The Kindhearted Girl Gets a Wife 42

Chapter 42

Since that night, no one else had stepped through this main gate. Only two people were left at the small square table, and there was no need to worry about the kitchen exploding.

Ten days was enough to form a habit. For example, Chen Qingtang would subconsciously cook half a bowl of rice more when she was cooking. When she passed by the meat stall, she would unconsciously look at the pork ribs to see if they were fresh. Even when she cooked congee for breakfast, she would take the spoon out of the salt box, wanting to try the taste of sweet congee.

Pei Yunle’s words would always come to her mind when she was washing the dishes. There was no cafeteria and no small stalls. Although she knew that this person would not starve to death, she would always worry about whether Pei Yunle had eaten well today.

Chen Qingtang glanced at the calendar. It had been a week since the two of them had washed the dishes together. Pei Yunle had disappeared from her life for another seven days, which was almost insignificant compared to the previous year.

It would always rain a few times in early spring. In the silent nourishment, all things would revive.

Chen Qingtang stood under the eaves, looking at the water curtain that was constantly falling from above. The red checkered umbrella in her hand was also stained with some water vapor.

The rain was also so heavy at noon. She took a step back and moved a small stool to sit down.

It was not bad to be a sole proprietor. When the rain was heavy, she could freely decide when to open the store, and no one would blame her.

Recently, this street seemed to be inexplicably lively. The voices of people talking were always floating over from near and far. Through the high walls and vegetation, it was like the sound of a bell from the mountains.

Another sound, no, three sounds.

Chen Qingtang felt her eardrums being hit. The main gate was pushed open a crack, and a fair hand reached out from the crack. Through the dense curtain of rain, it was like a water ghost.

Chen Qingtang’s eyes widened. Her heart recognized that the “water ghost” was Pei Yunle before she did.

A face with almost no blood color emerged from the fair hand, and the black earring was even more conspicuous.

She saw two people squeeze in. She had an impression of the girl standing next to Pei Yunle. She was the one who had bought the hair tie.

The two of them were wearing long raincoats, but their wet hair still covered half of their faces, looking very miserable.

Zhuang Yumian waved the A4 paper in her hand. “Hello, excuse me. We are staff from the Tongkang Community. We would like to investigate your health situation.”

There was a small courtyard in the middle. Plus the noisy sound of the rain, Zhuang Yumian not only raised her voice, but Pei Yunle, who was close to her, felt that her ears were about to be deafened.

The moment Zhuang Yumian saw Chen Qingtang nod, a smile appeared on her face. But because of the heavy rain, she couldn’t step down. Just as she was thinking of tightening her raincoat and rushing over, she saw Pei Yunle walk over from under the narrow eaves on the side with ease.

This person, is she so familiar with this place?

Zhuang Yumian didn’t have the heart to think too much and followed her.

Seeing Chen Qingtang leaning against the pillar, her almond eyes showing a bit of innocence and helplessness, Zhuang Yumian, in order to increase her credibility, lifted her raincoat to reveal the white coat inside, and then placed the crumpled questionnaire on the chair.

“We are here to initially collect the physical condition of the elderly in the D district, to roughly understand the proportion of people with basic diseases. Is the old lady Liu Chunhua here?”

Chen Qingtang shook her head. It was too humid on a rainy day like this. The old lady would not sit here in the rain.

She put down her umbrella and went back to the house to get a pen and paper.

“Grandma should be sleeping now.”

When Zhuang Yumian saw the black and white words handed to her, the confusion on her face slowly turned into understanding. It turned out that she couldn’t speak, so this would increase the working time.

She turned her head and looked at the rain outside, thinking of the unfinished survey subjects here. She probably had to grind here until dark.

“Then should we go to the next house first and come back later?” Zhuang Yumian looked up at her colleague who had been silent all this time.

Pei Yunle pursed her thin lips and took off the hat on her head. The raindrops fell from the tip of the hat and splashed on the ground.

