Chapter 1033: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 1033: Meeting Liu Meiq Again

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Time flies like a white colt through a crevice; in the blink of an eye this year has passed.

On the sixth day of the New Year, Wang Dashan and Du Xiaojuan returned to Guangzhou.

Wang Xiaohua and Li Jianjia, in order to hitch a ride with them, left together as well.

By the seventh day of the New Year, Wang Erhai had also gone back to the county town.

Back at the Shanggou Village hometown, a huge new house suddenly became empty and desolate.

Wang Zhanggen brought out a rocking chair, sat in the courtyard, and enjoyed the morning sun.

The lively scene from a few days ago seemed still vivid before his eyes.

So much so that the current quiet stillness was shockingly conspicuous.

Truly bored out of his mind, Wang Zhanggen went wandering all over the village.

He walked to Zhong Jianguo's Health Station, saw the tightly shut door, and couldn't help but sigh.

He walked to Liang Xinghua's front door; the dilapidated door was also shut tight, and again he sighed involuntarily.

Then he walked to Zhang Zhongtian's house; the once most beautiful and luxurious villa, though still occupied, now had weeds growing outside, making him sigh even more.

After the brief Spring Festival bustle, the village returned to its usual silence.

Not only Zhong Jianguo's Home and Liang Xinghua's home — other households were also deserted.

Once the year passed, they all went back to the city to work.

The so-called hometown has instead become a brief stopover station.

Many villagers built buildings in the village, but year-round they only return for a few days on major holidays like Qingming and Spring Festival; the rest of the time, the finished buildings sit empty.

Mice live in them longer than people do.

They once promised to return home to build a house and retire after earning money — returning to one's roots is the dream of so many migrant workers — but reality's giant hand keeps urging people on, forcing them to work nonstop in the city just to barely make ends meet.

Walking along, Wang Zhanggen left Shanggou Village without realizing it and arrived again at Baldy's home in the neighboring village.

This place was still quite lively.

Many villagers had gathered here again.

Baldy smiled bitterly:

"Fellow villagers, my den really can't stay open anymore. Wang Erhai said there's going to be a severe crackdown on rural gambling next; I still want a few more days of freedom outside, so don't put me in a difficult position."

It turned out that after Wang Erhai's warning, Baldy had made up his mind to close the gambling den after the New Year.

Unexpectedly, middle-aged and elderly people from several nearby villages still flocked to his place.

He couldn't drive them away even if he tried.

It's not the busy farming season yet, everyone is bored, the village is dead quiet, and only Baldy's place has any activity — so without Baldy even summoning them, they automatically gather here.

Once gathered, besides chatting and drinking tea, playing Mahjong and Three-Card Poker is naturally indispensable.

Baldy tells them to leave; they refuse to go.

Grinning, they just stay put.

Baldy can't bring himself to use force against them; after all, they're all from the same area.

He can only speak politely.

The result: not only did he fail to drive them away, but more and more gathered.

Baldy didn't want to bring out the Mahjong set; they went into the rooms themselves to rummage for it.

Baldy didn't want to keep running the numbers game; they directly stuffed money into his arms.

He simply couldn't refuse!

"Baldy, we're not afraid — what are you afraid of?"

"Exactly, a severe crackdown won't reach our remote corner!"

"Just playing for fun, not playing big — no problem!"

Several villagers spoke one after another, laughing heartily as they talked to Baldy.

Baldy had no choice but to let out a long sigh, then compromise.

Seeing so many people gathered here, Wang Zhanggen's sense of desolation dissipated considerably.

He walked over and chatted with the others.

He discovered the other villagers were all talking about the Liucun lottery.

Seeing Wang Zhanggen arrive, they also pulled him into the conversation:

"Changgen, tonight's draw — what are you planning to bet on?"

"I'm not buying anymore."

Wang Zhanggen laughed and refused.

But his heart itched.

It's just too boring.

Boredom makes you want some excitement.

And buying the Liucun lottery happens to make your heart race.

