Chapter 40
The final exams are over and students are going on winter vacation.
Wen Yue, Grandma Fang, and Lulu still live in the county town. They talked to Zhou Yao on the phone two days ago and they will be back in more than a week.
On the first day of the holiday, Wen Yue cleaned the yard inside and out. Grandma Fang wanted to help, but she persuaded her not to.
Grandma Fang was in poor health, so she stayed still if possible, and she just swept and wiped the furniture. Wen Yue couldn't do the heavy work, so she could only wait for Zhou Yao and the others to come back.
"Sister, why did my brother and the others come back so late?" Fang Lulu, wearing a pink down jacket, leaned against Wen Yue, her face flushed because she had just played outside.
She is much more outgoing than before, and has gained a lot of weight, making her look chubby and cute.
"It will probably arrive in two days." Wen Yue calculated the time and replied with her eyes bent. She picked up the tongs and pulled out two sweet potatoes from the brazier. They were a little hot, so she put them aside to cool for a while before handing them to Lulu. "I miss my brother."
Fang Lulu nodded.
Wen Yue took a bite of the sweet and soft sweet potato and asked with a smile: "Which brother do you miss?"
The little girl blinked her round, watery eyes and replied innocently: "I miss everyone, but I miss my brother the most. I haven't seen him for a long time, and he never called me."
Before, when Zhou Yao came back from a phone call, he would bring Fang Shitao and Ren Yeliang with him, so Wen Yue also called Grandma Fang and Lulu. The little girl was very interested in the phone calls, and she would talk for a long time before leaving. Zhou Yao and his family seemed to be very busy during this period, and they hadn't called for a long time. The little girl would nag every two days.
Wen Yue felt that maybe she didn't want to talk to Fang Shitao, but just wanted to play on the phone.
It was drizzling outside these two days, and the weather was cold and damp. Wen Yue didn't want to go out, so she stayed at home every day, roasting sweet potatoes by the fire. She also taught Lulu homework, tutored her, and read extracurricular books borrowed from the library. She was quite satisfied with her life.
It rarely snows in coastal cities, and it basically only rains in winter.
When Wen Yue just got up that day, she noticed that the temperature seemed to have dropped a lot. She looked out the window and found that the small courtyard outside seemed to be all white.
Wen Yue was stunned for a moment, put on her clothes and wrapped herself tightly before opening the door. What she saw was indeed a sea of white.
It’s snowing!
Wen Yue's eyes lit up.
It rarely snowed where she lived in her previous life, it was always rain and snow, and she had only seen large flakes of snow like this on TV and in videos.
Wen Yue stretched out her hand and felt the cool touch of large snowflakes falling on her palm. She raised her chin slightly, and snowflakes floated under the eaves and landed on her thick and long eyelashes.
It is really beautiful, but it is also really cold.
Wen Yue went back to the house, took out the scarf she had woven, wrapped it around her neck, and put on the hat she had woven, covering herself up tightly. Then she went to boil water to wash up and prepare breakfast.
It's so cold, you need to eat something hot.
Wen Yue prepared white porridge. In summer, burning a fire is torture, but in winter, burning a fire is a kind of enjoyment. The red-orange flames jumping in the earthen stove are reflected on the body and are very warm.
"Yueyue, you got up so early." Grandma Fang also got up. Seeing the vast expanse of white outside, her cloudy eyes widened a little: "Oh, it's snowing. Next year will definitely be a good year."
Wen Yue nodded with a smile: "I think so too, Lulu hasn't woken up yet"
"Wake up! This child is a bit of a bed-slacker." Grandma Fang smiled kindly and gently.
"It's cold, so it's normal to stay in bed." Wen Yue pointed to the pot in the back and said, "There's hot water in the pot. Use hot water to wash your face, not cold water."
Grandma Fang: "Okay."
The snow suddenly became heavy, and the thumb-sized snowflakes were clearly visible. The roof, which originally had only a small layer of snow, gradually became thicker. Wen Yue stood up and opened the lid of the pot to take a look. The curling white smoke rose from the pot, blurring his vision.
“Thump, thump—”
There was a knock on the door.
Wen Yue glanced at the door. Who would knock on the door on such a snowy day? Was it the Nianqiu sisters?
"Who is it?" Wen Yue asked loudly.
"Me." Li Nianqiu's voice came from behind the door.
"Nian Qiu" Wen Yue stood up and walked behind the door in the snow, pulling out the wood behind the door, "How can you..."
When he opened the door, what he saw was not Li Nianqiu, but a familiar tall figure.
