Self-Perception - Chapter 56

“The medical technology in the county was limited, and they didn’t dare take the case. They could only advise the old woman to go to the city. The little old lady didn’t have a cell phone and was unfamiliar with the city. But step by step she walked, asking for directions over and over again until she reached the hospital. When she finally arrived and found a doctor, they told her she had to get a number, pay the fees, and wait in line first. Just paying the fees was enough to give her a headache, technology develops so fast, but for the elderly, it is a chasm. Fortunately, a girl helped her. But when it was her turn in line, the cost of the check-ups alone had already spent all her money, not to mention that this tumor required surgery. Where would she get that much money?”

“Sister Gu, Sister Wen, hurry up and catch up!” Xiao Mian’s voice grew loud, almost shouting to get their attention.

“Coming,” Gu Wansheng replied, then added concisely to Wen Jinyan, “But a week after that, Bai Jin and I arrived and helped Xiao Mian.”

“So, was the name ‘Xiao Mian’ given by the old woman?” Wen Jinyan felt a pang of sadness in her heart after hearing the story.

“Xiao Mian was only five years old when she was abandoned, she couldn’t remember anything and didn’t know her own name. But when the old woman brought her back, she often couldn’t sleep at night. So, the old woman found a scholar in the village to think of a name and gave her the name ‘Mian’ (meaning sleep/rest).”

The several of them were far too good-looking, the villagers passing by all turned back to steal a few glances. Their “head-turning rate” soared as they strolled around the village entrance for a while before going to pick up the old woman.

Once the old woman was back, it was time to prepare the food. Gu Wansheng, Bai Jin, and Wen Jinyan helped out in the kitchen.

Xiao Mian also sat in the kitchen on a small stool; the only sound to be heard in the room was the sizzling of the stir-fry.

Soon, they were all seated at the table for dinner.

“Grandma, Grandma,” a woman walked in and, seeing Gu Wansheng and the others, greeted them. “Wansheng and Bai Jin are back! And the person next to you is…?”

“My wife.”

“Congratulations, congratulations! Well, that’s perfect timing, the day after tomorrow is the wedding for me and Lu Qing. You must come!” Liu Min handed the invitation to the old woman.

“Congratulations to you too. May you have a long and happy marriage,” the old woman replied.

Liu Min still had to deliver invitations to the next house, so she left first. Once her silhouette disappeared, Bai Jin lamented, “Even Liu Min is getting married, and I’m still single.”

With her looks and status, what kind of partner couldn’t she find? It was just that Bai Jin refused to settle; she wanted to wait for someone she truly connected with.

“Hey, Grandma. Who is this Lu Qing that Liu Min is marrying?” Bai Jin asked.

The old woman listened and waited a couple of seconds before saying, “Little Lu, she’s a very good person. Just like Little Liu, they are both wonderful girls. Little Lu came down to the countryside to paint and met Little Liu, the two of them hit it off after seeing each other a few times.”

Once the old lady started talking, she didn’t want to stop.

In the afternoon, the three of them took fishing rods to a nearby pond. After a whole afternoon, only Wen Jinyan caught a carp, the other two had no harvest at all.

Gu Wansheng felt a bit frustrated. Seeing this, Wen Jinyan handed her the bucket containing the carp.

“For you,” she said, her voice soft and gentle.

Gu Wansheng blinked, then let out a soft laugh.

Wen Jinyan’s way of coaxing people was truly very Wen Jinyan, and yet, she fell for it every time.

Witnessing the whole scene, Bai Jin rubbed the non-existent goosebumps on her arms.

“Grandma, shall we have braised carp tonight?” Before they even reached the courtyard, Gu Wansheng’s voice rang out.

Hearing the voice, the old woman sitting on the rocking chair in the courtyard looked up, sat up straight, and looked at the bucket being held out. “Little Jiu (Gu Wansheng’s nickname) caught it?”

“Of course!” Gu Wansheng smiled.

“Impressive!” The old woman stood up, took the bucket, and walked toward the kitchen with slow, steady steps.

During dinner, Xiao Mian kept shouting, “Auntie Bai, I want to eat fish!”

“How old are you?” Bai Jin asked.

Xiao Mian held up her soft, chubby hands, one hand showed five fingers and the other showed three. Her voice was sweet and milky: “Eight years old!”

“Eight-year old can use chopsticks,” Bai Jin said, glancing at Xiao Mian. Sure enough, she saw Xiao Mian pouting her cheeks. She reached out and poked the child’s face.

She was still too thin, there was no “bounce back” in her cheeks.

“Auntie Bai~” Xiao Mian tugged at Bai Jin’s sleeve, acting spoiled.

Bai Jin gave in. She picked up a piece of fish, put it in her own bowl, then stood up and told Xiao Mian, “Don’t eat it yet.”

In less than a minute, Bai Jin returned after washing her hands and began to de-bone the fish.

Carp has many small bones. Bai Jin picked at it for a long time before putting it into Xiao Mian’s bowl, cautioning her, “Chew a few more times in your mouth to see if there are any bits left.”

Xiao Mian nodded and lowered her head to eat the fish.

After dinner, the three of them helped wash the dishes and tidy up before they began to wash up for the night.

The old woman went out for a stroll in the village after eating. Xiao Mian grabbed Bai Jin’s hand and headed for the door. “Auntie Bai, let’s go for a walk in the village center too.”

“I’m not going,” Bai Jin remained unmoved.

“Why not?”

“There are mosquitoes. My skin is delicate and I can’t handle it,” Bai Jin insisted.

“But there’s square dancing over there!”

“Auntie Bai, Auntie Bai, you’re the best. Come with me!” Xiao Mian blinked her eyes, attempting a “magical attack.”

