Chapter 48 Like
Yu Shu had just agreed when the woman suddenly looked up at him.
Her eyes were filled with excitement, and there were even tears at the corners of her eyes. Yu Shu thought he was seeing things for a moment.
"Hey buddy, make yourself at home. If you're hungry or thirsty, just tell my man. I'm going out for a bit."
After saying this, the woman left the kitchen without even taking off her apron. Her actions restored the image of her as a capable worker that Yu Shuxin had of her.
The male homeowner had been quiet and reserved ever since they came to stay at his house. He was sitting on the stove, adding firewood into the firebox.
For the first time ever, the male homeowner smiled at Yu Shu, a smile that was shy and bashful, even carrying a hint of caution and ingratiation.
Yu Shu smiled politely in response, then walked out of the kitchen, completely bewildered.
Qi Shichen was sitting under the eaves, playing a game of jacks with the children. After the children explained the rules of the game once, Qi Shichen remembered them. He was also very good at playing games and passed the level in one go.
It got dark soon after, and the woman returned with a book in her hand. She handed the book to Yu Shu and then brought in two children who were playing outside.
"You little monkeys, stop playing around and learn to read properly from your brother, understand? If you dare not take it seriously, I'll break your legs with this stick."
After the woman finished speaking, she went into the inner room and took out two thin candles. She put them on the table and told Yu Shu that she was going to make up the quilts for the room where they would sleep that night.
When it got dark, the whole room was dark.
Yu Shu glanced at the main hall and realized that there were no electrical wires inside. This realization shocked him.
During the day, because it was bright, Yu Shu never noticed that there was no electrical wiring in the house.
Yu Shu kept looking into the main hall. Only then did he notice a problem: the house didn't have any large appliances. There was only a table and a few chairs, which were considered the main items in the main hall.
Qi Shichen walked to the table, picked up a candle, lit it with a lighter, dripped a few drops of wax onto the table, and then placed the bottom of the candle on it. After the wax solidified, the candle was fixed in place.
The room was pitch black, but the candle provided some light. Yu Shu approached the light source, picked up the book in his hand, and flipped through it in the candlelight.
The moment Yu Shu saw the book, she recognized it as the one they had been looking at in the dilapidated wooden hut that afternoon.
The two children looked at the book without any surprise. They brought out small stools, sat down in front of Yu Shu, and obediently placed their hands, waiting for Yu Shu to begin her lesson.
Yu Shu put aside his distracting thoughts, found a stool, and sat between the two children so that they could look at the words in the textbook together.
Qi Shichen took a worn-out palm-leaf fan and gently fanned away the mosquitoes surrounding them. There were especially many mosquitoes after the rain, and they were hard to avoid.
As night fell, the house was quiet, with only the sound of Yu Shu teaching the children to be heard. The woman who had been busy all day was nowhere to be seen.
The two owners were either asleep or something else, because they didn't make a sound at all.
Yu Shu continued teaching until the candle on the table burned out completely. Neither the teacher nor the students reacted when the candle went out.
Qi Shichen saw it, but he did not stop it.
It was indeed too late, and the extinguishing of that candle was a reminder to Yu Shu.
The room went dark instantly. The sudden change from light to darkness slowed down Yu Shu's eyes, and he couldn't see anything. He could only hear the two children talking quietly.
They asked the older brother if he wanted them to light another candle.
It took Yu Shu several tens of seconds to react in the darkness before he could vaguely make out some things. He told the two children that it was too late and they would continue tomorrow.
Not long after he finished speaking, the woman came out from the inner room, holding a candle that was no longer than a thumb. The candle's faint light illuminated the main hall.
She told the two children to go and sleep with their father.
After the woman sent the children to bed, she asked Yu Shu and the others with great enthusiasm if they were hungry and if they wanted a midnight snack. When Yu Shu said they weren't hungry, she said that the beds were already made and that she would take them to rest.
The woman led Yu Shu and the others to the room on the right. There was only a bed in the room, and a kettle and basin were placed not far from the corner of the bed, so they could pour water to wash their faces and feet.
After explaining everything, the woman left the candles for them and then went out into the dark, closing the wooden door behind her before leaving.