Wen Yue raised her eyes and met a pair of deep, dark eyes. She paused and her clear eyes lit up instantly: "Zhou Yao"
There were many white snowflakes on his head, his eyes were obviously bloodshot, and he looked exhausted.
"Well, I'm back." Zhou Yao curled his tightly pursed thin lips, and his wrinkled brows relaxed, like ice and snow melting away.
Wen Yue looked Zhou Yao up and down, with heartache in her eyes: "Why have you lost so much weight?" His facial features were more three-dimensionally thinner than before.
"Have you lost weight?" Zhou Yao raised his hand and touched his face.
They hadn't had much rest in the past two months, and their diets were average, so it was normal for them to lose weight. But seeing Wen Yue's distressed face, with the corners of her mouth turned down, she looked like she was about to cry but didn't.
He immediately replied: "It's not thinner, it's more expanded."
Wen Yue: "I think you have come to terms with it."
"Sister-in-law, why did you see Brother Yao? Lao Fang and I are still here!" Ren Yeliang shouted to attract Wen Yue's attention.
Wen Yue turned around and looked over, hesitating for two seconds: "...Yeliang, you seem to have gained weight." It can't be said that he has gained weight, but rather that he has gained strength, and the same is true for Lao Fang.
Before, Ren Yeliang and Fang Shitao were both skinny, very skinny. But now, they both look much stronger and darker.
Ren Yeliang: "Yes, I've gained some weight, sister-in-law. Let's go in and talk. It's really cold outside."
"Yes, you guys come in first. You probably haven't had breakfast yet." Wen Yue finally reacted and quickly moved aside to let them in. She exchanged glances with Li Nianqiu, who was the last one to come in. Seeing the teasing in the latter's eyes, she blinked and smiled back.
Grandma Fang heard the noise and came out. When she saw Zhou Yao and the other two, she was so happy that her eyes turned red. She grabbed Fang Shitao's arm and kept saying, "You've gained weight."
Wen Yue had only prepared breakfast for herself and Grandma Fang Lulu. Now that Zhou Yao and his friends were back, and Li Nianqiu and her sister were also here, this little porridge was not enough. Fortunately, she had previously found it troublesome to pack a lot of instant food such as dumplings and wontons and put them in the refrigerator, so now she could take them out and cook them.
"…The atmosphere at home has been a bit bad these past two days, so I thought of bringing Xiangdong over for some fresh air, and I ran into Zhou Yao and the others at the entrance of the alley." Li Nianqiu helped Wen Yue light a fire, and explained why she ran into Zhou Yao and the other two.
Wen Yue blinked: "That old lady in your family is causing trouble again."
Li Nianqiu nodded calmly: "It doesn't count. My second aunt said that she wanted to divide the family, but my grandmother disagreed and we had a quarrel." Given her grandmother's strong personality, there was no way she would agree to divide the family, unless the old lady died.
"Your second aunt is so bold as to bring up the idea of dividing the family," Wen Yue was very surprised.
Li Nianqiu said: "It must be Second Uncle who asked me to bring it up. If it weren't for Second Uncle's wife, she wouldn't dare to bring up the idea of splitting up the family. Don't worry about it. Let them argue. It has nothing to do with me anyway."
"That's right." Wen Yue nodded, "We can leave here in half a year."
Li Nianqiu smiled.
"Let me do it. Your man just came back. Go and chat with him." Li Nianqiu took the spatula from Wen Yue's hand and kept calling him "your man". Wen Yue felt a little embarrassed.
But for things like this, you become immune to them after hearing them twice.
Wen Yue blushed for only two seconds before she recovered and replied with a smile: "Then I'll trouble you."
Li Nianqiu waved his hand: "Go ahead."
Wen Yue thought for a moment, then filled a basin with hot water and took a clean new towel inside. When she pushed open the tightly closed door, she saw Zhou Yao had just taken off his outer clothes, revealing his lean and strong inverted triangle figure.
Wen Yue was stunned for two seconds, and felt the cold wind blowing in through the crack of the door. She immediately entered the room and gently kicked the door with her foot: "Do you want to wash your face?"
"Okay." Zhou Yao agreed, and without rushing to put on his clothes, he walked to Wen Yue with his bare chest, took the towel from her hand, put it in the basin to wet it, and squeezed it dry.
White smoke rose from the basin filled with hot water.
Zhou Yao wiped his face twice casually, then wet the towel again and rolled it out to wipe his chest. When he was about to wipe his back, he stopped, looked up at Wen Yue in front of him, and raised his eyebrows: "The back is not enough, you help me wipe it."
"...Turn around."
Wen Yue took the towel and put it back into the basin and rubbed it twice, then waved to Zhou Yao and asked him to turn around.