Just as she was about to speak, she felt an itch on her cheek. She raised her hand and touched it. The first time, she didn’t lift it. The second time, she finally lifted a strand of wet hair that was sticking to her face.

Pei Yunle was cold. Chen Qingtang knew this very well, because she had seen Pei Yunle’s trembling fingertips just now. Seeing the water marks on Pei Yunle’s face, and the lips under the water marks that had almost no color, just two faint pink patches.

Chen Qingtang took a deep breath. A white mist scattered in the air. In this ethereal atmosphere, she heard Pei Yunle’s voice, which was directed at Zhuang Yumian, “The old lady in the other house is on another street a few hundred meters away.”

After a long moment, she heard Pei Yunle’s next sentence, “The rain is too heavy to walk.”

This sentence seemed to be directed at herself.

Although Pei Yunle had tried her best to keep her voice steady, the slight trembling still made her voice rise and fall, and even the words she spoke were as cold as this rainy day.

Zhuang Yumian didn’t want to leave either. She was not a top-notch beast of burden. No one wanted to rush around in extreme weather. If it weren’t for the preliminary report in a few days, she would never have agreed to Pei Yunle’s suggestion to go out on a rainy day.

“Let’s go when the rain gets lighter. The road is slippery and the wind is strong. Be careful not to fall into the river.”

Another piece of white paper was passed over with such a sentence.

Zhuang Yumian was so moved that she wiped the water from her face. This girl was not only beautiful, but also kind-hearted.

“Then we’ll bother you. We’ll leave when the rain gets a little lighter. It would be even better if the old lady Liu Chunhua wakes up.” She scratched her head.

Pei Yunle faintly popped out two words from the side, “Thank you.”

Hearing this, Chen Qingtang put away the paper and pen and pressed them under the corn cob. She lowered her eyelids and walked back into the house.

“Wow, what kind of cold-field constitution do you have? Isn’t your name Yunle? Why do you make people silent and cold-faced as soon as you speak?”

“Isn’t your name Yumian? Why don’t you make this rain stop?”

Zhuang Yumian snorted and crossed her arms.

Pei Yunle bent down and looked at her pant legs. The rainwater had already soaked through the denim fabric to her thighs. It was almost no different from wearing a pair of water pants. Although it was a loose style, it was still cold enough to make her shiver when it touched her leg.

She wanted to go into the house to drink a cup of hot water. Her whole body was cold from the inside out, from top to bottom. What was flowing in her blood vessels was not hot blood, but ice water.

“I’m going in to drink a cup of hot water. Do you want some?”

Zhuang Yumian’s mouth was open wide enough to fit half an egg. “What are you doing? Do you think this is your home? You just go in and drink? Can’t you have some manners?”

Pei Yunle’s lips parted several times but she couldn’t say anything. “Forget it if you don’t want any.”

With that, she walked into the first floor in front of Zhuang Yumian’s shocked gaze, took out a plastic cup from a utility room, and then went to the stairs to get a cup of hot water.

The trash can was inside. Pei Yunle finished drinking two cups of water and was about to go back in to throw away the cup.

When she turned around, she saw Chen Qingtang by the door. She was holding a cloth in one hand and a bath towel in the other.

Before a single expression could form on Pei Yunle’s face, the two cloths were thrown at her head.

The dry, clean cloth was filled with the scent of soap. These cloths were all Pei Yunle’s own. She pinched a rough corner and, under the cover of the cloth, couldn’t help but sniffle twice.

If she didn’t want her to come back, why would she still take care of her personal things? She didn’t use laundry detergent, but the soap she would use when she washed them by hand.

Pei Yunle’s nose twitched, and her whole head felt like it was being soaked in a hot spring, dizzy and dazed.

The ends of her hair were still dripping. A force suddenly pressed down on her head, not light, not heavy, just slowly wiping her wet hair.

