In the evening, Shen Yizhou came back with a load of firewood.
With him was his younger brother, Shen Yilin, who was almost six years old.
The little guy had been running around all day, and he was very tanned. His eyes were bright and clear, black and white.
Seeing Xia Qingyuan, the smile on her lips lowered and she muffled: "Sister-in-law."
Then he ran to wash his hands.
Xia Qingyuan didn't care about this either.
In the more than a year since she got married, her relationship with Lin Dongxiu and Shen Yilin was not close, let alone with Shen Yizhou.
She took the handkerchief and walked over and handed it to Shen Yizhou: "Wipe off the sweat."
Shen Yizhou was startled for a moment, then took it: "Thank you."
Xia Qingyuan was a little helpless about his defense.
The city wall was not built in a day, she had a lot of patience.
So he said: "The food is ready, let's go and eat."
Dinner is sweet potato rice with a stir-fried shredded potato.
This kind of food is not bad for the rural areas on the southwest border.
Shen Yilin was playing outside in the afternoon, and only later did he hear about what happened at home.
His eyes were rolling and he couldn't help but glance at Xia Qingyuan's body.
Of course, he would not dare or would not say this.
Then there was a pounding on the head, and Shen Yizhou looked up with a faint look on his face: "Eat quickly, don't get distracted."
Shen Yilin covered his head, wrinkled his nose at Shen Yizhou, and buried his face in his bowl again.
The dinner table was a little dull, so Lin Dongxiu thought it was time to find something to talk about.
So he said: "Yizhou, I heard that your unit's new house has been built?"
Shen Yizhou followed the college entrance examination in 1978 and was admitted to a university in the capital. With his excellent results, he received a tuition exemption and a full scholarship from the school.
Everyone thought that he would definitely stay in the capital and develop.
But he returned to the southwest and worked at the Institute of Geology in Diancheng.
The institute was newly built at the time, and the staff lived in single-room dormitories. The conditions were relatively difficult and there were not many people there.
They were newly married at that time, and Xia Qingyuan went away for a few days before making noises about coming back.
Shen Yizhou nodded: "Yeah.
My employer assigned me a spot, but I haven’t gone to see it yet.”
Lin Dongxiu was overjoyed: "Then hurry up and pick a good location."
After saying that, she glanced at Xia Qingyuan and continued: "When Qingyuan or we come to visit you in the future, you will have a place to stay."
In fact, what she was thinking was that it would be better if her daughter-in-law was willing to go with her.
Now some people are spreading rumors about my daughter-in-law and that Du Yunsheng. The two of them are always not together, and something will happen sooner or later.
Although she believed in her daughter-in-law's character, it was not a glorious matter.
Shen Yizhou responded vaguely: "Let's talk about it later."
The research institute has been expanding in the past two years, and the number of people has gradually increased. According to Shen Yizhou's original idea, since he is alone, he will not occupy that resource.
But now... He glanced at Xia Qingyuan without leaving any trace, lowered his head and took a mouthful of food.
Unexpectedly, Xia Qingyuan put down the bowl and chopsticks and said: "Yizhou, just take the house down with your work unit.
When you finish your vacation this time, I will go with you."
Xia Qingyuan's words made both Lin Dongxiu and Shen Yilin stunned, and they looked at her in unison.
As for Shen Yizhou, his face was silent and his expression was difficult to distinguish.
Seeing this, Xia Qingyuan smiled: "You heard me right, I'm going with Yi Zhou.
If Mom is willing to give up, she can come with us."
In her previous life, she naturally refused and even snorted disdainfully.
But things are different now.
If you want to win back a man's heart, what's the point of being in a different place?
When it comes to a woman chasing a man with a veil, she doesn't believe she can't do it.
Lin Dongxiu immediately burst into laughter: "You must win this, you must win this!"
Maybe after falling into the water yesterday, my daughter-in-law figured it out.
In this way, she doesn't have to worry about them, and I believe she will have a fat grandson soon!
Compared to Lin Dongxiu's happiness, Shen Yizhou simply responded: "Okay."
In this way, everyone finished their dinner with their own thoughts.
At night, it was already quiet outside, except for the chirping of small insects in the fields or grass.
Inside the room, Xia Qingyuan sat on the bed, silently watching Shen Yizhou pack the rocking chair.
After he put the cushions on the rocking chair, he walked to the table and blew out the kerosene lamp: "It's getting late, go to bed."
"Hey, wait a minute."
Xia Qingyuan couldn't stop her in time, the kerosene lamp had been extinguished, leaving only the silence in the room and the moonlight shining in from the window.
Shen Yizhou stood at the table without moving, as if waiting for her next sentence.
Xia Qingyuan hesitated for a second, then she made up her mind and said, "Aren't you going to sleep on the bed?"
She was answered with a brief silence, and then she heard Shen Yizhou say: "Qingyuan, what's wrong with you?"
Instead of answering "Okay." directly, ask her "What's wrong?"
In this moment, memories came flooding back to her like a tide.
Ever since the unpleasant wedding night, the subsequent attempts made her cry red, and the relationship between the two became increasingly tense, she was reluctant to sleep with him.
So, Shen Yizhou slept on the recliner every time he came back.
Thinking of this, Xia Qingyuan's throat tightened.
It turned out that she had treated him so excessively in the past.
She could only shake her head: "It's okay."
When Shen Yizhou saw this, he didn't say anything else, leaving only one sentence: "Get some rest early."
I turned around and went to the lounge chair.
Xia Qingyuan lay on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep because she had something on her mind.
She simply turned around and faced Shen Yizhou.
Under the moonlight, he was lying flat on the couch. Because he was very tall, a large part of his feet were on the ground, looking a little curled up and uncomfortable.
His hands were placed on his lower abdomen and clasped together in a very regular manner, and even when he was sleeping, his eyebrows were still slightly frowned.
She thought that maybe he would be helpless after marrying someone like herself.
She couldn't help but said: "Shen Yizhou, what I said during dinner today was serious."
Hearing this, Shen Yizhou slowly opened his eyes and closed them again: "Yeah."
He always answers himself so concisely and firmly.
Xia Qingyuan looked at his side face like this, sighed in her heart, and then fell asleep unconsciously.
However, just after her steady breathing came, Shen Yizhou, who was originally lying on the recliner, opened his eyes.
He slowly turned his head and looked at Xia Qingyuan, who was sleeping on the bed.
Her eyes were clear and deep, as if she was thinking about something through her face.
*
After a sleepless night, when Xia Qingyuan woke up, Shen Yizhou was already up.
She looked at the couch, which had been tidied up, and the thin quilt he had used last night had been neatly folded and placed at the end of the bed.
Just when she was in a daze, voices came from the yard, it was Shen Yizhou and Shen Yilin.
She quickly got up, got dressed and left the room.
It seemed that Shen Yizhou had just returned from carrying water outside and was picking up the bucket and pouring water into the water tank.
The muscle lines of his arms tightened with his exertion, giving him a rough beauty.
Seeing that Xia Qingyuan was awake, she put down one of the buckets and said, "Breakfast is already prepared and is in the pot.
After breakfast, we will go back to Xinghua Village."
Xia Qingyuan was startled: "Go back to Xinghua Village?"