Before leaving, Party Secretary Li ordered the Liu family to apologize to Meng Yuanzheng. He also told them to take him to the clinic tomorrow, with the Liu family paying for his medical and nutritional expenses. After that, the Liu family would have to hold a self-criticism meeting.
The Liu family had now lost both money and face. They regretted everything so much that they could have kicked themselves, but there was nothing they could do. They had no choice but to come over and apologize to Meng Yuanzheng under Party Secretary Li’s intimidating gaze and while everyone around them whispered among themselves.
Meng Yuanzheng listened expressionlessly. When they finished, he only gave a quiet “Hmm.”
The Liu family was embarrassed and annoyed.
That wasn’t how this was supposed to go!
Shouldn’t they apologize sincerely, compensate him with money, and even have to make a self-criticism? As an educated youth, shouldn’t Meng Yuanzheng have said something like, “It’s fine, as long as you realize your mistake,” to show that he wouldn’t pursue the matter?
But all he said was “Hmm.”
What was that supposed to mean?
Seeing the Liu family’s eyes darting around Meng Yuanzheng as if they were planning something else, Lin Miaoyin became annoyed.
“What? Just because you apologized, does that mean he has to accept it? How about I beat you up, and you aren’t allowed to fight back? Then I apologize and give you a few yuan. Would you be happy with that?”
Meng Yuanzheng turned his head and glanced at her. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly as he lowered his eyes.
The Liu family looked embarrassed and didn’t dare say another word.
“All right, you’ve apologized. You’re all from the same brigade, so make sure you learn from this and don’t do something so dishonest again. Otherwise, do you think you’ll still have the nerve to stay here?” Lin’s father stepped in to smooth things over.
“It’s getting late. Go home and think carefully about what you did. Then give your father a proper burial. I will attend the funeral myself, so don’t even think about trying to handle it carelessly. Everyone else, you can leave now,” Party Secretary Li ordered.
The Liu family carried Old Man Liu’s body away with their heads lowered, looking utterly miserable.
Lin Miaoyin went over to talk to her parents. Her mother asked whether Meng Yuanzheng was badly injured and whether he should stay at her parents’ home for the night so everyone could help take care of him.
Lin Miaoyin thought about it and decided it wasn’t necessary. His injuries didn’t look too serious.
Besides, getting beaten was partly his own fault. Who told him to run into Zhu Wanqin and immediately try to impress her? He should know his own limits. He had no real medical skills, yet he still tried to perform first aid on someone and ended up causing trouble for himself.
Now she had to clean up his mess for him.
After saying goodbye to her family, Lin Miaoyin led Meng Yuanzheng home.
The rain had stopped, and the air was filled with the fresh smell of rain, grass, and wet earth.
The ground was muddy, and the country path was narrow. It was already completely dark. Lin Miaoyin carried her bamboo rain hat in one hand and walked very carefully. Her shoes were already covered in thick mud and were extremely slippery.
She thought that if she slipped later, she would have to grab Meng Yuanzheng. Otherwise, there were rice fields on both sides of the path, and if she fell into one, she would get a whole mouthful of muddy water.
She decided to let Meng Yuanzheng walk in front while she followed behind. That way, if he fell, she would have something—or rather, someone—to grab onto.
After walking with her head lowered for a while, the figure ahead suddenly stumbled.
Lin Miaoyin looked up and saw that Meng Yuanzheng had slipped and was about to fall sideways.
She instinctively reached out and grabbed his arm.
But Meng Yuanzheng was a grown man, and she couldn’t hold him. Instead, his weight was pulling her down with him.
With no other choice, she let go…
This really wasn’t her fault. She swore.
Meng Yuanzheng fell straight into the flooded rice field.
He didn’t land headfirst, but he was still in a terrible state.
His calm expression, which he had managed to maintain all evening, finally broke. He let out a loud, rather miserable cry and splashed around several times in the knee-deep muddy water.
A moment later, he climbed out of the field with mud and rotten grass stuck all over his head.
He looked up and saw Lin Miaoyin standing on the ridge, laughing so hard that she was slapping her thigh.
“Hahaha! Please forgive me, but I really can’t stop laughing.”
How could a grown man be this hopeless?
Lin Miaoyin couldn’t stop laughing.
Meng Yuanzheng put one hand on his waist and used the other to wipe the dirt off his face and head. Unfortunately, he only made himself even messier.
