Zhou Cuihua, obviously siding with Li Xiaobao, walked up to him and said, “Xiaobao, your sister-in-law supports you!”
“Thanks, sister-in-law!” What no one expected was that before Li Xiaobao could respond, Zhang Ling spoke up to Zhou Cuihua.
“Thanks for what?
After all, we’ll all be family soon!” Zhou Cuihua’s words made the atmosphere even weirder, causing Zhang Ling’s face to immediately turn red as she lowered her head.
“I…” Li Xiaobao was also completely stunned this time.
He had never expected his usually quiet sister-in-law Zhou Cuihua to be so sharp at such a critical moment.
Little Erhei, seeing Zhang Ling and Zhou Cuihua standing on the same side, suddenly lost his temper.
After all, he didn’t really like Zhang Ling; he was fond of her body.
“All right, all right, let’s get back to work, everyone!” At this point, Zhang Shan had no choice but to step in and urge them on.
Once Zhang Shan spoke, everyone suddenly sped up, and the harvesting was completed before it even got dark; the only thing left was taking everything back home.
“Everyone, bear with the hard work for a bit longer, put in some extra effort, and load it directly onto the truck to the community center entrance!” Zhang Shan instructed the crowd.
The entrance to the community center had a clearing that was generally used by the villagers to dry their crops before taking them home.
Currently, only the rice from Li Xiaobao and Zhang Ling’s families was ready, so there was plenty of space.
“Alright!” Everyone worked together to load all the rice onto the truck and transport it to the community center.
“Li Xiaobao, stop right there!” Just as Li Xiaobao was thinking of slacking off and climbing onto the tractor, Zhang Ling called out to him.
“What’s up?” Li Xiaobao jumped down in one swift move and saw Zhang Ling signaling him with her eyes, meaning that Little Erhei was watching him from a distance.
“What are you looking at?
Believe it or not, I’ll slash you with my sickle right now!” Li Xiaobao, irritated by the sight of Little Erhei covered in bandages, brandished his sickle and bragged.
“Li Xiaobao, just you wait for me.
Tonight, at the community center entrance, it’s a showdown, and whoever doesn’t show up is a coward!” Little Erhei, eyeing the gleaming sickle in Li Xiaobao’s hand, dropped a harsh line and ran off with his brothers.
“Still think you can act tough with me!” Ever since Li Xiaobao had obtained the “Five Elemental Space,” he had toughened up and was certainly not intimidated by Little Erhei.
“What did you just say?” Zhang Ling, hearing Li Xiaobao swear, frowned and asked.
“Oh, I mean, if Little Erhei dares to bother the beautiful Zhang Ling again, I’ll slash him!” Seeing Zhang Ling frown, Li Xiaobao quickly said.
“Pfft!” Li Xiaobao’s flattering comment immediately made Zhang Ling laugh; she gave him a playful look and said, “Come on, walk me home!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Li Xiaobao was suddenly thrilled.
Although Zhang Ling had asked him to accompany her home, he veered off along the riverbank as they walked.
If he didn’t understand what Zhang Ling meant by heading this way when he could have taken a straight path home through the fields, he might as well drown himself in the river.
“Hurry up!
Why are you lagging behind?” Zhang Ling, walking along the riverbank, noticed Li Xiaobao sheepishly following behind and started to get annoyed.
“Hehe, Zhang Ling, you look really beautiful!” Getting carried away, Li Xiaobao voiced the feelings he had while admiring Zhang Ling’s lovely silhouette from behind.
“What exactly is beautiful about me?” Hearing this, Zhang Ling felt a thrill of excitement as no girl dislikes being praised.
“Everything looks beautiful!” Li Xiaobao, watching the smile on Zhang Ling’s face, felt a bit dizzy.
“What exactly is it!” Zhang Ling became a bit bashful, her face turning slightly red as she looked down and asked.
“Your figure is beautiful!” Seeing Zhang Ling looking shy, Li Xiaobao was momentarily dumbfounded, almost drooling.
“Li Xiaobao, you can go and die now; no dinner for you tonight!” Zhang Ling’s angry shout instantly sobered Li Xiaobao up, though by then Zhang Ling had already walked far away.
Li Xiaobao watched Zhang Ling’s retreating figure, angry enough to slap himself.
How could he have been so blunt?
However, he didn’t see the smug smile that flickered across Zhang Ling’s face as she turned away.
By the time Li Xiaobao and Zhang Ling reached the entrance of the community center, most of the villagers had already gathered there.
This time, Village Chief Zhang Shan had harvested rice, and half of the villagers were present.
Nearly every family had provided a worker, and naturally, Zhang Shan had to invite everyone to a meal.
Considering the large number of people, they decided to set up the cooking pot right at the entrance of the community center and laid out tables there.
“Xiaobao, why are you so late?”
“Yeah!
Were you being romantic with Zhang Ling?”
“Yeah, Xiaobao, tell us how you managed to win over the phoenix of Kao Mountain Village?”
The villagers were quite simple and naturally started joking around with Li Xiaobao.
“Hey, uncles and grandpas, what are you talking about?
