Chapter 13

The tenth day, early morning.

A light drizzle was falling in the mountain fields. This was the second rain of the new year, dripping and tapping, falling for a whole morning.

No one had the heart to appreciate this lingering beauty. Tian Run'e stood under the eaves, feeling terrible. Today was the market day in town, and she was thinking of selling two loads of rice to raise tuition for her second daughter and Manzai.

Just past seven o'clock, seeing the rain let up a little, she decided not to wait any longer. She neatly wrapped the urea bag containing the rice with white plastic, then took a bamboo hat and a straw raincoat and handed them to Li Heng.

She instructed: "Manzai, it looks like this rain won't stop for a while, let's go."

She was afraid that if they went late, the rice wouldn't sell. At this time, her face was full of worry, and she was burning with anxiety.

"Good."

Answering, Li Heng put on the bamboo hat, draped the straw raincoat over his shoulders, and then bent down to carry a load of rice and walked into the rain.

This load of rice was weighed and was 105 jin.

If it were normal times, he, who came from a rural background, wouldn't particularly care. Being strong and sturdy, he could reach town in 10 li by resting at most 5 times.

But today's dirt road was too hard to walk on, full of potholes and muddy. Not long after leaving the house, he was covered in mud, and the liberation shoes on his feet were covered in thin mud, unable to see a bit of military green.

The muddy road was slippery, and he almost slipped into the paddy field below twice on the downhill section. He broke out in a cold sweat and cursed his mother in his heart.

Damn this ghost weather, it's really bad.

Tian Run'e also carried a load of rice, a little over 80 jin, following behind.

Li Jianguo, due to physical reasons, couldn't carry heavy loads and didn't come, so he simply stayed at home to help Li Lan feed the cow and pigs.

Seeing an old man pushing a flatbed cart overtaking him, he was immediately envious. Look at others, clean and tidy, even on a rainy day, he stubbornly held a dry tobacco pipe in his mouth, spitting a smoke ring every few steps, spitting a smoke ring every few steps, very comfortable.

Not long after, two horses caught up from behind, and then a bicycle passed by.

The bicycle was ridden by a middle-aged man, with a fat boy on the back seat. When passing through a puddle, he splashed water all over him, on his head and in his mouth.

Seeing Li Heng's miserable appearance, the fat boy happily pointed at him and laughed loudly.

Laughing at your sister! Riding a bicycle in this weather, you're really showing off. Wait until you fall and die later.

Hey, Li Heng's eyes turned red, lamenting that he was becoming more and more useless.

"Li Heng, Li Heng..."

Just as he felt his right shoulder aching and switched the carrying pole to his left shoulder, a rumbling sound came from behind.

The rumbling sound was mixed with shouting.

It was a hand-guided tractor.

The driver was Zhang Zhiyong. At this time, this guy was glowing with health, attracting a lot of attention along the way, very glorious. It felt more face-saving than driving a Mercedes or BMW in the future.

Just seeing this idiot brake, jump off the car, wave his right hand vigorously, and shout to Tian Run'e: "Aunt Tian, get in the car!"

Tian Run'e looked at the car bucket that was already full of people and said: "It seems there's no room. Zhiyong, you go first, don't worry about us, we'll be there soon too."

"Who said there's no room? There is room, look at me."

Zhang Zhiyong ignored Tian Run'e's obstruction, turned around and shouted loudly at the car bucket: "We've already walked more than half the way, I won't charge money for those getting off now. Is there anyone getting off?"

"Really?" an elderly aunt asked.

"Sixth Aunt, it's not your first time riding my car, one spit, one nail." Zhang Zhiyong patted his chest with a thud.

These words were truly effective, and several people who usually liked to take advantage of small things immediately jumped off the car and left.

Zhang Zhiyong helped the mother and son put the rice into the car bucket and said to Tian Run'e: "Aunt Tian, you sit in the front, someone ran away in the front too."

This front refers to the place next to the driver's seat, where one person can sit on both the left and right sides.

The rain got much heavier at this moment. Tian Run'e hesitated for a moment and went to the front.

Li Heng, who had a good relationship with the Zhang family, was not so polite and flipped into the back bucket.

The car bucket was full of people, all young wives and old women from the village. And a few old grandpas.

The bamboo hat and straw raincoat were full of water. He was afraid of getting others wet, so he specifically stood in the corner against the side.

When he bent down to organize his shoelaces, he suddenly discovered a girl staring straight at him.

This girl looked about 16 years old, with decent looks. Li Heng felt the other's face was a bit familiar, and it took a while to remember that she should be called Yang Juan, the only daughter of the village's women's director.

In his previous life, the two had an intersection. When his daughter was in high school at Yali Middle School in Changsha, she happened to be the head teacher.

His daughter liked the other person very much, saying the head teacher was very good to her and often called her to eat at home.

Remembering the past, Li Heng subconsciously smiled and greeted: "Yang Juan, long time no see."

Seeing him take the initiative to talk to her, Yang Juan's face inexplicably flushed, and after a while, she stammered and asked in a low voice: "You know my name?"

No wonder she was so surprised.

Because the old Li family was at the entrance of the village, and their family was located at the brigade headquarters, separated by nearly a mile, and the two sides were not in the same grade, being called by name directly was naturally a bit unexpected, and at the same time, she was inexplicably happy.

Li Heng replied: "Of course I know. If I remember correctly, you and Chen Zitong were elementary school classmates, right?"

Just as Yang Juan's eyes were flickering and she was about to answer, the women's director on the side suddenly stretched out her right hand and pulled her daughter behind her back.

The women's director said half-jokingly and half-seriously to him: "Li Heng, if you want to chat, find your aunt. Juanzi is timid and hasn't seen the world, don't scare her."

As soon as these words came out, the car bucket was full of malicious laughter.

Even more, an old indecent person said to the women's director: "Your Juanzi has a decent appearance, you have to be careful, don't become the second Chen Zi Jin."

Hearing this, Yang Juan lowered her head, looking at her toes, and in an instant, her face was redder than a monkey's butt.

Li Heng was furious. It turns out that after half a year, his reputation is still undiminished; everyone treats him as Ximen Qing.

He truly felt the deep malice from this world. He and Chen Zi Jin were clearly like the tragic lovers Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, loving each other, so how did it turn into the scandalous version of the Jin Ping Mei when it spread out?

This thief heaven is unfair, I am wronged, why did you strike me with lightning to come here?

Facing a dozen or twenty gossiping women who couldn't be reasoned with, Li Heng admitted he couldn't win and sensibly pretended not to hear.

(End of chapter)