Yu Shu glanced at the furnishings in the room. Apart from the bed, the only other large items were a wooden cabinet and a small table. The cabinet didn't even have a door, and it was filled with clothes, which belonged to the family of three.
The clothes were folded neatly, but they still looked out of place.
The family of three's clothes didn't even fill a single closet.
Yu Shu's family has a walk-in closet. Yu Shu's clothes are arranged according to the seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Yu Shu doesn't know how many clothes he has, but he changes his summer clothes every day and his winter clothes every two days. If his clothes get dirty, he changes them immediately.
Qi Shichen quietly watched Yu Shu observe everything. This time, he offered no reminders and remained unusually silent.
Qi Shichen took the kettle, poured hot water into the cleaner basin, threw in the cloth, rubbed it a couple of times, wrung it out, and washed his face. Then he called Yu Shu over to wash his face as well.
Yu Shu squatted down to retrieve the handkerchief from the basin.
The basin was full of hot water. Yu Shu couldn't stand the heat, and when he put his fingers in, he immediately pulled them back because they were burned.
Qi Shichen, who was standing above him, spoke up at this moment, laughed at him twice, then squatted down, took the face towel out of the basin for Yu Shu, wrung it dry, and handed the towel to Yu Shu.
Yu Shu and Qi Shichen were both squatting. Yu Shu took the handkerchief, carefully wiped her face, avoiding the wound, and then gave the handkerchief to Qi Shichen.
He simply didn't have the ability to wash and clean the handkerchief from such scalding hot water and then take it out.
Yu Shu felt like a primary school student who couldn't take care of himself. He watched as Qi Shichen put the handkerchief into the basin, rubbed and wrung it out.
"Thanks."
Yu Shu spoke softly to Qi Shichen.
"I already laughed at you, so there's no need to thank me."
Qi Shichen comforted him.
Qi Shichen wrung out the handkerchief and hung it on a nail behind the wooden door. He poured the hot water from the washbasin into another basin, and then poured some more hot water into it.
Qi Shichen sat on the edge of the bed, took off his plastic slippers, and put his feet into the basin. The water in the basin was very hot. After testing the temperature, he placed both feet on the edge of the foot bath basin.
The two people sat quietly inside without saying a word.
When the hot water in the basin cooled to a suitable temperature, Qi Shichen put his feet in to test the temperature. When he felt it wasn't too hot, he told Yu Shu to put his feet in as well.
Qi Shichen was sitting on the edge of the bed, while Yu Shu was sitting on a low stool. After seeing Qi Shichen put his feet in, Yu Shu also took off his plastic slippers and gently put his feet in as well.
The basin was small, and Yu Shu's feet were placed on Qi Shichen's insteps. Qi Shichen's feet were darker than his, while Yu Shu's skin was very fair. Even in such dim light, the difference in their skin tones was quite noticeable.
Yu Shu felt that the atmosphere between the two of them was strange, but by the time he realized it, it was too late.
He could have waited for Qi Shichen to finish washing before washing himself, so why did he do what Qi Shichen said?
But taking your feet out now seems too deliberate.
Yu Shu took her feet out after washing for a short time, picked up the foot towel draped at the foot of the bed. The foot towel was a tattered rag, but Yu Shu carefully examined it and recognized that it was a towel, only with many holes.
Why don't you throw it away even though it's rotten like this?
When Yu Shu was wiping his feet, he felt that the water and the cloth used to wash his feet were oily, and he couldn't wipe them off no matter how hard he tried.
If he couldn't get them clean, Yu Shu simply stopped wiping them. He handed the handkerchief to Qi Shichen, who took the handkerchief and dried his feet in a few quick strokes. Then, he carried the basin outside in the dark, poured the water outside, and came back in.
Qi Shichen closed the wooden door.
The wooden door has no latch, so it can't be locked from the inside; you can only pull it over to close it.
When Qi Shichen came in, he saw Yu Shu sitting on the inside of the bed, reaching out to lift the sheet to see what was underneath.
Qi Shichen walked to where the candles were placed. The candles were fixed to the window frame. He took the candle down and carried the one that was almost burned down to a stub to the bedside.