Pei Yunle was enveloped in this rich fragrance, her thoughts drifting. It wasn’t until every part of her head had been wiped that Chen Qingtang’s movements paused for a few seconds.

The last dry part was pressed against Pei Yunle’s face, sliding down from her forehead, brushing past her thin eyelids, sweeping across her cheeks. The towel was pressed down, and her high nose bridge stood out. Her lips were the last place to be graced. The moment the light touch disappeared, her pale pink lips suddenly turned a shade of red, and then spread.

What was in front of her was no longer a terrifying, pale water ghost, but a beauty who had just come out of the bath.

Chen Qingtang released her hand, but the towel was still hanging on Pei Yunle’s ear. She didn’t do anything else, just turned and walked out, letting her wipe the water on her body herself.

The beautiful figure gradually merged with the rain curtain outside. Pei Yunle touched her earlobe and found that it was burning hot, enough to warm her own ice-cold hands.

Other than her upper body being barely okay, her pants and shoes were almost all wet. Wiping her whole body was useless. The dry parts were still dry, and the wet parts were still clinging to her body, unwilling to move.

There were no clothes of her own here. Pei Yunle still knew that. She hastily wiped her neck a few times, hung the bath towel on the clothes rack, and then hung it on the metal rod.

By the time she came out again, although the size of the raindrops had not changed, they were not as dense as before.

Zhuang Yumian looked at Pei Yunle’s semi-wet hair. Her mouth could already fit an egg.

“Wait, aren’t our hair both wet? How come you’re so much drier than me?”

Pei Yunle glanced at her hair, her tone unusually soft. “Probably because you have curly hair, it’s too much and too frizzy, so it dries slower.”

Zhuang Yumian touched her small curls. “Is that so?”

Pei Yunle nodded affirmatively. “Let’s go, let’s go to the next house first. We’ll come back here after we’re done.”

Hearing that her breath was no longer as heavy as the rain just now, but with a hint of post-rain joy, Zhuang Yumian felt even more baffled.

But the two of them were not very close, so she didn’t dare to make any casual jokes.

“I’ll leave a copy here. The old lady can fill it out first when she gets up.”

Pei Yunle pulled out a form from her stack of documents and then pressed it under the corn cob, placing it on the white paper Chen Qingtang had used to reply.

Chen Qingtang looked at the two pieces of paper that were folded together, so overlapping that the protruding parts were almost invisible.

“There are still about a dozen more families. I’ll try to be back around 9 p.m.” Pei Yunle tucked the stray hair behind her ear and said to Chen Qingtang.

Zhuang Yumian had been waiting for her at the main gate for a long time. Seeing her turn back every three steps, she thought, “A little strange.”

Only after leaving the door did Pei Yunle dare to reply to her words, “What’s strange?”

“What you said just now was like…” Zhuang Yumian touched her chin as if she were thinking of a suitable word. “It’s like you’re going out to work and reporting to your family. By the way, why did you even set a time? Who can guarantee that you’ll be back at 9 o’clock? Don’t make me work overtime.”

Pei Yunle let out half a sigh of relief. “No, if it’s really not possible, you can go back first. I’ll come back and get the form myself.”

“No! It gets dark very early now, and the security here is not guaranteed. What if something happens to you? I have to be with you all the way.”

Pei Yunle held her forehead. Why was she suddenly so sticky, like maltose?

“Then we’ll see.”

Zhuang Yumian jumped over a puddle, and she also had to pay attention to the river at her feet. “I have something to complain about.”

Pei Yunle’s brow twitched. “Go ahead.”

“Why are we so unlucky? Why did you have to draw the D district? This is the town, and it’s a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the community. Just walking can make my legs go weak!”

Pei Yunle looked away. She was too embarrassed to admit that she had actually drawn the B district, but had swapped with the D district group after looking at the division map.

There was no other reason, because the Liu family was in the D district.