When Zhao Xingjian arrived, he was driven by Assistant Fang, who was staying at a nearby hotel. Naturally, the car was there too, but…
Lin Dingshi said with surprise, “Minghe-ge, this basket isn’t small. I doubt it’d even fit.”
Chu Minghe knew it wouldn’t fit, and even if it did, he wouldn’t agree to move the pomegranates onto it to use it as a cargo vehicle that was Zhao Xingjian’s car, after all.
However, he had just noticed a flatbed cart parked in the old man’s courtyard. Although it was piled high with various sundries, it wasn’t broken and could still be used.
He could use the flatbed cart to haul the pomegranates to the village, but Zhao Xingjian probably wouldn’t be able to accept that. He had already figured out that he would find an excuse later to let Zhao Xingjian take his own car there and meet up with them once they arrived.
Standing against the wall nearby, the old man had been watching them smile for a long time. At this moment, he urged them on, “Well? Want to rent it?”
“I want to,” Chu Minghe said, “but we don’t have that many chickens to trade.”
The old man waved his hand. “No chickens this time.”
That meant it would be something else in short, the flatbed cart wouldn’t be given away for free. But the old man refused to state his conditions now, insisting on waiting until they returned before discussing what they would use in exchange.
Although it felt like they were going to get a terrible deal, they really had no other vehicle to use. The van he had taken on his arrival was carrying Sister Hong back to handle busy matters, and Zhao Xingjian’s expensive car was fine for dropping Zhao Xingjian himself off, but as for the rest well, forget it.
Besides, the production team’s original intention was probably to have them pull a flatbed cart. Even if Zhao Xingjian wanted to take his own car over, it would take a fair amount of persuasion.
Taking advantage of the time the others were unloading and loading cargo, he pulled Zhao Xingjian aside and quietly instructed him, “Later, you go find two small stools in the courtyard. I’ll leave first, and you can just have Assistant Fang drive over to pick you up afterward.”
Zhao Xingjian frowned, watching Chu Minghe scheme to find a way to get him onto that comfortable car.
In fact, he could tell not just this once, but on many occasions, he could perceive that Chu Minghe was trying every possible method to make things a little easier for him on the variety show.
If it had been right when he first arrived, he might have thought Chu Minghe still hadn’t given up on him. But ever since he overheard him patiently explaining things like “there are no feelings” and talking about an immediate divorce during a phone call with his agent, he completely abandoned such completely unrealistic thoughts.
Yet, thinking about it a bit more deeply, if these actions weren’t meant to express care and affection, then it could only mean that Chu Minghe’s impression of him was fixed: that he couldn’t endure hardship and couldn’t do physical labor.
Zhao Xingjian frowned at him. “Why make me take my own car?”
Chu Minghe raised his eyes, looking baffled. “Isn’t your car comfortable?”
Zhao Xingjian was left speechless. The two of them stared eye-to-eye for a moment.
Zhao Xingjian: “The car is comfortable, but I’m not.”
Chu Minghe was stunned, then realization dawned on him. “That phrasing works too, but it sounds a bit high-maintenance and doesn’t give a good impression. You’d better go pick up a small stool…”
“Stop fussing, let’s go together,” Zhao Xingjian interrupted him directly.
Actions spoke louder than words: what Chu Minghe could do himself, he could do even better. There was no need to treat him with such cautious kid gloves all the time.
Yet Chu Minghe was still hesitating, asking, “Have you ever ridden on a bus?”
Knowing what he was about to say, Zhao Xingjian replied with helpless resignation, “I’ve sat on a chair, does that count?”
“That’s not the sa—”
Before he could finish, a shout rang out from the courtyard.
“Minghe-ge, I found two cushions for you and Zhao-ge, you can sit on them later!”
“…”
Now they didn’t even need to look for stools; Lin Dingshi had brought them right over.
