Chapter 18: An Equation of Cause and Effect

At dawn, Qiao Ran was up for her customary morning run.

The poplar branches along the road were nearly bare, and a thin layer of white frost covered the withered grass.

She pulled her collar close. Brr. It was cold.

In the distance, a figure on a large bicycle rode through the hazy morning mist toward her.

He looked familiar.

Qiao Ran slowed, and once she recognized him, jogged in place.

Lu Xiangnan squeezed the brakes and stopped in front of her.

“Do you run every day?” he asked.

She nodded.

She did look a little thinner. Her double chin was less pronounced.

“Shall we go home together?”

He spoke without any expression, his tone barely changing. He was rather like a great scholar of old, steady and unmoved by joy, sorrow, or anger.

A man like that ought to be dull and unromantic, yet he had a delicate, handsome face that suited Qiao Ran’s taste perfectly.

She looked at his bicycle. “Give me a ride.”

“All right. Get on.”

She plopped onto the back seat and felt the bicycle sink beneath her.

“I won’t make the tire burst, will I?” she asked, a little worried.

“No. It can carry a fair amount.”

Qiao Ran was speechless. Men really could be hopelessly literal.

The bicycle moved slowly, making the country path seem long. She wrapped one arm around Xiangnan’s waist and saw his back stiffen.

“You have a narrow waist,” she said.

He seemed about to say something, but after two deep breaths, he said nothing.

Taking advantage, Qiao Ran rested her head against his back.

After a moment, he managed, “It won’t look good if someone sees.”

“What’s wrong with it? It’s not as if we’re having an affair.” She pinched his narrow waist. “Who are you afraid will see? Chen Xiaomei?”

With a squeal, Xiangnan squeezed both brakes and brought the bicycle to an abrupt stop.

He planted his long legs on the ground to keep it from tipping and throwing Qiao Ran off the back.

Following the principle that if the enemy didn’t move, she wouldn’t move, and if he didn’t speak, she wouldn’t speak, Qiao Ran sat silently. She didn’t even ask why he’d stopped.

They remained at an impasse for more than thirty seconds. Just as she felt the air around them growing thin, Xiangnan said quietly, “Chen Xiaomei is only my colleague.”

He was actually explaining himself!

Secretly delighted, Qiao Ran pressed him. “What about me? What am I to you?”

He said nothing. His Adam’s apple bobbed twice.

“Come on, what am I to you?” She pinched his waist again.

There was no extra flesh there; it was lean and firm, and felt especially good beneath her fingers.

“We’re husband and wife,” he replied.

She couldn’t see his face from behind, but his ears had visibly reddened. Morning sunlight shone through his earlobe like a translucent drop of blood.

Qiao Ran loved a shy young man. She couldn’t resist touching the tip of his ear and asserting her claim.

“That’s right. You’re my husband, and I’m your wife. So from now on, you can only take my side, not hers.”

Xiangnan was puzzled. “When did I take her side?”

“When we argued, not taking my side was the same as taking hers.” Qiao Ran spoke with absolute conviction.

Xiangnan taught math; there was nothing wrong with his logic. He had a vague feeling Qiao Ni wasn’t entirely right, yet couldn’t find a point to argue against.

Because I’m your wife, you must take my side unconditionally.

That relationship equation seemed to hold.

When they reached home, Liu Chunhua and her eldest daughter, Lu Hongna, were making breakfast in the kitchen.

Perhaps because Qiao Ran had given her rabbit leg to Chunhua the previous night while trying to lose weight, the old woman, for once, didn’t tell her to cook.

“Why are you back?” Chunhua asked Xiangnan. “Isn’t it Friday?”

“The autumn harvest is busy. Most students have gone home to work for their production teams, so the school gave us a few days off.”

At the mention of harvest and the production team, Chunhua began to sigh and complain.

“One had surgery and can’t do heavy work. The other gets a headache or an aching backside whenever I send her to the fields. We won’t earn any work points this year. Come New Year, the whole family can live on cold wind.”

Xiangnan said nothing, but there was a questioning look in his eyes as he watched Qiao Ran.

Qiao Ni had grown up with her stepmother and could handle both housework and fieldwork. She used to work hard in the fields. Why had she suddenly started slacking off?

If becoming talkative meant she wanted to change her personality, what explained her newfound laziness?

Qiao Ran noticed his gaze, but if he didn’t ask, she wasn’t going to volunteer an explanation. Whatever came, she’d deal with it. Best to ignore him.

She pushed open the west-room door and poked her head in. “Hey, lazy pig, get up.”

Xia Xiaoqi rubbed her sleepy eyes. “Is it time to eat?”

“Food is all you think about, you little glutton. My man’s home. You should get up first.”

“What does that mean? Are you sending me back to the side room?” Xiaoqi’s face crumpled at once, pitiful and aggrieved. “Sweetie, it’s so cold in there. I’ll catch a cold. Then I’ll have to take medicine, and if I take medicine, I’ll throw up…”

“All right, all right, hush.” Qiao Ran looked helpless. “I’m just telling you to get up for breakfast. I didn’t say you had to move back. Stop pretending to be pitiful.”

“Hee-hee! My sweetie is the best. Love you!” Xiaoqi made a little heart with her fingers.

Qiao Ran blew her a kiss in return.

In the kitchen, Xiangnan was squatting by the stove, feeding it firewood.

Qiao Ran sidled up with a grin and whispered in his ear, “Hubby, there’s something I want to discuss.”

Her breath tickled his ear. Feeling awkward, he touched his nose. “What is it?”

“Your brother’s wife is still weak. Let her sleep in the west room for now. You can sleep in the side room tonight.”

Xiangnan was speechless.

What had happened to that equation of cause and effect? Apparently it worked for her but not for him.

“Let my sister-in-law sleep in the west room,” he said.

Qiao Ran was about to praise him for being manly and generous when he changed course. “It’s the holiday, isn’t it? I’ll take you back to your parents’ home for a couple of days.”

Qiao Ran went silent.

Her parents’ home? She had one of those?

Biting her lip, she asked cautiously, “Could we skip it?”

Xiangnan shook his head, resolute.

That dog of a man. As if being handsome weren’t enough, he was clever too. Wasn’t this a roundabout way of testing her?

She shot him an annoyed glare. “Fine, we’ll go. But I can’t go empty-handed. Give me money.”

Whatever happened, she’d collect some money first. If she was exposed, she’d take her best friend and run.