Acts of bravery
This was the first time in Xu Tangmian's memory that she had slept in the same bed with an adult man.
In order to prevent Li Yutao from seeing through their fake marriage, the two, who had not yet reconciled, had no choice but to pretend that nothing was wrong and sleep together.
Even though she knew in her heart that Teacher Li and Sister Zhi were outside, and that Yu Chunsheng wouldn't do anything to her, Xu Tangmian still couldn't sleep.
What's worse is that there's a man next to her, so she can't even turn over too freely, for fear of giving him any room to find fault.
She spent the night in fear and trembling. She didn't know when she fell asleep, only that when the alarm clock rang the next day, Yu Chunsheng and the car were gone.
For three consecutive days, it was as if she were dreaming that night.
After work on Friday, Li Yutao invited her to go to town. Xu Tangmian thought that since the principal wouldn't approve her letter of introduction, she might as well give her a gift, so she went to town with Li Yutao.
That's why they say you can't let someone else hold the steering wheel. Xu Tangmian couldn't ride a bike, so she could only sit on the back of Li Yutao's bicycle. Unexpectedly, Li Yutao took her directly to the supply and marketing cooperative where Yu Chunsheng worked.
Based on her previous behavior, Xu Tangmian almost suspected that she was an intermediary for Yu Chunsheng.
Fortunately, Yu Chunsheng wasn't a salesperson, so Xu Tangmian didn't have to worry about being seen by him. After she and Li Yutao went inside, they each browsed their own things and agreed to meet at the entrance.
Xu Tangmian was looking for a liquor and tobacco counter. The village sold too few kinds of liquor; if she wanted to give a gift, it had to be at least the Zhonghua brand. She wouldn't even look at the ordinary brands, let alone give them to others.
Logically, such a popular item should be displayed in a prominent location, but I don't know if she went astray or what, she couldn't find it after a long time.
They actually found Yu Chunsheng's colleague who had visited their home before... and the colleague even kindly called out Yu Chunsheng's name.
When Xu Tangmian saw Yu Chunsheng again, he looked a bit more haggard than a few days ago, but he was still strikingly handsome in the crowd. Even his slightly disheveled hair added a touch of messy beauty to his appearance.
Yu Chunsheng beckoned her over, and the two went into a quiet area reserved for employees to talk.
Yu Chunsheng kept his head down, his emotions unreadable, but his tone remained as steady as ever: "You've come to get a divorce?"
"No!" Xu Tangmian denied instinctively.
Upon hearing her answer, Yu Chunsheng suddenly looked up, then quickly turned his face away.
"Then what are you doing here? The village shops should have everything here."
Xu Tangmian didn't answer him, but instead looked him over and hesitated before asking, "Where have you been staying these past few days?"
"I've been staying at a colleague's house for a few nights now, and I'm looking for a place to live. I've arranged to go see one tomorrow when I'm off work."
Xu Tangmian felt a little embarrassed. She was the one who should have left, and the house and its furnishings were all provided by Yu Chunsheng.
But she really couldn't do things as well as he did in a short time. She wasn't familiar with the affairs here, and didn't even know which agency or which people to contact when renting a house.
Perhaps she shouldn't have done that. As she said before, bowing her head won't cost her anything.
Xu Tangmian mustered her courage and finally made up her mind to ask him to go back, but suddenly a loud noise came from outside.
Yu Chunsheng's expression changed, and he darted away like an arrow released from a bow.
Xu Tangmian followed behind him and saw that there was a commotion outside, with a crowd spontaneously forming a circle. She didn't know what had happened.
She asked Yu Chunsheng's colleague, who had previously visited her home, "What's wrong?"
My colleague frowned: “The newly commissioned chemical plant in town has introduced a batch of Dongde equipment. The manufacturer sent an old expert to debug it, and the director of the town’s investment promotion bureau personally received him.” He nodded, “That’s why he’s having an attack.”
Xu Tangmian wasn't tall enough, so she hopped around a few times before she could get past the crowd and see that there were several people in suits inside, all looking extremely flustered.
