Toon Chapter 20
by“You aren’t wearing a shirt underneath,” Zhou Lingchun said.
Liansheng was tugging at the collar around his neck, frowning. “I knew it felt itchy. I forgot this morning.”
A hand forcefully pulled Liansheng’s collar wider. Zhou Lingchun sighed helplessly. “You can forget that?”
Liansheng mumbled, “Well, I forgot. What can I do?”
“It wasn’t itchy before, but for some reason, sitting here at the hospital, it suddenly started itching.” He scratched his shoulder with his finger, exposing his skin. “It’s so itchy.”
The smooth shoulder, the bright skin, was dazzling to the eye.
“Then let’s go buy a set,” Zhou Lingchun said, stopping Liansheng’s hand.
Liansheng was different lately. He used to constantly think about having Zhou Lingchun take him to buy delicious food, fun things, and nice clothes. Now that Grandma was sick, and seeing Zhou Lingchun pay a large sum to the hospital, a vague idea of frugality had dawned on him.
After all, people were made of flesh, not steel. Even a man like Zhou Lingchun would eventually fall! When that happened, his small shoulders would have to bear the weight of the family’s roof beam!
Before he even had to bear the roof beam, Liansheng already felt this sense of responsibility, puffing his chest out a little higher.
“Why are you so extravagant with money?” His eyes showed disapproval. “If you keep spending like this, I won’t be able to support you later.”
What was he talking about?
Sometimes, the man truly couldn’t keep up with Liansheng’s thought process. If he had a bad temper, they would surely have started arguing again.
A vein twitched on Zhou Lingchun’s forehead twice. “You have so many clothes they don’t fit in the closet, and now you’re saying buying clothes is extravagant.” Five days ago, Zhou Lingchun had discovered that all his clothes had been squeezed into a small corner by Liansheng, who, upon being found out, had righteously told Zhou Lingchun to build him another closet. When Zhou Lingchun went to town to pick out boards for him, Liansheng had happily hugged and kissed him several times with loud smacking sounds.
“That was before. I won’t buy so much anymore.”
It sounded like he meant it this time.
But Zhou Lingchun felt a little uneasy. Liansheng suddenly being so sensible and frugal—could it be that he wasn’t spending enough money on Liansheng? If Liansheng didn’t dare to spend money, didn’t that mean he, the man, was useless? He was now so useless that Liansheng had to consider even buying a single piece of clothing.
Zhou Lingchun’s brow furrowed deeper.
The IV bottle was almost empty. Liansheng watched the medicine in the tube running out and promptly called the nurse over to remove the needle.
Once it was done, Zhou Lingchun pulled Liansheng up and told Grandma, “Grandma, you rest for now. I’m going out to buy Liansheng some clothes. I’ll bring you back something to eat.”
“Alright, dear,” Grandma replied, her blurred, unfocused eyes looking at their silhouettes, revealing a kind smile.
“Oh, you’re so stubborn. I told you I don’t want to buy anything.” Liansheng sat on the bicycle, pouting slightly, unwillingly. His eyes fixed on the road the wheels rolled over, his peripheral vision catching the man’s strong thighs pumping the pedals. “If we spend all the money, what will we do about Grandma’s treatment?”
“We won’t spend it all.”
Zhou Lingchun had saved a considerable amount of money from contracting farmland and trading grain over the past few years. Buying Liansheng two closets full of clothes wouldn’t deplete it.
Zhou Lingchun had no demands for food or clothing. Eating enough to have strength for work was fine; dressing warmly enough to avoid sickness was fine. All the money he earned was spent on his wife and Grandma.
Every time he thought of Liansheng’s delicate appearance in beautiful clothes, he felt more energized to work.
The bicycle passed through the sparse crowd at the front, gradually heading toward the crowded market. The surroundings became noisy, and the sounds of distant hawking could already be heard. Soon, the bicycle’s speed began to slow down, carefully navigating around pedestrians.
Liansheng gripped the handlebars and hummed, secretly pleased by Zhou Lingchun’s generous words, but his mouth remained sharp. “Playing the big shot, huh? You didn’t talk like that when I wanted to buy candy before.”
They went to the shops Liansheng liked. Early winter was approaching, and the shops had stocked up on many attractive fabrics. However, having something custom-made wouldn’t be fast enough, so they had to choose ready-made items.
Without Liansheng even asking, Zhou Lingchun bought him a close-fitting shirt and a pure cotton jacket. He even wanted to buy him a pair of cotton shoes for the winter. Liansheng waved his hands, saying no, but Zhou Lingchun paid for everything anyway.
On the street, Zhou Lingchun carried the bags of clothes. Liansheng, annoyed, reached out and pinched Zhou Lingchun. “I told you not to buy them, so why did you insist, and buy so much!”
Zhou Lingchun was also holding back his temper. “Don’t you like them? Is it wrong for me to buy them for you?”
“If you buy so much, how will I buy fashionable clothes in the winter?” Liansheng looked straight back, his bright black eyes filled with annoyance, tugging at the man’s clothes. “There will definitely be new styles coming out in the winter!”
So that was it. Zhou Lingchun didn’t understand the intricacies of their clothing choices. He waved his hand dismissively. “We’ll buy the fashionable winter clothes when winter comes.”
Liansheng’s anger subsided slightly. “But you still shouldn’t buy this much.”
Zhou Lingchun couldn’t resist leaning down to kiss his mouth, coaxing him, “Alright, I’ll listen to you next time. You say how many pieces to buy, and we’ll buy that many.”
Liansheng was completely mollified now. The little sun in his heart rose, and his expression instantly cleared. He forgot his previous solemn vows of frugality and was immediately captivated by a vendor’s small trinkets.
A red lacquered rattle drum was picked up.
The old man at the stall said, “Aiya, it goes dong dong dong. Children love playing with it the most.”
The slender white hand held the rattle drum handle and twisted it left and right. The small weights hanging on both sides tapped the drum surface with a dong dong dong sound. Liansheng watched and suddenly laughed, revealing his dimples. “People who aren’t children like playing with it too.”
Zhou Lingchun was about to take the rattle drum.
Suddenly, a woman ran up and grabbed Liansheng’s hand, her face beaming with joy. “Little Lian! I finally found you.”
Liansheng and Zhou Lingchun turned their heads in unison.