I want
While Xu Zhilian was still unconscious from fright, the two of them ran out.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier. Once he was sure they wouldn't catch up, Yu Chunsheng quickly found a place to take shelter from the rain and put the raincoat on her.
Xu Tangmian's eyes were blank, as if she had been frightened into a daze.
Yu Chunsheng was both anxious and scared, so he carried her on his back and ran along the street looking for a hospital. When they passed a bus stop, Xu Tangmian signaled him to stop.
“Back to the guesthouse,” she said.
“You’re covered in injuries, why are you going back to the guesthouse!” Yu Chunsheng completely ignored her.
"They're just superficial injuries, nothing serious." Xu Tangmian patted his shoulder twice. "Going to the hospital will just get some medicine to wipe them off. Let's go back first."
Yu Chunsheng walked straight past the bus stop without stopping.
After carrying her for so long, anyone would get tired. Xu Tangmian noticed that his pace was getting slower and slower, so she slapped him a few more times and asked him to put her down.
The two sat down on the curb. Xu Tangmian took off the cumbersome raincoat hood and cupped Yu Chunsheng's face in her hands to examine it closely.
The rain was still falling, pelting his face like a faucet running. Xu Tangmian wiped the water away from his face with both hands, and Yu Chunsheng happened to come over to help her put on her hat.
Xu Tangmian shook her head, wanting to get soaked in the rain with him, which made Yu Chunsheng sigh and stare at her without saying a word.
As they looked at each other, they smiled and turned their heads away at the same time.
"Stop fooling around, let's go back." Yu Chunsheng turned around again and gestured for her to come up. "You don't mind the heavy rain, but I do."
"Chunsheng." Xu Tangmian gently climbed onto his back, deliberately swaying against him and whispering in his ear, "I want it."
Yu Chunsheng knelt down on the ground, almost causing her to fall.
Xu Tangmian cried out "Ouch!" and slapped him again. "What are you doing! Don't you think I'm injured enough already!"
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Yu Chunsheng clasped his hands together and begged for mercy, then turned around and said, "This time it's safe, come on up."
"I don't want to!" Xu Tangmian pouted deliberately.
Yu Chunsheng turned around again, looking puzzled. "Why don't you want to? Isn't it better to have someone carry you? You want to walk by yourself? No, you still have an injury on your leg."
"I want you to carry me." Seeing that he didn't speak, Xu Tangmian added, "Princess carry." As she spoke, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Yu Chunsheng had no choice but to pick her up in his arms, muttering, "Is there a difference between carrying and lifting her on your back?"
"Yes," Xu Tangmian said, looking at him tenderly. "Did you hear what I just said?"
"Which one?" Yu Chunsheng didn't look at her, walking straight ahead.
"I want you," Xu Tangmian repeated.
"You want me to go back to the guesthouse, right?" Yu Chunsheng pretended to be confused. "Okay, it's close to my place, so I'll go there."
“I want you to have a child with me.” Xu Tangmian didn’t give him any room to play dumb and said bluntly, “If you want to not wear that, do it until you fall asleep.”
Yu Chunsheng: "..."
What does it mean by not saying anything? Does it mean you're agreeing?
Yu Chunsheng: "You're injured, I... I'm not that much of a beast..."
"It's just some scratches on my face, knees, and back, it doesn't matter." Xu Tangmian leaned over and kissed his cheek, saying ambiguously, "Your favorite spot is fine, you can bite it as much as you want."
Yu Chunsheng couldn't help but smile, but when he met Xu Tangmian's teasing gaze, he forced it down and mumbled, "Let's go back... let's talk about it when we get back."
Passing by the pharmacy, Xu Tangmian, afraid of scaring the clerk, only stood outside and let Yu Chunsheng go in alone to buy the medicine.
The guesthouse in the capital was much better than the one in Huaifeng Town. Xu Tangmian took off her clothes, gritted her teeth, cleaned her wounds, and then called Yu Chunsheng.
