun rubbed his eyes and sniffed.
No matter what, Mom, because of me, you've endured so much gossip and rumors that you shouldn't have had to suffer. Because of me...
And yet, I was always worried that you would be swayed by rumors, and I even believed those despicable rumors myself, and I even chose to distance myself from you because of those rumors.
The sweetness of her time with her boyfriend faded temporarily, and a wave of uncertainty that had been with her since childhood enveloped her again. Jiang Yichun closed her eyes and sighed deeply.
"Yi Chun?" came the sound of his mother knocking on the door.
Jiang Yichun sat up abruptly in bed, walked to the door, and opened it: "What's wrong, Mom?"
Hu Fei, wearing a white nightgown, held a bowl of steaming fermented rice wine in her hand and smiled at her: "Have some fermented rice wine, little girl."
"Thank you, Mom."
Jiang Yichun took the fermented rice wine, drank it down in one gulp, and lowered his eyes.
The sweet and sour aroma of the rice wine welled up in her heart, making her dizzy, and the emotions that had been suppressed in her heart for a long time surged up.
During Jiang Yichun's middle school years, their rest times were always different, making it a rare occasion for them to meet at night in their pajamas.
She could no longer pursue what she had missed in the past, but now, her mother was right in front of her.
She took a deep breath and looked into her mother's eyes again.
Her mother was also looking at her.
"Mother."
"Koharu."
She tugged at her mother's sleeve: "Mom, I want to sleep with you tonight."
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