Chapter 12: The Touching Moments of a Dumpling
The car was still moving. At this moment, Han Dongchen was somewhat taken aback. This tiny woman had abruptly thrown herself into his arms. He could clearly feel her soft body, the faint scent of her hair, and the warmth of her breath. Having never experienced such intimacy, Han Dongcheng blushed uncontrollably and his heartbeat raced—invisible, after all, under his dark complexion.
However, years of military discipline kicked in instantly. He calmed his mind, adjusted his breathing, and after exhaling gently (so as not to embarrass himself), his heartbeat gradually returned to normal.
When the car returned to stability, Han Dongchen gently patted Su Xiaowan's head with his left hand, signaling her that she could get up now.
But Su Xiaowan, having found an opportunity to be this close, in such a warm and safe embrace, would not easily let go.
Looking up slowly, she looked at him through misty eyes after giving him a pitiful glance, feigning weakness, she collapsed back into his arms.
All along the journey, Han Dongcheng was on high alert, ensuring that the woman in his arms was not affected by the car's shaking. His hormones were raging, his face blushing until he got out of the car, his arms and legs numb.
He thought to himself: Never has being on a mission, hiding in one place for over thirty hours, been like this. Because of this issue, our prestigious captain considered himself to have regressed and therefore made a major decision that for the following months, his soldiers were horribly drilled. But that's another story.
It was only after the car stopped that Su Xiaowan reluctantly got up, her hand innocently gliding over his abdomen a few times. Looking at Han Dongchen who sat perfectly, just his expression seemed a bit unnatural, almost as if he were shy.
Looking at Su Xiaowan getting up, Han Dongchen felt a slight sense of loss. But upon seeing Su Xiaowan's teasing look, he hurriedly got off.
With Su Xiaowan not caring, she unhurriedly got off the car and naturally followed Han Dongchen to the train station, which was about 10 minutes walk away.
After securing a seating spot for Su Xiaowan, Han Dongchen left. From leaving in the morning to now, it was almost half a day, and he was starving, his stomach growling non-stop.
She hadn't eaten well these past few days, the food at home was either gruel or cornbread, sometimes with some homemade dishes, almost always whole grains, never rice or white flour (white flour was a luxury for the New Year's celebrations).
These past few days, Su Xiaowan had been surviving on gruel, which wasn't filling at all. Her mother-in-law had packed some pickles and cornbread for the journey, but looking at them made Su Xiaowan's stomach hurt.
When Han Dongchen returned, he found Su Xiaowan struggling to eat the cornbread, a hint of amusement in his eyes. He noticed that she only drank porridge and ate vegetables these days, except for half a cornbread on the first morning, she hadn't eaten much since then.
Before Han Dongchen could even approach her, Su Xiaowan looked up at him, fixated, because she had smelled the meat dumplings. Even though it was only a few days, it felt like a long time since she had tasted meat. Salivating, she looked at Han Dongchen with anticipation.
With a soft look on his stern face, Han Dongchen, seeing Su Xiaowan's hopeful eyes, took out two meat dumplings and placed them in front of her.
With sparkling tears of joy in her eyes, Su Xiaowan held the steaming, white dumpling and took a chunky bite. It was delicious! She was starving. This was the real life! She almost swallowed her own tongue.
She thought to herself: Maslow is so right, physiological needs are indeed humanity's first need. Oh Su Xiaowan, you've really downgraded. What delicacies haven't you had? Yet now, a single dumpling has defeated you.
With these thoughts in her heart, she continued savoring the mouthfuls of the delicious dumpling, completely satisfied.
Seeing her so happy, with her eyes curved like crescents and her face filled with joy as she ate her dumpling, despite her quick pace, her manners were refined. Han Dongchen was infected by her joy. Seeing her happy, he felt a sense of satisfaction. He then sat down, picked up the cornbread and pickles and began eating.
While Su Xiaowan was battling with the second meat dumpling, she suddenly noticed Han Dongchen eating cornbread with pickles. She froze in place, a wave of emotions washing over her, moistening her eyes.
It had been years since anyone cared for her in this way. The last time she felt so valued, so cherished, was long ago when her parents were still alive. Someone was willing to suffer so she could have the best of everything.
A warm feeling flooded her heart, filling every corner. Han Dongchen's eating manners weren't refined. He looked somewhat rough. But at that moment, Su Xiaowan saw him eating the cornbread under the sunlight, looking so handsome, so dazzling, her tears started falling. (Years later, thinking back, she still felt that warmth and was touched).
When Han Dongchen saw that Su Xiaowan had stopped eating and was looking at him tearfully, he was confused. Why did she suddenly start crying while eating the dumplings? She seemed so sad.
Han Dongchen hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Don't you like the dumplings? If you don't like the filling, tell me. Whatever you want to eat, I'll go buy it. Please, don't cry."
She looked at Han Dongchen and cried harder. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she felt all the wrongs of the past years crying out. She knew that she must look terrible when she cried, but she couldn't control it. As if she had found a shelter, all the resentment and pain from the past years found a harbour that accepted and held them.
She could safely liberate herself of all the hurt, abandonment, betrayal, fear of death, fear from when she first arrived. All because Han Dongchen's warmth allowed her tightly wound emotions to snap, allowing all her emotions to flood out.
Han Dongchen saw Su Xiaowan crying so painfully. His heart squeezed in discomfort. Not knowing what to do, he set his food aside and gently patted Su Xiaowan's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
Su Xiaowan has been watching Han Dongchen all along, like seeing a vision of her deceased parents. When Han Dongchen reached out his hand, she felt warmth and security, and instantly threw herself into his arms, crying while she held him.