At that moment, Yu Chunsheng was squinting at the medicine instructions under the light.
"Chunsheng!" she called from the bathroom.
Yu Chunsheng put down the medicine and rushed outside, asking with concern, "What's wrong?"
"I can't see my back, come in and wipe it for me."
Yu Chunsheng: "..."
"What's there to be afraid of when we're an old married couple?" Xu Tangmian urged, "Do you want my wound to get infected?"
Yu Chunsheng then pushed open the door and walked in.
Xu Tangmian stood there completely naked from the waist up, her back covered in abrasions.
Yu Chunsheng's originally flushed face suddenly changed color. He took the cotton swab from her hand, dipped it in the medicine, and carefully wiped the area.
A cold and stinging sensation came from her back, and Xu Tangmian couldn't help but shiver. She then stopped touching her back with the cotton swab.
"Keep going," Xu Tangmian urged, "You're not finished applying it yet, are you?"
Yu Chunsheng sighed and finally brought up the original purpose of his trip: "Did you get any results after hurting yourself like this?"
Xu Tangmian remained silent for a long time before murmuring, "It's not important..."
After treating the wound, Yu Chunsheng tossed away the cotton swab, gently turned her around by her shoulders, and carefully examined her.
"Are you still feeling nauseous?" he asked.
Xu Tangmian knew he had read the letter, gently shook her head, and stepped forward to hug him.
Yu Chunsheng's body trembled involuntarily, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
Xu Tangmian gently raised her head, her watery eyes watching him slowly approach. After kissing him on the lips, she reached out to take off his clothes.
Yu Chunsheng pressed her hand down and shook his head, "Let's do it another day?"
"Tired?" Xu Tangmian didn't care. "Anyway, I have a back injury, so I'll be on top today."
"That's not it…"
Xu Tangmian's expression gradually became impatient. "What is it now?"
Yu Chunsheng hesitated for a moment, staring at her for a while, before finally uttering, "Never mind."
"What do you mean, 'forget it'?" Xu Tangmian said coldly, "Didn't you always want me to try it on? Didn't you always say it's more comfortable not to wear it? Now that I'm given the chance, you're saying it's forget it?"
Yu Chunsheng just smiled, picked up a bath towel from the side and dried her body, saying to himself:
“I don’t like it here, so… if you still want to when we get back, I’ll keep you company from morning till night, I’ll drain you dry.”
Xu Tangmian calmed down and let him help her put on her clothes. She lowered her eyes and asked him, "Is your home here? Grandma Li... Sister Li said she used to be your neighbor."
"Hmm." Yu Chunsheng picked up a dry towel to dry her hair again. "I was planning to go home and visit before I left."
He smiled and invited her, "How about it? Would you be interested in visiting my grave with me? I've never been there before."
"Get lost!" Xu Tangmian said sternly, not wanting him to make fun of her like that.
Thinking of his past death, Xu Tangmian felt a surge of inexplicable sorrow. She reached out to hug him, and she did. But Yu Chunsheng took a half-step back.
Xu Tangmian: "? If you keep avoiding me, I'll really get angry."
Yu Chunsheng smiled and said, "Don't be angry, let's both calm down tonight, okay?"
Xu Tangmian subconsciously shifted her gaze downwards, and suddenly realized.
She said, "Some people say they'll let it go, but they don't really mean it. They'll even secretly stand up. It's terrifying!"
“I didn’t steal it,” Yu Chunsheng said confidently. “I did it openly and honestly.”
"Tch." Xu Tangmian didn't want to tease him anymore, so she took the medicine and left the bathroom.
She had a tiring day. Although she didn't know what Yu Chunsheng had done during the day, judging from the intensity of his exercise tonight, he must have been quite tired as well.
Xu Tangmian slept soundly all night.
But that didn't mean she intended to do as Yu Chunsheng said. The next morning, after waking up and seeing Yu Chunsheng half-awake, Xu Tangmian thought that he should have rested well overnight. Having failed to achieve her goal, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
When Yu Chunsheng was woken up, he was still drowsy.
