Chapter 30: A Real Couple

Chi Wan finally agreed to go to the county with Huo Nanchuan.

It wasn’t that she really wanted to spend Huo Nanchuan’s money, but the man’s low, husky “Okay?” pierced her heart.

It was like a giant, ferocious beast rubbing its soft fur against her, acting cute.

Chi Wan instantly softened.

But she still kept a cold face, as if she was reluctant, and nodded.

To get to the county, they left early in the morning.

Zhang Yue’e stood outside the courtyard gate, waving happily at them, as if she saw the young couple reconcile.

Huo Nanchuan had planned the trip to the county in advance.

There was a donkey cart in the village going to the county to deliver goods, and they hitched a ride.

Chi Wan had ridden bicycles, cars, trains and high-speed trains in her previous life, but she had never ridden a donkey cart.

The road was winding mountain road, with potholes and small stones, not to mention the swaying, and there was a pungent smell from the donkey, always blown by the wind.

At first, Chi Wan sat up straight, keeping a distance from Huo Nanchuan.

But as the mountain road became more and more rugged, her body swayed uncomfortably, and her bottom was hard and painful.

Plus the smell blown by the wind.

Chi Wan wrinkled her nose again and again, her throat itchy, as if she was going to vomit up the breakfast she had eaten today.

In this era of inconvenient transportation, it was too difficult to go to the county once.

Chi Wan was feeling uncomfortable.

Vaguely.

She noticed the man next to her move.

After all, they were still in a cold war, Huo Nanchuan didn’t dare to put his arms around her waist immediately, but silently moved closer to Chi Wan，exposing his broad shoulders.

“Xiao Wan, if you’re uncomfortable, lean on me and rest.”

The man said so with concern, his dark, deep eyes filled with hidden worry.

This time.

Chi Wan didn’t refuse Huo Nanchuan’s kindness.

She turned her head slightly and leaned against Huo Nanchuan’s shoulder, half of her fair face hidden beside his neck.

Even her breath brushed against the man’s skin.

Chi Wan relaxed her tense body and breathed lightly.

She smelled the scent coming from the man, she couldn’t say what it smelled like, it was just very dry, making people feel warm and comfortable, very reassuring.

Comfortable.

Chi Wan couldn’t help but rub against him gently, then snuggled up close and slowly closed her eyes to rest.

And Huo Nanchuan also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

His body had gone from tense at first, to relaxed when Chi Wan snuggled up to him.

Then, when he felt Chi Wan gently rubbing against him, he tensed up again.

His neck was hot and itchy.

But it was also soft.

Huo Nanchuan gently reached out, finally putting his arm around Chi Wan’s slender waist, holding his fragrant and soft little wife.

This feeling… so good.

…

The donkey cart was quite fast, and they arrived in the county in the early afternoon.

The county was about what Chi Wan expected.

It was a typical small city in the 1980s.

Although it couldn’t compare to the modern cities of the future, it was not dilapidated at all, and it was full of a vibrant and prosperous atmosphere.

Chi Wan saw tractors and even buses on the main road of the county.

With buses, it meant she could go to bigger cities.

This was already much better than Chi Wan imagined.

Chi Wan was busy observing her surroundings, so she didn’t notice that Huo Nanchuan had taken her hand at some point, and was pulling her forward.

Huo Nanchuan didn’t take her to the supply and marketing cooperative as they had agreed.

Instead, he walked into a residential area.

He kept shuttling back and forth between the low houses and alleys.

After walking for about twenty minutes, they reached the deepest part of an alley.

It was a house similar to a courtyard.

The wooden door was not locked, and it was even a little pitted, as if it belonged to a dilapidated household.

Chi Wan was just looking up at it when the dilapidated door was opened from the inside, and a burly man in his thirties or forties came out from behind the door.

The burly man was a bit tall and a bit fierce, with a rough appearance.

There was a scar across his cheek, making him even more terrifying.

Such a man, however, raised a bright smile when he saw Huo Nanchuan.

“I knew it was you when I heard the footsteps in the alley. … Hey, you’re not alone this time? Such a beautiful girl, really beautiful.”

The burly man spoke, his eyes falling on the unfamiliar Chi Wan.

There was a hint of sarcasm in his words, but they were crisp and there was no sense of vulgarity.

Chi Wan didn’t feel offended either.

Huo Nanchuan didn’t let go of Chi Wan’s hand, and replied in a deep voice, “Brother Zheng, she is my wife, her name is Chi Wan.”

The burly man’s eyes lit up when he heard this, and he looked Chi Wan up and down.

Chi Wan was not afraid, she just stood there openly, and also called out to Huo Nanchuan, “Brother Zheng, hello.”

The fierce burly man listened, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

He happily invited the two of them in, muttering.

