Chapter 1268

"Big sister, I didn't lie to you, did I? This child is really, really good. Speaking of which, this child hasn't had it easy; he lost his parents early on, and grew up relying on neighbors and the factory, eating food from a hundred families..."

In the courtyard of a single-story house, a woman wearing a scarf and with a slightly plump figure was talking to another woman with a thin, gaunt figure.

"You didn't explain it clearly to me either; how did this child's parents pass away?"

"Speaking of it, it's really mysterious. His father was from the steel mill in our county; we don't understand it, but anyway, they said there was some accident. His father was heroic and fearless, saved the losses, but was scalded to death himself. His mother was from our textile mill. Not two months after his father left, a fire started in the textile mill, and his mother went to put out the fire, but she didn't come out either.

At that time, this child was only twelve or thirteen, right? He studied well. Originally, he could work when he reached sixteen. Theoretically, he should have gone to the steel mill, but that bunch of people in the steel mill who don't do human things took his position and insisted that they couldn't arrange it. They just had the idea of letting us in the textile mill settle him.

Our old factory manager was not bad; he took this child into the textile mill and let him follow the old master to learn how to repair machines. This child learned fast, had good skills, and was also good at talking. Whenever any family had any business, as long as they called him, he would definitely help. Usually, changing tickets and such was even more straightforward.

Later, the factory had a quota for university students, so they recommended him to go. Isn't this it? After studying at university for three years, he returned to the factory. His future definitely won't be bad after that.

I think this child is good, so I thought of our He Xiaoping, right? I brought him over immediately. Let me tell you, big sister, this child doesn't have to worry about a wife; I don't know how many people in the factory are introducing him to potential partners.

Look, He Xiaoping is twenty-one after the New Year, and this child is twenty-two after the New Year. The age is just right; how suitable, right?

And most importantly, what is it? This child has no parents; not only will He Xiaoping not be bullied after marrying over, but you will also have an extra son, basically equivalent to half a son-in-law marrying into your family."

He Xiaoping's thin mother couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head and saying: "Look at where you're going with this; there's not even a shadow of a start yet. This matter, the two of us won't interfere. You say the person is good, then it definitely won't be bad. It mainly depends on Ping Ping's own thoughts. If she is willing, the two of us have no opinion. Right, his dad?"

"Hmm."

Sitting on the side with his legs crossed, a pipe in his mouth, the man with a weathered face responded with a hum. His gaze, however, was looking outside the door...

Outside the door, there was a flowing river. On the riverbank, a man and a woman were sitting on flat stones, separated by a slight distance.

The girl had a handsome oval face, her long hair tied in twin tails swinging behind her, wearing a red coat that made her face look white with a rosy tint.

She secretly glanced at the man beside her. He was wearing an old Zhongshan suit, his feet in a pair of cloth shoes, his medium-long hair scattered, becoming a side part. This person didn't talk to her, nor did he look at her, but instead kept his eyes on the ground, flipping through small, handy stone chips.

Song Yunping knew this was because he wanted to skip stones.

So she picked one up from the side, reached out, and said softly: "Here."

Wang Yan looked at her in surprise, then smiled and took it, then turned to the side, one hand in front, the other pinching the small stone chip with three fingers behind, forming a bow-drawing posture.

He threw the stone chip in his hand diagonally forward with a sudden force. The stone chip broke through the air, lightly touched the water surface, stirred up a circle of ripples, left obvious traces, and then bounced away using the reaction force of the special angle of entry. Repeating this, it slid out a long series of skips.

Wang Yan nodded with satisfaction; comfortable...

"You are really good at skipping stones." Song Yunping was quite surprised.

"Coincidence, it's mainly because the stone you handed over was good." Wang Yan smiled and looked at this old friend from the distant past.

After meeting his gaze for only a moment, Song Yunping looked away: "You started skipping stones as soon as you came up; did you not take a fancy to me?"

"How is that possible? You are so beautiful; whoever didn't take a fancy to you must be blind. It's just that this is also my first blind date, and I didn't know what to say for a moment. Fortunately, you were considerate and even found me a stone."

Song Yunping secretly thought this person was glib, but didn't show it, just picked up stones from her side and threw them into the river.

