After arriving at the village entrance, they ran into a group of older women who couldn’t go to work in the fields and some children who hadn’t started school yet. Seeing them riding a brand-new bicycle with bags full of items, they stopped the couple and immediately started asking questions one after another.
“Did you two go to the town?”
“Is that bicycle new? Did you buy it yourselves?”
“Why did you buy so many things? That must have cost a lot, right?”
“I heard you went to register your marriage?”
There were too many questions, and Yang Tao wasn’t in the mood to deal with them. She picked a few to answer briefly and tugged at Chen Zhicheng’s sleeve, wanting to leave quickly.
Before they could go, one of the older women spoke loudly.
“This is good! Our village has another bicycle now. It’ll be much more convenient to go to town in the future. The brigade’s bicycle isn’t easy to borrow anyway. You two will lend it out, right? We’re all neighbors—helping with something small shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Yang Tao recognized the speaker as Granny Wu, the mother of Yang Dazhong. Their family had always been somewhat hostile toward educated youths. Hearing this, the surrounding women began to waver as well.
After all, people in the village usually didn’t want to spend even one mao on a ride to town and would rather walk. The brigade’s bicycle also wasn’t casually lent out. If there was a bicycle to use, of course everyone would prefer it.
But wanting to use moral pressure on her? Sorry—she didn’t have that much “morality.”
“If it’s an emergency or a matter of life and death, we’ll definitely lend it without hesitation,” Yang Tao said calmly. “But you all know how valuable this bicycle is. His family saved up and used coupons to finally buy it for us. If anyone comes borrowing it casually, we’d be worried about it getting damaged.”
Then she continued:
“To be honest, it’s just like what Granny Wu said—we’re all neighbors, so not lending it wouldn’t feel right either. So how about this: from now on, if anyone wants to borrow the bicycle, it’s one mao for half a day, two mao for a full day. That’s still cheaper than the village ox cart. Think of it as us serving the village.”
The more reasonable people nodded, but Granny Wu immediately got angry.
“You’re basically robbing people! Charging money just to borrow a bicycle? And you still call yourselves neighbors?”
Yang Tao replied without hesitation:
“Granny Wu, I heard your family just bought a new thermos. Coincidentally, we don’t have one yet—why don’t you lend it to us first? We’re all neighbors, you wouldn’t refuse, right?”
“You—!” Granny Wu stiffened. “That’s for my grandson’s wedding! That’s different!”
“Coincidentally,” Yang Tao said lightly, “this bicycle was also bought by his family elders for our wedding.”
Granny Wu then tried to shift the pressure.
“Chen Zhicheng hasn’t even said anything yet, and you’re already making decisions for him? You haven’t even married him and you’re already running the household?”
Before Yang Tao could respond, Chen Zhicheng spoke first:
“We already registered our marriage today. From now on, everything in our family is decided by Yang Tao.”
The surrounding women quickly tried to smooth things over, saying bicycles were precious and should indeed not be lent out so casually. Seeing she had lost the argument, Granny Wu muttered something under her breath. Yang Tao didn’t bother listening.
Her goal had already been achieved anyway—she just wanted to make it clear that the bicycle wasn’t something people could casually borrow. Otherwise, refusing later would only offend others.
The couple continued riding toward the Yang family house, though a group of children followed behind them, fascinated by the village’s only bicycles. Chen Zhicheng deliberately rode slowly so they wouldn’t fall while running after them.
At the Yang house, the children watched the bicycle for a while before being sent off to play. Only then did the two finally have time to speak.
“I made a decision on my own just now, saying we’d charge for borrowing the bike—I didn’t discuss it with you. You don’t mind, do you?” Yang Tao asked.
Even though Chen Zhicheng had supported her earlier, she still wasn’t sure if he had just been saving face.
“I don’t mind,” he said. “You handled it well. If it were me, I might not have been able to refuse them. But if we let them borrow it too easily, it would be hard to refuse later. The bike is new, and if it gets damaged, we’d definitely feel bad. This way, at least they won’t come asking for it over small things.”
Hearing that he didn’t blame her—and even agreed with her—Yang Tao finally felt relieved.
They chatted a bit more. Seeing that it was still early, Chen Zhicheng left first to return to the educated youth dormitory. He would come back for dinner later. At this point, aside from sleeping there, he basically ate all his meals at the Yang family, and even the bicycle was left there.
As he turned to leave, Yang Tao suddenly called out to him.
“Zhichen… what’s your younger sister’s name?”
After thinking for a moment, she added:
“What’s her personality like? Is she easy to get along with?”