Chapter 020

Li Shuang and He Shuo took Awen home first, so Shi Huaiming carried Zhenzhen back himself.

The night was deep and quiet. Zhenzhen, slumped on Shi Huaiming’s back, didn’t say another word. Her head rested sideways against his shoulder, her warm, wine-scented breath still brushing his ear, heating it.

When they got home, he opened the door and carried her straight to her room.

Zhenzhen had already fallen asleep, so he didn’t wake her. He turned on the light, laid her on the bed, and gently took off her shoes and socks. Then he pulled up the blanket and tucked her in.

As he was smoothing the blanket over her, his eyes fell on her face and he froze momentarily.

Her face was small, flushed from the alcohol. She’d grown even fairer since arriving in the city—now with a soft pink hue, like a newly blossomed peach flower in early spring.

She shifted a bit on the bed, curling into a more comfortable position and continuing to sleep soundly.

Snapping out of it, Shi Huaiming straightened up, turned off the light, quietly left the room, and returned to his own.

Not yet sleepy, he picked up his book to read again.

But the words on the page no longer formed coherent sentences in his mind.

He could still feel the soft weight on his back, and the heat lingering on his ear.

After a while, Shi Huaiming closed the book and set it down.

He got up and went to the bathroom—to take another shower.

Because she was so drunk, Zhenzhen slept deeply through the night.

When she woke up the next morning, her head was still foggy. She ran a hand through her messy hair and stepped out of the room with a dazed expression.

Shi Huaiming was already setting the table.

Seeing her, he looked up and said calmly, “Wash up. Breakfast is ready.”

Zhenzhen stood frozen for a moment before coming to her senses. She quickly apologized, saying, “I’m sorry, I think I… drank too much last night…”

She couldn’t even remember how she left the restaurant, let alone how she got back home.

She had never done anything so improper before, and her heart was full of guilt. Her face flushed red as she spoke.

Of course, she didn’t linger. After speaking, she immediately went to the bathroom to wash up. Once done, she returned to her room to comb her hair.

After quickly tidying herself up, she sat down at the dining table. She had just picked up her chopsticks when she saw that Shi Huaiming had already finished eating.

He put down his chopsticks and stood up, saying, “I have class. Take your time eating. After you’re done, settle down and copy all the new characters from last week again to reinforce your learning.”

Zhenzhen held her chopsticks and responded, “Okay.”

Without another word, Shi Huaiming put on his cap and left the house.

Once he was out the door, Zhenzhen let out a sigh of relief.

She picked up a steamed bun and took a bite, then ate a bit of pickled vegetables, followed by a sip of porridge.

After finishing her meal and cleaning up the table and dishes, she went to take a shower.

After showering, she did some laundry. Returning to her room, she sat down, combed her hair again, braided it neatly, and applied her snow cream.

Now she used a normal amount of the snow cream, unlike when she had just arrived in the city and only dared to use a tiny dab each time.

With a light floral fragrance lingering on her, Zhenzhen went to Shi Huaiming’s room and sat down to study in earnest.

She had gone overboard yesterday, so it was hard to get her mind to focus. Her head still felt a bit foggy.

She sat dazed at the desk for a while.

Eventually, she managed to calm down and carefully reviewed everything she had learned the previous week.

After finishing her review, she glanced at the clock and saw there was still time, so she got up to go to the grocery store.

She had only taken a few steps outside when she heard Wu Dafeng’s voice.

Wu Dafeng asked, “Zhenzhen, where are you going?”

Zhenzhen turned back and replied, “Sister-in-law, I’m going to buy some vegetables.”

Wu Dafeng let out a small cough. “Buy what vegetables? There are so many in the garden. If you want some, just come grab a handful.”

Zhenzhen chatted with Wu Dafeng for a bit, then decided not to go to the store.

Instead, she picked some vegetables from Wu Dafeng’s garden and then sat down to help her with some sewing.

Wu Dafeng had a big family. Her kids were growing fast and constantly needed new clothes and shoes, so she always had endless work to do.

While stitching the soles onto some uppers, Wu Dafeng asked, “When did you come back last night? It was already dark and you still weren’t home.”

Zhenzhen thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, “I don’t know either. I drank so much I got fuzzy.”