So Wang Yan asked: "You don't talk, just throw stones; did you not take a fancy to me?"

"No, no, I just..."

"That means you did take a fancy to me."

Song Yunping looked at the smiling Wang Yan, not knowing what to say.

"Think I'm glib and frivolous?"

Hearing Wang Yan's self-aware words, Song Yunping hesitated and replied: "A... little... bit... I guess..."

"That is your biggest misunderstanding of me. I have always been a person who speaks the truth." Wang Yan raised an eyebrow at her and said, "Do you think I'm particularly shameless again?"

"Uh... I heard you are a university student? Which university did you go to?"

"Anhui Institute of Technology, majoring in mechanical engineering."

"How is university? Is it very good?" Song Yunping had some yearning.

"It's just that there are people to teach knowledge that you can't learn in the county, and there aren't that many people who understand it. There are also many people in big cities, and it feels livelier. That's it."

Song Yunping was speechless again. The university she longed for was described so ordinarily by Wang Yan, which made her a little sad.

"I know you were admitted to university, but because your family background wasn't good, the county only gave you one quota, which you gave to your younger brother."

Wang Yan said, "Don't be discouraged. Just review well and take the exam again next year. If they gave your family a quota this year and you get admitted again next year, if they don't let you go, I'll go to the county office to seek justice for you."

"You make it sound like getting into university is very easy."

"Actually, it's not difficult. I've seen this year's questions. I imagine next year's difficulty should be raised a bit, and maybe foreign languages will be added. On the whole, it's actually still on the simple side. It will get harder year by year in the future. How about this, after I go back, I'll prepare a set of materials for you. If you study according to my materials, I guarantee you'll get into university."

"No, no, that's too much trouble for you. There are already review books for sale..."

Wang Yan interrupted her and looked straight at her: "You didn't take a fancy to me?"

"No, I..."

"Then it's settled. When I go back, I'll organize it, and I'll send it to you when I'm off next week."

"Uh..."

"You didn't take a fancy to me?"

"Oh my!" Song Yunping was already blushing; she didn't dare to look at Wang Yan.

"We still need to interact more. Once we interact more, you'll know that I'm actually a very good person." Wang Yan was shamelessly confident. "Second Aunt has already planned everything for us, saying we should develop feelings this year, get engaged in the spring of next year, get married in the summer, and have a child the year after. I rejected it at the time..."

Such a turn made Song Yunping subconsciously look over, curious why he rejected it.

Only to hear Wang Yan say with a smile, "I said there's no rush to have children; you still have to take the university entrance exam. We can talk about it after you graduate from university."

"Oh my! You hooligan!" Song Yunping quickly turned her head away, covering her face with both hands.

Wang Yan saw clearly that Song Yunping was truly blushing, even red all the way to her neck...

Now, no matter what Wang Yan said, Song Yunping wouldn't lift her head. But Wang Yan kept talking, talking about his own situation, talking about interesting things.

After waiting for a while, perhaps her face wasn't as hot and she had calmed down enough, Song Yunping stood up and said.

"Let's go back; it's been too long... it's not good."

As she spoke, she glanced at Wang Yan, then quickly averted her gaze and walked back.

This is how it is nowadays; if a man and woman on a blind date spend endless time together on their first meeting, that's very bad. If others see it, they will inevitably gossip, and the words won't be very pleasant to hear. Moreover, the Song family's original background wasn't good, so there would naturally be more strange talk.

Wang Yan smiled, stood up and followed behind, returning to the Song family's courtyard...

"Uncle, Aunt, Second Aunt." Wang Yan greeted them with a smile, took out a pack of Huangshan cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out to share with Song's father, sensibly struck a match to light it for him, and only then lit one for himself.

Thus, Wang Yan sat in the courtyard again and chatted with Song's father and mother for a while. It was mostly them asking questions and Wang Yan answering. At the same time, Wang Yan also mentioned that his grandfather was a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and discussed TCM matters with Song's father, who was a barefoot doctor in the countryside. By the end of the chat, Song's father, who didn't talk much, was talking eloquently.

