Qinghu Village was small, and gossip traveled fast. Gu Wan had heard it, and by evening, Lin Chunhua had run straight into a scene of gossiping as well.
She went out to harvest some Napa cabbage. Halfway there, she saw three women her age who had been gathered together whispering excitedly. The moment they saw her passing by from afar, they all shut their mouths in unison, with rather awkward expressions on their faces. As she drew closer, she heard them casually talking about what dishes they planned to cook for dinner—a clear and rushed topic change that left her face looking quite sour.
When she reached the fields, she was pulled aside by Lin Dewang’s wife, who asked her, “Did your family’s Zhijun get engaged and then dumped?”
Lin Chunhua’s face turned dark as she explained the whole story to her. Lin Dewang’s wife sighed, “You have no idea how nasty those sharp-tongued gossips are talking out there now. They’re shameless enough to say just about anything.”
She recounted the wild rumors spreading outside to Lin Chunhua and advised, “Don’t be angry; just pretend you didn’t hear it.”
Lin Chunhua turned pale with rage and asked who had started these rumors.
Lin Dewang’s wife said, “There are mouths all over the village—where could you even begin to look? It started with a few women pulling Wang Chahua aside to ask. I happened to be there too and overheard a bit. It was pretty much what you told me; she didn’t add those nasty remarks. But once there are too many mouths, everyone adds a few words of their own, and as it gets passed around, it naturally gets twisted.”
Hearing that Wang Chahua hadn’t stirred up trouble in the matter, Lin Chunhua still remembered her kindness. She thanked Lin Dewang’s wife, chopped a cabbage to bring home, and then sat on the wooden bench in her main hall, pounding her chest in anger.
In the end, she went into Qin Zhijun’s room and earnestly tried to persuade him again to marry Gu Wan quickly, if only to make those people in the village shut their mouths.
Recalling the two times he had met Gu Wan—and how he had ended up holding her in a full embrace both times—Qin Zhijun’s initial reservations were no longer as firm as before. He said to Lin Chunhua, “Mom, give me some time to think carefully about how to arrange our future life. If I marry her, I have to at least be able to give her a good life.”
Seeing that his attitude had softened, Lin Chunhua felt delighted inside and repeatedly agreed, “That’s right, we can’t let Xiao Wan suffer. Think it over carefully; Mom won’t rush you.”
This wasn’t the only thing that brought joy to Lin Chunhua. Another source of happiness was Gu Wan, who hadn’t visited the house for many days after her son returned, but was now coming over frequently to play with Xiaomei again. She felt that Gu Wan was coming over even more often than usual. Whenever Gu Wan arrived, Lin Chunhua was exceptionally warm, constantly stuffing whatever tasty treats they had at home into Gu Wan’s hands.
Gu Wan and Qin Xiaomei had spent practically every day playing together like this for years, and they mostly just sat in the Gu family’s courtyard, so there was nothing improper about it.
In the blink of an eye, seven or eight days passed. Gu Wan observed the birthmark on her body and noticed that its color had indeed changed, which made her immensely happy inside. This method was safe, proper, and could be used for a long time.
By the end of August, every household in Qinghu Village was preparing for the autumn harvest. Yunyang County had allocated farmland to individual households in the winter of 1979, making this year the first harvest since the allocation. The joy on the villagers’ faces could hardly be concealed.
Over the past six months or so, every family had treated their allocated land like their own ancestors. The heavens had also smiled upon them, as the rice in the fields was growing exceptionally well. Thinking that after surrendering fifty catties of public grain per mu, the rest of the harvested grain would all be their own, everyone’s hearts burned with enthusiasm, and they were filled with drive.
Because Niuniu was too small, Gu Wan’s assignment was to stay home to watch him and prepare the family’s lunch to deliver to the fields.
The child was still young and used to being carried around the village. By nine in the morning, he couldn’t sit still at home anymore, so Gu Wan had no choice but to carry him on a stroll around the village. Just then, a black sedan drove in through the village entrance and pulled to a stop beside Gu Wan. You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
Gu Wan had ridden on a bus before, but she had rarely seen a sedan. At this time, having a bicycle at home was already considered wealthy. As for their village bus, it was bought jointly by five people across three villages along the route. Thus, a sedan was truly a rare sight. However, Gu Wan was shy around strangers; after giving it a couple of curious glances, she prepared to carry Niuniu and walk away.
“Hello, please wait a moment. I’d like to ask you for directions.”
A young man in his early twenties stepped down from the driver’s seat. He wore a white shirt, black trousers, and shiny, polished black leather shoes—an outfit Gu Wan had never seen before.
He had single-folded eyelids, and after speaking, he gave Gu Wan a very sunny smile, his bright white teeth especially noticeable.
The young man was tall with long legs, reaching Gu Wan’s side in just a few steps. One moment Gu Wan’s attention was still on his dazzling white teeth, but the next moment, her expression suddenly changed, and she hurriedly took two steps back in alarm.
A faint blush rose on her face, and her heart felt a sudden, numbing sensation. Her almond eyes widened round in astonishment as she looked at the young man.
