Phoenix Men"s Big Battle IX Wen Rushi sat on the bed and covered her legs with a quilt. She rested both of her elbows on Shen Wenhan"s pillow while holding an English textbook as she flipped through the book.
There were many handwritten notes in the book in the blank s.p.a.ce between the lines. He had beautiful penmanship. Some of the lines in here were forceful, unlike his emotionally repressed personality.
The old wooden door jerked open. It gave out a ‘creak" sound. This sound made Wen Rushi raised her head from the book.
Shen Wenhan, who had not spoken since he came back, appeared at the door with gauze and an ointment in his hand.
Wen Rushi silently watched him sitting on the edge of the bed. He uncovered the quilt around her feet, gently lifted her foot out and began to change the dressings for her.
Shen Wenhan lowered his head. His strong eyebrows twisted slightly, and his firm lips drew in a straight line.
His natural gentle movements made the atmosphere in the room became strange. It felt rather intimate but at the same time somewhat alienated. It was a little ambiguous, but there"s also a sense of isolation.
Without his anger that happened in the afternoon, there seems to be something between them.
Wen Rushi didn"t say anything. She just waited for Shen Wenhan to break the silence. Since he willingly came to do this kind of thing for her, then he must have something to say.
She really wanted to hear what kind of choices this man would make.
Sure enough, Shen Wenhan began to speak.
His voice was deep and slow as if he were telling someone else"s story, “As long as I can remember, we haven"t had a good life at home. We would eat Qiang Cai Mian Hu every day. (TL: It"s a vegetarian dish) There were times when we only had rice with nothing to eat with it.
When my little sister was born, my mother had no milk because of malnutrition. In order to support our family, my father went to the town"s construction site to work as a porter. Later, he hurt his bones and muscles. Up to now, he can"t get out of bed on rainy or cloudy days.
He unfolded gauze and wrapped Wen Rushi"s feet in the medicine. “My elder brother and I had to swaddle our sister, and knocked door to door in the village to get a bowl of porridge.”
“You were born with golden branches and jade leaves (TL: This is an idiom. It means coming from a rich/good family). You have been pampered since young and never lives that hard life,” said Shen Wenhan, holding her slender ankle, and slowly putting it back under the cover, “You don"t know there are people who have to struggle in this world to survive, and you also don"t know how fearful a paralysis is to a family like us.”
He stretched out his hand and placed it on the quilt near Wen Rushi. He looked up at her, and there was real sadness in his eyes.
After a while, he said softly, “You"re right. We owe you the Shen household. You have no reason to endure my bad temper.” Shen Wenhan began. It was as if he had lowered his pride.
Wen Ruru stared at him quietly and didn"t answer.
If she was a little girl like Qin Xiaoling who knew nothing about the world or the original Wen Rushi who was stubborn, but had a soft-hearted and was a fragile lady, maybe she could sympathize with Shen Wenhan for revealing his true feelings today.
But she wasn"t. She could clearly tell which word was sincere and which one was false in every sentence.
“That"s why let"s start over, OK.” Shen Wen"s eyes drooped, and his long eyelashes covered his deep eyes.
Him having a hard life, loving his little sister, wanting to heal his elder brother, and feeling guilty about his parents was all true. But him wanting to start over with her was half-true and half-false.
Wen Rushi leaned over and grasped his clenched hand that he had placed on the quilt.
She smiled gently, “Alright.”
She was curious to know what was true and what was false.
On a quiet night, the moonlight was pa.s.sing through the gla.s.s windows. Half a plate of mosquito-repellent incense lit on the ground. Its smoke was slowly rose into the air.
The couple slept together on the same bed. Each was lying on their own side, and neither of them was near the other.
Wen Rushi closed her eyes and heard Shen Wenhan"s steady breathing. Neither of them spoke but each strangely knew that the other wasn"t asleep.
Their way of living reminded her of beasts that meet in narrow paths on the gra.s.slands.
There was no fighting that began as soon as they met. They merely observed and preparing their own self according to the signals revealed by the other side.
Slowly, Wen Ruzhi gradually went to her dreamland.
The next day, Shen Wenhan didn"t go out to exercise early in the morning as he did the day before.
When Wen Rushi got up, he had already brought the water into the room, “Wake up and wash your face. Breakfast is ready.”
As soon as Wen Rushi put on her shoes, Shen Wenhan handed her a handkerchief.
Shen Wenhan had a cheerful smile on his face as clear as dew in the morning. His dedicated expression even gave Wen Rushi the illusion of being deeply loved.
She took the handkerchief and wiped her face slowly.
This man was born a politician. He can bend and stretch (TL: adapt to the situation). What"s more, he could cover up his act perfectly, just as he had really figured it out and wanted to start from scratch with her.
