Chapter 86 Watching a Movie
The midday sun was strong, and Molly wasn't wearing a hat; her fair, snow-white skin looked almost transparent in the sunlight.
She was clearly a person untouched by worldly dust, yet now she was dressed in a pastoral style, as beautiful as a painting, and the twelve wobbling geese added a touch of charm to the scene.
Ji Hefeng stood there, stunned. At that moment, he had only one wish: to stay quietly by her side and never leave again.
Molly acted as if she hadn't seen Ji Hefeng, calmly walking past him and heading home. She first herded the geese into the goose shed, then put the chopped greens in a wooden basin for them to peck at and eat.
She then put the fish from the bucket into the water tank, washed her hands, and went to the kitchen.
"I'll help you," Ji Hefeng said.
Molly still didn't respond to him. She washed the romaine lettuce, and Ji Hefeng helped her fetch water. She fried eggs, and Ji Hefeng helped her start the fire. After the water boiled, she put in the noodles. When the noodles were almost cooked, she added the romaine lettuce, and it was done in less than a minute.
When the noodles were cooked, Lu Lu and Mo Chuyang returned.
"Mom, I can smell the aroma of noodles." Lu Lu went to wash his hands first, and then went up to Molly. "Uncle said that the chili sauce you made is very fragrant. Mom, when are you going to make chili sauce? Chili sauce is the best for noodles."
"Let's wait until the peppers in the vegetable garden turn red." Molly served Lu Lu a bowl of noodles, then served Mo Chuyang a bowl, and finally served herself a bowl.
Ji Hefeng watched her with doting eyes from the side and did it himself.
She fried eight eggs, which shows that she still cares about him.
After lunch, Ji Hefeng took a bunch of tickets out of his bag and placed them in front of Molly.
Molly looked down and saw a bicycle ticket, a radio ticket, several milk powder tickets, sugar tickets, cloth tickets, and other various receipts, all of which were usually quite valuable.
"Are you free tomorrow? Let's go to the county and use all these tickets," Ji Hefeng said.
Molly took the ticket but didn't answer him.
Ji Hefeng touched his nose; it seemed that making her calm down wouldn't be so easy.
Molly had a habit of taking a nap after lunch, and she went back to her room after lunch. Ji Hefeng followed her into the room and closed the door.
She didn't refuse him entry. Ji Hefeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't want to sleep on the floor in the living room and be laughed at by the children.
Molly went to bed by herself, lay down against the wall, and closed her eyes.
"This time it was my fault," Ji Hefeng said sincerely.
Molly's breathing remained unchanged, and her eyelids didn't even twitch; she seemed to have fallen asleep.
“I shouldn’t have been so careless with my life,” Ji Hefeng added. He didn’t tell Molly that his superiors had ordered them to protect Mr. Wu and what Mr. Wu possessed, at all costs. This meant that even if they died, Mr. Wu and his possessions had to remain intact.
As a soldier, obeying orders is his duty, and he cannot disobey them.
Molly remained silent. She knew that if Ji Hefeng were to face a similar situation again, he would make the same choice.
She was angry at Ji Hefeng, and also at herself.
She was angry at herself for not being able to control her emotions, angry at herself for not being calm, angry at herself for knowing that this was Ji Hefeng's duty, yet she was still angry...
"In a few years, when I'm discharged from the military, I'll stay by your side every day, okay?" In those few years, he needs to become strong quickly, eliminate the enemy, and have no worries. Then he can stay with her and the children every day.
Molly turned to the side, her back to him. This wasn't what she wanted—not a career change, not companionship, not compromise... She didn't even understand what was wrong with herself.
Molly's thoughts were in turmoil. She didn't know when she fell asleep, and when she woke up, it was already dark. She could hear children's voices outside, and smell the aroma of food.
“Dad went to his office. He said he had to write some documents,” Mo Chuyang said.
Molly nodded upon hearing this, but didn't say anything about not wanting to see Ji Hefeng. Conflicts between adults shouldn't involve children.
"Sister, I bought tofu. We'll have tofu and fish soup tonight." Mo An was in charge of cooking in the kitchen.
"Mom, I'll stir-fry a small pumpkin for you in a bit." Lu Lu was cutting a pumpkin. "I'll also make a cold black fungus salad and a stir-fried bok choy."
Mo Chuyang was washing vegetables, throwing the unwanted leaves into the goose coop. Next, she had to catch the chicks and put them back in their cages, then sweep the floor, busy as a little bee.
Molly, on the other hand, became the most idle person. She sat in a chair, staring blankly at the sky. When Ji Hefeng entered the room, he saw her absent-minded appearance, and his heart felt as if it had been pricked by needles, with a fine, dense pain spreading through him.
He instinctively reached out and hugged Molly, but Molly, who had regained her senses, kicked him away with such force that Ji Hefeng was caught off guard and fell flat on his back, lying on the ground, completely stunned.
The three children stared in shock at the scene, their mouths agape.
"Cough cough. I'm fine." Ji Hefeng got up from the ground by himself, his smile tinged with embarrassment.
He moved closer to Molly, but this time he didn't dare hug her. Instead, he moved a chair and sat down next to Molly.
