After Escaping Marriage - Chapter 104
Chapter 104
Yu Qingtang's five fingers, buried in Cheng Zhanxi's hair, exerted some force, wanting to pull her up.
Cheng Zhanxi firmly held her ankle, quickening her movements.
Yu Qingtang felt waves of dizziness; the tide came in fast and fierce, water splashing up, like a ship in a blizzard, dark clouds obscuring the sky, making her unable to see the starry sky above.
The wooden door was suddenly knocked upon.
Yu Qingtang nearly jumped out of her skin, pulling out two strands of Cheng Zhanxi's hair.
Cheng Zhanxi sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, then slowly exhaled.
Because of that sharp breath, Yu Qingtang almost suffocated Cheng Zhanxi.
The room was deathly silent.
Even the tiny specks of dust floating in the night air seemed to quiet down.
Grandma Lin pressed her ear against the wooden door, frowning in confusion, and asked, "Zhanxi, is there a mouse?"
Cheng Zhanxi freed her long hair from Yu Qingtang's grasp, her fingertips scratching Yu Qingtang's palm. Yu Qingtang, in turn, grabbed the soft flesh on the back of Cheng Zhanxi's hand and pinched it with two fingers.
Getting more and more skilled.
Cheng Zhanxi hissed, then answered Grandma Lin outside the door, her voice sounding no different from usual, "Yes, Grandma Lin, it's already run off."
Grandma Lin said, "Do you want me to come in and catch the mouse for you?"
Cheng Zhanxi didn't speak for three seconds.
Yu Qingtang tilted her head, looking at the flimsy-looking wooden door, as if Grandma Lin might push it open at any moment. She started pulling Cheng Zhanxi's hair again because she couldn't get a grip on anything else; it was too slippery.
Cheng Zhanxi said sweetly, "No need, thank you, Grandma Lin."
Grandma Lin confirmed, "Really no need?"
Cheng Zhanxi didn't dare test the strength of her hair roots any further and quickly said, "No need, we're already asleep."
Grandma Lin said, "Then you two sleep. Call me if you need anything tonight."
"Okay, thank you."
Yu Qingtang held her breath, listening as the footsteps outside the door gradually faded away.
Her neck involuntarily arched back slightly. Cheng Zhanxi pulled the quilt, which she had slightly opened to speak, back over them and rustlingly continued their unfinished business.
Yu Qingtang cupped Cheng Zhanxi's face with both hands, preventing her from lowering her head, and whispered sternly, "Cheng Zhanxi."
Cheng Zhanxi emerged from under the quilt, propping herself up above her.
Her fair, full forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat from the stuffiness, extending to her temples. Other places were also glistening: her lips, chin, the tip of her nose, and her cheeks.
Yu Qingtang didn't dare look at the transparent liquid on her face and turned her head away, conveniently exposing her flushed ears to Cheng Zhanxi's sight.
Cheng Zhanxi lowered her head and kissed her.
Yu Qingtang let out an unexpected low hum, pressing against Cheng Zhanxi's shoulder.
"Grandma Lin..."
"She's already gone back." Cheng Zhanxi gently bit her earlobe, suddenly chuckled, and said, "Besides, wasn't it a mouse? What does that have to do with my Yu Tangtang?"
Yu Tangtang wanted to bite her.
"Anyway... it's just not okay."
"Alright, whatever you say." Cheng Zhanxi indulgently kissed her cheek, sat up to find the wet wipes placed by the bedside, carefully cleaned them both up, and lay down beside Yu Qingtang's pillow.
Yu Qingtang pressed her lips together; in the hazy moonlight, her disappointed expression was indistinct.
Footsteps sounded outside the house again.
Both of them startled simultaneously and exchanged a glance.
The countryside toilet was built outside the house. Grandma Lin had gone to the toilet and was now returning.
The footsteps faded away, accompanied by the soft sound of a door closing.
Yu Qingtang whispered, "Is she really gone back this time?"
Cheng Zhanxi said, "I guess so."
Yu Qingtang, her fright just subsiding, let out a sigh of relief and buried her face in the crook of Cheng Zhanxi's neck.
