Chapter 13 Kiss
Chapter 13
After Yu Pan started writing, her days suddenly became more concrete.
He would sit at his desk before dawn, using the morning light to think through what he wanted to write before putting pen to paper, and he would write for the entire morning.
The old man at the bookstore was very kind. He said that he cherished the books and that the old man could come to the store to read books often.
When Yu Pan encounters a character she doesn't know how to write, she writes down the pinyin and then goes to a bookstore to find a dictionary to look it up.
As she wrote, Yu Pan would get into the mood and draw a few pictures. Shen Yanzhou's smiling face was a circle with two parentheses. Uncle Shen and Aunt Shen were stick figures, one tall and one short. Braised pork was in square pieces. She drew two bamboo baskets with a stick figure carrying a shoulder pole in the middle.
This was also the first time Yu Pan had seriously written a story, aside from essays, and it was a rather bumpy process.
He wanted to write about his feelings when he first met Uncle Chen, and the taste of the first clean meal he ate.
The result was that I wrote and tore up my writing repeatedly, always feeling that the descriptions weren't good enough and didn't capture the feelings I had at the time.
After trying many times, Yu Pan still couldn't find a suitable way to express herself.
She even felt that the house was empty and depressing without Shen Yanzhou. After two days of feeling stifled, Yu Pan packed up her manuscripts and went downstairs to the bookstore to write.
As the old man was organizing his books, he passed by Yu Pan and saw what Yu Pan had drawn on the notebook on the edge of the desk. He pointed to the drawing of a person carrying a load on a shoulder pole and asked, "Is that a bamboo basket?"
Yu Pan nodded quickly.
"Then write about weaving bamboo baskets," the old man said. "Don't rush to write it perfectly at first. Just explain the situation clearly. When you were weaving bamboo baskets, did your hands ever get cut by the bamboo strips? Were your fingers ever pricked by bamboo splinters? Did it hurt when it bled? How did you deal with it afterwards?"
Yu Pan nodded thoughtfully. What happened next...?
Thinking of this, Yu Pan felt her face getting hot.
When he first learned to make bamboo baskets, he did cut his hand on the bamboo strips. It was quite a coincidence that he happened to run into Shen Yanzhou after work. When Shen Yanzhou pushed open the door to the courtyard, he saw his hand covered in blood.
Shen Yanzhou's face immediately turned cold. He cleaned and bandaged the wound, and didn't say a few words to him until bedtime.
Afterwards, Shen Yanzhou apologized to him, saying that he was just angry at himself at the time. He hadn't thought about the injury when he taught Yu Pan how to weave bamboo baskets, and he was also angry about their situation at the time. He couldn't even tell Yu Pan not to do these things.
They desperately needed money back then.
Before Yu Pan's hand recovered, Shen Yanzhou wouldn't let him make up stories anymore. Occasionally, when Yu Pan was half asleep, he would see Shen Yanzhou kissing his hand, and he never understood the emotion in Shen Yanzhou's eyes at that time.
Looking back now, should I have called it tenderness and care?
Yu Pan took the manuscript home and rewrote the story about the bamboo basket, paying extra attention to details and feelings.
After writing it down, Yu Pan read it aloud twice. Suddenly, she felt a slight stinging sensation in her nose. She sniffed and then copied it down again, deleting the parts that shouldn't be shown to outsiders. She treated the original copy as the draft.
He only wanted to show the draft to Shen Yanzhou.
Once she found the trick, Yu Pan's writing went smoothly.
In the fishing trip, Uncle Shen took him and Shen Yanzhou to catch loaches, intending to push them into the mud. However, they unexpectedly squatted down and missed their target, ending up lying in the mud themselves, which also tripped them up and made them fall on their butts.
He and Shen Yanzhou went to a banquet with Uncle Shen and Aunt Shen. The adults didn't have time to watch them, so Shen Yanzhou secretly fed them fried peanuts. When they finally had time to look after the children, the two of them had eaten half a plate of peanuts. That night, he and Shen Yanzhou both got nosebleeds from the heat.
There were also times when the two of them went to set up a stall with the adults, and he always gave the wrong change, so Shen Yanzhou would send him aside to knead flour. And on summer nights, they would sit in the yard enjoying the cool air while holding a watermelon...
