Chapter 81 The Clingy Puppy
After leaving the post office, Cheng Ying took Long Buxi back to her house in town. She put her mailbag inside and introduced the house to him, saying, "This is the house I bought, my home. You'll stay here for the next couple of days. After we get married, you'll live here with me."
Long Buxi stood in the courtyard, looking around at her house.
The old house, renovated with blue bricks, stands proudly in the sunlight. The walls are slightly yellowed, and the eaves have a Hui-style upturned corner. The courtyard is large and spacious. The leaves of a grape vine have withered and fallen, but the courtyard is clean and tidy, full of a rustic and old-fashioned beauty.
Is this Cheng Ying's home?
Long Buxi stepped into her living room and looked around at the various furnishings, saying, "You Han people's houses are very big and spacious. They must be very comfortable to live in."
Cheng Ying poured him a cup of hot water from the kettle, which had already cooled down, and gave it to him to drink. "Not all Han people's houses are this big and spacious. Many city people, the whole family, are crammed into a narrow pigeon coop of just over ten square meters. They have difficulty sleeping, let alone being comfortable."
For example, the place where my parents live only has two rooms. When guests come, they either have to squeeze in with my sisters and me, or they have to stay at someone else's house.
I bought this house simply so I could sleep more comfortably, and also so my mom and sister could come and live with me. Since you'll be living here with me, you'd better be prepared to get along with them.
Long Buxi hummed in agreement, took the cup, and drank all the water inside.
Cheng Ying stood in front of him, looking up at him.
Long Buxi is very tall, with a minimum height of 1.85 meters, while she is only 1.65 meters tall.
She was considered tall among women in the southwest region, but in front of Long Buxi, her head only reached his chest, making her look particularly petite.
Long Buxi looked down at her, thinking she wanted to say something, but after waiting for a long time, she didn't say anything and just quietly looked him over.
He looked at her for a while, then reached out and touched her wind-blown, messy hair, smoothing it down for her.
Cheng Ying felt the warmth of his large hand and the slight itch of his hair brushing against her neck. She looked away, lowered her head, and placed the empty water glass he had drunk from on the table.
Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly heard a loud rumbling sound coming from Long Buxi's stomach. The sound was quite loud and could be heard very clearly in the quiet room.
Cheng Ying chuckled and looked up at him again: "Are you hungry?"
Long Buxi nodded and said frankly, "I'm hungry."
It was almost dinnertime, and Wan Shuhui had actually told them in advance to come home for dinner later.
However, since Long Buxi was hungry, Cheng Ying didn't intend to let him go hungry, so she said, "I'll take you to a restaurant to eat something good, so you can see our Han people's food customs."
She pulled Long Buxi towards the door, but Long Buxi didn't move and said two words, "I'm not going."
Cheng Ying paused, suddenly realizing that this was probably Long Buxi's first time leaving the village to come to a Han Chinese town. He was not used to Han customs and did not want to go to crowded places or accept other people's strange looks.
His appearance was so striking that on the way to town, the passersby all stared at him in amazement.
Even though those people meant him no harm, he must have felt uncomfortable and naturally didn't want to go to crowded places.
Cheng Ying released his hand and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, it was my oversight. You're new here and don't want to go to crowded places, so we won't go. What would you like to eat? I'll make it for you."
Long Buxi asked, "What food do you have at home?"
Cheng Ying replied, "I'm often away on mail delivery, so I only have noodles and rice stored at home. Would you like noodles or rice? If you want rice, I'll have to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some vegetables to cook."
Long Buxi succinctly replied: "Noodles."
He mainly didn't want to trouble her to buy groceries and cook. The two of them walked on mountain roads for a day and a half, and he could tell that Cheng Ying was actually very tired.
Cheng Ying chuckled, "Alright, then I'll go start the fire."
She walked towards the kitchen in the front yard, with Long Buxi following closely behind her.
The kitchen, which is near the front yard, is about ten square meters. It's quite small, and it's filled with pots, pans, stoves, cabinets, and other utensils, making the kitchen seem even smaller.
Long Buxi was tall and strong. He followed Cheng Ying into the kitchen, and wherever she went, he followed. The two of them were squeezed together, making the kitchen seem even more crowded.
Helpless, Cheng Ying said to Long Buxi, "Why don't you go wait in the living room? I'll cook some noodles and bring them to you. After I'm done cooking, I'll boil some water on the coal stove, and we can both take a hot shower."
Long Buxi didn't move. "Am I bothering you by standing here?"
Cheng Ying added a handful of dry firewood to the coal stove, struck a match, lit the firewood, and said, "No, it's just that it feels a bit cramped for the two of us in the kitchen."
“It’s okay, I don’t feel crowded,” Long Buxi said, standing next to her.
Cheng Ying: ......
What can I say? If he wants to stay by her side, then let him stay.
She realized that ever since they left Pucang Village, he had been like a clingy puppy, always sticking to her side. He followed her everywhere she went, and she wondered if it was because he was unfamiliar with the area and afraid of getting lost.
She lit the fire, lit the coal stove, put the pot on, added water, and Cheng Ying, seeing him idle, instructed him: "Go to the flower bed in the front yard and pick some small green vegetables, some scallion leaves and garlic leaves for me, so I can cook noodles."
She planted various vegetable seeds in the flower beds in both the front and back yards. After more than half a month, the vegetables in the flower beds grew lush and green and were ready to eat.
Many vegetables are riddled with holes from insects; if we don't pick them soon, they'll all be eaten by the insects.