Cheng Zhanxi held her, gently patting her back to soothe her.
Having just experienced a midnight scare, neither of them felt sleepy. However, chatting in the poorly soundproofed small room also risked attracting Grandma Lin. So, they held each other, and after looking into each other's eyes for a long time, they naturally returned to irresistible kissing.
—That was how it happened the first time.
Cheng Zhanxi pulled Yu Qingtang's hand over and pressed it above her head.
Yu Qingtang tilted her neck up, her free hand cooperatively tucking Cheng Zhanxi's cascading long hair behind her ear.
Moonlight streamed in through the skylight, two figures tightly entwined.
Grandma Lin, half-asleep, turned over and mumbled.
The mice in the house were active again.
Many rural households raised chickens. With one rooster's crow, the loud crowing of roosters from every household echoed, heralding the dawn in a corner of the sky. The entire village was enveloped in a light morning mist.
In her sleep, Yu Qingtang frowned uneasily, burrowing deeper into Cheng Zhanxi's embrace, murmuring in her sleep, "So noisy..."
Cheng Zhanxi, eyes closed, was sleeping very soundly. Her hand, as if with a mind of its own, covered Yu Qingtang's ears.
Yu Qingtang grasped her wrist, buried her face in Cheng Zhanxi's chest, adjusted to a comfortable sleeping position, and became still.
The crowing continued, but the two of them slept soundly, one more so than the other.
At six in the morning, Cheng Zhanxi woke up on time. One of her hands was still on Yu Qingtang's ear. Cheng Zhanxi looked down at her hand in confusion, not knowing why it was in such a strange position. Meanwhile, Yu Qingtang was pressed tightly against her, as if taking advantage of her.
Cheng Zhanxi looked at Yu Qingtang, who had only one ear exposed, and thought: Isn't she feeling stuffy?
Cheng Zhanxi needed to get up. She gently lifted Yu Qingtang's head and placed it on the pillow. Yu Qingtang's cheeks were flushed from sleep. Cheng Zhanxi leaned over and kissed her again and again, almost kissing Yu Qingtang awake.
Yu Qingtang let out a soft moan, her eyelashes fluttering.
Cheng Zhanxi sat on the edge of the bed, watching her quietly and intently, holding one of her hands, the corners of her mouth unknowingly curving up.
Yu Qingtang was hugging Cheng Zhanxi's discarded pajamas, her expression serene.
Cheng Zhanxi watched her for nearly half an hour without realizing it. She tucked the corner of the quilt for Yu Qingtang, then tiptoed out and closed the door.
Grandma Lin had gone to the pond to do laundry.
There was a water basin in the courtyard, but women accustomed to going to the pond still preferred the pond side.
Grandma Lin wasn't very old. The younger people marry in the countryside, the sooner they become grandparents. She had a son and became a grandmother; she was about ten years younger than Cheng Zhanxi's mother, Song Qingrou, but she looked much older. Given Cheng Zhanxi's age, it would be normal to call her "Auntie." Outside, Cheng Zhanxi might even call someone of that age "Sister." But everyone in the village called her Grandma Lin. When her son was around, she was XX's mom; when her husband was alive, she might have been XX's wife, or from XX's family. It seemed that after she married, her individual self was erased, even her name was no longer mentioned.
Lin Xi was sitting on the threshold, her head resting against the doorframe. Her young face wore a completely blank expression.
Cheng Zhanxi, holding a tea mug, squatted in a low-lying part of the courtyard to brush her teeth. The water soaked into the soil, staining it a darker color.
After she washed her face, little Lin Xi was still sitting there, head down, wiping her eyes.
Cheng Zhanxi went over and asked her; she said she missed her mom.
Cheng Zhanxi held her in her arms, gently patting her back.
Xiao Lin Xi didn't cry for long. She soon dried her tears and happily went out to play with her friends.
The village was full of left-behind children. Everyone lived like this, day after day, year after year.
The porridge on the stove was fragrant. Grandma Lin returned and was hanging clothes in the courtyard. Cheng Zhanxi went over to help.
