The Early Spring - Extra Chapter 4

Side Story 4 - Liang Chengmin

Liang Chengmin nodded, then shook her head again. Her head was spinning, and the liquor-filled chocolate was long gone, leaving only a lingering hint of sweet, heavy alcohol in her mouth.

With the tip of his nose brushing against hers, Luan Mingrui didn't know how to speak sweet nothings; his words were always straightforward: "I'm asking you, Liang Chengmin. Are you willing or not?"

"If you're willing, I'll have my parents go to your house tomorrow. I'm not a teacher, a doctor, or a worker, but I guarantee that if you follow me in the future, I won't let you go hungry. I'll let you eat your favorite shrimp and crab every single day." Luan Mingrui began enticing her.

Liang Chengmin finally snapped back to reality and reached out to push him, but couldn't budge him. The two thus remained at a stalemate in the dark night—she was pressed against the wall while he was pressed against her, nose tip to nose tip, breath against breath.

"Who needs you to support them! I..." Just as she spoke up, Luan Mingrui listened yet didn't really take it in; this was his first time kissing someone, and he found the feeling exceptionally wonderful. As Liang Chengmin spoke, her sweet scent made Luan Mingrui lose focus, so he simply went to block her lips. Having figured out a bit of the knack, he sucked on her lips forcefully, causing another loud roar to echo in Liang Chengmin's mind.

"You what?" Luan Mingrui asked against her lips.

"I'm a doctor, I can support my—" Luan Mingrui bit her lip, stubbornly refusing to let her finish a full sentence. After going back and forth three or four times, both were left somewhat breathless, and Liang Chengmin's words were finally finished. Her main idea was that she didn't need him to support her—she was a doctor after all, and even if she couldn't eat shrimp and crab every day, she could still treat herself to a feast once her salary was paid.

"I understand now. You mean you're unwilling, right?" Luan Mingrui glared at her: "If you're unwilling, what are you doing? Hugging and kissing a man in a alleyway in the middle of the night—are you acting like a hooligan?" He flipped the accusation on her, intentionally trying to anger her.

"Am I the one acting like a hooligan?" Liang Chengmin was almost infuriated to death by him. Reaching out, she pinched his waist without holding back any strength. Luan Mingrui grunted from the pain and grabbed her wrist, his mouth still relentless: "Where are you touching, Liang Chengmin? Why don't you go down a bit further?"

Liang Chengmin truly hadn't expected Luan Mingrui to be this kind of person. The little nurses at the hospital said he was a refined, lofty young master who never showed a smile to anyone, saying his family had deep roots and that the children in his family were well-read and educated. Was the man the nurses described even the same person as the one right in front of her? How could he be so shameless!

Seeing her flustered, Luan Mingrui knew when to stop while ahead and finally released her, taking a step back: "Fine if you won't marry me. Do you want to date me freely then?"

"No."

"If you don't want to, why is your face red?"

"My face belongs to me, what business is it of yours?"

Liang Chengmin gave him a push, turned around, and ran off. Entering her house, she ran back to her own tiny room, opened a small crack in the window, and saw Luan Mingrui still standing there like a big dummy.

Liang Chengmin hadn't known that having someone on your mind felt like this.

Closing her eyes or opening them, Luan Mingrui's face was all she saw, along with the memory of him holding her while breathing heavily. When she opened her eyes the next day, her eyes were completely red, like a little rabbit's. After eating breakfast, she walked out the door and saw Luan Mingrui standing at her doorstep.

Her face flushed red again: "Why are you here?"

"To give you a ride to work."

"I don't need you to give me a ride to work."

"I'm giving you one anyway."

Luan Mingrui straddled his bicycle and pointed to the back seat: "Get on."

"I have my own bicycle."

"Your legs are too short, riding a size 28 bike looks too comical."

"..."

Hearing the noise, Mother Liang walked out and saw the two at a standstill. Mother Liang knew Luan Mingrui; this young man was quite famous in town.

"What are you two doing?"

"Hello, Auntie. I came to give her a ride to work." Luan Mingrui acted completely open and generous.

"Aren't you getting married soon?" Mother Liang asked.

