Chapter 120

When Tao Daqiang went to the Li house in the afternoon to wait to catch fish together, Li Long asked him:

"Did you beat up Gu Ermao?"

When Tao Daqiang was hitting him, Lu's eldest daughter-in-law was watching from afar at the doorway. None of the onlookers had expected Tao Daqiang to be so brave.

Although the Tao family had two brothers and was considered to have a relatively large number of mouths to feed in the team, Tao Jian She himself had a soft temper toward outsiders, Tao Dayong was henpecked, and Tao Daqiang was even more of a simpleton, so the family's image in the team was that of a background character.

The Gu family also had two brothers, but Gu Ermao was a troublemaker, and his mother was a shrew, so in the eyes of the team members, that family was not to be trifled with.

No one would have thought that Tao Daqiang could give Gu Ermao such a sound beating. Some people just wanted to watch the fun, wondering how Gu Ermao's mother would go to the Tao house to throw a tantrum later.

Lu's eldest daughter-in-law had gone to tell Liang Wenyu about this with that exact intention; after all, Tao Daqiang was "working" for the Li family, so the Li family had to know.

After the Li family learned of this, both Li Jianguo and his wife were very surprised, though Li Long thought it was quite normal.

Don't bully an honest man too hard; if you bully them too hard, they will strike back with lethal intent. Today, Tao Daqiang's soft spot was likely that basin of buns and vegetables in his hands.

A dormant donkey can kick a man to death; a quiet person can do great things.

"He snatched my buns and wanted to eat my vegetables." Tao Daqiang didn't feel he had done anything wrong, and he hadn't told his father about it when he got home.

He felt he was in the right, so it was no big deal.

"Hmm, he deserved it." Li Long nodded; the beating was justified. Gu Ermao was used to bullying people and taking advantage of them; he needed a lesson.

Tao Daqiang followed Li Jianguo and Li Long to the Little Haizi to catch fish. In the afternoon, the fish began to gather at the ice holes, and the harvest increased.

Wu Shufen arrived at Gu Xiaoxia's house.

She greeted Gu Bo Yuan first, then followed Gu Xiaoxia to her room.

"Are you packing the things you need for tomorrow's exam?" Wu Shufen asked, seeing the yellow satchel and fountain pen on the table.

"Yeah, are you all packed?"

"What's there to pack? Just bring a pen and an eraser. It's just an exam, just writing and calculating." Because Wu Shufen was going to the commune for the exam, she was quite self-defeating, or perhaps just pretending not to care.

"It's better to prepare an extra pen." Gu Xiaoxia kindly advised, "Better safe than sorry."

"Even if I pass, I'll just be teaching primary school..." Wu Shufen pouted, "And there's no official position yet..."

"Then you might as well not take the exam." Gu Xiaoxia was angry. Everything she said was for Wu Shufen's own good, but it seemed as if Wu Shufen was taking the exam for her, acting so dismissive.

"Don't be like that..." Wu Shufen had originally come to seek sympathy. Seeing Gu Xiaoxia angry, she immediately hugged her arm and began to act spoiled, "I'm just feeling resentful. Why is it that even though we're both junior high graduates, some people can go to the county for the exam..."

"Then do you have as good a foundation as them?" Gu Xiaoxia didn't hold back at all, "I told you back then that reviewing wouldn't hurt. Did you review?"

"My book was dirtied by my younger brother, who knew it would actually be useful..." Wu Shufen muttered.

Gu Xiaoxia didn't want to talk anymore.

"Then what time are you leaving tomorrow morning? Shall we go together?" Seeing Gu Xiaoxia silent, Wu Shufen immediately said, "It'll be perfect for us to have company."

"I'm leaving very early. The exam is at ten, and I have to be at the exam site by at least nine-thirty. It takes over two hours to walk to the county from here. Can you get up that early?"

Wu Shufen had forgotten about that. "Then how are you going?" she asked, somewhat unwillingly.

"I'm taking Li Long's horse cart. He and Tao Daqiang are going to the county to sell fish, and they asked if I wanted to go with them. I promised him."

"You promised him? How could you promise him?" Wu Shufen shouted as if her tail had been stepped on.

"Why can't I promise him?" Gu Xiaoxia naturally knew Wu Shufen's intentions. She used to think she was alright, but she always wanted her to be submissive. Small things were one thing, but this time Gu Xiaoxia didn't indulge her, asking: "Is there a problem?"

"I... I broke up with him, didn't I?" Wu Shufen gave a reason she thought was justifiable.

"You broke up with him, but what does that have to do with me taking his horse cart? Besides, it's not just him; Tao Daqiang is going too. You can't mean that just because you broke up with him, I can't talk to him anymore, right?"

Wu Shufen felt that Gu Xiaoxia had changed. In the past, she would agree to any small request she made, even if it was a bit reluctant, and she would comply after a few pleas.

Why was she so opinionated today?

Gu Xiaoxia also knew that her tone today was different from usual, but she didn't intend to change. This was a major event concerning her entire life. In the face of this major event, Wu Shufen and the like could just step aside!

No one could influence her!

Ever since Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia about this, Gu Bo Yuan had instilled this concept in his daughter more than once.

This made Gu Xiaoxia clearly realize that the time to change her destiny had arrived. If she didn't want to dig the big canal, didn't want to crawl out of bed in the middle of the night to water the fields, and didn't want to harvest wheat under the scorching sun while constantly guarding against potential hornet nests, she had to seize this opportunity.

In a person's life, there are only two or three opportunities to change one's destiny. Letting any one of them slip by might lead to a lifetime of regret.

!.

At first, Gu Xiaoxia was a bit skeptical, but when Gu Bo Yuan asked her to think carefully about whether she preferred teaching in a classroom or harvesting reeds in waist-deep icy water, Gu Xiaoxia chose the former without a second thought.

Now, anyone who wanted to block her path was an enemy!

"Xiaoxia, I feel like you don't treat me as a friend anymore." Wu Shufen said with some disappointment.

"Friend? Friends should hope for the other person to do better, right?" Gu Xiaoxia was very clear-headed now, "Then I hope you can do well on the exam. Shouldn't you also hope I get a good result?

Just because you broke up with someone, I can't take another horse cart and have to walk ten kilometers to the county? If that were the case, how much energy would I have left for the exam?"

Wu Shufen was speechless.

She didn't know how she walked out of Gu Xiaoxia's house in the end.

Gu Xiaoxia's words had a great impact on her, making Wu Shufen realize that in this world, not everyone should revolve around her.

But Wu Shufen was not reconciled, so she went to find Gu Ermao.

Since the time Li Long saw her with Gu Ermao, Gu Ermao had asked her out several times, but Wu Shufen had never agreed.

She hoped to regain her confidence from Gu Ermao—as long as she made a request that wasn't too excessive, Gu Ermao would definitely agree.

"Ermao, Ermao?" Wu Shufen called out twice outside the door.

"Is that Shufen? I'm not feeling well." Gu Ermao's voice came from inside, "I won't come out. You go back first."

Wu Shufen naturally didn't know that Gu Ermao had been beaten black and blue by Tao Daqiang and was too ashamed to show his face.

"I have an exam tomorrow morning. Can you take me to the commune?" Wu Shufen was somewhat unwilling and stated her idea directly.

"I don't have time." Gu Ermao was very irritable and refused directly. Damn it, he had been beaten by Tao Daqiang, and the whole team probably knew about it; he had no face left, and this woman was still asking him to take her.

Was she brainless?

(End of chapter)