"Let's go see a movie in our county tomorrow," Ji Hefeng said.
Molly glanced at him but remained silent.
“I’ll buy a bicycle for Mo’an to ride to school, and a radio for you, so you won’t be bored at home. Or what kind of books do you want to read? We can go to the library and pick some out. I remember the library has a lot of books on farming. Or would you like to read novels, newspapers, or comic books?” Ji Hefeng noticed that Molly was still ignoring him, but her eyes lit up.
It seems to work.
Ji Hefeng began to look forward to the next day.
Ji Hefeng slept soundly through the night. When he woke up, Molly was no longer in bed; she was preparing breakfast for the three children: egg pancakes with cucumber slices and freshly ground soy milk.
After Ji and Feng got up, the three children woke up one after another, brushed their teeth, washed their faces, ate breakfast, said goodbye to Molly, and finally went out to school.
"I've arranged for a vehicle from the camp; we'll go to the county with it." Ji Hefeng said, filling his water bottle.
Molly glanced at him, then went back inside to get the tickets and money.
The two went out one after the other, with Molly walking in front and Ji Hefeng silently following behind. When they arrived at the camp gate, they saw a car waiting there.
"Deputy Regiment Commander Ji, sister-in-law!" The soldier in the driver's seat waved to the two of them with a bright smile.
Molly nodded slightly to the other person. "Hello."
Ji Hefeng opened the car door for Molly and told the soldier, "Drive carefully, don't jol me too much."
"Absolutely not. Don't worry, Deputy Commander Ji, I will definitely demonstrate my highest driving skills."
The journey was a bit monotonous. Molly gazed out the window at the scenery, and eventually closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Upon discovering that she had fallen asleep, Ji Hefeng, who had been talking to the soldier, stopped, gently cradled Molly's head, and placed it on his shoulder. The soldier, watching this scene through the rearview mirror, silently kept quiet.
It took two hours to get to the county. The soldier was going to deliver a document and had arranged to meet Ji Hefeng at the department store that afternoon.
"Should we go to the library first, or see a movie first?" Ji Hefeng asked Molly.
Molly had heard of the movie, and it had even been shown in the village, but she had to stay home and didn't go. Mo An went instead. She was somewhat curious about the movie, so she said, "Let's watch the movie first."
The two went to the cinema. Ji Hefeng chose the earliest showing, bought two movie tickets, and some sunflower seeds. He originally wanted to buy soda, but then they had to check tickets.
There weren't many people watching the movie at this time; only about ten people were scattered throughout the theater. Ji Hefeng chose a seat right in the middle. It was a war movie, one that Ji Hefeng had seen before. His attention wasn't on the screen, but on Molly. Seeing Molly's wide eyes, unblinking and completely focused, he felt both adorable and heartbroken.
From now on, he will bring her the best of everything.
Ji Hefeng peeled sunflower seeds for Molly and put the kernels in her hand. With his prompting, Molly mechanically put the seeds in her mouth. She probably couldn't even taste what the seeds tasted like.
But Ji Hefeng seemed to enjoy it immensely. He would peel a few melon seeds, then pinch and squeeze her hand before placing the kernels into her palm. Molly, at this moment, didn't resist and was incredibly obedient.
Molly was still wanting more after watching the movie.
"We still need to buy things today, so we don't have enough time. We'll come back next time," Ji Hefeng promised.
Molly gave him a long, thoughtful look. "You have time?"
“Of course. I have a two-week vacation. If you’d like, we can come tomorrow,” Ji Hefeng said confidently.
Molly shook her head. "It's too far."
Without thinking, Ji Hefeng blurted out, "Then when we go to Kyoto, I'll take you to the movies every day."
Going to Kyoto?
This was something Molly hadn't considered.
Ji Hefeng also felt it was too early to talk about this now.
"Let's go to the library first, and then to the department store."
There weren't many books in the library, so Molly picked out some history, planting, and animal husbandry books. When she went to pay, she saw Ji Hefeng walking over with a large stack of comic books.
How come she didn't see it just now?
No ticket is needed to buy books, just pay.
After buying the books, the two went to the department store. The car was already parked outside the department store, and Ji and Feng put the books in the car first.
"Let's go eat at the state-run restaurant first," Ji Hefeng said.
"Just the two of us?" Molly gestured to Ji Hefeng to invite the people in the car.
Ji Hefeng: "I've already called him, but he's not going. We'll pack him some food later."
The state-run restaurant had roast duck, roast pigeon, and stewed lamb spine on the menu today—all dishes Molly had never tried before. Without asking Ji Hefeng, Molly took her ticket and ordered one of each at the window. She also ordered one for the soldier driving the car, planning to put it in his lunchbox and deliver it to him later.
Ji Hefeng sat in his seat, watching Molly spend money, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up. Even the way she spent money was so beautiful.
Unfortunately, he's penniless now and can't give her any more.
This time, besides his mission, he also reconnected with an old friend on the other side. Fortunately, the friend still remembered the Ji family's kindness and didn't embezzle the Ji family's share of the money he earned.
Once the situation improves, his money will be able to legitimately enter Molly's pocket.
Ji Hefeng firmly believes that such days will not last long.
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