Grandma Lin, not yet fifty this year, was quick and nimble. In the time it took Cheng Zhanxi to hang one piece of clothing, she had already quickly hung two or three. Cheng Zhanxi smoothed out a child's garment, put it on a hanger, and asked with a casual smile, "Grandma Lin, you're younger than my mom. I feel a bit awkward calling you Grandma. What's your name?"
Grandma Lin's calloused hands patted the hung clothes as she casually replied, "My surname is Zhao."
Cheng Zhanxi asked, "Zhao what?"
Grandma Lin's movement paused mid-air. After a few seconds, she answered, "Xue'e. My name is Zhao Xue'e."
She gently patted the clothes twice.
Cheng Zhanxi said, "Should I call you Xue'e Jie or Aunt Zhao?"
Grandma Lin, no, Zhao Xue'e turned to look at her, a shy smile on her dark face. "Aunt Zhao, I suppose. I'm more than ten years older than you."
Cheng Zhanxi smiled and said, "Let's go with Xue'e Jie."
Zhao Xue'e also smiled, "As you wish."
"Xue'e Jie, what kind of porridge are you cooking? It smells so good."
"It's pumpkin grown at home. I cut a small piece and put it in. Try some later. If you like it, take some back with you. I still have a lot, and Lin Xi and I can't finish it all." Zhao Xue'e visibly became more talkative, a smile constantly on her face.
Yu Qingtang came out of the door and saw Cheng Zhanxi and Zhao Xue'e chatting happily.
It was Zhao Xue'e who saw her first, nodded, and said, "You're up."
Cheng Zhanxi then turned her face and smiled at her.
Yu Qingtang suddenly felt like an outsider.
But the next second, that feeling vanished because Cheng Zhanxi walked over to her, took her hand, and said, "Xue'e Jie said she'll make pumpkin pancakes for us later."
Yu Qingtang glanced at her, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Xue'e Jie?
She was gone for just a moment, and Cheng Zhanxi didn't even spare Grandma Lin? From eighty-year-old women down to three-year-old children, no one could escape her charm.
Cheng Zhanxi, well aware of her jealous nature, led her aside and explained.
Yu Qingtang cupped Cheng Zhanxi's face with both hands, looking into her eyes, and remained silent for a long time.
Cheng Zhanxi didn't detect any anger in her eyes and smiled, "What's wrong?"
Yu Qingtang brushed aside the long hair that had fallen onto Cheng Zhanxi's forehead, allowing the beautiful face to be more clearly imprinted in her sight.
"Nothing, I just suddenly understand why everyone loves you," Yu Qingtang sighed softly.
"Do you think I'm particularly good?"
"Mm."
"Then, for someone as good as me, the person I like must also be particularly good, right?"
Yu Qingtang smiled.
Cheng Zhanxi rubbed her face against Yu Qingtang's palm, pressing, "Right? Right? Right?"
Yu Qingtang couldn't stand her acting cute and nodded with a smile, "Yes."
"Are we a match made in heaven, a pair created by earth?"
"Yes."
"Then give me a kiss." Cheng Zhanxi closed her eyes.
Yu Qingtang looked around. Zhao Xue'e had gone into the kitchen, and little Lin Xi hadn't returned yet.
Her heart pounded as she gave Cheng Zhanxi a light, butterfly kiss on the lips.
Cheng Zhanxi smiled with her eyes closed.
Yu Qingtang felt a warmth on her lips and hurriedly said, "I'm going to wash up."
Cheng Zhanxi opened her eyes and watched her fleeing figure with a light chuckle. Suddenly, as if sensing something, she looked towards the courtyard gate. Xiao Lin Xi stood outside, her mouth agape wide enough to fit a duck egg.
Cheng Zhanxi smiled and waved at her.
After her brain froze for a few seconds, little Lin Xi walked over.
Cheng Zhanxi asked her what she had been playing. Xiao Lin Xi immediately shared happily, forgetting about accidentally seeing the two of them kissing.
The sun peeked out, and smoke from kitchen chimneys rose everywhere in the village.
Zhao Xue'e came out of the kitchen and called out, "Time to eat!"
Cheng Zhanxi helped Yu Qingtang put away the watercolor pens and sketchbook from the table, placed them on a stool in the corner of the living room, and went to the basin in the courtyard to wash her hands.
