Zhou Chenglei's hand holding the water ladle accidentally shook, and he quickly grabbed the dry towel from the back of the chair and draped it over her neck, covering that enchanting springtime beauty.
Suddenly, a large amount of water streamed down her neck. Jiang Xia, who knew nothing about what had happened, hurriedly wiped it with the towel. "Too fast. Slow down—the clothes are all wet."
"Sorry." His voice was slightly hoarse.
After finally helping Jiang Xia wash her hair clean, Zhou Chenglei carried two large buckets of hot water into the Shower Room and told her to take a bath.
Fortunately, Mother Zhou had already gone back to her room. Otherwise, if she had urged the two of them to bathe together, no one knew how that would have ended.
After Jiang Xia finished bathing, she sat in the courtyard and dried her hair.
The breeze tonight was very comfortable, carrying a faint fishy scent from the sea.
At night, the fishing village had no light pollution, and stars were scattered across the entire sky.
Jiang Xia combed her hair with a red plastic comb while thinking about what she should do next.
She definitely had to attend university. It was not only because of the diploma—only after getting into university could she bring out what she had learned in her previous life openly and legitimately.
But she could not take the National Higher Education Entrance Examination this year. The deadline had passed, and she only had a hundred yuan on her. That money definitely would not be enough. She had to find a way to earn money and take the exam next year.
She had to take it no later than next year. According to the book's setting, after next year, married people could no longer take the National Higher Education Entrance Examination.
But how was she supposed to earn money? Zhou Chenglei came out after bathing and saw Jiang Xia gazing distractedly at the night sky. Not knowing what she was thinking, he said, "The wind is strong in the courtyard, and there are lots of mosquitoes too. Go to bed once your hair is dry. Don't catch a chill."
Jiang Xia came back to herself and glanced at the basin of their clothes. Her face inexplicably felt a little hot, and she quickly answered, "Mm. Then I'll go back to the room first."
Just now, after she finished bathing and came out, he had taken the clothes from her basin.
She had said she could wash them herself. After all, they were getting divorced.
He had merely looked at her. "Didn't you say you can't wash clothes? I've always washed them for you. A few more days won't make a difference."
What else could Jiang Xia say?
After Jiang Xia returned to the room, Zhou Chenglei began washing the clothes the two of them had changed out of.
In the room, Jiang Xia's hair was already dry.
She lay on the bed, gazing at the snow-white old-fashioned mosquito net and listening to the sound of clothes being scrubbed outside. She wondered, Will Zhou Chenglei come back to the room to sleep after he finishes washing the clothes?
He probably won't! We've both agreed to get divorced. Zhou Chenglei didn't sleep in the same room with me last night. Now that he's moved over and has a room of his own, he should sleep by himself.
Before long, the sound of a door closing came from the hall. Right after that, the neighboring room's door closed too.
Jiang Xia heard it, turned off the light, and went to sleep.
Cicadas chirped outside the window, and she could faintly hear the sound of waves. The room was very quiet, perfect for sleeping.
After a tiring day, Jiang Xia soon grew drowsy.
In a daze, a faint, unusual sound came from the roof tiles, as if something were crawling across them.
Jiang Xia's entire body stiffened! She opened her eyes wide. She could not see anything in the darkness, but she suddenly thought of the two snakes in the room during the day.
She thought of Great-Grandmother saying that a whole nest of snake eggs had been laid, and that an entire nest of baby snakes would hatch.
Jiang Xia: "..."
Why did I have to think of that? How did my mind even get there? It can't be. I must have heard wrong.
She pulled up the quilt and covered her head.
At that moment, another strange sound came from the roof tiles.
The room was too quiet, so she heard it especially clearly! "Zhou Chenglei!"
That shriek nearly lifted the Tile Back right off the roof! Jiang Xia threw off the quilt, pulled open the mosquito net, climbed out of bed, and ran outside like a gust of wind.
In the neighboring room, Zhou Chenglei had just taken off his shirt and was about to sleep when he heard the shrill call. He ran out without even putting his clothes back on.
Then a dark figure pounced straight at him and hung from him like a sloth.
"There's a snake! There's another snake on the roof!"
Father Zhou and Mother Zhou were both jolted awake. Only Zhou Zhou, being a child, slept soundly and continued snoring.
The two of them hurriedly climbed out of bed and left the room to see what was happening.
