Chapter 14 Don’t Move

“Comrade, you’re asking about the Phoenix brand bicycle, for your wife, right?”

The saleswoman chatted with Zhou Yubai while winking at Shen Chuning.

“Mm.”

Zhou Yubai didn’t deny it, simply responding.

“Comrade, you’ve come at the right time. These bicycles are all newly arrived goods. Usually, we don’t have coupons and you have to wait!”

“This Phoenix brand bicycle costs one hundred and eighty-six yuan and forty cents. Comrade, do you have coupons?”

The saleswoman asked with a smile.

Zhou Yubai directly took out the money and coupons and said to Shen Chuning, “Choose one you like.”

Shen Chuning felt embarrassed.  When the Zhou family gave the dowry, they gave her the money and coupons for the ‘three turns and one ring’.

Now Zhou Yubai was buying her a bicycle…

She tugged at Zhou Yubai’s clothes, “Brother Yubai, let’s not buy a bicycle. I won’t use it often, and… I don’t know how to ride.”

Zhou Yubai glanced at her feet.

Because of the blisters, she had been limping slightly in the supply and marketing cooperative.

“I’ll teach you,” Zhou Yubai said, leaving Shen Chuning no reason to refuse.

She gently bit her lower lip.  Fine, she would give Brother Yubai the money and coupons for the bicycle later. She couldn’t embarrass him now.

Shen Chuning chose a red bicycle.

Zhou Yubai helped her move her purchases onto his bicycle, then pushed the new bicycle out.

Seeing the two bicycles, Shen Chuning was at a loss.

She couldn’t ride a bicycle, and now all her purchases, herself, and the new bicycle had to be carried back on Zhou Yubai’s bicycle.

How was that possible?

Without a word, Zhou Yubai neatly secured her purchases onto his bicycle’s carrier.  Then, he lifted the brand-new bicycle and secured it to the front of his bicycle.

He leaned the bicycle slightly and gestured to Shen Chuning, “Get on.”

Shen Chuning was stunned by the bicycle’s carrying capacity when she heard the man’s voice.

“Oh, oh.” She quickly responded obediently and got on the bicycle.

The more the bicycle carried, the harder it was to maintain balance.

But Zhou Yubai rode steadily.

He first took her to the cotton-ginning place, gave the five kilograms of cotton to the worker, and paid eighty cents for the labor fee.

Ginning the cotton into cotton wool would take three days.

Shen Chuning kept the receipt, agreeing to pick up the cotton wool in three days.

On the way back, Shen Chuning sat on the back seat, carefully holding onto his clothes.

Her soft hands, with the bicycle’s bumps, would occasionally touch his back through his clothes.

Those gentle touches were like feathers scratching at his heart, making him tingle.

He didn’t know why, but when he saw a small bump on the road ahead, although he could have avoided it, he unconsciously rode over it.

“Ah—”

The bicycle suddenly jolted violently.  Shen Chuning, unprepared, cried out, her body instinctively lunging forward.

She instinctively hugged Zhou Yubai’s firm waist.

Her fingertips, through the thin fabric, could feel the man’s hard abdominal muscles, like stone.

Subconsciously, her fingertips slid across his abdominal muscles, lingering for a few moments.

At that moment, she felt the man’s body stiffen.

Time seemed to stand still, the air filled with heat.

Shen Chuning’s face flushed red.

“Ahem,” Zhou Yubai cleared his throat awkwardly.

Shen Chuning’s hand was as if burned, quickly withdrawing, “So… sorry.”

She bit her lip in annoyance, her face red as if bleeding.

What had she been doing?

Why was her hand so disobedient?

Would Brother Yubai think she was too frivolous?

“I should say sorry.”

As she was self-reproaching, Zhou Yubai’s magnetic voice came from the front, “My cycling wasn’t steady enough.”

Shen Chuning immediately felt relieved.

Brother Yubai said that, so he hadn’t noticed her touching him.

“No… it’s okay…” she quickly replied.

She didn’t dare to hold onto Zhou Yubai’s clothes anymore, her hands tightly gripping the bicycle’s rear rack.

Zhou Yubai couldn’t feel the soft hand behind him anymore, feeling a little annoyed. He had been too frivolous, scaring the little girl.

The bicycle stopped in the Shen family’s courtyard.

Zhou Yubai carried Shen Chuning’s purchases into the main room.

Shen Chuning wanted to help, but the blisters on her feet had burst.  Walking was painful, let alone carrying things.

The pain made her face scrunch up.

After carrying the things, Zhou Yubai turned around and saw Shen Chuning slowly moving into the house, her face scrunched up in pain.

She looked pale, either from pain or heatstroke.

He quickly stepped in front of Shen Chuning.

He touched Shen Chuning’s forehead.

Her forehead was ice-cold, and even her sweat was cold.

Zhou Yubai didn’t hesitate and directly picked Shen Chuning up.

Shen Chuning was a little dizzy but conscious.

She was startled and grabbed Zhou Yubai’s shirt, “Brother Yubai…”

Zhou Yubai frowned slightly, his strong arms holding her tighter, “Don’t move, you’ve got heatstroke.”

Shen Chuning was still a little dazed.  Her confused and innocent big eyes blinked.

Zhou Yubai’s heart skipped a beat.

“Oh.”

After a while, she belatedly responded obediently, nestled in Zhou Yubai’s arms.

When Zhou Yubai carried her to the village clinic, Shen Chuning was either asleep or unconscious, her eyes tightly closed, her face still scrunched up.

“Doctor, how is she?”

Zhou Yubai asked anxiously.

“Heatstroke, nothing serious.” The village doctor gave Zhou Yubai a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi Water, “Give her this, let her rest, and she’ll be fine.”

Zhou Yubai took the medicine and brought it to Shen Chuning’s lips, “Shen Chuning, wake up, drink the medicine.”

Although Shen Chuning was drowsy, she obediently opened her mouth to drink.

After taking a small sip, she opened her eyes, tears in them, looking at Zhou Yubai with grievance, “Bitter…”