Teacher Chen was squatting there blankly, holding a plastic bucket with the lid still on, her face covered in goat milk...
Little San San had already knocked over the cardboard box and run out, barking incessantly at Chen Yunqi's feet.
Huang Yelin, quick-witted, hurriedly said to Chen Yunqi:
"Teacher Chen! Quick, let Xiao San San lick it clean for you! Don't waste it!"
Chapter Thirty Bullying
The goat milk had a strong, fishy smell, so Chen Yunqi washed his face several times with soap. He didn't apply face cream afterward, and the winter wind made his skin so dry it started to peel.
He sat at the table holding a workbook, intently checking the answers one by one. San San, who was sitting next to him, was trying not to laugh, and couldn't help but press her nose against his cheek again, sniffing his face like a puppy.
"Mmm..." San San sniffed, looking closely at Chen Yunqi's smooth profile, and breathed hot air into his ear, saying, "Ah, the smell of mama sheep..."
Chen Yunqi kept a straight face and pretended not to hear. Ren Sansan sniffed behind his ears and poked his cheeks. When he didn't react, she put his coat hood on his head, tied the drawstring in a bow around his neck, and then stepped back a few steps with great satisfaction to carefully examine and admire his handsome appearance.
"The wolf in sheep's clothing, hee hee."
Chen Yunqi remained expressionless, picked up a pen from the table, checked off all the answers San San had filled in incorrectly, raised his eyebrows at him, then looked at the empty seat next to him, gesturing for him to say, "Lan Yanshan, come here and sit down."
He deliberately put on a serious and earnest face befitting a teacher, but San San wasn't afraid of him at all. She obediently sat down beside him with a smile in her eyes and said sweetly, "Come on, Teacher Chen."
Chen Yunqi finally glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and began explaining the problem in a calm and unhurried manner.
"...Here's a key point: the evolution of the imperial examination system, from hereditary succession to merit-based nobility, then to the recommendation system... The order of the Nine-Rank System and the imperial examination system is incorrect."①
As Chen Yunqi spoke, he glanced at San San's grinning face and knew that he was still rubbing it in his mind about his failed attempt to milk the goats at noon. He felt both angry and amused, and there was simply no way to deal with him.
After the ewe ran away at noon, Chen Yunqi, whose head and face were covered in milk, had no choice but to abandon his milking plan and hurriedly returned to school with Xiao San San. On the way, he ran into Li Hanqiang, who was on his way to Group Four. Chen Yunqi was walking hurriedly with his head down. He wanted to just give a perfunctory greeting and brush it off, but the sharp-eyed Li Hanqiang immediately noticed the white and black milk stains and sweat stains on his face.
"Hey, Teacher Chen, what happened to your face?" Li Hanqiang asked curiously, wanting to get a closer look. Suddenly, as if he smelled something, his nostrils twitched, and he asked in surprise, "Where did this strong milky smell come from?"
Before Chen Yunqi could explain, Sheng Qinzhi quickly interjected, "Teacher Chen accidentally got some milk on his face while milking the goats!"
Li Hanqiang was dumbfounded upon hearing this. He never expected that people from the city would like to drink that stuff he couldn't even stand the smell of, and freshly squeezed no less? He immediately pictured Chen Yunqi, who loved goat milk, leading two students to catch a ewe, squatting down, and pressing his mouth to the ewe's udder to try it out...
Seeing his lost in thought, Chen Yunqi didn't bother to explain anymore, since it was pointless anyway. He pointed to the little lamb in his arms and said to him with a wry smile, "I did it all for this little lamb."
Li Hanqiang was even more surprised. He clicked his tongue repeatedly and said incredulously, "Teacher Chen, did you deliberately put on a mother sheep smell to make the lambs feel close to you? Are you going to be its mother?"
Chen Yunqi glanced at him speechlessly, thinking to himself, "Alright, enough of this explanation. The more I explain, the more confusing it gets." So he smiled awkwardly and said, "Hehe, no... well, brother-in-law, I'm in a hurry to get back to class, so I'll go now."