“Huo Nanchuan, you lucky dog, you actually found such a tender young lady.”

“Chi… Chi Wan，right? You’re lucky too, following this guy, you’ll have a good life.”

“When did you two get married, why didn’t you tell me, I didn’t even give you a red envelope.”

Chi Wan listened to the two of them talking, while looking around.

This house looked dilapidated from the outside, and when you got inside, it was even more… a garbage heap.

Broken copper and iron, broken furniture, chairs and tables missing arms and legs, all there.

Almost the entire yard was filled with them.

And among them.

What attracted Chi Wan’s attention most were the metal and tires piled up in the corner of the yard… they were originally bicycles.

Those were bicycles!

Chi Wan had never seen a bicycle in the small village.

Buying a bicycle now still required a bicycle ticket, but a bicycle ticket was more expensive than a family’s annual food ration.

Some people in the village had only heard the word “bicycle”, they had never seen what a bicycle looked like.

If she had a bicycle, she could travel freely between the small village and the county.

It was a pity that all those bicycles were broken, not a single one was complete.

Otherwise, Chi Wan would have bought one back no matter how much it cost.

While Chi Wan was looking at the broken copper and iron, Huo Nanchuan and Zheng Kui were also looking in that direction.

Zheng Kui said, “This time it’s just these, it’s twice as much as last time. I trust your skills, and the price is still the same as last time.”

Huo Nanchuan nodded and said, “Okay.”

Chi Wan hadn’t understood what the two of them were talking about, but Huo Nanchuan had already started to get busy.

He didn’t do the main thing first, but asked Zheng Kui for a chair, asked for a cup of water, and took out the peanuts and melon seeds he had brought from home.

“Xiao Wan, you sit here for a while first, it may take a while, I’ll be as fast as I can.”

Speaking.

Huo Nanchuan let Chi Wan sit on the chair, drinking water and eating melon seeds to pass the time.

Zheng Kui looked over a few times.

The burly man chuckled.

Then he went out.

He left such a home completely to Huo Nanchuan, an outsider, without a bit of worry.

Chi Wan had completely forgotten about the cold war, but she was too curious about what Huo Nanchuan was going to do!

As a time traveler, she still had the God’s perspective of the complete script.

Why were there plots she didn’t know about, and characters that didn’t appear in the original text.

How many things was Huo Nanchuan hiding, things he hadn’t told Lu Xiangxiang before?!

After settling Chi Wan，Huo Nanchuan rolled up his sleeves and walked over to the pile of broken copper and iron.

He first sorted them out, putting the handlebars and handlebars together, the 81s and 81s together, and some were seat cushions, and tires.

The handlebars and 81s were hard steel, very strong, so they weren’t crooked.

The tires were completely scrapped, the wires were bent one by one, and the plastic tires were all broken.

Huo Nanchuan was not flustered at all, he sorted them out slowly, one by one.

He used a wrench to pry open the wires, used a basin of water to patch the tires, used screws to assemble the scattered parts, and finally adjusted the chain between the pedals and the rear wheel.

In no time.

Chi Wan watched as the broken copper and iron, under Huo Nanchuan’s repair, turned into a complete bicycle.

It was amazing!

This man was so deep, he even had such skills!

After assembling the first bicycle, Huo Nanchuan carefully checked it, even tested the sound of the bell, ding-ding-ding.

He made sure there was no problem, then put it aside.

Then he started to continue using the limited parts, piecing together the second… the third…

Chi Wan looked at everything in front of her, she couldn’t sit still anymore.

Her eyes lit up, she walked over to Huo Nanchuan and was about to squat down.

Huo Nanchuan hurriedly stopped her and said, “Xiao Wan, the smell of machine oil is very pungent, you’re not used to it, stand back a little.”

Chi Wan sniffed her nose.

The strong, pungent smell hit her face.

It was indeed uncomfortable.

It was like this even when she stood aside, let alone Huo Nanchuan.

Huo Nanchuan’s face was calm, he was not in a hurry, his big hands were already dirty, with machine oil and rust.

But there was not a trace of disgust on his face.

Chi Wan didn’t step back, but squatted down beside Huo Nanchuan.

She blinked and asked, “How did you learn to do this?”

Huo Nanchuan answered while repairing.

“Actually, the structure of a bicycle is very simple, it’s just ordinary mechanical principles, I read a few books in the county library, and I learned it.”

“I met Brother Zheng by accident. His bicycle came off the chain on the road, I helped him fix it, and then I got to know him…”

“Brother Zheng has connections, he collects these things from the city, I help him repair them, I can earn some money.”

Through Huo Nanchuan’s words, Chi Wan pieced together the whole story, it was all clear.

But…

She asked incredulously, “You just read a book and learned it?”

Huo Nanchuan nodded and replied softly, “Yes, it’s not difficult.”