One of the older men had a livid face and was questioning the head of the supply and marketing cooperative. His voice wasn't loud but it carried a lot of authority, much like the grandfather Xu Tangmian remembered.
"Where did your Party Secretary go? I remember he spoke Russian."
The person in charge wiped the sweat from his brow, bowing and scraping, and said, "The Party Secretary was called away to a meeting in the city at the last minute, and we've already sent someone to urge him..."
This time, I accompanied the experts to the supply and marketing cooperative.
The director then looked at a young man wearing black-rimmed glasses next to the senior expert: "Ask him! Ask him how to take the medicine, how many pills to take!"
The young man's face turned deathly pale, and he hurriedly squatted down. "Yes! Yes! Our... oh right, the chief asked you how to take the medication. You... you shouldn't smoke!"
The old expert couldn't understand Mandarin.
Seeing the old expert's face growing paler and paler, the bureau chief snatched the medicine bottle he had just taken from the expert's pocket and gritted his teeth, saying, "Give him...feed him two pills!"
The leader has spoken; someone will bear the consequences. A staff member accompanying the patient reached for the medicine bottle, but it was suddenly snatched away.
Yu Chunsheng snatched the medicine bottle, glanced at it, and then bent down to open the cap, pouring out four pills to put into the old expert's mouth. The bureau chief was shocked: "Wait!"
He glared at me and said in a deep voice, "Where are you from? If something goes wrong, can you take responsibility?"
Xu Tangmian squeezed through the crowd and bowed, saying, "Don't get involved! Let them handle it themselves, what does it have to do with you?"
The bureau chief has already spoken, why is he worrying about this? What if something really happens? She's not even divorced yet!
Yu Chunsheng glanced at her, then looked at the bureau chief, and finally looked down at the old expert who was no longer moving. Without saying a word, he poured four pills into the old expert's mouth, then took the water that had been prepared next to him, pinched his chin and fed it to him.
The group of people almost held their breath, staring at the motionless old expert.
Half a minute later, the elderly expert with a high nose and deep-set eyes still showed no signs of waking up. Then, a police siren sounded, and several people carrying a hospital stretcher rushed over through the crowd.
Before the senior expert could even be carried upstairs, the bureau chief pointed at Yu Chunsheng and ordered his colleagues, "Take him into custody!"
The head of the supply and marketing cooperative, pale-faced, stood in front of Yu Chunsheng: "This... sir, he... he's still young, he just got married, let's wait for news from the hospital, okay? There's definitely still hope, there's definitely hope!"
Yu Chunsheng watched silently as the old expert was lifted onto the stretcher, seemingly certain that nothing would happen to him.
The bureau chief snorted and was about to speak when he suddenly heard the old expert, who had already been lifted onto a stretcher and was about to be put into a car, slowly getting up while holding onto the stretcher, muttering a string of incomprehensible words.
The young translator had been terrified and could barely stand, so he was no help at all. The director could only listen to the old expert's lips moving but had no idea what he was going to do, and he was so anxious that he stomped his feet.
Yu Chunsheng sighed, walked up to the old expert, and slowly began to speak. His tone was not his usual sullen one, but rather a string of deep and fluent Russian.
Although Xu Tangmian couldn't understand, she exclaimed in surprise just like many others around her, and couldn't help but look at her new husband, whom she didn't know well, with newfound respect.
Upon hearing the young man's authentic accent, the old expert excitedly grasped his hand and rattled off a string of questions as if asking something.
Yu Chunsheng listened quietly, nodding occasionally. After the old expert finished speaking, he turned around and said, "He said he's very excited right now and wants to drink vodka. He asked us if we have any."
"Vodka?" The person in charge who had spoken up for Yu Chunsheng earlier frowned and said, "We don't think we've ever stocked that. Xiao Yu, why don't you ask him if beer is okay? I remember our company stocked a few cases before."
Yu Chunsheng nodded and translated the leader's words. Upon hearing that there was no vodka he wanted, the old expert frowned and tilted his head, saying something.
