The Kindhearted Girl Gets a Wife 22p1

Chapter 22 p1

Pei Yunle hadn’t decided what to change her “poke” message to. She could only lie on the bed with her phone, staring at the screen until her arm was numb and sore.

Chen Qingtang’s “very capable” was still hanging brightly on the screen. Every time Pei Yunle looked at it, she felt her heart being scratched. She got out of bed and paced around the empty space, her heart pounding. If she stopped, it would jump out of her throat.

Pei Yunle squatted down, picked up a strawberry from the floor, and unconsciously popped it into her mouth. The sweet and sour juice splashed in her mouth, sour to the core, sweet to the heart.

She touched her chest, not knowing how high her heart rate had soared.

After much thought, she changed her “poke” message to a simplified electrocardiogram:

Pei Yunle grabbed another strawberry from the bed and ate it. Her cheeks bulged for a moment, then she suddenly stopped.

Who could understand such a cryptic pattern? Anyone who didn’t know would think it was some kind of cute emoticon.

The key was, she wanted the person on the other end to understand, but not completely. Just a little was enough.

After thinking it over, Pei Yunle changed it again to: [Heart]

Chen Qingtang didn’t need to understand the rest. As long as she could see her “red heart” from that red heart, it would be enough.

Pei Yunle felt as if a brush had been dipped in the red clouds of the sky and painted on her face, hot and burning. She wrapped herself in the quilt and rolled around on the bed twice.

A muffled knock came from the solid wood door, followed by an urging voice from the other side, “Daughter, are you ready? We’re leaving in half an hour!”

As if waking from a dream, Pei Yunle exclaimed and was about to get up from the bed, but the quilt was pressed tightly underneath her. She was knocked back by the quilt and curled up on the bed like a chrysalis.

“Almost, I’m blow-drying my hair!”

At her words, only the sound of footsteps was left outside the door.

Pei Yunle rushed into the bathroom. There was no time, so she could only take a quick shower. Fortunately, she had practiced the skill of taking a quick shower in her high school dorm. In just 15 minutes, she had showered and dried her hair.

She stood in front of the wardrobe wrapped in a bath towel. The clothes inside were all from her college days, with no special patterns, but they were simple and well-tailored.

A drop of water slid down her firm, smooth calf and onto the carpet. Pei Yunle quickly wiped it dry and randomly picked out a blouse and a pair of light-colored jeans. Paired with her bright pink hair, it made up for the lack of color.

When she appeared in front of Lin Zilan, Lin Zilan’s brows furrowed and then relaxed. “Can’t you wear a skirt? It would make you look more obedient.”

“No, I’m not taking a teacher’s qualification exam. You just said it was a meal. Does she have any say in what I wear?”

Pei Yunle had no intention of leaving a good impression, nor did she want to spend more time dressing up. This was already a very normal outfit for her.

“You’re so hard to manage. Wear this.”

At her words, Pei Yunle felt a shadow fall over her head, and then her bangs were pressed down, covering her eyes. Lin Zilan had put a hat on her.

“When are you going to dye your hair back? It’s pink and yellow, you don’t look like a good person, you’re not doing anything productive.”

“What does hair color have to do with character? Those people with black hair aren’t necessarily good people either. And you’re right, I’m not doing anything productive. This pink hair suits me perfectly. I’ll go and get it touched up one of these days.”

Lin Zilan rolled her eyes at her and pushed her into the car.

The dinner party was held at their house. A dozen dishes were placed on the turntable, and glasses clinked.

Other than a simple self-introduction at the beginning, almost no one spoke to Pei Yunle. The sound of the glasses clinking was jarring to her, but she couldn’t just leave.

Other than a few perfunctory replies, Pei Yunle spent almost the entire time with her eyes on her phone. By her calculations, the two of them had been separated for a day.

Other than the “poke” from two hours ago, they had had no other interaction. And it was she who had initiated it.

She had clearly taught her that the first thing a couple had to learn was to miss each other. It seemed that Chen Qingtang was not a very bright student.

The unfulfilled Teacher Pei was a little disappointed.