Like this, Wang Yan finally proposed to leave, went out to pedal his bicycle, carrying Song's Second Aunt, and headed back to the county town twenty miles away.

The road was bumpy, and the old bicycle had no shock absorbers, but that didn't stop Song's Second Aunt from talking.

"Xiao Wang, I didn't lie to you, did I? Isn't my niece very beautiful?"

"Must be beautiful; I was fascinated as soon as I saw her, love at first sight." Wang Yan said with a smile, "Second Aunt, you have to put in a good word for me."

"Oh my, do I still need to say anything? Your little mouth is like it's been smeared with honey; my big sister and brother-in-law have been fooled by you until they can't find north, they must be satisfied with you."

"Second Aunt, just keep praising me. If it doesn't work out, I'll go to your house and pester you."

"You brat, you're even clinging on now." Song's Second Aunt patted Wang Yan's back not too lightly or heavily. "Let me tell you, you really have to put your heart into it. My niece has looks, she has culture, she's a good seedling who almost got into university. Although the family background is a bit poor, you also said you don't care, that's why I connected you. Don't you go making any trouble."

"Look at what you're saying, Second Aunt, my character is known by the whole factory."

"Yes, I know you haven't learned well since you were a child, fought your way through the county town and were invincible, know you fought your way into the steel mill and slapped two teeth out of the steel mill leader's mouth, know you hung up old Liu from our factory's security department and whipped him."

"I was young and ignorant then; you can't just talk about the consequences without talking about the cause, Second Aunt. Invincible in the county town? That's because they wouldn't play with me, and they teamed up to bully me. After I became famous for fighting, they all scrambled to play with me.

The steel mill leader was unreasonable, gave the position my father left me to his own nephew, and pointed at me, lecturing me that I had no parents to educate me, that he wanted to be my father and educate me. If I don't hit him, who do I hit? Knocking out two of his teeth is light.

Not to mention old Liu in our factory; he's quite old, yet he still covets young girls? How shameful is that? I just happened to run into it; otherwise, what would happen to that girl? I should have whipped him to death. I am doing justice, fighting against evil and ugliness."

"That's true, otherwise I wouldn't have introduced my niece to you. Oh my, you've really had it hard all these years." Song's Second Aunt sighed again.

The two of them talked and laughed like this, Wang Yan pedaled the bicycle, carrying Song's Second Aunt, without stopping once, pedaling hard for twenty miles.

Song's Second Aunt, who was already numb from the bumps, sighed, saying it's no wonder Wang Yan can fight; his body is incredibly good...

After sending her to her doorstep, Wang Yan pedaled his bicycle back to his own home.

This is not the old house in the background information. He used to live in a house allocated by the steel mill, but that house belonged to the steel mill, not him. Later, his job was settled in the textile mill, so the steel mill took back the house, and he moved into a house allocated by the textile mill instead.

Compared to the crowded city, the conditions in the county town are much better. There is no need to fight over housing problems, and everyone's space is not small. Everyone is fair and just; they are all single-story houses with courtyards.

However, there is an exception, and that is when the factory wants to build multi-story buildings. At this time, everyone will fight until their brains are out. Upstairs and downstairs, electric lights and telephones, naturally everyone wants them. If others have them and I don't, that won't do. It's just that now, in the whole county, it's hard to find a few five- or six-story buildings, and it hasn't reached that point yet for the time being...

Wang Yan is of course no exception; he has the same configuration as everyone else.

The location is on the outskirts of the small county town, and the house is by the river. It is a three-room brick and tile house, and the courtyard is surrounded by a wooden fence. Inside the courtyard, there is a simple side room, as well as a dry toilet in the corner of the wall.

The courtyard is very clean; this was cleaned by Wang Yan. The house is also just as tidy; he is not a lazy person.

Opening the door of the main room, it is the outer utility area, used for cooking and washing, and there is a small stove on both the east and west sides, and a large pot with a fire stove on the east side. However, it is not connected to the inside of the room, and there is no heated kang built. He sleeps on a bed, and heating relies on lighting a stove to warm the air.

