Chapter 64: Sleeping Restlessly
"The weather is good today. Dongping, you're rarely at home. It would be nice to take Wenwan out for a walk. Go ahead."
Wen Wan turned around and glanced into the room: "Didn't Donglin say he wanted to go together?"
"He's not going. You guys go. I have something for him to do this afternoon."
Lu Dongping reached out and gently pulled her: "Let's go."
Wen Wan responded and followed him out of the yard, asking him as they walked, "Where are we going?"
Lu Dongping said mysteriously: "I'll take you to a good place. Go ahead."
"I don't even know the way, what am I going to do?"
As they talked, the two of them started to climb up from the edge of the private plot next to the yard. Wen Wan was really not good at climbing mountains. She was panting heavily just after reaching the ridge behind the house. Lu Dongping stretched out his hand to support her waist: "Don't worry, walk slowly."
Wen Wan hurriedly took a big step forward to distance herself from him.
Lu Dongping couldn't help laughing: "Isn't it too late to keep your distance from me now?"
Wen Wan held her breath and rushed up the forest path for a long distance. Out of breath, she sat down on the ground and threw a pine cone at him. "Let's go back. Why climb a mountain when we can just rest at home? We're going to start work in a few days. Your land is all in the mountains. How can you miss the opportunity to climb a mountain?"
Lu Dongping reached out and grabbed the pine cone she threw to him. He raised an eyebrow and looked at it. He squeezed it in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket. He took two steps forward and sat down next to her. He said, "I'll take you to the top of the mountain. You can see the whole Lujiazui and Xihe Brigade."
"I can't climb anymore!" Climb to the top of the mountain? You must be kidding. My legs are shaking just thinking about it.
Lu Dongping reached out and took her hand, placing it in his palm and stroking it gently: "If you can't climb, I'll carry you up." Wen Wan raised an eyebrow and squinted at him and smiled: "Why don't you try carrying someone?" She herself weighed at least 80 or 90 kilograms. Climbing up the mountain on someone's back? She couldn't even think about it.
After saying that, Lu Dongping exerted a little force with his hands, and the person who was originally sitting there changed his position, squatting in front of her, and pulled her onto his back amid her screams.
"Lu Dongping, what are you doing? Put me down. I was just joking. I don't want you to carry me on your back!"
Lu Dongping stretched out his hand to lift her up, and pinched her: "Be good and behave yourself, I will carry you to the top of the mountain." It was heavy, but not too heavy for him.
"It's just carrying you up a mountain. What's the big deal? I don't have anything else, but I still have strength."
Wen Wan lay on his back and muttered, "I was just joking."
"I'm serious. As long as you ask, I will do what I can, and I will find a way to do what I can't do."
Wen Wan lowered her eyes, hesitated for a while, then reached out and gently put her arms around his neck.
This slight movement instantly made Lu Dongping excited, as if he had drunk chicken blood. He wanted to run and reach the destination in one breath. But he also wanted to run slower and slower. Just like this, the two of them, without caring about anything else, just carry her on their backs and walk slowly for the rest of their lives.
"Lu Dongping!"
"Um?"
"If you're tired, put me down. I can walk."
Lu Dongping chuckled and said, "Of course not. What's the point of talking about a partner if you can't even carry your partner? You have to carry him to the destination even if you die of exhaustion."
Going up along the winding path in the woods, the sun shines through the gaps in the treetops, casting mottled spots of light on the ground.
Lu Dongping's breathing gradually became heavier, and the girl on his back slid down, then was lifted up again by her.
Wen Wan asked him to get down several times but he refused, so she had no choice but to hug his neck and lie on his shoulder obediently, secretly regretting why she played such a joke.
After leaving the pine forest in front, there were no more trees blocking the way, and the sun shone brightly, making people feel warm all over.
"Lu Dongping, are we here yet?"
"Yeah, we're almost there. See that patch of woods ahead? Go up and you'll be there."
Lu Dongping was panting while speaking, and his voice made Wen Wan feel swollen in her heart, but she could no longer say the words to get down. She lay quietly on him and followed him to the top of the mountain called Laoyaling, south of Lujiazui.
Lu Dongping put her down and said, "Look, can you see very far? If this mountain were a little higher, you could even see the People's Commune."
Wen Wan didn't say anything. She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Lu Dongping stood there frozen.
After all, this was the first time that the little girl was so close to him, so intimate, and it was she who took the initiative.
After coming back to his senses, he grinned and reached out to take the handkerchief from Wen Wan's hand: "I'll wash it for you later."
"It's okay, I'll wash it myself."
Lu Dongping was being rude and refused to give it to her: "Then give this to me, a New Year's gift."
Wen Wan didn't argue with him. "Okay, I'll give it to you." She walked around the relatively flat area on the top of the mountain and looked at the fields below. "Is this all wheat? Did the team members clear this land themselves? After they plant it, what do we do when it's time to harvest it?"
"Cut it off and carry it back. It's the same in the mountains. Everyone relies on physical strength to make a living."
Wen Wan hissed softly and asked Lu Dongping, "So, when is the wheat harvest?"