Seeing her like this, Yu Chunsheng clicked his tongue helplessly and pulled Xu Tangmian's hand to cooperate with her.
"So soon?" His voice was hoarse, and he simply sat up, hugged her, and kissed her.
Xu Tangmian didn't have time to pay attention to him; she just wanted to get what she wanted as soon as possible.
After a while, the two of them, panting, hugged each other.
Yu Chunsheng brushed aside the sweat-dampened hair from her forehead and asked in a low voice, "What are the plans for today?"
Xu Tangmian shook her head. "I'll listen to you."
"Let's keep going until we fall asleep!" Yu Chunsheng pulled the covers over his head again and turned over. "It's been almost a week since I've seen you. I miss you so much."
——
It was the third day since we went to the Kong family's house.
Autumn has passed and winter has come, day and night have come and gone, and the once bustling hutongs and courtyards are no longer what they used to be.
A doorplate, draped in layers of cobwebs, hung silently at the entrance. Suddenly, the cobwebs trembled, followed by a few shakes in the dense web. A straight branch swung up, tangling the web into a mess.
Yu Chunsheng casually tossed the branch on the ground, clapped his hands, and then pulled Xu Tangmian into the old house.
Everything in the room that could be moved—tables, chairs, benches—had been taken away. Only some unwanted calligraphy and paintings remained hanging on the walls, but even those were just scraps and frames.
As if remembering something, Yu Chunsheng walked to the edge of the courtyard again.
This was a wasteland, with weeds already growing more than half a meter tall. Yu Chunsheng walked ten steps along the edge of the door, following the footprints, then picked up a piece of grass and started digging a hole in the ground.
Curious, Xu Tangmian squatted down beside him and picked up a stone to dig, asking, "What's wrong? Did you bury treasure?"
Yu Chunsheng nodded. "I guess so."
“After I went to the countryside, my dad wrote to say that he buried some gold bars and other things here. If something happens to the family, these will help me get by for a while.” He continued, glancing at Xu Tangmian, his hands still moving.
“I was planning to tell you this on your birthday. I’ve got my eye on a printing factory in town that’s about to go bankrupt, and I want to take it over.”
"Really?" Xu Tangmian was overjoyed. "It's great that you're ambitious! How much would it cost to take it over?"
Yu Chunsheng thought for a moment, "I went to the factory to check it out before. There was a pretty good offset printing machine there. The main problem is that the machine is expensive. Anyway, the whole factory would cost about 10,000 to 20,000 yuan to take over."
"Ten or twenty thousand!" Xu Tangmian never thought that one day she would think that ten or twenty thousand was an astronomical figure, but at this moment, poverty was the reality.
"How much money do we have now?" Xu Tangmian wasn't very familiar with her family's financial situation.
"Around six hundred yuan," Yu Chunsheng estimated.
"Six hundred yuan and twenty thousand yuan, the difference is not small at all." Xu Tangmian looked depressed.
"It's out!" Yu Chunsheng excitedly dug a wooden box out of the ground. After simply brushing away the top layer of soil, he pressed the clasp to open it, and the first thing that caught his eye was five gleaming gold bars.
He was happy for a moment, then his face slowly darkened. He took out the gold bars and casually placed them on the ground, then went to pick up the things underneath them.
Xu Tangmian leaned over and took a look. It was a thick, bound book with the words "Kong Lin" written on the cover. When opened, it was filled with densely packed handwritten characters.
There was also a fountain pen shaped like an airplane and a small commemorative badge with a string of Russian text on it.
Yu Chunsheng seemed to recall something, and simply sat down on the ground, saying with great emotion to the person next to him, "This is a book by a Soviet author that I translated before, and there is no translation in China yet."
“Okay. Kong Lin did exist.” Xu Tangmian said softly.
Yu Chunsheng came over and pulled her over, kissed her on the cheek, and took all the items, jokingly saying, "Hmm, he's pretty good, isn't he?"
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