Chapter 42
"What are you still hesitating about? It's such a good opportunity, what's there to think about?"
Meng Yanchun slapped Pei Xingzhi on the back and said to him with a frown, "You are not as good as me."
The family sat together. Pei Xingzhi thought for a long time and decided to ask his eldest brother Meng Yanchun for his opinion. If Meng Yanchun showed any intention to go to the machinery factory, Pei Xingzhi would give up.
But after Pei Xingzhi finished speaking, Meng Yanchun reacted strongly, but not because of his desire for the machinery factory, but because of Pei Xingzhi's hesitation and overthinking.
"Brother, don't you want to go? Leave Qinghe Village, work in a factory, and eat state-owned food, isn't that right?"
"Why would I want to go? I don't want to. That's a machinery factory. Why would a farmer like me who knows nothing go there? Wouldn't it be embarrassing?" Meng Yanchun waved his hands repeatedly, with an expression that said, "Don't hurt me."
Pei Xingzhi held his forehead helplessly, "No, big brother, I--" The machinery factory doesn't just need technicians when recruiting, there are many other positions. With this letter of introduction from Meng's father, no matter who goes to their family, the machinery factory will accept them.
"Oh, I don't know what you're hesitating about. Just go when I tell you to. Dachun and I won't leave our parents. We're the eldest son and his wife, so of course we have to stay home and take care of the elderly."
Dong Hanyun couldn't stand Pei Xingzhi's nagging and interrupted him again.
Pei Xingzhi moved his mouth, frowned and looked at Meng Yanchun and Dong Hanyun, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Seeing that Pei Xingzhi was still hesitant, everyone tried to comfort him, asking him to accept the job in the machinery factory and not to feel any psychological burden.
Only Meng Wanqiu next to him lowered her head, played with her fingers, and remained silent.
Pei Xingzhi was preoccupied with something and didn't notice Meng Wanqiu's abnormality for a moment.
"Okay, this matter is settled. Don't overthink it, Xingzhi. You've put in a lot of effort for this opportunity. Don't let him down."
Finally, the head of the family, Grandma Meng, spoke. Her old but not cloudy eyes were filled with the wisdom accumulated after experiencing the vicissitudes of life. Her tone was neither hurried nor slow, gentle but powerful.
Pei Xingzhi pursed his lips. It was because he knew that this was Meng Aiguo's good intention that he could not accept it calmly.
I can’t, and I dare not.
The kindness the Meng family had shown him left him bewildered and apprehensive. He could have reciprocated their kindness, but he didn't dare accept the precious opportunity to become a worker and leave the countryside.
For the first time, Pei Xingzhi felt that he could not repay such selfless kindness and the affection that only wished him the best.
I don’t know how long it took, but the family waited patiently for Pei Xingzhi to say that.
Suddenly, there was a plop.
Pei Xingzhi knelt on his knees and kowtowed to Meng Aiguo and Li Lanxiang. He lowered his head and choked up, "Thank you, Mom and Dad. I'll go."
Meng Wanqiu suddenly looked at Pei Xingzhi, looking at his bent back, complex emotions flashed in her eyes.
"Hey, silly boy, what are you doing?"
"Get up quickly! Why are you kneeling like a real man? Get up quickly!"
Pei Xingzhi's move was so fast that no one except Meng Wanqiu could react.
Meng Aiguo and Li Lanxiang were startled by him and quickly stood up to help him up. When they heard Pei Xingzhi's thank you, their hearts softened, but they kept muttering.
Knowing that Pei Xingzhi was a good boy, they took great pains to find a way out for him, hoping that he would live a good life and have a good future.
Leave this limited and barren rural area and go to the outside world, have a bigger platform and display your abilities.
Pei Xingzhi stood up, his eyes slightly red and moist.
Meng Wanqiu said nothing and stepped forward to hold his hand. Pei Xingzhi didn't look at her, but held her hand tightly in return.
The short family meeting ended, and before leaving, everyone was talking about what they wanted to take away for Pei Xingzhi and Meng Wanqiu.
Pei Xingzhi took Meng Wanqiu back to the house. When he turned to close the door, Meng Wanqiu looked at his tall and straight back and asked, "Are we really leaving? To the city?"
Pei Xingzhi paused on the bolt, a bad feeling forming in his heart. Without turning around, he said in a casual tone, "Yes, what do you want to take away? I'll prepare it for you in advance."
Meng Wanqiu shook her head slightly, but Pei Xingzhi couldn't see it.
"I don't have anything I want to bring... Can I not go?"
I.
Meng Wanqiu omitted the last word.
