Chapter 145 One plus one is greater than two

On the day when Xu Hexiao, Lao Yi and the other two went to participate in ideological transformation, Lin Qi did not see them off and went to dig canals as usual. However, the air pressure around her was very low, and people couldn't help shivering if they were two meters away from her.

Not far from Lin Qi, Luo Cheng lowered his voice and said to Luo Qingbai, "Yuzhen got married last year, and Hongmei, Yuqiuyan, and Xiaomei got married this year. The wealthy Luo families of your age all have children. Luo Fei and Luo Da, who are younger than you, will also get married this year or next year. You are the only one left. If you don't get married, your parents won't be able to sleep at night."

Luo Qingbai's face froze, he pursed his lips and said nothing.

"Give up. People like her are strong-willed. Once they make up their minds about someone, they won't change their minds easily. As for Xu Hexiao, he stands out from the crowd in all aspects except his identity. And Lin Qi doesn't care about his identity." Luo Cheng advised earnestly.

Luo Qingbai remained silent, but only he knew that he was shaken.

After work that day, Lin Qi went to the planting area, killed a sheep, and after cleaning it, she took the mutton and other things home.

After returning home, Lin Qizuo chopped up half a lamb and put it into the iron pot to cook. After the lamb was cooked, she poured in an enamel basin of chopped white radish. Now, the big iron pot was full.

Lin Qi covered the pot with a wooden lid, threw a few large pieces of wood under the iron pot, went back to the room to get Xu Hexiao's military coat and flashlight, and then went out to the village entrance.

It was completely dark now, with only a faint light coming from the team members' homes. There were few people on the road, and Lin Qi couldn't block her sight, so she didn't turn on the flashlight.

"Hey, let me go~"

Not far away, the woman was reluctant but willing, and her charming voice made people's bones go soft.

Lin Qi paused, and the next second, she turned around and took another path. The voice behind her continued to come, this time it was a male voice, "Yan Yan, I can't wait any longer, give me a kiss, um——"

Lin Qi was very familiar with the male voice, it was Luo Laizi, and Lin Qi also knew the female voice, it was the widow Chai Yan.

Luo Laizi was already 40 years old. He had married a wife, but she ran away. Chai Yan's husband had died several years ago, and she had given birth to a son for him. So even though her husband had died, her in-laws didn't send her back to her parents' home. But her parents didn't care about them either. They gave them two houses and let them be self-reliant.

If you ask the people in Anliang Brigade who they dislike the most, half of them will answer Luo Laizi, and the other half will answer widow Chai Yan. Most of those who dislike the latter are married women.

The two voices gradually faded away, and Lin Qi frowned. She didn't understand, since they were already together, why didn't they just stay together?

Lin Qi walked out of the village. It was even quieter outside the village than inside. There was nothing else except the whistling wind.

Why haven’t you come back yet?

Lin Qi continued to walk forward, feeling increasingly uneasy. What happened today? Was Xu Hexiao bullied again? Was he injured? Has he returned now, or is he still in town?

Lin Qi was in a mess. Her irritability and worry made her murderous aura uncontrollable and leaked out bit by bit. She frowned and her pace suddenly quickened.

In a flash, she arrived at the river, and a few dozen meters away was the stone bridge across the river in the village.

There's someone on the bridge!

Lin Qi's heart was filled with joy. Five people on the bridge were walking towards the direction of the team. One of them stood out from the crowd, more than a head taller than the others. This was Xu Hexiao.

Lin Qi quickened her pace again——

At the same time, the slenderest figure suddenly climbed up the bridge railing and jumped off the bridge.

With a thud, the four people who were traveling together were stunned, and Lin Qi, who had come to the bridge, was also stunned.

"She committed suicide!" Old Yi was the first to come back to his senses and shouted.

Lao Fu and Lao Bi also came back to their senses, "Quick, go down and take a look."

The three of them walked under the bridge.

"The person who jumped was Jiang Wanwan?" Lin Qi asked. She couldn't think of anyone else except Jiang Wanwan who was taken away by the Revolutionary Committee the day before yesterday.

Xu Hexiao hummed and said expressionlessly, "It's her."

"Aren't you going to save people?" Lin Qi was a little surprised. Xu Hexiao was too calm. Didn't he love saving people the most in the past? Why was there no movement this time?

"If she wants to die, then let her die. I've already saved her once, and I won't keep saving her." Xu Hexiao said in a cold tone.

At this time, Lao Yi and the other two people under the bridge shouted, "You two, come over here and find a way to save them."

Xu Hexiao was unmoved, "Don't worry about her, let's go home."

"I'll go down and take a look." Lin Qi turned around and walked under the bridge.

"Don't go." Xu Hexiao caught up with her and grabbed her hand. "The weather is hot and the river water is cold. I don't want you to be cold."

"Then I won't go into the water." Lin Qi said, and she suddenly threw out a vine from her sleeve. One end of the vine wrapped around the top of the guardrail on the bridge. The next second she jumped and flew under the bridge, like a nimble swallow, skimming over the water and grabbing something out of the water.

With a splash, two figures appeared in front of the three old men. One was the wet Jiang Wanwan, and the other was Lin Qi, who was only covered with a few drops of water.

Lin Qi threw Jiang Wanwan to the ground. Only then did she realize that Jiang Wanwan's thick black hair was gone. Only a few short tufts of hair were left, which looked as if they had been bitten by a dog and were extremely ugly.