When Li Hanqiang heard him say he was leaving, he suddenly remembered something and called out to him, "I almost forgot, Teacher Chen, are you going to Haiyuan County in a couple of days? I'll ask Li Jun to go with you, okay? We haven't prepared any New Year's goods yet. He knows the county very well, so it'll be perfect for him to show you around!"
Chen Yunqi was extremely unwilling, but he couldn't refuse verbally, so he could only nod in agreement and then hurriedly left. He secretly hoped that Li Hanqiang was just saying it and would forget about it by the time he woke up the next morning.
After school, he told San San about Li Hanqiang's misunderstanding that he had drunk goat milk and smeared it on his skin. He thought San San would join him in complaining about Li Hanqiang's thought process, but instead, San San laughed so hard he almost rolled on the ground. Chen Yunqi, embarrassed and angry, grabbed San San by the back of the neck and lifted him up to his chest like a kitten or puppy. He then tickled San San's armpits and waist, making San San both itchy and laughing, unable to breathe. San San curled up in a ball, trying to escape, and begged for mercy.
"Did I do something wrong?" Chen Yunqi was afraid that he might hurt him by not being careful enough, so he stopped when he felt that was enough. Looking at the lovely boy in his arms with his face flushed, he deliberately restrained himself from showing any affection and said fiercely, "You little lamb, you're really bold. You dare to laugh at me. You're really taking advantage of my kindness."
With a sly smile, San San said in a soft voice, "I'm the little lamb, and you're the mother sheep."
San San's arms were tightly bound to his chest, with only his fingers able to move freely. He lightly stroked Chen Yunqi's collar, raised his head and looked up at Chen Yunqi. His straight nose was incredibly handsome, and his long, thick eyelashes fluttered rapidly. His eyes, filled with a gentle, watery tenderness, moved Chen Yunqi's heart.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" With his beloved in his arms, he lost his temper and couldn't be fierce anymore. His tone softened noticeably, and without thinking, he said, "If it's also a sheep father."
San San started giggling again.
Chen Yunqi was amused and frustrated, and still wanted to get back at him, so he pretended to tickle San San again, but didn't actually do it. He just stared at him, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and said in a slightly arrogant tone, "Give me a kiss, and I'll let you off the hook."
After saying that, he loosened his grip on San San's arm a little, raised his head slightly, deliberately adopted a superior posture, and confidently waited for San San to take the initiative to kiss him.
San San couldn't help but chuckle at his childish behavior. After a moment, she reached out and cupped Chen Yunqi's cheeks with both hands, gently pulling his head down. She stood on tiptoe and lightly kissed his forehead, brow, eyes, nose, left cheek, right cheek, and chin in turn, finally landing on his lips.
With each kiss, he would utter a barely audible word.
"One kiss isn't enough..." "I want a kiss here..." "I want one here too..." "And here as well..."
This is killing me... Chen Yunqi's every nerve was straining to feel the tiny touch of San San's kisses. Those tiny currents, full of love yet harboring ulterior motives, surged wildly around him, stimulating him with a mix of itchiness and pain as they passed through his heart, yet he couldn't stop.
He remained calm as he stared at San San in his arms, watching him kiss him again and again. He neither moved nor spoke, nor returned the kiss. His gaze was unfathomable as he desperately suppressed the raging passion within him, masochistically enjoying the extreme pleasure of restraining himself the more his heart stirred.
San San met his gaze with burning intensity, pointed a finger at his lips, and murmured softly, "Brother..." He leaned close to Chen Yunqi's ear and pleaded, "Brother, I want some too."
Chen Yunqi felt a chill run down his spine. He suppressed the surge of heat rising from his tailbone, flicked San San's forehead, and said with a wicked grin, "What do you want?"
San San deflated like a punctured balloon, his tiptoeing plunging back to the ground, instantly dropping a considerable distance from Chen Yunqi's nose. He pouted and said discontentedly, "You're bullying me again."
Chen Yunqi chuckled inwardly, but feigned ignorance, looking at him and saying, "You haven't even finished the questions since you came in, and you not only mocked the teacher, but you also made the teacher stand here and let you kiss me for so long. You've taken advantage of me so much, and now you turn your back on me so easily. Tell me, who's bullying whom here?"