"Just rumors. If I get married, it'll be to Liang Chengmin. My parents will come over in a couple of days. Please rest assured, Auntie."

"Who wants to marry you!" Liang Chengmin grew anxious and slapped him. In Mother Liang's eyes, however, the two were merely flirting. So she said: "It's getting late, hurry up." Mother Liang had a good impression of Luan Mingrui; this young man looked so upright and proper, matching her daughter perfectly!

Liang Chengmin straddled her own bicycle and rode off, wobbling from side to side. Luan Mingrui followed behind her, watching the wind puff up her clothes. The flagstone path was uneven, making her bicycle appear to bounce up and down.

Looking at Liang Chengmin like this, Luan Mingrui felt that this girl was truly wonderful.

Aside from having a slightly rotten temper, she was great in every single way.

Following her to the hospital, she got off her bicycle. Sitting on his bike with one foot resting on the ground and one hand holding the handlebar, he freed his other hand to grab her wrist: "Liang Chengmin, what I said last night was serious."

"What did you say? You were just acting like a hooligan last night!" Liang Chengmin reprimanded him in a low voice: "If you act like a hooligan again, I'll report you!"

"Fine. I'll come pick you up for dinner tonight."

"I'm not going!"

Although Liang Chengmin said she wasn't going, she kept thinking about it the entire day as if it were a major affair. She thought Luan Mingrui was quite annoying; in the past, she had devoted herself entirely to medical research, and this was the very first time she had been distracted by a man.

When it was time to off-shift, she pushed her bike out of the hospital, and Luan Mingrui was indeed waiting there. Reaching out to grasp Liang Chengmin's bicycle handlebar, he took over the bike. The bicycle drifted slightly across the ground and ended up beneath his legs as he pointed to the back seat: "Get on."

"Not getting on."

"If you don't get on, are you going to walk to dinner?"

"That's my bike!"

"Do you know how comical you look riding this bike?" Luan Mingrui imitated her wobbling from side to side on the seat, making the passersby laugh.

"Luan Mingrui!" Liang Chengmin grew anxious: "Are you sick in the head?!"

"Yeah, I'm sick. Once we're married, you can take your time treating me."

Luan Mingrui had always been decisive, precise, and relentless. Anything he set his sights on had to succeed, and any girl he set his sights on had to be married home. Even if he appeared unusual and acted like an insufferable rogue, it didn't matter—he was willing. Spreading the news first to claim the person—he was just this despicable.

Those words of his were quite alarming; the off-shift passersby all stopped in their tracks to look at them: Doctor Liang is getting married? We haven't even heard of Doctor Liang having a boyfriend, how is she suddenly getting married?

Liang Chengmin grew flustered with him: "You're talking nonsense! In broad daylight, under the bright sun, you..."

"I what? Are you coming or not? If you're not, should I tell everyone about the liquor-filled chocolate?"

The moment Luan Mingrui's words fell, Liang Chengmin hopped onto the back seat, clutching his clothes with her hands: "Hurry up and ride!"

She was deeply afraid that Luan Mingrui's foul mouth would say everything.

She didn't know how she had managed to provoke such a plague god, and what was most terrifying was that she had actually started longing for this insufferable rogue.

Luan Mingrui suddenly squeezed the brakes. Unsteady on her seat, Liang Chengmin's face bumped into his back, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist. Then she heard Luan Mingrui say: "Hold on tight!"

He carried her as they shuttled through the small town. The scent on Luan Mingrui was clean and pleasant, making Liang Chengmin's heart flutter lightly.

Arriving in front of the state-run restaurant, Luan Mingrui squatted down to pad lock the bicycle. Looking at his clean fingers and neatly trimmed hair, Liang Chengmin suddenly felt—how bad could marrying him really be? At the very least, she had spent the entire night thinking about him yesterday.

When Luan Mingrui stood up, Liang Chengmin said to him: "Luan Mingrui, I can't eat this meal for free."

"It's fine if you treat me instead. Did you get paid?" Anyone treating was fine, as long as they sat down to eat.

"What I mean is... I agree to date you freely, and I'm not afraid of marrying you." Her face was bright red, shy yet resolute like a seventeen-year-old girl.

