For The Rest Of Our Life – Chapter 10
by Little PandaInvoluntarily, Her Whole Body Trembled…
When Lin Xian left the house, the sun had yet to appear, seemingly hidden behind overcast clouds. Sitting on the bus, she gazed out the window at the grey, gloomy sky and silently rejoiced: the news said yet another new typhoon had formed, and several more were on the way. The coming days would likely see plenty of overcast and rainy weather. If a typhoon arrived early enough, military training might even end ahead of schedule. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too grueling.
Her relief, however, was short-lived. The blazing sun soon pushed through the clouds with fierce intensity, flooding the earth with light.
After the opening ceremony, all the freshmen were organized into companies and marched to the sports field, officially kicking off their two-week military training.
Lin Xian had stood at attention under the scorching sun for twenty minutes and already felt as though her entire body had been roasted in a furnace—searing, feverish, unbearable. With her hat on, half of her fair, delicate face sat in shadow while the other half lay exposed to the sunlight. Sweat rolled down her cheeks in rivulets. She fixed her gaze on the back of the classmate’s head in front of her, emptied her mind, and let her thoughts wander, hoping it would make the time pass a little faster.
She wondered if Zhou Qin, having gone so many days without seeing her, might miss her especially. She wondered if Lin Zhan, without her at home making a ruckus and acting spoiled, might find his meals tasteless. She wondered if her friend Yan Yuhuan, at Dongming Daxue even farther south in another province, was suffering under the same sky, the same blazing sun, getting just as delightfully roasted. And what she thought about most was Xiao Wanqing.
She wondered whether Xiao Wanqing had left for work yet, whether she had started working, what her workplace looked like, what style her office might be—whether it was like her home, simple yet warm. With Xiao Wanqing’s gentle disposition, how did she command authority over her subordinates…
During the squatting exercises, holding the position for five unchanging minutes, Lin Xian came to a quiet realization: she seemed to have an extraordinary curiosity about Xiao Wanqing. As though something unusual about Xiao Wanqing kept drawing her in.
When she stood up, she found a reason she was satisfied with.
It was because Xiao Wanqing was too mysterious.
During the brief breaks in military training, the female students around her sat on the ground, chatting and laughing, talking about everything under the sun, and quickly became fast friends. At lunch, the boarding students streamed off in groups organized by dorm. The three classmates Lin Xian had just met—the only other day students in the class—gravitated toward her naturally. Arms linked, they stood in a row and marched toward the cafeteria with the force of a conquering army, making quite a lively scene of it. Lin Xian, as the ringleader, was the most rambunctious of them all.
The afternoon sun was still merciless, but having gotten to know each other a little, everyone chatted and laughed during the breaks, and the time passed far more easily.
By evening, Lin Xian finished training and caught the bus home with her fellow day-student newcomers Chen Zhi and Tang Mo. The moment she got back and opened the door, the tantalizing aroma of cooking washed over her, making her ravenous mouth water.
Lin Xian shut the door, changed her shoes in a flash, and bounded toward the kitchen, calling out cheerfully, “Auntie Xiao, I’m home! What are you cooking? It smells amazing…”
Xiao Wanqing had her long hair tied back, an apron on, and a spatula in hand. At the sound of Lin Xian’s voice, she turned to look over her shoulder. The next second, she let out a snort and laughed with delight.
Lin Xian’s bouncing excitement froze. She blinked, looked herself up and down, and found nothing amiss. “Auntie Xiao, what’s so funny?”
Xiao Wanqing’s eyes curved into crescents, torn between heartache and amusement. “Go wash your face and you’ll see.” After a moment’s thought, she added, “Dinner won’t be ready for a little while. You could take a shower first—you must be uncomfortable, all sticky like that.”
Lin Xian gave a puzzled “Oh,” dutifully said “okay,” and turned to head for the bathroom.
Sure enough, a moment later, Xiao Wanqing heard Lin Xian’s voice of disbelief drifting from the bathroom: “Oh my god…”
Xiao Wanqing’s eyes softened, and she couldn’t help but laugh again.
Whether because of her quick-tanning constitution, one day in the sun had noticeably darkened Lin Xian by several shades. Worse still, the hat had shaded only half her face, so the upper and lower halves had taken on two entirely different skin tones. Without the hat, the effect was startling, to say the least.
Lin Xian emerged from her shower twenty minutes later. Xiao Wanqing had just finished stir-frying the last dish, washed the wok, removed her apron, and was rinsing her hands.
Lin Xian shuffled over in her slippers—pitter-patter, pitter-patter—and threw herself at Xiao Wanqing. She reached around from behind to wrap her arms around her, pressed her face against Xiao Wanqing’s back, and whimpered pitifully, “Auntie Xiao, what do I do, it’s so ugly… No wonder people kept staring at me on the way home.”
The instant Lin Xian’s arms closed around her, Xiao Wanqing’s body stiffened, almost imperceptibly. But she quickly composed herself, relaxed, turned off the tap, and turned to face Lin Xian. In a gentle voice, she soothed, “It’s all right. Once military training is over, you’ll get your fair color back in a while.” Then, looking down at Lin Xian’s wide, hopeful eyes—clean and damp as a fawn’s—she couldn’t resist reaching out to touch her small, upturned nose. “If anything,” she said warmly, “you look even cuter now. Like a little flower cat.”
At that, Lin Xian’s eyes curved into crescents, and she bloomed with a smile that was half embarrassment, half delight.
Xiao Wanqing ruffled her still-damp hair. “All right. You must be starving. Let’s eat.”
