After finishing her meal, Xia Qingqing prepared to go home. Before leaving, she said goodbye to Liu Dinglan.
"Lanlan, I'm going back now. I'll come to the county to visit you again next time I have time."
Liu Dinglan had many things to do, so she didn't keep Xia Qingqing.
Holding Xia Qingqing's hand reluctantly, he said, "Okay, Qingqing, remember to come to the county to find me next time, or I can come to your house to find you."
Then, as if remembering something, she looked at Xia Qingqing and asked, "How did you get here this morning? Do you want my brother to take you home? Brother, brother, could you take Qingqing home for me?"
Liu Dinglan's colleagues and friends are all from the county, so it's convenient for them to go home. However, Xia Qingqing's home is quite far away, and since she came all the way to her own wedding banquet, of course, she had to be well served.
Liu Xu was eating not far away. After hearing his sister's words, he finished the last bite of his meal before answering, "No problem, when are we leaving?"
Xia Qingqing quickly waved her hand to refuse: "Oh, no need to go to so much trouble, I came by bicycle this morning."
“It’s so cold riding a bicycle in this weather. Luckily, my brother borrowed a bike from the transport team today, so let him take you home. It’s very convenient to just put the bike in the truck bed.”
"I haven't even properly thanked you for doing such a beautiful makeup for me today, Qingqing, you can't be so polite with me," Liu Dinglan said, giving Xia Qingqing no room to object and directly arranging things.
Today, because Liu Dinglan, his younger sister, is getting married, Liu Xu specially borrowed two spare trucks from the transport team.
Of course, they would have to pay for the fuel themselves, so it was very convenient for them to take Xia Qingqing home.
Liu Xu got up and walked to Xia Qingqing's side, saying, "I'll give you a ride. It won't cost much in terms of fare or time."
"Alright, then thank you for your trouble, Brother Liu." Xia Qingqing didn't refuse any further. He genuinely wanted to give her a gift, and it would seem ungrateful of her to refuse repeatedly.
Besides, she's happy to be able to ride a bicycle without having to brave the cold wind in such cold weather.
God knows that when she rode her bicycle over this morning, the cold wind made her look like a complete idiot.
Liu Xu put Xia Qingqing's bicycle into the truck bed. Worried that Xia Qingqing had never ridden in this truck before and wouldn't know how to open the door, he opened the passenger door for her as well: "Comrade Xia, get in."
"Thank you, Brother Liu," Xia Qingqing said politely. She didn't know what Liu Xu was thinking, but she thought he was quite a gentleman for actually opening the car door for her.
After Xia Qingqing climbed into the passenger seat of the truck, she looked around the vehicle.
Trucks of this era were very different from those of later generations; to put it simply, it was like the difference between an adobe house and a fully furnished house.
The car's driver's cab was completely undecorated, with exposed sheet metal visible everywhere. A plastic strip had been wrapped around the steering wheel, which she guessed was probably to reduce friction, since there weren't any car steering wheel covers available for purchase these days.
Of course, trucks at this time did not have dashboards, but only a simple control panel. The tachometer, pointer, and a few simple operation buttons covered almost all the functions of the vehicle.
Although Xia Qingqing had obtained an automatic transmission driver's license in her previous life, she was still completely clueless about how to operate this truck.
Liu Xu quickly got into the driver's seat and started the car. He turned his head and said, "Comrade Xia, could you please give me directions later?"
Xia Qingqing's thoughts were interrupted, and she quickly replied, "Yes, no problem."
Although the two had met before, they weren't exactly familiar with each other. The atmosphere in the car became somewhat quiet for a moment, and Xia Qingqing focused her eyes intently on the road ahead to ease her awkwardness.
Xia Qingqing would only speak up to remind people which way to go when they reached a crossroads where they needed to split into two.
The road in the county was relatively smooth for the first part, and Xia Qingqing didn't feel much while sitting in the truck. However, after the truck drove onto the dirt road, she started to bounce up and down with the road surface. After a while, she felt a bit uncomfortable in her stomach from the bumps, especially since she had just eaten a lot and now felt particularly nauseous.
Liu Xu noticed that she looked uncomfortable and asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell? It's your first time riding in this car, so you might not be used to it yet. Do you need me to stop and rest for a while?"
"It's okay, I think I can manage," Xia Qingqing quickly said. Anyway, if we stop now, we'll have to keep going later, so we might as well go straight home.
"Okay, tell me if you feel unwell."
To be considerate of Xia Qingqing's feelings, Liu Xu tried to avoid areas with rocks and small potholes on the road ahead, which immediately reduced the bumpy feeling.
The steering wheels of trucks at this time did not have power steering, so it took a lot of effort to turn the wheel, so driving a truck was a physically demanding job.
Seeing Liu Xu driving so intently, Xia Qingqing didn't dare to talk to him, afraid of distracting him.
As they approached the village entrance, Xia Qingqing asked Liu Xu to pull over: "Brother Liu, just stop here. I can walk back myself."
Even a bicycle coming to the village can attract a crowd, let alone the appearance of a very rare truck.
She didn't want anyone else to see her coming back in a truck, otherwise the whole brigade would know about it, and she would definitely become the center of gossip again.
"Okay," Liu Xu said, stopping the car and then taking Xia Qingqing's bicycle down from the truck bed.
"Brother Liu, would you like to come to my house for a cup of hot tea?" Xia Qingqing, holding onto her bicycle, belatedly realized that her behavior was a bit impolite. The man had kindly offered to take her home, but she hadn't even offered him a cup of tea.
Besides, Xia Heping and the others knew the Liu family. Liu's parents had previously brought Liu Dinglan to the Xia family to give a thank-you gift, and they knew that she was going to Liu Dinglan's house for drinks today.
Seeing her expression, Liu Xu smiled and shook his head: "No need, I still have things to do at home, I have to hurry back to help."
How could he not know that Xia Qingqing was just being polite? Besides, it wouldn't be appropriate for a single man like him to go to the Xia family for tea.
——
Liu Xu drove directly back to Liu Dinglan's in-laws' house. By the time he returned, most of the guests from both families had already left.
Liu Dinglan immediately came to greet her brother: "Brother, did Qingqing arrive home safely?"
"Yes, we've arrived," Liu Xu nodded.
Liu Dinglan smiled easily: "That's good, then I can rest assured."
Getting married is really exhausting. She got up before dawn to busy herself, and afterwards she was busy entertaining this person and that person without any rest. Only now can she sit down and rest for a while.
Liu Dinglan's husband, Wang Wenye, also came out of the house and called out to Liu Xu, "Big Brother."
Liu Dinglan glanced at the leftover food on the table, her eyes darted around, and suddenly gave her brother a wink.
Liu Xu understood immediately and said to his brother-in-law, "Lanlan and I have something to say inside."
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