Chapter 20.2

At the end of the month, Su Ting and He Dongchuan took He Yan back to the city to send off the items to the Su family.

Before handing the package to the staff, Su Ting felt restless, worried that the things she had prepared might not be suitable, and concerned that the letter she wrote might give something away. But when she finally received the receipt, she felt a sense of relief.

The items had already been sent, and she couldn’t stop them now, so worrying further was pointless.

Besides, the idea of time travel was something that hardly anyone would believe, even fifty years later when it became somewhat of a trend. Let alone now, in the 1970s—she had been overthinking things.

Once she had calmed down, Su Ting happily followed He Dongchuan and his son to take a bus to Rong City Park.

Rong City Park was a classical garden, originally built during the Jin Dynasty. It had been around for over a thousand years and had undergone several expansions throughout history, including some after the Liberation. By now, it had become a significant place in the area.

Today, Rong City Park had become a must-visit spot for locals to relax and entertain themselves. In later terms, it could be considered a city landmark.

Since it was Sunday, the park was naturally crowded with visitors—some admiring the scenery, some strolling by the lake, and others with children flying kites, which caught He Yan’s attention.

Su Ting noticed this and went to inquire about it.

The kites were made of paper and weren’t of the best quality, but they weren’t expensive. More importantly, they didn’t require tickets, so she generously bought a rabbit-patterned one and flew it with He Yan.

As for He Dongchuan, although he wasn’t exactly old-fashioned, he was very particular about his image when out in public and didn’t easily engage in such unrefined activities.

After getting the kite, Su Ting handed the spool of string to He Yan and asked: “Do you know how to fly it?”

He Yan nodded confidently. “I do!”

“Alright, I’ll hold the kite. You run ahead while letting out the string.” Su Ting said, stepping back a few paces to distance herself from He Yan. She called out: “Run!”

He Yan took off running, letting out the string as he went.

Su Ting ran alongside him, trying to find a moment to release the kite into the air.

But as they were running, Su Ting felt something wasn’t quite right. Fearing the kite string might snap if they stopped, she kept running and shouted: “Why are you running with the wind? You need to run against the wind! Against the wind!”

He Yan, not fully understanding what “against the wind” meant, stopped in confusion.

Seeing He Yan’s flustered expression, Su Ting could only raise her hand to rub her forehead. She pointed toward the older kids flying kites nearby, about to guide them to run in a particular direction, when He Dongchuan took the spool of string from He Yan’s hand. “Let me do it.” he said.

“Dad!”

“I’ll get it up first, then give it back to you.” He Dongchuan said, lowering his head.

He Yan immediately nodded. “Mm-hmm!”

He Dongchuan then asked: “Can you still run?”

“Still good.” Su Ting replied, adjusting her position as she and He Dongchuan started running in opposite directions, against the wind.

Watching He Dongchuan fly the kite, it was clear he was experienced. He pulled the string a couple of times, and before long, the kite was up in the air.

Su Ting didn’t need to run anymore. She stopped and walked over to He Yan, standing next to him as they both watched He Dongchuan get the kite higher and higher.

Soon, their kite was the highest in the field.

He Yan’s face flushed with excitement, jumping and shouting: “Dad, go! Dad’s the best!” He looked up at Su Ting and asked: “Mom! Isn’t Dad the best?”

Su Ting smiled and replied: “Yes, your dad is the best!”

Once the kite had reached a certain height, He Dongchuan stopped letting out the string and walked back toward them. He handed the spool to He Yan and bent down to explain how to get the kite even higher.

Afterward, he let He Yan try for a while, and once He Yan got the hang of it, He Dongchuan fully stepped back. He walked over to Su Ting and asked: “Should we get another kite?”

“Want to fly more?” Su Ting asked.

He Dongchuan didn’t answer directly but said: “Let’s buy another one.”

Su Ting took out money to buy another kite. The vendor was busy, and only two designs were left on the table—an eagle and a butterfly.

Thinking it would be more imposing for He Dongchuan to fly, she was about to choose the eagle, but before she could say anything, the person beside her had already decided on the butterfly, so she didn’t say anything further.

The new kite flew just as smoothly, quickly taking off into the air. However, this time, He Dongchuan didn’t continue to release the string to make it fly higher. He stopped at a certain height, returned to Su Ting’s side, and handed her the spool, asking: “Do you want to try?”

Su Ting had already realized why he chose the butterfly pattern, but she deliberately asked: “Wasn’t it you who wanted to release it?”

“I wanted to release it with you.” He Dongchuan said directly.

It was a violation.

Su Ting thought to herself, but the corners of her lips couldn’t help but curve up.

He Dongchuan walked behind Su Ting, stuffed the spool of thread into her hand, and wrapped his large palm around hers. With his other hand, he took hold of the kite string and leaned close to her ear, softly saying: “Hold the spool with your thumb and index finger, release the string, then tug it twice…”

Just hearing his words, it was as if Su Ting was truly a beginner, and he was genuinely teaching a student.

Su Ting stifled a laugh in her heart, purposely lifting her head to blow on the smooth line of his jaw. After he unconsciously clenched his teeth, she pinched her throat and said: “Teacher He, you must teach me well, how to make the kite fly higher, okay?”

While He Dongchuan was teaching Su Ting to fly the kite, he had enveloped her whole body in his arms. Although there was no real physical contact between them, other than their left hands, they were very close.

When she lifted her head to speak, her warm breath brushed against his jaw, causing him to unconsciously tense up, his breath becoming heavy. Not to mention, she deliberately squeezed her voice, imitating a child’s soft tone.

Therefore, even though He Dongchuan took ten seconds to calm his breath, his voice was still strained when he spoke again: “Okay.”

