"Then you better be careful and don't go too far!" Mrs. An hurriedly reminded.

"I understand." An Hongdou responded and walked out through the curtain.

As soon as An Hongdou arrived at the cowshed, she saw Ergouzi helping Cui Dashan shovel manure.

Cui Dashan pulled the full container of manure aside, and An Hongdou finally found the opportunity to talk to him.

"Why are you here?" An Hongdou asked in surprise.

Since the last time they went to the town together, they haven't had any contact since they came back. Even if they meet each other, they just say hello.

Moreover, after hearing about what happened between Ergouzi and Wang Qingqing yesterday, An Hongdou guessed that he would not be in a good mood.

She has been here for more than a month, and has never heard that Cui Dashan and Er Gouzi have any relationship to the extent that they would ask him to come and help with the work.

He came to her at this time, could he be coming for her?

As expected, just as An Hongdou was thinking this, Er Gouzi said, "Hongdou, can you help me? How about we work together to do another job?"

Er Gouzi's attitude was very sincere. Compared with the last time he approached him, it was much too serious, so serious that it made people feel it was abnormal.

"I've already said what I should have said last time."

An Hongdou looked at Ergouzi, and Ergouzi was also looking at An Hongdou.

After a moment, his serious expression collapsed, and he sighed with a somewhat decadent look, saying, "You must have heard about what happened yesterday. I spent most of the money we earned together on Wang Qingqing, buying her clothes, acne cream, and facial oil, plus various snacks. I ate most of it in bits and pieces. I never thought that this woman would deny it and said that I was willing to give it to her..."

Ergouzi felt suffocated just thinking about it.

Yes, she didn't ask him for anything.

But didn’t she accept the hairpin he gave her the first time?

Later, when the weather turned cold, she said she was cold and had no clothes to wear. Her hands became cracked and her face became dry and flaky.

Which girl would take the initiative to talk about this with a boy?

When Ergouzi heard this, he thought it was obvious that the other party wanted to seduce him. Plus, he had some money in his hand, so he became arrogant and threw things at her as if they were free. He was determined to take this wife home.

Unexpectedly, when he felt the time was right and proposed marriage, she went back on her word and denied it.

Er Gouzi naturally wouldn't give up just like that. He had always been the one to take advantage, so how could he be fooled like this?

Immediately, the matter became a hot topic.

In the end, it was An Delai who stepped in and suppressed the matter. He also got Wang Qingqing to agree to return his things to him, and Er Gouzi was forced to give up.

Of course, the clothes and other things were returned, but the food had long been eaten and the lotions had almost been used up. Wang Qingqing's family was not very wealthy, otherwise she would not have cheated Ergouzi of such a small amount of things. These could only be returned slowly in the future.

What upset him most was the big battle after he returned home.

His sister-in-law insisted that all his money was given by his parents, and he himself could not explain the source of the money, so he could only stubbornly deny it. That would have been fine, but the woman actually forced him to take out all the remaining money, which he certainly would not agree to.

Ergouzi came out after the quarrel last night and squatted alone at the foot of the mountain for half the night.

Cui Dashan got up in the middle of the night and saw him, so he forcibly pulled him into the house. That's how he helped Cui Dashan with work in the morning.

"What does this have to do with me?" An Hongdou was unmoved.

Er Gouzi's heart sank, and he said softly, "Good sister, please help me. I am already this old, and I don't have any other ideas. I just want to make some money, find a woman, have a baby, and live a stable life. Let's go up the mountain again. Even if you only give me 2, or 1, it's fine. What do you think?"

An Hongdou turned around and smiled. When Er Gouzi felt hopeful, he heard her say, "No."

For a moment, Ergouzi's smile froze on his face and he couldn't recover for a long time.

An Hongdou has already prepared everything to cook pig food.

After a while, Er Gouzi also came over, without saying a word, just silently helping An Hongdou with the work.

An Hongdou said bluntly, "I said I won't go into the mountains, so you don't have to waste any more time on me."

Er Gouzi opened his mouth but didn't say anything in the end. He just kept working.

After An Hongdou cooked the pig food, Ergouzi took the initiative to take it to feed the pigs. She was helpless, so she simply said goodbye to Cui Dashan and went up the mountain.

It didn't take long. When she came back, she was holding three pheasants. She left one for Cui Dashan and took the other two home.

In front of the thatched cottage, Cui Dashan lit his old pipe, took a few deep puffs, and exhaled a large cloud of smoke.

Looking at Er Gou who was sitting in front of him, he said, "Er Gou, we are family after all. How can we be enemies? Go home later and talk to your family. Your parents can't bear to see you being single for the rest of your life, right?"

Everyone in the village knew about Ergouzi's situation, and Cui Dashan had naturally heard of it as well.

However, since it is not their own family affair, everyone will only say nice things. You can't just come up and persuade the mother and son to separate.

Er Gouzi shook his head and said, "Uncle, no one knows the situation in our family better than me. If you don't mind, you can let me stay here for a few days. I can still help with the morning work. If you are afraid of offending my sister-in-law, then I will leave now."

Even if he had to sleep in the mountains, he didn't want to go back to that home, at least not now.

"What are you talking about? I'm just worried that you won't go home and become estranged from your family. You haven't started a family yet, and you can't stand on your own. What else can you do without the help of your parents?" Cui Dashan said to him, then shook his head and said, "Forget it, forget it. I won't say anything more. If you want to live here, then live here. I, an old man, would love to have someone to help me with my work!"

Er Gouzi stayed at Cui Dashan's place for the whole afternoon, and the more he thought about it, the more suffocated he felt.

Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore and decided to go up the mountain alone.

The worst that can happen is just a life. He didn’t encounter any danger the last time he went up the mountain. Maybe Ergouzi is just so lucky and won’t encounter any danger this time.

Ergouzi quietly took two sacks and a basket from Cui Dashan, and walked up the mountain alone.

Of course, all this was kept secret from Cui Dashan.

It was already noon when An Hongdou returned home. Shen Xiangzhi was sitting in the yard with Brother An talking about the house. His leg had almost healed and his crutches had long been thrown aside.

Seeing her come back, Shen Xiangzhi smiled at her out of politeness.

An Hongdou just nodded and walked over.