San San blushed with embarrassment. He wasn't as good at arguing as Chen Yunqi, so he angrily shook off Chen Yunqi's arms that were still around him, plopped back down at the table, picked up a pen, and began to scribble and draw fiercely on the exercise book.
Chen Yunqi absolutely adored his pitiful, downtrodden look and couldn't resist teasing him, making him look all wronged and pathetic, so he could pamper him properly later. He also sat back down at the table, deliberately putting on a stern face and pretending to be nonchalant, as he started giving San San some pointers on his homework.
Seeing that San San was hesitating over several answer options for a question, he was about to lean closer to help him analyze it when San San pushed him away with her elbow and angrily retaliated, saying, "Don't come any closer, the smell of goat milk is awful!"
Chen Yunqi was pushed back into his seat and said, both amused and exasperated, "This little guy is quite vengeful."
San San ignored him and buried himself in his work. Chen Yunqi, seeing this, was afraid of really pissing him off, so he didn't dare to do anything reckless. He straightened his expression, pretended to pick up a book, and started flipping through it absentmindedly.
The milking plan failed, and Xiao San San's diet became a major problem. The soy milk powder was almost gone, and Xiao San San's stools were either green or watery after every meal. Chen Yunqi dared not delay any longer, so on Friday night he entrusted Xiao San San to his aunt and planned to go down the mountain early the next morning.
In just one week it will be the Spring Festival, and Tang Yutao and Li Hui will also be rushing to go home for the Spring Festival travel rush.
Early Saturday morning, Chen Yunqi, along with Huang Yelin and Huang Xiaoya, waited for him at the door of San San's house.
Huang Yelin brought his younger sister from Group Six before dawn. Huang Xiaoya was so sleepy that she could barely walk, so Chen Yunqi had to carry her. After only a few steps, she fell asleep on Chen Yunqi's shoulder.
San San, dressed neatly, walked out of the courtyard gate. She looked at Chen Yunqi, hesitant to speak. Just as Chen Yunqi was about to speak, he saw San San's mother, carrying a bamboo basket on her back, also step out of the gate.
"Teacher Chen, you're up so early!" San San's mother straightened her collar and hem, and put her red baseball cap on properly. "It'll be so lively for you to spend the New Year with us this year. I'll go with you and buy some more things."
Chen Yunqi was stunned. He was about to say, "Auntie, why don't you stop running around? It's too tiring. If you need anything, San San and I can do it together."
Before he could finish speaking, another figure emerged from the courtyard gate.
Sheng Xiaoyan, carrying her schoolbag and wearing new blue sneakers, skipped over to them and said with a smile, "I'm here! Shall we go?"
Tang Yutao and Li Hui spent a long time packing their luggage before coming out. Li Jun was the last to arrive. He looked like he had just woken up; his faded blond hair was a mess, like a bird's nest. He was wearing an over-the-top gold jacket, zipped up, revealing a necklace similar to the one worn by Chen Haonan② around his neck. He walked over with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, waving to everyone from a distance and excitedly shouting, "Wow! So many people! It's so lively!"
He was having a good time when Li Hanqiang suddenly grabbed him by the collar, slammed the bamboo basket over his head, and kicked him in the buttocks, sending him sprawling to the ground face-first into the dirt.
Li Hanqiang, panting heavily, kicked his son to the ground, then stood with his hands on his hips, pointing at him and yelling, "You brat, you left without even taking a basket! What are you going to buy?!"
After cursing, he shouted at Chen Yunqi, "Teacher Chen! When we go down the mountain, you have to keep a close eye on this rascal! Don't let him drink and mess things up! And don't let him go to any internet cafes!"
Chen Yunqi had no choice but to nod helplessly and say at the top of his lungs, "I understand, brother-in-law! Don't worry!"
Li Jun was afraid of his father, so he slunk up, dusted himself off, picked up his basket and carried it on his back. He ran to Chen Yunqi's side, grinning sheepishly, his earlier swagger completely gone.