Hadn’t it been said that there were very few people in this world with spiritual roots, and a Pure Yang Physique was a once-in-a-millennium rarity? How had she managed to run into another one?
Seeing the girl holding a child shrink back several steps in fear before stabilizing herself, Zhou Jing didn’t dare step any closer and stopped four or five paces away from her.
He thought to himself that his looks usually attracted girls to come closer, so it was quite rare to scare someone into stepping back repeatedly.
Noticing that she was holding a child in her arms and judging her to look no more than seventeen or eighteen, he couldn’t help but sigh at how early rural children got married. He assumed she was likely a married woman, which was why she needed to maintain her distance from the opposite sex.
He gave Gu Wan a sunny smile, his bright white teeth almost sparkling under the sunlight’s reflection.
“I’d like to ask, is this Qinghu Village?”
Seeing that he stopped advancing, Gu Wan listened to his question and nodded, “Yes, this is Qinghu Village.”
Zhou Jing felt a slight tingling in his ears; this woman, who was as skittish as a rabbit, had a rather captivating voice.
He rubbed his fingers together, suppressing the urge to pinch his own ear, and asked, “Then do you know how to get to Qin Zhijun’s house?”
Gu Wan was surprised. She looked the young man up and down and asked in wonder, “Are you looking for Qin Zhijun?”
Hearing her response, the young man knew he had found the right place and smiled, “My brother is Comrade Qin’s brother-in-arms. I’m here on my brother’s behalf to visit Comrade Qin.”
Oh, Gu Wan understood. She gave him directions, but the village paths were complicated. As Zhou Jing listened, he felt it would be quite hard to find, so he asked Gu Wan if she could lead the way. Read this novel at novelping(.)com for the best experience.
Gu Wan hesitated for a moment. She felt both a strange attraction and a sense of fear toward men with special physiques.
While staying close was beneficial, she was also afraid of embarrassing herself. After thinking it over, she said, “How about you drive slowly, and I’ll walk ahead to lead the way for you?”
Just from her expression, Zhou Jing could tell the girl was afraid of him. He smiled, thanked her, and got into his car.
Gu Wan led a slow-crawling sedan into the village. Whenever elderly folks who hadn’t gone to the fields saw them, they would ask out of curiosity, “Girl Wan, who are you leading here? Is that a sedan car they’re driving?”
Gu Wan replied to all of them that it was a friend of Qin Zhijun whom she had met at the village entrance.
Once the person and the car arrived at the Qin family’s front door, Zhou Jing pulled out an endless array of large and small bags from the trunk before shutting it and following Gu Wan inside.
Knowing that everyone in the Qin family except Qin Zhijun had gone to the fields today, Gu Wan went into the main hall of the Qin house and raised her voice, “Comrade Qin, are you here?”
Qin Zhijun came out quite quickly, walking with the help of a crutch.
Gu Wan was taken aback when she saw him—he can already walk on the ground? However, she didn’t ask anything. Taking a few steps back to maintain her distance from Qin Zhijun, she said, “You have a friend here to see you. I brought him over.”
Before Qin Zhijun could ask, he saw the young man walking in behind Gu Wan. He felt the youth looked vaguely familiar, yet he didn’t recognize him.
Seeing that the village girl was avoiding Qin Zhijun as well, Zhou Jing thought to himself that she wasn’t just afraid of him. Stopping a few paces away from Gu Wan, he smiled and said, “Are you Big Brother Qin Zhijun? I’m Zhou Yang’s younger brother, Zhou Jing. I’m here on behalf of my brother to visit you.”
Hearing that he was Zhou Yang’s younger brother, Qin Zhijun finally realized why he looked familiar. Smiling, he invited Zhou Jing to take a seat. Seeing his hands full of gifts, he frowned and said, “With the friendship between your brother and me, why did you bring all these things to my house?”
Without standing on ceremony, Zhou Jing put the things on the table and laughed, “You have a great friendship with my brother, but these were arranged by my mother and grandfather. As for you, you’d better just accept them.”
Seeing that they had begun chatting, Gu Wan put Niuniu down, went to fetch cups, and brewed two cups of tea. She then said to Qin Zhijun, “Comrade Qin, you two can go ahead and chat. I’ll make a trip to the fields to call Aunt Chunhua back.”
Qin Zhijun smiled and thanked her, whereupon Gu Wan hurriedly picked up Niuniu and left, looking almost like she was fleeing in panic.
The main hall of the Qin house was small. When it was just Qin Zhijun alone, she could manage by carefully avoiding him. But now, with two men standing in the small room who could affect her, Gu Wan felt her legs going somewhat soft.
Watching her rush away the moment she saw him, Qin Zhijun felt an indescribable sensation in his heart. Over these past few days, he had often heard her sitting in his family’s courtyard, yet in eight days, they hadn’t crossed paths even once. For some reason, he felt a faint sense of disappointment in his heart.
Sansukini: Oh lord, another yang character. Qin Zhijun is our ML, btw. No second ml.