For many ordinary villagers, going to court to sue is a very scary thing. After hearing this, Hua Chengzhong and his wife were so scared that their legs went limp.

They suddenly remembered a lot of old things, and became anxious and uneasy, not knowing what to do.

The other villagers who were watching the excitement slowly came to their senses. Everyone in the village knew how Hua Chengzhong and his wife treated Jin Wazi. Just now, Hua Chengzhong was clamoring for the homestead and land of Hua Lao San's family. Jin Wazi heard it and saw it in her heart. How could she not have any thoughts?

How old was Jin Wazi when she left Huajiagou? A 17-year-old girl, working hard outside with nothing, without relatives or friends, and no one to complain to. Now that she has finally made it, she must be resentful of Hua Chengzhong and his wife.

"Uncle Chengzhong, you and Auntie go back and have some rest first." Secretary Hua's son saw that the couple were so scared that their faces turned pale and they dared not say a word. He stepped forward and whispered to them, "Don't let outsiders laugh at you."

Hua Chengzhong finally came to his senses, glared at the crowd who were watching the fun, and hurried home with his wife.

"Oh my, you have quite a bad temper." The village woman who was yelled at by Hua Chengzhong just now, seeing Hua Chengzhong was so scared, raised her voice and said, "He just relied on having two sons to speak louder than others in the village. At that time, he wanted to marry Jin Jin to the old bachelor, wasn't it because he wanted to save money for his eldest son's wedding. So as a person, don't do immoral things, or you will suffer retribution."

"Jinjin has made a lot of progress in these years. I think the men following her just now look like bodyguards."

"If I were her, and I had an uncle like Hua Chengzhong, I would have to bring bodyguards with me when I go home. What if he locked me up in the house and forced me to marry?"

Everyone was talking about it, some were emotional, some were curious, but when talking about those things, everyone would scold Hua Chengzhong for being dishonest. The villagers had not had a good relationship with Hua Chengzhong's family in recent years, but because Hua Chengzhong had two sons with bad tempers, they would fight with others at the slightest disagreement, so everyone took the attitude of "if you can't afford to offend, you can afford to avoid it."

Now seeing that his family might be in trouble, everyone is cheering secretly. Who would like a village tyrant?

"The land in our Ninth Village is fertile, and the vegetables and fruits grown here taste good." Secretary Hua introduced the current situation of the Ninth Village. Pei Yan glanced at the high heels on Hua Jin's feet, then turned around and looked at Pu Ge who was having trouble walking in front of him. He hugged her by the waist and helped her stand on a rock. He walked in front of her and pointed at his back: "Come up."

"Hold me, I can walk well." Hua Jin looked around and saw several children and elderly people looking over here. Secretary Hua saw that they suddenly stopped walking and looked over here in confusion.

"Why are you helping me? It's so bumpy here. What if you fall and hit your knees?" Pei Yan carried her on his back without saying a word. "I'll put you down when we get to flat ground."

Hua Jin glanced at Secretary Hua's shocked eyes, silently buried her head behind Pei Yan's neck, slowly stretched out her hands, and put her arms around Pei Yan's neck.

"This is the economic fruit forest planned by the town's technical staff. It has started to bear fruit in the past few years." Secretary Hua turned his head and pretended not to see the intimacy between Pei Yan and Hua Jin. He was old and did not understand the way city dwellers and couples got along with each other.

After walking over the dirt slope and coming to a relatively flat path, Pei Yan put Hua Jin down, held her hand and asked, "I'm sorry, Hua Hua injured her knee a few years ago and can't walk on the rugged mountain roads. I hope you don't mind my behavior."

Most of the staff in the village office were from the Ninth Village. When they heard that Hua Jin had injured his foot, they couldn't help but look at Hua Jin a few more times. Secretary Hua couldn't help but ask, "How did he get injured? Is it serious?"

"It was very serious. He almost lost his life back then." Pei Yan said with a gloomy face. "Huahua was lucky back then and survived, but he still has an old injury. Whenever it rains, his legs will hurt."