The east room has a large double bed, and several cabinets stand against the wall. The west room is arranged as a study as usual. By the window is a set of solid wood table and chairs, with the four treasures of the study placed on the wide tabletop, and a pile of books stacked up. The bookshelves on three walls are full of books, with many stuffed into the gaps, and boards are also padded in the corners to prevent moisture, also stacking up a pile of books.

This is an ocean of knowledge, and it is as always in line with Wang Yan's preferences; the "Living Father" is always so thoughtful.

Wang Yan is a man of action; he immediately started flipping through books and got a notebook to start writing the review outline...

This identity is still quite sufficient: a proper worker family, parents sacrificed to save factory property, he himself is a worker-peasant-soldier university student, and he excelled in university. The engineering college intended to keep him for further studies, and some leaders who came for advanced studies also wanted to take him away to do things.

But he did not agree to any of them, stating that big places lack university students, and small places lack them even more. He wanted to take the knowledge he learned back to help the factory, drive the local area, work hard with his head down, and strive for the realization of the four modernizations.

Everyone was moved by his sentiments, and seeing that he insisted on not staying, they let him return to Jin Ling County.

He had already come over two months ago. At that time, he had just graduated from university and returned to Jin Ling County to report to the textile mill.

He originally wanted to go out for a chance encounter, but among the crowd introducing him to a partner, Song's Second Aunt popped up, and she even pointed him out directly using a photo taken together two years ago.

So after this period of contact by Song's Second Aunt, Song Yunping, who couldn't get into university, finally calmed down and agreed to meet, which led to today.

Wang Yan ate breakfast, took the things he had prepared in advance for the visit, pedaled hard for twenty miles carrying Song's Second Aunt to the Song family in Hongwei Town, first exchanged pleasantries with Song's father and mother, then chatted with Song Yunping alone for about twenty minutes, left a good impression on Song's father and mother, pedaled hard for twenty miles back to Jin Ling County town, and thus a morning passed...

Also, after Wang Yan and Song's Second Aunt left, the three members of the old Song family sat together to study Wang Yan.

Song's mother asked: "Ping Ping, what do you think of this Wang Yan? Should we interact?"

Song Yunping asked back: "What do you think?"

"I think he's quite good. He looks pleasing to the eye, speaks nicely, and his manners aren't bad either. It's just that I don't know what he's like as a person, so we still have to interact. His dad, what do you say?"

Song's father thought for a while and said: "This Wang Yan is a person of high caliber. Receiving people and handling things is one aspect; on the other hand, he really has substance. The TCM he chatted with me about just now was not bad at all, and he even pointed out my shortcomings. In addition, the mechanical engineering he studied, what I heard him say was also very logical, from the past to the present, and he even looked forward to the future.

Not to mention anything else, compare him to our family's proud Xiao Hui. As a father, I'll say a truthful word: Xiao Hui is far inferior. Xiao Hui is still too young, and his ideas are too simple. Wang Yan, on the other hand, has a sense of worldly wisdom and is also very confident. He lost his parents since he was a child, grew up eating food from a hundred families, and having what he has now is not easy, which also shows that he has perseverance, persistence, and can endure hardship."

"Mom, look at my dad, he's usually sparing with words, but he talked endlessly about Wang Yan, and it was all good words. It's clear he's very satisfied."

Song Yunping pretended to be unhappy, "Dad, do you want me to marry out that much?"

Song's father smiled: "As of now, Wang Yan is still acceptable, I don't oppose you interacting. Ping Ping, our family background isn't good, that's my fault, but you shouldn't feel inferior because of this. You are more excellent than other families' children; we aren't lacking anything. My meaning is, it still depends on yourself."

"Ping Ping, what do you think?" Song's mother asked with a smile.

"Oh my~ Mom~" Song Yunping's face was a bit red, her head slightly lowered. Showing her daughterly demeanor of being shy because of a man had already given the answer.

"Then in the afternoon, I'll call your Second Aunt and let her talk about it."

"He said he would come over when he's off next week to bring me review materials for the university entrance exam, I don't know if it's true."

"He wants you to take the university entrance exam?"

In an instant, Song Yunping thought of the hooligan words Wang Yan said, and couldn't help but nod, blushing.

