1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 365: Returning Home and the Manuscript "Atonement"

The next afternoon.

As the sun sets, the sky becomes blue and the milky white clouds are tinged with a hint of red.

Cheng Kaiyan stood in the living room, tilted her head to look out the window at the gradually dimming light, and shouted, "Are you done? It's almost dark, there's no need to take so many things, there's no room for them."

"understood."

Liu Xiaoli responded from the kitchen, then turned to Jiang Wan, who was still searching and picking in the cupboard, and said helplessly, "Mom, stop looking. I can't take it down."

"Why can't you take it? If you don't take it away, I won't be able to finish it. I've packed all the black sausage, bread, kvass, and snacks for you. Just take them and go. Why are you giving orders here? Really."

Jiang Wan leaned over, took out a few packages from the cupboard and stuffed them into the bag, saying unhappily.

"Look at how much you've packed. The snakeskin bag is full. I can't carry it anyway."

Liu Xiaoli glanced at the opening of the bag in her hand, speechless.

"You definitely can't get it. I don't expect you to do it. Why don't you ask Cheng Kaiyan to do it? If a man doesn't do housework and can't carry something with his strength, what's the point of him?!"

Jiang Wan snorted and retorted impatiently.

"What you said..."

When Liu Xiaoli heard this, she didn't know what to say.

"Humph! Okay, I won't take it anymore. Hurry up and pack up and leave."

Jiang Wan snorted coldly. This damn girl clearly felt sorry for her man and was afraid that he would get tired.

The family of five packed up their things and headed to the train station with their bags.

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the train station.

"You two wait, I'll go buy some platform tickets."

Jiang Wan said something to her daughter, then turned around and hurried to the ticket office.

About a few minutes later, the beautiful woman came jogging back with the platform ticket in her hand, sweat beading on her forehead and she was panting from exhaustion.

"Let's go."

Entering the station, there is a train parked next to the platform.

After asking the attendant, I learned that there was still more than half an hour before departure.

"You guys...you guys must be fine over there, right?"

As they were about to part, Jiang Wan pulled Liu Xiaoli and said with some reluctance.

"I know, Mom."

Liu Xiaoli nodded slightly.

"Cheng Kaiyan, you take good care of Xiaoli over there, okay? She has no other relatives or friends over there except her aunt."

Jiang Wan warned with a serious expression.

"Don't worry, Aunt Wan, I'm here."

Cheng Kaiyan nodded seriously.

"I'll go to BJ's in April to discuss your affairs with your mother."

"Okay, I'll pick you up in person then."

Jiang Wan, Liu Jianshe and Liu Xiaoling came forward one by one to say goodbye, and after some instructions, it was not long before departure.

The station loudspeaker sounded:

"Dear passengers, please note that the No. 15 express train from Harbin Station to BJ is about to depart."

"Get in the car."

Jiang Wan took a deep breath and handed the luggage of various sizes to Cheng Kaiyan and Liu Xiaoli, her eyes already reddened.

"Mom, goodbye, go back early."

Liu Xiaoli reached out and hugged her mother. The familiar body, the familiar smell, and the warmth of her face touching hers made it hard for her to let go, and her nose was sore for a moment.

This was the first time since she grew up that she felt sad about leaving, probably because the time she would spend with her mother in the future would become longer.

After all, she will get married and leave here and this home in the future.

The mother and daughter hugged each other gently and talked to each other.

"Be careful when you get there. Don't think you can do that just because you're about to get engaged. Be reserved and firm. Don't just give in softly when Cheng Kaiyan gets a little too strong. A girl won't cherish her body once it's in the hands of a man."

Jiang Wan leaned close to her daughter's ear and whispered, reminding her in the tone and manner of someone with experience.

"I know! Why did I obey him so softly?"

When Liu Xiaoli heard this, her heart trembled and she felt immediately ashamed and angry.

"Okay, get in the car, and remember what I said, I'll come to see you in April."

Jiang Wan shook her head, the meaning in her eyes was self-evident.

This girl used to be very reserved and dignified, why did she become so shameless after starting dating someone?
Some time ago, I dared to take off Cheng Kaiyan's clothes and wipe her body at home, and even dared to sleep in the same bed with her...

How can this be done without reminders!

just in case……

"I'm leaving."

Liu Xiaoli suppressed her embarrassment and waved goodbye to her mother. Then she turned around with her things and boarded the train with Cheng Kaiyan.

"Uuuuuu——"

Soon, a heavy and distant horn sounded from the locomotive.

Billowing steam rose in the cold air and the wheels began to roll.

“Bang, bang, bang—”

The train started moving, and Jiang Wan followed it until the train gradually went away, until she could no longer see the bright and lovely girl in the glass window even when she stood on tiptoe.

The beautiful woman then sighed, and turned and left with her husband and little daughter.

……

……

"Lunch box, lunch box, delicious lunch box~"

The small and crowded carriage was filled with countless people leaving their homes. Outside the window, the cold north wind was howling, turning water into ice.