If you didn"t have a clear understanding of the plot, perhaps when the two of us really fight each other, no one would know at whose hand will the deer die. (TL: This is also an idiom. Its meaning is who will gain the supremacy or be a winner.)
Looking at Shen Wenhan"s back from the basin again, Wen Rushi frowned. She deliberately awakened the beast buried in his chest, not knowing whether it was right or wrong.
She just felt that this was better than when he bottled it all in.
If Shen Wenhan allowed these dark feeling to acc.u.mulate day after day, year after year, they would all burst out one day. It wasn"t a pleasant thing to let Qin Xiaoling suffer or let him suffering himself.
Unlike others, she had no power to fight back.
His inferior complex and conceit was something like an imprint that Shen Wenhan and his two generations couldn"t get rid off.
She knew that her speech from yesterday had ruthlessly stabbed Shen Wenhan in the deepest part of his heart.
She also knew that this would lead to all the negative emotions that he should have vented on the heroes and heroines in the second half of the plot. All of which would fall into her much earlier than the original plot.
Despite knowing this, Wen Rushi still did it.
As a result, she was somewhat surprised that Shen Wenhan was not so foolish as ordinary Phoenix man to use the so-called husband-wife relationship to pressure her, but chose another tactic instead.
He"s very smart. It would be a pity that such a smart man would end up being destroyed by things that shouldn"t be taken seriously.
After breakfast, Wen Rushi simply packed up her belongings and followed Shen Wenhan down the mountain. She walked slowly and guessed that it should be around afternoon now. When she reached the town, she could see the driver had already waiting for her.
When Shen Wenhan pulled the door for her, Wen Rushi suddenly grabbed his hand and said in a gentle voice, “Your wedding leave will be over in a few days. If you don"t want to go back to the city with me, you can stay on the mountain for another two days. Just come and see my parents after you leave.”
The distance between their body was only one finger apart. Shen Wenhan could almost feel her warm breath blowing on his throat.
He didn"t get it. Didn"t she come here to bring him back to apologize to her parents?
He had already prepared himself for their vicious words. Even if they berated him, he would endure and wouldn"t show any hint of complaint.
However, she said that he needn"t to.
Shen Wenhan looked at her in surprise and opened his mouth. He wanted to say it didn"t matter. He would go back with her, but he couldn"t say it.
He really wanted to stay with his parents. They were old and their hair had started to turn grey unlike Wen Rushi"s mother, who took good care of her body. They were clearly of the same age but his parents looked more than ten or twenty years older than Wen Rushi"s mother.
Shen Xiang still need to study, so she couldn"t help farming on weekdays. If he stayed, he can let them rest for at least a few more days.
Wen Rushi gently touched his face, suddenly tiptoed and kissed him on the lips. “I will explain to my parents. You can rest a.s.sured.”
When she finished speaking, she sat in the back seat and closed the car"s door.
Shen Wenyi was stunned. his lips could still feel something soft touching his lips as if it was still lingering there.
The window of the car slowly lowered, followed by the sound of Wen Rushi"s laughter. She looked up, her eyebrows were like a crescent moon, and said softly to him, “I"m waiting for you at home.”
Shen Wenhan stood still in his place and watched the vehicle sped away. He didn"t move after a long time.
The street was full of people, just like his confused thoughts. He stood there until the car behind him pressed the horn, only then did he recovered and slowly headed for the road up to the hill.
Wen Rushi got home an hour later. Before she could sit down and take a sip of water, Li Ma stood behind her as though she was hesitated to speak something.
She raised her eyebrow and said in amuse, “What"s wrong with you? Who"s bothered you? Don"t tell me that I did it. I just came back.”
“Oh, no,” she said. Li mama sat down opposite from her, “I just wanted to ask you why you came back alone. What about Mr. Shen? Why didn"t he come back with you?
“Oh, this matter, I let him stay on the mountain for two more days,” Wen Rushi indifferently stood up and went upstairs. She stayed in his house for a few days, and it was inconvenient to take a bath. She had to drop some essential oil in the bathtub to make bubbles.
She suddenly remembered something a moment later. She turned to Li Mama while her hand was on a handrail. She said, ” You will have to clean the room next to me and changed the sheet and quilt into new ones.
Just to ask a few more questions, Mama Li asked doubtfully, ” I have no idea that there will be any guests here. But even if there are guests coming, it"s time to tidy up a room on the first floor. How can a guest live on the third floor?
Wen Rushi waved back at her and answered without turning her head. She walked towards her room.
“Not a guest. It"s Shen Wenhan. We"ll sleep in a separate room.”
“What?! How can I do that? ah…” Mama Li was so shocked that she quickened her step upstairs.
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