Chapter 69 Razor

The flat bank of the creek was covered with pristine snow, and the footprints of those who had walked from the road formed a short, straight path. It seemed that everyone had come just for the clear water, rather than for any picturesque scenery. Lynn carried little Caroline in his arms, walking leisurely along the creek, while flipping through his English-German dictionary. Then, following the pronunciation listed, he said:

"Wash face, okay? Caroline!"

"It's wash... face..." the little girl corrected Lynn's pronunciation seriously.

Lynn chuckled self-consciously, "Oh, wash... face..."

"Daddy helps... Caroline... wash face!" the little girl enunciated each word clearly, as if playing a simple and enjoyable spelling game.

Lynn echoed her words, causing the little girl to giggle.

"Okay, come down now!"

Lynn squatted down to put Caroline on the ground, and casually tucked the dictionary back into his bag. Once on the ground, Caroline didn't run around aimlessly but stood by Lynn's side, looking back and forth, then grinned and called out "Mommy, Grandpa."

Such an adorable child, born in wartime, what a tragedy. Lynn felt emotional at the sight before him. Suddenly, he thought of his homeland, suffering under the oppression of the Japanese invaders. The children of his grandfather's generation, who were only a few years old at this time, had experienced a childhood full of hunger and suffering. Although he had crossed through time, with his current circumstances and abilities, he felt powerless to do anything about the distant events unfolding in the East.

Taking off his gloves, he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. Although he had used it a couple of times over the past few days, it was only at night, and now he noticed it was stained with various marks. It looked less like a handkerchief for hygiene and more like a rag used by an armored soldier to repair tanks! Considering he would need to wash Caroline's face later, Lynn quickly rinsed it in the creek. The clear stream flowed gently, its icy chill evident even with just a finger dipped in. Despite his efforts, stubborn stains like blood and oil were hard to remove with just water.

Feeling somewhat helpless, Lynn was surprised when the widow approached him and squatted down beside him.

"Give it to me!"

Her voice was as pure as the unpolluted stream, with excellent tone and pace. Although Lynn felt a bit embarrassed, he didn't want to appear indecisive, so he handed the handkerchief to her directly.

This handkerchief had witnessed the harsh and disorderly environment of the battlefield. The widow said few words, silently lowering her head to clean it. Seeing some stains were hard to remove, she had Caroline open their luggage and retrieved a delicate little leather pouch from the corner. In Lynn's curious gaze, she naturally opened the paper bag, taking out a piece of pale yellow soap.

While most refugees would want to take all their valuables when fleeing, given limited space and weight, this young widow had brought along a whole set of cleaning tools, which surprised Lynn. Glancing at the open zipper of the bag, he saw neatly folded light-colored clothes inside, likely pajamas and undergarments, maybe even some emergency medications!

Such luggage would be a rational choice for fleeing refugees, especially for women and children with limited physical strength. Perhaps, it was all thanks to the careful guidance of her deceased husband, but the process was no longer important. Thinking of the pancakes earlier and seeing everything before him, Lynn's favorability towards the young widow suddenly increased - wasn't she the ideal homemaker?

As the widow cleaned the handkerchief, little Caroline sat by her side like a well-behaved kitten.

Lynn sighed lightly, looking at his own dirty gloves. He quickly submerged them in the water and rubbed vigorously. Without waiting for the widow to ask, he wrung out the roughly cleaned gloves and hung them on his belt.

The widow didn't show obvious surprise at Lynn's actions. She shook the handkerchief and, folding it in half, handed it to Lynn. "Here! Wash your face!"

Her words were like those Lynn had said to Caroline earlier. Then, she took out a clean handkerchief from her coat pocket, slightly dampened it, and wiped her daughter's face.

"Mmm... it's cold!" Caroline complained, squirming her small body.

"Daddy only likes clean faces!"

At the widow's words, Caroline immediately stopped squirming.

Lynn chuckled as he wiped his face with the soap-scented handkerchief.

It was definitely the cleanest thing he had touched in days.

While the widow had finished washing Caroline's face for the first time and was cleaning the handkerchief in the stream, the little girl squinted at Lynn, "Daddy's face isn't clean, there's a lot of beard!"

Lynn only half understood what she said, but the widow turned to look at him and whispered something to Caroline. The little girl rummaged through the luggage bag, pulling out a paper-wrapped object shaped like a megaphone, and happily handed it to Lynn.

Carefully unwrapping it, Lynn found a wooden-handled razor. The brown handle was finely patterned, and the fixed blade was simple yet substantial. Although it appeared used, it was well maintained, with the metal parts shining brightly in the sunlight - just like the young widow?

Having only used electric razors before, Lynn relied on television for the best tutorials on daily life. He wet his chin and cheeks with water, then, cautiously following his reflection in the stream, began to shave. As he shaved, he occasionally glanced at the mother and daughter, but only Caroline watched with interest. The widow busied herself washing her face and her daughter's, seemingly intentionally avoiding watching another man using her husband's razor.

Gradually, the reflection in the creek showed the true face of the man with messy hair and scruffy beard - thick eyebrows, high cheekbones, deep eye sockets, prominent nose, and thick lips. Like a typical European man, his features were sharp yet not too compact, his facial contours tightened from the cheekbones but not too pointed at the chin. Then, he used his wet hands to smooth his hair, and the thirty-year-old Raúl González instantly transformed into an eighteen-year-old youth.

Quickly looking up the German translation for "handsome" in the dictionary, Lynn turned to Caroline and asked, "Caroline, is Daddy handsome?"

The little girl leaned against her mother, looking shyly at Lynn. This expression made Lynn squint and smile involuntarily. At that moment, the widow turned her head, her beautiful and calm eyes gazing at Lynn, her fair cheeks already slightly flushed, now even more charming and shy like a blooming flower.

Holding the razor, Lynn stood there feeling somewhat at a loss. Was this the mutual attraction between the opposite sexes that only existed in imagination?

In fact, the two were less than a meter apart, and they could complete a hug or even a kiss without moving their feet, but neither could take the first step.

"Ha, a razor! Let me borrow it!"

Just as Private Carl, who had unloaded his burden, approached with a freshly washed face, having spent a long time in the frontline trenches, equally scruffy and unshaven, his hand reached out almost touching the razor. Lynn, suddenly awakened from his

 reverie, quickly stepped back, avoiding him, which surprised Carl, who stared at Lynn with wide eyes, puzzled by his sudden move.

"Oh, sorry, it's just... " Lynn wanted to say "sharing it might not be hygienic," but he didn't know how to express it in German, so he quickly flipped through the dictionary.

Being able to carry the blame for a long time, Private Carl's patience naturally surpassed that of ordinary people. He stood with his hands on his hips, patiently waiting for Lynn. After a good two or three minutes, Lynn, who couldn't speak German, finally managed to say what he wanted with the help of the dictionary.

"Oh, it's a hygiene issue!"

Carl was neither blind nor stupid. Seeing Lynn's nervous expression, he teased Lynn in a playful manner, facing Lynn he gestured towards the widow, puckered his lips, winked, raised his eyebrows, then chuckled and turned away.

Uh...

Although it felt like mocking tinted with colored glasses, Lynn couldn't retort. Putting aside the facade of a righteous gentleman, wasn't this the kind of thing any normal man secretly hoped for?