Of course, the train windows could not be completely closed, and cold wind rushed in through the gaps, dropping the temperature in the carriage to freezing point, making people shiver all over.

The carriage, which people had the impression of being quite noisy, was now so quiet that only a few people could hear each other. It seemed that everyone was so cold that they didn't even have the energy to talk.

The attendant pushed a dining car covered with oil stains and black oxide, and sold lunch boxes in a shrill voice. The rumbling sound of the wheels was particularly obvious in the carriage.

"Comrade, do you have any smoked chicken?"

Cheng Kaiyan washed his face and came out of the bathroom. This time, Aunt Wan stuffed a lot of things into him, and Xiaoli also had more than 3,000 yuan on her. He planned to sleep late tonight. It was still early in the evening, so he bought some midnight snacks.

"Yes, this is our specialty. It is smoked with firewood in the afternoon. It smells so good."

The flight attendant looked at him a few more times because he was good-looking, and tried hard to sell him: "Comrade, let me tell you, this smoked chicken should be paired with some wine. The temperature today is freezing, so we should pair the smoked chicken with Shaodaozi wine. That guy will feel very comfortable and will be warm when he sleeps at night."

"Forget it. People say that the train is not peaceful now. How can I dare to drink?"

Cheng Kaiyan shook her head and took a smoked chicken.

In fact, I brought some kvass in my luggage, which goes really well with smoked chicken.

Back to the sleeper car.

"Are you back? Come up quickly."

Liu Xiaoli was curled up in the quilt with a book in her hand. When she saw Cheng Kaiyan coming back, she moved inside and gave her seat to Cheng Kaiyan.

Train sleeper berths are usually for one person and are relatively small, but they can accommodate two people by squeezing together.

"I bought a smoked chicken and some kvass. We'll have it as a midnight snack later."

"it is good."

Cheng Kaiyan walked over and sat down, put the smoked chicken away, and then accurately found the bag of food from the luggage that was stuffed full under the bed and started searching.

The single bed was covered with clean sheets and a thick quilt. Cheng Kaiyan took off his trousers and threw them at the end of the bed, then crawled into the quilt and sat next to Liu Xiaoli. Soon, a warm and fragrant heat came over him, and he no longer felt cold.

"Huh...it's so cold outside. It's finally warm."

As the seat was quite narrow, Cheng Kaiyan moved inwards, reached behind the girl, and first caressed the back of her neck. The back of her neck had distinct joints, and the skin seemed to be filled with a layer of fine luster like mutton-fat jade in the dim environment. It felt smooth and soft, making people love it.

Cheng Kaiyan stretched out his fingers again and circled them around the girl's beautiful hair that smelled of flowers, circling and circling, with the love threads lingering around his fingers.

He asked casually, "What are you looking at?"

"My Neighbor Totoro, I think it's very beautiful. It feels like I'm looking through the pale paper and seeing another world, just like it's really happening."

Liu Xiaoli explained softly that she felt an itch on her neck and raised her hand to scratch it, but she touched Cheng Kaiyan's hand. She immediately understood the reason and patted him gently.

The magazine was "Children's Literature" and since she had nothing to do, she decided to revisit "My Neighbor Totoro".

She likes this work very much, and it is also her favorite work of Cheng Kaiyan.

Cheng Kaiyan smiled slightly, leaned in close and kissed the girl on the face, and said softly: "Silly, I told you it's fictional. If you like it very much, in the future..."

"What's next?"

Liu Xiaoli felt hot where her face was kissed.

"It would be nice if we could realize it ourselves. It's just a life that is within our reach."

The girl leaned over and bumped Cheng Kaiyan's head, making a thumping sound. She said softly, "Then we'll talk about it later."

Cheng Kaiyan touched the place where he was hit and hummed.

The train was rattling along, and the other passengers in the carriage were chatting animatedly. Their voices were neither loud nor soft, but not disturbing either.

Liu Xiaoli lowered her head to read the book and drank water from time to time.

Seeing that she was extremely focused, Cheng Kaiyan stopped disturbing her and took out a pen and notebook to continue thinking about his next work.

He had already recalled the story told by Aunt Wan, a work with similar character settings.

The answer is Atonement.

This is a novel written by the contemporary British writer, Ian McEwan.

Ian McEwan, born in England in 1948, is one of the most influential writers in British literature and a hot candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Atonement was published in 2001 and is widely regarded as one of Ian McEwan's most accomplished novels.

He has been nominated for many literary awards, including the Booker Prize, and has won many literary awards, including the Smith Prize (2002), the National Book Critics Circle Award for Literature (2003), the Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction (2003), and the San Diego European Fiction Prize (2004).

The film adapted from the novel was released in 2007 and won an award.

Time magazine listed it as one of the 100 greatest novels of all time.

The first time Cheng Kaiyan came across this work was when she watched the movie.

As an Oscar-winning film, "Atonement" possesses the ultimate visual poetry, with light, shadow, color and composition all reaching the extreme.

The scene where the heroine Cecilia, wearing an emerald green satin dress, confronts the hero Robbie by the fountain under the scorching sun is a classic in film history.

