Chapter 289: In the past, carriages and horses were very slow
In the inky black mountains, sudden rain lashed the ground, and rain and water splashed in a corner of the night.
"Lin Wanzhou, our posture is too weird."
"Shut up, do you think I want you to hug me like this?"
The boy and girl huddled in the little duck boat were entangled with each other in an extremely foul posture.
Xu Cheng was like a pregnant woman with a big belly. Lin Wanzhou's head popped out from her coat. The petite and cute girl looked like a little kangaroo, sitting sideways and curled up inside Xu Cheng's coat.
As for the girl's shoes, they had been neatly taken off and placed beside her, leaving only her feet wrapped in small white socks stepping on Xu Cheng's thigh.
"Thank goodness the coat I'm wearing today is a looser style." Xu Cheng said thankfully, and then hugged the girl in his arms a little tighter. He could feel the smoothness of the girl's skin and her body temperature, and he could even smell the girl's body fragrance at the tip of his nose.
She snuggled up to him, their bodies pressed very closely together. Although Lin Wanzhou did not accept his suggestion of generating heat through exercise, Xu Cheng felt that this method of huddling together in the same clothes to keep warm was not bad at all.
"Lin Wanzhou, you are so small."
Xu Cheng felt like he was holding a baby, a little infant, whose delicate skin would bloom into a flower with just a kiss.
“…”
The girl turned her head and gave him a blank look, and Xu Cheng, who had a strong desire to survive, quickly expressed his opinion.
"Don't step on me, don't step on me. I mean, you are really small."
"Why do girls have to grow up to be as big as you..." Lin Wanzhou's voice was soft.
Perhaps because there were only the two of them here, the girl generously gave her tenderness.
She leaned her head over in a rather dependent manner, rested her head on Xu Cheng's left shoulder with a bit of tiredness, and muttered softly while looking at the darkness in front of her.
"…It's pitch black here, are there any wild animals?"
"This is a scenic spot. There are people coming and going here all the time, so there shouldn't be any wild animals. Don't worry, even if there are any, I will chase them away for you."
Curled up in the boy's strong arms, Lin Wanzhou felt completely safe.
"You're still trying to chase him away. Are you Wu Song? You want to fight the tiger in Longmiao Mountain."
"You are so beautiful, you must be Pan Jinlian."
"You are a fool. You are Pan Jinlian. Pan Jinlian is Wu Da's wife, not Wu Song's."
"Then you don't know that Pan Jinlian gave Wu Song...hiss, hiss, don't pinch, don't pinch."
After a violent shaking, everything returned to calm. Lin Wanzhou rested his head on Xu Cheng's shoulder again and rubbed it twice to smooth out the wrinkles on his shoulder.
"It's terrible that a good birthday turned out like this..."
"What's wrong? Wasn't today interesting?"
"It was fine during the day, but who knew it would rain at night? My mom said she would go home to cut the cake and eat it at night, but now I don't know when I can go back, and ..."
The girl hesitated to speak, so Xu Cheng asked more.
"And what?"
"And you didn't even prepare a present for me on my birthday."
The girl stretched out her fist and poked Xu Cheng in the chest with a little grievance, "It's a pity that we still have a pure friendship for sixteen years."
"Why are you like this, Lin Wanzhou? Didn't you say before that you don't need to?"
"Humph, I, I didn't even let you hold my hand, and I never saw you listen to me."
“…”
Seeing that he remained silent, the girl turned her head away and told him her little plan, "Actually, I don't care about the gifts. I just want to hear you... Oh..."
Before she could finish her words, the girl's body became unstable as Xu Cheng moved, her voice became three points higher, and her little hands hugged him tightly inside her coat in fear.
"What are you doing?"
"Thank goodness I'm not that stupid. I didn't forget to prepare a birthday present for you."
"Gift?"
There was a look of surprise and joy in the girl's eyes.
Sure enough, the understanding between them was mutual. She understood Xu Cheng as much as Xu Cheng understood her. This understanding could spread to every corner of the body, every look in the eyes, and every word uttered by the mouth.
However, he did not immediately lean over to look into Xu Cheng's bag. Instead, he spoke calmly and reservedly in a low voice.
"Are you trying to fool me by taking something out of your bag?"
"Of course not, I prepared a gift for you."
There really is a gift!
The pitch-black night around me began to mix in reverse, from chaotic black to the brilliant colors before it was mixed into black.
Of course girls like gifts, not to mention that Xu Cheng had kept it secret for so long and secretly prepared a surprise, so Lin Wanzhou would naturally be looking forward to it.
"What is it?"
