After giving Little Erhei a good beating, Li Xiaobao ventured into the mountains, knowing full well Little Erhei was as resilient as a cockroach.
That year, Little Erhei had his artery severed by Black Dog from Old Li’s house, dragged from one end of the village to the other.
Everyone thought his days were numbered, but surprisingly, a few days later, Little Erhei came back to life, which skyrocketed his reputation in the village.
Li Xiaobao wandered in the mountains all morning and picked some wild fruits for lunch.
He took a nap under a shady tree.
It was nearly sunset when he came down with a basket full of medicinal herbs on his back.
Just as he reached the end of the village, he saw Zhang Ling, scurrying toward the fields with a sickle in a hurry.
“Zhang Ling, what’s the rush?
Did gold sprout in the fields?” Li Xiaobao’s words nearly made Zhang Ling stumble and fall.
She turned back and glared at him irritably, saying, “Your family’s crops might be harvested, but ours aren’t!”
“What?
You guys are harvesting today?” Upon hearing this, Li Xiaobao slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “Oh, why didn’t you say so earlier?
Let’s go, I’ll help!”
Li Xiaobao grabbed the sickle directly from Zhang Ling’s hand and didn’t forget to caress her delicate little hand in the process.
“Hmph!
What’s the use of telling you earlier?
You disappear all day!” Zhang Ling looked at Li Xiaobao disapprovingly, unusually saying nothing about his flirtatious touch.
You went looking for me this morning?
Li Xiaobao felt secretly delighted by Zhang Ling’s words.
It seemed she still fancied him.
“Who wanted to look for you?
I went to ask Uncle Detian for help, alright!” Zhang Ling, seeing the smile on Li Xiaobao’s face and realizing she had misspoken, came up with a lame excuse.
Li Xiaobao heard Zhang Ling’s words and chuckled heartily, knowing well that everyone in the village knew his father could barely take care of himself, let alone help others.
Soon, the two reached the fields.
Upon arriving, Li Xiaobao saw that nearly half the village was there, helping in Uncle Zhang Shan’s fields, and Sister Cuihua was also busy in Zhang Ling’s family’s fields.
Like it or not, the village chief really is the village chief!
“Oh, Xiaobao’s here!
Where’s your dad?” Uncle Zhang Shan saw Li Xiaobao, chuckling warmly.
Lately, Uncle Zhang Shan had been pondering something Li Xiaobao mentioned the other day.
Originally, he planned to water his fields, but Li Xiaobao had stopped him.
The next day, the crops in the field grew like they were on steroids.
Although Uncle Zhang Shan is the village chief, like Li Detian, he had been farming all his life and still couldn’t figure out exactly what had happened.
Could it really be the high-tech that Li Xiaobao mentioned?
No matter what, Uncle Zhang Shan felt there was something mysterious going on, and it definitely involved Li Xiaobao.
“Uncle Zhang Shan, I told you listening to me would never be wrong!” Li Xiaobao chuckled, swinging his sickle around without actually getting any work done.
And he kept inching closer to Zhang Ling.
“Li Xiaobao, are you here to help or to cause trouble?” Zhang Ling wiped the sweat from her forehead and rearranged her sweat-dampened bangs, giving Li Xiaobao a stern look.
“To help, of course!” Seeing Zhang Ling getting angry, Li Xiaobao picked up a bundle of rice and threw it onto the cart without saying another word.
“That’s more like it!” Zhang Ling said with a smile.
“Uncle, your harvest this year will be better than last year!” Li Xiaobao said, wandering over to Uncle Zhang Shan’s side, making Zhang Ling feel helpless.
She couldn’t very well pull Li Xiaobao away from her dad, could she?
“Yes, Xiaobao, I was just about to ask you…”
“Ah, Uncle, ask nothing, I’ll say nothing!” Upon hearing Uncle Zhang Shan’s inquiry, Li Xiaobao hurriedly waved his hands, pretending to be profound.
He obviously knew Uncle Zhang Shan wanted to ask why his rice ripened so quickly.
“Village chief, how could you ask Xiaobao such a thing?
