An Afternoon with the Two Lius

Liu Chang'an left Su Nanxiu's house. He had originally planned to go to Antarctica soon... Of course, his "soon" was not the same as the "soon" of ordinary people.

But now we're really talking about the "recent" timeframe for ordinary people.

After the exams, it was winter break, and I could barely make it to Antarctica, even with modern transportation, as the place is indeed quite far.

Swimming across is definitely not an option.

The entire Pacific Ocean lies between them.

After human civilization developed to a certain level, Liu Chang'an never again attempted to travel around the world in a canoe, drifting with the ocean currents.

He's staying in one place for longer and longer, and leaving one place less and less. Thinking about it carefully, he now even considers the time involved in long-distance travel. Compared to his behavior patterns over the past many years, the change is truly remarkable.

Liu Chang'an walked to An Nuan's door with some emotion and saw Liu Yuewang taking advantage of the nice weather to tend to her flowers and plants. She was bent over with her back to Liu Chang'an, and the voluptuous figure of a mature woman was incomparable to that of a young girl.

Thinking back to her youthful appearance, I still feel that Professor Liu essence.

Liu Yuewang pressed her hand to her waist, gently adjusting the hem of her trousers that were digging into her hips. Turning around, she saw Liu Chang'an standing behind her. She wondered how long he had been standing there, and her cheeks flushed slightly. This guy, whose age Liu Yuewang found hard to believe, had a calm and composed look in his eyes that showed an appreciation for women that was really not that of an eighteen-year-old boy.

If he can make people younger, why can't he make himself younger? Liu Yuewang kept reminding herself not to delve too deeply into this question, but it always kept popping up in her mind and lingering there.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Liu Chang'an asked Liu Yuewang. "Actually, I'm good at everything from weeding and fertilizing to digging."

Liu Yuewang suspected he was talking dirty, but then thought she was overthinking it, so she cleared her throat and said, "You have an exam tomorrow, don't you need to prepare?"

"No need, the basic courses haven't changed in years." Liu Chang'an shook his head. "Thinking about it carefully, the things I've really spent time preparing for recently are all related to An Nuan. There's not much else that needs preparing."

"Then could you help me fertilize it?" Liu Yuewang handed a small bag of fertilizer to Liu Chang'an.

Liu Chang'an glanced at the instructions for the fertilizer, then at the variety Liu Yuewang had planted, and got to work.

Liu Yuewang didn't leave either, but sat beside Liu Chang'an and watched him busy himself, lest he pretend to know what he was doing and ruin her flowers and plants. She hadn't taken care of these flowers and plants for a long time, and she couldn't let him mess with them.

The sunlight today was just right, a warm hue, yet there was no feeling of heat in the air. Specks of shade fell from the trees, intertwining with the dappled sunlight, and the quiet afternoon made Liu Yuewang's gaze somewhat languid and alluring.

Sometimes I find it strange. I used to live a pretty natural and leisurely life, but why do I start comparing my daughter to her boyfriend after she got married, and then I realize that something seems to be missing from my life?

Are men really indispensable to women? Liu Yuewang didn't think so. Men were probably like fertilizer, hoes, cucumbers, ginger, garlic, chili peppers, and vacuum cleaners—useful, but not necessarily essential.

After busying herself for a while, Liu Yuewang went home, brewed some tea, glanced at her diary on the coffee table, casually closed it, and instead of putting it back in her room, brought out the tea tray and called Liu Chang'an to have some tea.

"Life's pretty comfortable these days..." Liu Chang'an sipped his tea, his eyes narrowed, and said to Liu Yuewang sitting next to him, "If someone asked you to give up your comfortable life now, because humanity is going to be extinct in a few million or a few hundred million years and you need to make a contribution, would you be willing?"

"What kind of ridiculous question is this?" Liu Yuewang laughed. "You science students just love to daydream and come up with all sorts of science fiction questions, worrying about nothing. We humanities students are more practical."

"If you bring up the debate between arts and sciences, I could talk to you about it all afternoon." Liu Chang'an thought for a moment, then decided he was too lazy to continue the topic. "The tea is quite good; I'll have some first."

"You'll have plenty to drink from now on..." Liu Yuewang looked at Liu Chang'an with some joy, simply regarding him as An Nuan's boyfriend, and found him very comfortable and pleasing to the eye. "As long as you treat An Nuan, I'll brew tea for you for the rest of my life."

After saying that, Liu Yuewang felt that her words sounded a bit inappropriate, but Liu Chang'an had already nodded, seemingly with a hint of expectation. Liu Yuewang felt that she couldn't explain herself, so she turned her head to look at the warm sunlight that was scattered all over the ground.

"Hey, when did you get here?" An Nuan came back skipping and hopping. The girl was still lively, and her long legs took extra big steps. Her figure was light and graceful, like a dragonfly fluttering its wings.

"I just arrived five minutes ago," Liu Yuewang quickly answered. If she had said that Liu Chang'an had arrived much earlier, this brat would have made a scene again, as if she had made a mistake by letting them be alone for so long.

An Nuan nodded. That's alright, only five minutes isn't too dangerous. An Nuan looked at the smiling Liu Chang'an, then suddenly noticed the tea tray. She immediately turned her head and widened her eyes. "Professor Liu, you've been brewing tea for more than five minutes!"

"You brat, you're really annoying me! He's been here for a while, so what?" Liu Yuewang got angry and picked up the teacup in her hand, splashing the tea on An Nuan.

"Ah! My new clothes!" An Nuan quickly dodged. She was wearing white today and felt like a white lotus flower in the sunlight. She couldn't let Professor Liu tarnish her.

"I'll go buy groceries..." Liu Yuewang clapped her hands and stood up, saying to Liu Chang'an, "Chang'an, let's eat here tonight. I'll go buy the groceries... but you can cook."

"Just buy whatever you like to eat," Liu Chang'an nodded casually.

Liu Yuewang ignored An Nuan and didn't bother to change her clothes. She got up, swaying her hips, and walked out of the residential area.

"This woman lied to me," An Nuan said indignantly.

"You're such a busybody." Liu Chang'an continued tending to the flowers and plants.

"I've recently noticed that Professor Liu seems to be making a comeback." An Nuan lowered her voice. She wasn't a woman who made trouble out of nothing; her jealousy was always justified and based on evidence. She never got jealous for no reason. This was the biggest difference between a well-mannered young woman and a shrewish woman who was disliked.

"What do you mean by 'resurrected'?" Liu Chang'an asked, puzzled. "Just so you know, after the exams, I'm going on a long trip and it'll take me a while to get back."

"Alright, since you've already reported everything to me, I won't ask any more questions. But if you tell me on your own initiative, I'd be happy to know." An Nuan rubbed her hands together, chuckled twice, and then looked at Liu Chang'an expectantly.

"To Antarctica." Liu Chang'an knew that her "not asking much" meant he should take the initiative to say it. He smiled and grabbed her small hands that were rubbing together. Even the warm winter sun couldn't warm her small hands as much as he did.