Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 137 - 136 We, Too, Will Not

Chapter 137: Chapter 136 We, Too, Will Not

After enduring 23 hours of utter despair from being bound, Wang Xue’s heart was once again moved by Su Yuncheng.

Eight seconds after her heart fluttered, it was completely dead.

She thought that Lin Nianhe’s liking for Su Yuncheng wasn’t just because of his looks, but mainly due to a similarity in attraction—they were both equally harmful.

Wang Xue felt... somewhat relieved.

"Stay here, don’t leave."

Before he left, Su Yuncheng gave Wang Xue a piece of advice and a sharp stone.

Wang Xue nodded, stretched out her sore hand and, trembling, grasped the stone.

As if it were the hope of her salvation.

...

"Grandpa, Grandpa."

Niuwa had a pair of very dark, bright eyes, like two pieces of coal embedded in his excessively thin face. He was seven this year, much shorter than his peers, looking like he was only five.

Uncle Niu was watching him, his gaze full of something Niuwa couldn’t understand.

"What’s wrong?" Uncle Niu asked.

Niuwa pushed his plate towards him: "Grandpa, I’m full."

In the plate were five plump dumplings, filled with meat. Grandpa had only made ten in total.

Niuwa licked his lips and finally voiced the puzzlement he had harbored long: "Grandpa, why do we eat dumplings today?" They were made from pure white flour and pork filling.

Niuwa had never eaten such dumplings before, not even during the New Year.

He didn’t know where the white flour and meat came from, but he knew they were delicious, and that his grandpa hadn’t touched a single one.

Uncle Niu tugged at the corner of his mouth and whispered softly: "Dumplings when you leave the house, noodles when you enter, today we ought to eat dumplings."

Niuwa nodded, not fully understanding, and pushed the plate back towards the old man: "Grandpa, eat, it’s getting cold."

Uncle Niu shook his head: "Grandpa is not hungry, you eat."

"Grandpa is lying, you haven’t eaten since morning."

Niuwa had been dependent on his grandpa since he was sensible. An orphan, his precocious nature was heart-wrenching.

He got down from the stool, moved to Uncle Niu’s side and brought a dumpling to his mouth.

The child, with his bright eyes, earnestly said: "Grandpa, eat, it’s really good."

Uncle Niu looked at him. His rough hand rested on the boy’s head and rubbed it.

He said: "Kid, when you go out, be smart, remember, if something’s not right, just run, you run fast, no one can catch you..."

"When you’re out and about, you need to handle things, and as long as you can live, nothing is disgraceful, you understand?"

As he spoke, his eyes reddened.

Niuwa blinked his large eyes, tilting his head as he looked at him.

He didn’t quite understand what Grandpa meant, but he nodded anyway.

Uncle Niu ducked the dumpling and, with trembling hands, pulled a handkerchief of unidentifiable original color from his breast pocket.

It might have been blue, or perhaps green.

He stuffed the handkerchief in the pocket he had just sewn for Niuwa the previous night, instructing him: "Kid, if you really can’t carry on, then take it out, remember, only when you’re alone, don’t let others see."

Niuwa felt his chest pocket heavy, and upon touching, it felt somewhat hard.

"Grandpa..."

A tall figure appeared in the simple courtyard of the Niu Family, interrupting the conversation between the grandfather and grandson.

There was very little in the yard; some spots on the ground only showed traces of what had once been there.

The shadow moved slowly forward, blocking the light from the kitchen.

The man didn’t speak, just stood quietly, waiting.

Uncle Niu’s hand shook slightly, then moved back to Niuwa’s head.

He rubbed it hurriedly, as if wanting to rub it a few more times.

"Kid, Grandpa is going out for a while, be good, stay at home," Uncle Niu said.

Niuwa tilted his head towards the strange man by the door, nodded, and then pushed the dumpling back to Uncle Niu’s mouth, insisting: "Grandpa, eat a dumpling."

Uncle Niu’s eyes became fiercely red.

"Alright, I’ll eat."

He opened his mouth, tremblingly, and took the dumpling into his mouth.

Niuwa smiled; his coal-black eyes curved like crescents.

"Grandpa, I’ll wait for you, let’s eat dumplings again tomorrow."

"Alright, alright."

Uncle Niu stood up, and finally pinched Niuwa’s face before turning around to walk towards the man at the door.

The dumplings had gone cold and were a bit tough to chew.

But they were the most delicious dumplings Uncle Niu had ever eaten in half a century.

"It’s got nothing to do with the kid, don’t frighten him."

He said,

his voice carrying a plea.

"Mm."

Su Yuncheng responded in an equally low voice, fulfilling his wish.

Then they really walked out side by side, like old friends who had known each other for many years.

"Grandpa, Grandpa!"

Niuwa suddenly ran out.

Uncle Niu stopped his steps. He didn’t turn around, just looked up at the sunset, tears streaming from his murky eyes.

"Grandpa, come back early, I was just playing with you, I don’t want to eat dumplings anymore."

"You... come back early."

Niuwa yelled towards Uncle Niu’s back.

Uncle Niu wiped his face, hiding the tears in the palm of his hand.

He turned around and waved his hand dismissively, his tone impatient as usual: "Go back home and stay there, stop making a fuss."

Niuwa didn’t go home, Uncle Niu didn’t look back.

Perhaps, the dependent grandfather and grandson might never see each other again.

Along the way, Su Yuncheng asked, "You want to send him abroad?"

Uncle Niu grinned, tears running into his mouth, not tasting bitter: "Doctor Zhuang said I don’t have many days left... My own son died at ten, Niuwa is the child I picked up... Even if picked up, I have to take care of him. He doesn’t know the things I’ve done, it’s not his fault."

Su Yuncheng said: "Wang Cang and Wang Wei and their people have all been arrested, no one can smuggle him out."

"Ah..."

Uncle Niu sighed.

"He would have a harder time surviving out there," Su Yuncheng glanced at him, "and frankly, Wang Cang never really planned to take the risk to send a kid away."

"Oh, that’s the way it is."

Perhaps knowing his plans had fallen through, Uncle Niu didn’t react much upon hearing the truth.

Su Yuncheng didn’t speak further, silently walking out of the village.

Uncle Niu walked very slowly, step by step.

When he reached the entrance of the village, he still stopped, turned back, and looked towards home.

There was a tiny black spot, his face not visible, but he knew, that was the child he had taken in and raised for seven years.

He was still waiting for him, waiting for him to come home.

Uncle Niu’s long-held back tears flowed once more.

His lips quivered, and after a long while, he asked: "How will this kid survive in the future?"

He’s just a tiny bit of a thing, can’t do much farm work, in the future...

Uncle Niu turned back, his eyes pleading as he looked at Su Yuncheng: "I just want the kid to live... Is it wrong to wish for the kid to survive?"

Su Yuncheng remained silent.

He was naturally not eloquent, unable to articulate anything convincing.

"You’re not wrong, but am I?"

A clear and sharp voice rang out nearby.

Su Yuncheng turned his head to see Lin Nianhe standing under a tree not far away.

He frowned, she didn’t look at him.

Lin Nianhe slowly walked over and continued to Uncle Niu: "Are the two Zhang Family boys who were driven out of their home wrong? Are the soldiers guarding the borders wrong? You think you are just seeking a way for a child to live, but in fact, you are harming others and the fertile land that gave birth to and nourished you."

"Indeed, our country is very poor right now, but she is already trying hard to protect every citizen, you should believe in her."

"The Great Wall will not betray the country;"

"The Yellow River and Yangtze River will not betray the country;"

"The Kunlun Mountains will not betray the country;"

"And neither will we."