Volume 10: Days of Cultivating in the Republic of China
Building a Snowman
I think you look like a snowman
The two of them set out on the morning of the 20th, arrived at the Shen family home in the evening, and frittered away1 a day at home on the 21st. In the blink of an eye, it was the 22nd.
Because she had something on her mind, Shen Maomao suddenly woke up with a start in the middle of the night.
The room was somewhat dim, and she could hardly make out Lou Jingmo’s face, but she could hear her steady breathing. She must have already entered a deep sleep.
She fumbled for her phone and checked the time, discovering it was already past 12 o’clock.
She yawned, grabbed Lou Jingmo’s hand, and whispered, “Happy birthday,” then burrowed into her arms, closed her eyes, and soon began to let out little snores, having fallen asleep just like that.
In the darkness, Lou Jingmo opened her eyes.
She pried Shen Maomao’s head out of her embrace so she could breathe fresh air, then held her tightly and replied in a low voice, “Thank you, you little silly melon2.”
…
After the sky brightened, Shen Maomao yanked open the curtains and let out a huge, surprised shout: “IT’S SNOWING!!”
Lou Jingmo was annoyed by her noise, so she rolled over, turning her back to Shen Maomao.
But this certain someone Shen completely failed to notice her rejection. Instead, she pounced beside her pillow like a cheerful little sparrow, chirping3 nonstop, “It’s snowing, it’s snowing, it actually snowed! Lou-jie, have you ever seen snow before?! Get up and look!” As she spoke, she even reached out to push her head.
Lou Jingmo lifted her eyelids, shot her a disdainful look, and spat out two words: “Brain-dead4?”
Shen Maomao: “…”
Right, even if they hadn’t seen snow in real life, they had almost been buried by it together in the game. Her question was purely a moronic5 one.
Shen Maomao’s excitement vanished in a puff of smoke. She sat down on the bed, dejected, and grumbled, “You really are an atmosphere-destroying little expert6. We’re not even married yet and you’re already treating me like this. If we really got married, who knows what would happen…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Lou Jingmo suddenly scrambled up, put on her slippers, and walked past Shen Maomao to the window. Under Shen Maomao’s confused gaze, she closed the curtains and then pulled them open again, before beginning to chant: “It’s snowing, it’s snowing, it actually snowed!”
Shen Maomao: “?!!”
After saying this, Lou Jingmo came back and shook her vigorously. “Have you ever seen snow before?! Get up and look!”
Shen Maomao: “…Fuck7, am I that much of a dumbass8?”
Lou Jingmo: “Do you get it now?”
Shen Maomao lowered her noble head. “I’m sorry, I was wrong.”
Lou Jingmo reached out and ruffled her little melon-head9, saying with a smile, “Baby, it’s time to wash your hair. It’s getting oily.”
At that moment, Shen Maomao wanted nothing more than to give her a shoulder throw10.
But seeing as it was her birthday, she chose to forgive her.
She had already communicated with her mother yesterday about today’s specific arrangements, so during the meal, neither of them mentioned the birthday. They only secretly exchanged one glance after another.
After the meal, Mother Shen and Father Shen went to hold down the fort at their restaurant, while Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo curled up on the sofa to watch a movie.
With the evening’s plans on her mind, Shen Maomao seemed a bit absent-minded, her heart wasn’t in it11. She kept looking up at the clock from time to time.
Lou Jingmo shot her several glances with unclear meaning, but Shen Maomao was completely immersed in her own world and didn’t notice at all.
…
When a person starts to look forward to something, time always seems to move exceptionally slowly, stretching out for an exceptionally long time.
After finally making it to the afternoon, Shen Maomao received a message from Mother Shen and immediately asked Lou Jingmo to go out and play.
The snow had been falling all day and was getting heavier and heavier. By evening, the sparse, light snow had turned into a great snow of goose feathers filling the sky12. Lou Jingmo glanced out the window, not particularly wanting to go out with her. “Are you sure?”
Shen Maomao widened her eyes, selling cuteness13 to her. “Don’t you want to go build a snowman?”
“I think you look like a snowman.”
Shen Maomao: “…”
Could it be that even selling cuteness didn’t work on Lou Jingmo anymore?
She pouted her lips, sitting beside her with puffed-up cheeks14. She turned her head away to give her the back of her head, but still had to turn back every so often to shoot her a glare, checking to see if she was coming to coax her.
Three minutes passed. Lou Jingmo chose to surrender. She helplessly pinched her nose and said, “Little fussy spirit15.”
Shen Maomao’s face flushed red. Watching Lou Jingmo stand up to put on her coat, she couldn’t help but feel that she could read a doting flavor in those three words.
Lou Jingmo finished dressing, put on a dark-colored scarf that completely covered her chin, making her hair look even pinker and her skin even whiter. After being fully armed, she looked back at Shen Maomao with a few traces of a smile in her eyes and said, “What are you standing there stunned for? Go get dressed, little fussy spirit.”
Shen Maomao glared at her, fierce in appearance but cowardly inside, and said without much confidence, “What’s the rush? Don’t I have to find the keys to go out?”
She went back to her room and found an old long coat, deliberately picking one with a similar style to Lou Jingmo’s, pretending they were wearing a couple’s outfit16.
Then she put on a fluffy hat and walked out to take Lou Jingmo’s hand.
The two went out one after the other, and Shen Maomao locked the door.
The weather isn’t particularly cold when it’s snowing, and they didn’t feel cold having just come out of the warm room.
After making their way downstairs, Lou Jingmo pulled off half of her own scarf and wrapped it around Shen Maomao’s face as well.
