Chapter 12: Rival in Love 2

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Qin Yi’s mouth tasted sweet as he sat on the bed. Su Wan wouldn’t let him idle and handed him a ball of yarn to wind into a neat skein.

“Like this, like this, then like that. Don’t use too much force with your hands. Yes, just like that.”

Su Wan held Qin Yi’s hands firmly. He was so nervous he almost snapped the thread.

Yet Su Wan was completely focused on teaching him, undistracted.

Qin Yi felt sweat breaking out all over him — more than he’d ever sweated in life-or-death situations.

This feeling was both thrilling and heart-stirring, making him want to lean closer to Su Wan.

Su Wan finished teaching seriously. Seeing his tense state, puzzled and yet concerned, she said,

“Try winding it yourself. Let me see if you’re doing it right.”

Qin Yi clumsily wound the thread round and round. Whenever he made a mistake, Su Wan would ask him to undo it and try again.

He had never felt so embarrassed before.

“This is really hard to wind.”

The words were ambiguous — was he referring to Su Wan being difficult or the thread itself? Su Wan raised an eyebrow at him, but Qin Yi kept his head down, avoiding her gaze.

“Hmm?”

“Nothing, I didn’t mean you.”

Su Wan turned to look at him. Seeing his focused expression, she got up to tidy the table, spread out the fabric she had bought, and took out scissors and a ruler, gesturing and seeming a little unsure.

She had made clothes before — because she had no clothes of her own, she had taken apart old garments her foster mother discarded and altered them to fit herself, though at first her work was so ugly it was unbearable to look at.

Later, she used her own worn clothes as models, gradually learning the craft.

But now, making clothes for Qin Yi meant she had to take his measurements — and thinking of that made her blush.

“Did you go to the market just to buy all these things?”

“Yeah.”

Su Wan stared down at the fabric, while two little voices argued inside her: one said, “You have to take his measurements, only then will the clothes fit properly.”

The other said, “Don’t measure. Last time something happened; it was so embarrassing.”

Qin Yi suddenly felt that this moment made the world seem peaceful.

Looking at Su Wan, words slipped out of him before he realized.

“If you’re going to the market, you could have told me. I would have sent a carriage for you. It’s so cold today, you…”

He stopped halfway, swallowing the rest of his words.

He wanted to say, it’s so cold, and you’re a woman traveling so far carrying so many things — what if you catch a cold? What if something happens to you?

But he couldn’t say these things.

Especially to Su Wan, he couldn’t bring himself to say it, yet he clearly felt differently about her.

“What?”

Su Wan was busy thinking about how to cut the fabric and didn’t pay attention to what he was trying to say.

“Nothing, never mind.”

Su Wan took the ruler and came to the bedside, asking Qin Yi to turn around so she could take his measurements.

“Raise your arm.”

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Qin Yi didn’t know what she was about to do but obediently raised his arm.

Su Wan measured him with the ruler, her fingers brushing over Qin Yi’s skin, her breath warm against his neck. The atmosphere made him tense all over.

His heart pounded as if it might leap out. He struggled to conceal the emotions on his face.

His mind was filled with the scenes from the dream that day.

He no longer remembered how many times he had lost control. Watching Su Wan carefully measure him, his Adam’s apple bobbed as Su Wan looked at his nervousness.

“Are you hot? Your ears are so red.”

Qin Yi's face flushed uncontrollably, his neck and ears turning even redder — as if about to bleed.

He looked up to see Su Wan’s puzzled expression.

He cleared his throat loudly to hide his awkwardness.

Seeing Qin Yi like this, Su Wan probably understood what he was thinking and took out the ruler to record the measurements.

The lingering feminine scent suddenly vanished, and Qin Yi felt the air around him grow colder.

“What did you buy for yourself?”

“Huh?”

Su Wan didn’t catch why Qin Yi asked that and shook her head.

“I don’t lack anything.”

Qin Yi looked at Su Wan’s face — the woman was truly simple-minded.

Was she really not after money?

He couldn’t understand her but felt a pang of tenderness for the naive girl. He could roughly tell how the Su family treated her.

Feeling restless, Qin Yi shook his head. He wondered why he was thinking this way. She was herself, he was himself, and he was now a cripple. She would leave sooner or later.

When that day came, they might never see each other again.

“Su Wan…”

This was the first time Qin Yi calmly said her name, but once the words were out, he found himself at a loss for what to say.

He couldn’t very well ask when she planned to leave.

He was really confused.

“Hmm?”

Hearing Qin Yi call her, Su Wan looked up from her work, seeing him summon her without saying anything else.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, really.”

Then after a moment, he added,

“Buy yourself some clothes tomorrow.”

“No need.”

Su Wan looked at Qin Yi, sensing something strange about him today — why was he saying such inexplicable things?

“Old Qin…?”

Lin Changchun’s voice sounded outside the door.

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Su Wan put on a jacket and went to open the door.

“Sis-in-law, is Old Qin home?”

Lin Changchun asked, immediately realizing the question was unnecessary. It was freezing cold, Qin Yi’s leg was paralyzed, and it was late at night — where else could he be?

He scratched his head awkwardly.

Su Wan didn’t feel anything wrong. She still hadn’t fully adjusted to being called “sis-in-law,” always feeling as if it weren’t meant for her. She smiled at Lin Changchun.

“You talk; I’ll go check on Grandma.”

“All right, sis-in-law.”

Earlier, Qin Yi had blushed in front of Su Wan and didn’t even glance at Lin Changchun, focusing entirely on winding the yarn Su Wan had given him.

Lin Changchun looked at Qin Yi concentrating on winding thread and teased him.

“Hey, you really are a househusband now, even learning to do this kind of thing. Little sis-in-law is really something!”

Lin Changchun gave a thumbs-up and clicked his tongue.

“Out here in the middle of the night, bored enough to come watch me wind yarn?”

Lin Changchun was stumped by Qin Yi’s silence and moved closer, whispering.

“Did little sis-in-law go to the market today?”

Qin Yi said nothing but raised an eyebrow at Lin Changchun.

“Why are you looking at me? Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m telling you, you better keep an eye on her.”

Lin Changchun gave Qin Yi a meaningful look. Qin Yi took a cigarette from a pack, lit it, took a deep drag, and slowly said,

“Speak.”

Lin Changchun glanced at the door and lowered his voice, recounting how he had seen Lu Xing returning with Su Wan today.

After finishing, Lin Changchun added,

“Little sis-in-law’s fine, but the other guy, who knows? I heard they were classmates.”

He had just been out earlier and, on his way back, saw Su Wan sitting on Lu Xing’s bicycle. Lu Xing’s face was lit with an uncontrollable smile. As a man, Lin Changchun knew exactly what that smile meant.

A full-on show-off, as if he wanted to spread his feathers at all times.

“I even went to Lu’s place. I overheard Lu’s wife scolding Lu Xing for being heartless — seeing his classmate but forgetting his own mother at the market, leaving her freezing in the snow for half a day, nearly frozen to death…”

Lin Changchun finished speaking. Qin Yi remained silent, unreadable in expression.

“Mind yourself. I’m off.”

“Keep your mouth shut.”

As Lin Changchun left, Qin Yi reminded him quietly.

“Got it, sis… sis-in-law…”