Everyone fell silent. Hua Jin had changed so much over the years. He must have suffered a lot in places that they didn't know about.

"Over the years, Huahua has always missed the people in the village who took care of her, so we came back to make a little contribution to the development of the village." Pei Yan looked at the faces of the people, "Although many unpleasant things happened here in the past, Huahua still wants everyone to live a better life. I respect her ideas, so I came here with her."

Everyone recalled Hua Jin's past life in this village. Because she was born a girl, she was rejected by her grandmother. Fortunately, she was the first child, so although her grandparents and parents did not like her, she was not sent away.

Later, as her younger brother was born, Hua Jin's life became increasingly difficult. When she was only six or seven years old, she had to carry a small bamboo basket to cut grass for pigs and help with housework. Fortunately, she worked hard and had good grades. Every time Hua Chengmin and his wife went to a parent-teacher meeting, they would be praised by the teacher.

Hua Jin's mother was a woman who cared a lot about her reputation. Because Hua Jin had good grades, she was praised by people in several villages. Therefore, Hua Jin did not have any difficulties in studying. Unfortunately, this good luck ended after the couple died in an accident.

Nearly eight years have passed, and every time the college entrance examination comes, someone in the village will sigh and say that if Hua Jinjin had been able to take the college entrance examination back then, she would have definitely been admitted to a very good university.

It’s a pity that there is no if in everything. Looking at Hua Jin standing in front of them, the elders in the village all blushed.

Pei Yan was not ready to stop: "I heard that Hua Chengzhong's family is very domineering in the village. For such village bullies, the superiors have already issued instructions that they must be severely punished to give the people a peaceful life."

Secretary Hua's heart trembled when he heard this, and he met Pei Yan's calm eyes. The young man's eyes were too sharp, and he almost didn't dare to look him in the eye: "Mr. Pei is right, the areas where we did not do well need to be improved."

Pei Yan didn't say anything more. He turned to look at Hua Jin and asked, "Where is your family's land?"

Hua Jin looked around and pointed to a paddy field below the fish pond: "That field seems to belong to my family, right?" She glanced at Secretary Hua.

"Yes, this field belongs to your family." Secretary Hua nodded. The group walked to the edge of the fish pond and found that there were rice stumps in the paddy field. It was obvious that this field had been used by someone, and the rice in the field was harvested not long ago.

The people in the village office were a little embarrassed. Although it was better to leave the fields idle than to have someone cultivating them, the old rule in the village was that if you wanted to cultivate land that was temporarily unused, you had to give notice to the owner.

Hua Jin noticed the villagers' embarrassment, but she pretended not to notice: "Has there been enough rain in the past few years?"

"There was too much rain some time ago, which affected the rice harvest. Fortunately, the drainage ditches here are well built, so the crops were not greatly affected. The melon fields near the river suffered heavy losses." When Secretary Hua mentioned the recent rain problem, the embarrassment in his heart disappeared a lot, and he finally had a topic to talk about.

It was strange, they watched Hua Jin grow up, but now they all felt a little uncomfortable in front of her. Maybe it was because they felt guilty for not helping Hua Jin when she was locked up by Hua Chengzhong, or maybe it was because Hua Jin was too prosperous now, and their village took the benefits she gave them for nothing, but they couldn't help her too much, so they felt a little embarrassed.

But no matter why, they knew very well in their hearts that the current Hua Jin was no longer the Hua Jinjin of the past.

They had lunch at Secretary Hua's house. Hua Jin looked at the table full of farm dishes, thanked Secretary Hua and his family, and sat down to eat. Halfway through the meal, Hua Chengguo brought two pieces of smoked bacon, placed them in front of Assistant Pei Yan, and turned around to leave.

"Second uncle." Hua Jin called Hua Chengguo, "Let's eat together."

