Nearly an hour later, as darkness fell, Liu Ruoling and Wang Lun finally finished setting up the rabbit pen. After washing up, they returned to the house and sat by the fire. Liu Ruoling dried her hair by the fire, while Wang Lun helped her dry it faster. Wang Lun noticed that Liu Ruoling's hair was a bit tangled and asked, "Didn't you use pine needle water to wash your hair?" Hearing this, Liu Ruoling immediately realized what was happening and exclaimed, "Sister, the pine needles we collected are useless!" Liu Ruoxi, who was cooking, paused upon hearing this. She had spent so much time collecting pine needles, and if they were useless, she wondered if they were still usable. She said, "Go check if they're still usable." So Liu Ruoling, disregarding her wet hair, ran out of the house.
A little while later, Liu Ruoling returned with a basket of somewhat withered pine needles and handed it to Wang Lun. Wang Lun looked at it, smelled it, and said, "It should still be usable; it still smells like pine needles." Upon hearing Wang Lun's words, Liu Ruoling immediately exclaimed, "Sister, it's still usable. Do you want to wash your hair later?" Liu Ruoxi said, "Sure, we'll all wash our hair later. You can rinse the pine needles again." Liu Ruoling replied, "Okay." So she took the basket to the sink and washed the pine needles.
When she got back, she asked Wang Lun to help her dry her hair again. Wang Lun had no choice but to continue, but he was still very gentle. By the time her hair was dry, the dinner was ready. Dinner was still wild vegetable stew with fish. Although it wasn't very tasty, it was still edible. At least there was fish, salt, and even some crab shell powder. With these seasonings, the wild vegetable stew with fish was somewhat palatable.
After the meal, Liu Ruoxi and Li Ling washed the pots and pans, then brought back a pot of water and put it on the stove to continue boiling. Then they filled another pot with water using a clay pot and an iron pot. The clay pot was only half full, with most of the water poured into a large bowl, to be used to adjust the temperature of the hot water.
Soon, the water was boiled. Liu Ruoling originally wanted to wash her hair first, but Liu Ruoxi stopped her, letting Li Ling wash her hair first instead. As for Wang Lun, if there was any water left, he could wash his hair; after all, his hair was so short he didn't need pine needles to wash it. After using up one pot of water, they brought back another. Liu Ruoxi helped Li Ling wash her hair, so Li Ling could have Wang Lun help her dry it later. Of course, this was an opportunity Liu Ruoxi had deliberately created for Li Ling.
Ten minutes later, Li Ling finished washing her hair, and it was Liu Ruoling's turn. Li Ling sat by the fire pit, fixing her hair, which was a complete mess. Wang Lun couldn't bear to watch, so he asked her to turn over so he could fix her hair. Li Ling lay on her back on Wang Lun's lap, her face slightly flushed. But Wang Lun was focused on fixing his hair and didn't notice. Lying on Wang Lun's lap, Li Ling could see him as soon as she opened her eyes, and she couldn't help but feel shy. Normally, she wouldn't have felt this way, but it seemed like she really did. Soon, her hair was dry. Li Ling got off Wang Lun's lap and softly said, "I like you." Wang Lun said, "What? What did you just say?" Li Ling said, "Nothing, I meant thank you." Wang Lun said, "Did I hear you wrong?" Li Ling said confidently, "You must have heard me wrong, what else could it be?" Then she went to the door to wash Liu Ruoling's hair. However, the moment Li Ling turned her head, Wang Lun smiled slightly. Li Ling couldn't see this scene, but Liu Ruoling, who was walking this way, and Liu Ruoxi, who turned around to get hot water, both saw it.
Liu Ruoling was a little unhappy. She went straight to Wang Lun's side, sat down, and lay on his lap, demanding that he dry her hair before she would get up. How could Wang Lun refuse Liu Ruoling? She was just a child, deserving of pampering. Liu Ruoxi also wanted to, but she hadn't washed her hair yet, and even if she had, it would still be impossible, since Li Ling's hair was already dry.
Soon, Liu Ruoling's hair was dried, and Liu Ruoxi sat down next to her to dry her hair as well. At this moment, Li Ling said, "Liu Ruoling, there are still some pine needles left. Let's go fetch some water, boil some more, and wash Wang Lun's hair." Liu Ruoling nodded, but still went to Liu Ruoxi's side and whispered something. Liu Ruoxi blushed slightly and shook her head. Liu Ruoling glared at Liu Ruoxi, as if disappointed, before walking out the door.
After they both left, Liu Ruoxi looked up at Wang Lun and found that he was also looking at her. Liu Ruoxi lowered her head slightly. Wang Lun then got up, made Liu Ruoxi lie down, and then began to fix her hair.
When Li Ling and Wang Lun returned, they found Liu Ruoxi slumped over a stool, with Wang Lun sitting beside her, fixing her hair. Of course, neither of them thought much of it; after all, they only had a few minutes, not enough time to do anything else.
Li Ling placed the pot on the stove, while Liu Ruoling sat beside it watching Liu Ruoxi. Seeing this, Li Ling also sat down beside Liu Ruoxi and watched her too. Liu Ruoxi could feel their gazes, and her already flushed face burned even hotter. While fixing his hair, Wang Lun accidentally touched his forehead, feeling a bit hot. Looking up, he saw Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi staring intently at Liu Ruoxi, and immediately understood what had happened. He said, "You two go find a knife and cut my hair later; it's getting quite long." Li Ling and Liu Ruoling looked at him with amusement, but still went to find a military knife.
Li Ling also found a piece of rabbit skin, intending to tie it around Wang Lun's neck later to prevent hair from getting into his neck.
Soon, Liu Ruoxi's hair dried. She quickly got up and sat down far away from Wang Lun, but she happened to be sitting opposite him, so she could see him as soon as she looked up.
Meanwhile, Wang Lun had Li Ling and another woman cut his hair—or rather, trim his hair. Li Ling tied a rabbit skin around Wang Lun's neck, then gently grabbed a handful of hair and slowly began cutting it with a military knife. Because she wasn't very skilled, she had to go through three different hairdressers before finally getting Wang Lun's hair done. Actually, all three wanted to cut it, so each cut a section, resulting in a rather outrageous hairstyle. Luckily, the last person to do it was Liu Ruoxi, who carefully tidied up Wang Lun's hair.
This allowed the three hairdressers to continue washing Wang Lun's hair. One washed his hair, one splashed water on him, and the other dried it. Of course, Wang Lun could have done it himself, but Liu Ruoxi delegated the task to Li Ling, letting him experience the feeling of having a thigh. However, Liu Ruoling was even angrier, which resulted in Liu Ruoxi cleaning up the mess after Wang Lun's hair was washed, while Liu Ruoling lay down on the kang (heated brick bed). After cleaning up, Liu Ruoxi also lay down on the kang to rest.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com