The two of them shared a single scarf, face to face. Shen Maomao looked up, letting Lou Jingmo wrap the scarf around her neck again and again; Lou Jingmo lowered her head slightly, her expression serious and earnest, as if she were conducting a rigorous scientific report.
After wrapping it, Lou Jingmo said with a smile, “Good thing this scarf is long enough.”
Snowflakes landed on their eyelashes, melting into heavy little water droplets. As if unable to bear the weight, Shen Maomao blinked. When she opened her eyes again, Lou Jingmo’s face was magnified before her.
“Don’t look at me with those kinds of eyes,” Lou Jingmo’s husky, sexy voice entered her ear. “Because it makes me unable to resist the urge to kiss you.”
Shen Maomao froze for a moment, then gently stood on her tiptoes.
The gloomy weather, the snowflakes dancing across the sky, and the two women exchanging a brief kiss in front of the building’s entrance door formed a beautiful picture.
Because people would pass by from time to time, the kiss was very short.
After they separated, Shen Maomao’s heart was beating wildly. She couldn’t help but look around, and only after confirming that no one had noticed them did the red clouds on her face fade a little.
Lou Jingmo took her hand, put it inside her own coat pocket, and led her forward, asking, “So where is the little Shen fussy spirit planning to build a snowman?”
Her tone was like she was coaxing a kindergarten child.
Shen Maomao flew into a rage out of humiliation17. “Can you people not randomly give others nicknames?! Ever since I met you, I don’t even know how many new nicknames I’ve gotten!”
Shen Meow-meow18 and Shen Ribbit-ribbit19 could be overlooked, but now she was even calling her Shen Fussy Spirit. That was too much!
Lou Jingmo: “This is an expression of my love for you.”
Shen Maomao: “…” This old man20 believes your ghost21!
…
A thick layer of snow covered the ground. The two walked hand in hand, with Shen Maomao leading the way, deliberately avoiding the path Mother Shen would take to come home. They walked unhurriedly towards the public square inside the residential complex, leaving behind two neat rows of footprints.
There were many children in cotton-padded jackets playing in the snow in the square. Shen Maomao pulled her hand free, unwrapped the scarf, bent down to pack a snowball, and then—splat—smashed it against Lou Jingmo’s arm.
Lou Jingmo gave her a cold look, with absolutely no intention of playing along.
Shen Maomao was itching to make a move.
She pretended to be packing a snowball, stealthily circled around behind her, and then suddenly leaped up, pouncing on Lou Jingmo’s back.
Who would have thought that Lou Jingmo was already prepared? After feeling the weight on her back, she bent directly at the waist, then reversed her grip to seize Shen Maomao’s arm, smoothly throwing her over her head.
Sprawled in the snow, Shen Maomao was dumbstruck22.
Just as she was about to get up, a weight landed on her waist—Lou Jingmo was straddling her, using a grappling hold23 to pin one of her arms, pressing her down so she couldn’t move. Then she lowered her head and asked, “A sneak attack?”
Shen Maomao could only kick at Lou Jingmo’s back. “I was wrong, I was wrong! Lou-jie, a great person has a great capacity for tolerance24, don’t lower yourself to my level…”
“Hmph…” Lou Jingmo sneered, “LATE!!” With that, she shoved her noggin25 directly into the snow.
Shen Maomao shed sorrowful tears in her heart. She struggled to lift her head and said, “Am I your dear, dear wife or not?! How can you treat me like this? Don’t you feel a pang of guilt?!!”
Lou Jingmo hesitated for a second.
Shen Maomao immediately began her counterattack. She flipped over with all her might, catching her off guard and throwing her to the ground. Then she continued to roll to the left, acting out a drama where the serf flips over to become the master26. She said smugly, “This time, you’ve finally fallen into my hands.”
Lou Jingmo watched her quietly, her eyes like two pools of spring water, holding a certain intoxicating color.
As if bewitched, Shen Maomao couldn’t help but bend down, lower her head, and lean in to kiss her cheek.
Lou Jingmo, who had been planning to continue messing with her, immediately went still. She even used the scarf to cover their heads, hiding them so she could kiss her in secret.
The laughter of children drifted over from a distance. The two people on the ground quickly separated and lay side by side in the snow.
When you lie down, the sky becomes exceptionally high and distant. Shen Maomao reached out an arm to touch this sky, her heart becoming exceptionally tranquil and serene.
Lou Jingmo kicked her foot with her own. “Get up and build the snowman.”
Shen Maomao was too lazy to move.
Lou Jingmo threatened, “You were the one who said you wanted to build a snowman. If you don’t, I’ll build you into a snowman.”
Shen Maomao: “??”
Lou Jingmo urged her again, “Hurry up, don’t just lie there, you’ll catch a cold.”
Shen Maomao had no choice but to get up and start pondering what kind of snowman would be good to build.
It’s not like I really wanted to build a snowman, I just wanted an excuse to trick Lou Jingmo out here, so why do I have to suffer this kind of torment?
Shen Maomao packed a few snowballs, her paws frozen bright red. She held them out pitifully for Lou Jingmo to see. “I don’t want to build it anymore, my hands are numb from the cold.”
Lou Jingmo’s heart ached. She took her hands and rubbed them back and forth to warm them up, while saying, “Didn’t you want to build one?”
Shen Maomao shook her head repeatedly. “Not anymore, not anymore! Let’s go to the supermarket and buy some snacks!”
Lou Jingmo: “Hasn’t it been less than three hours since you finished lunch?”
Shen Maomao said, with straight principles and bold qi27, “But what necessary connection does that have with me having a craving?”
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