Chapter 229: Shan Feng, let's get married
It was more like a collision than a kiss, with the teeth knocking against each other lightly through the soft lips.
Zhu Yingning stood there in a daze.
His kissing technique was truly disappointing, awkward yet reckless. He bit her lips, his tongue thrusting in recklessly, practically devouring her. Yet, even this clumsy kissing technique sent a tingling sensation through her soul, like an electric shock, leaving it numb and limp.
She tasted the fresh lemon flavor of his mouth and the salty taste of his tears.
Outside the tent, there was a cacophony of noise: the hum of large machinery, the sounds of rescue workers issuing instructions, reporters reporting from the scene, and the voices of various people chatting, all mixed together, so close that it seemed like a clattering sound right in their ears. The tent curtain was half-hanging, and someone might lift it and come in at any moment.
She felt that it was inappropriate to do this in broad daylight, but she grabbed his wrist and kissed him back more deeply.
The stool was bumped at some point, and they both fell to the ground. His arm was around her waist, and hers was firmly around his shoulders.
"My benefactor, I found your cell phone outside. Can you see if it can be sent to a cell phone store to be salvaged..." The wife of the couple walked in, lifting the curtain while holding Lai Fu in one hand and a cell phone that had been smashed to pieces in the other.
Her voice was like thunder, which scared Zhu Yingning to death. She immediately used all her strength to push Xu Sirui away.
When his wife walked in, she saw Zhu Yingning standing upright with an embarrassed look on his face. He smiled at her with forced composure.
If Xu Sirui had not been there, she would have looked perfectly normal, but there was a Xu Sirui on the ground—his hands were on the ground, as if he had been ravaged by someone, his clothes were disheveled, his face was rosy, and his lips were bright red.
“…”
The wife froze at the door for a few seconds, then silently walked out holding Lai Fu and the cell phone, and took her husband away who was asking "What's wrong?" from behind.
Zhu Yingning covered her cheeks and screamed silently, not daring to look at his appearance or reaction. She looked very busy, picked up the water cup that they had placed aside, held it for a few seconds, put the cup down again, and patrolled the tent aimlessly. Finally, she stammered that she was going out to bring food to others.
Xu Sirui sat alone in the tent for a while, his mind empty for a long time, then he chuckled softly, stood up, tidied his clothes and went out.
Once outside, the lingering atmosphere quickly dissipated. A high-ranking official, who had been inspecting poverty alleviation efforts in the impoverished county and spearheading the exchange, arrived to express his concern. She was a woman who looked to be around fifty, with deep wrinkles at the corners of her mouth and short, earlobe-length hair, a mix of silver and black, neatly combed with hair oil. Even from a distance, she exuded the aura of a seasoned official.
Many people gathered around her to report on their work.
Xu Sirui didn't know the other person, but when she saw the crowd gathered and heard people calling her "Minister" occasionally, she could guess the truth even if she didn't know them well.
He saw Zhu Yingning greet the minister, briefly report a few words about what he saw and the situation at the scene, and then turned around to distribute food to the rescue workers who had not eaten yet.
The young couple squatted outside the tent a few steps away from him, gazing at the wonders over there and whispering to each other:
"Is that a high-ranking official from somewhere else? There are so many people surrounding him."
"It's probably true. Ordinary people like us should stay out of the fun."
“I don’t know if any officials in our area will be punished after this kind of accident.”
"Shh-"
As they were chatting, they noticed Xu Sirui standing not far from them, and the couple shyly forced a smile at him.
He nodded faintly at them.
Just as the couple was worried about the presence of outsiders and was planning to change the topic to something less safe and sensitive, Xu Sirui moved his legs and walked towards them.
He was tall, with a very striking face. Coupled with the unfortunate incident they had just witnessed in the tent, the couple shrank back and involuntarily moved away from him. However, Xu Sirui still followed them, squatted beside them, squinted his eyes and smiled at them with his white teeth.
The wife looked at her nose and her nose at her heart, while the husband touched his forehead embarrassedly and responded with a stiff smile.
After a long silence, Xu Sirui finally spoke and asked them quietly, "Do you know who saved you?"
