Chapter 34: Pursuing
Lu Dongping reached out and pinched his ears. They felt so hot, and he didn't know who was biting him behind his back.
He looked around. It was almost dark, smoke from cooking fires rose from everywhere, and no one was outside. Then, his courage grew. He reached out to grab Wen Wan's hand, but Wen Wan, alert and scurried away like a rabbit, ran a long way away. She usually looked slow, but now she was running quite fast.
Lu Dongping followed her at the same pace as before, asking as he walked, "Do you really want me to carry the rations?"
"I'm sharing your home, why don't you carry the rations?" She didn't cook anymore, so what was the point of keeping the food? If rats ate it, it would be troublesome.
Lu Dongping chuckled: "Aren't we dating now? You are my partner, why do you need rations for a meal?"
Wen Wan stopped and turned to look at him: "Don't be so conceited. How can I be your girlfriend? I haven't agreed yet. It depends on your performance. Now at best, I am, I am——"
"What is it?"
Wenwan snorted twice in a proud and arrogant manner: "You are pursuing me, and I didn't reject you. I have to observe carefully whether you are sincere or not. Whether you are two-faced." She is not that easy to fool. It is impossible to trick her away with just two meals.
"It's not easy to find a partner. You have to stand the test."
Lu Dongping stopped there, raised his eyebrows, put his tongue against his back teeth and smiled: "Okay, then you test it well, and you will know that I am the best and most suitable man for you in this world."
Wen Wan's face quickly turned red again: "You are so thick-skinned, thicker than the city wall of the capital."
After saying that, he turned around and continued walking forward.
She seemed to be in a very good mood, humming a cheerful tune. Lu Dongping didn't know what she was singing, but he thought it sounded very nice, just like a bird leaping onto a branch in the early morning.
Lu Dongping's family had eaten early today, and it was still dark when Wen Wan returned to the educated youth camp, so Liu Changqing and the other three had just finished eating. They had just received their rations, and for once, they weren't having grits porridge anymore, so they had potato and vegetable dumpling soup.
As soon as Wen Wan arrived, Wang Jianmao greeted her: "Have you eaten?"
Wen Wan nodded with a smile: "Eat it, eat it, eat it quickly." After saying that, her eyes swept across Liu Changqing's face.
Liu Changqing originally wanted to greet her, but his eyes fell on Lu Dongping behind her, and he lowered his eyes to eat, as if he didn't see them.
Wen Wan thought about it and decided that since that was the case, everyone should just pretend that no one saw it.
She opened the door and called out to Lu Dongping, "It's all here. Everything that's been ground and not ground is here. Can you carry it all at once?"
Lu Dongping laughed and said, "You look down on me, don't you? Is this just enough for me to carry in one trip? Have you forgotten that I got this food for you? Could it be that you've gained weight after eating a few meals?" As he said that, he went into the house, took out the unground corn kernels and poured them directly into the backpack, and threw the ground corn kernels in a sack on top.
"I'm going back. Come early tomorrow and don't oversleep and skip meals again. Remember to lock the door at night. It would be troublesome if a stray dog gets in. Put a stick next to the bed. If any stray dog comes in, beat it to death."
Wen Wan nodded: "I know, you should go back quickly, otherwise you won't be able to see the road." This time she would definitely not give the flashlight away again, it was too inconvenient without a flashlight.
Lu Dongping put on the backpack, looked at her standing at the door and waving at him, grinned, turned around and walked towards the path beside the wheat field, without saying a word to Liu Changqing and the others.
Wen Wan stood at the door and watched him leave without a trace. Then she turned back into the house, unfolded the quilt that was folded like a block of tofu, prepared to wash her face, soak her feet, and then go to bed.
Just as she finished washing her feet and went out to pour out the water, Zhu Feng stopped her and said, "Are you really teaming up with the Lu family?"
Wen Wan nodded: "Really."
Zhu Feng laughed and said, "Could it be that Lu Dongping has taken a fancy to you? I see he always has a stern face towards others, but when he sees you, he smiles with a smile of passion. Asking you to be his partner is probably just an excuse. He must be interested in you and wants to take the opportunity to date you, right?"
Wen Wan blinked her eyes: "Comrade Zhu Feng, why are you like a woman, always saying these things behind people's backs? If you are curious, just ask Lu Dongping in person when you see him later!" After saying that, she went to a distance to splash some foot washing water, then went into the house and locked the door.