Lin Xian nodded, released her, and offered thoughtfully, “I’ll serve the rice.”
Xiao Wanqing smiled. “Okay.”
During the meal, Lin Xian kept twisting her neck awkwardly. Xiao Wanqing noticed it several times and asked with concern, “What’s wrong with your neck? Did you pull a muscle?”
Lin Xian pouted, bewildered. “I don’t know why, but there’s a spot on the back of my neck that really hurts.”
Xiao Wanqing’s delicate brows drew together in a slight frown. She set down her chopsticks, rose quickly, and moved behind Lin Xian. Brushing aside the hair at the nape of her neck, she examined the girl’s smooth skin. The area was rough and red, swollen and patchy, even showing signs of peeling.
Xiao Wanqing’s expression darkened. Her voice dropped a note, laced with heartache and self-reproach. “It’s a sunburn. I should have thought of it—should’ve had you put on sunscreen this morning.”
Hearing the guilt in her voice, Lin Xian immediately tried to reassure her. “I was too lazy to put it on myself. What’s that got to do with you? It doesn’t even hurt that much. It’ll heal in a few days. I’m fine.”
Xiao Wanqing bit her lip and turned to leave. “I’ll get the medicine.”
But Lin Xian, quick as a flash, reached out and caught Xiao Wanqing’s hand, stopping her in her tracks. “It’s fine, Auntie Xiao. Let’s eat first. It’s not urgent. Look, the soup’s getting cold.”
Xiao Wanqing wanted to argue, but seeing the earnest insistence in Lin Xian’s eyes, she finally relented. “All right, then.”
But it was clear Xiao Wanqing could no longer eat in peace. Within two minutes, she had swept through her rice and soup like a whirlwind and was already up and heading for the medicine.
Lin Xian watched Xiao Wanqing’s retreating figure, so full of concern, and let out a soft sigh. But at the corners of her lips, a smile rose unbidden.
After the medicine was applied and dinner was finished, Xiao Wanqing told Lin Xian to watch some television or read a book and to rest early—the first day was over, but the remaining dozen-odd days of military training would only get harder.
In the study room, Lin Xian previewed the first lessons of each subject and finished her English listening and reading exercises before it suddenly hit her: she’d forgotten to wash her clothes again!
She leapt from her chair and dashed to the bathroom. But it was too late… the laundry basket sat empty once more.
Lin Xian trudged to the balcony, dejected. Sure enough, Xiao Wanqing had already finished washing and was hanging the clothes to dry.
Seeing Lin Xian’s scrunched-up little face, Xiao Wanqing broke into a smile. “I washed the outer clothes. But I left your undergarments for you to do yourself.”
Lin Xian lowered her head, embarrassed. “Auntie Xiao, really, you don’t have to. Next time, just leave it all for me to wash.”
Xiao Wanqing gazed at the girl’s guilty expression with tender affection. After a moment’s thought, she proposed a roundabout solution. “How about this: I’ll wash your clothes, and on weekends you can help me proofread and copyedit articles. That would save me a lot of time.” Xiao Wanqing’s magazine published an English-language edition; while proofreading and copyediting didn’t technically fall under her own duties, for Lin Xian, reviewing such articles would be all gain and no loss.
Lin Xian agreed without hesitation. “Deal.” Then a sly smile crept onto her face. “But I’m still washing my own clothes.”
Xiao Wanqing paused, then couldn’t help but laugh softly. She looked at Lin Xian’s lively, sparkling eyes, her gaze growing ever softer. In the end, she let it be.
That night, Xiao Wanqing deliberately kept herself busy until close to midnight before stopping to rest. She walked to the living room for a glass of water, as was her habit, and paused once more as she passed Lin Xian’s room.
Like everything else in the still of the night, Lin Xian’s room was free of the clatter of keyboard keys that had echoed there the past two evenings. The silence was reassuring. Looking at the closed door, Xiao Wanqing’s lips gradually curved upward. Her expression turned tender, and a smile of quiet contentment settled on her face.
The next morning—a fall into a pit, a gain in your wit1—Lin Xian absorbed yesterday’s lesson and finally wised up. She got up a little earlier of her own accord, fiddled in front of the mirror for a bit, and applied sunscreen to her face. Then she brought the sunscreen to the kitchen and asked Xiao Wanqing to help apply it to the back of her neck.
Xiao Wanqing’s fingers, cool and soft, glided inch by inch across Lin Xian’s smooth, fair neck. For no reason at all, Lin Xian felt a tingling, ticklish sensation spread through her chest.
She suddenly recalled the day she had held Xiao Wanqing’s hand and studied it closely—those jade fingers, slender and pale as spring onion shoots2, beautiful enough to rival a hand model’s…
Involuntarily, Lin Xian’s whole body trembled.
Xiao Wanqing noticed. Her touch grew gentler still, and a smile played on her lips as she asked with concern, “Are my hands too cold?”
Lin Xian panicked for a moment and stammered her denial. “N-no… it’s not…”
Fortunately, Xiao Wanqing didn’t press for an answer. She simply raised her hands before the next application, rubbing them together gently, warming them slightly before placing them on Lin Xian’s neck once more.
This time, the temperature was just right—a gentle warmth that traveled from her neck, down her spine, and all the way into Lin Xian’s heart…
The author has something to say:
Da-da-da~ One of the secondary couples made a brief appearance~ Can you guess where?
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Thank you to sponsor 24996167 for the continuous rocket cannons, giving the lovely sister a super big kiss (づ￣ 3￣)づ
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