Chapter 053  

He Ye didn’t set an alarm on weekends. Based on past experience, she would usually wake up naturally around seven o’clock.  

But she underestimated the impact of the one-hour mountain climbing exercise in the morning.  

She was sleeping soundly when a phone call suddenly woke her up.  

He Ye rubbed her eyes, saw it was her father calling, and answered the call.  

He Yong heard the soft and lazy “Dad” and smiled: “It’s already nine o’clock. Are you still sleeping in?”  

He Ye: “…Nine o’clock?”  

He Yong: “Yeah, I thought you must have gotten up before calling me. Why don’t you continue sleeping?”  

He Ye couldn’t sleep anymore, so she sat up, rubbed her hair, looked out the window, and asked, “Dad, what’s the matter?”  

He Yong: “Nothing, just asking if you want to go home today.”  

He Ye: “No, I’m going out to play with my colleagues today. I’ll go back next week.”  

He Yong: “Okay, then go have breakfast. I’ll continue to be busy.”  

After hanging up, He Ye hurriedly opened WeChat and found that Lu Jin hadn’t sent a single message.  

A little strange, she asked: [I just woke up, what are you doing?]  

Team Leader: [Reflect on whether my girlfriend regrets it and is ready to dump me again.]  

He Ye: [It wasn’t intentional. I didn’t expect to sleep so long. Have you had breakfast?]  

Team Leader: [I ate, otherwise I might not have the strength to walk to your side.]  

He Ye laughed again and recalled: Was Lu Jin also so talkative in the past?  

She couldn’t remember clearly, but she knew he was very bold in speaking. It felt embarrassing just listening, yet he said it naturally.  

But it was quite realistic. A young man who is 1.9 meters tall and in good health spent so much energy carrying her on his back yesterday. It would be strange if he wasn’t hungry in the morning.  

Team Leader: [Does your ankle still hurt?]  

He Ye lifted the quilt, bent her left leg, and pinched it. It was a little painful. She got out of bed and tried to walk. It wasn’t as serious as yesterday, but it still had some impact.  

She replied: [A little bit, I think it will be okay for work tomorrow.]  

Lu Jin: [I’m coming over now?]  

He Ye: [Okay.]  

To make it easier for Lu Jin to park, He Ye called the property management yesterday and temporarily put Lu Jin’s license plate number in her parking space.  

The two communities are adjacent, so it wouldn’t take long to walk there, and it would be even faster to drive. He Ye had just finished getting ready when the intercom rang.  

When He Ye unlocked her phone, she thought about setting up facial recognition for him, otherwise it would be troublesome to call him all the time.  

After a while, Lu Jin came up.  

He Ye opened the door and saw her boyfriend wearing a black casual outfit, holding an insulated box in one hand and a…  

He Ye didn’t recognize it: “What is this?”  

Lu Jin: “Folding wheelchair.”

He Ye: “…”

Lu Jin explained as he carried the wheelchair in: “The weather is nice today, so I’ll take you out for a walk. If you don’t want to sit in a wheelchair, I can carry you instead.”

He Ye: “No, I’d prefer the wheelchair.”

Lu Jin: “You eat first; I’ll get the car ready.”

He Ye sat at the dining table with a thermal box and watched him as he squatted down to figure out the folding wheelchair. With two simple movements, he unfolded it.

It’s called a wheelchair, but it looks more like a lightweight, portable baby stroller.

“It’s just for temporary use, so I didn’t buy anything too complicated.” Lu Jin said as he washed his hands in the kitchen and then sat down across from her.

He Ye nodded, not wanting to seem seriously ill.

For breakfast, they had steamed dumplings and millet porridge with two red dates in it. 

He Ye joked, “We’ll have lunch soon anyway.”

Lu Jin just looked at her quietly.

He Ye’s cheeks, freshly washed, turned red quickly.

Lu Jin: “Eat slowly; I’ll figure out where we should go next.”

After saying this, he walked over to the sofa and sat down.

He Ye felt much more relaxed and focused on eating.

Late February is when plum blossoms bloom, and Meishan in Ancheng is a great spot to see them.

They set off at 9:30 and drove for an hour to reach the scenic area.

He Ye sat in the wheelchair as Lu Jin pushed her up the mountain, carrying a backpack full of snacks and water.

Many tourists looked in He Ye’s direction. At first, she felt embarrassed, but after a while, she got used to it and talked to Lu Jin or admired the flowers.

The sun was warm, and the plum blossoms smelled lovely.

Picking flowers is not allowed, so some people sold silk plum blossom wreaths in the area for 15 yuan each. Many people wore them, from little girls to older women.

Lu Jin bought one and placed it on He Ye’s head.

He Ye: “This is childish.”

As they walked, they found an old plum tree perfect for photos. Lu Jin asked, “Do you want to take a picture here?”

He Ye nodded.

Lu Jin wanted to push her under the tree, but He Ye protested by tapping the wheelchair armrest: “Stop here, I’ll go over.”

Lu Jin smiled, locked the wheelchair wheels, helped her up, and put the backpack on the chair.