Luan Mingrui looked at her and suddenly smiled. She was so mature while working, solemn one moment and sad the next, her mind filled with her patients. Yet off the clock, she turned into a little girl who hadn't grown up, remarkably pure and clean.

His fingers pinched her face. Even as passersby looked at them, they weren't afraid. What was there to be afraid of?

Luan Mingrui moved remarkably fast. Returning home that very day, he announced his intention to get married. He had a strong mind, but he never acted recklessly; when he said he was getting married, he truly meant it. Thus, when he asked his parents to prepare gifts and visit Liang Chengmin's house, his parents agreed immediately without a second thought.

They knew Doctor Liang—a top-tier girl in town, possessing good character, a great job, and reliable parents. Never in their wildest dreams did they expect that after the two sides had mutually rejected each other during that blind date, Luan Mingrui would quietly and swiftly win the girl over.

Standing to the side, Luan Mingcheng clicked his tongue in wonder: "No wonder you wouldn't let me say she had a rotten temper!"

"She complained that you were a four-eyes! Is she not complaining anymore?"

"With both of your tempers, living together won't mean getting into fights every single day!"

"None of your damn business." Luan Mingrui glared at him.

On the day Luan Mingrui married Liang Chengmin, the small town was exceptionally lively. No one felt these two were merely making do with marriage because of their age. Why? Just seeing the two of them standing there seemed to light up the entire town. What a perfect match!

It was only right that the two of them got married.

Otherwise, who else could they possibly be with?

Luan Mingrui secretly hooked her finger, the tip of his finger tracing light strokes across her palm. Liang Chengmin blushed before the crowd, yet didn't dare move an inch, allowing Luan Mingrui to hold her hand in a hidden display of sweetness.

Liang Chengmin had secretly asked herself whether she loved Luan Mingrui—if she didn't love him, why get married? On the night before the wedding, she pondered over their entire past, feeling as though she had walked straight into the net Luan Mingrui had intentionally cast. He was truly a bad person. Yet she didn't care; this was the first time in her life she had longed for a man, and this feeling was very nice.

Weddings in the small town were lively, featuring the bustling spectacle of wedding banquets arranged down the long street. The bride and groom each wore a red flower pinned to their chests. With small braids styled on her head, Liang Chengmin's smile was so radiant it seemed to clear the skies, exceptionally beautiful.

Luan Mingrui couldn't get enough of looking at Liang Chengmin.

Before the villagers, neighbors, relatives, and friends, he forgot to hide it, completely unconcerned with whether this might hurt the hearts of other girls—in short, he simply loved looking at her.

When offering toasts, Luan Mingrui intentionally drank less, later simply dragging Luan Mingcheng over to block the alcohol for him. Luan Mingcheng was puzzled: "You're the one getting married, why are you making me drink for you?"

"What do you know!"

Luan Mingrui was thinking about the night ahead—if he drank too much, how could he enjoy the night!

When Liang Chengmin's hospital colleagues toasted her, Luan Mingrui pushed Luan Mingcheng forward again: "Our family is sending a representative to drink with everyone. Liang Chengmin has a low alcohol tolerance; drinking too much will affect her work."

"She doesn't have to work tomorrow," a colleague teased.

Then everyone erupted into roaring laughter, all understanding what this young couple was trying to avoid. Most people had been through this day themselves, so they didn't make things difficult for them. The alcohol was swapped for plain water, which still clinked loudly during toasts—as long as everyone was happy, that was better than anything else.

By nightfall, after some lighthearted, symbolic bridal chamber teasing, the crowd dispersed.

Suddenly, only the two of them remained in the room.

Liang Chengmin sat at the head of the bed while Luan Mingrui sat at the foot, even their breathing carried out with utter caution.

A noise sounded outside the window, and someone whispered softly: "How come there's no sound?"

Luan Mingrui detested eavesdroppers. Pushing the window open, he saw several young boys sprinting away.

Closing the window again, he sat back at the head of the bed.

After a while, he asked Liang Chengmin: "Do you have a particularly thorough understanding of the human body?"

"Yes."

"Then study me."