“Do you still have feelings for me?” Lin Yue asked.
This was truly a baffling question. However, faced with the hope of survival, Gu Jun cautiously answered.
“We’re already husband and wife. If I don’t have feelings for you, who else would I have feelings for?” He tried to push the other away but found he couldn’t, so he gave up. “Are you finding me troublesome and want to drive me away?”
Gu Jun was best at turning the tables and blaming the other party when faced with unfavorable situations.
Lin Yue said, “Good.”
Hmm, for a couple, it’s indeed good for the wife to have feelings for the husband.
Before Gu Jun could react, the somewhat ambiguous embrace ended.
Lin Yue walked to the fire, picked up a few dry sticks, and placed them on the fire, which had diminished and was covered in ashes.
“Sleep.”
Gu Jun replied, “Alright.” He returned to his “bed,” took off his cloth shoes, lay down, curled up slightly, and chose to sleep on his side.
He thought, finally having a place to stay was truly wonderful.
Recalling Lin Yue’s words, he realized the points he had overlooked: redeeming clothes, buying some good and cheap things, and seeing a doctor. The other must have saved some money for food.
This was practically the life he dreamed of.
Gu Jun thought to himself. He was full of expectations for the future, and for some reason, at this beautiful moment, he thought of Zhao Jia Niangzi.
With the passage of time, her haggard face became clear in his mind.
Every strand of hair, every wrinkle, even the freckles on her cheekbones, the creases in her clothes, the patterns on her silver jewelry, and the fine lines on her palms were all vividly clear.
However, she was dead, leaving a place full of malice, going to the Feng family, a place that devours people without spitting out bones, for a disgusting person, and died inexplicably. She even had a child.
A world that devours people.
Gu Jun tossed and turned on the grass mat, finally letting out a cold laugh in his heart before falling asleep.
Barely able to protect himself, he managed to deceive his way into food and shelter, yet his sympathy overflowed.
In his sleep, Gu Jun had a dream.
He dreamed of studying continuously, relying on the knowledge he gained to finally make a lot of money and live a good life.
He sent Lin Yue back home and was about to repay the debt he owed for making him work to support himself, only to find the money gone.
And he himself had become a rolled-up… egg roll?
Lin Yue, expressionless, said, “A debt-ridden liar, looks quite tasty.” He even picked up a knife and fork.
Gu Jun: ???
Gu Jun turned and ran, but forgot he had no feet, rolling two meters away, and when he came to his senses, Lin Yue, the grim reaper, was standing in front of him, a shiny knife and fork stabbing straight at him without a word.
Gu Jun was so scared he woke up.
As his senses gradually cleared, he caught the faint sound of pitter-patter.
What was that sound?
Gu Jun opened his eyes. The sky was gloomy, with dense clouds piled up like a quilt. Several silver beads quickly flew out from between the clouds, piercing the earth, and the surrounding vegetation trembled.
It turned out to be raining.
It’s raining!
Gu Jun suddenly stood up, touched his clothes, and found they weren’t wet. The rain hadn’t flowed into the bridge hole.
Had the rain just started?
Gu Jun looked towards the front of the bridge hole, and this newly emerged thought was overturned. The rainwater was actually blocked by a mud-built dam.
Looking up at the top of the bridge hole, a bamboo pole held up an old oil-paper umbrella, blocking the rainwater from leaking into his area.
The area he occupied had few leaks, and an oil-paper umbrella was enough to block the rainwater. Lin Yue’s “bed” was piled on the right side of his “bed,” along with the book box.
There were only him and Lin Yue here, so it was obvious that Lin Yue had done these things.
“Husband?” Gu Jun looked around but didn’t see Lin Yue.
Where did he go?
He stuck his head out and looked around.
In the dim distance, a man wearing a raincoat and a bamboo hat, tall and steady in his steps, walked towards the bridge hole. The damp air rushed in, and a hand reached out, pressing Gu Jun’s head back into the bridge hole.
Gu Jun asked, “Where did you go?”
Lin Yue walked into the bridge hole, took off the raincoat and bamboo hat, and the rainwater flowed down their surfaces, “splashing” onto the ground. Near the edge of the bridge hole, where there were more cracks, several drops of muddy water fell from above, aiming at him.
Gu Jun saw this and was about to drag the raincoat over to cover him.
The other person spun around, pushing and pulling Gu Jun to the left corner of the bridge hole, where it was mostly dry but very narrow.
Gu Jun was pushed and pulled until he was dizzy. When he finally stood still, he found himself almost pressed against the left corner wall of the bridge hole.
Lin Yue stood in front of him, holding the raincoat and bamboo hat, shaking off a few strands of hair that had gotten wet.
