Mistaking Affection for Love

Zhou Chenglei frowned at Jiang Xia, ignoring Wen Wan's words as though he had not heard them. When Jiang Xia showed no reaction, he walked straight over to her.

Jiang Xia was looking down at the roof tiles, weighing how many this delicate body could carry at once. She had heard Zhou Chenglei speak, but she had assumed he was talking to Wen Wan.

She reached out, deciding that ten at a time would be safer.

Her hand had barely stretched out when someone grabbed it.

Zhou Chenglei clasped Jiang Xia's wrist and, with a slight pull, drew her away from the cart.

Jiang Xia froze for a moment, then looked up at him in confusion.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Zhou Chenglei frowned.

Jiang Xia: "..."

She had heard him. She just had not known he was speaking to her.

Zhou Chenglei pulled her beneath the eaves by the doorway. "Sit down. Doesn't your hand hurt? Did you apply the medicine I gave you? That's Yunnan Baiyao. It works very well. Put some on, and it won't hurt the next day."

Watching Zhou Chenglei pull Jiang Xia away, Wen Wan's face flushed red. So those words had not been for her? She had been making a fool of herself! Jiang Xia said, "I'll apply it tonight before bed. I still have work to do now. It'll rub off if I put it on, and that would be a waste."

Yunnan Baiyao really did work well, but using it on the wound on her hand was rather like using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken. The medicine could not be cheap.

Jiang Xia sat down on the threshold and picked up the green military canteen beside her, about to unscrew it.

Zhou Chenglei stretched out his long arm, took it from her, unscrewed the cap for her, and handed it back. "There's nothing you need to do. The sooner you apply the medicine, the sooner you'll recover."

After saying that, he went back to help carry the roof tiles.

Jiang Xia took the canteen but did not drink immediately. Instead, she called to Great-Grandmother, "Great-Grandmother, the sun is strong. Come sit down and have some water."

Great-Grandmother walked over with a smile. Jiang Xia handed her the canteen, but she waved it away. "I'm not thirsty. A'Lei unscrewed this water especially for you. I'm afraid it'll be sickeningly sweet. Too much sweetness isn't good for an old lady!"

Jiang Xia: "..."

Great-Grandmother sat down beside Jiang Xia. "Isn't my A'Lei very good at taking care of people?"

Jiang Xia could not deny that. She remembered that he had even washed her clothes last night.

"I think Great-Grandmother is even better at taking care of people. You feel sorry for me and can't bear to drink the water, so you want me to drink more. You could have just said so." With that, she tipped back her head and began drinking.

Great-Grandmother chuckled.

This child really knew how to talk. She and taciturn A'Lei were a perfect match.

After spending half a day together, Great-Grandmother liked Jiang Xia more and more.

The girl worked quickly. Her body was delicate, but there was nothing delicate about her temperament. She had a stubborn toughness in her.

Everyone in the village said she would run away sooner or later. Great-Grandmother did not believe it!

"A'Lei is blessed to have married you."

Jiang Xia choked at once. "Cough, cough, cough!"

Zhou Chenglei's destined partner was not her!

Besides, he was in a hurry to divorce her! Hearing Jiang Xia cough, Zhou Chenglei turned to look over.

Noticing Zhou Chenglei looking their way, Great-Grandmother called out loudly, "A'Lei, Xiao Xia said she's blessed to have married you!"

Jiang Xia's eyes widened. When had she said that?

"Ha ha!" Great-Grandmother burst out laughing.

Zhou Chenglei knew Great-Grandmother was teasing Jiang Xia, so he did not pay it any mind and turned back to continue moving tiles.

Wen Wan: "..."

Watching the man across from her seemingly keep his distance from her on purpose as he carried tiles, she was utterly shocked. What was going on?

Weren't the two of them going to divorce?

Why did this not look like it at all?

Why would Jiang Xia say something like that?

Just then, Father Wen asked Father Zhou, "Your house looks like no one has lived in it for a long time. Why are you repairing it now?"

Father Zhou said, "The children are married now, and the old house doesn't have enough room. My younger son and his wife are moving here to live."

Wen Wan blurted out in surprise, "The two of them are moving here?"

Father Zhou gave her a puzzled glance, not understanding why Old Wen's daughter was so agitated, but he still said, "Yes. The two of us old folks will move over too."

Wen Wan fell into thought.

It had not been like this in her previous life. She had clearly heard that after Jiang Xia divorced Zhou Chenglei, she went straight into the city to find her lover.

She had also heard that Jiang Xia had followed Wu Qizhi without even getting a Marriage Certificate, staying with him without name or standing.