The couple exchanged glances, and the husband quickly replied, "I know... I definitely know!" He pointed at Zhu Yingning, who was busy in the distance, and said with a silly grin, "As a benefactor, how could I not know?"
He thought Xu Sirui was going to ask for a reward, so he patted his chest and assured them, "Don't worry, brother. We're not the kind of people who repay kindness with enmity. When things here are almost resolved tomorrow, we will definitely give our benefactor a big red envelope. I discussed this with my wife just before you came out. This kind of life-saving favor must be repaid, otherwise there will be divine punishment. And... there will also be a banner! We will definitely arrange for a banner."
Xu Sirui shook his head decisively and said, "No need."
The couple were both stunned.
He subtly gestured in the direction of the senior leader with his eyes: "Just go over there and tell the leader who saved you."
After that, he softened his tone a little and said, "Do me a favor."
Zhu Yingning wasn't the type to actively seek credit. She simply did good things for the sake of it, and helped others for the sake of helping them. Everything she did came naturally. As for promotions, she was more of a let-it-come-nature kind of person. It was precisely because of this that Xu Sirui had to consider these details for her.
He wasn't as sanguine as she was about the dark side of human nature. He couldn't guarantee that everyone here would be as kind as she was. What if someone tried to take credit for her work, use it to get promoted, escape punishment, or even turn the tables and put the blame on her? While she had performed exceptionally well in poverty alleviation, she was ultimately only a minor cadre. For someone with ulterior motives, targeting her would be easier than killing an ant. She didn't have to take the credit for foreseeing the landslide and saving lives, but she had to claim it in advance, so that the higher-ups knew exactly who was responsible.
The couple looked at each other, confused. It was the wife who reacted first and pushed her husband's shoulder: "You go and say it. Say it nicely and praise your benefactor in front of the boss."
"Oh oh." The husband stood up in confusion. "Do you really want to go? There are so many people. I'm a bit socially anxious."
"...Socially anxious, you idiot." His wife kicked him and said, "Go!"
She also has her own plans -
Their newly bought car had just been vandalized, and they had to scrape together enough money to buy a new one, putting their family finances at a premium. So, they were definitely going to save money wherever possible. Since they could use it to flatter their bosses instead of giving out actual gifts, why not? It was a win-win for them, saving money and repaying a favor. It was even better for Zhu Yingning, too. A perfect win-win.
**
"Did you have dinner before you came over? Do you want to eat something together?"
Zhu Yingning knew nothing about the conversation between Xu Sirui and the couple. After distributing the lunch boxes, she walked over with the only box left in the bag.
She was still a little embarrassed to look at him, but food is the most important thing for people, and the fact that she was hungry was enough to cover up the embarrassment in the tent.
"There's only one box." She took the still-warm lunch out of the bag and opened the lid. "But it's quite large. I can't finish it by myself."
After she said that, Xu Sirui finally felt hungry, but he still shook his head: "You eat it, I have no appetite, you can give me the leftovers."
"You really have no appetite?" She stared at him suspiciously.
"I really have no appetite." Xu Sirui nodded slowly, then raised a few fingers and swore in an awkward manner.
It was windy and dusty outside, so Zhu Yingning simply carried his lunch box into the tent, dragged over two small stools, set up a folding round table, and sat face to face with Xu Sirui.
Even though he said he wasn't hungry, she still picked out a lot of meat with her chopsticks and pushed it to the other side of the lunch box, intending to leave it for him later.
Xu Sirui laughed at this: "If I'm really hungry, I can order takeout later. I don't need these two bites of meat, so you can eat it yourself."
She was stunned by what he said, holding her chopsticks in mid-air, thinking it made sense. After thinking about it, she curled her lips and said, "...but I just want to leave it to you."
His heart softened, and the smile on his lips became more gentle: "Why are you so nice to me?"
"Yeah? Why am I so nice to you?"
They never tire of engaging in meaningless conversations.