Chen Yunqi pursed his lips and looked at San San with a worried expression, and San San returned the same look.
The planned date was ruined, turning into a Spring Festival group-buying trip to Tianyun Village. Bringing Huang Yelin and Huang Xiaoya along already made them two equally wattage third wheels, but thankfully they were young and didn't understand anything, so there was no need to be too careful or discreet. Chen Yunqi was extremely frustrated; if he had a submachine gun in his pocket, he'd want to pull it out right now and shoot all these people in his way.
Sheng Xiaoyan urged enthusiastically, "Everyone's here! Let's go! We need to finish shopping quickly so I can go see a movie with my brother!"
Chen Yunqi felt a mix of emotions, and could only helplessly rub his temples and say, "Let's go, let's go."
So the large group of people, except for Chen Yunqi and San San, walked briskly down the mountain, chatting and laughing.
Chapter Thirty-One: Sneaking a Taste
In previous years, Chen Yunqi had spent the Spring Festival alone for several years in a row. Yu Xiaosong wanted to go back to be with his parents and couldn't bear to leave him alone for the New Year. However, he couldn't persuade him to come with him, so every year after the third day of the Lunar New Year, he would rush back to S City with dumplings made by his family to be with him.
In big cities, the Spring Festival is always cold and deserted, lacking any festive atmosphere. Most people either travel with their families or return to their hometowns. Friends and relatives usually prefer to meet outside and don't visit each other's homes. Neighbors also tend to mind their own business and rarely interact, let alone the traditional custom of visiting each other to exchange New Year's greetings—in the dead of winter, nobody wants to move around much; lying on the sofa, a few taps on a group message and it's all done.
Without carefully selected festive attire or meticulously prepared food, if it weren't for the notice in the elevator strictly prohibiting citizens from setting off fireworks and firecrackers, the few "Fu" characters symbolically pasted by the property management at the entrance of the community, the sudden increase in empty parking spaces, and the suddenly unobstructed main roads of the city—people would have no idea that a major festival for universal celebration and family reunion was about to arrive.
The world built of reinforced concrete is cold and lifeless.
In comparison, the Spring Festival atmosphere in the small county town is quite strong.
Unlike first-tier cities that become ghost towns during holidays, Haiyuan County is predominantly inhabited by locals, and the neighbors in this small town often visit each other warmly. A week in advance, every household has already hung lanterns and pasted paper-cut window decorations, and the streets and alleys are brightly lit and bustling with activity. Shops selling all kinds of holiday supplies and firecrackers abound, and the crowded vegetable market is teeming with people. People carrying baskets and bags throng the streets, their clothes, ages, and appearances varying, but everyone's face is beaming with joy and energy; they all arrive empty-handed and leave laden with purchases.
The largest agricultural wholesale market in Haiyuan County was packed with people today. San San frowned, constantly dodging the people passing by. Fortunately, the tall and strong Chen Yunqi was protecting her, otherwise she might have lost her shoes in the crowd.
Tang Yutao and Li Hui parted ways with everyone at the station and boarded the train to City C together. Before leaving, Tang Yutao handed Chen Yunqi a small jar of face cream that Song Feifei had left behind, and earnestly advised him, "Friend, you should put some face cream on, it's practically peeling off. Even if you're very attractive, you still need to take care of your skin, otherwise how will you date young men?"
After saying that, he twitched his eyebrows in a lewd manner and glanced at San San out of the corner of his eye.
Chen Yunqi didn't follow his gaze to look at San San, but instead looked down at the small jar in his hand, frowned and said, "Friend, this is Vaseline. Isn't it a bit too moisturizing to use this on your face?"
Tang Yutao was shocked upon hearing this. He raised his hand and touched the patch of pimples that had inexplicably appeared on his face, and suddenly realized, "Damn... no wonder my skin has been in such bad condition lately!"
Chen Yunqi sighed and rubbed his forehead, saying helplessly, "You put the things others use to wipe their hands and feet on your face. You can't even tell the difference between face cream and Vaseline, and you're telling others how to take care of their skin?"
