Chapter 203 Too messy

After watching the nearly two-hour movie, I came out to find that it was already dark outside.

Perfect timing! The bureau building is just a short distance from the movie theater.

Every year, the Forestry Bureau sets up a lot of ice lanterns and snow sculptures on the open space opposite the bureau building. Most of the content is related to forestry production or the current situation.

Ice lanterns are typically displayed from the first day of the Lunar New Year until the fifteenth day. Every evening, the lanterns are brightly lit, reflecting the crystal-clear ice, making it exceptionally beautiful.

The town already has very little cultural and entertainment life, so this ice lantern area has become a rare gem in Songjianghe Town.

It wasn't just people from Songjianghe Town who came to stroll around; even people from Donggang Commune would come over at night.

It's fair to say that this place was packed with people and extremely lively.

With more people comes more excitement and more chaos; this applies to any era.

In the bustling crowd, there were petty thieves taking advantage of the chaos to pickpocket, and scoundrels using the opportunity to grope women's buttocks.

There are also cases where someone accidentally steps on another person's foot, and then they start arguing.

These days, most people have a rather tough personality. When something happens, they're less likely to argue and more likely to resort to violence.

The man who was being indecent was caught by the woman, and she slapped him across the face, startling him. Then the two started fighting.

The guy who stepped on someone's foot was pretty arrogant and wouldn't apologize. The other person wasn't going to let it go and threw a punch, which sparked a brawl.

Sheng Xiping and his group had been wandering around for less than an hour when they witnessed four or five fights.

These days, fights and brawls are commonplace, and as long as no one gets killed, most of the time nobody cares.

"Well, how about we go back? There are too many people here, it's too noisy."

There are only a few ice lanterns; one round is about enough.

The problem is that there are no other entertainment options here, not even a place to take photos, so it's really not very interesting.

Most importantly, it's too messy.

Sheng Xiping kept protecting Zhou Qinglan and preventing outsiders from getting close. Even so, he still felt unsafe and decided to go home.

Zhou Qingyang had no objection to this, but Zhou Qingyue hadn't had enough fun yet and looked at the ice lanterns behind her with some reluctance.

"Let's go home, we'll come back when we have time." Zhou Qingyang ignored everything and dragged his younger brother out.

The four of them finally managed to squeeze out of the crowd and were just about to turn back when they suddenly heard someone shouting behind them, "Catch him! Catch the thief!"

It was a young woman's voice; you could tell at a glance that something had been stolen and she was desperately trying to call for help.

Then, a figure wearing a black padded coat and a dog-skin hat ran past Sheng Xiping, Zhou Qingyang, and the others.

No one knows what happened to Zhou Qingyang, but suddenly his foot slipped and he stumbled.

As luck would have it, he tripped up the kid who was passing by.

The kid was running forward when he tripped over this and fell face-first into the mud, sprawling on the ground.

That was a pretty solid fall; the kid cried out in pain.

"Damn it, who the hell tripped me?" the kid cursed, groaning as he got up from the ground.

At that moment, a woman wearing a blue cotton-padded jacket and a red scarf rushed up from behind and kicked the boy.

The person who had just gotten up from the ground was kicked down again.

"You dare steal my things? I'll kick you to death today!"

While the other woman was lying on the ground, the woman kicked her several more times. "Where's my wallet? Give it back to me!"

The place wasn't far from the crowd. Some people heard the commotion and curiously looked over, while others, not caring about it, didn't even bother to look and quickly left.

The kid on the ground was kicked several times, but luckily he was wearing thick clothes in the middle of winter, and the woman wasn't very strong, so he wasn't seriously injured.

However, after falling twice and being kicked several times, he was in enough pain, and he groaned and moaned.

"Here it is, here it is, I'll give it to you, okay?"

The man took out a pretty little cloth bag from his pocket; it looked about the size of a girl's palm.

That little cloth bag was mostly pieced together from scraps of fabric, with only the front being a single piece of cloth embroidered with flowers in silk thread. It was exceptionally delicate and clearly something a girl would use.

The man threw the bag he was holding at the woman wearing the red scarf, and while she was catching it, he turned and ran.

The bag fell to the ground, and the woman quickly bent down to pick it up. She opened it and looked inside; everything was still there, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. I saw it all. You tripped him, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have been able to catch up with him."

The woman in the red scarf nodded and smiled at Zhou Qingyang.

Zhou Qingyang glanced at the red scarf, said nothing, just nodded, and walked away.

"Hey, hey, wait a minute! You helped me, and I still don't even know your name!"

Unexpectedly, the woman in the red scarf became unhappy and reached out to stop Zhou Qingyang, wanting to ask him his name.

"No need, I didn't help you."

Zhou Qingyang frowned, coldly uttered a few words, and then quickly left, dodging the red scarf.

The man in the red scarf hesitated for a moment, then stopped trying to stop Zhou Qingyang. Sheng Xiping and the others took the opportunity to leave together.

After viewing the ice lanterns, it was getting late, so the group returned to the Zhou family home and took a break.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, which hotels are open?

Besides, Sheng Xiping is now the Zhou family's son-in-law. How could the Zhou family allow him to stay in a hotel when he comes to pay his respects during the Chinese New Year?

Wang Chunxiu directly asked Zhou Qingyue to move to the east room, and gave the west room to Zhou Qingyang and Sheng Xiping.

Although the Zhou family's house is a bit small, it's spacious enough for six people.

Originally, the Zhou family wanted Sheng Xiping to stay at their home for a few more days, but how could Sheng Xiping agree to that?

It's true that he and Zhou Qinglan are engaged, but they're not married yet. It's good enough if he stays at his future in-laws' house for one night; he can't stay there forever.

So the next morning, Sheng Xiping was about to leave.

"There's no little train going to Qianchuan today, how are you going to get back?"

"Oh dear, if you ask me, why don't you stay for two more days and leave on the morning of the fifth day of the new year?" The Zhou family kept trying to persuade her to stay.

"It's okay, I'll take the little train to Ma'anshan and then walk back."

I'll have to go back to work in the mountains in a few days; there's a lot to do at home.

Sheng Xiping also planned to take advantage of the holiday to go up the mountain with Wang Jianshe and the others to get something.

His wedding with Zhou Qinglan was scheduled for the end of March or the beginning of April. He would be working on the mountain for about a month afterward, so he needed to make some preparations in advance.

We should at least prepare more materials for the banquet, so we won't be caught off guard. This is the most important event for the Sheng family, and we can't afford to lose face.

Sheng Xiping insisted on leaving, and the Zhou family couldn't stop him.

With no other options, Wang Chunxiu lit a fire and heated up some dumplings for Sheng Xiping to eat. Then she sent her daughter and son to take Sheng Xiping to the small train station.

"Xiping, be careful on your way back. Come stay for a few days when you have time. From now on, we're all family here, and this place is your home too."

Before leaving, Zhou Mingyuan and his wife gave each other various instructions.