Cheng Zhanxi stood behind Yu Qingtang, embracing her. Her hands enveloped Yu Qingtang's, washing them for her before washing her own.
The porridge and dishes were served. Besides the fragrant pumpkin pancakes, there were stir-fried dried radishes with dried shrimp, pickled mustard greens, homemade fermented tofu, and stir-fried potato strips with green peppers, filling the small dining table. From little Lin Xi's surprised reaction, it was clear this was definitely not their usual breakfast spread.
Yu Qingtang secretly pinched Cheng Zhanxi's waist under the table.
Cheng Zhanxi found a high spot overlooking the entire village to sketch. She tied on an apron and sat before her easel, using a palette and oil paints. Yu Qingtang brought a small folding stool up the hill, placed a folding chair in front of her, and spread her sketchbook on it.
The two of them started painting at the same time.
Yu Qingtang finished first and turned to look at Cheng Zhanxi, who was completely absorbed.
She quietly moved her chair further away without making a sound, turned a page in her sketchbook, and the subject of her drawing became Cheng Zhanxi.
Cheng Zhanxi sat for several hours. She moved her sore neck, turned to look at Yu Qingtang beside her, her gaze suddenly tightening, then she relaxed with a sigh.
"Why are you sitting so far away?" Cheng Zhanxi smiled and said to Yu Qingtang, who was already under a tree.
Yu Qingtang looked at the messy drawing under her pen, covered it with her hand, and made an excuse, "It's sunny."
"Sunny?" Cheng Zhanxi looked at the sun overhead. It was cool on the mountain, and the April weather couldn't be called sunny. But since Yu Qingtang said so, she didn't argue. "Finished painting?"
"Finished."
"Let me see?"
Yu Qingtang flipped back a page and showed it to her.
Yu Qingtang's drawing was very neat and orderly. Perhaps because of her mathematics background, the lines were as straight as if drawn with a ruler. Rows of blue village houses adjoined green rice paddies, ochre-yellow ridges divided the paddies into sections, and a stream meandered down from a distant valley, with a yellow dog at its end.
Cheng Zhanxi smiled, "It's beautiful."
Her fingers flipped to the next page, but Yu Qingtang pressed her hand down.
Cheng Zhanxi met her gaze and asked, "What is it?"
Yu Qingtang said, "It's you. It's drawn very badly. Don't look."
Cheng Zhanxi raised an eyebrow, "Is it uglier than the drawing I made of you when I was little?"
Yu Qingtang said without hesitation, "Mine is uglier."
Cheng Zhanxi didn't insist on looking, but realizing something from her words, she mused, "The painting I gave you when I was little..."
"It's in my safe at home."
Cheng Zhanxi laughed, "Oh no, my dark past."
Yu Qingtang disagreed, "It was drawn very well."
"Let me revisit it sometime." Cheng Zhanxi tapped the drawing under her hand and said, "Are you sure you won't let me see this one? It's the first portrait you've drawn of me, very commemorative."
Yu Qingtang hesitated for a moment, then released her hand.
Cheng Zhanxi flipped the page and let out a soft "Ah."
Yu Qingtang watched her.
Cheng Zhanxi exclaimed sincerely, "Where did this little painting genius come from?"
How was this a person? She had completely changed species.
Cheng Zhanxi blurted out nonsense, "A contemporary Picasso."
Yu Qingtang laughed and lightly hit her arm.
Cheng Zhanxi took a picture of the drawing with her phone, untied her apron, and they hugged for a while. Then Cheng Zhanxi's phone rang; Zhao Xue'e was calling them back for lunch.
Yu Qingtang felt a polite, slight pang of jealousy.
Cheng Zhanxi hung up the phone and kissed Yu Qingtang's lips. It was just a light kiss, but unexpectedly, Yu Qingtang took the initiative, turning the tables. Cheng Zhanxi then turned the tables back. Deep in the woods, the sound of water tsk-tsked.
Cheng Zhanxi straightened Yu Qingtang's disheveled collar, looked into her eyes, now misty, and said, "Shall we go?"