Zhou Yao turned around obediently.
The muscles on his body are very handsome, not like some muscular men in later generations who have trained their muscles to be exaggerated, but just the right type, the type most popular with girls. Broad shoulders and narrow waist, the waistline is not included in the belt of the pants.
Wen Yue pursed her lips and rubbed Zhou Yao's back with a towel a few times: "Okay, put on your clothes, don't catch a cold."
She was holding the basin and was about to pour it out, but Zhou Yao gently held her wrist and whispered: "Stay, stay with me more."
Zhou Yao's palms were burning.
Wen Yue's eyelashes trembled slightly: "Put on your clothes first."
“It’s not cold.”
Wen Yue said nothing and just looked at him.
Zhou Yao was defeated. She sighed, picked up the clothes beside her and put them on. Then she put on the black turtleneck sweater that Wen Yue knitted for her: "Now you're dressed. You can accompany me now."
The turtleneck sweater covered his chin, his eyebrows were soft and affectionate, with a slight smile.
Looking at Zhou Yao's thin face, Wen Yue's heart softened and her voice softened: "Let's talk slowly after breakfast. It doesn't matter if you spend a little time like that. Be obedient."
Zhou Yao couldn't resist this soft voice and tone, and immediately raised his hands in surrender and compromised: "Okay, let's have breakfast first."
"Put on your coat and go out." Wen Yue narrowed her eyes.
Zhou Yao obediently put on his coat and followed Wen Yue out of the room, holding a basin of water in his hand.
"You're out just in time. Breakfast is ready." Li Nianqiu saw the young couple coming out one after another, and a slight auntie smile appeared on her face.
Ren Yeliang and Fang Shitao also changed their clothes and came out.
I hadn't changed my clothes for several days on the train. Although it was cold, the train smelled like everything and my clothes were starting to smell bad.
Fang Lulu was obviously very happy. She stayed in Fang Shitao's arms and refused to get down. She hugged Fang Shitao's neck tightly, as if she was afraid that her brother would disappear if she let go. Her eyes were red, obviously she had been crying.
We had breakfast in the house. The table was crowded with people and filled with Ren Yeliang's loud voice, making the place very lively.
Li Nianqiu was very interested in everything about Shencheng, and asked questions about Shencheng while eating. Ren Yeliang was a talkative person, and basically answered whatever Li Nianqiu asked.
"From this perspective, Shanghai's future development should be among the best in the country." Li Nianqiu thought thoughtfully, thinking that it would be possible to change his aspiration to Shanghai, as there is a lot of room for development there.
Ren Yeliang gulped down his hot soup and said incoherently: "...Of course, there is a lot of potential in Shanghai, people there earn at least three or four hundred a month! Look at us, we only earn a few dozen a month, tsk tsk, we can't compare."
Wen Yue was also listening, but Ren Yeliang didn't reveal much about what they had been doing in Shanghai in the past few months. He only said that Shanghai was developing very fast, but didn't say what they were busy with in Shanghai.
After breakfast, Xiangdong rushed to wash the dishes.
Li Nianqiu, Ren Yeliang and a few others sat in Grandma Fang's room, warming themselves by the fire, and continued to ask questions related to Shencheng.
Wen Yue and Zhou Yao returned to the room.
"I'm a little sleepy, stay with me for a while," Zhou Yao asked in a low voice.
Although she was not sleepy, Wen Yue still nodded in agreement, took off her coat and got under the quilt, leaving room outside for Zhou Yao.
Zhou Yao also took off his coat and lay on the bed. He stretched out his long arms and pulled Wen Yue into his arms.
She pressed her face tightly against Zhou Yao's chest, listening to his slow and powerful heartbeat, and asked softly: "What have you been doing in Shencheng these past few months? You must be exhausted. You have really lost a lot of weight."
"It's OK. I'm not really tired, just a bit busy." Zhou Yao replied, "It's normal to feel a little tired at the beginning."
Wen Yue asked: "What are you busy with?"
Zhou Yao: "What else can we be busy with? Of course, we are busy looking for ways to make money..." His voice became smaller and slower, and gradually he died away.
Wen Yue raised her eyes and saw that Zhou Yao had fallen asleep with his eyes closed. His breathing was steady and even, and the dark circles under his eyes were unusually obvious.
If you can even fall asleep while chatting, you must be exhausted.
With a bit of heartache in her eyes, she raised her hand to smooth Zhou Yao's frowning brows. She wanted to get up, but Zhou Yao held her hand tightly and refused to let go. In order not to wake Zhou Yao up, Wen Yue could only lie beside him obediently.
As I lay there, I began to feel sleepy and fell asleep for a while.
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