Old Wounds, New Growth - Chapter 12. 1
Translator: Deyonna
It took me a whole half hour to clean my shoes. The night breeze blew my freshly showered hair, leaving it feeling refreshingly cool, with only a hint of moisture at the ends. In the room, Li Chishu had already tidied up all his homework and stationery, preparing for the next day's departure. As I went upstairs, he was facing away from the door, blow-drying his hair. A few droplets of water clung to his back, dampening his gray cotton pajamas.
The whirring sound of the hairdryer drowned out my footsteps, so much so that he only realized I was sitting on the edge of the bed next to his leg after he unplugged it and turned around, watching him quietly.
Li Chishu seemed to always prepare a mental script in advance for any communication with others, so he always appeared at a loss when faced with unexpected interactions like this.
He held up the hairdryer towards me, then hesitatingly asked, "Do you... want to blow dry?"
I shook my head, took the hairdryer from him, and leaned over to place it on the bedside table. I conveniently shifted my position slightly, allowing him to stand between my legs, just like the posture that made it so easy to hold him that night.
I looked up at him and asked, "Are there any bruises on your waist?"
"Bruises?" He lowered his head to look at his waist, then reached his hand over his clothes to feel around, as if he couldn't find the spot I was referring to. "There aren't any."
There definitely is.
When he almost fell off the footpath of the paddy field, I'm clear about the strength I exerted when I held him. As expected, I must have left bruises on his left rib with my fingers at that time.
I pointed to his left side, just above the waist. "Roll it up, let me take a look."
Li Chishu's hands calmly remained at his sides, but when he heard me say that, his fingertips curled up slightly. "No need, I'm fine."
I said, "Then should I roll it up myself?"
Li Chishu hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and slowly rolled up the hem of his shirt.
As expected, when he rolled it up to the rib area, he saw it himself and stopped.
He stared blankly. "When did this—"
Before he could say anything, I leaned in closer to the bruise and gently felt it with my fingers. Perhaps it was the gust of cool wind that had blown up from downstairs, causing a chilling sensation on my fingertips. When I touched his skin, Li Chishu let out an almost imperceptible hum.
He instinctively tried to hide, but I was one step ahead of him. I raised my hand and held onto his back and asked him, "Does it hurt?"
Li Chishu quickly said, "Actually, it’s—"
Before the word "okay" could even leave his lips, I pressed my lips on the bruise.
Li Chishu trembled and took a shaky breath, completely frozen in place.
After a second, he let go of the rolled-up hem of his shirt, and his fingers hesitated as they touched my brow bone, as if wanting to push but couldn't bring himself to do it. "Shen... Shen Baoshan…"
My nose was partially covered by the folded hem of his shirt. Under the half concealment of the fabric, I slightly parted my lips and gently sucked on the bruise. Li Chishu seemed to lose his balance, wanting to move back, but was being pressed forward by the palm of my hand against his back.
I closed my eyes and kept his injury in my mouth as if I were kissing him. My lips moved several times, and finally, I rubbed his skin under the ribcage with the tip of my nose and forehead.
Li Chishu's breathing became as erratic as mine, and as my lips traced along his bruise, they traveled upward until they stopped just below his chest. I directly embraced his waist and swiftly brought him down onto the bed. Li Chishu was startled and tried to struggle in my arms, but I hugged him tightly.
I gently pressed my hand against the top of his head, then I rested my chin on the back of my hand. As if I could hear Li Chishu's heartbeat pounding like a drum as he leaned against my chest.
"Li Chishu, go to sleep," I said.
He didn't even dare to make a sound.
After nearly half an hour, his body gradually relaxed, and he began to breathe evenly.
I quietly opened my eyes and let out a long sigh of relief.
That was close. I almost couldn't control myself.
-
The next day, Jiang Chi came to pick us up. When he saw my new pair of shoes that had just been scrubbed but not yet dried, he immediately made fun of it. "Yo, played for a couple of days and the shoes were played to the point of being scrapped."
As Li Chishu bent down to get into the car, he looked at Jiang Chi with a strange expression upon hearing his words.
I patted Jiang Chi's shoulder. "These are your shoes. Are you really happy with them like this?"
Jiang Chi: "Ah?"
I closed the car door. "Ah, what ah? Hurry up, or we'll be late for evening self-study."
When Li Chishu arrived, he had a backpack with him, and when he left, he still had the same backpack. While Jiang Chi and I had a trunk full of things to handle. We can only drive to the school to drop off Li Chishu first before returning home to unload the luggage.
The closer we got to the school, the less I felt like saying anything while holding Potato.
When Li Chishu noticed that something was off with me as we were approaching the school gate. He took the opportunity to sit next to me in the back seat and cautiously asked, "What's wrong with you?"
I glanced at him sideways and replied, "Can't you tell what's wrong with me?"
Li Chishu shook his head.
I sighed and closed my eyes, turning my face towards the window.
After a while, I finally said, "It would be great if you could become smaller."
Li Chishu initially lowered his head to continue studying, but then he suddenly pointed at himself and asked, "Me?"
"You," I said, opening my palm towards him. "If you could become small, I could tie you to my belt and take you everywhere I go."
Before Li Chishu could react, Jiang Chi coughed loudly from the front seat and glanced at me through the rearview mirror.
In my previous life, when I played hooligan to Li Chishu, this was also his reaction.
It's been two lifetimes, and there has been no progress at all.
As Li Chishu got out of the car, he thanked me and Jiang Chi. I opened the car door and asked him what he wanted for breakfast the next day.
As expected, he said, "I'll just eat at the cafeteria."
I said, "Then let's have a sandwich. How about replacing bacon with ham and meat floss?"
"No need..."
"Bye-bye." I closed the car door. I leaned down from the slightly lowered window and reminded him, "Be careful when crossing the road, watch out for cars.”
Li Chishu could only go along with my words and replied, "... bye-bye."
He turned around and took a few steps, but before crossing the road, he turned back and noticed that I was still looking at him through the car window.
Li Chishu pursed his lips, holding the kite I bought for him in his left hand and gripping the corner of his backpack with his right hand. As if he had gathered a lot of determination. "Shen Baoshan."
"En?"
"See you tomorrow."
I clenched my teeth to force myself not to smile too happily. I just picked up Potato and waved one of its front paws towards Li Chishu. "Li Chishu, see you tonight."
"En." He thought for a moment and then started to stutter, "Y-you, pay attention to safety."
As Li Chishu walked away, Jiang Chi started shaking his head and making strange noises in the car. With his mouth full of teeth, he sounded like a long-winded, babbling eighty-year-old man. "Eh, yo, yo, Shen Baoshan, you pay attention to safety... See you tomorrow…"
I bumped my knee against the driver's seat. "Speak nicely or you'll die."
"En, en, can't die— someone still needs to pay attention to safety—”
I stared at the back of Jiang Chi's head and suddenly laughed. "What are you trying to learn by copying my wife's words? Don't you have a wife of your own?"
Jiang Chi didn't say another word for the rest of the journey.
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Translator's Corner: Calendar's now updated. I put the wrong schedule yesterday. Please check it out!✨
Don't worry Jiang Chi, i understand your pain
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