Mother Zhou had only just opened the door when she hurriedly closed it again.
"What's wrong with her this time?" Father Zhou followed behind her, his face full of irritation at being awakened. Making such a commotion in the middle of the night was no longer a first.
Mother Zhou pushed Father Zhou back toward the bed. "It's fine, it's fine. A'Lei is there! Xiao Xia was probably frightened by the snake during the day and had a nightmare."
Mother Zhou had also heard Great-Grandmother mention the snakes in the room during the day.
Once Father Zhou heard that, he stopped worrying. They were only snakes. In summer, they appeared every few days, and A'Lei knew how to catch them. What was there to fear? People from the provincial capital were simply making a fuss over nothing.
The two of them lay back down and continued sleeping.
*In the other room, Zhou Chenglei held Jiang Xia, switched on the light, and shone the Electric Torch around.
There was nothing he could do. She was clinging too tightly and absolutely refused to get down.
Zhou Chenglei held Jiang Xia with his right arm and the Electric Torch in his left as he searched everywhere.
Although he knew in his heart that it was unlikely to be a snake and was probably a rat, he still checked every corner with meticulous care.
"See? There's no snake. It was probably a rat crawling across the roof. Rats usually don't bite people." After injuring his right ear, he was almost deaf on that side and could hear with only one ear. His hearing was therefore not as sharp, which was why he had not heard it just now. But he could guess what it was.
Jiang Xia followed the Electric Torch's beam around from his arms. There was indeed no snake, but she was still afraid!
He probably could not understand it, but she was afraid of snakes—terrified of them.
"I don't dare sleep alone."
Zhou Chenglei: "..."
*The floor had been washed that day and was not fully dry, so they could not lay out bedding on it. In the end, Zhou Chenglei carried her back to the neighboring room to retrieve his pillow, thin quilt, and the clothes he had just taken off.
He was accustomed to sleeping bare-chested, but there was no way he could sleep bare-chested with her.
Jiang Xia lay on the inside of the bed and watched him put on a long-sleeved shirt, buttoning it all the way to the top. The contours of his muscles were faintly visible beneath the fabric...
Zhou Chenglei turned off the light, sat down on the bed, tucked the mosquito net in securely, and lay down.
"Go to sleep." The man's voice was low and slightly hoarse.
There was a stretch of distance between them, with a thin quilt placed between them as well.
Jiang Xia closed her eyes at ease.
It was the height of summer, August. There was no fan and no air conditioner, and the heat radiating from the person beside her was impossible to ignore. Jiang Xia felt a little hot, and her mouth and tongue grew somewhat dry.
They say thirty is like a wolf and forty like a tiger. In her previous life, she had been about the age when she was as ravenous as a wolf and fierce as a tiger...
What was she thinking? Jiang Xia was startled by her own wild thoughts. She turned over to face the wall, lightly kicked off the thin quilt, and hugged it instead. She cast the lurid refuse from her mind aside, listened to the cicadas and waves, and forced herself not to think about anything as she went to sleep.
Zhou Chenglei was hot too, yet he was still covered by the thin quilt.
The bed was 1.5 meters wide, so the two of them lay rather close together. Keeping the quilt over them was safer.
Feeling Jiang Xia kick the quilt away, he asked, "Are you hot?"
Jiang Xia's body stiffened. "Mm, hot."
It was August. Being hot was normal.
Zhou Chenglei threw off the quilt, got out of bed, took a Large Palm Leaf Fan, and lay back down. He gently fanned the two of them.
The Large Palm Leaf Fan sent wave after wave of air over them—soft, gentle, and cool, just enough to keep them neither cold nor hot.
Perhaps the breeze was too comfortable. Or perhaps the person beside her had a clean, steady presence that made her feel safe. Jiang Xia's breathing soon grew light and shallow.
Zhou Chenglei sensed that the person beside him had fallen asleep, but he could not sleep at all. He wanted to fetch two buckets of well water and rinse himself off. It was too hot.
But the moment he moved, the person beside him turned over and draped both her arms and legs across him.
Zhou Chenglei: "..."
It was not until the early hours of the morning that Zhou Chenglei finally drifted into a hazy sleep. He felt as though he had barely slept when the sound of his parents speaking softly came from outside.
Zhou Chenglei opened his eyes: It's time to go out to sea!
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