He Ye stood still. Since it was her boyfriend taking the photo, she didn’t strike a special pose; she just held the tree trunk with one hand and smiled at Lu Jin.

Lu Jin didn’t move but pointed at a lady nearby who was taking pictures. The lady looked calm as she admired the flowers.

He Ye: “I want to take a picture like that.”

Of course, Lu Jin listened to her. After taking the photo, he asked her to stay still and walked over: “Let’s take a photo together.”

He Ye’s face flushed. The last time they took a photo together was six years ago.

Back then, Lu Jin would secretly kiss her when they were close. In crowded places, he would lightly touch her forehead and ears, but when they were alone, he would kiss her for a long time.

For the photo, they needed to stand closer together. When their shoulders touched, He Ye heard Lu Jin ask above her head: “Can you hold my shoulders?”

He Ye: “…”

She glared at him.

Lu Jin lowered his voice: “Forget it then.”

He Ye knew he was pretending. The worse he acted, the less she wanted to play along, so she started to walk away.

Just as she took a step, a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back firmly.

She bumped into him, feeling his strong chest, much broader than that of an eighteen-year-old high school student.

There were tourists talking nearby, but at that moment, He Ye only heard Lu Jin’s quick breathing.

He hugged her tightly, making her feel a bit overwhelmed.

Just like the day before when he carried her on his back, this feeling always made her blush, but it was inevitable.

She gently pushed him away: “Okay, let’s take the picture.”

There were quite a few tourists around, and hugging might seem inappropriate. It was fine to just put her arm around his shoulders, but she preferred doing that when they were alone.

Lu Jin let her go.

He Ye instinctively stepped to the side and looked over; Lu Jin was now fiddling with his phone, acting as if the hug had meant nothing.

Compared to his relaxed demeanor, He Ye felt a bit silly for her fluttering heart.

She pursed her lips and tilted her head to admire the tree branches.

Lu Jin: “He Ye.”

He suddenly called her, his tone mixing formality with ambiguity, making her feel uneasy.

Though flustered, He Ye was also a little annoyed and hummed lightly.

Lu Jin: “Let’s think of a creative way to take the group photo?”

He Ye scratched the trunk of the old plum tree, feeling both unhappy and a bit dissatisfied: “What do you mean by creative?”

If he suggested something silly, like hugging a tree and gazing at each other, she would never agree.

Lu Jin looked at his phone, then at her, and then back at his phone. After a moment of silence, he said, “Something like a girlfriend kissing her boyfriend… that kind of thing.”

He Ye paused her scratching.

He added: “Just a kiss on the cheek.”

Her voice was low, but her tone was calmer than before. It wasn’t a negotiation but a request, as if he had been wronged and she should make up for it.

He Ye was shocked but then realized he was fiddling with his phone not out of indifference, but because he was thinking of what to do to make up for her ending the hug.

Is a kiss on the cheek too much to ask?

If two people are dating for the first time and they just confirmed their relationship the day before, it would seem strange for the boyfriend to suggest something like a kiss.

But she and Lu Jin are a reunited couple.

He used to kiss her freely, but now he was hesitant and couldn’t even look at her when making such a request.

He Ye felt a bit soft-hearted.

A tourist approached, looked at them for a few seconds, and then walked away without saying anything.

He Ye glanced in the direction of the tourist but saw no one else.

She looked down and spoke quietly, even softer than him: “Okay.”

Lu Jin turned to her.

He Ye turned away, her face as red as the double-petaled plum blossoms on the branches.

Lu Jin looked down at his feet and said, “Let’s change locations.”

He Ye nodded slightly, walked ahead, and sat in the wheelchair.

The wind blew from the mountain top, bringing the sweet scent of plum blossoms all around them. Their shadows on the ground were one long and one short.

They reached a quiet area, and Lu Jin stopped the wheelchair. He then carried He Ye on his back and walked deeper into the plum forest.

He Ye tried to stay calm: “It’s just one photo; do we really need to go through all this?”

Lu Jin replied: “I don’t want you to pull away if you hear something before I kiss you.”

He Ye couldn’t help but laugh; she knew she would do that.

After a few minutes, Lu Jin found a good spot and put He Ye down.

He Ye lowered her eyes, waiting for him to tell her what to do.

There was about twenty centimeters between them, so she had to stand on tiptoe to kiss Lu Jin’s face.

Lu Jin suggested she stand higher while he stood below.

He Ye raised her head, looked at his serious face, and awkwardly asked, “How do we take the photo?”

Lu Jin explained: “Hug my neck from behind, tilt your head, and kiss me.”

That sounded simple.

He Ye asked him to close his eyes.

Lu Jin did as instructed.

He Ye climbed onto his shoulders, wrapped her arms around his neck, and leaned gently against his back to keep her balance.

He still had his eyes closed. His long eyelashes and sharp features made him look serious.

“Okay,” He Ye said softly.

At that moment, she felt a light touch on his face.

Lu Jin held his body still, raised his phone with his left hand, and switched to selfie mode. He could see her in the camera, eyes closed, eyelashes fluttering, and cheeks flushed.

Be sweet and kiss him.

Lu Jin smiled and pressed the camera button.