Chapter 48: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 48: Shanggou Village 48

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

"What's going on?"

Old Doctor Zhong Jianguo of the Health Station, seeing Li Xiulan cursing furiously, couldn't help but feel sympathy and concern.

He also advised:

"Xiulan, you and Changgen are an old married couple; a quarrel at the head of the bed is settled at the foot. Don't fuss so much. Changgen has a hard time working away from home; don't let people laugh at you."

Hearing Zhong Jianguo say this, Li Xiulan felt even more wronged.

Why should she be the one to suffer, to accommodate others?

Liang Yuanchao was like this, Wang Changgen was like this, and even this Old Doctor Zhong Jianguo was advising her the same way!

This made her feel as if the whole world was bullying her!

"Doctor Zhong, how much is the phone call this time?"

She didn't say anything else to Zhong Jianguo, only asked him the phone bill.

"You made a three-minute long-distance call, fifty cents a minute, three minutes is one yuan fifty."

Zhong Jianguo glanced at the call duration displayed on the phone and said so.

Li Xiulan fished out money and gave Zhong Jianguo one yuan fifty.

Then she turned and left, not saying anything more.

But behind her came Zhong Jianguo's voice:

"Xiulan, the convenience store next door at Chunsheng's recently got a phone line installed too. You can go there to make calls from now on. I'm not often at the shop; every few days I have to go out to make house calls for patients who can't leave home."

Hearing this, Li Xiulan's heart trembled.

She gave a bitter laugh:

"Heh, they got a phone line there too? Heard it's not cheap."

Zhong Jianguo laughed:

"Indeed not cheap. Several hundred yuan a month in phone bills, plus an installation fee of over two thousand. But Chunsheng's convenience store does good business; he's probably earned quite a bit. And his partner is from the town, has an urban household registration, so there's probably support for him too."

Li Xiulan felt very uncomfortable hearing this.

She originally had a chance to get Niu Chunsheng; it's just a pity that now Niu Chunsheng already belongs to another woman.

She could only lament the unfairness of fate. If only she hadn't married Wang Changgen so early, how good that would be. If only she hadn't given birth to three children at such a young age, how good that would be.

Her marriage became a stumbling block, causing her to miss opportunities to change her fate again and again, trapping her dead tight in the ditch of this Shanggou Village.

Li Xiulan came out of the Health Station and walked toward home in a daze, feeling as if her whole being was in a nightmare.

And just at this moment,

"Sister-in-law Xiulan!"

A sweet young girl's voice suddenly came from behind.

Li Xiulan looked back and saw, to her shock, that inside the convenience store, Niu Chunsheng's partner was actively waving and greeting her.

The girl wore a radiant, youthful smile:

"Sister-in-law Xiulan, have you eaten?"

Facing the girl, Li Xiulan couldn't help but feel ashamed of her own shabbiness, inferior and timid, head lowered, eyes dodging.

She even forgot that she had once been the most beautiful village flower in this village, with countless men drooling over her beauty.

But now, she had aged; her face was full of the traces of time. She no longer shone brilliantly as in those years; she had long been ground dull by life.

"Not yet. Was just planning to go back and eat... Chunsheng isn't in the shop?"

Li Xiulan replied with a dry laugh, not daring to meet the girl's eyes for a single moment.

"Chunsheng went to town to restock. It's just me... why don't you eat here? I just stewed a chicken. I heard Chunsheng say you two are good friends. This convenience store was started by you and him together before. Later you withdrew for certain reasons. I should thank you. If you hadn't helped Chunsheng get this convenience store going, Chunsheng wouldn't have the good life he has now!"

The girl was very warm and generous, her eyes full of love for life.

Forming a sharp contrast with Li Xiulan.

"Better not eat then. I've already started cooking rice."

Li Xiulan turned and walked away, fleeing like a rat crossing the street, her figure and back view very bedraggled.

The girl didn't understand why she would be like this, but she also didn't dare to ask more.

Li Xiulan had walked far away, yet suddenly stopped again.

She looked back at the girl. This time, from far away, she finally dared to meet the girl's gaze.

"What's your name?"

Li Xiulan asked the girl this one question.

"Sister-in-law Xiulan, I'm called Lin Xiaofang!"

Lin Xiaofang replied with a smile, without a moment's hesitation.

"Lin Xiaofang, good name."

Li Xiulan gave a dry laugh, then turned and left.

Back home, she still had to face three children making a racket, the living room a total mess.

The chickens, ducks, and livestock outside in the courtyard still needed her to feed them.

The pigs in the pigsty were also crying out urging her to give them food.

She scolded the children, then had no choice but to suppress the emotions in her heart and face life's endless trivialities.

Busy for half a day, she finally finished cooking the meal.

After the three children finished eating, they threw down their bowls and chopsticks and ran outside to play, not caring about her at all.

She was exhausted in body and mind.

Her love for the children was gradually wearing away.

She really couldn't understand why she had given birth to three children in the first place!

She couldn't understand even more why she had been so determined back then to believe that once the third child was born, life would get better and better?

Now life had given her a resounding slap, making her finally realize how wrong her decision back then had been.

When the Family Planning Office came to raid her home, she should have obediently gone to get an abortion!

"Or, run away?"

An absurd and extremely bold thought suddenly surged into Li Xiulan's mind.

It made her, even the next second, unable to help but feel fear, her body trembling violently once.

She was the mother of three children; how could she choose to run away?

Although it was said that rural women running away these days was not an isolated case but a common phenomenon, even in Shanggou Village there were several women who, unable to bear the poverty, abandoned their husbands and children and ran away.

But she, Li Xiulan, absolutely could not do such a heartless thing.

Even if not for anything else, she had to think for her three children.

"Sister-in-law Xiulan! Are you home?"

Just then, Niu Chunsheng's voice came from outside.

Li Xiulan felt as if she were dreaming.

She hurriedly wiped away the tear stains at the corners of her eyes, and in a flustered and disorganized manner stood up and walked out.

"Chunsheng, why did you come?"

Li Xiulan was both surprised and delighted; this was the first time Niu Chunsheng had actively come to her home to find her since she withdrew from managing the convenience store.

"I just came back from restocking, and heard the villagers say you went to the Village Committee to make a scene; they said you were being unreasonable, I don't believe it, you are absolutely not that kind of person, did you suffer some grievance? Tell me, I'll go talk to them!"

Niu Chunsheng's words immediately struck deep into Li Xiulan's heart, making her involuntarily moved to tears.

"Chunsheng, only you understand me; they don't believe me, not even Wang Zhanggen believes me, I was really deceived by that bastard Liang Yuanchao……"

Li Xiulan cried while recounting the whole story of what happened.

After listening to Li Xiulan's account, Niu Chunsheng furrowed his brow:

"Liang Yuanchao did indeed act a bit unscrupulously; he wants to take that piece of land back, he could have just told you directly, why deceive you? However, as far as I know, the wasteland in Shanbei does indeed belong to the Village Committee's collective land; you didn't sign a contract with the Village Committee, so they do indeed have the right to take it back…… How about this, I'll go communicate with Liang Yuanchao and fight for you; wait for my news!"

After saying these words, Niu Chunsheng didn't wait for Li Xiulan to answer, but turned around and ran toward the Village Committee Office.

Li Xiulan watched his receding back, feeling both moved and sad.

She was moved that Niu Chunsheng had actually taken the initiative to help her.

She was sad that such a good man could never belong to her……