First day of living together
Yu Chunsheng actually found a house in the village. It was a detached villa located in the fifth team of Meixiang Village, facing south. The standalone red brick and gray tile house stood in the middle of a field, with a road in front and an endless wheat field behind.
It looks a bit lonely, but it is actually only separated from the village branch to the west by a river, making it the easternmost part of Meixiang Village.
Xu Tangmian was speechless for a long time when she came in carrying a large bag of luggage.
To be honest, even the public restrooms she encountered while shopping were more luxurious than this.
Aside from providing shelter from the wind and rain, the house was utterly useless to her. If she could, she would rather sleep in a shed built in the field.
It's a bit ridiculous to say that, since Yu Chunsheng rented the house in just three days, and he had never been to this place before.
When she asked Yu Chunsheng where she was going back to, Yu Chunsheng naturally suggested that she move in with him. How could she possibly tolerate that?
That's utterly chauvinistic! Xu Tangmian immediately retorted, "Why should I move in with you? Why don't you move in with me?"
Yu Chunsheng actually considered it for a moment before replying, "Okay, where do you live?"
She lives in an empty classroom at the school... I can't very well let him live there with me.
Meixiang Village is about a 50-minute bike ride from the Huaifeng Town Supply and Marketing Cooperative where Yu Chunsheng works, and he really had the heart to move there.
The house was a bit simple, but considering the many efforts Yu Chunsheng had made to move here, Xu Tangmian couldn't bring herself to complain.
The entire house is about 40 square meters. The living room is right inside the entrance, and the bedroom is next to it. There is a wooden door in the middle of a wall that is not locked, and the bolt is missing a screw and hangs there all by itself.
“You sleep inside, I’ll sleep in the living room,” Yu Chunsheng said, throwing the straw mat he had brought with him onto the single bed in front of the left window in the living room, along with his luggage.
In the center of the living room was a gray table more than two meters long, with two cabinets and drawers on the left and right sides, and a statue of Guan Yu in the middle.
Beside the long table was a three-tiered wooden cabinet with several holes in its mesh screen. In front of the cabinet was a square table and two small stools; apart from that, the living room was empty.
The bedroom was a bit better, with a 1.8-meter-wide double bed, handmade; there was also a writing desk next to the bed, with a plain-colored gauze curtain swaying in the wind.
Outside the main house, there is another small house facing east, which is the kitchen. Pushing open the door, you can see two large pots at the junction of the west and north walls, and a pile of wood behind the door.
There was a small stove in the center of the kitchen, and a lot of junk was piled up against the south wall.
Directly opposite the kitchen is Xu Tangmian's ideal "shed," consisting of a wall, two pillars, and a tattered cloth. Yu Chunsheng's bicycle is locked and parked below it.
Xu Tangmian took a plastic basin from Yu Chunsheng and found a rag to start cleaning, but after carrying the basin around the kitchen, she came out again and still couldn't find the faucet.
"Hey! Where's the water?" Xu Tangmian called out to Yu Chunsheng, who was sweeping the floor.
"Me?" He pointed to himself. "Are you calling me?"
"Where is anyone else?" Xu Tangmian rolled her eyes.
“I have a name, I’m not called ‘Hey’.”
Yes, yes, yes! Your name is Chu Yuxun! Xu Tangmian rolled her eyes inwardly and shamelessly said, "I forgot your name."
"Yu Chunsheng." He repeated his instructions, "If you chat with people in the village in the future, you can't not even know your husband's name."
“Okay, Yu Chunsheng,” Xu Tangmian called out obediently. “Please tell me where there is clean water, okay?” She pointed to the stream behind the kitchen. “We can’t exactly go to the river to fetch water, can we?”
Yu Chunsheng came out of the living room, glanced around the yard, pointed at the well next to the bicycle, and looked up, "Isn't that it?"
Xu Tangmian walked over, wiping the dry rag, and lifted the clanging iron handle. "What's this?"
Yu Chunsheng's gaze suddenly became very complicated, as if he were looking through her at something else. He leaned the broom against the corner of the wall, picked up a gourd ladle from the windowsill, and took a few steps around to the back of the kitchen. He then followed the path he had trodden to the river and scooped up a ladle of water.
