At this moment, Zhou Yinghuai stood in front of a counter selling all sorts of small trinkets, feeling troubled. The dazzling array of items made it difficult to choose. As he looked at the wall full of handkerchiefs, his brows furrowed slightly. To him, they all looked nearly identical, without much difference.
But she liked beautiful things. If he picked an ugly one for her, would she be unhappy?
Zhou Yinghuai hesitated for a moment before deciding to choose a handkerchief similar to the one she had. That way, he wouldn’t go wrong. He began searching carefully when a salesperson approached.
“Comrade, hello! I see you’ve been picking for a long time. Are you having trouble deciding?”
Hearing this, Zhou Yinghuai turned toward the voice and met the salesperson’s shy and hesitant gaze. He frowned slightly but had yet to respond when she continued, “Is this for yourself or a gift? I can give you some recommendations.”
“A gift.” Having a professional recommend something was definitely faster than choosing on his own. So, Zhou Yinghuai took out the handkerchief from his bag. “I want one similar to this.”
The salesperson took one look and immediately knew that this man probably already had someone in his life. She quickly dismissed the thoughts she had just entertained and focused on his request, selecting a similar handkerchief and handing it over. “This one sells very well. Young ladies all like it. There are also these hair ties and hair clips over here…”
When Cheng Fangqiu dragged Cheng Xiaohua over, the scene they saw was Zhou Yinghuai carrying bags upon bags of purchases. A quick glance showed they were all things girls would like.
He said he came to buy things—was it for these?
Could it be… he bought them for her?
The moment the thought surfaced, Cheng Fangqiu shuddered, mentally scolding herself. Self-absorption was an illness that needed treatment.
But if it wasn’t for her, then who was it for? It couldn’t be for Zhou Yinghuai himself, right? His colleagues were all men…
No, there was one woman—Shen Xilian!
Shen Xilian had only recently arrived and hadn’t had time to prepare many daily necessities. Just two days ago, Cheng Fangqiu overheard her complaining about things she had forgotten to bring. Zhou Yinghuai had been present at the time.
A lump suddenly formed in her throat, neither rising nor falling, making her feel unbearably stifled. She gritted her molars, and reason told her that she should act as if she hadn’t seen anything, speak gently, and let the matter pass.
But Cheng Fangqiu couldn’t do it. Her expression turned cold, and she spoke in a muffled, heavy tone, “Let’s go. We still need to buy some things on the first floor.”
After speaking, she didn’t wait for Zhou Yinghuai to react and turned directly toward the stairs.
Zhou Yinghuai, who had just been given the cold shoulder, had initially been worried about how to explain the things he bought. But in the end, she didn’t even glance at him before walking away, clearly upset.
Yet, they had parted on good terms earlier—why was she now acting like a bristling cat? Could something have happened while they were buying fabric? Had someone bullied her?
Zhou Yinghuai pressed his lips together, wanting to chase after her and ask, but he wasn’t familiar with Cheng Xiaohua, and Cheng Fangqiu clearly didn’t want to talk to him. For the time being, he couldn’t find an opportunity to get to the bottom of things and had to set it aside, planning to ask her later.
The first floor was still crowded. Cheng Fangqiu, feeling suffocated by the crowd, became even more irritated. Enduring her discomfort, she headed toward the meat counter.
At that moment, a tall figure approached from beside her, just as before, creating a bubble of space in the crowd where she could breathe more easily.
Cheng Fangqiu lifted her gaze and saw his sharp-profiled face—his high nose bridge, his well-defined brow bones. Every feature was so perfect that he was a stunning sight to behold.
“Did something happen just now?” His voice was gentle and soothing, but the concern in his eyes was impossible to conceal.
“Why do you ask?” She was still sulking, her tone slightly harsh.
“You seem upset. Did someone bully you?”
Zhou Yinghuai, however, acted as if he hadn’t noticed her irritation, continuing to coax her patiently. But if one looked closely, they would see the sharp frost hidden in his gaze. It was as if, as soon as he coaxed the truth out of her, he would immediately go and seek justice on her behalf.
Suddenly, the frustration Cheng Fangqiu had been holding in dissipated. She didn’t even know where it had come from in the first place.
From the moment Zhou Yinghuai had taken her hand, she had been absolutely certain—Zhou Yinghuai liked her.
So why should she care about a woman he didn’t have the slightest interest in?
Now that she had calmed down and thought carefully, she realized that given his personality, Zhou Yinghuai would never actively buy things for Shen Xilian. Either she had asked him to buy them, or there was some other hidden reason.
In any case, she shouldn’t be angry.
But understanding this logic was one thing, while accepting it was another. Cheng Fangqiu let out a soft hum, half-jokingly and half-coquettishly muttering, “It’s all because certain someone took forever to come find me—I missed him.”
Hearing these words, Zhou Yinghuai’s expression froze for a moment, and then he nearly choked on his own saliva. He pressed a fist against his lips, coughing several times before he could recover. In just a short moment, that originally cold and stoic face was suddenly tinged with a faint blush, which quickly spread all the way to the tips of his ears.
He tried to maintain a composed demeanor, deliberately shifting his gaze away and turning his head as if to escape her burning stare, but the visibly heightened rise and fall of his chest completely betrayed his true emotions.
Cheng Fangqiu couldn’t stop the corners of her lips from curling up. Ha, just a little trick, and I’ve already got you hooked.
—
There was a long queue at the meat counter. The three of them waited for quite a while, finally managing to exchange their ration tickets for a suitable portion of meat. After all the effort, they were exhausted. By the time they left the supply and marketing cooperative, it was already getting late. They decided to head to the station early to secure seats and grab a quick lunch along the way.
