Chapter 17 Put on some perfume. Early the next morning...

Early the next morning, He Feng woke up. He didn't have to get up to make breakfast today, but he had to go to the market early.

He washed up first before calling Song Qingshu to get up.

Standing beside Song Qingshu's bed, he saw the textbook upside down on the table. He turned it over and saw a bunch of letters... and put them upside down again.

The days were getting shorter, but the light from outside could still come in through the glass windows. There was also a bunch of garlic and a bunch of dried chilies hanging outside the window, which was a habit left by He Feng's parents.

The light and shadow fell into the house. He Feng first lifted the quilt and looked at Song Qingshu's ankle bones. They had returned to their white and clean state, with the bones slightly protruding, making the ankles look more slender.

He reached out and touched it, and the temperature was still low.

This time, he didn't cover himself with his hands. Instead, he covered the quilt and called Song Qingshu to get up. "Baby, get up. We're going to the market today."

Song Qingshu muttered, his hazy eyes opening and closing again. "Sleep for another five minutes."

He Feng stood beside him and watched him. After waiting for about five minutes, he whispered to him to get up.

Song Qingshu pulled the quilt to cover himself, but was stopped by a strong hand. Then the quilt was pulled down. He Feng put one hand through Song Qingshu's shoulders and turned him into a sitting position.

"Wake up, baby."

Without the warm quilt, Song Qingshu gradually woke up. He rubbed his eyes and nodded.

He Feng then went out to feed the dog, chickens and ducks.

After he mixed the wheat bran and chopped vegetable leaves and put them in the chicken and duck pens, Xiao Hei ran out from the storage room in the south.

He circled He Feng twice, and when he found that his master was very cold, he ran to find Song Qingshu.

Song Qingshu wiped the water droplets off his face with a towel. "Brother, I'm done."

He Feng poured yesterday's leftover soup and noodles into Xiao Hei's dog bowl, slurped them twice, and Xiao Hei ran over.

"Baby, come inside and put on some perfume. It's so windy, don't let your face get chapped."

"Let's go once we're done."

He washed his hands and went inside to change into shoes. The cloth shoes he was wearing were what he usually wore when he went out, so he had to dress neatly when he went out.

Song Qingshu came out after putting perfume on, a forced smile on his face. He Feng, after wiping the chair with a dry towel, looked up. Seeing him like this, he wanted to ask why he was so happy.

But as soon as he looked up, his hand, covered in fragrance, landed on his face.

Song Qingshu's goal was achieved, and he said happily, "Brother, put some on too, fragrant."

He Feng had a rough look to begin with, and the contrast between the words "put on perfume" was quite interesting. After all, putting perfume on your face was for windproofing, so Song Qingshu had come up with this idea.

The rich fragrance made He Feng unable to distinguish whether it was from Song Qingshu or Xiangxiang. He still held the dry towel in his hand and did not move.

"Ah, brother, you keep wiping. Let me help you."

The soft fingertips stroked his face. He Feng suspected that his face was rougher than his fingers. He stood still and let Song Qingshu help.

"Okay, let's go now."

He Feng inserted the key to the motorcycle, pushed the motorcycle to the door, sat on it and waited for Song Qingshu to lock the door of the main room and come out. Song

Qingshu came out, closed the door, and stepped on the footrest of the back seat of the motorcycle to get on.

"I'm ready." He said, lying on He Feng's shoulder.

He Feng asked him to sit tight and hold his waist tightly. The next second, the motorcycle took off like an arrow.

It was a sunny day with no clouds in the sky. The whistling wind brushed past his ears. Song Qingshu lowered his head and leaned on He Feng's shoulder, feeling his burning body temperature.

...

A highway near the town, supposedly a provincial road, was paved with jet-black asphalt. Poplar trees, many years old, lined both sides of the road, standing tall and straight like sentinels.

This was Song Qingshu's first time riding a motorcycle, and also his first time in town.

His dark, shiny eyes darted left and right. The road was wide, occasionally passing by a car or two, but mostly motorcycles, bicycles, pedal tricycles, and carts.

Young and old alike walked in the same direction, drinking water from yellowed cups when they got tired.

Because motorcycles were much faster than human power, many vegetable farmers had just begun setting up their stalls when they arrived in town.

He Feng parked his bike a little to the side of the bank entrance, so it wouldn't interfere with people walking back and forth, and he could leave his bike there safely. Song Qingshu

got off the bike, and He Feng put his arm around his shoulders and took him to a breakfast shop.

This one sold noodles and wontons, the one next to it sold porridge, buns, and other steamed goods, and the one next to that sold fried food.

The three shops were all located next to each other, with tables and chairs placed at the entrance for customers to sit on.

He Feng walked over and ordered a bowl of wontons and beef noodles, pointed to the place where Song Qingshu was sitting, and paid before leaving.

Across the street, there was an old man selling sesame cakes, with a few people gathered in front of him, and his business was very good.

He Feng went over and ordered two sesame cakes. The old man used good ingredients and made them big, and two beef cakes cost only five cents.

Two bowls, not very big, had been brought to the small square table where Song Qingshu was sitting.

The wontons in front of him were plump, sprinkled with seaweed and dried shrimps, with pepper and sesame oil floating on them, and a few slices of coriander. They looked and smelled good.

Song Qingshu hadn't eaten such thin wontons for a long time, and the aroma made his mouth water.

But He Feng hadn't come back yet, and he wanted to wait for He Feng to come back before eating.

When He Feng walked over, he saw him sitting there like a food guardian, staring at the food in the bowl. The wontons here are not divided into large and small bowls, but the noodles are divided .