Don’t you see who I, Li Xiaobao, am?
Do I need to chase anyone?
Zhang Ling and I are freely in love, okay?”
Li Xiaobao immediately started feeling smug, but before he could finish his sentence, he felt a sudden gust of wind behind his head.
Feeling the gust behind his head, Li Xiaobao knew it must be his old man Li Detian’s slap arriving, and he sneered to himself, having grown up in an environment of sneak attacks and counterattacks, he would certainly not be easily hit.
“Ouch!” Suddenly a cry of pain, in the end, Li Xiaobao still couldn’t dodge Li Detian’s slap, not because he wasn’t quick enough, but because he had forgotten that dad’s legs were almost fully healed and were more agile than before.
“Ow, Dad, what are you doing?
Dad!” Li Xiaobao yelped as Li Detian twisted his ear, looking very pained, making the villagers burst out laughing.
“You little rascal, what were you up to this afternoon?” Li Detian, somewhat annoyed, pulled Li Xiaobao to his own seat, as the head of the Li family, of course, he was there to have dinner at the Zhang family’s house.
“Me?
Wasn’t I helping Zhang Ling harvest rice?” Li Xiaobao said as he placed the basket full of herbs at the entrance of the village meeting hall.
“I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about the matter with Little Erhei!
You’ve actually learned to fight with others!” Li Detian angrily looked at Li Xiaobao.
“What?
Dad, that was Little Erhei, that bastard, asking for it!” Li Xiaobao argued defiantly.
“I think you are looking for a beating!” Li Detian, hearing Li Xiaobao’s words, suddenly got angry and was about to slap him, but Li Xiaobao, agile like a leopard, swiftly dodged away.
“Come here!” Li Detian said to Li Xiaobao.
“Come on, Dad, don’t worry about it, I can handle my own issues!” Li Xiaobao finished speaking, and instead of sitting with Li Detian, he sat next to Zhou Cuihua.
“You, Xiaobao, can’t you just listen to your dad?” Zhou Cuihua sighed as she looked at Li Xiaobao and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat beads on his forehead.
“Oh, sister-in-law, how can you be like dad?
I am defending my love!” Li Xiaobao said earnestly, which made Zhou Cuihua chuckle and reply, “Alright, sister-in-law supports you in defending your love!”
In Zhou Cuihua’s view, her marriage was unhappy; Li Dabao hadn’t come back for years; she absolutely could not let Li Xiaobao’s marriage be unfortunate as well.
As his sister-in-law, Zhou Cuihua truly cared a lot for Li Xiaobao.
“Xiaobao, are you really going to duel with Little Erhei tonight?” The village folks eagerly asked, as the story of Li Xiaobao and Little Erhei’s arranged fight had already spread.
“Of course, if I don’t make Little Erhei call me grandpa today, then I’m not Li Xiaobao!” Li Xiaobao said boastfully in front of the villagers.
“Detian, ah, I didn’t expect you to have a great-grandson so soon!
Hahaha!” The villagers, hearing Li Xiaobao’s words, teased Li Detian, making his face turn red with anger.
No one expected that when the meal officially began, Little Erhei would come with two brothers.
“What’s he here for?” Li Xiaobao saw Little Erhei and turned to ask Zhang Ling, who was next to him.
“Oh well, we’re all from the same village; if he wants to scrounge a meal, my dad can’t just kick him out!” Zhang Ling also said somewhat annoyed.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiaobao fiercely shoveled several mouthfuls of rice, and when he looked up, he saw Little Erhei also glaring fiercely back at him.
“Hey, Little Erhei, what are you looking at?
You think you’ve got the right to freeload?” Li Xiaobao looked down on Little Erhei for his behavior of not working but only mooching meals.
“It’s none of your business!
I didn’t come to eat your family’s meal, and anyway, I came with Uncle Lai Cai,” Little Erhei retorted as he sat at the table where Zhang Laicai was.
“Alright, hurry up and eat; after you’re done, go back quickly!” Zhang Ling said helplessly to Li Xiaobao, not knowing that Li Xiaobao had already beat up Little Erhei that morning, always thinking that Li Xiaobao was no match for Little Erhei.
“Don’t worry!
Zhang Ling, just watch how I handle that guy in a bit!” Li Xiaobao looked very dissatisfied towards Little Erhei.
“Erhei, don’t hold back later, go ahead and give Li Xiaobao a good thrashing!” Zhang Laicai said to Little Erhei.
“Okay, uncle, just wait and see!
I’ll make sure he can’t get up later, today if I don’t drain him, then I’m not Little Erhei!” Little Erhei was already considered a village bully in Kao Mountain Village, fearless of both heaven and earth.
Not only had Li Xiaobao beaten him up that morning, but he also dared to challenge him in front of so many people.
This made Little Erhei feel that his position as the village bully was seriously threatened, so he planned to severely teach Li Xiaobao a lesson tonight, to legitimize his name as the village bully.
“Great!
Uncle’s counting on you!
Eat up!” Upon hearing this, Zhang Laicai nodded, satisfied.