Yu Qingtang rested her forehead on Cheng Zhanxi's shoulder to catch her breath for a moment, then stood up.
Yu Qingtang still had work matters to attend to. The two napped at Lin Xi's house for half an hour, then set off back to the city. The trunk was filled with local products Zhao Xue'e had given them, all home-grown, green and fresh, including a clay jar of homemade pickled vegetables.
Their usual activity space was in 2102, and they would return to 2101 to sleep at night. But there was one exception: Yu Qingtang prepared lessons and handled student work in 2101, where her study was well-stocked with materials. Cheng Zhanxi's study was mostly used for grading papers, so every evening, Cheng Zhanxi had a period of being alone in an empty room.
After returning home, Yu Qingtang went straight back to 2101, and Cheng Zhanxi followed her in.
"Baby, can we discuss something?" she called out to Yu Qingtang, who was about to enter the study.
Yu Qingtang turned around.
Cheng Zhanxi said, "We go back and forth every day. Would you like to move into my place? My study is basically empty and I don't usually use it. I can help you move your books and materials over."
Yu Qingtang was silent for a moment, then asked, "Now?"
Meaning she wasn't refusing.
Cheng Zhanxi's eyes lit up with a smile, which she quickly controlled. "Finish your work first. I'll take your clothes for tomorrow over. Can I take the liberty of opening your wardrobe?"
Yu Qingtang's face inexplicably warmed, and she nodded.
Cheng Zhanxi: "Then I'll go?"
Yu Qingtang softly: "Mm."
Cheng Zhanxi walked towards the bedroom. Yu Qingtang stood there, watching her back disappear through the door, before turning and entering the study.
She sat in front of the computer at her desk, touching her hot face.
She concentrated on her work, but her ears betrayed her mind the moment footsteps sounded outside. Before her brain could react, she had already walked to the back of the study door and quietly opened a crack.
Cheng Zhanxi was holding Yu Qingtang's pajamas in her left hand and a hanger with a windbreaker in her right, walking towards the main door of the living room.
Cheng Zhanxi restrained herself from emptying Yu Qingtang's entire wardrobe.
She had initially cleared out a wardrobe specifically for Yu Qingtang's clothes, but after thinking about it, she changed her mind and placed them together with hers, sorted by season—yours among mine, mine among yours. Their dressing styles were vastly different, so it was easy to tell whose clothes were whose at a glance.
Cheng Zhanxi also changed to a new set of bed linens, making the bed neatly.
She sat on the single sofa by the window, smiling to herself for a while, rubbed her face, then got up, took a book, went into 2101, and sat on the sofa to read.
Yu Qingtang heard the door close outside. Peeking through the crack, she saw Cheng Zhanxi's back as she sat on the sofa. Only then did she return to her seat and continue typing on the keyboard.
They had dinner in between; Cheng Zhanxi used Yu Qingtang's kitchen to make two bowls of seafood noodle soup.
Ten o'clock at night.
Yu Qingtang rubbed her aching brow, turned off the computer, and stretched.
She walked out of the study, saw the empty living room, and paused for a moment, belatedly realizing she was supposed to move across the hall.
Beep beep—
The sound of the keypad lock disengaging. The door to 2101 opened from the outside, and Cheng Zhanxi walked in.
Yu Qingtang: "?"
Cheng Zhanxi smiled, "I've come to get you."
Yu Qingtang watched her walk up to her, then rested her face on Cheng Zhanxi's shoulder, closed her eyes, and breathed softly.
Cheng Zhanxi understood and picked her up in a princess carry.
Yu Qingtang's way of acting cute wasn't as direct as hers. After a few days of being a couple, Cheng Zhanxi could pretty much understand her body language.
Cheng Zhanxi carried her to the entrance hall of 2102. Yu Qingtang reached out and closed the door.
Cheng Zhanxi said, "I'll find a technician to change the keypad lock tomorrow."
Yu Qingtang said, "I'll reimburse you."
Cheng Zhanxi suddenly realized, "Oh, I almost forgot you're the landlord." She lowered her head and kissed the tip of Yu Qingtang's nose. "When is this month's rent due?"