He chuckled and poured all the water into the well. After pressing the handle up and down a few times, the turbid river water at the wellhead transformed into large streams of clear well water.
Xu Tangmian clapped her hands and jumped up on the spot, "Wow, you're amazing! What's the principle behind that?"
Yu Chunsheng chuckled, picked up a plastic bucket from the side to catch the water, and said to her as he drew water, "You're from the city, aren't you?"
"Hmm." Xu Tangmian scooped up a ladle of water and wet the rag. "You look down on city people?"
"No, not at all." Yu Chunsheng said with his head down, "Those pampered girls from the city are going to suffer in the future."
Xu Tangmian joked, hands on her hips, "As a new husband, shouldn't you be saying things like, 'Honey, don't worry, I'll never let you suffer in the future'?"
Yu Chunsheng curled his lip. "I can't guarantee that."
——
After cleaning the entire house, Xu Tangmian was too tired to move.
It was early autumn, and the weather wasn't too cold. Xu Tangmian didn't care about cleanliness; she lifted the straw mat from Yu Chunsheng's bed, rolled it up into a bucket, tucked it under her armpit, threw it by the well, and went to sleep.
Yu Chunsheng was washing bed sheets in the courtyard. Before he could ask her to do anything, she had already fallen asleep. He could only shake his head and wash, wring, and dry the sheets all by himself.
Xu Tangmian was awakened from her sleep by the aroma of food, not knowing how long she had slept.
She got up and saw that it was already dusk. Yu Chunsheng had moved the table from the living room to the yard and was now sitting on a stool eating cornbread and pickled vegetables.
Her stool and bowl and chopsticks were already prepared. Xu Tangmian rubbed her eyes and took her seat. When she saw the rice porridge that was so clear it could be used as a mirror and the dark pickled vegetables, she immediately lost her appetite.
"Why is there only this one dish?" she asked.
"One isn't enough for you?" Yu Chunsheng replied, chewing on his cornbread.
"This kind of dish is only good for cutting through the richness of meat and fish dishes; it's hardly suitable as a main course."
Yu Chunsheng squinted at her with a curious look, picked up the bowl, blew on it lightly, took a small sip of rice porridge, and muttered with a light smile, "Looks like you usually eat very well."
Xu Tangmian pouted, "I should have just gone to sleep." With that, she got up and walked towards the straw mat.
"Come back," Yu Chunsheng called out to her. "At least drink your porridge, or you'll be hungry tonight."
Xu Tangmian crossed her arms and said arrogantly, "You call this porridge? It's clearly just rice that's been washed in water."
“Drink this, and I’ll add more rice tomorrow,” Yu Chunsheng said again.
"I won't drink!" Xu Tangmian said firmly, lying back down on the straw mat.
"If you don't eat, you'll be starving tonight." Yu Chunsheng ignored her and started eating by himself.
After finishing her meal and clearing the table, Xu Tangmian finally relaxed.
She went to the kitchen and searched everywhere, but couldn't find what she was looking for. Just as she was muttering to herself, she turned around and saw Yu Chunsheng, who was leaning against the door frame with one hand, looking at her with a rather domineering posture and a rather intriguing look in his eyes.
"What are you looking for?" he asked casually.
"Thermos flasks, where are the two thermos flasks I brought?"
"I'm going to soak my feet in the living room."
"Why are you soaking your feet?" Xu Tangmian stormed into the living room, and seeing that one of the two bottles of water had already been used, she immediately became furious and said, "How can you use other people's things without their permission?"
Yu Chunsheng pointed innocently to the kettle boiling on the stove, "I used it first, and then I boiled a new one for you."
"This is so annoying," Xu Tangmian muttered. "I wanted to take a shower and go to bed as soon as possible, but now I don't know how late it will be."
“There’s plenty of time tonight, no rush.” Yu Chunsheng pointed to the bamboo mat: “You’ve been sleeping all afternoon and no one has said anything, so keep sleeping. I’ll call you when the water’s boiled.”
