Chapter 24: Chapter 24: What Does Liking Feel Like?
Zhao Nuanyue’s graceful figure was hidden beneath baggy, worn-out clothes. Her delicate face, framed by long, thick bangs, had not yet fully blossomed but already showed the first signs of a woman’s beauty...
Hua Yusen, an atheist, was starting to believe what Zhao Nuanyue had said: what you think about by day, you dream of by night.
It meant he was developing special feelings for Zhao Nuanyue, and it wasn’t some supernatural phenomenon. That was for the best; at least it explained why he’d seen her apparition in the middle of the night.
Otherwise, he truly couldn’t explain what had happened. If this went on, it would make him paranoid and leave his mind in turmoil.
After Hua Yusen returned, images of Zhao Nuanyue frequently flashed through his mind, and he thought of her again and again. Even though he did his best to suppress it, her radiant smile and delicate features had already seared themselves into his memory.
’You can’t dwell on a girl’s thoughts. If you keep trying to figure her out, you’ll slowly start to long for her.’
’And once you start longing for her, it’s not a big leap to falling for her.’ But Hua Yusen, who was slow in matters of the heart, refused to admit it. It wasn’t just that the circumstances were wrong; it was wrong, period—because he had a fiancée.
"Boss, ever since you came back from your injury, I feel like you’ve changed." The man speaking had a head much larger than average and a booming, muffled voice. He was stuffing a large steamed bun into his mouth. "What on earth happened to you on this assignment?"
Hua Yusen glanced at Guo Datou but didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, "Datou, is there anyone you think about by day and dream of by night?"
Hearing this, Guo Datou’s small eyes lit up, and he asked in a sly whisper, "Boss, is there a *woman* you think about by day and dream of by night?"
’If he’s using that phrase, it has to be about a woman!’
"I asked you a question. You answer it." Hua Yusen tossed aside the wild walnut he had been fiddling with. ’This kid... He never says anything useful, but his nosiness is exasperating.’
Guo Datou caught the walnuts Hua Yusen tossed, crushing three of them in his hand at once. Popping the nuts into his mouth, he said with a grin, "I do, Boss! It’s my fiancée back home, Cuihua. In two months, I’m going home to marry her. I have her picture, but I still dream about her all the time. I dream we get married and have a whole bunch of kids!"
For the first time, Hua Yusen didn’t laugh at Guo Datou’s words. In the past, he would have definitely made fun of him.
"So, do you like Cuihua?" Hua Yusen asked. He didn’t know much about the affairs of men and women, so this was a rare moment of him swallowing his pride to ask for advice.
"Like her? Of course I like her!" Guo Datou nodded eagerly. "I’ve already done... all sorts of things with her in my dreams. If I didn’t like her, that would just make me a pervert. Dating without planning to get married is just messing around, and since we’re getting married soon, it should be fine to think about it at night, heh heh!"
"Ahem... So what does ’like’ feel like?" Hua Yusen asked, looking uncomfortable. He couldn’t bring himself to meet Guo Datou’s eyes, which were brimming with gossipy curiosity. "Hurry up and say it. If you don’t, I’ll deal with you!"
Guo Datou covered his head and quickly replied, "Liking someone? Well, to use you educated folks’ words, it’s ’a day apart feels like three years.’ Anyway, for a crude guy like me, it’s not just dreaming about Cuihua. I also really, really want to see her, hold her tight, and kiss the hell out of her!"
When Hua Yusen heard Guo Datou’s words, he thought, ’I’m done for.’
He couldn’t be sure yet if he liked that young girl, Zhao Nuanyue, but he could be certain he did not like his fiancée.
He hadn’t been back to Jincheng City in a year, yet he felt no sense of longing for her. He never dreamed of her, and he certainly felt none of the impulses Guo Datou described—the urge to hold her tight and kiss her passionately.
It was just that for families like his, marriage was not something you decided for yourself. It was decided by the elders.
An alliance of two surnames, a union for the sake of family interests.
To ensure stability and protect the family’s interests, they all had to band together to weather the storms.
He understood this.
His fiancée, Guo Dongmei, must also understand the duties and responsibilities she carried.
As for love, that was too great a luxury for people like them.
Suddenly, Hua Yusen found himself envying Guo Datou. At least he knew what it felt like to be in love.
But what about him?
’Forget it. I won’t think about it anymore. This is no time for romance. I have more important things to do. I have to protect my old commander. If anything were to happen to him, countless families would suffer, including my own and my family’s.’
Hua Yusen threw himself into a grueling training regimen, hoping to shake the image of Zhao Nuanyue that so often occupied his mind.
However, with a big mouth like Guo Datou around, many of his subordinates already knew their boss was lovesick.
If you saw the captain staring blankly into space, you were to give him a wide berth!
He couldn’t see his fiancée, so if they didn’t even let him daydream a little, wouldn’t that be too cruel?
While Hua Yusen and his comrades were lost in their wild speculations, the educated youths living in the Dragon King Temple were giving Zhao Nuanyue the same gossipy looks.
Li Qiong blinked and asked in a curious whisper, "Nuanyue, what did Hua Yusen say to you? Did he confess his feelings?"
Zhao Nuanyue froze. ’In her past life, people during this era dated in secret, never daring to let anyone find out.’ But the words coming from these two bold and uninhibited young women were just so blunt!
"Don’t jump to conclusions. He was just asking if I saw anyone else when I went to save him that day." Zhao Nuanyue scrambled for an excuse. ’Hua Yusen was a good man. On the surface, he was like a block of stone, but underneath he was a passionately erupting volcano. In bed, he was even more fiery—intense and powerful.’
’Back then, Zhao Nuanyue used to grumble to herself that the reason Hua Yusen was so cold and stern-faced was probably because he unleashed all his passion between the sheets.’
Wang Yuan clearly didn’t buy it. "No way! Ever since we were on the train, I’ve noticed that Hua Yusen is always looking at you. That look in his eyes... tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Li Qiong chimed in, "Nuanyue, seriously, I think Hua Yusen is into you. He’s a big guy, but he seems like a good person. You’re still young, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to date him for a few years and then get married!"
Yang Guanghui was a little envious, but it was a pointless envy. His family background had already disqualified him from many career paths. To be able to live a quiet, peaceful life here was more than he could have hoped for, let alone becoming someone with an honorable standing.
"Actually, I think Hua is a good guy, too," Yang Guanghui said. "Nuanyue, if you’re interested, don’t hold back. Go for it."
Wang Yuan and the others didn’t know Hua Yusen, but Zhao Nuanyue did. In fact, you could say she knew him through and through.
’If I remember correctly,’ she thought, ’Hua Yusen has a fiancée right now. If I were to throw myself at him, it would be immoral, and it would only cause trouble for him. That’s the last thing I want.’
