Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 374 How did you get here?

There was silence in the room.

Lin Qingping stood inside the house, looking at him standing blankly at the door.

Their eyes met through the crowd in the living room, carried by the sea breeze that smelled of gardenias.

He was standing in the shadows, so it was impossible to see what was in his eyes, or even if his appearance had changed. All that could be seen was him in his training uniform, standing there, with the tropical sun and clouds painting the sky behind him into a magnificent picture.

After a brief eye contact and a brief silence, the military wives in the room suddenly came to their senses with Zhiyuan's clear and joyful cry of "Dad Gu".

"I...I'm going to pick up the kids. Where did I go to play?"

"I... my husband, Lao Li, should be back soon, so I'm leaving too."

"Then... I'll go home and cook dinner too!"

The military wives made all sorts of excuses and quickly left the house.

Zhiyuan stood between his father and mother, looking left and right. He saw that the two were still staring at each other, as if there was glue in their eyes, and they couldn't be separated.

Zhiyuan inexplicably felt that he should go to his room at this time.

Finally, only Gu Juncheng and Lin Qingping remained in the small living room.

The sounds of military wives returning could be heard outside.

Lin Qingping saw Lei Sufang's figure flash past Gu Juncheng.

The still image has finally come to life.

Lin Qingping leaned forward and asked from outside, "Sister Lei, come in and sit down!"

Lei Sufang poked her head in, smiling apologetically, "We're not sitting here anymore. It was Yuqiu who left her things behind... I'll come back with her to get them..."

Lei Sufang quickly pulled someone out from behind her, pushed them through the door, frowned, and whispered, "Hurry up!"

Yu Qiu, a relative of the deputy division commander on the island and a new friend of Lin Qingping, blushed and smiled, "I'll just take my things and leave..."

They said they'd take it and leave, and they really meant it. Before they could even finish a sentence, they grabbed the things and dragged them away. The word "leave" was said from outside.

After this disturbance, Gu Juncheng also came back to life from being a still image.

As he looked away from her face, he glanced around the house.

Sofa, long table.

The paintings on the wall, the wildflowers of the island on the table, and the desserts on several plates.

The scene and feeling were vaguely familiar.

With these few extra items, the room suddenly seems to be completely full.

"I...I'm going to take a shower first." Gu Juncheng lowered his head and went into the inner room.

As he passed by Lin Qingping, he smelled a faint fragrance, the same scent as the white wildflowers on the island. The image he had seen when he reached the doorway flashed through his mind.

As the hostess, she gave all the best seats to the guests and moved a small stool to sit in the most inconspicuous corner.

But, by sheer coincidence, the first thing I saw when I stood at the door was her.

Moreover, I only saw her.

She was dressed very simply.

A plain white pullover short-sleeved shirt with no patterns, like the kind of old man's shirt worn by those old men taking a stroll in the capital, looked wide, long, and loose on her.

She was dressed so simply, yet even in such simple attire, she was the only one I noticed in the crowd.

At that moment, she was holding a small teacup, taking a sip of tea, smiling slightly, listening to the military wives around her talking. The sunlight shone on her face, making her skin as smooth and radiant as jade.

There is no dedicated shower room at home. He usually uses a bucket of water and a bar of soap to wash and rinse off in the backyard, with only a curtain drawn around the perimeter to block out three sides.

That was all he could do today; he simply filled three buckets of water and applied soap three times.

Just as he was about to fetch the fourth bucket of water, Lin Qingping opened the back door and came out, her face grim, and lifted the curtain.

Because he was taking a bath outdoors, even though there was a curtain in front of him, he was still wearing his underwear and didn't dare to take his clothes off completely. Even so, when Lin Qingping lifted the curtain, he instinctively used the bucket to block his way.

Lin Qingping lifted the curtain, raised her chin, and looked at him with a nonchalant tone, "Are you planning to steam yourself and eat yourself?"

Gu Juncheng was speechless for a moment.

"If you didn't know better, you'd think you were Tang Sanzang, all cleaned up so you could be steamed and eaten." Lin Qingping said something Gu Juncheng didn't understand; at this point, the 87 version of Journey to the West hadn't even aired yet!

Lin Qingping scoffed, pulled down the curtain, and went back inside.

Gu Juncheng had no reason to dawdle any longer. He cleaned himself up, changed his clothes, and went back into the room wearing only a vest and long pants, his hair still dripping wet.

Lin Qingping sat on the sofa, holding a notebook and writing something.

The tea that the military wives had drunk and the fruit peels on the table had already been cleaned up.

He sat down opposite her and reached for the teacup on the table, wanting to have a drink of water.

Lin Qingping glanced at him. "This is my cup!"

His hand stiffened for a moment, then he put the cup down again.

Lin Qingping didn't seem to be in a hurry at all, and kept drawing on the paper.

Gu Juncheng finally couldn't hold back any longer, "What are you drawing?"

Lin Qingping showed him the notebook, “This is the front yard. We need to fence it off. From the fence to the gate, we need to pave a path with cement slabs. We need to divide the area into sections. I don’t know what kind of flowers are suitable for growing on this island. We need to plant flowers.”

She pointed to the fence again, "We need to plant climbing flowers here, roses or bougainvillea would be fine. I saw that you have red bougainvillea on your island, and they are blooming very beautifully. I just don't know if they can climb and cover the entire fence."

Gu Juncheng frowned as he looked at her.

Whether she genuinely didn't see it or was pretending not to, she pointed to another spot with the tip of her pen. "This is the backyard. I didn't know that the curtain was where you showered. Since you shower there, let's build a shower room there. It's right behind the kitchen, so it should be convenient to connect the water pipes."

"We should plant some vegetables in the backyard; we can't eat seafood every day." Lin Qingping drew a circle in the corner. "This place... it would be great if we could build a grill here..."

She tapped her head lightly with her pen and began to furrow her brow in thought.

“No, Lin Qingping…” Gu Juncheng took her notebook away, frowned slightly, and asked her, “How did you get here? What are you doing here?”

And what are you planning with all that writing and drawing?

Lin Qingping snatched the notebook back and pointed to the pictures on it, "What do you mean, don't you understand? I drew it very clearly and explained it very clearly."

Gu Juncheng said with a sullen face, "I don't understand."

Lin Qingping slammed the notebook down, saying, "I've said it before, life needs different experiences."

"So, how was your experience?" Gu Juncheng grabbed her hand and saw that her once fair and delicate hands were covered with fine bloodstains, and there were faint ink marks on her fingertips that could not be washed away. "Is this your experience?"