Lin Qi turned her head to look at Lao Yi San and found that they also had very little hair left, with the same hairstyle as Jiang Wanwan. Lin Qi turned her head sharply to look at Xu Hexiao and saw a bald Xu Hexiao.

No wonder she felt something was wrong just now, it turned out she had no hair!

"Next time you die, remember to choose a place where there is no one."

After saying this coldly, Lin Qi handed the flashlight to Lao Yi and walked towards the bridge head.

On the bridge, Xu Hexiao had already put on the military coat that Lin Qi brought and put on his hat.

"Why do you have no hair?" Lin Qi asked.

"They shaved our heads into a yin-yang style, which I thought was ugly, so on the way back, I shaved my hair clean with the dagger I brought with me." Xu Hexiao said lightly.

Lin Qi understood, "Old Yi and the others too?"

"Yes. But their hands are not as steady as mine. If they do it themselves, the shave won't look good." Xu Hexiao's tone was slightly proud.

Lin Qi chuckled, "You look good with that hairstyle."

The corners of Xu Hexiao's mouth curled up, and the depression he had suffered for the day disappeared completely at this moment.

Xu Hexiao and Lin Qi were so sweet and chatted for a while, then held hands and walked towards home together. The four people under the bridge came to their senses only after they left.

"Girl, do you want to go back to the educated youth site or stay here?" asked Lao Yi.

Jiang Wanwan: “........”

She had just jumped into the river and her clothes were all wet, but they actually asked her whether she wanted to go back to the educated youth camp or stay here! Why did they give her the option of staying here? Aren’t they afraid of jumping into the river again?

The wind blew from the river, and Lao Yi and the other two shivered all at once.

"Forget about her, let's go back." Old Fu's patience was exhausted, and he went to chase Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao first.

"As an adult, you can be responsible for yourself. If you make any decision, you must be prepared to bear the consequences. If she wants to die, then let her die. Living is not necessarily easier than dying." After saying this, Lao Bi left.

Lao Yi turned on the flashlight and followed.

"Wait a minute." Jiang Wanwan stood up hurriedly and staggered after him.

"So they made you stand all day today, didn't give you food or water, and even shaved your hair?" Lin Qi was dumbfounded. The ways those people tortured people were really endless.

In fact, there is more to it than that, Xu Hexiao thought to himself.

"Yes. After you took action, they still had concerns." Today he heard people in the crowd talking about how people were forced to death or beaten to death in other communes, and the number was quite large.

Xu Hexiao couldn't help but feel fortunate that she had taken action and those people were scared. Even if they were being tortured now, it was much better than in other communes.

The two of them had long legs and quickly returned to Lin Qi's house.

"There's hot water in the pot. Do you want to take a hot bath?" Lin Qi asked.

"Okay." Xu Hexiao responded obediently.

"Sit down first, I'll get you some bath water." Without waiting for Xu Hexiao to refuse, Lin Qi carried two buckets to get hot water. The wooden tub for bathing was a bit large, and it took seven or eight buckets of water to fill it up. But usually, four or five buckets were enough for them to take a bath.

Xu Hexiao sat by the fire, staring at Lin Qi's back with gentle eyes, "I smell the scent of mutton and radish, very fragrant."

"We cooked mutton and radish. We didn't stir-fry the vegetables yet. We'll just blanch them in the soup later." Lin Qi said. She carried two buckets of water out and came back with two empty buckets in less than a minute and continued to fill them with water. "In addition to what we eat, I also cooked some for Lao Yi and the other two. That big pot is full of mutton and radish, enough for the five of us. I also cooked rice for them. The two clay pots, one is for us and the other is for them. I'll bring it to them when you go take a shower."

"Thank you." Xu Hexiao whispered.

"You're welcome. It's just something I do." Lin Qi didn't take such a small matter to heart.

The situation of Lao Yi and the other two was worse than Xu Hexiao's. Xu Hexiao had been standing for a whole day without eating or drinking, and he still had strength to spare. However, Lao Yi and the other two were holding on with one breath, and when they got home, they all collapsed to the ground.

"The stove is cold and there's not even a sip of hot water. I envy Xu Hexiao again." Lao Bi said weakly.

"Be a little thick-skinned and go for a free meal?" suggested Lao Fu.

Lao Bi and Lao Yi looked at each other, thinking about the feasibility of this matter, "Will Xu Hexiao beat them out?"

“Ahem—”

Lin Qi stood outside the door and pushed open the door that was not tightly closed. "You don't have to go for a free meal. I brought it to you."

Old Yi and the other two blushed and felt a little embarrassed for the first time in a long time.

Seeing that they were silent, Lin Qi thought they were too tired to eat, so she took out the things in the backpack. "This is winter melon, mutton, and wolfberry soup, this is mutton, and this is rice. It's still hot, eat it while it's hot. Xu Hexiao will come to collect the tableware tomorrow, just wash it and put it back in the backpack after you finish eating."

After saying that, Lin Qi left.

As soon as she left, Lao Yi and the other two pounced on the food. They couldn't wait to wash their hands or pick up chopsticks and reached out to grab the tender lamb.

The three of them ate voraciously, and after eating five or six pieces, they stopped at the same time.

"I finally have some strength. I'm going to wash my hands." Old Yi stood up.

Lao Bi and Lao Fu also stood up and supported each other as they went outside.

Lao Bi: "Taking Xu Hexiao as a student has a one plus one effect."

Old Fu shook his head, "More than that, one plus one is greater than two."