Even if you asked, he wouldn’t know!” Third Elder Zhao, who also came to help, said enviously.
Previous years, Third Elder Zhao had been the village’s top farmer.
Together with his hardworking wife, their fields always yielded the highest.
But seeing the situation this year, his hopes were dashed, leaving him quite disgruntled.
“Yes!
Third Elder, I don’t understand, only you do!” Li Xiaobao gave Third Elder Zhao a look and added, “Do you know how tall the mountain behind our village is?”
That mountain had been around for hundreds of years, who would bother measuring that thing?
Third Elder Zhao’s face turned red with frustration.
Zhang Ling, hearing this from a distance, couldn’t help but laugh.
She knew Li Xiaobao was just teasing Third Elder.
“I don’t know, do you?” Third Elder Zhao, red-faced, turned to Li Xiaobao to ask.
“Hmph!
It’s useless explaining it to you, go figure out what ‘altitude’ means first!” Li Xiaobao said irritably, waving his hand dismissively and moving closer to Zhang Ling.
Altitude?
What is altitude?
Third Elder Zhao watched Li Xiaobao’s retreating figure, feeling utterly helpless.
Being a farmer, he only knew about farming; how would he know what ‘altitude’ meant?
“You’re teasing him again, get over here and work!” Zhang Ling glared at Li Xiaobao but her eyes had already softened, shifting from the initial coldness to tenderness.
“Alrighty!” Li Xiaobao, catching Zhang Ling’s tender gaze, worked even more vigorously.
“Uncle, you are harvesting the crops!” Just then, Little Er’s voice was heard.
Little Er was all bandaged up, his eyes swollen like panda’s, his lips parting in pain as he spoke, accompanied by two underlings.
“Little Er!” Both Zhang Ling and Li Xiaobao spotted Little Er and asked, “Little Er, what are you here for?”
Others might not know, but Zhang Ling was well aware of how Li Xiaobao had fallen into the river that day.
As for why Little Erhei was covered in bandages, she had no clue.
“Hehe, Zhang Ling, didn’t I hear that your family was harvesting crops?
So I came over to help!” Little Erhei said, not feeling embarrassed at all.
“Help?
We don’t need your help!” Zhang Ling said sternly as she tried to send Little Erhei away.
“Hey, what are you doing, child?” Uncle Zhang Shan’s face couldn’t quite take it, since Little Erhei had come to help his family after all.
It wouldn’t look good to send him away like this.
“Dad, look, he only comes when the crops are nearly all harvested.
It’s clear he’s just here to freeload meals and drinks!” Zhang Ling knew very well that the crops would soon be finished, and as soon as it got dark, they would need to treat people to a meal.
Little Erhei’s intent in coming at this time was very obvious.
“Exactly, Uncle Zhang, can’t you see what a mess Little Erhei is?
What work can he possibly do?” Li Xiaobao chimed in from behind Zhang Ling.
“Oh, Li Xiaobao, you’re not much better, are you?
I remember you just got here too, right?” Village chief Zhang Laicai straightened up, lit a cigarette, took a couple of puffs, and spoke leisurely.
Zhang Laicai and Little Erhei were relatives, so naturally, he spoke in favor of Little Erhei.
“Xiaobao didn’t know.
He went to the mountains today and came straight here with me!” Zhang Ling defended Li Xiaobao, then added, “Besides, Sister Cuihua has been busy here all day.
Why don’t you mention her?”
Zhang Laicai was speechless at Zhang Ling’s words, his face turning red as he smoked incessantly.
“Zhang Ling, what you are saying is not right.
Both Li Xiaobao and I are pursuing you, so why are you so biased?” Little Erhei said unabashedly.
“You…” Zhang Ling was immediately infuriated by Little Erhei’s words, her face flushing with anger.
Pursue?
Little Erhei calls that pursuing?
Had it not been for Li Xiaobao that day, she would have been violated by Little Erhei’s brazen advances, and there he was, shamelessly mentioning it.
“Hehe, nowadays it’s all about free love, fair competition!
Right, Uncle Zhang Shan?” Little Erhei said, grinning and looking towards Uncle Zhang Shan.