She had seen it in cartoons, as long as you act cute, the other person will relent.

Bai Jin stared at Xiao Mian’s eyes, which weren’t large but were being forced wide open and compromised. “Fine.” She turned to the two next to her. “Are you guys going?”

Wen Jinyan looked at the time and politely declined. Since Wen Jinyan wasn’t going, Gu Wansheng naturally didn’t go either.

Wen Jinyan went to shower early. After coming out, she applied her skincare products and called Su Muqing.

The phone rang twice before someone picked up.

“Hello?” The voice was low.

Wen Jinyan moved the phone away for a moment, saw that the number was indeed Su Muqing’s, and put it back to her ear.

“What’s wrong with you?” Wen Jinyan asked.

“What could be wrong with me?” The voice on the other end was sometimes low, sometimes heavy, and seemed to carry a slight, panting breath.

“Are you… sick?” The more Wen Jinyan listened, the more she felt something was off. Otherwise, why was Su Muqing’s breathing so heavy?

“No, I’m not. Mmm…”

A suppressed low moan reached Wen Jinyan’s ears. Wen Jinyan’s reaction was half a beat slow, and then Su Muqing said over the phone, “I’m busy right now, let’s talk tomorrow,” and hung up.

The phone gave a beep-beep sound.

Wen Jinyan: “…”

Combining the previous reactions with that low moan, the realization finally dawned on her.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have called just now.

When Gu Wansheng came out, she saw Wen Jinyan sitting on the edge of the bed, phone in hand, sitting there dazed.

And her ears… were red?

Something was wrong.

She walked over and sat on the bed. Wen Jinyan felt the weight on the mattress and turned her head.

“Yanyan, is it very hot in the room?”

The familiar scent of shampoo enveloped Wen Jinyan.

“No, it’s not.”

Gu Wansheng stared at her, her hand reaching out to touch Wen Jinyan’s flushed ear. She leaned her upper body down, her warm breath falling against Wen Jinyan’s ear. “Then why is your ear so hot?”

“Maybe because I just showered,” Wen Jinyan offered a logical explanation.

Gu Wansheng clearly didn’t buy it, but seeing Wen Jinyan’s “not talking” expression, she gave up on the idea of prying it out of her.

After all, everyone has secrets they don’t want to share.

These secrets cannot be told to family, friends, or even partners, because they are one’s deepest, most private feelings.

Gu Wansheng comforted herself with this thought, though she still felt a bit uneasy.

Wen Jinyan saw Gu Wansheng’s eyes drop, her eyelids half-closed as she looked at her with a pitiful, aggrieved expression.

Something tugged at Wen Jinyan’s heart.

People say beautiful appearances are deceptive, but Wen Jinyan felt that eyes were the most deceptive of all. For example, right now, Gu Wansheng’s eyes still held the mist from her shower, and the overhead light reflected in her pupils, making those peach-blossom eyes look exceptionally endearing.

Wen Jinyan couldn’t bear to see it, and the moment she did, she surrendered.

“Actually…” Wen Jinyan told Gu Wansheng the truth.

Gu Wansheng laughed. “Just because of that?”

She took Wen Jinyan’s hand and kissed it slowly, from the base of the palm to the fingertips. Every inch was stained with her temperature, her tongue wrapping and wetting them.

Wen Jinyan’s breathing became unsteady. Just as she thought Gu Wansheng was going to do something to her, Gu Wansheng suddenly let go, pulled over the covers, and lay down.

“Let’s sleep.”

Wen Jinyan: “?”

She called out with a bit of annoyance, “Gu Wansheng!”

Gu Wansheng turned toward her, reached out to pull her down as well, and wrapped her arms around Wen Jinyan.

She spoke against Wen Jinyan’s shoulder, her cheek pressed against the hollow of her neck, sounding a bit coaxing: “We came back too late yesterday. Let’s conserve our energy first. Once we’ve had enough sleep, we can begin.”

The wedding day for Liu Min and Lu Qing soon arrived. The village was extremely lively that day, decorated with lanterns and streamers. The sound of firecrackers was incessant, and everyone from the surrounding areas came to join the celebration. The wedding car advanced slowly, the window was rolled down, and Liu Min, wearing her wedding dress, held flowers in one hand and threw out red envelopes with the other. People scrambled to grab them, and children followed the car forward.

The three of them followed the crowd to join the fun. Since there were so many people, Gu Wansheng held Wen Jinyan’s hand tightly to prevent them from being separated by the throng.

Soon the car stopped at a wide open space. A “wall” of people stood in front, blocking the vehicle’s path.

Wen Jinyan found it strange and asked, “What are they doing?”

Perhaps her voice was a bit loud, as a girl standing near them looked at Wen Jinyan and realized she was an unfamiliar face. Her gaze then turned to the person next to her, whom she recognized well.

“Sister Wansheng, you’re back!” The girl then looked at Wen Jinyan. “Is this your friend?”

“No,” Gu Wansheng shook her head gently. “She’s my wife.”

“Oh, oh!” The girl was surprised, then smiled. “The two of you are a perfect match. Is this your first time seeing a village wedding?”

Gu Wansheng and Wen Jinyan nodded.

“This is actually a unique tradition of our village. In a wedding pair, one must pass three tests to ‘marry’ the one they love. It’s a way to show how much they cherish them.”

“Are the three tests hard?” Wen Jinyan asked.

“Not really. It’s mostly for good luck and to make things festive, it’s not meant to truly trouble the couple.” The girl suddenly remembered something. “Sister Wansheng, you two can go up and participate in the tests in a bit!”

Before Gu Wansheng and Wen Jinyan could react to the girl’s words, a voice shouted from the front.

“Now, our bride has arrived at the first test.

The Fate of the Red Thread!”