Chapter 22: Are You Foolish?
“Aci, want to read?” Ying Sisi finally broke the silence in the room.
Qin Yanci reluctantly let go of her hand. “Let's read.“
The exam was in July, and it was already the end of January. He didn't have much time left. Also, from the first to the fifth of each month, another person would take control of his body.
Their memories weren't shared; he needed to write down everything that happened to him during this time, excluding the wedding, to tell the other person.
Ying Sisi sat down at the coffee table and pretended to hold the book he bought for her.
The cover read: Circles.
What a strange title.
She opened the first page, and many of the words were unfamiliar. Even those she recognized, she didn't know what the author was describing. For example, “Georgian style,” or “French casement window.”
Every unfamiliar term highlighted the gap between her and Qin Yanci.
She shifted her gaze from the book to Qin Yanci.
He was sitting in the chair opposite her, wearing a neat black cashmere sweater and matching trousers. His legs were slightly apart, his head slightly lowered. His long fingers, with clearly defined knuckles, held a corner of the book, exuding a scholarly air.
Then she looked at herself: her pilling, rose-red old sweater, her dull-grey trousers—so dowdy, so rustic.
So rustic that she felt ashamed.
“Aci, I remembered something I need to do at home, I won't disturb you.”
Qin Yanci looked up. She was leaving so soon after just sitting down? Going home to prepare for the New Year? She couldn't rest after just finishing her stall?
“You're busy all day long, aren't you tired?”
“Not tired. I was busier in the village. In the summer, I cut pigweed, carried chicken manure, dug ditches, and in the winter, I chopped wood and carried water—busy all day long,” Ying Sisi implied, “My horizons are limited to the small plot of land in the countryside, only the chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep at the doorstep.”
But you, the women you'll meet in the future, will be like you, sitting in the office, holding a pen, giving instructions.
You're following your parents' arrangements now, and you'll regret it sooner or later. It's better to separate early, so you won't say later that we don't have a common language, and blame me for this and that.
Qin Yanci: “It's almost the same as working on the farm, it's not easy. I won't let you suffer like this in the future.”
Ying Sisi: "." He was criticizing her, and yet he was making promises.
Was she foolish?
Before leaving, she couldn't help but show concern, taking out a sesame cake from her pocket and placing it in front of him. “Eat this if you get hungry.”
Qin Yanci smiled. “Okay.”
…………
After leaving the residential area, Ying Sisi didn't go straight home. Instead, she went to the department store and used the cloth coupons Li Junlu had given her when she first arrived in Beijing to buy a bolt of cloth to make a decent outfit for visiting relatives during the New Year.
She also bought some cotton and a ball of yarn, planning to knit a pair of gloves for Qin Yanci as a New Year's gift.
She spent every cent of the one yuan and eight cents she earned.
Money doesn't last long.
The weather had been gloomy all day, and as evening approached, snow began to fall, quickly covering the ground.
There were hardly any pedestrians on the road.
Li Yuwei looked towards the door from time to time. “My sister left this morning without even saying goodbye. I wonder what she's doing? It's almost dark, and she's still not back. Dad, should we look for her?”
“Look for her? She's definitely with that Qin boy.” Song Hanmei's tone was full of disdain for Ying Sisi. “Even if they've gotten their marriage license, she shouldn't be running to her husband's house every other day! What does this look like?”
Li Yuwei, however, thought Ying Sisi was being held back by Qin Yanci.
She must be suffering right now.
Li Junlu also had some complaints. “She's an adult woman with no sense of shame. When she gets back, I'll teach her a lesson.”
(End of Chapter)
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