Uncle Zhang Shan knew very well what kind of person Little Erhei was, and he would never marry Zhang Ling to him, but rejecting Little Erhei publicly, Uncle Zhang Shan really couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Seeing Uncle Zhang Shan not speaking, Little Erhei became even more arrogant and declared, “See?
Uncle Zhang Shan agrees to fair competition too!”
Losing patience at Uncle Zhang Shan’s reaction, Li Xiaobao, holding a sickle in his hand, pointed at Little Erhei and demanded, “Uncle Zhang Shan is also someone you can call?
Infuriated by a blow with a black brick from Li Xiaobao that morning, Little Erhei, seeing Li Xiaobao’s fierce glare, retorted, “So what?
Can’t I call him?”
“Hmph!” Li Xiaobao scoffed and said, “You can call, but not Uncle Zhang Shan.
Do you understand?”
“What should I call him then?” Little Erhei was a bit confused.
He had been calling him Uncle Zhang Shan all his life, based on seniority.
If not uncle, should he call him father-in-law?
Thinking this over, Little Erhei chuckled mischievously.
Seeing Little Erhei grin in that manner, Li Xiaobao’s face darkened and he said, “Uncle Zhang Shan is what I call him, you should call him grandfather, understand?”
Hearing Li Xiaobao say this, Zhang Ling couldn’t help but laugh out loud and gave him an annoyed look, though her eyes shone with even more tenderness.
“Haha, right!
That’s exactly what you should say!”
“Xiaobao, not seeing you for a couple of days.
You’re doing well, eh?”
The villagers who were helping Uncle Zhang Shan harvest the rice also burst into laughter.
Sister Cuihua, standing in the distance and glancing at Li Xiaobao, also showed a hint of tenderness and smiled softly.
Hearing the laughter of those around him, Zhang Laicai’s face turned truly dark.
He and Little Erhei were relatives, and he had always regarded Uncle Zhang Shan as a brother.
If Little Erhei were to call Uncle Zhang Shan ‘grandfather,’ wouldn’t he have to call Uncle Zhang Shan ‘uncle’?
Villagers placed great importance on seniority.
Li Xiaobao’s move made him a ‘brother’ to Zhang Laicai, something he was certainly not pleased with.
Having understood the laughter of those around him, Little Erhei roared angrily, “Li Xiaobao, are you looking to die?”
“Yes, what about it?
Little Erhei, did I not beat you up enough this morning?
Want to try again?” Li Xiaobao’s face also turned grim.
“Enough!
What are you doing?
We can talk another day!” Uncle Zhang Shan, seeing the two ready to fight, shouted loudly to stop them.
“You wait for me, Li Xiaobao, I’ll get you one of these days!” Little Erhei glared furiously at Li Xiaobao and stood by the tractor with his two brothers, not leaving.
They had planned to freeload food and drinks today; how could they possibly leave just like that!
“Hehe, fine then, after dinner tonight, I’ll come find you.
If you can’t kill me, I’ll teach you a lesson!” Li Xiaobao, not intimidated by Little Erhei at all, waved the sickle in his hand.
Previously, Li Xiaobao had dared to fight Little Erhei with a brick for Zhang Ling’s sake, let alone now that he had Five Elemental Space, he was even less afraid of Little Erhei.
Now, what Li Xiaobao feared most was that Little Erhei wouldn’t come looking for him.
“Fine!
Li Xiaobao, let’s meet at the plaza after dinner tonight.
If you don’t show up, then you’re my grandson!” The place Little Erhei mentioned was a flat area in front of the village committee, specially designated for villagers to dry rice.
“Right, I support you, Little Erhei.
It’s about time some overly arrogant folks learned their lesson!” Third Elder Zhao said.
“I say, Third Elder Zhao, what rubbish are you spouting here?
Have you even figured out what altitude means?
You haven’t figured out the altitude, yet you want to understand celestial heights and earthly thickness!” Li Xiaobao glared coldly at Third Elder Zhao, waving the sickle in his hand, causing Third Elder Zhao to tremble and quickly lower his head.