Both Cheng Fangqiu and Cheng Xiaohua had brought dry rations, but Zhou Yinghuai hadn’t. It was obvious that the amount the two women had wouldn’t be enough to share with him. Fortunately, among the things Xu Qiqi had stuffed into their hands earlier was a package of mung bean cakes, which could at least serve as an emergency solution.
Zhou Yinghuai was not someone who liked taking advantage of others, so when they passed by a state-owned restaurant, he bought two large meat buns for each of them. The food was convenient, filling, and wrapped in oil paper, making it easy to carry.
Smelling the rich aroma of the meat buns, Cheng Fangqiu and Cheng Xiaohua exchanged glances. They couldn’t bear to refuse. Even if they couldn’t finish them, they could take them back home for their family to have a taste. As long as there was meat, it was a treasure.
By the time they reached the station, there weren’t many seats left, and none of the remaining ones were next to each other. Cheng Fangqiu glanced around and spotted a kind-looking elderly woman, whom she successfully persuaded to swap seats in exchange for a piece of mung bean cake. She promptly took the window seat and then directly waved at Zhou Yinghuai.
“Come sit here.”
Zhou Yinghuai hesitated, touching the bridge of his nose as if afraid he had misunderstood. He instinctively glanced at Cheng Xiaohua beside him, but she acted as if she hadn’t seen Cheng Fangqiu’s gesture or his gaze. Without a word, she simply sat down in an empty seat ahead, fully immersed in her own world, showing no interest in their affairs.
“Hurry up.” Cheng Fangqiu leaned forward slightly, patting the empty seat beside her. Her lips moved as she softly urged him again. Her captivating peach blossom eyes blinked charmingly, making it impossible for anyone to resist.
Zhou Yinghuai pursed his lips before striding forward. He sat down next to her, but as soon as he did, he felt a soft, boneless little hand brush against his palm, which rested on his knee. He lowered his eyelashes and saw her delicate fingers lightly tracing circles on the back of his hand.
“Your hand is so much bigger than mine.”
Unlike her bold actions, her voice was kept low, soft and sweet, tinged with a teasing charm that could make one’s heart race.
She was obviously doing this on purpose.
And as if to confirm his suspicion, before he could speak, her fingertip moved, pressing lightly against the raised veins on the back of his hand.
“Oh? This part is standing up.”
Standing up?
Zhou Yinghuai’s Adam’s apple bobbed twice. Whether out of guilt or some other reason, he subtly moved his bag from beside him, shifting it just enough to rest in his lap, perfectly covering a certain area that had almost lost control due to her teasing.
“Mine doesn’t do that.” She continued, placing their hands together for comparison. His palm was noticeably broader, the faint blue veins beneath his skin visible, his fingers long and well-defined. Her hand, in contrast, was petite and delicate, yet slender and elegant, with distinct but graceful joints.
The atmosphere between them grew even more ambiguous.
“Comrade Cheng…”
When he finally spoke, his voice was slightly hoarse, the ending note dragging out slightly. Combined with his helpless expression, those two ordinary words suddenly carried an unmistakable hint of something improper.
Seeing the subtle red tint at the corners of Zhou Yinghuai’s eyes, Cheng Fangqiu belatedly realized that she might have gone a little too far in her teasing. She cleared her throat lightly and quickly retracted her hand from his thigh.
For the rest of the journey, they spoke very little. Yet somehow, the air between them felt even more intimate and ambiguous than if they had been leaning against each other the entire way.
They both knew that something between them had undergone an earth-shattering change.
When they finally arrived at their stop, the three of them walked together toward the village. Just as they were about to part ways, Cheng Fangqiu suddenly remembered her mother’s reminder. She quickly turned back, only to see Zhou Yinghuai still standing there, watching her retreating figure. When their eyes met, he seemed slightly dazed for a moment before the corners of his lips curved slightly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Under the sunlight, Cheng Fangqiu’s eyes curved as she smiled and said to Zhou Yinghuai, “My mother told you to come over for dinner tonight. You agreed last time.”
Almost instantly, Zhou Yinghuai recalled that time when her hand got burned, and on their way back from the clinic, Ding Ximei had invited him to the Cheng family’s house for a meal. Back then, he had only agreed offhandedly, not expecting that she wasn’t just being polite but was actually making preparations for it.
He immediately straightened his expression. “Then I’ll go back, tidy up, and come over to help.”
Cheng Fangqiu didn’t refuse—there was no point since even if she did, it wouldn’t work. So, she simply nodded and was about to leave with Cheng Xiaohua when, unexpectedly, just a few steps away, a tall figure that had been crouching by the roadside suddenly sprang toward her, like a dog seeing a bone.
Both Cheng Fangqiu and Cheng Xiaohua were so startled by the sudden appearance that they couldn’t help but let out sharp screams.
“Fangqiu, it’s me! Li Jianping!”
Seeing that he had frightened Cheng Fangqiu, Li Jianping’s square, tanned face immediately filled with panic. Flustered, he hurriedly revealed his identity to reassure her.
Hearing this, Cheng Fangqiu opened her eyes and, upon recognizing the person in front of her, finally lowered her arms from their defensive stance. She patted her chest, still shaken, and in her irritation, her tone turned impatient. “Were you crouching here just to scare me?”
Li Jianping, realizing she had misunderstood, quickly waved his hands in denial. “No, I didn’t mean to scare you—I was waiting for you.”