"Yu Shu, what are you doing?"
Qi Shichen asked him.
He held the candle, which was too short. After it burned, the wax dripped onto Qi Shichen's fingernails. The candle wax was very hot, but Qi Shichen's hands were thick and rough, so he didn't feel much of it.
While Qi Shichen went to get water, Yu Shu lay down on the bed for a while, but after lying down, he felt a prickling sensation under the bed, so he sat up to see what was under the bed.
Yu Shu looked at the dried plants laid out under the bed sheet, and then looked at Qi Shichen with a blank expression.
Qi Shichen immediately recognized what kind of leaves were under the bed sheet. These leaves could be dried and woven into mats to be placed under the bed as a mattress.
Qi Shichen got into bed, blew out the candle, and placed the remaining candle at the foot of the bed. In the darkness, he felt for the blanket, shook it out, and covered the two of them with it.
Yu Shu wasn't as adaptable as Qi Shichen. Once the candle went out, he was like a blind man, unable to see anything. Yu Shu touched the bed behind him and groped his way to lie down.
The pitch-black environment made Yu Shu a little scared, especially after Qi Shichen asked that question and then remained silent.
Qi Shichen didn't speak to him, but Yu Shu seemed to vaguely sense something. He felt as if he were standing in a fog, peeking through the cracks at the real world behind the fog.
"Yu Shu, once the water recedes, we'll leave this place."
Qi Shichen turned over to face Yu Shu, and the mattress beneath him rustled as he did so.
After a period of adjustment, Yu Shu's eyes were able to make out the outline of the person beside him.
"Mr. Qi, what do you like about me?"
Yu Shu spoke softly, his words even carrying a hint of self-doubt. This doubt arose when Qi Shichen questioned him, saw what he was doing, and then remained silent.
Yu Shu didn't know what the other person was thinking at that moment, but Yu Shu himself felt that Qi Shichen's silence was like a silent, inexplicable speechlessness to him, a person living in an ivory tower.
There are thousands of people who are good-looking, but Yu Shu felt that not only was his soul imperfect, but his understanding of the world was also limited.
In fact, Qi Shichen wasn't thinking about anything at that moment. He just didn't want to continue the topic and let Yu Shu see another side of the world.
There are too many people struggling with suffering, and Qi Shichen can't possibly sympathize with them all. Besides, he doesn't sympathize with them anyway. His only politeness is to pretend to be indifferent and not to reopen other people's wounds.
But Yu Shu didn't understand. Even if he saw it, he wouldn't understand. He even needed someone to enlighten him before he could know.
They had already suffered enough on their journey, and they would only be staying here for a short time. He didn't want Yu Shu to worry about these things.
He only hoped that Yu Shu would retain that same heart that had once been courageous enough to choose freedom, to leave with him, and to explore the world.
He hopes Yu Shu will always be the Little Prince.
Find yourself, find freedom, find happiness.
“Yu Shu, there is no reason for liking someone. One second I may love your appearance, and the next second I may like something you do. So if you want to point out what I like about you, I can’t describe it.”
"Because those are all part of you."
"I've said before that I'll do whatever I feel like. Since I met you, my heart races, I'm overjoyed to see you, and I'll find reasons and excuses to get close to you. All these behaviors clearly tell me my true inner desires."
"Therefore, don't underestimate yourself. Every aspect of you, whether good or bad, is a part of you, and none of them can be missing. They ultimately make up the person Yu Shu."
Hearing Qi Shichen's answer, Yu Shu felt much of his confusion dissipate, but at the same time, he felt that he was being too pretentious.
Yu Shu wanted to thank Qi Shichen for clearing up her doubts, but before she could say anything, Qi Shichen spoke up again.
“Yu Shu, I also have my shortcomings.”
"For example, right now, I want to go back on my word. I want to kiss you without your permission."
What?
Before Yu Shu could react, the person beside him pressed down on him.
Yu Shu was startled by Qi Shichen's action and quickly reached out his hands to push Qi Shichen away, but the other party was like a wall and he could not be pushed away no matter what he did.
"Yu Shu, do you agree to my request?"
In the darkness, Qi Shichen pressed the man down and then politely asked him a question.
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