Pei Xingzhi's heart skipped a beat, and a flash of sadness flashed across his eyes, fleeting. He turned and walked over to Meng Wanqiu, holding her wrist. His deep eyes looked at her tenderly, and he asked softly, "Why don't you want to go? Are you reluctant to leave your family? Or is it because you don't want to go so far?"
He concealed his bad emotions and asked Meng Wanqiu gently and patiently why she didn't want to leave.
Meng Wanqiu lowered her head, not daring to look into those tender eyes. His big hand held her wrist. His body temperature passed through her skin, entered the flowing blood, and was transmitted to her beating heart.
“I…I…”
"It's okay, Wanwan, we are husband and wife, there is nothing you can't tell me."
A gentle voice sounded above her head, as if giving her great courage. Meng Wanqiu bit her lip and said with a hard heart, "I don't want to go. I don't want to leave Qinghe Village, I don't want to leave my parents, and I don't want to go so far away."
Meng Wanqiu didn't know why she had become like this. In her previous life, she could go anywhere without fear. But when Meng Aiguo asked them to leave together, Meng Wanqiu's first reaction was resistance.
She doesn't want to leave.
After a long time, Pei Xingzhi's cold voice sounded above his head.
Then, Meng Wanqiu felt a warm hand caressing her head. She couldn't help but look up and met Pei Xingzhi's relieved eyes.
"Is that so? Forget it then. We won't leave."
Hearing Pei Xingzhi's answer, Meng Wanqiu was stunned. After reacting, she shook her head and said, "No, that's not what I meant. I mean, I'll stay and you can go to the machinery factory by yourself."
Meng Wanqiu never thought of letting Pei Xingzhi give up this opportunity, she just didn't want to leave.
As Pei Xingzhi's bedmate, she naturally knew Pei Xingzhi's love for machinery, so she certainly would not let Pei Xingzhi give up his future and stay with her.
After Meng Wanqiu finished speaking, she felt the hand on her head pause. She looked up and met Pei Xingzhi's incredulous eyes. A cold voice rang in her ears:
"I'm going alone? You're going to separate from me!"
Pei Xingzhi got up and left before dawn. Touching the quilt beside him that had already gone cold, Meng Wanqiu half closed her eyes and retracted her hand. Her curled eyelashes trembled, and she felt a little at a loss in her heart.
After she told Pei Xingzhi to leave last night, the two of them fell into a cold war.
To be precise, it was Pei Xingzhi who unilaterally ignored her.
They had been married for more than two years, and even when they were most unfamiliar with each other, they had never slept in separate beds. But yesterday, Pei Xingzhi took out another quilt and slept separately from Meng Wanqiu.
Meng Wanqiu tried to explain to Pei Xingzhi, but Pei Xingzhi always had his back to her. No matter what she said, he did not face her and remained silent.
Meng Wanqiu didn't know how to handle this situation. She just didn't want Pei Xingzhi to waste this great opportunity. She had no plans for divorce. Even if Pei Xingzhi left, they would still be husband and wife. She wouldn't give him an LV hat. He would come back once a year during the Spring Festival, and they would still live together.
Why is he unwilling?
Meng Wanqiu couldn't understand it. She had seen many military families like this. The men were in the army all year round and might not go home for several years, but the couple still lived their lives as usual. Why was it not the same for them?
Meng Wanqiu told this to Pei Xingzhi, but not only did he not understand her, he became even colder.
After getting up, Meng Wanqiu took a basin to the yard to fetch water, but found that there was an extra pressurized well at the wellhead.
When was it finished? Pei Xingzhi was called away by Meng Aiguo yesterday, so it was delayed and it was not finished later.
However, Meng Wanqiu soon realized that it was Pei Xingzhi who did it, because Pei Xingzhi just came in from outside with a dustpan filled with fine sand in his hand.
Meng Wanqiu looked at Pei Xingzhi and opened her mouth, wanting to talk to him, but he just walked past her without even glancing at her.
Meng Wanqiu closed her mouth again, looking at Pei Xingzhi's cold and distant back, feeling a little aggrieved. They had been so close yesterday, but today he treated her like a stranger.
"You're so ruthless, humph!"
Meng Wanqiu finished washing her face angrily. Then Meng Aiguo and Li Lanxiang came out of the house and saw Meng Wanqiu in the yard. They were puzzled and said, "How strange! She got up so early today."
Meng Wanqiu hummed and mumbled something.
"Move away, don't block the road. If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you acting like this? Don't you want to be scolded so early in the morning?"