Xu Tangmian had no choice but to wait. After a while, Yu Chunsheng called her.
She set up the rose-red bathing tent she had brought back earlier in the bedroom, then glared fiercely at Yu Chunsheng, who was standing in the living room watching the commotion, and said, "I'm going to take a bath. You can go wander around."
Yu Chunsheng raised an eyebrow, seemingly dissatisfied with her words, but he obediently walked out of the living room.
He called out from outside the door, "I haven't gone far, I'm just wandering around this area. Lock the door."
Xu Tangmian was about to take off her clothes when she heard this and opened the bedroom door again. She carefully checked the door behind the main entrance of the living room, and after confirming that the bolts were all in place, she found a chair and propped it against the door.
After they finished washing up and opened the door, Yu Chunsheng came back from outside and turned off the light. The two of them didn't exchange another word.
The next day was Sunday. Around five or six o'clock, a few roosters crowed from somewhere. Xu Tangmian impatiently pulled the blanket over her head and managed to fall asleep for a while, but was woken up by a clattering sound.
She put on her clothes, got out of bed, opened the door, and yelled at the person busy in the kitchen, "What time is it? Don't you know other people still need to sleep?"
Yu Chunsheng replied, "Okay, I'll keep my voice down."
They really grant every request.
Xu Tangmian had nothing to say and could only sullenly return to her room. But before she even reached the bedroom, the sound of a knife being sharpened came from inside again.
"Yu Chunsheng!" she yelled again, "Can't a person get any sleep?!"
"I'm sorry!" Yu Chunsheng nodded in acknowledgment.
Xu Tangmian had no choice but to swallow her anger and go back to her room, collapsing onto the bed. But whether it was from being angry with him or from suddenly lying down and straining her back, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach.
Then a familiar warm sensation came from below...
Xu Tangmian lowered her head, and a dark red blood was already flowing from between her thighs.
It's over.
Xu Tangmian tiptoed to the back of the main entrance, hiding her entire body behind the door and only peeking out her head, shouting: "Yu Chunsheng!"
Yu Chunsheng emerged from the kitchen, looking completely bewildered, and said, "I didn't make a sound?"
"You, come here!" Xu Tangmian called out to him, her face flushed.
Yu Chunsheng dusted himself off and walked into the living room. "What's wrong?"
"Could you... help me buy some painkillers?"
She was at her wit's end. The day before each episode would be extremely painful, and if she didn't take medication, she would often vomit from the pain.
Yu Chunsheng frowned and asked her, "Where do you feel unwell?"
"I...I've started my period," Xu Tangmian said, a little embarrassed.
"What?" Yu Chunsheng didn't understand.
"That...period! Those few days every month..."
Yu Chunsheng understood, and his face turned pale.
He quickly took two steps back, stared at her with wide eyes, took a deep breath, and joked, "I told you I'd sleep in the living room, you don't need to do this."
Who's worried about that...she's really in pain!
Xu Tangmian was both angry and annoyed. Before she could speak, a sharp pain in her abdomen struck again, causing her to bend over and lean against the wall.
Yu Chunsheng's expression changed, and he pushed open the door and came in, quickly helping her to the bedside.
Xu Tangmian shook her head and refused to sit down. She didn't even care about her manners and knelt down in front of the bed, her face scrunched up.
Yu Chunsheng stood there for a moment, then ran back to the living room, took out a small bag from a drawer, rummaged through it, and actually found a few painkillers. He quickly took one, poured a cup of hot water, and brought it over.
Xu Tangmian, having taken her medicine, said weakly, "I... I'll feel better if I fall asleep like this. Go quickly and buy me... sanitary napkins..."
Yu Chunsheng lowered his head and leaned in to listen carefully, his face conflicted, unsure whether to leave or stay.
Xu Tangmian frowned, clenched her fist, pounded the bed, and gritted her teeth, saying, "Go now!"
Upon closer inspection, Yu Chunsheng noticed several dark red streaks of blood below her knees.
He immediately understood what it was, and after hesitating for a long time, he finally stepped out of the main gate with a face that looked like he was ready to die.
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