"No, your stepmother has prepared dinner at home, I can just go back and eat it." Facing Hua Jin, Hua Chengguo felt a little guilty, and he rubbed his hands back and forth on the edge of his pants several times. "I remember that when you were a child, you liked to eat bacon stewed with dried vegetables. This year, there has been a lot of rain, and the dried vegetables have all gone moldy. There are only two pieces of bacon left, you can take them back and eat them."

Hua Jin glanced at the bacon packed in a plastic bag at the assistant's feet and said, "Thank you, Uncle."

Hua Chengguo moved his lips but said nothing more. When his family was poor, Hua Jin could not take the college entrance examination. Although he did not participate, he did not help her either. Now that she is rich, he has no face to try to make friends with her.

"Then, then you should take good care of yourself in the future." Hua Chengguo secretly glanced at Pei Yan who followed Hua Jin out, "Come back and visit when you have time in the future."

Having said all that there was to be said, Hua Chengguo, with his back hunched, hurried away along the path he had come from.

Hua Jin stood at the door, watching Hua Chengguo's back getting farther and farther away, with a dazed look on her face.

"Hua Xiaojin." Pei Yan gently held her hand, "Come on, I'll go back with you for dinner."

Hua Jin stared at Pei Yan in a daze, then slowly smiled.

Standing here today, she clearly realized that she was actually a person without relatives. Having lived in Huajiagou for more than ten years, she was so familiar with every plant and tree here that she could walk with her eyes closed. But after returning eight years later, the roads, waters, and even people she once knew had changed.

After lunch, Hua Jin took out a pair of flat shoes from the car and put them on. She took out the incense, candles, gold ingots and other items that she had prepared earlier and went to visit her grandmother's grave.

After walking for a long time behind Secretary Hua, we finally arrived at my grandmother's tomb. The tomb was built very simply, with stones piled up on the top and lush weeds growing all around.

Looking down at the grass that had grown above his knees, Hua Jin bent down, took the sickle from Secretary Hua, and began to cut in silence.

"I'll do it." Pei Yan held Hua Jin's wrist. "This is my first time meeting grandma. Let me show my courtesy to her. This will also let her know that I am sincere to you."

Hua Jin blinked her slightly red eyes and handed him the sickle: "Then you should show your courtesy."

It had just rained a few days ago, and the weather was a bit hot and humid. Pei Yan, who had never touched a sickle since he was a child, began to sweat profusely after cutting the grass for a while. The assistants wanted to help, but he shouted them away.

"This kind of thing should be done by a junior like me, which can be called filial piety." Pei Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead with his elbow and grinned at Hua Jin.

Seeing his silly look, Hua Jin couldn't help but smile, took out a handkerchief from her bag, wiped the sweat off his face, and said, "Be careful, don't cut your hands."

It took an hour to finally clear the weeds on and around the grave. Pei Yan straightened his clothes, lit some incense and candles, then knelt down and threw the tied ingots into the brazier.

Hua Jin stared at his action in a daze and knelt beside him.

Grandma, your unfilial granddaughter is back.

Hua Jin's eyelids trembled, and she turned around to look at Pei Yan. The man kneeling beside me stupidly was called Pei Yan. He was the best man I had ever met in my life.

You old man must remember his face well, bless him with good health, good luck and peace, as he may become your grandson-in-law.

My granddaughter has not received much favoritism in her life. You are the first, and he is the second. After you passed away, someone finally noticed what I liked to eat and put the food I liked in my bowl. No matter how much I eat, he thinks I don’t eat enough and am not fat enough.

You might also like this kind of boy.

Hua Jin smiled and kowtowed three times towards the grave. Pei Yan also followed her and kowtowed firmly.

You see, this idiot is just so stupid, but also so good. For me, he came to a village where he is not used to, and couldn't wait to kowtow to you, wanting to be your grandson. If...if we are not together in the future, please don't blame him.

He is so good, I just want him to be happy in his life, please bless him.