"Look at you, blushing as soon as I mention it, you really have taken a fancy to each other." Song's mother pointed at Song Yunping.

"A grown daughter can't be kept." Song's father picked up his pipe again and smoked his dry tobacco.

So Song Yunping felt even more embarrassed.

Song's mother said: "Wang Yan told you, he also has to tell your Second Aunt; she needs to know our attitude. This Wang Yan's conditions are indeed very good, and your Second Aunt is also thinking of us."

"Hmm." Song Yunping responded and turned into the room with a red face.

Lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling, what went through her mind was the twenty minutes of simple contact with Wang Yan earlier. His words always made people blush.

"What a hooligan..."

She murmured inaudibly, and then suddenly laughed again...

Near evening, Song's Second Aunt strolled to Wang Yan's home.

"Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang..."

She shouted a few times at the top of her voice, and without waiting for Wang Yan to come and welcome her, she went straight into the house.

"Second Aunt, I was slow to come out, your legs and feet are really light." Wang Yan stood at the door, politely expressing his apologies.

"I'm not seventy or eighty years old yet." Song's Second Aunt waved her hand, then looked at the environment inside the house; it was her first time here too. "Don't say, you've tidied up this room quite cleanly. I was even thinking of instructing you to tidy up the house well."

"I don't spend much time at home, so it stays clean for a long time after I tidy it up."

"Are you reading?"

"Writing a review outline for He Xiaoping's exam, promised to send it to her next week."

"Oh my, you child are really thoughtful." Song's Second Aunt walked in and took a look. "I came here to tell you about He Xiaoping. Her mother just called me, saying she thinks you're a good person, and the two of you can interact more and try to get along."

"That's good news, half of my life's major event is solved."

"And the other half?"

"Just missing getting the certificate and getting married."

"Don't just think about good things, you still have to interact. You must treat He Xiaoping well, don't bully her, otherwise I won't be done with you."

"Definitely, Second Aunt, don't you trust me?" Wang Yan responded with a smile.

"Haven't eaten yet, right? Perfect, let's go, go to my house to eat, have a drink with your Second Uncle, and there are those two boys in our family, you should also give them a lesson. I tell them, and it's not as effective as you telling them. Hey, don't be fake polite with Second Aunt, it's just adding a pair of chopsticks."

"I have a bottle of old Shahe here, I don't drink it myself, just right to have a good drink with Second Uncle. Also, there are two cans of beef here, heating them up counts as adding a dish."

"You..."

"I have to take it, otherwise I can't eat it either. If you don't let me take it, I won't go, Second Aunt."

"Let's go, let's go, you have so many ideas." Song's Second Aunt scolded him as if she were unhappy, then turned and walked out.

Wang Yan also quickly took the things and followed.

Seeing that Wang Yan was about to leave without locking the door or hiding the bike, Song's Second Aunt reminded him: "You should lock the door."

"Second Aunt, in Jin Ling County, no one dares to steal my things."

"Oh my, look at you, I forgot about this. I have to say, everyone in our textile mill has to owe you a favor. Since you arrived at our factory, we haven't really heard of anyone in our area being robbed."

Wang Yan smiled, responding casually, and walked with Song's Second Aunt toward her house.

Personnel traffic nowadays is not close, especially in a poor county. The place is really too small; two people walking on the street might not know each other, but after chatting for two or three sentences, they are guaranteed to have mutual friends, and maybe even be related.

Wang Yan of course couldn't be someone who takes bullying. In the entire Jin Ling County, whether it's the county town, the town, or any village below, all the big and small hooligans who didn't learn well were beaten by him once. It can be said that he dominates the Jin Ling County underworld; he is a proper figure.

Under these circumstances, there are no local thieves who are blind enough to find him, because he really can find them, and he has indeed found them before.

As for those coming from other places, they are actually limited; the ones who often come here are just those few people. They obviously knew Wang Yan's ferocity long ago and wouldn't look for trouble.

And those who don't know, the ones drifting in, the distance wouldn't be too far. Because the current social environment is not relaxed, without survival skills in the wild, it's easy to die outside. Basically, they are all within twenty or thirty kilometers around, which is within Wang Yan's coverage area, so everyone is very polite to him...