Zhou Changhe shouted angrily, "You still think this isn't embarrassing enough, right? Take this bastard back immediately!"
Wang Cuifen was frightened by the roar, but she still glared at Chen Changyuan unwillingly, pulled Zhou Dazhui and turned away.
Lin Xiaoya hesitated for a moment, but still followed.
She took a few steps and couldn't help but look back at Chen Changyuan.
Under the moonlight, Chen Changyuan's profile looks very heroic.
Lin Xiaoya suddenly felt a palpitation.
"Xiaoya, what are you looking at? Go away!"
Wang Cuifen's voice brought Lin Xiaoya back to reality.
After returning to Zhou's house, Wang Cuifen pushed Zhou Dazhu into the house and slammed the door shut.
"You useless thing!"
As soon as Zhou Changhe entered the room, he picked up the broom in the corner and said, "What do you want to do by bringing kerosene into someone else's yard? Do you want to bring shame to our Zhou family?"
Zhou Dazhu huddled in the corner, not daring to say a word.
Wang Cuifen quickly stood in front of her son and said, "Boss, don't do anything yet! Let Dazhu explain what's going on."
"What else are you talking about!"
Zhou Changhe was so angry that he was shaking all over. "If the village chief and I weren't here, if this matter got out of hand, how would our Zhou family survive in the village in the future?"
Lin Xiaoya stood aside, watching this scene surprisingly calmly.
Her thoughts had already drifted to the scene just now: Chen Changyuan's tall figure, his steady and powerful voice...
"Xiaoya, tell me, did that ungrateful Chen Changyuan bully Dazhu?"
Wang Cuifen suddenly turned to Lin Xiaoya, interrupting her thoughts.
Lin Xiaoya came back to her senses and glanced at Zhou Dazhui who was cowering in the corner, feeling an indescribable disgust in her heart.
She pursed her lips and said softly, "Mother-in-law, in this matter... Dazhu is indeed in the wrong."
"you!"
Wang Cuifen didn't expect her daughter-in-law to say that. She stamped her feet in anger and asked, "Are you speaking for outsiders too?"
"I'm telling the truth."
Lin Xiaoya said lightly, her eyes unconsciously drifting to the window again.
Zhou Changhe slammed his hand on the table. "Alright! Dazhu, you must go to the village committee tomorrow to make a confession. If you dare to do anything stupid again, I'll break your legs. Chen Changyuan is currently working on those things in the village's back mountains and trying to win over the people. Isn't it foolish of you to pick a fight with him now? Be more careful, you silly boy!"
Zhou Dazhu responded with a trembling voice, raised his head and glanced at Lin Xiaoya, only to find that his wife was staring out the window in a trance, with a confused look in her eyes that he had never seen before.
"Xiaoya, what are you thinking about?"
Zhou Dazhu asked tentatively.
Lin Xiaoya came back to her senses and looked at Zhou Dazhu's face. Suddenly, a strong sense of disappointment surged in her heart.
"Nothing, I'm going to bed."
She turned and walked into the inner room, but Chen Changyuan kept appearing in her mind.
She lay in bed, Chen Changyuan's calm voice still echoing in her ears.
When Chen Changyuan returned home, the moonlight had already filled the yard.
He pushed the door open gently, afraid of waking up his mother who might have fallen asleep.
However, Fang Suxia did not sleep.
She was sitting under the dim kerosene lamp, mending an old piece of clothing for Chen Changyuan.
When she heard the door open, she looked up with a tired but gentle smile on her face.
"Mom, it's so late and you're still awake?"
Chen Changyuan walked to Fang Suxia and gently held her hand. "Don't sew it, your eyes can't bear it."
Fang Suxia shook her head gently. "It's okay. Just a few more stitches will be fine. Your elbows are exposed in this dress. You have to wear it again tomorrow."
Chen Changyuan felt a pang of pain in his heart when he looked at his mother's hands, which were rough from years of hard work.
He gently took the needle and thread and said, "Mom, you go and rest, I will sew."
Fang Suxia was stunned for a moment, and looked at her son in surprise, "You can sew clothes?"
Chen Changyuan smiled and threaded the needle expertly, "I've learned a little bit. Mom, don't worry, I can do it."
Fang Suxia looked at her son's serious profile, a hint of relief and confusion flashing in her eyes.
She always felt that Changyuan was a little different in the past few days. He became more mature, stable, and considerate.
"Long term,"
Fang Suxia hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Have you encountered any problems these days?"
Chen Changyuan paused for a moment, then continued sewing as if nothing had happened. "It's nothing, Mom. Why do you ask?"
Fang Suxia sighed, "Don't lie to me. I've noticed you've been preoccupied these past few days, and haven't been sleeping well at night. Is it... still because of Lin Xiaoya?"
When Chen Changyuan heard Lin Xiaoya's name, his expression instantly became complicated.
He put down the clothes in his hands and looked at his mother, "Mom, don't worry. Lin Xiaoya's matter is over. I'm fine."
Fang Suxia reached out and touched her son's face, and said distressedly: "Silly child, Mom knows you are sad. Although Lin Xiaoya is a bit realistic, after all, you have been together for so long..."
"mom,"
Chen Changyuan interrupted his mother and said firmly, "Xiaoya's matter is in the past. I just want to be filial to you and let you live a good life."
Fang Suxia was stunned, tears welling up in her eyes, "Changyuan, you...why are you suddenly saying this?"
Chen Changyuan held his mother's hand and took a deep breath. "Mom, I know how much you have suffered for me over the years. I have decided that I will work hard in the future and let you enjoy a good life."
The next morning, the sun was just coming out and Chen Changyuan got up early.
After a simple wash, he put on his homemade bamboo basket and prepared to go up the mountain with Lao Yuantou.
As soon as he walked out of the yard, he saw Lao Yuantou waiting at the door.
"Changyuan, you got up early today."
The old man said with a smile, "It seems that you want to make more money."
Chen Changyuan smiled and replied, "Old Yuan, today we have a heavy task ahead of us."
The two of them walked and talked, and soon they reached the back mountain.
Chen Changyuan and several workers had already prepared the open space for growing medicinal herbs yesterday.
Today we are preparing to sow.
On the hillside covered with morning dew, the grass leaves were covered with a few round dewdrops.
Chen Changyuan bent down and tore open a piece of oilcloth, revealing the neatly stacked rhizomes of Polygonum multiflorum, their skin wrapped in light yellow paraffin wax.
"You are really weird, kid."
The old man squatted beside the stacked bamboo baskets and poked the wax-sealed medicinal herbs with his pipe.
"Even when the brigade secretary came to inspect, he never saw herbal medicine being wrapped up so tightly as if it were a virgin."
Chen Changyuan deftly packed the seeds into bamboo tubes, smiling without looking up: "When these seedlings are sold to the county medicinal materials company, I guarantee that you will be able to taste the most expensive golden monkey in the supply and marketing cooperative."
As he said this, he took out a kettle wrapped in a red cloth and threw it over.
"Iced sour plum soup. I soaked it in the water tank in the yard overnight."
Old Yuan tilted his head back and took a big gulp. He winked at the sour taste and drops of water flowed down his gray beard.
"I won't trust you again from now on. You're so sour."
As the two chatted and laughed, the sun had already climbed over the mountain ridge, baking the rocks hot.
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