"In May and June, this side faces the sun, and the weather gets a few days earlier than the shady places down below every year." As he said this, he felt a little worried when he looked at Wen Wan's fair little face. It gets warmer day by day as soon as spring comes, and the sun becomes more and more scorching after Qingming Festival. Around the time of wheat harvest, people can be sunburned to the point of peeling off several layers of skin. What will happen to the little girl's delicate face then?
"You, do you wear a hat in the summer?"
Questions without any beginning or end.
"Wear a hat? You have to wear one in the summer, otherwise you'll get sunburned."
Wenwan looked around. Standing on the top of the mountain, the scenery was indeed very nice. The wheat fields below, the rivers and streams winding through the mountains, and the scattered houses were better than any painting by a painter.
"Lu Dongping, are you going to renovate your house?"
Lu Dongping walked over and gently put his arm around her waist from behind: "Let's start clearing the space tomorrow. We've already cut the wood we need, but tamping the wall with mud will be a bit more laborious." As he spoke, he leaned forward slightly and whispered in her ear: "The sooner the repair is done, the sooner I can marry you."
Wen Wan turned around abruptly: "Are you ashamed? Who asked you to marry me?"
Lu Dongping didn't argue with her, just smiled.
Wen Wan didn't dare to look him in the eye. She lowered her head and tugged at his clothes: "Isn't it too soon? I, I'm not ready yet. My family doesn't even know we're dating."
Lu Dongping reached out and gently rubbed her head: "Not quickly. It will take half a year for the house to be repaired. It needs to be aired out and the house needs to be cleaned up before the end of the year." At the end of the year, the educated youth can take leave to return to the city. I don't know if Wen Wan will go back. If she wants to go back, I will send her back. Together?
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, I even thought about things at the end of the year. I really think long-term.
"Well, then, next time I write, I'll tell my family about it first?" She said that, but she still didn't know how to bring it up. She'd been in the countryside for two months and had a date here?
Why does it feel so weird?
"Well, mention it."
Lu Dongping was a little nervous.
Even a little scared.
The two of them walked around the mountain, and Lu Dongping took Wen Wan to see the traps he had dug: "In previous years, when I didn't go to the commune, I was basically in the mountains on my free days. Even when I was busy, I would find time to go to the mountains. I had a bad reputation in the production team. No matter whether it was a free day or a busy day, I was either going up the mountain to catch birds or going down to the river to fish. I was not doing my job properly. However, they don't know that a few years ago, when they didn't have enough to eat and could only drink water at night, our family was still doing well. I would bring back small ones like turtledoves and bamboo partridges to supplement the family's food, and occasionally bring back larger rabbits and pheasants. I also caught wild boars, but I was the only one who knew about this, and now you know it too. No one else in my family knew about it. I hid it and took it to the city to sell it."
Wen Wan was incredibly curious. "Wild boar? You've caught one before? Lu Dongping, you're such a good hunter?" As for whether she could sell anything in the city right now, she had no recollection of it. She hadn't considered whether Lu Dongping was bragging. She'd been thrilled the day before when Lu Donglin caught a rabbit, and now hearing Lu Dongping say he'd caught birds, pheasants, and wild boars was simply unbelievable.
Lu Dongping looked at her excitedly, his eyes sparkling, and laughed dumbly: "Not as amazing as you think, just a little better than the average person. I won't have any problem supporting you."
Wen Wan said, "When will something be put on this condom? Take me with you next time you come up. I want to take a look."
Lu Dongping squatted down and restored the torn part to its original state, stood up and patted the dirt on his hands and said: "I came here early this morning to make this. If you come across any small things later, I will bring them back for you to play with." Forget the big ones, they are not suitable.
After a short walk down the mountain, it was still early. No one was home, probably out visiting friends. Lu Dongping pulled out a two-foot-wide plank from under the shed and said to Wen Wan, "I'm free today, so I'll go fix your bed. Otherwise, I'll be busy tomorrow and forget about it."
Wen Wan didn't know how to do it: "How should I fix it?"
Lu Dongping took out the wooden board and said, "This one looks suitable. I'll find a saw, measure the length, and then find some nails to nail it in."
After saying that, he threw the wooden board there, went into the house, rummaged through the drawers and cabinets for a long time before finding a few nails. Then, carrying the board in one hand and a hammer and saw in the other, he and Wen Wan went to the educated youth site.
Zhu Feng was not there and the door was locked.
Wen Wan opened the door. Lu Dongping went in and gestured for a while, and he had a rough idea in his mind. Then he took it outside and sawed the board into three sections. He also planed it with a plane to make it look less rough, and then he put it in and nailed it in with a bang.
"I've nailed the head and foot of the bed for you, leaving a section in the middle for your convenience, so that the quilt won't fall off." Of course, people won't fall off.
Wen Wan nodded: "It's still early, I'll move over now and sleep here tonight. I think this way, the quilt will be rolled up and won't be kicked apart by me, which is definitely warmer than sleeping in a big bed."
Hearing this, Lu Dongping raised his thick eyebrows and said with a half-smile: "You're not sleeping well? You look pretty well behaved!"
Wen Wan's face instantly flushed, and she pushed him out without hesitation: "Okay, the bed is nailed down, you can go back."
Lu Dongping let her push him out and then followed her in: "Don't go back. Wait until you've packed up and then we'll go back together. I'll help you."
Help me! Then Wen Wan will not hesitate.
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