Bai Fumei in the '70s

21-30

Bai Fumei in the '70s Chapter 21

Both of them ate until their stomachs were nearly bursting. Finished with their meal, both Tang Qing and Jiang Li felt an oncoming food-coma, exhaustion and laziness oozing from their bloated tummies. They just wanted to sit quietly in this narrow log house and rest against the wall. They licked their lips for residual oil and patted their stomachs, already reminiscing about that heavenly taste.

As if the tip of their tongue hadn't had time to properly process the delicious noodle soup just now.

Tang Qing pointed to a little noodle sticking on the side of Jiang Li's mouth, and the girl who loved her beautiful image, hastily wiped her mouth with a handkerchief in embarrassment. She saw the teasing smile in the boy's eyes and giggled. "You too."

She pointed to the oil stains on Tang Qing's face, and the two laughed.

...

On the other side, Zhao Lanxiang brought the piping hot bowl to He Songbai's room. At the moment, his hands and feet were wrapped in casts and fixed in place by a wooden board, a white bandage was tied around his head, the skin around his eyes were an alarming shade of blue and purple, and his bottomless black eyes looked straight ahead. The whole person looked despondent and miserable.

He Songbai's swollen eyes seemed lifeless and dull, but his heart was very chaotic at the moment.

Uncontrollably, he recalled the madness that started in this room yesterday, and the tips of his ears burned red, and he felt waves of remorse wash over him. It wasn't that he regretted the kiss he shared with Zhao Lanxiang, despite how anxious and confused he'd been yesterday. She was always sticking so closely to him, even her breath was sweet, and he could no longer act indifferent as a man.

But He Songbai regretted that he was poor and had a bad reputation. How could he even begin to talk about a relationship with her?

He couldn't even promise her the bare minimum.

Zhao Lanxiang put his bowl of noodles on the table and coughed lightly, "Get up and eat noodles."

He Songbai licked the wound at the corner of his mouth and said vaguely, "Take this apart, I'm not a lame..."

He raised his hand wrapped in planks, and he looked at her helplessly.

As he said that he bowed his head and bite the bandage with his teeth, attempting to dismantle the contraptions himself. The next moment however, Zhao Lanxiang grabbed his arm.

Zhao Lanxiang said, "The doctor said that it needs to be fixed in place for at least three weeks. Would you please try to tolerate it?

Zhao Lanxiang looked up at him and flashed him a dazzling smile. "Don't you want to experience being nursed by me?"

He Songbai's complexion changed suddenly, and he couldn't keep his calm.

He coughed, his pale face flushed pink with a faint blush, and his voice said hoarsely, "You are a girl, how can you talk like that all day, even more than the men."

He Songbai turned his head away and said, "I can eat myself."

Zhao Lanxiang knew that He Songbai couldn't accept acting like a crippled, needing the help of others for even such simple things like eating and drinking.

If it were a burden he could bear, he would never complain. Yesterday, Zhao Lanxiang pulled him out of bed. At that time, he was injured and after being tossed about, his brain was muddled from fever.

Zhao Lanxiang glanced at him, took a few breaths, and delivered his bowl to him. She caught a strand of noodle, took a bite, and sucked it up sizzlingly.