Chapter 15

The summer night in the countryside was quiet and cool.

Pei Huaiye drove the bull cart back and immediately went up the mountain to hunt. He didn't find a wild boar but caught three pheasants. He cleaned two of them and brought them to the small river.

Su Qianqian was indeed sitting on a stone, her figure graceful from behind. He walked over gently, "Take these two back to eat; the internal organs have been cleaned."

"Thank you." Su Qianqian handed the handkerchief to Pei Huaiye, "Returning your handkerchief, it's been washed clean."

Pei Huaiye's eyes were full of concern, "Are you tired from working in the fields today?"

"Not tired, picking wheat ears is much better than hoeing."

Pei Huaiye breathed a sigh of relief; Captain Xiang had indeed kept his promise.

His ears were sharp, and he heard footsteps from afar, "Someone is coming. It's too late, go back quickly. I'll send you pheasants again tomorrow."

Su Qianqian curled her lips, "Mm."

Pei Huaiye smelled the handkerchief, which still carried a faint fragrance. He had just returned to the thatched cottage when he saw his parents and Pei Huaigang sitting on the kang.

Pei Fugui scolded, "Your mother is not in good health, and you don't even know to go back and see her, making us come to see you."

Chen Lianzhen clutched her chest, "Eldest, Mom's chest hurts again. If you still have filial piety, buy some medicine for Mom."

Pei Huaigang stared at the pheasants under the eaves and swallowed, "I say, Eldest Brother, you caught pheasants and don't even know to honor Mom and Dad, planning to eat them all yourself?!"

Pei Huaiye's eyes were cold and disappointed, "I have no money!"

Pei Fugui stood up abruptly, "You have no money? Your monthly salary is twenty-eight yuan; where did you spend it?"

Pei Huaiye flared up, "You still dare to ask me where the money went?!"

He walked in front of them, his whole body filled with baleful energy, his eyes flashing with fierce light as he scanned them one by one.

"Then let's settle the accounts properly!

Pei Huaigang spent two hundred to build a house, two hundred to get married, and one hundred and eighty to buy a bicycle!

Two years after retiring, I gave you twenty yuan a month! That's four hundred and eighty in two years.

I kept one hundred and fifty for myself, but after I went on a mission and came back, the money was stolen.

I had no money on my business trip, and in the end, I had to borrow money from a colleague to buy the train ticket...

You still dare to ask me where my money went?!"

Pei Huaigang hid behind Pei Fugui, and Chen Lianzhen knocked her crutch heavily.

"We raised you to twenty-two; what's wrong with honoring your parents! Is that how you talk to your father and mother?!

Also, whose family doesn't help their brothers and sisters?"

Pei Huaiye's face was dark, and he said coldly, "You only raised me for thirteen years! You know clearly how I've lived since I was thirteen!

You stole all the money I saved last time, and I didn't even ask you for it. Now you have the nerve to ask me for money?"

Chen Lianzhen turned her head away with a guilty conscience, and Pei Fugui calculated carefully; it was indeed not payday.

He pondered for a long time; it wouldn't be good to make things too stiff, or it would be troublesome if the eldest didn't honor them in the future.

"Eldest, let the past be the past.

Your parents are old and incapable. If you have filial piety, wait until you get your salary to get your mother some medical treatment."

After Pei Fugui finished speaking, he helped his wife out. Pei Huaigang took the pheasants and started to leave, but Pei Huaiye blocked him in one stride, "Put them down!"

Pei Huaigang was so scared he shivered, but he braced himself and threatened, "I know you caught three pheasants, and the other two were given to a pretty woman.

Hmph, if you care about her reputation, you'd better not force me to tell people you were doing 'broken' things in the middle of the night—"

Before the last word was out, Pei Huaiye punched him! Pei Huaigang's nose immediately started bleeding.

Chen Lianzhen and Pei Fugui turned back and ran, swinging their crutches at Pei Huaiye, hitting and cursing as they did.

Pei Huaiye ignored the crutches landing on him, grabbed Pei Huaigang by the collar, and lifted him into the air, "Take the pheasants back. If you dare to talk nonsense outside, I'll break your legs!"

Pei Huaigang's neck was choked, and it took him a long time to take a deep breath. He suppressed the fear in his heart and let his parents take the pheasants and leave.

Chen Lianzhen still knocked on Pei Huaiye with her crutch, and Pei Huaiye looked angry, "If you don't want your living expenses, just keep hitting!"

Pei Fugui pulled his wife, glaring at his eldest son, "Let's go, let's go. It's truly a sin to have given birth to a beast like you!"

