At dusk, after Lu Zhenping had washed up, he entered the room where several children were sprawled across the kang table doing their howork. Ming Fang was also ticulously teaching Shen ng the key points they learned that day, occasionally letting her borrow the pencil to write so characters.
Shen ng was fully cooperative, exemplifying the deanor of a diligent student.
Having grasped the key points, she began knitting a sweater again, which Ming Liang found sowhat unsatisfactory.
"Mom, if you’re going to study, you should focus only on studying. You can’t read and knit at the sa ti; you should do one thing at a ti."
Shen ng glanced at him and said, "Mom has rembered all the characters Ming Fang just taught. I learn fast. You do your howork; I still have chores to do!"
"Mom, that’s not the right attitude for studying. If you forget later, it’ll be like you never learned it. How about I give you my howork and you try doing it?"
Shen ng looked at Lu Mingliang, who was telling a blatant lie, and snorted coldly, "Don’t you know how smart your mom is? Trying to trick into doing your howork, you little rascal. If you keep coming up with crooked ideas, be careful, I might tell your teacher."
Hearing this from his mom, Lu Mingliang imdiately shrank back. He just didn’t want to do his howork, but this new student, his mom, was too hard to deceive.
Shen ng didn’t stop her hands and stopped disturbing them from doing their howork. She glanced outside and noticed Lu Zhenping had co in at so point, holding a thick book, thoroughly engrossed in it. However, his occasional glances made Shen ng uncomfortable.
What is he showing off for, thinking he’s so great because he can read???
It was just past seven o’clock, and she couldn’t sleep. She could only keep knitting, and if Lu Zhenping wasn’t ho, she’d find an excuse to sneak into her space to play, watch videos, and eat a late-night snack, which would be very pleasant.
Lu Mingkai had enough of drawing grasshoppers. He threw down his pen and crawled over to Shen ng, his eyelids drooping heavily with sleepiness.
"Mom, I’m sleepy."
"Feeling sleepy, my son? Then let Mom make your bed. Take off your clothes, and I’ll get you so milk before you sleep."
"Drink milk, then go sleepy-byes!" Lu Mingkai tried hard to keep his eyes open, fumbling with his clothes.
Lu Zhenping, who didn’t know how to prepare milk, bent over to hand her a pair of slippers as Shen ng got off the kang.
"I’ll undress our son, you make the milk."
"Okay!" Shen ng was montarily stunned by his sudden considerateness!
Not having much ti to think about it, Lu Mingkai pounced on him. The child, who was previously too tired to keep his eyes open, suddenly perked up, grabbed his collar, and wanted to play horsey.
"Behave. I’ll take you to grandma’s house tomorrow. Go to sleep early. Mingyang and you others, too. If you can’t finish your howork tonight, leave it. The kerosene lamp is dim; don’t strain your eyes. You can finish after we co back from grandma’s house tomorrow."
"We’re going to grandma’s house! We’re going to grandma’s house tomorrow!" Lu Mingkai was even more excited, turning back to Shen ng for confirmation. Once he got a positive response, he clapped his little hands loud.
Lu Zhenping’s lips curved into a smile, his gaze returning to the three children doing their howork, to his surprise, they were all staying put like steady fishern.
"Dad, we’ll finish our howork very soon. The teacher said, deal with things at hand imdiately and avoid procrastination."
"Our teacher did say that. Dad, don’t talk. We’ll finish soon, no rush."
After Ming Liang and Ming Fang finished speaking, they continued to write their howork. Mingyang, without saying a word, kept writing non-stop, focused and earnest.
Lu Zhenping: "....."
I’m the one in a hurry here! I’ve been ho for days and all I’ve done is touch my wife’s hand!!!
Before, he would never be anxious when returning ho, but these last couple of days for so reason, every thought was filled with Shen ng, making him restless with warmth in his heart.
Out of the blue, Mody started unbuttoning his shirt, and pulled the hem to the back, exposing most of his chest. He even shifted the wriggly Lu Mingkai in his arms to the side, to ensure Shen ng could get a clear view.
After prepping the milk, Shen ng turned around and saw a broad expanse of well-defined muscles, with idioms springing to mind one after another.
Young and strong, Herculean strength, as solid as steel, robust and vigorous...
She swallowed hard, trying to keep her cool as she walked over to the edge of the bed and handed over the milk.
"Drink the milk and then hurry up and eat."
Lu Zhenping: "...."
Lu Mingyang/Lu Mingliang/Lu Mingfang: "...."
What is she talking about???
Shen ng quickly ca to her senses, freezing in place and wide-eyed in disbelief. She couldn’t imagine those words had just co from her own mouth. She glared at Lu Zhenping with considerable annoyance, huffed, and turned to walk out.
Lu Mingyang and the other children hurriedly bowed their heads and continued with their howork. They didn’t see anything, nope, didn’t see a thing...
The only one unaware of the awkwardness was Lu Mingkai, leisurely drinking milk while holding onto his blanket.
Lu Zhenping chuckled softly while holding his son, and soon his laughter grew louder. How should he put it? He sighed deeply, very satisfied with Shen ng’s recent performance.
Just as Shen ng stepped out of the room, she heard Lu Zhenping’s sowhat derisive laughter behind her. Annoyed, she stomped her foot and twisted around into her own space.
"Ah~ Shen ng, what’s gotten into you? It’s just a man, just so abs. Haven’t you seen plenty of those handso n in videos? You shouldn’t be so taken by a glimpse of flesh from an old man, letting him catch your eye, muddling your thoughts, and making a fool of yourself in front of the kids. Wake up, it’s just a man’s allure."
Shen ng paced back and forth on the empty space, raised both hands in a balancing act, made a finishing gesture, then took a deep breath.
"Calm down, calm down, Shen ng, you’re the best!"
After ntally preparing herself, she patted her heart, feeling her spirited heartbeat finally settle a bit, and was about to leave the space when she backed away again.
"Well, even though it was a blurry view, that was a real person after all, and he was smiling at you, Shen ng, in a take--if-you-dare kind of way. That’s quite different from those in the videos. After all, this one is real and touchable. Maybe you should just... indulge!"
"No, no, hold on—you should keep calm. A mont’s patience may bring a period of calm, one step further, and you lose all reason, ready to act on impulse."
Shen ng ultimately didn’t persuade herself. She headed to the bathroom for a thorough foamy bubble bath scented with poppy fragrance, blow-dried her hair until it was mostly dry, undid three buttons at the neckline of her small floral dress to let it subtly reveal more, and left the space. Once back in the room, she saw that Mingyang and the other kids had already returned to their rooms, Ming Fang and Ming Liang were already in bed, seemingly close to sleep.
The man who had so casually undressed earlier was now neatly dressed, leaning against the bed cabinet. As he saw her, he casually dropped a comnt, "Took you that long for a trip to the latrine?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)