Tang Yutao was still rubbing his cheek in anguish, groaning repeatedly. Chen Yunqi patted him on the shoulder and said with a wry smile, "Stop dawdling and hurry up. I wish you a happy new year in advance, and may the coming year be peaceful and prosperous for you."
Upon hearing this, Tang Yutao solemnly cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thanks, buddy. I also wish you peace and happiness every year, and that all your wishes come true."
After mocking Tang Yutao, Chen Yunqi solemnly bid farewell to him and Li Hui, watching them disappear into the crowd of people returning home. Only then did he sigh and casually put the small jar into his pocket.
Sheng Xiaoyan disliked the sewage-filled, fishy-smelling market, so Li Jun volunteered to take her, Huang Yelin, and Huang Xiaoya to a relatively clean and tidy market specializing in small items. Chen Yunqi repeatedly reminded Li Jun to pay attention to the children's safety, arranged a meeting time with him, and then went into the market with the three of them.
San San's mother compared prices at each store and quickly filled her basket. Chen Yunqi and San San walked behind to help carry the things. They looked around, touched and patted everything along the way. In the crowd, they got separated from San San's mother after a short while.
San San skillfully picked through the vegetables at the stall, then picked up a bunch of leafy greens and asked Chen Yunqi, "Brother, do you like this?"
Chen Yunqi's eyes widened. He felt that the bunch of vegetables in San San's hand looked no different from the countless bunches of vegetables on the vegetable stall in front of him. In the past, he usually referred to all green vegetables as "green vegetables," but now he didn't want San San to find out that he was actually a big, silly guy who couldn't tell the difference between grains. In a moment of panic, he snatched the bunch of vegetables from San San's hand and threw it back onto the vegetable stall. He frowned and said, "Why eat vegetables during the New Year? Eat meat, eat meat!" After saying that, he pulled San San away.
San San was completely confused, thinking, "Didn't you teach me that I shouldn't be picky about food and should eat more vegetables, otherwise I would lack vitamins?"
The two left the vegetable stall and wandered aimlessly through the crowd, eventually arriving at the seafood section. Chen Yunqi loved fish, so he enthusiastically dragged San San from stall to stall, and soon they spotted the Bing fish.
Chen Yunqi pointed to the fish in the large tin basin and said to San San, "Look, this is a wild Bing fish." After saying that, he pulled San San down to squat down and examine it closely. Sure enough, he saw the lifelike "sword" on the fish's spine.
He looked up at the fishmonger and asked, "Boss, how much is this Bing fish per pound?"
Seeing that there was business to be had, the shopkeeper quickly stubbed out his cigarette and replied, "Young man, you have a good eye. This is a genuine wild species, very difficult to catch. It's 128 yuan per catty, no less than that."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yunqi immediately straightened up smugly, looking down at San San with a sidelong glance. Although he remained silent, the expression between his brows clearly said, "See? I was right last time! I was reasonable and convincing, so hurry up and praise me for being so clever!"
Ever since the iron tree blossomed with silver flowers and Chen Yunqi fell in love, his IQ seems to have gone offline. His words and actions have become increasingly childish. He often transforms into a peacock desperately showing off its wings to females, trying every means to attract San San's attention. His pride takes over regardless of the occasion, and he needs attention and praise at any time.
But San San felt that Chen Yunqi was perfect in his eyes, whether it was his deep and melancholy demeanor when they first met, his humble and elegant manner after they got to know each other, or even his extremely childish appearance now. The Chen Yunqi who was drunk and unconscious behind him, the Chen Yunqi who sang with tears in his eyes in the cold wind, the Chen Yunqi who angrily threw a cup of tea at someone for him, the Chen Yunqi who was so deeply in love yet so restrained that he was almost cold... Every version of him that San San saw was a version that others could not see, a version that he loved to the core.
His eyes were filled with love. He leaned closer and smiled gently and obediently, saying, "Brother is so great. Here's the biggest fish you can have as a reward."
Chen Yunqi was extremely pleased with the praise and completely oblivious to the surging affection in San San's eyes. He grinned, stood up, and said ostentatiously, "Boss, give me the biggest one!"