Seeing that he was still trying to figure out an alternative plan, Zhao Xingjian walked straight over and took the cushions Lin Dingshi had found.
Lin Dingshi looked cluelessly at Chu Minghe, who was standing there motionless, and said, “The old man said he can lend us an ox so we don’t have to pull it ourselves.”
His attention diverted, Chu Minghe finally stopped obsessing over making Zhao Xingjian take his own car and asked, “A dairy cow?”
“No, the old man said dairy cows can’t pull much,” he explained while leading the two men back. “He’s giving us an ox. It’s very skinny, but boy does it have a strong kick when it strikes a wooden stake.”
Just listening to Lin Dingshi’s description made it hard to picture what the ox looked like. It wasn’t until they were actually standing right in front of it that the full impact of what Lin Dingshi meant by “skinny” and “strong” hit them.
The ox was skinny to the point of being skin and bones, but when the old man went to pull it, the beast resisted desperately, slamming into the wooden stake with loud clangs. The dairy cows nearby were even somewhat startled its strength was definitely formidable.
Chu Minghe watched in a daze. “This doesn’t seem entirely safe.”
He started thinking about having Zhao Xingjian take his own car again, but Zhao Xingjian ignored him completely, having already stepped forward to grip the two handles and help pull the flatbed cart out.
It took the old man a tremendous amount of effort to haul the ox out, shouting all the while, “Safe, safe! These old yellow oxen are all like this. Last time I talked about slaughtering the ox to sell the meat and it didn’t fall through, so it’s still spooked. Just give it some food to soothe it and it’ll be fine.”
Chu Minghe still felt uneasy, but there was another matter he was worried about.
Zhang Qing asked on their behalf, “Are you going to personally go with us and expect something in return?”
This time, the old man showed utmost generosity. As he walked the ox toward the flatbed cart and secured the rope, he replied, “No trade needed, consider it a package deal.”
Having managed to safeguard their rations after all, the group collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
Before they set off, Lin Dingshi brought out the potatoes they had grilled the day before, preparing a small pouch for the old man and the two of them.
“If you can’t sell them at noon and don’t make any money, you can eat these.” Lin Dingshi also handed them two bottles of water, and a moment later dug out two straw hats. If Zheng Yuan hadn’t stopped him, he would have practically stuffed the entire flatbed cart full.
As the old man drove the ox forward, moving further and further away from the small villa until the figures became a blur, Chu Minghe finally turned around and sat down cross-legged side by side with Zhao Xingjian in the back.
[Just arrived, what’s going on here?]
[They went off to be refugees]
[Sister in front, don’t talk nonsense, they’re clearly going to pick up a bride]
[Is that a real bride, looks more like a kidnapping]
[You guys are discussing this so blatantly that I won’t hold back anymore I saw with my own eyes just now that the transaction succeeded, they bought a bride!]
[Sister has a little spare cash, President Zhao, please drop a link!]
…
The old man drove the ox quite steadily, and the beast wasn’t as hard to tame as before. Chu Minghe breathed a sigh of relief, placed the pouch of potatoes Lin Dingshi had given him which he had been clutching in his arms into the pomegranate basket.
The old man hummed folk tunes while driving, while the two of them sat quietly in the back without moving.
After a while, the sun came out, and only then did he reach for a straw hat and hand it to Zhao Xingjian.
Although it was already autumn, staying exposed under the sun for too long still felt quite irritating and restless. Zhao Xingjian took it, gave it a flick, and clapped it onto his head.
Chu Minghe lowered his head and began tying the two hanging strings under his own chin.
He tied them meticulously. Zhao Xingjian turned his head to look at him, watching his nimble fingers pull and knot the strings before letting go, leaving a neat butterfly bow dangling down.
Chu Minghe was very sensitive to his gaze; turning his head, he caught him looking right at the strings under his chin and hesitated, “Should I tie yours for you?”
“…”
Author’s Note:
President Zhao frowns x10086