My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

"Su Ming! Su Ming! Wake up!" Qiu Tong was terrified and rushed to the edge of the pond, shouting loudly.

The boy in the water remained motionless, a faint dark red mark visible on his forehead. Qiu Tong was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't swim and dared not go into the water rashly, so she could only desperately shout, "Help! Someone help! Is anyone there?!"

Silence reigned all around, broken only by the chirping of insects.

Qiu Tong gritted her teeth and tentatively stepped one foot into the shallow water at the edge of the pond, intending to reach out and pull Su Ming out. However, the moss under her feet was too slippery, and she lost her balance. With a "plop," her entire foot slid into the deeper water, and she veered off course, about to fall in as well.

Just then, a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"Cousin-in-law!"

Su Ming woke up at some point. He shook his groggy head, wincing in pain from his temple, but his grip on her hand remained firm. Seeing Qiu Tong half-submerged in the water, he disregarded his soaking wet body and pulled her towards him with all his might.

Still shaken, Qiu Tong was pulled into Su Ming's arms. The icy pond water soaked her trousers and the hem of her T-shirt, but what terrified her even more was the fear she had just felt. Instinctively, she clung tightly to Su Ming, burying her face in his wet shoulder and sobbing softly.

"It's alright, sister-in-law, it's alright..." Su Ming patted her back awkwardly, still feeling shaken himself.

A few seconds later, Qiu Tong came to her senses, sheepishly releasing her hand, her cheeks slightly flushed: "I...I thought you..."

"I'm fine, I just bumped into something and I'm a little dizzy." Su Ming forced a smile, glanced down at the two of them looking disheveled, then suddenly bent down, put one hand under Qiu Tong's legs and the other around her back, and with a little effort, he lifted her up horizontally.

"Ah!" Qiu Tong exclaimed in surprise, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck.

Su Ming carried her, walking steadily ashore step by step. Water dripped from his trousers, leaving a trail of wet footprints in the mud. A night breeze blew, and Qiu Tong shivered slightly in his arms.

She looked up, using the light of a distant streetlamp to carefully examine Su Ming's profile, which was so close to hers. The boy's jawline still retained a touch of childishness, but his tightly pursed lips and focused eyes revealed a formidable tenacity.

"Kid, you're pretty good! You've got some strength!" Qiu Tong suddenly said softly, her tone filled with surprise and a hint of barely perceptible admiration. "You look thin, but you're quite strong. You can still walk so steadily while carrying me."

Su Ming was a little embarrassed and honestly replied, "My family is from the countryside, and I've been doing farm work since I was a child. I'm used to it. Besides... you're not heavy."

As they spoke, he had already carried her to the dry cement road. The night breeze was even cooler, and their soaked clothes clung to their bodies, causing them to shiver involuntarily.

Su Ming stood there blankly, seemingly forgetting what he was supposed to do next.

Qiu Tong waited a few seconds, and seeing that he still hadn't let go, she couldn't help but chuckle softly, her tone teasing: "Are you just going to hold your cousin-in-law like this and stand outside in the cool breeze all night?" She paused, lowering her voice slightly, with a hint of seduction, "Isn't it...so comfortable to hold me?"

Su Ming suddenly realized what was happening, his face flushing bright red. He hurriedly and gently put her down, stammering, "Sister-in-law, I... I didn't mean to! I just saw you were scared and your feet were wet, so..."

"Alright, alright, I was just kidding." Qiu Tong giggled, waved her hand, and sighed, "Look at the mess we're in. Let's go back, take a hot shower, change into dry clothes, then go out for some late-night snacks to calm our nerves, and go to bed early!"

Su Ming shook his head: "No, I haven't picked any purslane for you yet!"

"Forget it, it's too dangerous." Qiu Tong glanced at the dark pond with lingering fear. "Let's talk about it tomorrow!"

"It's alright," Su Ming laughed. "I was just worried about getting my pants wet, but they're already soaked anyway." With that, he turned and jumped back to the pond in a few steps, this time much more carefully. He squatted down, quickly grabbed a large handful of purslane, and held it high. "Done!"