He Feng ordered a large bowl of flat noodles, which was smothered in red oil and red peppers. In addition to the aniseed, there were also some diced meat on the noodles. It was also very fragrant, but Song Qingshu still wanted to eat wontons more. 

He Feng sat opposite him and handed the sesame cake in his hand to him. Song Qingshu didn't expect it to be so big. He originally thought it was a small sesame cake the size of a palm, but it turned out to be a long oval, bigger than his face. 

He waved his hand and said that he would only eat half of it. 

He Feng didn't force him to eat more. He broke the sesame cake wrapped in oil paper in half and handed it to him. The uneven edge revealed the beef and chopped green onion filling inside, which looked delicious. 

Song Qingshu took it and stirred the wontons with a white porcelain spoon. He took a bite of the sesame cake and a mouthful of wonton soup. 

It was indeed delicious. 

His dark eyes sparkled, "This is delicious." 

"It's delicious. I'll try to finish it all." He Feng took a bite of the pancake, picked up the chopsticks and asked, "Would you like to try this, mutton flat noodles, which is unique to here. It doesn't have much of a mutton smell." 

Song Qingshu just stuffed a mouthful of wontons, and after chewing and swallowing it, he pushed his bowl away, "Then try mine, brother." 

He Feng didn't touch his bowl, but handed over the clean chopsticks in his hand. 

Song Qingshu picked up a wide flat noodle with chopsticks. It was full of red oil, but it didn't smell very spicy. It had the aroma of mutton oil mixed with chili peppers. He 

was instantly tempted. He rolled up the noodles and blew on them a few times before stuffing them into his mouth. 

The noodles were smooth and chewy, mixed with the aroma of various spices and mutton. It was indeed not spicy and tasted very good.

Song Qingshu, with bulging cheeks, was still thinking about his wontons. He ate one and pushed the bowl back.

"Is it delicious?" He Feng asked.

"It's delicious. You eat it, brother." Song Qingshu lowered his head and took another bite of the beef pancake.

He had only eaten half of the pancake, and the wontons in the bowl were untouched, but He Feng had already finished it.

He still held the remaining half of the pancake in Song Qingshu's hand, and just stared at Song Qingshu while he ate.

His fair skin was stuffed with food, bulging like a little hamster. He had to chew it several times before swallowing it slowly. He looked obedient and cute.

Song Qingshu buried his head in eating. There were still a few wontons left, so he looked up.

He found that He Feng had finished eating and was waiting for him, "Brother, even if it tastes good, you can't eat so much. You eat it."

After eating so much, his stomach was already a little bloated, and he couldn't even eat the few wontons left in the bowl.

He drew circles in the bowl with a white porcelain spoon, then scooped a wonton and put it to He Feng's lips, "It's too dry to eat only sesame cakes, Brother Shunshun."

He Feng looked up at him, his sharp eyes seemed to see through something.

Song Qingshu kept this action, he bet that He Feng would eat it.

The moment He Feng lowered his head, he was happy, and pushed his wonton bowl to him, "Brother, eat it, brother, eat it." He

was as attentive as a child who got candy.

He Feng didn't want to waste it, so he took it and ate it.

After breakfast, there were more people on the street, and the shouting of hawkers was incessant, and it was very lively. When there were

more people, He Feng grabbed Song Qingshu's wrist, for fear of being separated by the crowd. The world was in chaos these days. A few years ago, Liu Sao's daughter-in-law came to the market with her children and someone pulled off the golden Buddha on her neck.

Fortunately, she was fine, and the things were lost.

The two walked around the street, buying the things that Song Qingshu had written down at home one by one.

Groceries and fruit were fine, but the most important thing was to buy a bag of flour. He Feng had originally intended to buy more, but since he had more to buy this time, he opted for a ten-pound bag. He

bought fruit last, as Qiuyue pears were at their sweetest at the time. He Feng bought some apples and pears, along with a few oranges.

The fruit was too tight to carry, so he happened to buy a small handwoven bamboo basket for thirty cents, which he could fit on the back of his motorcycle.

Before leaving, he passed a dried fruit shop.

Someone inside was sorting out wedding candies. Both nougat and White Rabbit candies seemed a bit pricey, so he weighed out some soft candies and dried longans and red dates.

He Feng first grabbed a box of White Rabbit candies and asked Song Qingshu to see which ones he liked.

He knew Song Qingshu was anemic and had low blood sugar. He had also bought pig ears and liver from the nearby cold dish shop while he was cutting up the meat, along with eight steamed buns, so he could have lunch right away.

Song Qingshu stood among a dazzling array of candies, selecting candy corn. He Feng, in the back, selected red dates and dried longans, both of which are good for replenishing blood.

Seeing a key customer arrive, the boss came up and recommended the nougat candies next door, saying they were delicious with peanuts.

He even handed two to Song Qingshu, asking him to try them.

He Feng told him to try them and buy some if he liked them. Since crispy candies are hard to carry around, it would be better to buy more for easy carrying.

As for brown sugar, He Feng could learn how to make it himself when the sugarcane harvest arrives next year.

It wouldn't be too sweet, but the elders always said it was the best.

Finally, He Feng, carrying a large pile of goods, placed the fruit and candies in a basket for him to carry at Song Qingshu's insistence.

It was midday when they returned home. Several children were playing outside Erdan's house. Song Qingshu looked over, but Erdan was nowhere to be found.

Perhaps some mischievous child had hit a pomegranate tree with a rock, causing one to fall and crack, revealing the seeds inside.

Erdan's father came over with a bamboo pole in his hand. "You little bastards, you come here every day. Today I will use the electricity to electrocute you."

He cursed angrily in a strong voice, and none of the words he said were nice.

He Feng frowned and drove faster, and drove straight home.