You don't know until you write it down, and once you start writing, you realize there are so many interesting things to write about.
I've thought about these things a thousand times in my mind, and now I can finally put them down on paper with a solid and grounded feeling.
When the old man read Yu Pan's manuscripts, he always said, "They're more substantial than those fancy stories."
Seven days passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was time for Shen Yanzhou to return.
The day Shen Yanzhou returned, the sky was clear.
When the car came to a stop at the intersection, Yu Pan was squatting in the sun in front of the bookstore. Hearing the engine, she subconsciously looked up.
Upon seeing this, he suddenly stood up.
Shen Yanzhou spotted Yu Pan from afar and thought he would go over and scare him later.
As soon as I got off the bus, I was hit by a force that made me take half a step back.
Yu Pan nestled in his arms, her arms tightening around his waist until it ached, her whole body radiating the warmth of the sun.
"You missed me that much?" Shen Yanzhou laughed, placing his hands under Yu Pan's armpits, lifting him up and moving him away from the roadside, concluding, "You've lost some weight, haven't you been eating properly?"
Yu Pan shook her head in his arms. He would never skip meals. In the days when Shen Yanzhou was away, the old lady had three meals a day and a little sweet soup in the afternoon.
He just wanted to hold Shen Yanzhou too much right now, so he didn't have his hands free to gesture.
"Is this your brother?" Tan Ming asked as he parked the car and walked over.
Shen Yanzhou nodded, "Her name is Yu Pan."
Upon hearing the sound, Yu Pan quickly stepped out of Chen Yanzhou's embrace. Turning around, he saw a dark-faced uncle. He bowed slightly to him in confusion before looking at Chen Yanzhou.
“The factory’s driver,” Shen Yanzhou explained.
Seeing that Tan Ming was still standing there, showing no sign of leaving, Yu Pan gestured to Shen Yanzhou: "Isn't he going home?"
"He'll be having dinner with us later." Shen Yanzhou looked at Yu Pan's face; she had really lost weight, her chin was even more pointed.
"Go out to eat?" Yu Pan tilted her head.
Shen Yanzhou hummed in agreement, then turned to Tan Ming and said, "Shall we go upstairs and sit for a while?"
Tan Ming followed them upstairs. Looking at Yu Pan, who was clinging to Shen Yanzhou's clothes, he belatedly realized that she was mute. No wonder their interactions were a bit strange.
Upon entering the house, Yu Pan diligently went to the kitchen and poured out two cups of hot water.
Shen Yanzhou raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Tan Ming had been driving all day and was exhausted. It was only four o'clock, so after drinking a glass of water, he decided to take a nap on the long bench at Shen Yanzhou's house.
Not shy at all.
Yu Pan looked on with great emotion, wishing she could be like that someday.
Once everyone started snoring, Yu Pan suddenly remembered something and pulled Shen Yanzhou's hand back to the bedroom.
The canvas bag swayed on Shen Yanzhou's shoulder, its contents rattling softly.
Once inside, Yu Pan pressed him down into a chair in front of the desk, then turned around and pulled a cardboard box from under the bed, inside which were neatly stacked manuscripts.
He presented it to Shen Yanzhou like a treasure, pointing at the top piece of paper with his finger.
Shen Yanzhou picked up the manuscript paper, and the first two characters were very much in Yu Pan's style: Yu Pan.
He looked down and read line by line.
"When you're picking up trash, the stuff in the swill buckets smells sour and stinky."
"The cows in the hay shed would moo as soon as they saw him."
"Aunt Chen was frying dough cakes. Oil splattered all over my head, but I didn't want to leave. The dough cakes smelled so good that I kept swallowing my saliva."
Shen Yanzhou read three stories in a row. The stories were full of small, everyday moments, with a childlike straightforwardness that touched people more than any flowery words.
When Shen Yanzhou saw the part of the bamboo strip that cut his hand, he suddenly looked up at Yu Pan and said, "My brother secretly kissed my hand while I was sleeping last night, but I pretended not to see it."
Yu Pan's face flushed red. She had originally intended to show this draft to Shen Yanzhou, but Shen Yanzhou's current gaze made her feel extremely ashamed. She frantically tried to snatch the draft paper, but he grabbed her wrist.
