Time Travel: My Comfortable Life After Going to the Countryside

"You took so long to see Xiaoqin off?" In the shadows outside the courtyard, Roland's voice was low, and with each breath, his warm breath almost brushed against Liu Xiangyang's ear.

"She vomited because of the wind on the way. I couldn't just leave her there, so I had to make sure she felt better before I left," he replied calmly.

Roland stepped to the side, moving even closer to him, almost touching his arm. She tilted her head slightly, scrutinizing his expression in the dim light, her nose twitching as if trying to discern some subtle scent.

"Oh? Is that so? Then I'll have to give you a good check." A faint smile played on her lips, and her voice softened. "Comrade Liu Xiangyang, you seem to have a rather unusual smell about you."

This almost provocative attitude caused the small flame in Liu Xiangyang's heart, which had been stirred up by He Xiaoqin, to suddenly ignite again.

He didn't reply, but lowered his eyes to look at Roland, who was so close to him. Her eyes shone brightly in the night, flashing with a bold and yearning light.

Roland felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze. She was about to take a half step back when Liu Xiangyang made a move.

He stretched out his arm and abruptly pulled open the heavy bearskin cloak he was wearing, like unfolding an airtight curtain, enveloping Roland completely and surrounding her instantly with an irresistible force.

"Inspection? Smelling isn't enough." His voice came from above, low and deep, with a magnetic quality that even the night breeze couldn't dispel, and a hint of barely perceptible tension. "It's windy outside; you can't see clearly or inspect thoroughly. If it's an inspection, it has to be in-depth and thorough, right, Team Leader Luo?"

Inside the cloak, only their bodies, suddenly pressed close together, and their breaths mingled. Roland could clearly feel the strong heartbeat beneath his chest.

Immediately following was the faint sound of a metal buckle being touched, exceptionally clear in the silence.

"I've been supporting her all the way, so it's perfectly normal for me to get a little smelly on me." Liu Xiangyang's voice was close to her ear, his hot breath going straight into her ear canal. "If you don't believe me, why don't you do it yourself and see for yourself? See if I, Liu Xiangyang, am the kind of person who would take advantage of someone in distress and go against my principles."

The temperature in the cramped space was rising, the sounds of clothes rubbing together and suppressed breathing mingled together. How long had passed, until a few barks of dogs echoed from the distance outside the courtyard, then gradually subsided.

Liu Xiangyang finally loosened his grip, and the heavy bearskin cloak slipped off, separating the two once again.

The cold night wind immediately enveloped her again, making Roland shiver. She lowered her head and hurriedly straightened her disheveled clothes and belt, her fingers trembling slightly.

Her cheeks still had an unnatural flush in the dim light, her lips were slightly swollen and moist, and a few strands of hair were stuck to her temples with sweat.

"Why do you like CZ so much?" Her voice was so low it was almost inaudible, and it had a strange tone to it.

Liu Xiangyang didn't speak, but simply raised his hand and gently wiped the edge of her mouth with the pad of his thumb.

Roland looked at his movements and said with his head down, "Is this alright?"

"Alright, hurry up and go in. I'm going back now." Liu Xiangyang said, then turned around to leave.

"Liu Xiangyang, what do you take me for, a whore?" Roland's voice reached my ears.

Liu Xiangyang turned around and looked at Roland in surprise: "Why would you think that? Isn't this all part of the deal we agreed on? I support you with next year's recruitment quota, and during this period, I have the right to use your personnel, don't I?"

Roland ran over and bumped into Liu Xiangyang's arms: "But I've realized I can't live without you."

"So you don't want the recruitment quota anymore? Don't you want to leave this place?" Liu Xiangyang asked.

Roland fell silent.

Liu Xiangyang patted her on the shoulder, "There's still time, you can take your time to think it over. I'm going back now."

"Don't you have any feelings for me at all?" Roland wrapped his arms around him, preventing him from leaving.

"What I want is a woman who is absolutely loyal to me, not a woman who wants to run away at any time."

"Like Xue Bingbing?"

"Yes, just like her."

Roland released Liu Xiangyang, looked up at him, and said, "I can do what she did. Will you love me the way you loved her?"

Liu Xiangyang felt he might lose Roland, but he disdained to win her over through deception. He pointed to his heart and said, "I'm sorry, she came before you."

"Liu Xiangyang, you're so heartless! You wouldn't even lie to me?"

"I never deceive my woman in matters of the heart, so I don't want to lie to you. You still have time, so think it over carefully." After saying that, Liu Xiangyang turned and left.

Roland didn't turn back and walk into the educated youth settlement until Liu Xiangyang had disappeared from sight, his expression constantly changing.

When Liu Xiangyang returned home, Xue Bingbing and Zuo Qingqing were fast asleep. He patted Zuo Qingqing's face to wake her up and said, "Qingqing, let me take you home."

Liu Xiangyang got up, wrapped Xue Bingbing in the quilt, then stretched out his arm and steadily picked up Zuo Qingqing, while carefully lifting the sleeping Xue Bingbing with his other hand, and brought the two of them back to his courtyard.

After settling Xue Bingbing on the kang (a heated brick bed) and covering her with a quilt, the water quickly heated up.

Zuo Qingqing, clutching her clothes, said in a voice barely audible, "Brother Xiangyang, I'm going to shower first." Then, like a startled fawn, she slipped into the bathroom next door.

When she emerged, still warm and fragrant with soap, her hair damp and draped over her shoulders, Liu Xiangyang had already refilled the large pot on the stove with water, and the fire in the hearth had roared back to life.

Everything happened naturally, yet with the awkwardness and excitement unique to first experiences. Zuo Qingqing's exclamation was particularly clear in the quiet night, waking Xue Bingbing, who was already a light sleeper.

Seeing Zuo Qingqing's furrowed brows and bitten lip, Xue Bingbing gently comforted her, "Qingqing, don't be afraid, relax. You have to think of him as your support, someone you can entrust your heart to from now on. Try to feel him."

Zuo Qingqing listened to Xue Bingbing's words and tried her best to relax her body, but with little success. She was still trembling slightly with nervousness.

Seeing this, Liu Xiangyang continued working while turning to Xue Bingbing with a smile, "Bingbing, don't just talk theory. Your own performance doesn't seem much better than Qingqing's, does it?" He bluntly exposed her, "Practice makes perfect. Let Qingqing see what you're like later, and she might not be so afraid."

Xue Bingbing blushed at his words, glared at him reproachfully, but couldn't refute him.

……

After a long while, in the warm and humid bathroom, Zuo Qingqing leaned against Xue Bingbing, looking exhausted, and asked softly, "Sister Bingbing, did you go through the same thing back then? I was a little scared."

Xue Bingbing gently splashed warm water on her arms, and smiled when she heard this: "I think that's the way he makes me feel most at ease." Her voice was very soft, but she was very certain.

"Hey, I'm still here, and you two are talking bad about me to my face?" Liu Xiangyang splashed a handful of water at the two of them, the water droplets shimmering in the light of the bulb.

Water splashed everywhere in the small bathroom, and soft laughter rose from the floor. In the midst of their play, skin to skin inevitably touched, and the temperature quietly rose again.

Finally, exhausted, Zuo Qingqing was the first to beg for mercy, waving her wet undergarment in her hand: "I surrender! I surrender! Brother Xiangyang, I give up! You...you should go find Sister Bingbing!"