Two years after marriage, Li Lanxiang's filter for Meng Wanqiu's daughter gradually disappeared, and her patience decreased year by year. Seeing Meng Wanqiu's shy look, she slapped Meng Wanqiu on the butt.
"Ah! Mom, what are you doing?"
Meng Wanqiu jumped up, covering her butt, and almost dropped the handkerchief in her hand.
Li Lanxiang ignored Meng Wanqiu. Seeing the repaired water well in the yard, her eyebrows raised and she said in surprise, "Hey, wasn't it fixed last night? Xingzhi is so hardworking. He didn't know how to wait until dawn to get together with Dachun and fix it by himself..."
Li Lanxiang was busy praising her son-in-law, and Meng Wanqiu was rolling her eyes almost to the sky.
Day after day, you only have your good son-in-law in your eyes, and your good son-in-law gives your daughter a cold look. Do you know that?
When Meng Wanqiu called out, Pei Xingzhi, who was busy in the kitchen, fixed his eyes. He instantly came to the door to check the situation here. Seeing that Meng Wanqiu was fine, he went back in.
The careless Meng Wanqiu didn't notice Pei Xingzhi's actions, but Meng Aiguo noticed it. Seeing that his son-in-law was so worried about his daughter, he nodded with satisfaction and went into the kitchen.
When he saw Meng Aiguo, Pei Xingzhi's eyes flashed. Thinking of his decision, he felt very guilty. He had let his father down.
"Dad, I've thought about it carefully, and I probably...can't go."
Meng Aiguo frowned, "Didn't we agree on this yesterday? Why are you saying you can't go now?"
Pei Xingzhi forced a smile and said, "It's like this. You know my father's situation. It might be difficult for him to pass the political and judicial review..."
Meng Aiguo interrupted him directly, "Don't worry about this, I have already considered it before. Don't worry, there is someone to guarantee you, and family problems will not be an obstacle, so you-"
Before Meng Aiguo could finish his words, Li Lanxiang's angry roar echoed outside: "What did you say? You said you didn't want to go to the machinery factory, but you let Xingzhi go alone? Meng Wanqiu, I think you're itching for trouble. You've got nothing better to do, right?"
Pei Xingzhi: ...
Damn it, how come this silly girl said it first?
Meng Aiguo quickly scanned Pei Xingzhi's expression and immediately understood everything. Why couldn't he go? It turned out that there was someone else who couldn't go.
Meng Aiguo's eyebrows were twisted into the shape of the Chinese character "川", the corners of his mouth were pressed into a straight line, his face instantly turned cold, and he walked straight out of the kitchen.
Pei Xingzhi thought to himself that something was wrong and quickly chased after him, opening his mouth to explain, "Dad, it's not what you think. It has nothing to do with Xiaowan. It's my own fault."
Meng Aiguo raised his hand and said coldly, "Okay, don't explain for her. I have ears. I will listen to what Meng Wanqiu has to say."
Oh no, the full name was called, Pei Xingzhi couldn't help but worry.
"Meng Wanqiu, come in!"
Suddenly a quarrel broke out outside. Meng Yanchun and Dong Hanyun came out with their clothes on, and saw Meng Aiguo, who had always doted on Meng Wanqiu, and asked her to come in with a cold face.
Meng Wanqiu bit her lip and followed Meng Aiguo silently.
When she passed by Pei Xingzhi, he grabbed her wrist and whispered, "Call me if you need anything. Don't be stubborn."
Meng Wanqiu tilted her head slightly, saw the worry in his eyes, broke free from his hand, and entered the room of Meng Aiguo and his wife.
Pei Xingzhi looked at his empty hand and slowly lowered it. He wanted to go in and protect her, but this time it was Meng Aiguo and his wife who wanted to teach their daughter, so he couldn't interfere. Moreover, he knew that Meng Wanqiu didn't want him to interfere either.
But this feeling of powerlessness is really uncomfortable.
"Mom, what's going on? What did Xiaowan do wrong?"
"Yeah, why is Dad so angry? He won't punish me according to the family rules, will he?" Dong Hanyun looked at the closed door anxiously, her hands clenched unconsciously.
"Hmph, she's just itching to go. She doesn't even want to go to the machinery factory." Li Lanxiang threw down a sentence and followed her into the house.
Meng Yanchun was stunned, somewhat confused, and muttered: "Why don't you want to go to the city? What's wrong with being a worker?"
Dong Hanyun was thinking too much and subconsciously glanced at Pei Xingzhi. The other party frowned and looked in the direction of Meng Aiguo's room, with worry and unwillingness in his eyes.
Unwilling, was she mistaken? Dong Hanyun subconsciously denied it.
In the room.