Shen Yanzhou placed the manuscript on the table, reached out and pulled the person into his arms, their foreheads touching. "Did you see that?"
Yu Pan nodded, her face flushed.
“Panpan,” Shen Yanzhou said in a slightly hoarse voice, as if sighing, “it’s really well written.”
After being praised by Shen Yanzhou, Yu Pan raised her hand with difficulty to show her hand, "I haven't finished writing yet."
As he spoke, he thought of something to write, his eyes crinkling with laughter.
He was unaware of how attractive he looked.
Shen Yanzhou stared intently at him, then placed his hand on the back of Yu Pan's head and pressed it down.
"Panpan, open your mouth," Shen Yanzhou said, pressing his lips to his.
Yu Pan always listened to him, so she obediently opened her mouth, and then suddenly widened her eyes.
This was a kiss unlike any they had ever shared before.
They used to kiss, but it was just lips touching lips. Apart from being closer, the sensation was more obvious, and it was no different from flesh touching flesh.
Besides, the mouth is for eating. Yu Pan didn't mean he disliked Shen Yanzhou; he just felt that exchanging saliva was dirty.
So, Yu Pan prefers kissing on the cheek to kissing on the lips, although sometimes it's also fun to have her lips pressed together with Shen Yanzhou's...
But he never intended to become a gang leader!
Despite his thoughts, he still opened his mouth and let Chen Yanzhou kiss him.
It's just that my head is a little sore from being sucked, and I'm a little thirsty...
"Panpan, breathe."
Shen Yanzhou's words seemed to come from a very distant place. Yu Pan was already dazed from the kisses, and her mind was racing with wild imaginations. She thought that the voice sounded like it was floating down from the sky.
When Shen Yanzhou released him, Yu Pan realized that he had forgotten to breathe!
Before he could even take a few breaths, Chen Yanzhou pressed down again.
This time, however, she became much gentler.
She didn't know how long they kissed, but when Yu Pan came to her senses, she was already resting her head on Chen Yanzhou's shoulder.
Shen Yanzhou was looking at the rest of his manuscript at that moment.
Yu Pan brushed her nose against Shen Yanzhou's prominent Adam's apple.
"Awake?" Shen Yanzhou asked, gently wiping his lower lip with her fingertip.
The burning sensation returned, and Yu Pan sat up straight, angrily gesturing, "I'm not asleep!" Then she grabbed Chen Yanzhou by the neck and started shaking him.
Shen Yanzhou quickly changed the subject, "Oh, right, I brought you something."
He picked up the backpack from the ground and took out two brand-new copies of "Story Collection", as well as two jars of candied tangerine peel and dried plums.
Yu Pan lowered her hand from Shen Yanzhou's neck and pointed to the tangerine peel candy.
Shen Yanzhou unscrewed the cap and poured one for him.
The salty and sweet flavor spread in her mouth, and Yu Pan happily squinted her eyes, like a kitten that had eaten its favorite treat.
It's still just a little white cat.
The two argued for quite a while, and it was almost six o'clock.
Shen Yanzhou woke Tan Ming up and they went out to find a restaurant to eat.
Yu Pan sat quietly to the side, listening to them talk.
It just got weirder and weirder. What did Shen Yanzhou mean by learning to drive? What did he mean by quitting his pharmacy business to go and deliver goods?
Yu Pan didn't understand at first.
However, he didn't have the energy to listen carefully because the food at this restaurant was quite delicious.
Yu Pan's stomach was churning with anticipation as she ate one bite after another, trying to eat as much as possible while Shen Yanzhou wasn't paying attention.
He underestimated the attention Shen Yanzhou was giving him; before long, Shen Yanzhou reached out and touched his stomach.
He tried his best to suck in his stomach, but he couldn't get more food.
-
It was quite an exciting day. Yu Pan went back, took a shower, and lay in bed, still thinking about how to ask Shen Yanzhou about his work when he got into bed.
By the time Shen Yanzhou got into bed, he was already asleep.
The next day, Shen Yanzhou rested, and Yu Pan gestured to ask him what his work was like.
Shen Yanzhou explained briefly, "The factory needed a delivery driver, so they transferred me there."
