J'ai passé mon bras autour de la taille fine de l'homme fort

Chapitre 131

In terms of appearance alone, she wasn't exactly a beauty, but her innocent and carefree demeanor was extremely endearing. Feng Jing watched silently, his frustration growing stronger.

"I'm sorry." He lowered his eyes and apologized sincerely.

She was taken aback, then realized what he was referring to, stopped what she was doing, and blushed.

After thinking for a long time, he finally made up his mind, took out the gold bracelet from his pocket and handed it to her: "This is for you."

He wanted to make it up to her, which was all he had right now.

She hesitated, not reaching out to take it. "Are you going to give me money?"

“No,” he denied immediately, then thought for a moment and said, “This is a gift for you.”

She gladly accepted it and put the gold bracelet on her wrist.

He was speechless for a moment, looking around blankly. Seeing a small boat moored by the water nearby, he asked Yuan Yuan, "Did you come by boat? Do you live around here?"

“Yes, my home is just two miles away in Lianhuawu,” she said, then, as if suddenly remembering something, she continued, “Oh, by the way, yesterday when I came back from fishing, I saw a huge boat upstream, two stories high, with many beautiful, fairy-like ladies on board… Someone called out to me and asked if I was coming this way. I said yes, and a lady came out of the cabin and ordered someone to give me some money. She said she saw a scholar chasing after the boat for a long time, and now that they were far from the county town, it might be inconvenient for him to go back. She asked me to give him a ride back to the academy. I searched along the way and only found you lying here when it got dark… Are you the scholar she was talking about?”

Feng Jing remained silent, his gaze lingering on the gold bracelet Yuan Yuan was wearing. After a long while, he sadly looked away and replied, "No."

“Oh…” Yuan Yuan nodded, then suddenly clapped her hands and stood up, laughing, “Whether it is or not, you should go back now, right? Come on, take my boat, I’ll give you a ride.”

After boarding the boat, she refused his help, skillfully rowing and carrying him towards the city.

She wasn't tall or burly, but she paddled through the reeds with a relaxed and carefree air. He sat at the bow, hesitating for a long time, before finally unable to resist asking her, "Last night...why didn't you push me away?"

"I pushed it away!" she said, her clear black and white eyes revealing the truth: "I had been pushing it away all along..."

He lowered his head in embarrassment, almost plunging headfirst into the clear, green stream beside him.

He coughed lightly twice to cover his mouth, then asked in a low voice, "I mean, finally..."

If she continues to resist, he cannot force her.

This question gave her much to think about. She frowned slightly, gazed at the sky for a moment, but still couldn't find an answer. Finally, she only said, bewildered, "I don't know either..."

******************

"Will you come to see me again?" Yuan Yuan asked as they parted.

He didn't dare make her any promises, and only smiled faintly.

She was very obedient; she silently turned and left without asking any more questions.

A few days later, Feng Jing packed his bags, left Yuhang, and returned to his mother's side in Jiangxia.

He did not find the peace he longed for in Jiangxia. Whether facing a book or closing his eyes, everything in Yuhang seemed vivid in his mind, sometimes as a shadow behind a curtain, sometimes as the flowing water on the riverbank. He began to wander the alleys and indulge in unrestrained drinking, but he still could not erase the images that repeatedly swept through his mind.

His mother often looked at him with worry, shaking her head and sighing from time to time.

"It's time for Jing-ge to find a wife," the neighbor's aunt said to Madam Feng with a knowing smile.

For many days afterward, the main guests at the Feng family's home were matchmakers. Finally, Feng Jing, unable to bear the constant harassment, asked his mother for permission to travel again.

"Where do you want to go this time?" Mrs. Feng asked.

Feng Jing had asked himself this question many times, and seemingly involuntarily, he ultimately chose Yuhang as his destination.

I went to Lotus Pier to find Yuan Yuan, originally just wanting to catch a glimpse of her.

But from the way the locals looked at him and spoke, he sensed something was off from the beginning.

"Wang Yuanyuan?" They would usually repeat the name he mentioned, then look him up and down, revealing a knowing smile, before pointing out Yuanyuan's residence.

When he saw Yuan Yuan, she was wielding a paddle, rushing out of her thatched house, viciously chasing after two shifty-eyed men.

She caught up with one who was running slowly, and with a "smack," the oar struck the man's leg squarely.

She slammed the oar heavily on the ground, the gold bracelet on her wrist swaying with the movement, gleaming in the sunlight. "If you dare come knocking again and say anything filthy, I'll beat you both up!" she declared loudly, her eyebrows furrowed.

The woman who had been beaten groaned repeatedly and continued running with a limp. As she ran, she didn't forget to turn back and curse her: "You're carrying a bastard child whose father is unknown, and you still have the nerve to pretend to be virtuous and chaste!"

Feng Jing was surprised and looked closely at Yuan Yuan's abdomen, only to find that it was indeed slightly swollen, indicating that she was pregnant.

Yuan Yuan didn't argue, but instead put two fingers into her mouth and whistled loudly. Immediately, a black dog came running out from behind the house. Yuan Yuan pointed at the person in front and commanded, "Bite him!"

The black dog gave chase, and the man screamed and ran away covering his head.

Yuan Yuan smiled smugly, picked up her oar, and prepared to go back to the house. But as soon as she turned around, she froze, standing there, unable to move.

Feng Jing stood before her, smiling as he called out, "Yuan Yuan."

She didn't agree. She silently watched him for a moment, then awkwardly placed one hand on her protruding belly.

He noticed this and cautiously asked, "Mine?"

She hesitated for a long time before finally nodding.

He stood solemnly, his expression composed, and remained silent for a long while. Her brows furrowed slightly; she would glance down at his toes, then look at him uneasily, her expression pitiful, as if asking, "You don't believe me?"

"Your father..." He finally spoke again, but immediately changed his words after saying those two words: "Is your father home?"

“He went out fishing,” Yuan Yuan replied.

"Oh...can you tell me his name?"

"Wang A-Liu".