Chapter 12

Lu Che turned around and found that he was holding Jiang Yao's hand.

It was completely dark. In the huge yard, there was only a kerosene lamp in the corner that flickered in the breeze.

When their eyes met, no one could see the other's expression.

Lu Che was the first to let go of Jiang Yao's hand. He said sullenly, "I didn't mean it." He grabbed the bamboo stick, turned around, and continued to knock "dong dong dong."

The "dong dong" sound woke up the stunned Jiang Yao. The first feeling she had when she came to her senses was that her hand was very hot, as if the hand that grabbed her hand just now was not a human hand, but a piece of charcoal, and even her heart was burned.

Isn't it just that someone touched my hand accidentally? Jiang Yao, you are already 30 years old mentally. Even if you have never been in a relationship, you have seen a lot of things. Do you think you are like an innocent 18-year-old girl?

"You go back first." After Lu Che knocked off a piece of bamboo, he didn't dare to ask her to pass it to him this time. He turned around to get it and chased the person away at the same time.

He lowered his head, his eyes fixed on the pile of bamboo strips. After picking up the bamboo strips, he turned away without even looking at Jiang Yao.

Not sure if it was her illusion, Jiang Yao felt that he was not disdainful to look at her but was afraid to look at her. Boss Lu seemed... shy.

Oh my god...the boss is even more innocent than her, so cute.

"I won't go back. Just let me get whatever you want." Since the boss was more innocent than her, Jiang Yao suddenly felt her back straightened. She moved the raw materials directly to the right in front of him so that it would be easier to pass them to him.

Seeing that she was determined to do it to the end, Lu Che ignored her and continued to work seriously.

The chicken coop was not big and was only half a person’s height. Lu Che worked efficiently and finished the chicken coop in more than half an hour.

"Okay, bring the chicken coop over here and I'll put the chickens in." Lu Che said to Jiang Yao.

"Okay." Jiang Yao accepted the order, but just as she was about to stand up, she was about to fall down.

Lu Che was quick to reach out and pick her up.

Jiang Yao was staggering and was looking for something to hold onto out of inertia. Lu Che just happened to come forward and the two of them ended up hugging each other tightly.

The weather was already hot, and the two people hugging each other felt like they were hugging a stove.

Lu Che was the first to react and pushed Jiang Yao out reflexively.

Jiang Yao's feet were already numb, and she was pushed unexpectedly, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Lu Che asked anxiously.

Originally, during that hug, Jiang Yao still had some inexplicable emotions in her heart, but now that he pushed her ruthlessly, everything disappeared without a trace.

"I'm fine." Jiang Yao didn't feel any pain after falling on the muddy ground. She pressed her numb legs and muttered, "My legs are just numb."

"Are your legs numb? Let me do it..." Lu Che often gave Mrs. Lu massages. He was about to step forward to help, but when he saw her thin ankles exposed at the bottom of her trouser legs, he swallowed his words and turned his face away, saying, "Massage yourself, it will be fine soon."

After he finished speaking, he directly brought the chicken cage over and put the four chickens in the chicken coop. When he filled a small bowl with some water and placed it in the corner of the chicken coop, Jiang Yao finally stood up.

"If you're okay, hurry back to your room." Lu Che turned around, but Jiang Yao stopped him, "Wait a minute, I have something for you."

As she spoke, Jiang Yao quickly walked into the kitchen. When she came out, she had a bowl in her hand, with a boiled egg in it.

"Here." Because the egg had been cooking over low heat and was still very hot, she stuffed it into his palm like a hot potato.

The egg in his palm was scalding hot, but Lu Che didn't throw it away, because his palms were thick with calluses and he wasn't afraid of the heat. He just frowned and asked, "What are you doing?"

"What can I do? Of course I want to thank you for your help! I know you follow Lei Feng's example and do good deeds without leaving a name. This egg is nothing. You can have it as a midnight snack tonight." Jiang Yao said, worried that he would refuse, so she added, "You must not refuse."