Yu Pan nodded thoughtfully. He wasn't stupid; the difference between gunpowder and driver was so vast, there was no way he could adjust them.
However, Shen Yanzhou had his reasons for not saying anything. Yu Pan nodded. It was good that Shen Yanzhou didn't want to work with gunpowder; that line of work was too dangerous.
He remembered that when Shen Yanzhou said he was going to learn how to make gunpowder, some people in the village said that Uncle Shen would have no descendants.
However… Yu Pan blushed, remembering yesterday's kiss; it seemed he couldn't have children…
Just after breakfast, Shen Yanzhou took him downstairs and brought out the bicycle.
"It's a promise, I'll take you around when I get back," Shen Yanzhou said, stepping into the car and gesturing with his chin toward the seat behind him. "Get in."
Yu Pan sat down, stepped on the footrest, and hugged Shen Yanzhou's waist tightly with both hands, pressing her cheek against his back.
Instead of heading to the bustling market, they entered through the muddy mountain path where Chen Yanzhou was working.
The further they went, the more remote it became. Finally, after turning a corner, Yu Pan saw a cluster of low mud-brick houses, large fields of farmland, and elderly people planting rice seedlings by the field ridges.
Shen Yanzhou slowed down the car. "Isn't it brighter and more spacious than in town?"
Yu Pan nodded vigorously against his back.
The car turned onto another road, and the scenery that Yu Pan saw changed once again.
Shen Yanzhou parked the car under the shade of a tree and took Yu Pan's hand as they walked to the lakeside.
He thought the lake was beautiful when he first saw it, and he thought he would bring Yu Pan to see it.
But then I thought about it and realized that the place was too far away. It would be fine for him to walk there, but I couldn't accept the thought of Yu Pan walking such a long way.
Yu Pan squatted down. The water by the lake was crystal clear. He touched it with his hand and was shivered by the cold.
"Fun?" Shen Yanzhou also squatted down and imitated him by splashing the lake water.
Yu Pan nodded vigorously, gestured "So beautiful!", then opened her arms and took a deep breath.
It's the kind of air unique to the countryside, carrying the scent of earth!
An old farmer came out from the fields behind the village carrying a shoulder pole, found a shallow spot, and put his bamboo basket inside.
Yu Pan leaned closer to take a look and realized it was a cucumber.
The old farmer noticed them and asked with a smile, "From town?"
Yu Pan nodded.
"It's perfect to come here for a stroll," the old farmer said, handing over a cucumber. "Isn't it more comfortable than a concrete house?"
Yu Pan nodded again, glancing at Shen Yanzhou as she took the cucumber.
"Eat up," Shen Yanzhou said.
Yu Pan shook off some of the water from the cucumber and put it in her mouth.
The freshly picked cucumbers were crisp, sweet, and thirst-quenching. The old farmer wanted to offer one to Shen Yanzhou, but Yu Pan refused. She pointed to herself, then to Shen Yanzhou, and placed the cucumber in her hand between the two of them.
The gist of it is that they only need one stalk, because farming is hard work.
The old farmer couldn't understand, so Shen Yanzhou finally explained it to him.
The old farmer laughed heartily after hearing this, got up and went to the field to pull up a handful of greens. "These vegetables are tender. They'll taste good after blanching them and mixing them with some soy sauce. We can't harvest the melons, but we can at least pick up the vegetables that grow everywhere, right?"
Since they'd already said that, they had no choice but to accept it. After harvesting the vegetables, they even helped the old farmer wash another basket of cucumbers.
When the sun was directly overhead, they started to walk back.
In the metal frame on the front of the bicycle were two small bunches of wildflowers that Yu Pan had picked, the names of which she didn't know, and a bunch of green vegetables that the old man had given her earlier.
Having learned from her previous experience riding a bicycle, Yu Pan changed her posture this time, sitting sideways on the back seat.
With one arm around Shen Yanzhou's waist and the other gripping the iron bar under the seat, she swung her legs slightly.
The wind blew past my ears, carrying the scent of earth and grass.
Yu Pan tilted his head and gently leaned against Shen Yanzhou's back. Whether in town or village, he felt at ease as long as Shen Yanzhou was there.
A note from the author:
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Chapters 12 and 13 have been revised! [Applause]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