Yu Chunsheng: "He said it was okay."
The director was overjoyed and said to the other staff, "Go and get it!" He then patted Yu Chunsheng on the shoulder and looked at him with great admiration, saying, "You're a very good comrade. You can even speak Russian, which is rare among young people."
Seeing the director of the investment promotion bureau praise him so highly, Xu Tangmian couldn't help but feel honored, and for the first time felt that this man was not bad as her husband.
Hearing the bureau chief's praise, Yu Chunsheng smiled but said nothing.
The beer the supply and marketing cooperative leader mentioned was from Moscow, an imported product. Not many people usually buy it, so it's been sitting on the top of the high counter, collecting dust.
Under the direction of staff and police officers who rushed to the scene, the crowd gradually dispersed, leaving only a few staff members behind.
Out of curiosity, Xu Tangmian stayed at the scene for the first time, introducing herself as Yu Chunsheng's wife. For ordinary rural people, finishing high school is already an achievement; a vocational school diploma is enough to get a job. They wouldn't have the leisure to learn Russian to such a high level, not even she could.
She wanted to see what other surprises Yu Chunsheng had in store for her to discover.
Two shop assistants were carrying a ladder to get some goods when, as they turned a corner, the ladder bumped into a shelf, and Xu Tangmian happened to be standing at the corner.
The tall shelves were teetering precariously, and the metal boxes on them gradually slid down as they lost their balance.
Yu Chunsheng stood a little further away, and almost at the same moment the box fell, he pounced on Xu Tangmian.
Xu Tangmian was unaware of what was happening behind her when she heard a series of clanging sounds. She turned around, and several wrenches and screwdrivers flew out of the box, grazing past her ears. Then she was pulled into a warm embrace.
Several loud "bangs" echoed around her, deafeningly loud, but Xu Tangmian clearly heard a muffled groan mixed in with the noise, coming from her own body.
Fortunately, the crowd had been evacuated beforehand, and no one was injured except for the two of them. The others quickly came over to help them up. Still shaken, Xu Tangmian saw that Yu Chunsheng's face was pale and his left arm was hanging at an unnatural angle.
He's injured!
Xu Tangmian's heart immediately jumped into her throat.
The old Soviet expert had already climbed down from the stretcher, and seeing Yu Chunsheng like this, he quickly raised his hand to make room for him.
Yu Chunsheng's forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat, but he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm fine, you don't need to sit down."
"Sit down!" Xu Tangmian said urgently, "What are you showing off for!"
After being yelled at like that, Yu Chunsheng fell silent and jumped into the car by himself, lifting his arm up.
——
"It's not a big problem. It's just a fractured ulna. Go home and rest for a month, then we'll see."
Yu Chunsheng immediately frowned: "Rest? I don't do much physical labor at work, and I don't usually use my left hand."
In front of the director of the investment promotion bureau, the company leaders quickly said, "Comrade Xiao Yu, don't be so reckless! I'll give you a month's leave right now. After you're discharged from the hospital, just stay home and rest!"
The director also said, "Comrade Yu, right? Don't worry about the work, I'll talk to your superiors. You saved the Soviet expert's life today and stepped forward to protect this female comrade. We must make sure to tell everyone about it in our team."
Yu Chunsheng said helplessly, "It's all my fault..."
"Thank you, leader!" Xu Tangmian said first. "As Chunsheng's lover, I will definitely take good care of him."
"Oh, you're Comrade Yu Chunsheng's wife?" the bureau chief said with some surprise. "What a perfect match!"
Xu Tangmian was a little embarrassed but still spoke frankly: "Chunsheng is usually very warm-hearted and has a very good reputation among his colleagues and neighbors."
The bureau chief nodded, his face showing approval: "That's very good. If all young people were like this, our nation would have hope."
Xu Tangmian smiled and echoed a few words. After seeing all the leaders out, she closed the door, turned to look at Yu Chunsheng, and suddenly her expression changed.
"Do you hate me now?" she asked.
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