“Helping Old Craftsman Lin.”
Gu Jun asked, “Old Craftsman Lin?”
Lin Yue replied, “The old man who sells various bamboo products.”
Gu Jun remembered. This old man had previously let them get sweet water from his well. “What happened to him?”
Lin Yue said, “His son suddenly fell ill and needed someone to take him to the county town. I waited for the rain to lighten up to buy an umbrella from Old Craftsman Lin to go to the county town. He also sells umbrellas, and I happened to meet him, so I helped out. That umbrella is also Old Craftsman Lin’s. I’ll return it to him when the rain stops.”
Lin Yue pointed to the oil-paper umbrella inside the bridge hole.
Gu Jun’s nose was filled with Lin Yue’s scent—different from usual, it was a strong warm fragrance, so strong it was almost overwhelming. He covered his nose, pushed Lin Yue away a bit, turned his body, and slipped under the oil-paper umbrella.
Lin Yue lifted his eyelids and looked at him.
The warm fragrance finally faded from his nose, and Gu Jun felt alive again. He asked Lin Yue, “Where did you get such a strong warm fragrance?”
Lin Yue replied, “Old Craftsman Lin’s house. They cut fragrant grass to smoke bamboo for making baskets. My clothes got partially wet, so I sat by their fireplace for a while.”
Gu Jun wrinkled his nose.
Lin Yue shook his sleeves and said, “The smell will dissipate after a while.”
Gu Jun accepted this answer. As long as he didn’t get close, he wouldn’t smell it.
He asked Lin Yue, “Are you going to work today even though it’s raining? Won’t you catch a cold working in the rain? It’s not worth it.” Gu Jun had learned quite a few words, and he could even use idioms like “not worth it,” which were rarely used in daily life.
Lin Yue said, “Of course, we won’t work. The owner mentioned this before starting work.”
“Then why did you…” Gu Jun pointed to the oil-paper umbrella, “go to buy an umbrella?”
Lin Yue said, “If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, they won’t let us rest as planned.”
Gu Jun instantly understood his meaning, “You mean, you’re going to rent a house today?”
Lin Yue said, “Shall we go?”
Gu Jun was eager to have a clean and tidy place to live, so he agreed immediately. What troubled him was that Lin Yue used the raincoat and bamboo hat, and the umbrella was occupied by the “bed” and book box, so he had no tools to shield himself from the rain.
Lin Yue said, “We don’t need the grass mat anymore. I’ll carry the book box; it needs to be taken to the county town. I finished the coursework last night and left it at the bookstore. When Bi Laosan needs it, he’ll send a book boy to fetch it.”
“Doesn’t the bookstore charge a storage fee?”
“Bi Laosan owns the bookstore.”
“How do you know?”
Lin Yue just smiled without speaking, which annoyed Gu Jun. Only then did he say, “I figured it out from the details.”
Gu Jun recalled what Bi Laosan did at the bookstore and understood. He said, “He’s not afraid of his family finding out.”
Lin Yue handed the things he was holding to Gu Jun, put on the rain gear again, and signaled him to leave.
Gu Jun started off cheerfully, his mind full of renting a house. But when it was time to leave, he took down the umbrella and worried about not finding a suitable place to rent.
So he shoved the umbrella into Lin Yue’s hand, stubbornly moved the grass mat to the left corner of the bridge hole, and then chose to set off.
On the way, the rain lightened a bit.
The two walked more easily and quickly reached the county town.
After scraping off the thick mud from their shoes and placing the book box in the bookstore, Gu Jun quietly urged Lin Yue to find a place to rent.
Lin Yue said, “Before renting a house, we need to find someone. Without him, renting won’t be particularly smooth.”
“Old Craftsman?” Gu Jun guessed.
“It’s him. He’s a local and knows the area well,” Lin Yue replied.
The two left the bookstore and headed to Old Craftsman’s house. Lin Yue had heard Old Craftsman mention where his house was while working.
The roads in the county town, even if not the main roads, were relatively flat, much easier to walk on than the rural roads.
The two quickly arrived at Old Craftsman’s house.
Old Craftsman’s house was in an old alley, with houses on both sides having a courtyard, quite spacious.
Lin Yue knocked on the courtyard door, and a chaotic sound arose.
The sound wasn’t from inside the courtyard but from outside the alley.
Gu Jun turned his head to look and saw two yamen officers wearing raincoats and bamboo hats running forward.
They quickly blocked a young man with an umbrella ahead, looked at his face, and their faces fell. They said it wasn’t him, told him to move aside, and continued forward.
“What are they doing?” Gu Jun hadn’t figured out this question when the courtyard door opened.