Chapter One Hundred and One: Love Deep as the Mist and Rain

At the bus terminal in County A of Gui Province.

“Here, here I am, wife!”

Lu Kun waved frantically at his wife, grabbed his luggage, and ran toward her.

Seeing him hurry over, Liu Liping was about to go meet him.

Lu Kun was startled. His wife was pregnant, after all—if anything happened to her, what then?

“Don’t move. Stay right there and wait for me!” he bellowed.

Liu Liping froze, then remembered that she was carrying a child, and could only stand obediently where she was.

Shitou, along with the Cheng brothers, Cheng Yuan and Cheng Hao, all covered their faces in unison, their teeth aching from the sweetness of it all.

It was a brutal blow to every lonely soul there.

After what felt like a century, and yet also only a blink, Lu Kun ran up to Liu Liping, set down his luggage, and gasped for breath.

“Why were you gone so long this time? It’s been more than half a month. You weren’t dazzled by the bright lights outside, were you?”

Liu Liping wrapped her arms around Lu Kun’s neck, resting her chin directly on his shoulder. Her teeth clenched with a faint grinding sound, but tears still spilled down uncontrollably.

Lu Kun was momentarily stunned, then cast an apologetic glance at the people nearby who had turned to look.

He had not expected Liu Liping to be so bold.

After all, this was 1990, and the prevailing social manners were still very simple and reserved.

Even the scene in the 2001 television drama Fate of Love and Rain, where the character Yi Ping, played by Zhao Wei, chased after the departing train to see off He Shu-huan, would have been wildly exaggerated by the standards of the time—something the older generation would have denounced as scandalous and improper.

Lu Kun’s courage rose at once. He held his wife tightly with his right arm, stroked her hair with his left hand, and whispered in her ear, “It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.

But those bright lights outside never dazzled me. Everywhere I went, my heart and eyes were still full of you, my silly wife.”

At the end, Lu Kun could not help but smile. His eyes grew slightly blurred as the happy days they had shared—from first meeting and understanding each other to finally becoming husband and wife—flashed before him like a film, frame by frame.

“You’re always lying. I don’t believe you,” Liu Liping said, and bit down directly on his shoulder.

Lu Kun did not make a sound. He waited until she let go on her own before he gave a soft hiss.

“Wife, let’s go home.”

Lu Kun lifted Liu Liping’s chin with his right index finger and spoke with a teasing smile. His eyes were bright, though the weariness on his face was plain to see.

“Pah!”

Liu Liping made a light spitting sound with her mouth, but her hands once again circled Lu Kun’s neck, and the corners of her lips lifted almost imperceptibly.

Lu Kun was delighted beyond measure.

The couple spoke sweet nothings to each other, treating the crowd around them as if it were air.

“Hey, hey, hey, I say, haven’t you two been clinging together long enough? That’s about enough,” Shitou said, leading the Cheng brothers over at a leisurely pace from behind, his mouth twitching.

Liu Liping had just started to let go when Lu Kun tightened his hold on her.

“If you’ve got the ability, then go chase down that little girlfriend of yours sooner. What are you standing here being jealous for? Can’t bear to see us newlyweds being affectionate for a bit?” Lu Kun said, turning his head.

Shitou and the Cheng brothers: “...”

At that moment, all three felt as though Cupid had shot an arrow into their chests called Being Single. Their hearts went cold to the core.

Do single people have no rights? It’s not like they’ve eaten your family’s rice.

Well... actually, it seems they really did eat their family’s rice.

If the company did not pay wages, the three of them truly had no money to buy rice and cook.

Liu Liping’s delicate little face was red and flushed now, making her look especially lovely. She leaned close to Lu Kun’s ear and said, “Let’s go back first. There are too many people here.”

Lu Kun was not buying that.

He brought his mouth to her ear, sending a warm, damp breath against it, then said, “Call me husband first. If you don’t, we’re not going home.”

Liu Liping: “...”

“Hu—sband,” Liu Liping murmured as softly as a mosquito.

“Louder. I can’t hear you,” Lu Kun said, pretending to be clueless.

“Hm?” Liu Liping blinked, then after she came to herself, her voice suddenly rose a notch.

“Sorry, wife. It was my fault.”

“I’ll deal with you when we get home!” Liu Liping let go of the hand tugging at Lu Kun and shook it out, lowering her voice.

“Move along, everyone, move along. What are you staring at? Haven’t you ever seen a young couple reunited after a long separation, being a little affectionate?” Lu Kun returned to his roguish manner and called out to the onlookers.

Embarrassed, Liu Liping’s face turned scarlet. She hurriedly took Lu Kun’s hand and led him toward home.

After the two of them left, the voices of the crowd grew ever more distant.

Lu Kun and Liu Liping returned to their small home across from County A First Middle School.

“Phew, we’re finally home.”

Lu Kun sat down on the sofa, then immediately sprang back up.

Good heavens, after so long on the train, his behind and the backs of his thighs were aching terribly, burning hot with pain.

He had spent a day and a night on the train and had not slept at all. Most of the night he merely closed his eyes and dozed; by day he simply sat by the window watching the scenery.

“Have some water first.”

As soon as they entered, Liu Liping hurried him to set down his luggage and brought him a glass of cool boiled water.

Gulp, gulp—Lu Kun drank it down like a bull, finishing the whole glass. He wiped the corner of his mouth and asked, “Where are the two children?”

“Big Ya is taking a nap. As for Little Ya, that wild girl, who knows where she’s run off to,” Liu Liping said with a smile.

“Let Little Ya go out and run wild. It saves her from pestering you all day,” Lu Kun defended her. He knew very well that Liu Liping and Little Ya never quite saw eye to eye.

Liu Liping thought Little Ya had no proper lady-like manners, always running around with rough boys. Little Ya, on the other hand, kept complaining to Lu Kun that Liu Liping only doted on Big Ya, the eldest daughter.

“Enough, enough. I know you and your daughters are close. You only ask about them two and don’t even ask about the one in my belly?”

“All right, all right. Don’t move—let me listen for the baby,” Lu Kun said cheerfully, carefully shifting closer and leaning toward Liu Liping’s stomach.

“What are you doing? The doctor said it won’t be until at least sixteen weeks before you can hear fetal movement,” Liu Liping said, reaching out as if to block his head back.

“I want to hear the baby’s voice.

The child we have together is surely gifted. Maybe I can hear him or her right now.”

Lu Kun insisted stubbornly.

“What am I going to do with you?”

As soon as her words fell, Lu Kun finally got what he wanted.

“The baby moved! The baby moved! It seems like he or she can even make sounds,” Lu Kun said in delight.

“Well... actually, I’m hungry. It’s my stomach growling,” Liu Liping said awkwardly.

Lu Kun: “...”