She stared at him, pretending to be fierce, but her voice was not loud and soft, not like a threat, but more like a spoiled child.

Lu Che looked at her slightly puffed cheeks and suddenly couldn't say no.

"Uncle, uncle, have you finished the chicken coop? Give me a bath when you're done!" Zhou Yang's voice came from the front room, and Jiang Yao said, "Hurry up and give Yang Yang a bath. I want to take a bath too."

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Yao quickly walked back to her room and closed the door.

It was not until she heard footsteps outside, getting closer and then farther away, that she curled her lips in relief.

It's so difficult to send an egg to the boss.

When Lu Che went to the bathroom, Zhou Yang was already sitting in the bathtub.

The little guy had refused to let Lu Qing bathe him since the beginning of the year, saying that his mother was a girl and he was a boy, so she couldn't bathe him. So the task fell on Lu Che.

Besides, he now has to sleep alone. Fortunately, there are many rooms in the Lu family, so he can sleep however he likes.

Lu Che walked over, squatted down, picked up the towel and began to wipe Zhou Yang's back.

"Uncle, when are you going to get married?" Zhou Yang suddenly asked.

Lu Che: "...Little kid, don't just ask nonsense questions."

"I'm not a child anymore. I'm five years old." Zhou Yang was not convinced. He hummed for a while and then said, "Uncle, if you marry a wife, can you marry Sister Yaoyao as your wife?"

Lu Che paused while rubbing his back, and said in a hard voice: "Don't talk nonsense, don't say such things a second time."

"Why can't I tell you?" Zhou Yang pursed his lips, "I really want Sister Yaoyao to be my aunt."

Lu Che glared at Zhou Yang again. Zhou Yang was shocked by his "lewdness and power", but he still "refused to repent" and changed his voice to "Sister Yaoyao's cooking is delicious. If she became my aunt, she would definitely cook for me all day long. Also, she gave me and Xinxin candy today. White Rabbit milk candy, so fragrant and delicious."

Zhou Yang was drooling as he spoke. Lu Che sneered, "You said so much, it turns out you want to sell me for food."

"I didn't." Zhou Yang denied it without hesitation, but his confidence didn't sound strong enough.

After serving Zhou Yang, the little ancestor, Lu Che sent him back to his room and then he went to take a shower and go to bed.

"Uncle, what's in your pocket?" Lu Che was about to turn around when the sharp-eyed Zhou Yang noticed that his pocket was slightly bulging.

"There's nothing in my pocket." Lu Che said as he looked at the pocket on his clothes, and then he remembered the eggs Jiang Yao gave him.

"Nothing." Lu Che pretended to be calm, but Zhou Yang had already pounced on him, "It must be candy. Uncle, you are so mean to hide the candy from me..."

Lu Che didn't expect that the little brat wanted candy so much. By the time he reacted and tried to stop him, Zhou Yang had already opened his pocket and saw the white eggs inside.

"Oh... it's eggs. Uncle, you ate the eggs secretly and didn't give them to me."

"Stop yelling. I'll cook one for you tomorrow morning, okay?" Lu Che was so annoyed by this guy that he pushed him onto the bed without caring about his persistence and walked straight to the door of the room.

The noise here startled the old lady. She came over with her cane and asked, "What are you two uncles and nephews arguing about?"

"Grandma, my uncle hid an egg and ate it himself without giving it to me." Zhou Yang complained.

"Is that true?" The old lady turned around and asked Lu Che, but he had already slipped away. She looked at his back as he walked away and said unhappily, "Lu Che, it's just an egg, can't you give it to your nephew?"

"Okay, but this won't work." Lu Che said this and walked away without looking back.

Old Madam Lu: "...You are really going backwards as you grow older."

Lu Che took a shower and returned to his room. He looked at the eggs and went to bed.