She is not a picky girl.
In previous birthdays, Xu Cheng usually just gave her some simple gifts, such as dolls, crystal balls, and music boxes. Xu Cheng never had much money, so most of the time he would also give her a greeting card or a limerick that he wrote, claiming to be his literary talent.
But no matter what it is, she will accept it with reluctance, and stuff it into the drawer where the broken paper cups produced more than 3,600 days ago are placed, and keep it as a treasure.
"What on earth is it?" Without getting an answer from Xu Cheng, Lin Wanzhou moved his body and asked again.
"Guess?"
"How could I guess?"
The girl seemed to be very restless because she was too excited, and her little feet moved back and forth on Xu Cheng's thighs.
"I didn't even see it when you put it in your schoolbag. Is it a greeting card?"
"no."
“Is that a photo?”
"…It's very close, but why do you think it's a photo?"
"Because you brought a camera today, but you didn't want to take a picture of me, saying it would waste electricity, so it's easy for you to think of something in the camera that you want to show me."
“…”
Xu Cheng was surprised. He originally wanted to give Lin Wanzhou a surprise, but it seemed that she somehow had a connection with him.
It is said that only twins have this ability, and some couples with deep feelings can also do it.
It is possible that these two childhood sweethearts who grew up together really have the ability to understand each other's inner thoughts.
"Okay, okay, let me reveal the answer."
In the dim environment, Lin Wanzhou had to work hard to see clearly that what Xu Cheng took out from her bag was the camera she had found in the morning.
The girl tried hard to suppress her eagerness to snatch it from his hands, and comforted herself that she couldn't stretch her arms out anyway, so she could only touch and feel in Xu Cheng's arms.
He muttered, "Why are you still so mysterious... Aren't there supposed to be photos in the camera..."
"It's not a photo...it's a segment, a segment..." At this point, Xu Cheng was still a little embarrassed. His voice trembled because he was too nervous, and even his breathing rhythm was obviously disordered.
Lin Wanzhou couldn't wait any longer. She stretched her snow-white little hand out from the zipper, snatched the camera from Xu Cheng's hand, and fiddled with it for a while in front of the blue and white screen.
The photos in the front are those taken today, and the ones at the back are some photos of Xu Cheng's daily life.
"What on earth is this?" the girl asked in confusion.
Xu Cheng scratched his head, looking embarrassed.
He wanted Lin Wanzhou to understand his feelings, but was also worried that it would seem too artificial. He tried hard to appear nonchalant, which made him look like a little boy trying hard to play tricks in front of a girl.
"There is a video right there, you, you click on it yourself." After saying that, he turned his head away from the duck boat with a rare blush on his face.
"Is this it?" Lin Wanzhou opened the beginning of the video and waved at Xu Cheng. Xu Cheng coughed twice and nodded, his eyes evasive.
The girl clicked and pressed the play button. The video quality was not very clear and looked a bit old.
【Children, whose turn is it to share stories today? 】
Amidst a burst of childish noise, a little girl in a colorful skirt, with short legs and arms, ran up to the podium, twisting her legs, and spoke in a tender voice.
[Today~I want to tell you the story of the three little pigs~]
Lin Wanzhou stared at this inexplicably familiar scene and the little girl who looked extremely familiar. She was stunned and thought blankly until the picture finally stabilized. Her eyes instantly widened a few degrees.
This little girl telling a story...
Could it be her?!
She was wearing a beautiful blue and pink dress and a blue headband on her head. She had the cute bangs that only children have. When she told the story vividly, two cute dimples appeared on her face and her smile was as bright as the morning sun.
That was her childhood, the self buried in the deepest part of her memory, a fragmented memory that if Xu Cheng hadn't reminded her frequently, perhaps she would have forgotten it completely like everyone else.
And now, the birthday gift Xu Cheng gave her was herself at that time.
He found her childhood self!
At this moment, the girl clearly felt that something soft in her heart was touched.
She turned around and looked at Xu Cheng, whose face was flushed in the dark. "How did you find this?"
"At once……"
Before Xu Cheng could answer, the loud voice in the video attracted the attention of the two.
【Mr. Lamb! Mr. Lamb! 】
A fat little boy with a snotty nose raised his hand high and complained to the teacher that the kids behind him were sleeping. As the camera shifted, a confused little boy with a crew cut appeared in the picture.
“Puff.”
Lin Wanzhou couldn't help laughing, "Is this you, Xu Cheng?"
"As you can see."
"You were so ugly when you were little. Why would I play with you?"
"...??? As if you are so beautiful."
"Um?"