"Don't bluff — who doesn't know, among the nearby villages you've got the worst addiction, every time you bet hundreds!"

A villager laughed and mocked Wang Zhanggen.

Wang Zhanggen frowned:

"You said you wouldn't buy, so you won't buy—what are you deceiving us for!"

"I think you just don't want to tell us what you want to buy, aren't you afraid we'll steal your good luck?"

"By the way, you haven't won a number yet, right? You've put so much money in, shouldn't you play until you win once before quitting?"

Wang Zhanggen, being told this, grew increasingly itchy.

But he still kept a hard mouth:

"I really won't buy anymore, don't talk to me about this."

But when evening came, he still couldn't resist.

He spent 10 yuan and bought a number.

Why are pornography, gambling, and drugs grouped together?

Because they all make people addicted!

Wang Zhanggen didn't know that this time he couldn't resist, and next time he would also be unable to resist.

He already had a bit of an addiction.

At this time, on the other side.

Wang Erhai returned to County Town and went to Zhang Yueran's house to meet Zhang Yueran.

As the saying goes, a brief separation is better than a new love, so the two were especially happy when they got together.

Tonight they planned to go out shopping together.

When they got tired from shopping, they would just find a place to eat.

They didn't drive there, because there are now quite a lot of vehicles in County Town, and it's not easy to park when driving out.

The two passed by Xiaochijie, and Zhang Yueran said she wanted fried rice noodles, so they went inside Xiaochijie and found a place selling fried rice noodles.

"Hello, I want a portion of egg fried rice noodles!"

Wang Erhai and Zhang Yueran came to a mobile stall.

"Okay!"

The stall owner answered, looked up, and she was stunned.

Wang Erhai and Zhang Yueran were also stunned.

Because this street vendor was unexpectedly Liu Mei Qi.

Wang Erhai looked at Liu Mei Qi's disheveled and tired appearance, her messy clothes and hairstyle, and was stunned for a full ten seconds.

Liu Mei Qi saw Wang Erhai and Zhang Yueran holding hands, looking sweet, and she was also stunned for a long while.

At that moment it was as if time had frozen.

"How did you end up doing this work?"

In the end, Wang Erhai spoke first.

Seeing Liu Mei Qi so disheveled, he couldn't help but sigh.

If it were the old Liu Mei Qi, she would definitely, for the sake of her face, directly confront Wang Erhai.

But now, after being beaten by life, she no longer had that former sharpness, nor the courage to make unreasonable trouble.

She bought an apartment in Guangzhou, but not long after was fired, looked for many jobs in Guangzhou, none went well, and finally, because she couldn't pay the mortgage, she ended up on the bank's Dishonesty List.

She even tried working at places like bars, song and dance halls, and foot bath shops.

But she found that in a big city like Guangzhou, there were simply too many beautiful women.

She simply couldn't compete with those migrant working girls who had both beauty and good service attitudes, and were also very young.

Finally, she really had no choice and could only slink back to County Town to seek help from Zhang Sheng.

But Zhang Sheng ignored her.

She could only live with difficulty, and finally, having no income at all, she came out to set up a street stall.

"Business is good around the New Year, so I came out to earn a bit!"

Liu Mei Qi forcibly squeezed out a smile, to appear very relaxed:

"Want to add pepper?"

She hurriedly picked up the spatula to stir-fry rice noodles for Wang Erhai and Zhang Yueran.

"No pepper."

Zhang Yueran replied.

"Is this your new partner? Why didn't you work things out with Yao Xueqin?"

Liu Mei Qi, while fiddling with the spatula and skillfully stir-frying rice noodles, asked as if casually.

"We broke up long ago."

Wang Erhai answered calmly.

He also didn't explain why he and Yao Xueqin separated.

Because there was no longer that obligation, nor that necessity.

Liu Mei Qi lowered her head to stir-fry rice noodles:

"Add toppings? There are eggs, pork, beef, cured sausage."

Zhang Yueran said:

"Add two eggs."

……