In fact, he had already digested tonight's dinner, but he was reluctant to eat the egg and planned to save it for breakfast tomorrow. Anyway, he got up at five o'clock, so Zhou Yang had no chance to grab his egg.

After a tiring day today and working overtime in the evening, Lu Che fell asleep quickly.

He didn't know how long he had slept, but he felt very hot and sweaty, so he jumped into the pond. At the moment he jumped in, a woman emerged from the water, rushed over to him, hugged him tightly, and said in a soft and charming voice: "I feel so bad, please save me."

His first reaction was to knock her out, but just as he raised his hand, the woman in his arms said tenderly, "Hold me quickly."

His hand paused, slowly fell back, and finally, somehow, he hugged her.

It was around three o'clock when Lu Che finished washing his pants. He couldn't sleep at the moment. Looking at the culprit egg on the table, he picked it up and knocked it hard, then peeled it and finally swallowed it.

The next morning, Lu Qing came to call Jiang Yao to hand in her handicrafts. "There are a lot of people doing handicrafts recently. Let's hand it in early today so we can get the raw materials. I'm afraid if we're late, we won't be able to get them."

"Okay." Jiang Yao didn't even have time to eat breakfast before she went out with Lu Qing, carrying the finished handicrafts.

They arrived early, but there were many people who arrived earlier than them. By the time they lined up to hand in their goods, the raw materials had already been taken away, so they had to return empty-handed.

After returning to the Lu family, Jiang Yao saw that she had nothing to do today, so she ate two sweet potatoes, put on full sun protection, and went to the county town.

According to the original owner's memory, her brother should have sent something to her, so she had to go to the post office to check.

As she expected, her brother sent her a letter and a large package. She didn't know what was in the package, but the envelope was very thick, so it was estimated that in addition to the letter, there were also money and tickets.

After leaving the post office, Jiang Yao went to the supply and marketing cooperative again. She was lucky today because there was still a small piece of pork on the pork stall, and it was lean meat that people of this era did not like.

She spent three taels of meat coupons and fifteen cents to buy the pork, and spent another ten cents to buy a large piece of pork liver.

There was a package and meat, and thinking about the one-hour journey back in the hot sun, her desire to buy suddenly subsided, but she still had to buy some pure cotton fabric.

She didn't know when the original owner's menstrual period was, but it had been almost a month since she came here, so she had to prepare some menstrual belts in advance.

The original owner's menstrual belt was a bit old, and Jiang Yao couldn't bear to use such a private item.

After buying the fabrics, Jiang Yao returned to Qingyuan carrying large and small bags.

When she returned to Qingyuan Village, she found a lot of people gathered around the pond. After asking around, she learned that today was the day when the production team distributed fish.

The fish in the pond at the entrance of the village were raised by the production team. After they grew up, they were distributed to the members twice a year, about one pound per person. Although it was not much, they could only eat pork a few times a year, so it was nice to have some fish to satisfy their cravings.

The educated youth who had been in the countryside for a year could also share the fish, but people like Jiang Yao who had only been there for three months could only watch.

Since there was no share for her, and it was so hot and sunny at this time, Jiang Yao didn't even bother to watch the fun.

Just as she was about to turn around, she suddenly caught a glimpse of Lu Che pulling a net in the water.

The other men were shirtless except him, who was wearing clothes. But they were already soaked and stuck to his body, revealing his muscular body.

The scene of her and him in the water that night suddenly appeared in her mind, and her face turned red.

At this moment, he suddenly looked in her direction. Jiang Yao was so scared that she immediately turned her head away, used the bustling crowd as a cover for herself, and walked quickly towards the Lu family.

Jiang Yao's steps were fast, and her heartbeat was also accelerating. In her mind, there kept popping up the images of her and Lu Che together, the wet embrace in the pond... and the embrace in a hurry last night...

Stop thinking about it, she shook her head vigorously. It was not until she returned to Lu's house and Zhou Yang and Zhou Xin saw her back and pestered her for delicious food that the messy thoughts in her mind flew away.