"Well, you are very beautiful. You are the most beautiful in the world, Lin Wanzhou."
After hearing him say bold and unbridled things that she liked to hear, the girl rewarded him with a kick and then continued watching the video.
"Could this little fat boy be Li Qiuyang? You two are so close now that you're almost like one person. How could your relationship be so bad before?"
"Who wants to wear the same pants with him? Even if I want to wear it, it's with you."
The girl didn't listen to his answer, her attention was all on the little boy in the picture.
He is simple, thin and small like a little bean, but his eyes are calmer and more mature than those of ordinary boys.
Then a sweet and happy smile appeared on her face.
"Lin Wanzhou, this birthday gift... do you like it?"
"like."
"How much do you like it?"
"I like it more than you like me."
The two people's faces turned red after hearing this, and Xu Cheng nodded.
"It seems like he really likes it."
As he spoke, the video continued to play forward.
[…Is there any kid who would like to volunteer and take the initiative to talk about what he or she wants to do when he or she grows up? ]
The teacher's voice sounded in the video, and Xu Cheng's heartbeat couldn't help but speed up. He naturally knew what would happen next. He didn't know whether Lin Wanzhou could still remember it, and what kind of mood he would feel after seeing it now.
He quietly observed the girl's expression and found that she just stared with her beautiful eyes wide open, with a slight smile on her lips, watching quietly, as if she didn't know what would happen next.
When the picture finally reached the moment of the reporter's interview, Lin Wanzhou appeared on screen again .
[…You are such a cute kid, could you please introduce yourself to me?]
[Hello, sister. My name is Lin Wanzhou and I am 6 years old.]
[It's Lin Wanzhou, can you tell me what your dream is? ]
【My dream is to grow up quickly! 】
The reporter then had several more conversations with Lin Wanzhou.
[When I grow up, I want to buy the delicious food I like, and watch TV at home without my mother controlling me, and then...]
In the camera, the little girl said so, but suddenly became embarrassed and a faint blush appeared on her face.
The girl looked somewhere in the classroom several times, not at the camera. The cameraman keenly captured the figure of Xu Cheng sitting in her seat drinking AD calcium milk.
In front of the camera, Lin Wanzhou, who had already become a slim young girl, seemed to recall something. Her face began to turn red, but fortunately it was hidden by the darkness.
It was just the temperature rising from his body that made Xu Cheng feel a little hot.
"Lin Wanzhou... do we need to watch more later..." Xu Cheng asked nervously.
"Of course, I'll see." The girl replied in a low voice.
The video continues to play.
【And then what? 】
The girl finally spoke hesitantly, [And... I want to be Xu Cheng's bride...]
The classroom in the video was in chaos because of the crying of the little fat boy. In the duck boat outside the video, the two grown-up people were quiet and silent, only their breathing was disordered and rapid.
"...Let's have a simple cake to celebrate for you." Xu Cheng was the first to break the silence.
Lin Wanzhou asked in a glutinous voice, "Where are the cakes?"
"Of course I have a way."
Xu Cheng opened his schoolbag and took out a pack of Hollyyou cigarettes. Then he rummaged around and pulled out a box of matches. Finally, he put a tiny Hollyyou cigarette in the palm of his hand and stuck the match on it.
"Get ready to make a wish, Lin Wanzhou."
Lin Wanzhou nodded, understanding what he was going to do. Xu Cheng lit another match and lit the one on the Haoliyou.
Sparks began to sway in the dark boat, swaying left and right, jumping up and down, and two large black shadows of a boy and a girl were printed on the cabin.
"Ahem... Happy birthday to you~", Xu Cheng cleared his throat and sang two unpleasant lines.
Lin Wanzhou closed his eyes devoutly, clenched his fists, looked at the orange-red color under his eyelids, made a wish, and then blew it out with a "whoosh".
The darkness returned to his vision, and Xu Cheng broke the Hollyyou in his hand into two pieces.
He stuffed it into his mouth in one gulp, licked the crumbs on his palm, and asked curiously, "What wish did you make, Lin Wanzhou?"
The girl chewed in small sips and answered quietly when she heard the words.
"It won't work if you say it out loud."
"Tell me, tell me."
Xu Cheng poked the girl and she could only mutter.
"Oh... just like in the video..."
"Same as in the video just now?"
Xu Cheng fell into deep thought, and Lin Wanzhou blushed and stuffed her arm, which felt a little cold, back into Xu Cheng's clothes.
She closed her eyes, and the orange-red scene just now appeared in front of her again.
She clenched her hands and prayed silently in her heart.
When I grow up, I still want to be Xu Cheng’s bride...