After she finished answering, she picked up a mouthful of rice and stuffed it into her mouth. After chewing for a long time, she remembered that Xu Sirui still hadn't called Zhou Tianlan and the others to explain the situation. After swallowing the food in her mouth, she hurriedly reminded him, "Hurry up and call Aunt Zhou and the others. They haven't been able to contact you and they must be worried sick."
Xu Sirui then remembered his forgotten cell phone, which was almost flooded with calls and messages. He dug out Zhou Tianlan's number and called her back without saying much. He simply told her that they were all safe, and then hung up without waiting for Zhou Tianlan to ask more questions. Remembering that Zhu Yingning's phone was already separated from her body, he opened the map to look for mobile phone stores nearby, planning to buy her a new phone in the next two days.
After dinner, she squatted by the river with mineral water to rinse her mouth.
The river rushed, splashing against the boulders in the middle of the channel, sending up a lot of white foam. Although they had just experienced a disaster, nature had no concept of disaster. The mountains were still the same mountains, the water was still the same water, and the sky above was still dark, with a few sparse dark clouds like catkins floating in the air. Through the half-obscured clouds, the sparse stars could be seen.
"Xu Sirui, look at that." She raised her hand and pointed at the sky, saying to Xu Sirui who was standing beside her, "Those three stars are the Summer Triangle. You can still see them with the naked eye now, but not in winter."
The quadrilateral next to the Summer Triangle is the equally famous Pegasus.
Zhu Yingning was talking incessantly, and when she turned around she found that he was not looking at the stars, but was looking at her.
She smiled and turned her face away: "What are you looking at me for?"
He didn't say anything, but took a step forward and held her hand. She noticed that his fingertips were cold.
"...When I rushed over, I really thought something happened to you." Xu Sirui's voice was muffled.
She didn't expect that he was still frightened by this matter. The smile on her face gradually turned into a helpless smile. She bent her fingers and held his hand back, with a gentle comfort, and said lightly: "Are you stupid?"
After a pause, she maliciously asked, wanting to tease him, "What if something really happens to me? What are you going to do?"
Xu Sirui did not answer immediately, but looked at her quietly.
His dark eyes blended into the night, as vast as the sea. After a long moment, he opened his dry lips and whispered, "No big deal."
The night wind blew softly around their fingers, passing through the gaps between their clasped hands and through the dark forest, raising a rustling sound.
"I will live well, until the day I can no longer walk, until even God thinks my life is too long and doesn't want me to live any longer."
"I will finish what I should do, take on all the responsibilities I should take on, and then complete all the things you wanted to do but couldn't do."
"I will love whoever you want to love, help whoever you want to help, and save whoever you want to save."
He looked into her eyes, without smiling, his face still serious. "Zhu Yingning, I'm not really someone who loves the world very much. I don't have any great love, let alone the great ambition to save the world. But if the day of our separation really comes... from then on, your ideal will be my ideal."
At the same moment, some people die, some are born, some celebrate loyalty, some betray their promises, some cry, some laugh, some get separated, some walk together. Noise and silence go hand in hand, disappointment and hope coexist.
The world is changing rapidly.
Only this heart does not change, only this love is immortal.
She stared at him intently, her heart beating in her chest, making a sound like flapping wings.
She heard her own voice scattered in the breeze and rushing with the flowing water to the endless distance.
"...Xu Sirui, let's get married."
It was not an impulsive decision, nor was it entirely the result of being moved by his actions and promises.
But she suddenly realized that she liked the person in front of her so much.
She likes him so much that even if they have to go through trivial things in the future, she hopes that he will be the one to go through them with her.
I like it so much that even if there may be changes in the future, I will no longer be afraid to face the unknown outcome.
I like this moment so much that when I look back at my memory, I will never regret the decision I made at that time.
Love is a moment when she stores up enough courage, stands up and looks back at everything, and is determined to be responsible for her own choices and love.
Tomorrow is coming, and tomorrow is still far away.
The ever-flowing time looks back and stops at this moment——
The mountains and rivers are silent, but the mountain breeze is affectionate.
-End of text-
-----------------------
The author has something to say: The main text is finished, and there will be several chapters of the extra chapters [Starry Eyes]. I will take a day off tomorrow, and will start updating the extra chapters the day after tomorrow.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