Chi Wan is a medical student, she knows nothing about mechanics, it even looks like a book from heaven.

But Huo Nanchuan…

Before his father died, he had also gone to school, but it was only elementary school.

With only that level, he could actually understand the structure of mechanical principles.

And Huo Nanchuan could do more than just that, he learned to make furniture from a carpenter, he learned to cook from a chef.

He could also wash clothes, farm, and do chores.

It seemed that as long as Huo Nanchuan was willing to learn, there was nothing he couldn’t do.

The Huo Nanchuan in front of Chi Wan was wearing old clothes with holes, his whole body was dirty, but in her eyes, this man was clearly shining.

Such a smart man, why was he like a piece of wood in terms of marital relationships.

Chi Wan thought about the fight they had before, and she still felt uncomfortable.

She pursed her lips and said in a muffled voice.

“Huo Nanchuan, since you think I’ll go back to the city, and you’re going to divorce me, let me go back clean. Then why did you bring me here today? Why did you let me know so much?!”

Did he know…

The more she understood him, the more she would fall into the whirlpool of love.

She couldn’t help but like him.

This man was really bad!

Chi Wan was a little nervous when she said these words.

Her hand unconsciously touched her right wrist.

That place was still wearing the jade bracelet Huo Nanchuan had given her at the beginning.

One by one.

Her white fingertips gently rubbed against the transparent jade bracelet.

Huo Nanchuan was repairing the tire, the inflated tire was spinning in the basin, when it encountered a hole, small bubbles would pop up.

He had just found the hole.

Puchi.

Puchi.

A string of small bubbles rushed up, making a faint sound.

Like Huo Nanchuan’s restless heart at this moment.

He raised his head slightly, his dark eyes looked at the pretty Chi Wan in front of him.

She was so beautiful, so fair, so perfect…

Huo Nanchuan thought that his marriage would be a reluctant combination of two people from different worlds.

But Chi Wan didn’t leave on their wedding night, Chi Wan didn’t believe Lu Xiangxiang’s instigation, Chi Wan even stood in front of him, spoke for him, and tried her best to save his reputation…

His wife, she really wanted to be a family with him.

“Because, I want you to see me like this.”

After a deep slide of his Adam’s apple, Huo Nanchuan looked at Chi Wan without blinking, and said in a low voice.

“Xiao Wan, I’m just a peasant, I have old people above me, and younger brothers and sisters below me, my family only has a few acres of land, maybe I’ll never be able to leave that mountain village.”

“The only thing I can do is this. If I’m lucky, maybe I can open a repair shop, but that’s all.”

“I’ll always be dirty, I’ll also have a pungent smell, I can’t give you a good life, I can’t become a city person.”

“Xiao Wan, I’m like this, do you still like me?”

The man’s magnetic voice echoed in Chi Wan’s ears.

She clearly heard every word Huo Nanchuan said, and she finally understood the inferiority complex that the man was trying to hide behind his silent resistance.

She always thought that Huo Nanchuan was the male lead, the future richest man, a man who was shining brightly.

But she forgot.

At this moment, Huo Nanchuan still had nothing, he would even feel inferior in front of the beautiful Chi Wan.

So that.

Even if he really had feelings for her, he didn’t dare to easily ruin Chi Wan’s life.

“Stupid!”

“Huo Nanchuan, you’re a stupid!”

“Woo, you’re a stupid!”

Chi Wan’s eyes unknowingly turned red.

Her eyes were sore, but her heart was about to explode.

Like the small bubbles popping up from the tire.

Huo Nanchuan was stunned, watching Chi Wan’s eyes turn red, her crystal tears kept spinning in her eyes, he wanted to help her wipe them, but his hands were dirty.

He was flustered and didn’t know what to do.

But the woman in front of him, rushed towards him.

Chi Wan didn’t care about anything, she rushed into Huo Nanchuan’s arms, hugging him tightly.

“Huo Nanchuan, I like it! I like it! No matter what you look like, I like it!”

“You’re a stupid! You’re all dirty, I’ve seen you working in the fields, is it any better than now?! I still like it!”

“I’ve seen you at your worst, you’ve seen me too! I’ve worked in the fields too.”

Huo Nanchuan wanted to retort, “That’s different…”

Even at her worst, she was beautiful and pretty.

Chi Wan raised her head and kissed him, forcefully blocking his mouth.

After the soft lips rubbed against each other for a while.

She bit Huo Nanchuan’s lips, then loosened slightly.

Chi Wan looked at the faint teeth marks on the man’s lips, and ordered fiercely, “Huo Nanchuan, listen carefully, I’m willing, I just like you! I want to be a wife with you, a real wife, a real wife! When we go back today, you’re going to wash yourself clean! Did you hear me?!”