"Sister Yaoyao will make lean meat and pork liver porridge for you now, and I will bring you candy later, okay?" Jiang Yao coaxed the brother and sister in a gentle voice.

When they heard that there was meat to eat, they all jumped up happily. Lu Qing on the side said quickly: "Yaoyao, don't, forget about the candy, but meat is really not okay."

"It's okay. I can't finish it by myself. How about I provide the liver and meat, and you provide the rice?" Jiang Yao suggested.

Lu Qing was a little embarrassed at first, but when he remembered that his family would get five catties of fish today, he let her do it and said, "Okay, when we get the fish back, we'll treat you to some fish."

Jiang Yao: "It's a happy decision."

At noon, a pot of fragrant lean meat and pork liver porridge was ready. Lu Che didn't know when he would be back, so the old lady said, "Leave some for Che Che, let's eat first."

"Then I'll serve him a bowl first." Jiang Yao said.

"Okay." The old lady agreed. Seeing that there was a lot of porridge in the pot and it smelled delicious, she said, "Yaoyao, can you give Old Yue a bowl? I remember he said he liked eating pig liver very much."

"Mr. Yue?" Jiang Yao was confused.

Lu Qing whispered, "Mr. Yue is an intellectual who lives in our cowshed. He is a university professor of mechanical engineering."

Jiang Yao immediately understood that the old lady always respected intellectuals, and it seemed that she had taken good care of this old man Yue. She immediately agreed and added two more slices of pig liver when she served the porridge to Old Yue.

After finishing the porridge, Lu Che still hadn't come back. Jiang Yao was tired after a morning of drinking, so she went back to her room to take a nap.

After walking for most of the morning, she fell asleep soon after lying down on the bed. While she was half asleep, she heard Zhou Yang and Zhou Xin talking outside.

She got up and opened the door, only to see the brother and sister gathered around a large vat in the corner of the backyard, talking excitedly. Lu Che stood by and watched them, his expression was unusually gentle.

"You're back?" She had just woken up, and her voice was so soft that it made people's hearts tremble.

Lu Che raised his head when he heard the voice, glanced at her, and then said "hmm".

"Sister Yaoyao, you're awake. Come and see the fish. We have two big fish."

Although the uncle was very indifferent, the nephew and niece were very enthusiastic. The brother and sister ran to Jiang Yao and each held one of her hands to go see the fish.

Zhou Yang and Zhou Xin chattered non-stop. Jiang Yao listened to them patiently and answered all their questions.

She bent down slightly to match the children's height, looked at them tenderly, and smiled occasionally, as if everything around her was brightened.

Lu Che watched, and the corners of his lips curled up without him noticing. When he noticed it, he panicked and ran away.

As soon as he walked to the front yard, he heard someone calling Jiang Yao outside. He walked over and opened the door, and saw Jiang Chao standing outside.

Jiang Chao didn't think much of Lu Che, but now he didn't dare to be too presumptuous in front of someone else's house, so he said calmly, "Excuse me, is Jiang Yao here?"

"Not here." Lu Che replied coldly.

"Not here? Then do you know where she went?" Jiang Chao frowned.

"have no idea."

Just as he finished speaking, Jiang Yao's voice came from behind him, "Lu Che, come over quickly and take a look. One of the fish seems to be not alert."

"Yaoyao." Jiang Chao shouted immediately after hearing the voice, and without caring about Lu Che who was an obstacle, he went straight in from his side.

"Jiang Chao, why are you here? Is there something you want to talk to me about?" Jiang Yao asked.

"Something happened. We old educated youths divided the fish and wanted to get together. I came here to inform you." Jiang Chao snorted coldly and looked at Lu Che with a squinting look, "But he said you were not here."

“…”

The author has something to say:

Lu Che: This is so embarrassing. Xiaomi, please at least give me some face.

Xiaomi: What's embarrassing? This will let Yaoyao know your bad intentions, which is a good thing.

Lu Che: ...