Later, when she took the train to university, she had even seen Jiang Xia and Wu Qizhi on a train going to find her parents. Wu Qizhi had told Jiang Xia to make sure she persuaded her parents to arrange a job for him.

It was not supposed to be like this! Zhou Chenglei should have divorced Jiang Xia, and Jiang Xia should have been with Wu Qizhi.

Where had it gone wrong? Jiang Xia and Great-Grandmother, one old and one young, sat beneath the eaves watching them move the roof tiles, chatting now and then.

Mostly, Jiang Xia was the one asking questions. Afraid of being questioned herself, she took the initiative and used the chance to probe indirectly into the Zhou Family and Small Fishing Village.

The tiles were quickly unloaded. Throughout the entire process, Zhou Chenglei had not given Wen Wan so much as a glance. He had even kept going around her to carry the tiles.

Once the tiles had been unloaded, Wen Wan had to leave with Father Wen.

She could not help looking back at Zhou Chenglei, unable to understand where things had gone wrong.

If Zhou Chenglei did not get divorced, what was she supposed to do? Then she looked at Jiang Xia, sitting in the corner with skin so soft and fair it seemed to glow.

No, they would divorce.

Jiang Xia could not stand rural life. She wanted to become an official's wife. Living in this rundown house, she definitely would not be able to bear it.

When that great typhoon came, the roof would be blown away. It would probably scare her into running off.

A flower raised in a greenhouse could not withstand the battering of wind and rain.

Wen Wan remembered that in her previous life, a major typhoon had made landfall in this area. After it passed, the beach had been left covered in shrimp. At the time, even the shrimp picked up by children in this village could sell for more than ten yuan.

She was also waiting for that typhoon. When the time came, she would make a fortune gathering shrimp, and her senior-year tuition and living expenses would be settled.

Great-Grandmother said she was going back to cook. Jiang Xia stood as well and said to Zhou Chenglei, "I'll go back and help with the cooking."

Zhou Chenglei was about to climb onto the roof to clear away some broken tiles. Hearing that, he glanced at her. His first thought was, Can she cook? Then his gaze dropped to her hand. "No need. My mother and Eldest Sister-in-Law will cook."

At that moment, Mother Zhou entered, holding Zhou Zhou's hand in one hand and carrying a vegetable basket woven from red, green, and yellow plastic straps in the other. "Time to eat! Finish eating before you continue working."

With a military canteen hanging around her neck, Zhou Zhou obediently said, "Grandfather, Little Uncle, Little Aunt, time to eat!"

Father Zhou was mixing sand and cement together. Later, he would add water and stir it into cement mortar. Hearing Mother Zhou, he put down his shovel and went to wash his hands for lunch.

Mother Zhou took two silver Aluminum Lunch Boxes from the basket and handed them to Jiang Xia. "This one is yours, and this one is Chenglei's meal."

Zhou Chenglei's hands and body were covered in cement dust, so he went to wash his hands.

Jiang Xia took them with a smile. "Thank you, Mom."

Hugging a green military canteen, Zhou Zhou timidly walked up to Jiang Xia. "Little Aunt, do you want some water?"

Jiang Xia smiled even more gently. "Thank you, Zhou Zhou, but Little Aunt has some too. Little Aunt isn't thirsty. Give the water to Grandfather."

"Okay." As though granted a pardon, Zhou Zhou ran off and gave the canteen to Father Zhou.

After washing his hands and face, Zhou Chenglei came over to Jiang Xia with his face still covered in water. He took the lunch box she handed him. "Go sit on the threshold by the door and eat."

Then he turned and walked away, laid down his hoe, and sat directly on its handle beneath the blazing sun.

Jiang Xia glanced at him. "Why are you sitting there in the sun? Come sit by the door with us! You've worked all morning. Aren't you going to drink some water before eating?"

There were no stools here, and it was stuffy inside. Only beneath the eaves by the main doorway was there shade from the sun, making it somewhat cooler.

But there was no room left under the eaves.

Father Zhou took his lunch box and sat directly on a bag of cement. Mother Zhou took Zhou Zhou to sit on another unopened bag of cement.

The cement bags were beneath the eaves. Sitting on them kept them out of the sun and was more comfortable than sitting on the stone threshold.

Zhou Chenglei looked at her. In the sunlight, her skin was so fair it dazzled the eye, and her eyes were deep and clear, holding neither disgust nor disdain.

He was sweaty and dusty all over after working, especially with the fishy sea smell still clinging to him from going out to sea. Usually, she looked at him as though he were a fly.

If they sat together, would she not mind that he was dirty?