…

The ideal was beautiful, but reality was harsh.

Not only did He Dongchuan fail to teach Su Ting to make the kite fly higher, but they were also reprimanded by the security team.

Su Ting had always known that the lifestyle in the 1970s was strictly regulated.

In her past life, she had watched a period drama about that era, which told the story of the male lead taking the female lead on a business trip. Since only his name was on the introduction letter, the guesthouse wouldn’t provide a room even if they showed their marriage certificate. After finally finding a guesthouse, they ended up collapsing the bed while having sex and were caught by the security team, leading to a series of comedic events.

The reason Su Ting and He Dongchuan got married also had something to do with the strict regulations on personal conduct, which was a common trope in period literature.

Although she understood the theory, when it came to real life, Su Ting was a little unclear about the boundaries. Plus, since He Dongchuan was a local, he dared to touch her hand in public, so she responded playfully.

Who would have known that a playful move would lead to trouble.

When Su Ting saw the group of people wearing red armbands, shouting “What are you doing? What are you doing?” as they charged toward them, she was stunned.

He Dongchuan, however, reacted quickly. He released Su Ting’s hand and walked toward them to greet them.

His calmness caused the leader of the red armband group to lose some of his momentum. After sizing him up, the leader politely asked: “Comrade, what’s your name? Where are you from?”

He Dongchuan introduced himself: “My surname is He, I’m from the capital, and I’m currently stationed at Pingchuan Island.”

“Do you have any identification?” the leader asked, glancing at Su Ting. “What is your relationship with her? What were you doing just now?”

He Dongchuan took out his military ID and handed it over, saying: “I came here today with my wife and son for a visit. We’re flying kites. We bought two kites. My wife doesn’t know how to fly them, so I was teaching her.”

One of the younger members of the group muttered: “Teaching how to fly kites is fine, but why are you holding her so tightly?”

He Dongchuan, without changing his expression, asked: “Would you like to come teach me how to do it properly?”

“I’ll just—”

“Alright! Why are you causing a fuss?” the leader interrupted, handing back the ID to He Dongchuan with a smile. “The young ones don’t know any better, don’t take offense. By the way, you said you came with your child?”

He Dongchuan understood, and raised his hand to call over He Yan, who had just run up. “Xiao Yan, come greet the uncles.”

He Yan walked over, holding the kite. He glanced at his serious father, then at his blushing mother, and finally turned to the group of red armbands, shouting: “Hello, uncles!”

After greeting them, he walked to Su Ting’s side, took her hand, and asked: “Dad, mom, should we fly the kite again?”

“We’ll fly it later.” He Dongchuan said.

Although the leader of the red armbands thought that Su Ting looked young and didn’t seem old enough to have such a big child, he also thought that she might just look young but was actually around 25 or 26 years old.

And since the child was calling them “Dad” and “Mom.” he didn’t want to question their marital relationship any further. He then said with a serious expression: “I understand, you’re just teaching how to fly the kite. But this is still in a public place, and in such a big crowd, you should still be mindful of the distance. Otherwise, it could have a bad influence. Don’t you think so?”

He Dongchuan agreed, saying: “Yes.”

“Since you both have a proper attitude, we’ll let it go this time. But be more careful in the future.”

He Dongchuan continued to agree: “We will definitely be more careful in the future.”

The leader of the red armband nodded, said no more, and left with his group. However, the young man beside him was dissatisfied and, as they walked away, glared at He Dongchuan before catching up and saying: “Captain, you’re just letting them off like that?”

The captain responded in a calm tone: “Enough. When they were serving the country, you were still at home playing in the mud. Didn’t you hear what they said? They were just teaching her how to fly a kite. It’s not a big deal. Don’t make a fuss over nothing!”

Although the situation was resolved smoothly, after this incident, they definitely couldn’t continue flying the kite.

In fact, Su Ting just wanted to leave quickly.

Although the people who came to fly kites weren’t as overbearing as the security team, and there was even a lady who chatted with her, saying that their marriage was great, Su Ting still felt very embarrassed. For the time being, she didn’t want to come back to the Rong City Park. She kept urging the father and son to leave.

He Yan was having a great time and didn’t quite understand what had just happened. He didn’t really want to leave, but when he saw Su Ting’s face turn red, and because his dad promised to take him flying kites again after they got home, he reluctantly agreed to leave.

Once the three of them walked out of the grassy area, Su Ting started to feel better. She looked up and glared at He Dongchuan.

If he hadn’t grabbed her hand first, she wouldn’t have thought much of it, and she wouldn’t have felt so embarrassed just now.

He Dongchuan, feeling guilty, rubbed his nose and explained: “I didn’t expect that.”

He truly hadn’t expected it. After all, he had never been in a situation like that before, and in that moment, any man would have been too caught up in the situation to think about the consequences.

Seeing Su Ting pouting, He Dongchuan reached out to put his arm around her shoulders, bending down to comfort her. But as soon as his hand moved, she took a step away and raised her hand, saying: “Stop pulling on me in public. I don’t want to get caught by the security team.”

“…”

He Dongchuan had no choice but to drop his hand and rest it on his son’s head, leaning toward Su Ting and asking: “Then, can you stop being mad at me?”

“I’m not mad.” Su Ting said, lowering her head. “I just… I’ve never been so embarrassed before.”

In both her past and present life, she had never experienced something like this. For a moment, she almost thought she had mistakenly walked into a crackdown on prostitution, with herself and He Dongchuan being the ones caught.

God knew that their physical contact had only been limited to holding hands!

He Dongchuan said: “This is my first time too.”

Hearing this, Su Ting raised her head, looked at He Dongchuan for a moment, and then they both lowered their heads and laughed.