The kiss tickled Yu Qingtang, and she shrank back a little, whispering, "Do you still have to pay rent?"
"If I don't pay rent, I have to offer something in exchange, right?"
Yu Qingtang looked up at her, thinking: Aren't you entirely mine already? What else could you offer in exchange?
Cheng Zhanxi saw her clear, puzzled gaze, and the words she had prepared died on her lips.
Compared to Yu Qingtang, her own thoughts were truly so impure!
"Nothing." Cheng Zhanxi didn't linger in the living room, carrying her straight into the bedroom and placing her on the single sofa. "Do you want to shower first, or should I? Or..."
She drew out the word, her warm fingertips caressing Yu Qingtang's chin, and said ambiguously, "Shall we shower together?"
Yu Qingtang's face instantly turned red.
They had always showered separately in their own homes before. Except for the two times they stayed in a hotel together, they had never showered in the same room. Progressing directly to a "mandarin duck bath," wasn't that a bit too fast? But if Cheng Zhanxi insisted, she wouldn't refuse.
Would Cheng Zhanxi help her wash? Or would she wash Cheng Zhanxi? Would she... do that to her in the bathroom? It would definitely be very comfortable; everything Cheng Zhanxi gave her was the best and most comfortable.
Yu Qingtang silently pressed her lips together.
Cheng Zhanxi chuckled and said, "Just teasing you. Go take a shower."
Yu Qingtang pressed her lips together even tighter, resisting the urge to look up at Cheng Zhanxi, afraid of revealing the disappointment in her eyes.
Cheng Zhanxi tilted her head.
Why did it seem like Yu Qingtang wasn't very enthusiastic? She was fine just a moment ago. Was it because she suggested showering together, and Yu Qingtang felt awkward and uncomfortable?
Cheng Zhanxi secretly noted this lesson: proceed step by step, don't talk recklessly.
Cheng Zhanxi put Yu Qingtang's pajamas in the bathroom, turned on the showerhead in the shower stall, adjusted it to a suitable water temperature, and came out to tell Yu Qingtang, "Alright, you can shower now."
Yu Qingtang watched her back leave the bathroom, her lips moving slightly.
Cheng Zhanxi grasped the bathroom doorknob, then suddenly looked back. Yu Qingtang was turned sideways, not looking at her at all.
Was it an illusion?
Cheng Zhanxi closed the door thoughtfully.
Inside the bathroom, Yu Qingtang bit her lower lip in annoyance.
Soon, the sound of the shower water reached her ears.
Cheng Zhanxi opened the drawer of the bedside table. Inside, five boxes of finger cots with different functions were neatly arranged. She placed the most frequently used type on top for easy access, closed the drawer, sat on the sofa, crossed her long legs, and leisurely trimmed her nails.
She put away the nail clippers, picked up her phone from the coffee table to check the time, and frowned.
Yu Qingtang had been in there for over forty minutes; she should have come out long ago.
Cheng Zhanxi uncrossed her legs, walked to the bathroom door, listened to the water sounds inside, and knocked on the door with her knuckles.
"Yu Qingtang?"
"Baby, are you in there?"
The sound of the water didn't pause at all; this showering sound had been going on for a long time.
An ominous premonition welled up in Cheng Zhanxi's heart. She knocked harder on the door and raised her voice, "Yu Qingtang."
Water from the showerhead splashed onto the bathroom floor tiles, then onto the straight, well-proportioned calves of the woman nearby. Yu Qingtang stood quietly in the glass shower stall, making no sound.
Cheng Zhanxi outside the door received no response, her expression anxious. She finally couldn't bear it any longer.
"I'm coming in." Cheng Zhanxi gripped the doorknob and turned it.
The bathroom was filled with steam. A slender back was vaguely visible, long black hair clinging to smooth skin. Cheng Zhanxi couldn't see clearly and took a few steps forward. "Yu Qingtang?"
Yu Qingtang turned to face her.
Cheng Zhanxi froze on the spot.
Yu Qingtang, with a composure she had rehearsed for a long time, said, "Did you call me? I didn't hear."
Cheng Zhanxi's gaze swept from top to bottom, and she swallowed hard.
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