Meng Aiguo and Li Lanxiang sat on a chair and the bed respectively, looking down at the kneeling Meng Wanqiu.
"Tell me, why don't you want to go? Give me a reasonable reason."
Meng Wanqiu pursed her lips and placed her hands on her knees. "I don't want to leave home, and I can't bear to leave my father and mother."
Meng Aiguo's expression brightened considerably. "That's the reason, but it's not an insurmountable one. Xiaowan, you're already twenty years old. You're not a child anymore. You can't stay with your parents forever."
Meng Wanqiu tilted her head slightly and looked away, "But I just don't want to leave Qinghe Village."
"Xiao Wan, you——"
"What do you mean by not wanting to? Meng Wanqiu, you stay at your parents' house all day. Have you forgotten that you are already married? Besides your parents, you also have a husband. Where have you put Xingzhi? She was married in a formal and formal way. It was a marriage, not a marriage into the wife's family."
Unexpectedly, it was not Meng Aiguo who had the attack, but Li Lanxiang.
Meng Wanqiu lowered her head and grabbed the corner of her clothes, pulling them gently.
Li Lanxiang became even angrier and took her anger out on Meng Aiguo, "She's so willful, it's all because of you guys."
Meng Aiguo coughed lightly.
"Meng Wanqiu, let me tell you, you are not only my daughter, but also Pei Xingzhi's wife. I told you my responsibilities as a wife on the first day of your marriage. Have you fulfilled them?
Leaving your husband behind and enjoying life at home, is this how you act as a wife? It used to be said that the husband should sing and the wife should follow, but now it's a new era and these things are no longer important. I won't force you to do that.
What makes me most angry is that you actually let Xingzhi go alone. I would like to ask you, you have been married for two years, have you ever taken Xingzhi to heart?
You don't know the situation at Xingzhi's family. His father disappeared when he was only a few years old, his mother remarried, his grandparents passed away, and he had to make a living on his own when he was a teenager. It can be said that he was abandoned by all his relatives.
Only after marrying you did he have a family. Your father and I watched him integrate into the family step by step. Everyone in the family can see his dedication to the family. Whether it's your grandmother, me and your father, Dachun Hanyun, Zhuangzhuang, or even Fengdong, he is impeccable.
"I poured my heart out to you. What about you, Meng Wanqiu? What did you do? You knew he'd been abandoned by almost his entire family, so how could you say such things? Letting him go alone? How is that any different from abandoning him again?"
Li Lanxiang left the bedside and walked over to Meng Wanqiu, practically pointing her finger at her and scolding her: "Meng Wanqiu, even if you are my daughter, I still have to say that you are so fucking heartless."
Meng Wanqiu's face was pale, and her hands were tightly grasping the corners of her clothes, her knuckles turning white.
She didn't think too much about it. She just didn't want to leave her parents, didn't want to leave the familiar place. She asked Pei Xingzhi to leave alone because she didn't want to delay his future.
Meng Aiguo sighed, thinking of Pei Xingzhi's anxious look in the kitchen just now, and then looking at his daughter. If he were Pei Xingzhi's biological father, seeing his son being so neglected by his daughter-in-law, he would definitely feel distressed and feel that it was not worth it for him.
Thinking of this, Meng Aiguo swallowed the words he wanted to plead for mercy, closed his eyes, stood up and left, "Reflect on your actions here."
Li Lanxiang also sighed, "Xiao Wan, a husband and wife can't always give on one side. Have you ever really given your heart?"
If it really exists, how can we ignore these things?
Pei Xingzhi never complained, but as his parents, Li Lanxiang and Meng Aiguo felt sorry for him.
However, Meng Wanqiu, as his wife, completely ignored all of this.
Meng Wanqiu bit her lower lip. What could she say? In her previous life, she was an orphan, and the suffering she endured in the assassin organization was a thousand times, ten thousand times more than Pei Xingzhi's. So even knowing Pei Xingzhi's life story didn't stir any waves in her heart. She didn't care about his past, but she promised to care about his future and never let him get hurt again.
It was her inconsiderateness to let Pei Xingzhi leave alone, but Meng Wanqiu refused to admit that she had never been sincere.
Meng Aiguo and Li Lanxiang left. Meng Wanqiu closed her eyes and continued to kneel.
Maybe she should change.
The door opened again. Meng Wanqiu moved her ears and heard the footsteps. She knew who was coming.
"Why are you still kneeling? Get up!"
Meng Wanqiu pushed Pei Xingzhi's hand away. Seeing the pain in his eyes, her heart ached. "No, I still need to reflect on myself."
I want to reflect on what your existence means to me.
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