Chapter 117

Chapter 117 - She thinks that he is silly, cute silly. (1)
Wen Rugui kept his back straight and didn’t move for a long while.
Feeling the stiffness under her palm, Tong Xuelu’s lips curved. “Comrade Tong, is everything alright?”
“I’m fine.”
Wen Rugui recovered and acknowledged her. His voice, however, was not as calm as it normally was.
Tong Xuelu, sitting in the back seat, her lips curved even more.
The middle-aged man caught up to them and, seeing that they were about to take off, asked through his raggedly breathing, “You, can you take me with you?”
Tong Xuelu rolled her eyes: Of course not. You will really be that third wheel then.
Besides, where did he think he could sit? Did he want to sit on Wen Rugui’s lap?
Wen Rugui, too, acted like he hadn’t heard him at all. With a switch kick of his long legs, he carried Tong Xuelu out of the alley and quickly disappeared from the middle-aged man’s sight.
As soon as they were out of the alleyway, Tong Xuelu removed her arm from his waist.
In this day and age, even boyfriend-girlfriend were not allowed to hold hands in public, let alone anything beyond that.
Noticing that her arm had been removed, Wen Rugui’s thin lips tightened a little.
He felt that the alleyway was too short. He only wished that it was longer.
Then he felt that he had paddled too hard. He should have slowed down some.
Tis was the end of summer and some of the leaves on the tree by the side of the road had turned yellow already. When the wind blew, the dried leaves would fall from the tree. The sky far away from them were clear and one could smell a hint of fall in the air.
Looking at the trees next to them, Wen Rugui turned his head and asked, “Why were you there, Comrade Tong?”
Tong Xuelu answered his question with a question, “What about you, Comrade Tong? How did you show up there all of a sudden?”
Wen Rugui paused for a little and said, “I was looking for someone in the area and saw you walking into Xishui Road. I had never been there myself, but I know that that is where the black market is. I went in there when I heard that the cops were coming.”
He lied.
He was too shy to tell her that he had circled the government-operated restaurant a few times before finally spotting her.
Tong Xuelu did not suspect his reason of being there. In a teasing tone, she said, “So, Comrade Wen was able to locate me so quickly because you had been waiting for me outside?”
“……”
Wen Rugui’s heart skipped a beat when heard that and, along with that, the front of the bicycle turned abruptly.
Tong Xuelu looked up at his ears and, sure enough, the bases of his ears were red again.
Suppressing her smile, she said, “Comrade Wen, did you hear what I said?”
Wen Rugui was so nervous that his palms were sweaty. After a long while, he was finally able to say to her, “Right. I heard that the police are really cracking down on the black market. You really shouldn’t go there any more in the future.”
His voice had always been very melodious. It was low and clear. As though it had swirled around in the wind and coated with honey, it was a sweet voice.
Tong Xuelu curved her lips. “Thank you for your concern, Comrade Tong! Since you said that, I’ll listen to you and not go there again in the future then.”
Her voice was soft and delicate and, right now, filled with her trust and dependency on him.
She was so docile.
His thin lips shut tight, Wen Rugui felt nervous.
Wen Rugui finally found his voice again after a long while. “You still hadn’t told me why you were there. Are you……. broke?”
Tong Xuelu sighed slightly, “You can say that. Didn’t I tell you that I had just switched jobs with someone? I will need to move into the city then. I had an agreement to rent this place but the location of it is not great. As such, I thought about buying my own place a couple of days ago.
“Unfortunately, the houses are too expensive, and I can’t afford one. Which was why I thought I could go sell some stuff and make some extra money. Well, now you know the truth, Comrade Wen. You won’t be reporting me, will you?”
“Of course not. How much are you short? I can lend it to you.”
Having said that, he pulled over to the side of the road. His long legs planted on the ground as he turned and looked at her.
Their eyes met and Tong Xuelu saw trust in his eyes.