He helped gather the dishes, washed them and glanced around the room. Both their satchels were hung on the west wall, whilst the military school bag that acted as a source of motivation for the kids was hung on the east wall.
Lin Lan poured him some water while Han Qingsong was washing the dishes and asked, “Was everything alright at the hospital today?”
Lin Lan, “It was fine. We just checked out Xiaowang’s eyes and Senior Doctor Liu stated that he could undergo the operation in two years time.”
“Anything else? No…” Lin Lan hesitated, “If anything, it was thanks to Yang Panpan from the Lin Family Village that I even managed to get Xiaowang checked up last time. I even said that I would bring something over for him as a token of gratitude, but in the end, I totally forgot about it, haha.”
“It’s okay, I’ll bring something over next time,” Han Qingsong wiped the clean dishes and stacked them neatly on the table, “Is there anything else?”
Han Qingsong snorted, “What was that?”
“The thing that fell to the ground today.”
Lin Lan immediately said, “Medicine, Xiaowang’s medicine.”
Out of guilt, she ran off to grab a few things. This time, she only showed him a bunch of medicational prescriptions and not a trace of the small paper bag was to be seen.
Lin Lan immediately started to clear the west room as she folded the clothes and checked if there were any torn ones that needed mending. The previous incident was then stashed aside, pretending to have forgotten all about it.
Seeing Lin Lan busy herself, Han Qingsong didn’t say anything else, “…”
“Come, it’s time to go peel some corn,” Han Qingsong greeted her.
Lin Lan was still thinking about how to talk to Han Qingsong about the issue of contraception. She regretted not taking him to Doctor Zhuang as it would be much easier for the doctor to talk to him.
He took her hand, went out, closed the door and walked to the yard.
The bright moon that rose from the east was clear and bright. There were even a group of fluffy clouds following it, making it even more quiet and cool in the autumn night.
The two held hands and he couldn’t help slowing down to follow her pace, maintaining small strides along with her footsteps.
Lin Lan thought of the night when he just changed his career. Back then, he walked ahead and she couldn’t even keep up despite breaking into a small trot. But now, it was a little funny to know that he was holding himself back just to walk with her.
“What are you laughing at?” He was a little curious.
Lin Lan smiled and said, “It’s nothing, I just feel that I’m kind of happy to be living with you,” She tilted her head and leaned on his arm.
Han Qingsong was stunned. He felt that there was something amiss in her words but he couldn’t tell what was wrong, so he didn’t think much about it, simply stretching out his arms and taking her into his embrace.
Lin Lan felt that his hug was significantly warm— even warmer than heating pads. Hence, she wasn’t afraid of having to deal with the cold winter any longer.
For a while, the two were immersed in the beautiful feeling of relaxation despite the silence, walking lightly side by side.
They live in the southern west part of the village. Because the houses of the Brigade and the Production Team were nearby and there were no street lights, people seldom walked from here.
Suddenly, there was a low sobbing sound from the dark bushes nearby.