Chapter 80

While lining up on the deck to disembark in an orderly fashion, Shen Man noticed that the pair of female Educated Youths she had met once before looked as panicked as if they had seen a ghost upon seeing her, and then they cut the line and fled without looking back.

"Hmm?"

She touched her face; she hadn't gotten anything scary on it, had she?

"Brother Jiang Ye, hurry and help me check, is there anything dirty on my face?"

Otherwise, why did those two female Educated Youths look at her like they had seen a ghost and run as if their lives depended on it!

"No, it's very clean."

Jiang Ye lowered his head, looking at his wife's porcelain-white, clean cheeks, his eyes darkening slightly.

If this posture were...

"That's good, oh, we're about to get off the boat."

Shen Man instinctively sensed danger and hurriedly changed the subject, diverting the man's attention.

A man who had just "broken his fast" was not to be trifled with.

She had experienced it firsthand; the gentleness was all an illusion, a deliberate attempt by the man to lure her into dropping her guard.

Domineering and possessiveness were his true nature.

She thought she was very smart and had hidden it well.

Yet, unknowingly, she had been dragged into the gentle trap he had long since woven, with an attitude of absolute control...

"Men aren't bad, women don't love."

That annotation in Old Ancestor Lu's notes was truly accurate!

"No rush, walk slowly."

Jiang Ye lowered his eyes, his sticky, dark gaze almost glued to his wife.

How could someone have an appearance and temperament that grew exactly into his heart?

Her wrist was held firmly by the man, and Shen Man was between laughter and tears; she couldn't walk fast even if she wanted to.

Next, Jiang Ye hired a mule cart—yes, that's right, a mule cart.

"Sir, we're going to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, how much for the whole day?"

"For the whole day, one yuan, does that include lunch?"

"That's fine."

"Then ninety cents."

"No need to be cheaper, it delays your time for picking up other passengers; one yuan it is, and lunch is still included."

Jiang Ye negotiated the price with the old man with a very good temper; all living beings suffer, and within his ability, he wouldn't be stingy.

Beside the mule cart, Shen Man, who had never seen a mule before, looked at it curiously several times.

It seemed to be a hybrid of a donkey and a horse; although its speed couldn't compare to a horse, its endurance was very strong, and apart from having a somewhat stubborn temper, it was quite popular among the working people in other respects.

The old man driving the cart enthusiastically invited them to sit in the cart frame, which was lined with clean straw and had straw-woven cushions.

"Rest assured and sit, those are cushions my wife wove; they provide shock absorption, so even pregnant women don't have to worry about the bumps."

The old man's skin was dark, clearly from being tanned by the sun.

The smile on his face was very bright, clearly showing a spirit that was rich, positive, and optimistic.

"Thank you, sir."

Shen Man thanked him politely; wearing a dirt-resistant and thick military overcoat, she had nothing to be pretentious about and directly found a comfortable spot to sit down.

Jiang Ye followed closely behind; his height of over 1.9 meters sat inside, with a large portion of his long legs exposed outside the cart frame...

"Giddy up."

The old man sat on the cart shaft and lightly flicked the mule's rear with a thin rattan whip.

The mule lifted its hooves and began to accelerate into a trot.

Shen Man wasn't mentally prepared and hadn't expected the donkey's running speed to be so fast; due to inertia, her body uncontrollably tilted to the side, crashing straight into the man's arms.

Shen Man's body stiffened; unfortunately, the place her hand pressed was wrong.

Just as she wanted to secretly withdraw her hand, a distorted, hoarse, low groan came from above her head, "Don't move."

The next second, held in his arms, Shen Man's eyes widened, full of accusation; what happened to "don't move"?

"Clatter, clatter, clatter."

The mule ran fast, and the cart frame shook incessantly.

The old man only then remembered something and reminded them without looking back:

"You two better hold on tight; my mule has a stubborn temper and will romp for a while when it starts running, just bear with it, okay."

Shen Man looked up, only to see the man's Adam's apple roll, and then her eyes were covered by his large palm.

"Behave."

"..."

How was she not behaving?

Unfortunately, her little accusing glare was destined to go unseen.

Everything before her eyes was dark; he didn't leave her a sliver of light.

Pouting, her beautiful lips were pursed...

The man restrained the dark thoughts in his heart and tucked the little head in his arms even deeper.

A few more days; once his wife's health improved, he would let her know that a man cannot be easily provoked or teased, especially a man who is sexually frustrated.

The mule was fast, and in about twenty minutes, they arrived at the largest and best-stocked Supply and Marketing Cooperative in Haibin City.

The Red Star Supply and Marketing Cooperative was large and spacious; after the mule cart was parked, the old man indicated that he would wait outside and let them go in to buy things, telling them not to worry about him.

Jiang Ye didn't stand on ceremony, nodded slightly, and holding his wife's hand, entered the cooperative.

When he was purchasing supplies a few days ago, he had met a friend and hadn't had a proper chance to accompany his wife to browse here.

"Besides wedding candy, buy whatever else you want."

Isn't a man earning money just to spend it on his woman?

His allowance was all his wife's.

"Then let's buy some rice, flour, and grain, as well as vegetable seeds."

Shen Man thought about it; the things she should have stockpiled in the Capital were all fully stocked, and she could take them out one after another, which would last a long time.

The only variable was her eldest brother coming over to mooch meals, so they needed to buy more grain to keep on hand.

Then there was the fact that people must eat green leafy vegetables; the growth cycle from planting to harvest for small greens was very fast.

If she could see soybeans or mung beans, she could buy some to sprout; bean sprouts also counted as green leafy vegetables and were rich in the trace elements the human body needed.

Seafood was good, but one couldn't eat too much of it, lest they get osteoporosis or gout.

"Okay."

Jiang Ye nodded, thinking of his brother-in-law's habit of mooching meals, and pondered that he needed to stockpile more grain, otherwise it wouldn't be enough for the other party to devour.

Both of them were living their lives seriously, discussing what to buy, and not being overly extravagant or wasteful.

They only picked practical things; as for flashy, useless items, they didn't look at or buy them at all.

Jiang Ye discovered there were eggs, and after asking the price, he bent down to ask:

"Wife, do we still have egg coupons?"

"Mm, we still have a few, enough to buy five jin."

"Okay, then let's buy them all."

Eggs were good things; whether boiled or fried, giving them to his wife was good for her health.

Later, he still had to go to an old friend's place to ask him to help get some medicinal herbs and dried meat; if there were ready-made tonics, he would just take some.

Seeing the eggs, Shen Man couldn't help but think of the scene where Tangyuan was enthusiastically hatching eggs in the space, and she couldn't help but purse her lips and smile.

Now the yard of their new home was empty; carving out a piece of land to grow vegetables and building a chicken coop in a corner to raise two hens for eggs wouldn't be a problem.

She had asked Wangjie before; in the family compound, as long as you weren't raising them on a large scale for personal gain, just raising a few chickens wouldn't cause any trouble.

Just as the two were picking out wedding candy, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the cooperative—

"Murder, murder."

"Everyone come and see, stand up for this old woman."

"My grandson started vomiting and having diarrhea after eating candy bought from this cooperative; the cooperative must pay for my medical expenses and give me an explanation today!"

With a loud voice, the shrill cursing was incessant; listening to the commotion, someone was coming to the cooperative to cause trouble?

The instinctive gossip factor in Shen Man's bones began to stir...