Wu Dafeng’s eyes widened in shock. “She really got you to drink? You came back drunk?”

Zhenzhen looked embarrassed. “I can’t even remember when or how I got back.”

Wu Dafeng exclaimed, “Heavens above! That’s outrageous!”

Zhenzhen still had a shy expression, but couldn’t help saying, “But it was really fun.”

That feeling of not having to think about anything, free from all restrictions and worries, fully relaxed—it was pure joy.

Seeing Zhenzhen like that, Wu Dafeng said sternly, “Zhenzhen, that’s not how a decent woman behaves! If you keep running around with Li Shuang, she’ll lead you astray! You drank yourself into that state—did your husband not scold you?”

Zhenzhen shook her head. “He just told me to settle down and focus on my studies. He didn’t say anything else.”

Wu Dafeng replied, “Your man’s strange too—doesn’t care about what he should, and meddles in what he shouldn’t.”

By what should be managed, she meant forbidding Zhenzhen from going out carousing with Li Shuang, behaving unlike a proper woman. What shouldn’t be managed was allowing her, at an age where she ought to be having children and running a household, to study things like culture and knowledge.

Zhenzhen smiled. “Maybe he just wants me to experience something different.”

Still serious, Wu Dafeng said, “Experience what? After a few ‘experiences,’ you’ll turn bad, your heart won’t be in the home anymore, and who knows where you’ll fly off to. If you stop caring for your husband and kids, are you still a woman?”

In Zhenzhen’s mind, two little voices were in conflict.

One represented the life she had always known and all the worldly principles she’d been raised with. The other was the new life she’d been encountering lately, and the new ideas she’d started to hear.

Neither side had won out.

Zhenzhen glanced at the sun to estimate the time and said to Wu Dafeng, “Sister-in-law, I’d better get home and cook lunch. I’ll come help with the sewing again another time.”

Wu Dafeng also needed to prepare lunch, so she naturally agreed and let her go.

Zhenzhen returned home, tied on her apron, and started cooking. Her mind kept circling back to everything that had happened yesterday.

As she thought about it, she felt it had been a bit out of line—but also fresh, exciting, and fun.

It was precisely these fresh and exciting moments that had opened her eyes to so many new things.

–

Midday break.

Old Zhou had something to take care of and stayed behind, so Shi Huaiming and He Shuo went home first.

Walking together, with no one else nearby, He Shuo asked, “Bro, what’s going on with you?”

Shi Huaiming didn’t quite get what he meant. “What do you mean, ‘what’s going on’?”

He Shuo lowered his voice. “Last night, when you were carrying your wife, the question she asked you—what’s up with that?”

Shi Huaiming understood.

He quickly said, “Don’t overthink it. I’m perfectly normal.”

He Shuo eyed him for a moment, then quietly asked, “You two sleep in separate rooms, don’t you?”

Shi Huaiming didn’t really want to talk about it, but had to respond.

He looked around, then at He Shuo. “Zhenzhen told you?”

He Shuo replied, “No, my wife figured it out. Back when your wife first came, we had dinner at your place. My wife went into her room and could tell right away.”

Shi Huaiming said, “Your wife’s pretty observant.”

He Shuo said, “Honestly, I think there’s something off about you.”

Shi Huaiming snapped, “Cut the crap. There’s nothing wrong with me, alright?”

He Shuo asked, “So, you’ve got a wife like that waiting at home, and you’re telling me you don’t even feel a little… you know?”
He cleared his throat meaningfully.

Hearing this, Shi Huaiming couldn’t help but recall carrying Zhenzhen home last night—the softness unique to a girl beneath his hands and on his back, the warm breath brushing his ear, and that flushed face.

He quickly pulled himself back from those thoughts and replied bluntly, “I’m not a damn animal.”

Even if he had certain urges, even if instinct took over, he wasn’t someone who would act on them so carelessly.

It wasn’t something to be done lightly.

He really was different from most men.

He Shuo raised a hand and gave him a thumbs-up.

–

Zhenzhen finished cooking, took off her apron, and hung it up just as Shi Huaiming opened the door and walked in.

She was in the kitchen, scooping rice into bowls. When she brought them to the table, she greeted him, “You’re back.”

Shi Huaiming hung up his hat and replied, heading into the kitchen to wash his hands and grab a pair of chopsticks.