Pei Yunle downed the wine in her hand in dissatisfaction. The white wine was not cheap, and it was the first time she had drunk something with such a high alcohol content. It was so spicy that she almost stuck out her tongue and spat it out in public.

She quickly took a bite of food and swallowed it, and her senses returned a little.

She glanced around at the people around her. They were still drinking and laughing without changing their expressions.

This thing was not as good as the cloudy rice wine. Pei Yunle put down her wine glass.

The platter spun in front of her, and the various dishes were gradually cleared, leaving only the sparse side dishes and soup.

Pei Yunle was a little dizzy. She didn’t know if it was the wine or if the platter was spinning too fast. She just felt that she suddenly wanted to talk, and her emotions were inexplicably high.

She poked Chen Qingtang again, and the other person poked her back.

When the red heart appeared on the screen, it didn’t feel like she was confessing her love in a subtle way, but more like the other person was throwing a heart at her.

The aunt next to her was suddenly nudged by someone’s elbow. She looked down and saw Pei Yunle lying on the table, her shoulders shaking.

“Aiyo, are you okay?”

Pei Yunle’s grinning mouth hadn’t closed yet. “No, no, I’m just so happy and admire all the successful and beautiful aunties I’ve met today that I can’t control myself.”

The aunt was also made to laugh by her flattery and started to chat with this shyly smiling girl.

“Do you have any plans to go to graduate school?”

Pei Yunle’s bared white teeth immediately retracted. “Not at the moment.”

“Nowadays, even medical students with a master’s degree can’t necessarily find a job, let alone you wanting to get into the city hospital. Even with your mother’s help, it’s very difficult. We just had a meal to see the situation, but dearie, you still have to work hard.”

Pei Yunle scratched her head. She knew how difficult it was to find a job when she was an intern. It was just that she had studied this subject entirely for Lin Zilan, with no part of it being her own, let alone studying for another three years of graduate school.

“Auntie, then let’s take a step back, no, two steps back. Can I work at the health center in the town?”

The aunt was taken aback. That was too big of a step back, it was like falling into a pit.

“The town’s is definitely possible. After all, there are few people there, and they might not even be able to recruit anyone. Although you only have a bachelor’s degree, your school is well-known, so it’s enough to go there. But, it’s a bit of a waste, isn’t it? Your mother definitely wouldn’t agree either. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here today, right?”

“We’ll see, hahaha.” Although Pei Yunle was a little tipsy, she wasn’t so dizzy that she would spill all her family’s secrets to a stranger.

The dinner party was about to end. Pei Yunle was forced to toast everyone at the table before it was completely over.

In the end, they hired a designated driver to go home. Pei Yunle’s tolerance for alcohol was much worse than Lin Zilan’s. The moment she entered the door, she fell on the carpet. Lin Zilan kicked her on the rear. She didn’t move. She had no choice but to lift her onto the sofa and let her make do for the night.

Pei Yunle stared at the ceiling. She felt that the chandelier had suddenly multiplied. She wasn’t so drunk that she was unconscious. Half of her brain was still sober.

It was this half of sobriety that still supported her to “harass” Chen Qingtang.

The two of them didn’t have each other’s phone numbers. After all, even if they did, they couldn’t call. In a hazy daze, she sent Chen Qingtang a sticker that she thought was normal.

Chen Qingtang replied with a period.

Pei Yunle immediately stood up from the sofa. She hated it when people sent her periods or ellipses. She didn’t like anything that expressed speechlessness towards her.

The 26 letters on the keyboard became 52. Pei Yunle couldn’t bring herself to type. She simply pressed the voice message button.

Pei: Boss Chen, you still owe me 10 yuan in salary.

Chen Qingtang immediately replied with a 10-yuan transfer.

Pei Yunle shook her head, her tongue slurring her words. “Change the payment method.”

Chen Qingtang listened to her tone and knew that she was drunk. She followed her words and asked, “What method?”

Pei Yunle blinked. “You can pay me back with yourself.”

