Chapter 24.3

Since marrying Zhou Yao, she has been able to eat meat every day. With proper nutrition, she had put on some weight. Wen Yue guessed she now weighed about eighty pounds.

“Where are you fat?” Zhou Yao frowned and looked her up and down several times, firmly saying, “You’re not fat, still too thin. You need to eat more.” He had to fatten his little wife up.

Wen Yue agreed.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, but there were already quite a few people on the streets of the county town, many of them factory workers in uniforms. There were also various breakfast stalls on both sides, with wisps of white smoke drifting from the stalls.

Wen Yue curiously observed the scene in front of her.

There were no high-rise buildings, the tallest being only three stories, most of them single-story houses. Inspirational slogans were spray-painted in red on the gray-white walls. There were no cars, only the occasional 28-inch bicycles passing by.

The strong sense of the era was overwhelming.

“Where are we going now?” Wen Yue asked.

Zhou Yao replied, “To the bus station.”

Fortunately, they were not far from the station, a ten-minute walk at most.

The station was small, with only three buses parked inside.

Zhou Yao gently held her wrist and led her onto the outermost bus, taking a middle double seat. The bus seats were more comfortable than the tricycle—not as hard, but still not great.

“It will take about two hours to get to the city,” Zhou Yao said, sitting in the aisle seat and leaning over to speak softly. “If you’re sleepy, you can lean on me and sleep. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

The warm breath tickled Wen Yue’s earlobe, making it itch. Her eyelashes fluttered as she whispered, “I’m not sleepy now.”

Zhou Yao nodded. “Alright.”

After half an hour, more than half of the empty seats were filled, and the bus finally started moving, slowly leaving the station.

At first, Wen Yue was quite interested in watching the scenery quickly passing by outside the window, but the scenery by the roadside was pretty much the same, with the occasional farmhouse. Other than trees, there were more trees.

Moreover, the road was not very smooth, the bus jolted like a cradle. The swaying gradually made Wen Yue sleepy.

She yawned softly, her eyelids slowly sticking together.

Zhou Yao was thinking about something when he suddenly felt his arm get heavy. Turning his head, he saw the girl beside him, who had just said she wasn’t sleepy, now asleep.

Her sleeping face was serene and beautiful, her red lips occasionally moving.

Zhou Yao subtly adjusted his sitting position, sinking lower, and gently placed Wen Yue’s head on his shoulder to make her more comfortable.

He stared at Wen Yue’s hair swirl, his lips curling up.

…

Two hours later, the bus entered the city and stopped at the city station.

Wen Yue was awakened, drowsily looking up.

Zhou Yao reached out and pinched her face twice, “We’re here.”

Wen Yue was slow to react, dazedly replying with an “Oh,” still sitting steadily without moving.

Seeing her like this, Zhou Yao couldn’t help but laugh, holding her wrist to pull her off the bus.

It was around eight or nine in the morning, and the temperature outside was a bit high. The moment the sun hit her, Wen Yue immediately snapped out of it.

She blinked and looked around.

What she saw was a fairly large two-story building, its white outer walls stained with other colors, with several cars of different sizes and colors parked around it. The first floor seemed to be the waiting hall, with people vaguely visible inside.

Wen Yue observed her surroundings while following Zhou Yao.

The bus station wasn’t very large. After walking for just a few minutes, they reached the entrance, where a row of ornamental trees with bright green leaves were planted. The city looked more prosperous than the county town. Although there were no skyscrapers, the rows of two- and three-story buildings were still striking.

With their various wall colors of pale yellow, white, and original brick, the buildings looked fresh and natural. The people riding their 28-inch bicycles were all smiling brightly.

Though not as modern and fashionable as later times, this era was more vibrant and infectious, giving a feeling of comfort and relaxation.

Wen Yue, like a curious baby, widened her almond eyes, her head and eyes moving around, taking in everything, with a sparkle in her eyes.

Wow—

To Zhou Yao and the other two, her behavior was like that of a “country bumpkin” amazed by her first visit to the city.

“How about it, sister-in-law? The city is much bigger than our small county town,” Ren Yeliang said with a grin. “There are cinemas, department stores… things the county doesn’t have. Next time you have the time, have our brother take you around.”

Wen Yue smiled brightly, her eyes shining as she looked at Zhou Yao, “Can we?”

She also wanted to see the department stores and cinemas of this era, finding them very novel!

“Sure,” Zhou Yao’s dark eyes flickered. “We have time before our appointment. We can go see them now.”

With his strong execution, he immediately stopped two passing yellow rickshaws^[1]Rickshaw originally denoted a pulled rickshaw, which is a two- or three-wheeled cart generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger..

“To the department store?”

The rickshaw driver grinned, “Sure thing! Get on!”

Before Wen Yue could react, Zhou Yao had already pushed her onto the rickshaw.

“…?”

For a moment, she couldn’t tell who was more eager to visit the department store.