When the ingots were burned out, Hua Jin stood up from the ground. Pei Yan quickly reached out to help him up, and only got up from the ground after Hua Jin stood firm.

"What did you say to grandma silently in your heart just now?" On the way back, the two walked slowly. Pei Yan held Hua Jin's hand and asked softly, "Have you told grandma that I am your boyfriend and your future husband?"

"Guess?" Hua Jin looked at him with a smile.

"I won't guess. Even if you didn't say it, I introduced myself in my mind." Pei Yan raised his chin and said with a little pride, "I told her that I am her future grandson-in-law. I will take good care of you and live with you for the rest of my life."

lifetime.

A lifetime is too long, Hua Jin hardly dares to hope for it, but she cherishes every moment with Pei Yan. Occasionally, she also wishes that the two of them really have a future where they will be together forever.

"What's that look in your eyes?" Pei Yan looked at the smile on Hua Jin's face, "Don't you want to spend your whole life with me?"

"Hua Xiaojin, I'm telling you, you can't be indecisive. I've even knelt and bowed to your ancestors, so I'm considered a member of your family. Do you understand?" Pei Yan reached out and put his arm around Hua Jin's waist. "Let's go get the marriage certificate after we go back."

"What?" Hua Jin looked at Pei Yan in a trance, somewhat unable to believe her ears.

"Don't you want to be responsible for me?" Pei Yan widened his eyes.

Hua Jin: “…”

Why did it sound so much like she had done something to him?

Even Secretary Hua, who was walking in front and pretending to have poor hearing, turned around and looked at Hua Jin with a condemning look, as if she was a scumbag who refused to admit her guilt.

"Silence means consent." Pei Yan kissed her face secretly, "Then it's settled."

Hua Jin, Hua Jin had nothing to say, but deep down in her heart, she was actually a little excited. Maybe she wanted to tie Pei Yan to her side, but she always pretended to be sober and pretended to be at ease.

After paying respects to her grandmother, Hua Jin took Pei Yan to her parents' graves to burn incense, but this time Hua Jin did not kneel. She looked at the three graves side by side and threw the paper ingots into the brazier.

The paper ingots burned more and more vigorously and soon burned out.

There is a saying in the countryside that when offering sacrifices to ancestors, the more vigorously the paper money burns, the happier the deceased is.

Hua Jin laughed at herself. When they were alive, she lived like an outsider in front of this family of three. Now that they are dead, could they like her more?

When the sparks faded, Hua Jin said to Pei Yan, "Let's go."

The two walked in silence, and when they passed a corn field with only dry stalks left, Hua Jin stopped. She looked at the field and said to Secretary Hua, "Uncle, thank you for that."

Secretary Hua was stunned. He stared at the land for a long time before he understood what Hua Jin was talking about. Hua Jin had been hiding here before, and he had secretly given her a few hundred yuan.

"Let the past be the past. Go back and tell your aunt to prove that the few hundred yuan was given to you." Secretary Hua joked, "This way I can clear myself of the injustice of hiding the private money."

Hua Jin smiled and said, "Okay, I'll explain it to Auntie when I get back."

“Here…” Pei Yan looked at the land in confusion.

"When I escaped from my uncle's house, I was discovered by him and hid in this field." Hua Jin can now easily describe the scene that has appeared in her nightmares countless times. "The corn was very tall and lush at that time, hiding me well, but I was still discovered."

Hua Jin smiled at Secretary Hua: "When Uncle Hua found me, he not only didn't tell my uncle, but also secretly gave me a few hundred yuan."

Looking at this piece of land, Pei Yan almost couldn't imagine what fate would have awaited Hua Jin if she had not escaped that night.

He turned to look at Secretary Hua and bowed to him solemnly: "Thank you."

Thank him for helping Hua Jin, which gave her a new life and allowed them to meet in a bustling metropolis. Otherwise, they would be far apart in this life and would never meet.

The author has something to say: Pei Yan: Thank God, thank the earth, and thank the kind Secretary Hua.