He narrowed his eyes in annoyance and gave her an almost invisible glare. Then he climbed back onto the field ridge and walked away, swinging his arms.
Lin Miaoyin hurried after him and asked without much sincerity, “Are you okay?”
Meng Yuanzheng walked ahead with his long legs, looking as proud and aloof as a peacock.
“I’m fine,” he said.
“I didn’t let go on purpose. I just couldn’t hold you,” she explained.
“I know.”
Hmph. He was pretty good at acting spoiled.
After walking for a while, Meng Yuanzheng suddenly said, “Thank you for today.”
“Thank me? For standing up for you?”
“Mm.”
“I didn’t do it for you. I just couldn’t stand watching those people act so shamelessly and try to bully my parents.” She pouted and clicked her tongue. “People like that absolutely cannot be allowed to get what they want.”
Meng Yuanzheng didn’t respond.
Lin Miaoyin became annoyed.
“I’m telling you, stay away from that educated youth, Zhu.”
“Why?” He turned his head slightly.
Because she’s the female lead, and you’re the villain! You two are never going to have a good ending! And if you fall for her, you’ll become even worse.
Right now, at most, people just dislike you. You haven’t gone as far as ruining your reputation yet.
She spoke seriously.
“She’s an unmarried young woman, while you’re a married man. Shouldn’t you keep your distance from her? I’m a very jealous person, so don’t provoke me.”
Meng Yuanzheng gave a quiet “Oh” and honestly replied, “I understand.”
Hmm. At least he was obedient.
Lin Miaoyin felt relieved. She thought that even if Meng Yuanzheng had lost his memory, perhaps losing it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
When they got home, Lin Miaoyin suddenly realized how hungry she was. They had been dealing with one thing after another all evening and hadn’t eaten anything.
Meng Yuanzheng had already gone into the kitchen to heat water. He needed to wash himself clean as soon as possible.
Lin Miaoyin kindly told him to take a bath first while she prepared something to eat.
She lit the kerosene lamp and sat down to think about what to make for dinner.
But she couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling in her heart.
She had spent so much time in a hospital in her previous life that she had become accustomed to seeing life and death, so she wasn’t particularly afraid when she saw Old Man Liu’s corpse earlier.
But when she was alone, she still felt a little uneasy.
There wasn’t much food left. She could only make some thin porridge. Preparing vegetables at night would be troublesome, so she decided to take out some pickles to eat with the porridge.
She took a bowl and walked to the dark corner of the room. She placed the kerosene lamp on top of a jar, opened the lid of another jar, and reached inside with her chopsticks to take out some pickled vegetables.
Suddenly, she heard a faint sound.
Something was rustling.
She had already been feeling uneasy because of Old Man Liu’s death. She quickly picked up the kerosene lamp to look around.
And there, coiled in the corner, was a black snake!
“Ah!”
Her pupils shrank.
All the blood in her body seemed to rush straight to her head. She jumped to her feet, frantically backed away, and let out a scream that could probably be heard for miles.
The bowl in her hand fell to the ground and shattered.
The black snake was startled by the noise. It began moving, slowly slithering toward her.
It moved slowly, as if it didn’t consider her a threat at all.
Lin Miaoyin stopped and stood frozen in place, too afraid to move.
“Miaoyin!”
Suddenly, she was pulled behind someone.
The person was barefoot and almost completely naked, wearing only a piece of clothing wrapped around his waist. He had clearly rushed over in a hurry.
The black snake seemed to sense the danger and suddenly moved much faster.
“Be careful!”
At Lin Miaoyin’s warning, Meng Yuanzheng grabbed the lid of a nearby jar and smashed it hard and accurately onto the snake.
The snake writhed in pain on the ground.
Meng Yuanzheng didn’t give it a chance to strike back. He grabbed a long bench and brought it down mercilessly on the snake’s head.
The snake didn’t even have time to react before it was killed.
He struck it several more times until its head was completely smashed.
Only then did he throw the bench aside.
When he saw that Lin Miaoyin was trembling all over and covered in cold sweat, he grabbed her arm. There was a trace of nervousness in his voice.
“Did it scare you?”
Lin Miaoyin glanced at the bloody remains of the snake, shook her head, and walked over to sit on the nearby bench.
But when she looked up and saw Meng Yuanzheng standing there with nothing but a piece of clothing wrapped around his waist, she suddenly burst out laughing.