Seeing through her thoughts at a glance, Zhou Qishen said, "If you don't want to, I'll go sleep in the next room. There's a mountain behind this building, and there's only one house on the mountainside. It's an empty house that hasn't been lived in for a long time, so you don't need to be afraid."
Zhao Xiyin: "..."
If you shut up, I might not be scared.
Zhou Qishen glanced at her again, his eyes filled with the honesty of a gentleman, "You're on your period, and I'm squeamish about blood, so you can't do anything you want to do."
Zhao Xiyin immediately burst out laughing, scolding as she laughed, "Shut up."
Zhou Qishen's eyes were also radiant with spring breeze; the corners of his phoenix eyes turned up, making his eye sockets seem to glow, which was particularly captivating. He lay down on the bed and hooked his arm around her, "Xi'er, come here."
Zhao Xiyin obediently lay down on the other side.
Zhou Qishen pulled her into his arms and placed his warm hands on her lower abdomen.
Both of them trembled at the long-lost embrace and tenderness.
Does it still hurt?
"It's nothing, it's just an old problem," Zhao Xiyin said. "It won't hurt the next day."
After a moment of silence, Zhou Qishen said in a hoarse voice, "I mean, that year, that year..."
Zhao Xiyin realized that he was referring to the child. Rather than dwelling on it and being afraid to ask, she decided to be frank and open.
“My surgery didn’t go well back then, and I didn’t understand these things, so I just drifted through a few months in a daze. Later, I’ve been taking medicine from Dr. Ji, and I’m much better now. Brother Zhou, don’t keep this on your mind. I can feel your emotions, and I’m affected by them. I’ve moved on and don’t want to go back. Do you understand?”
Zhou Qishen remained silent for a long time, his palm pressed against Zhao Xiyin's lower abdomen. After a long while, he agreed, "From now on, I will never leave you alone again."
Zhao Xiyin poked his chest with her fingertip. "This is what you should do."
The two looked at each other and laughed.
Zhou Qishen's smile when he's truly relaxed is actually quite handsome; his eyebrows are sword-shaped, his eyes are long and narrow, and he has a very masculine charm. Zhao Xiyin traced the shape of his chin with her finger, "Brother Zhou, you're really good-looking."
Zhou Qishen smiled contentedly, "Yes, she looks like my mom."
Zhao Xiyin sighed slightly, "Such a good child, why doesn't your father like him?"
When Zhou Boning was mentioned, Zhou Qishen didn't show any obvious emotion. He stared at a certain spot and said lightly, "He didn't get along with anyone. He was a very self-centered person. I don't remember much about my childhood. I only know that he always hit my mother and hit her face with a wine bottle. The time I remember most vividly was when half of my mother's cheek was sunken in."
Zhao Xiyin was stunned. "How could he do that?"
Zhou Qishen remained calm throughout, “There’s nothing he wouldn’t do; he’s always been this volatile. After my mother ran away, he took out his anger on me even more. When I first joined the army, my physical condition was the worst among the new recruits because of malnutrition. The first time I ate in the mess hall, I even asked the instructor if it was free, and then I ate seven bowls of rice in one go, while someone next to me laughed like an idiot.”
Zhao Xiyin: "Hmm?"
That was the first time I met Gu Heping.
Zhao Xiyin smiled gently, resting her head on his chest quietly.
“Zhou Boning was lazy and gluttonous. He was caught stealing money and wine several times and was beaten half to death each time. People his age looked down on him and called him the son of a thief. I hated it so much at the time. I went to the train station and asked those who looked like human traffickers if they wanted a boy and would sell me anywhere.”
When Zhou Qishen spoke of the past, he was extremely calm. Perhaps he had suffered too much trauma; the scars were so thick that he had lost all feeling, and no matter how he was treated, it didn't matter.
Zhao Xiyin's eyes welled up with tears. She dared not speak, dared not offer comfort, for fear that if she opened her mouth she would choke up.
“I took the Xi’an City Joint Examination in my senior year of high school and got first place. Two universities in the south wanted to recruit me through special admissions, but I refused. Because I felt that I could get into Tsinghua University.” Zhou Qishen said, finally showing a look of regret, “It’s a pity, we weren’t meant to be.”
Zhao Xiyin, with an air of vindication for him, suddenly sat up and said loudly, "So what if you didn't go to university? You're still doing so well, much better than many 'refined scoundrels'!"
Zhou Qishen raised an eyebrow, "Which other refined scoundrel have you been with?"
Zhao Xiyin raised an eyebrow, "Do you think I wasted two years traveling? There are plenty of people like Brother Qiang from Qinghai and Brother Xiao Qiang from Gansu."
Zhou Qishen thought about it carefully and took it seriously, "There's still a connection?"
Zhao Xiyin chuckled, "You're jealous of this too!" As she spoke, she poked his firm chest.
Zhou Qishen held her hand, his expression shifting slightly. "Don't poke me."
Zhao Xiyin mustered her courage to look at him, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.
The air was filled with a sweet fragrance, and her body was burning hot. Zhou Qi took a deep breath, his breathing becoming heavy. He asked in a low voice, "Is it really your period?"
Zhao Xiyin bit her lip and used her toes to hook her toes back and forth on his calves.
Zhou Qishen couldn't resist this deliberate act, and his tone became a bit fierce, "You think you can get away with this? Don't move! Go to sleep!"
With that, he abruptly pulled back the covers, covering Zhao Xiyin completely, not very gently. She tried to peek out, but he pressed her head down, forbidding her to lift it. Zhao Xiyin was a typical bully who relied on her power; she had used this trick many times before, taking advantage of his inability to do anything about her, constantly making a scene and forcing him to take a cold shower every time.
Zhou Qishen was no saint or gentleman. He had been single for three years, and the fact that he was still sitting on a meditation cushion for her with his eyes closed was already quite a show of courtesy.
Zhao Xiyin nestled in his arms, her face flushed, and whispered a sentence.
Zhou Qishen was taken aback.
That night lasted a long time, so long that Zhao Xiyin began to regret her actions. Just as she was about to leave halfway through the night, the man, already lost in his passion, grabbed her and held her down. The strength he used was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Zhao Xiyin was now genuinely frightened; her earlier smugness had vanished, leaving only a mess. With a sob in her voice, she said, "Brother Zhou, my hand hurts."
Zhou Qishen's expression was one of blissful intoxication, and despite the cold winter weather, his clothes were soaked with a thin layer of sweat from his forehead to his back.
Unlike cities where fireworks are prohibited, small towns and villages are filled with the sounds of firecrackers crackling and fireworks soaring into the sky one after another from midnight. The colors may not be elaborate, but they are loud, vibrant, and pure, truly creating the atmosphere of the Lunar New Year.
Zhou Qishen said in a low voice, "Xiao west, let's remarry."
The mortal world is in turmoil, its noise shaking the earth.
Zhao Xiyin said, "Okay."