Although there was a screen between them, Chen Qingtang seemed to be able to smell the overwhelming smell of alcohol. She frowned and quickly typed a string of words: Are you soaked in wine or oil?

Pei Yunle’s chin rested on the coffee table. She rubbed her face. What had she just said?

“I’m probably soaked in the bitter sea of love,” she mumbled.

She tilted her head to the left and opened the voice call. Chen Qingtang rejected it in a second.

She thought for a second, tilted her head to the right, and opened the video call. Just as the video was about to be hung up by the system, Chen Qingtang answered.

There was still half a bowl of strawberries left on the coffee table from the day. Pei Yunle picked up two and held them in front of her eyes, covering half of them. The other half had to show her own eyes, secretly looking at the person on the screen.

“The strawberries say hello to you.”

Seeing this, Chen Qingtang stood up from the small stool, walked to the stainless steel dog bowl, grabbed Jimao’s paw, and waved it at Pei Yunle on the other end of the video.

Pei Yunle moved the two strawberries away and ate one in one bite. “I’ll bring the rest back to eat with you.”

Chen Qingtang nodded helplessly.

The two of them were silent for a while. Chen Qingtang couldn’t speak, and Pei Yunle didn’t want to speak either. She just used this narrow glass to send her unstoppable longing.

She heard the noisy chirping of cicadas on the other side, the sound of a child being urged to do their homework, and the faint chirping of insects. She saw Chen Qingtang with her dark hair loosely tied up, brightening up the surrounding dimness.

From the end of the east street alley came a long and distant cry: Selling—tofu pudding, fragrant and sweet tofu pudding—

Pei Yunle knelt in the lonely room, watching Chen Qingtang stand in front of the lights of a thousand homes.

“Normally, I shouldn’t bother you when I’m drunk.” She started to mumble again, not knowing if she was looking at Chen Qingtang or at Pingshun behind her. “But, I really miss you.” She bit the last word very lightly, and it scattered in the air with the wind on the other side.

“Shh—” Pei Yunle held her index finger to her lips. “We have to be quiet. If my mom finds out I’m still on the phone, I’m done for.”

Chen Qingtang couldn’t help but laugh. Jimao hadn’t seen her owner all day. She burrowed her fluffy head into Chen Qingtang’s arm and restlessly turned around, as if she wanted to hug Pei Yunle on the other end.

Pei Yunle’s posture was not good, and her phone was propped up precariously. She found a pillow, rested her head on it, and placed her phone on it at an angle.

Their eyes met. Looking along the pillow, it was as if they were sleeping in the same bed, with Chen Qingtang resting in the crook of her arm.

As her upper body fell, her blouse was also piled up in a mess. Pei Yunle exposed most of her shoulder, with only a black strap falling on her white shoulder. Chen Qingtang couldn’t help but follow the line of her muscles down. The black tank top was visible through the thin blouse, roughly outlining the simple lines of her chest.

The indistinct was more suggestive than the direct. Chen Qingtang looked away and saw the rolling mountains in the distance. She quickly turned her eyes to the other side.

There was still a little bit of afterglow there, with vermilion and light purple intertwined, like Pei Yunle’s slightly flushed skin from drinking just now.

It should be very warm and delicate.

Cold sweat seeped out of Chen Qingtang’s hands. She felt a little like crying. She always felt like she was some kind of lecher.

“What do you think if I take the earliest bus tomorrow? Do you want to pick me up at the town entrance?” Pei Yunle didn’t know what was wrong with Chen Qingtang. She was either looking down or her eyes were lowered. Was she so unpresentable?

She rubbed her eyes. “Why are you ignoring me?”

Chen Qingtang seemed to have just come back to her senses. She could only nod at Pei Yunle.

“What’s wrong with you tonight? Are you not feeling well?”

Chen Qingtang shook her head. The next second, she immediately hung up the video call.

Pei Yunle was still a little dazed. She felt as if she had just disturbed a deer in the forest. It had stared at her with watery eyes, and as soon as she let go, the deer had immediately fled in panic.

She threw her phone into the sofa. Her head was heavy. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

…