The flowing feeling of the emerald green dress is intertwined with the crystal water of the fountain. The manor shrouded in soft light, the walls wrapped with vines, and the library penetrated by sunlight create a beauty and illusion like the Garden of Eden.

After watching the movie, Cheng Kaiyan went to read the original novel.

The work tells a story about love, crime and war.

The eldest daughter of an aristocrat fell in love with the son of a steward, but they missed each other due to slander, status, class, and the cruel World War II, and they both died with lifelong regrets.

"Atonement" and the story of the younger uncle, although the two stories took place in different times and different countries, they have a certain similarity.

Leaning against the freezing cold metal carriage of the train, Cheng Kaiyan first recalled both stories, and then wrote down the general plot of "Atonement".

He intends to use these two stories as blueprints for his own story creation, contrasting and complementing each other.

Ultimately reconstruct, re-plan, and re-create a new novel.

"let's start."

Cheng Kaiyan looked at the two pieces of manuscript paper torn from the notebook, which were filled with the general plot, and took a deep breath of cold air.

Tighten the cap and start writing.

"Screw rustle..."

The tip of the fountain pen made a slight sound as it rubbed against the rough manuscript paper. The azure, timeless handwriting bloomed quietly on the blank paper like a flower.

A work that is destined to astound the world is just beginning to sprout tiny buds, waiting for the day when it will blossom before the eyes of literature lovers around the world.

"???"

Liu Xiaoli caught a glimpse of the movement out of the corner of her beautiful eyes, closed the book and put it down, turned her head and looked at him curiously as he wrote for a while, and found that he seemed to have been inspired and was writing a novel.

Liu Xiaoli did not disturb him. She lay down quietly, moved her body to lean against Cheng Kaiyan's back, closed her eyes, and fell into a peaceful sleep.

The comrades in the carriage were talking, chatting, eating, going in and out of the toilet.

Cheng Kaiyan remained unmoved, lowered her head and continued writing, rubbing her wrist and drinking water from time to time.

unconsciously.

The entire carriage gradually became quiet, and the train drove into the overlapping mountains and across the high railway bridges between the ravines.

"Uuuuuu——"

The cold wind outside the car window was howling with ice and snow, the clanging of the rails went all the way into the snow-capped mountains, the silver-white mechanical watch on my wrist made an extremely subtle sound, and the girl next to me was breathing softly...

These sounds did not affect Cheng Kaiyan. On the contrary, they were like white noise, making him feel particularly calm and peaceful.

I do not know how long it has been.

"Um--"

Cheng Kaiyan put down his pen, stood up, stretched himself, and groaned tiredly.

By moving his arms, thighs, waist and back, Cheng Kaiyan finally freed himself from the drama that was filling his mind.

I raised my wrist. It was ten forty.

"It's getting late, it's time to go to bed."

Muttering something quietly, Cheng Kaiyan turned around and prepared to undress and go to bed.

At this moment, the bright and dignified woman sleeping peacefully on the bed trembled her eyelashes, suddenly opened her eyes, blinked at him in confusion, and then asked softly:
"Have you finished writing? What time is it? Go to bed quickly. Staying up late is not good for your health."

"I've finished writing it. I'm about to go to bed at ten forty."

As Cheng Kaiyan answered, he took off his shirt and suddenly caught sight of the smoked chicken wrapped in oil paper stuffed in a cloth bag.

"Sister Xiaoli, how about we have a midnight snack before going to bed?"

Liu Xiaoli's eyes lit up and she slowly got up.

The two men put on their clothes, took out smoked chicken, some snacks, and a bottle of kvass.

"Try it. It's a little cold, but surprisingly not fishy. It's quite delicious."

Cheng Kaiyan took a bite of the chicken leg and found it had a very spicy taste. He passed it to Liu Xiaoli.

"Ah...it's really delicious."

Liu Xiaoli took a bite and drank some kvass, then remembered something and asked, "Kaiyan, were you writing a new work just now? Did you get some inspiration? You look so serious."

The serious look is also very charming, she was fascinated by it before.

"Yes, I got some inspiration when I heard Aunt Wan talk about the deeds of my uncle. I sorted out my thoughts these days and started writing the outline."

"what?"

Liu Xiaoli was very surprised, but after thinking about it, she realized it made sense, so she smiled and said, "Kaiyan, if you write it out, your mother will definitely be very happy."

"To please my mother-in-law, what's the point of writing a novel? Who told me to steal her angel daughter?"

Cheng Kaiyan shrugged and joked.

"Anyway, I want to be the first one to read it. You said I was your first reader. I was the first one to read the previous works."

Liu Xiaoli was very interested. She held Cheng Kaiyan's big hand and said eagerly.

"Okay. You see it first."

The two of them ate and drank, and at eleven o'clock they packed up their things, took off their clothes and went to bed.

It was cold outside, but they slept in each other's arms in the bed, feeling warm and comfortable.

I slept until dawn and opened my eyes.

The outline of the Forbidden City appeared in front of the train.

Got home.

(End of this chapter)