Pei Huaiye sent his family away, and the wound on his chest split open again. He gritted his teeth and bandaged it again.

When he was thirteen, he went up the mountain and dug out six bird eggs. Just because he was too hungry and ate one first, he was beaten by Chen Lianzhen and Pei Fugui until his leg broke.

"Your parents and brother haven't eaten, and you stole one!"

"At such a young age, you don't learn well. I'll beat you to death, you unfilial son!"

Thinking of the past, his heart felt like it was being cut by a knife. Pei Huaiye's eyes were bloodshot, and he picked up the handkerchief to cover his chest, slowly calming his anger.

Pei Huaiye left early and returned late. After work, he would go into the mountains to hunt. He bought another bottle of canned oranges and carried a pheasant to find Su Qianqian.

He wandered around the river twice but didn't see anyone, so he had to go to the Educated Youth Courtyard.

Shen Xunbao was preparing to go out to find Su Qianqian and met Pei Huaiye at the entrance.

His eyes lit up; such a handsome and dashing man was rare in the countryside.

Pei Huaiye scanned Shen Xunbao lightly, "Comrade, please pass the canned fruit and pheasant to Su Qianqian."

To reduce misunderstandings, he added, "She asked for them to be brought back, and she has already paid for them."

Shen Xunbao didn't think much of it; Su Qianqian and Zhou Wenfang often asked people to bring things, "Okay, what is your name, Comrade?"

Pei Huaiye raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Pei Huaiye, she knows."

"Pei Huaiye?!" Su Qianqian was very surprised. Pei Huaiye was a ruthless person who lived in a cave alone, and after his leg was crippled, he was almost carried away by wolves.

He had fought with his parents and brother, and he was vicious and cruel.

He was a bully in the ten miles and eight villages, and his reputation was extremely poor.

Could it be that this man had taken a fancy to her?

Su Qianqian shivered in fear. She explained to Shen Xunbao anxiously, "I just asked him to help bring some things; there's nothing between us."

Shen Xunbao seemed very interested in Pei Huaiye, and the topic kept revolving around him.

In Su Qianqian's eyes, this meant: Shen Xunbao was jealous!

Su Qianqian's cheeks were shy, and that night she opened the canned fruit and gave Shen Xunbao more than half of it.

She threw the pheasant to Dai Xiaohong and Li Yun, "Process it, let's have an extra meal tomorrow."

After Li Yun washed the pheasant, Su Qianqian quickly chopped off half and hid it.

Su Qianqian finally persuaded Su Mingqiang to go to the county health center for treatment after much persuasion.

Because he needed acupuncture on his waist, Su Qianqian asked him to be hospitalized for three days, but Su Mingqiang refused no matter what.

Su Qianqian had no choice but to take her old father to the county every day, and after the acupuncture was finished, she would take him back to the village.

For three consecutive days, it was very late when she returned to the village. Pei Huaiye's thatched cottage was empty, and he was nowhere to be seen by the river.

Su Qianqian sighed, thinking that Pei Huaiye's work was special and he might have gone on a mission.

When she got home that day, Su Mingqiang calculated that it had cost twenty yuan for medical treatment, "Qianqian, don't go tomorrow; it's too expensive!"

"Dad, I bought two monthly bus passes. You can go to the county with me in the morning from now on.

I'll start working at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative tomorrow. You can just go home after you finish your acupuncture at the health center."

Su Qingwu chimed in, "The waist treatment is halfway done and the money has been spent; it's better to just finish it!"

Su Zhuangzhuang bit into a chicken cake, "Grandpa, go. I will pick wheat ears to help Aunt Qingxi earn work points."

Su Zhuangzhuang was tanned black, following Su Qingxi every day to pick wheat ears. The two little guys could earn six work points a day, which made them very proud.

Su Mingqiang had no choice but to agree.

Su Qianqian went to the river to wander around but didn't find Pei Huaiye. She thought it would be better to ask Shen Xunbao if he had considered breaking off the engagement, so she walked to the Educated Youth Courtyard.

From afar, she saw a man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist standing at the entrance of the Educated Youth Courtyard talking to Shen Xunbao.

Isn't this Pei Huaiye?

Su Qianqian immediately became excited and walked forward with light steps.

"Same as usual, please pass the canned fruit and pheasant to Su Qianqian."

Pei Huaiye's voice was low, and from the side, deep affection was hidden in his eyes.

Su Qianqian's smile froze, and she stood still on the spot, a layer of mist gradually rising in her peach-blossom eyes.