Long Buxi looked in the direction she pointed and saw the vegetables in the flower bed by the window. Without saying anything, she picked up the bamboo sieve that she had placed on the stove, picked a handful of tender green bok choy and put it in the basket. She also picked some scallions and garlic leaves. She squatted down by the water vat in the corner of the yard, picked up a ladle, scooped water and washed the vegetables clean.
While he was squatting by the water tank washing vegetables, the black cat, which had been closely watching him ever since he entered the house, suddenly jumped down from the wall and scratched his leg, the uninvited guest who had broken into the house.
As if she had eyes in the back of her head, Long Buxi turned around and grabbed Xiao Hei's paw, looking at Xiao Hei with a cold gaze and exuding murderous intent.
Cats and dogs are very sensitive to the various scents on humans and can distinguish whether a person is good or bad.
Xiao Hei could sense the unfriendly aura of the human in front of it, and it cried out in fright, writhing and struggling in Long Buxi's hands.
Hearing the shout, Cheng Ying looked up at the window and yelled, "Long Buxi, let go of Xiao Hei!"
Long Buxi frowned, released the cat, picked up the washed vegetables, and walked into the kitchen.
Xiao Hei ran up to Cheng Ying faster than him, its fur standing on end as it stared at Long Buxi, meowing incessantly, as if it were complaining to Cheng Ying.
Cheng Ying bent down, reached out and stroked its head to soothe it, "Don't bark. He's my boyfriend and my future husband. He'll be living with me at home from now on. He's not a stranger, and he's not a bad person. Don't scratch or bite him, or you'll upset him."
She stood up again and said to Long Buxi, "It was the cat of the previous owner of this house. Now I take care of it, so it's my cat. It doesn't like strangers coming to the house and it will scratch strangers. Don't take it to heart, and don't hurt it. I don't want to see this cat get hurt by you."
The cat and the human, sensing the warning in her words, fell silent and stopped tormenting and fighting with each other.
Cheng Ying put the noodles into the pot, then placed the washed scallion leaves and garlic leaves on the cutting board, and picked up the knife to chop them up.
Long Buxi stood at the kitchen doorway, watching the sunlight stream in through the kitchen window and reflect onto Cheng Ying, who was chopping scallions in front of the window. This bathed Cheng Ying in sunlight, making her radiate light and look exceptionally gentle and beautiful.
A sudden longing arose in Long Buxi's heart; she wanted to hold this warm, sun-like person tightly in her arms, so that she could never leave him, belong only to him, and be unable to illuminate anyone else.
He thought this in his heart and did this. He walked over in a few steps, came up behind Cheng Ying, and hugged her around the waist.
Cheng Ying was jolted forward slightly by his sudden force. She quickly steadied herself, put down the kitchen knife, and said helplessly, "What's wrong with you today? Why are you being so clingy?"
Long Buxi rested his head on her right shoulder, inhaling her delicate fragrance, and softly asked, "Cheng Ying, do you like me? Will you stay with me forever and never leave me?"
Cheng Ying couldn't answer that question.
She had a good impression of Long Buxi, but she couldn't say she liked him. She only agreed to be with him because he coerced her. Later, after spending time with him, she gradually developed feelings for him, but she was still far from truly liking him.
She felt that being with Long Buxi was beneficial and harmless, and the best way to deal with Wei Mucheng. As for her, it was less about liking him and more about finding him more useful and cost-effective compared to Wei Mucheng.
Long Buxi is stubborn and will stop at nothing to be with her.
She was strong-willed and unwilling to get entangled with Wei Muchen any longer, or be controlled by him any longer.
To put it bluntly, their relationship is based on mutual benefit.
Talking about liking someone or having feelings for them is a bit inappropriate.
Cheng Ying silently pried Long Buxi's hand away and changed the subject: "The noodles need to be cooked. I have to take them out. If I cook them any longer, they'll get mushy."
She walked to the coal stove, blanched the bok choy in the pot, then scooped the noodles and bok choy into two large bowls with seasonings. She sprinkled chopped green onions and garlic leaves on the noodles, handed a bowl of noodles to Long Buxi, and said, "Let's go eat in the living room."
Long Buxi watched her departing figure carrying the noodles, his eyes darkening like unfathomable waters of an abyss, brimming with unpredictable danger. Silently, he carried the noodles and followed her into the living room.
The two sat facing each other, each with their heads down, eating their noodles, without exchanging a single word.
Cheng Ying noticed Long Buxi's displeasure. After finishing her noodles and washing the dishes, she asked him softly, "It's still early, and the water isn't hot yet. How about I take you to the dock in our town to see some different scenery? You've never seen a ship before, have you?"
Long Buxi looked at her coldly, his gaze so chilling it seemed he wanted to tear her skin open and see what was going on in her heart.
Cheng Ying felt a chill run down her spine from his cold gaze. She felt like he was an enraged beast, ready to be completely consumed by her at the slightest provocation.
How could she forget that Long Buxi was a capricious and ruthless eccentric?
He openly confessed his love to her, wanting to confirm whether her feelings were the same as his, but she gave him no answer.
This was undoubtedly telling him that she didn't like him at all, didn't love him, and that she was only with him because he coerced her; she had absolutely no feelings for him.
This was undoubtedly a blow to him.
So what? In the beginning, wasn't it because he threatened her life to force her to be with him?
If he wants her to develop more feelings for him, genuinely like him, and accept his love, he will inevitably have to give more of his own feelings.
Cheng Ying pursed her lips, about to explain to him, when he suddenly spoke up, "Okay, let's go to the dock and see the ship you mentioned."
He turned and left the courtyard first.
Cheng Ying was taken aback, not expecting him to agree to go out for a walk. She quickly locked the door and followed him out.
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A note from the author: Happy National Day everyone!
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