Feng Ergou cursed inwardly, but it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t help but sigh at how unfair life was. He clearly wasn’t that much worse than Leng Yuan, so why was Leng Yuan better than him in every way?
As long as Leng Yuan was happy, Feng Ergou was miserable. He eagerly hoped Gu Jiaojiao would just dump Leng Yuan and go back to the city.
That way, Leng Yuan would be a poor, unwanted soul, and he would beco the laughingstock of the Qingshan Team.
Watching their departing figures, Feng Ergou spat. "What’s there to be so smug about? I refuse to believe Gu Jiaojiao will actually settle down with you. We’ll just wait and see!"
Fueled by this conviction, Feng Ergou found he had much more energy for work that day.
「anwhile」 Gu Jiaojiao was oblivious to the commotion. After Leng Yuan left for work, she grabbed her bag, locked the door, and headed for the County Town.
The County Town was so distance from the village—a half-hour ride by bicycle, but over an hour on foot.
In the entire Qingshan Team, only the team leader’s family owned a bicycle.
In those days, a bicycle was a family’s prized possession, like a luxury car worth millions in later eras.
Leng Yuan had borrowed the team leader’s bike last ti when he returned to register their marriage.
This ti, Gu Jiaojiao didn’t go to borrow it.
The team had a written rule: the bike could be borrowed, but only for truly important matters. Otherwise, it wasn’t to be lent out.
It was currently the Qiushou, so everyone was busy with the harvest. The village oxcart wasn’t going to the County Town either, which ant Gu Jiaojiao had to walk.
But just as she reached the main road, Li Hongi stopped her.
Gu Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow.
"Hong i, you’re not at work today?"
"Work can wait a mont. I have sothing very important to tell you." Li Hongi had been in a hurry to get to her post, but now she seed to have forgotten her rush. Compared to her work points, what she was about to say was more important.
Gu Jiaojiao said nothing, so Li Hongi had to speak first.
"Jiaojiao, are you really planning to settle down with Leng Yuan? Then what about Yun Hao? Are you just giving up on him like that?"
Gu Jiaojiao glanced at Li Hongi, completely unsurprised by her words. After all, many of the foolish things the original ’her’ had done were a result of listening to Li Hongi.
But she wasn’t that person anymore, and she certainly wouldn’t be listening to her now.
"Hong i, I’m married now. Of course I can’t be unfaithful. You shouldn’t say such things in the future."
Li Hongi was stunned by her response, but she quickly recovered. "Jiaojiao, there are so things I probably shouldn’t say, but seeing you like this, I feel I can’t hide them from you."
"I heard that Leng Yuan’s father was bitten by a venomous snake a while back. He went to a big hospital in the city and had to borrow a lot of money. If you’re going to live with Leng Yuan, you’ll have to help him pay off that debt."
After saying her piece, Li Hongi watched Gu Jiaojiao’s reaction.
Gu Jiaojiao had known about the debt from the very beginning. She just didn’t know if Leng Yuan had finished paying it off. But even if he hadn’t, she could pay it back with him. They would clear it eventually.
Seeing Gu Jiaojiao remain silent, Li Hongi couldn’t help but press on. "Jiaojiao, you really need to think this through. They say the debt is five or six hundred yuan! How long will it take to pay that back? Are you really prepared to live a life of hardship with Leng Yuan?"
"You won’t just be eating coarse grains and wild greens; you’ll have to toil in the fields. Sure, he has a respectable job, but he doesn’t have any elders at ho to help out. You’re going to suffer in the future."
Gu Jiaojiao’s expression remained placid; she still didn’t say much.
In the end, Li Hongi still had to rush off to work. She had no money to begin with and even owed Gu Jiaojiao two yuan. She had to rely on work points to support herself—those work points were her lifeblood.
If it weren’t for this conversation with Gu Jiaojiao, she never would have risked being late and getting her work points docked.
"Just think about it carefully!"
Li Hongi felt that her words had planted a seed of unease in Gu Jiaojiao’s heart, so she left, reassured.
As for Gu Jiaojiao, she hadn’t taken Li Hongi’s words to heart in the slightest.
’Eating coarse grains and wild greens? Impossible. The villagers only received ten jin of fine grain each year, but Leng Yuan got five jin every month. Their food was already much better than what others had.’
’Plus, with his hunting skills, they ate more at than most.’
’As for the debt, that was nothing to worry about.’
’She wasn’t helpless. If they worked together as a couple, what was a few hundred yuan of debt? They could just grit their teeth and pay it off.’
User Comments
0 comments from readers