He sat down at the dining table and started eating without bringing up anything about last night, as if nothing had happened at all.

Zhenzhen hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked, “How… did I get home last night?”

Having just talked to He Shuo about it, Shi Huaiming was calm.

He looked up at her. “You really don’t remember?”

Zhenzhen, embarrassed, nodded and replied softly, “I’ve been trying to remember, but I can’t.”

Her clearest memory was clinking glasses with Awen. After a few too many rounds, everything became a blur.

Forgetting might actually be better—less awkward that way.

Shi Huaiming simply said, “You guys were out really late, so He Shuo and I went to the restaurant to find you. I carried you back.”

It did sound rather improper.

Zhenzhen tried to explain, “I didn’t mean to drink that much. I think I just… got carried away.”

The atmosphere at the table had been so lively and exhilarating. She and Awen got a bit too into it. She ended up acting totally unlike herself.

Shi Huaiming seemed to understand and didn’t scold her.

He nodded and looked at her seriously. “If you can’t handle your liquor, don’t drink when there’s no one reliable around. It’s not safe for a girl to get that drunk out in public.”

Zhenzhen quickly nodded. “Got it! I’ll remember.”

He looked at her for a moment but ultimately said nothing about the thing she asked while on his back—whether he was impotent.

After a pause, he ended the conversation. “Let’s eat. After we’re done, we’ll start learning something new.”

Zhenzhen nodded again. “Okay.”

After lunch, the two of them went to the study room as usual.

Shi Huaiming opened the textbook and began teaching her a new lesson: new characters, new phrases, and their meanings.

For every new character, he would write it once with a fountain pen so Zhenzhen could follow the stroke order.

She was able to copy them, though not very neatly.

When the characters got a bit harder, her handwriting turned rather comical.

The last word they learned today was “秋” (autumn). She rewrote it several times and still couldn’t get it right—the “禾” (grain) looked nothing like it should, the “火” (fire) was vaguely recognizable, and every stroke landed in places Shi Huaiming didn’t expect.

Staring at the series of awkwardly written “秋” characters, Shi Huaiming fell silent.

Zhenzhen, aware of how ridiculous her writing looked, blushed and said, “It kind of looks like an earthworm crawling on the ground, doesn’t it? I’ll keep practicing—I know I can get better…”

Shi Huaiming snapped out of it and quietly held his breath.

Without a word, he stood and moved next to her, bending down to gently wrap his hand around hers holding the pen. He said softly, “Don’t grip so tightly. Follow my strokes. Try to feel how it’s supposed to go.”

Zhenzhen’s hand was completely enclosed in his.

He was practically encircling her, his voice rumbling from just above her head.

Her heart instantly started pounding uncontrollably, her face flushing an even deeper red.

Shi Huaiming guided her hand to write one “秋” character, but she was too dazed to take it in.

Realizing she had spaced out, she quickly asked, before he let go, “Can we try that again?”

She had totally missed how he guided her hand just now.

Shi Huaiming looked at her. Seeing the flush spreading from her ears to her cheeks, he momentarily froze.

Realizing something, he noticed his own palm—still wrapped around her hand—was also heating up.

Because of that warmth, he instinctively wanted to let go. But after a moment’s hesitation, he didn’t.

Hand-in-hand teaching someone how to write—there was nothing inappropriate about that.

No need to make it awkward.

So he silently guided her hand to write “秋” one more time.

This time, after they finished, he immediately let go and straightened up. “I have something to take care of. Go over the new characters again and get familiar with them. I’ll be back soon to teach you math.”

He left without waiting for her reply.

Zhenzhen watched him out of the corner of her eye as he walked out.

Once he was gone, she exhaled a long breath and patted her warm cheeks with her hand.

Once she calmed herself, she picked up her pen again and resumed copying the new characters—especially that “秋.”

Following the way Shi Huaiming taught her, she wrote it carefully and neatly several times over, all while murmuring under her breath: “秋, like in ‘autumn.’”

Shi Huaiming didn’t go far.

He just stepped outside, lit a cigarette, and smoked it silently.

When he came back in, he looked no different than usual—still serious and focused as always.

He sat down next to Zhenzhen without any small talk and got straight to the point.

“Open your math book. Turn to the new lesson we need to study.”