He draped the raincoat over himself, wandering aimlessly in the rainy field.
The sky didn’t look promising early this morning, so he decided against setting up his stall. Without the stall to tend to, he also didn’t want to stay at "that" home.
Recently, he’d often reminisce about his wedding. Whenever he heard people mention Qin’s Buns Shop, her silhouette would emerge in his mind.
He knew he shouldn’t dwell on it, but he couldn’t help himself. Sometimes, he even wondered if there hadn’t been the switch in marriage partners, and Lin Chuxia was his wife, would things have turned out like his sister said—no Qin’s Buns Shop, only Li’s Steamed Bun Shop?
Once this thought took root, it grew rapidly like a seed, thriving into a towering tree.
It wasn’t until the look in Lin Chuxia’s eyes just now that Li Guangyuan deeply realized he might have truly been mistaken.
There wouldn’t be a Li’s Steamed Bun Shop, just like his wife said, Lin Chuxia never had any interest in him from the very start.
Lin Chuxia scorned his poverty and looked down on him.
"Hey, Guangyuan, why have you come out in this heavy rain? What’s happened to you, getting all wet even with a raincoat? Come on, come in quick, dry yourself off, be careful or you’ll catch a cold..."
Li Guangyuan snapped back to reality and realized that he had unknowingly made his way to Tian Cuixia’s home.
Tian Cuixia was pulling him by the arm towards the house.
He managed a smile, "Cuihua, sorry about this, I was out handling some matters, didn’t expect it to rain, so I came to seek refuge at your place."
"Nonsense, why be so polite with me? At the vegetable market, I’ve always been the one under your care. Here, take this towel; look how wet your clothes are! Take them off and change..."
Tian Cuixia reached out to help Li Guangyuan undo the buttons on his clothes, but he instinctively stepped back, looking utterly bewildered.
Tian Cuixia chuckled at his reaction, "Alright, you can do it. I’m busy making dumplings in the kitchen; this rain won’t stop anytime soon, so you might as well stay here and eat with me. I always say, you really have a hard lot in life. Why wander outside on a rainy day?"
Li Guangyuan kept his head down, wiping the rainwater off, not affirming or denying Tian Cuixia’s words.
His younger sister had returned to her maternal home again. As long as she was back, there wouldn’t be a moment’s peace in "that" home. freёweɓnovel.com
It was wrong for Li Hongmei to bother her sister-in-law with trifling matters at her maternal home, but if Lin Jiayi hadn’t intervened to arrange her marriage, she probably wouldn’t be bothering them every now and then.
Stuck between his wife on the one side and his own sister on the other, Li Guangyuan felt distressed, finding it more tolerable to wander outside than to stay at home.
"Here you go, these are my man’s clothes. Try them on and see if they fit; just make do for now."
Tian Cuixia held up a sleeveless shirt in front of Li Guangyuan, her eyes shimmering playfully with a smile.
He felt a bit dazed; Li Jiayi also used to look at him with such eyes when they first got married, full of admiration and joy.
But he didn’t know when those eyes began to only show resentment and dissatisfaction.
Li Guangyuan looked down and took the clothes. Just as he was about to change, he realized something and saw Tian Cuixia still smiling at him.
Before he could say anything, Tian Cuixia teased him, "What’s the matter, you’re a grown man scared of being seen? You really think I’m dying to look at you? There’s plenty of topless men around on the streets when it’s hot, I’ve seen it all before."
Li Guangyuan thought about it and realized it was true. When it was hot, the working men, including himself, were used to baring their chests, and even in their village, women would bare their chests to work during the dog days of summer.
Being bashful now would indeed seem overly sensitive.
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