The tender green leaves dripped water droplets in his hand, appearing exceptionally bright in the night.

Looking at his smug expression, Qiu Tong couldn't help but laugh again. At that moment, this honest yet stubborn young man stirred something soft within her heart.

"Let's go home," she said softly.

The two walked back side by side, their wet trouser legs slapping against their calves, their footsteps particularly clear in the quiet night. The cool moonlight cast long, slender shadows of them.

No one spoke again, but a subtle atmosphere had quietly spread in the damp, cold night wind.

It was nearly midnight when the two got home. After a quick shower, they went downstairs together and found a late-night food stall nearby. They ordered two bowls of fried rice noodles and a bottle of beer, enjoying a couple of drinks before returning to their rented room. The clock on the wall pointed to 2:10. In the quiet of the night, the motion-activated lights in the hallway cast a dim, yellowish glow.

"You should go to sleep first!" Qiu Tong said softly.

Su Ming glanced at her: "Sister-in-law, aren't you going to sleep?"

"I'm not sleepy, I'll sit in the living room for a while." Qiu Tong walked to the sofa, sat down, picked up the remote, turned on the TV, and lowered the volume. "You go to sleep first!"

Su Ming was indeed sleepy, so he replied "okay" and went into the bedroom.

The cool air from the air conditioner quickly enveloped his body. Su Ming lay down on the mat and closed his eyes. Occasionally, the sounds of distant vehicles drifted in from outside the window, along with the faint voices on the living room television. He drifted off to sleep.

He didn't know how much time had passed when the urge to urinate woke him up. The room was pitch black, with only a sliver of light from the living room seeping through the crack in the door. He vaguely heard a soft "tap tap tap" sound outside, like the sound of a pestle and mortar pounding medicine.

By the way, purslane... Is my cousin-in-law grinding herbs?

He tiptoed to his feet and opened the door. The bright white fluorescent light in the living room was blinding. Su Ming squinted, and the moment his gaze focused, he froze in the doorway.

Qiu Tong sat sideways to him in a chair at the dining table. Her upper body was bare, her fair back gleaming delicately under the light, the lines of her shoulder blades clear and beautiful. Her long hair was swept to one shoulder, revealing her slender neck. Her slight turn accentuated her sensual figure.

Su Ming swallowed hard, his heart pounding.

At this moment, my cousin-in-law was using her fingertips to dip into the greenish liquid in the bowl and carefully applying it to the red and swollen skin on her chest.

The movements were gentle and focused, completely unaware of the commotion behind them.

Su Ming felt a rush of heat to his head, his cheeks instantly burning hot. He instinctively wanted to retreat back into the room, but his feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, his eyes uncontrollably glued to her snow-white skin.

The lights were too bright; everything was too clear. The way her fingertips moved as she applied the medicine, the subtle glow of her skin after being soaked in the medicine, and the barely visible full curves of her chest as she turned to the side…

"I can't watch anymore, this is not good!" Su Ming muttered to himself, wanting to go back to his room but unable to resist watching for a while longer.

"Clatter!"

Qiu Tong put down the small wooden stick dipped in medicine, got up and turned towards this side of the room.

"Holy crap, my cousin's wife is going back to her room!"

Su Ming was terrified. He hurriedly took two steps back and stumbled back to the bedroom. He quickly lay down on the mat with his back to the door, his eyes closed, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of his chest.

Footsteps approached. Qiu Tong pushed open the door and casually closed it behind her.

Su Ming held his breath, not daring to move. He felt his cousin-in-law walk to the bedside, pause for a moment, and then hear rustling sounds—she seemed worried about getting the medicine on her clothes, so she simply didn't put on a shirt and lay on the bed naked from the waist up.

Instead of going to sleep, she picked up her phone and started playing with it.

"I really need to pee! What should I do?"

Su Ming froze on the mat, his whole body tense. The urge to urinate grew stronger, his lower abdomen throbbing uncomfortably, but he dared not move. His cousin-in-law was lying shirtless on the bed less than a meter away; if he got up to go to the toilet now, she would see him and accuse him of peeping…