Zhu Feng rubbed his nose in frustration, then looked back at Liu Changqing standing at the entrance of the shed and said, "I'm thinking it's not just Lu Dongping who's interested in her. She might have feelings for him too. Look, she didn't even talk to you when she got back, and now you're fighting with Lu Dongping. Is she holding a grudge? She doesn't even think about whose good it is for. Young girls these days are so superficial. They'll do anything just to have a couple of ready-made meals or to do less work."
Liu Changqing suddenly spoke up: "She's right, you really talk a lot. You shouldn't have said these things to me, you should have said them in front of her."
"Hey, what do you guys mean? Who am I doing this for?!"
No one paid any attention to him.
Wen Wan took advantage of the heat from washing her feet and crawled into bed, wrapping herself up like a cocoon, tightly, leaving only a pair of eyes looking out at the dark roof.
Well, I have a partner!
She thought she would have insomnia like last night, but she fell asleep quickly without even a dream and had a good night's sleep. Lu Dongping, on the other hand, tossed and turned like a pancake and couldn't fall asleep.
After carrying food back from the educated youth camp, Zhang Hongying questioned him, "What's going on between you and Wen Wan?"
Lu Dongping placed the backpack in the main room, went into the kitchen, sat down by the fire, and said, "What's going on? Nothing. Isn't this the pursuit?"
"Then I saw you laughing like an idiot, I thought they agreed to laugh!"
Lu Dongping lowered his head, a smile flickering in his eyes: "She's still young, and she's never suffered. Her family is well-off, and she can't compare to us. We have to coax her slowly." He had clearly agreed, but the little thing was playing tricks, so he could only let her do what she wanted. If he wanted to pursue her, he would pursue her well.
Zhang Hongying said angrily, "It's good that you know. Age aside, she'll be eighteen next year, which is old enough. You also know that she has good conditions and has never suffered hardship, but you think she's just like you, with her head stuck in a door. Why didn't you find someone from the city, but someone like you who lives in the mountains?"
Lu Dongping didn't like what he heard, and his face returned to his usual indifferent expression: "You're talking as if no one can choose to be born. What's wrong with living in a mountain den? She doesn't have to worry about food and clothing, right? If she follows me, I can hold her like a treasure. It may not be worse than finding a girl in the city. She's lazy and gluttonous. Even if there are mountains of gold and silver at home, there will be a day when she will be cleaned up."
"It doesn't matter to you, do whatever you want." Zhang Hongying muttered while pouring the foot washing water and went straight to her room.
Everyone was almost asleep. Lu Dongping finally got up, scooped a bucket of water to put out the wood lump, and went into the house in the dark in his cloth shoes.
Lu Donglin had already lain down, but when he heard him come in, he popped his head out again: "Hey, brother, what were you and Sister Wen Wan doing?"
Lu Dongping took off his clothes and rolled into the quilt, kicking him on the butt: "What? Sleep well!"
Lu Donglin cried out, shrank back against the wall and said, "Brother, you can't do this. You're in the same bed with me now, and I'm your brother. I won't mind if you kick me a few times, but if you develop this habit, it will be troublesome. If you accidentally kick Sister Wen Wan, I tell you, even the wife you have will fly away."
In response, Lu Dongping kicked him again. This time, he kicked him in the head instead of his butt: "If you don't study hard for a day, what kind of mess will you learn?"
"Lu Dongping!" Lu Donglin yelled at him, "Where are you kicking? Can you just hit a man's head? I'm doing this for your own good, don't be so ungrateful!"
"Thank you! You haven't even grown all your hair yet, but you already remember everything people say all day. How come you're not as smart as Wen Wan in studying? Can you compare with her? Not to mention that you can't compare to a single finger of hers, you can't even compare to her fingernail. At best, you're just the bit of shit she accidentally touched under her nails!"
Lu Donglin was shocked: "I am your biological brother, how dare you talk about your own brother like that?"
"No, Chun'e is my biological daughter. My mother picked you up from the roadside."
Lu Donglin was so angry that he wanted to rush over and strangle him to death, but the difference in strength was too great, so he didn't dare.
I was so angry that I didn't want to say a word.
However, Lu Dongping suddenly spoke up: "I remember that you have your final exams the day after tomorrow, right?"
Lu Donglin snorted twice and didn't want to talk to him.
Lu Dongping continued: "I will prepare the broken tiles in advance."
If you fail the exam, you will have to kneel on the tiles. He has used this to scare Lu Donglin many times. Lu Donglin failed the exam twice and was so scared that he hid in the next room and didn't dare to come back.
"Chun'e will definitely do as well in the exam as before. Dongcheng brother will be back this year, and then-"
"Don't look down on me through the crack in the door. I can do well in the exam too." Lu Donglin was angry and wrapped his head with the quilt, not wanting to listen to him anymore.
He felt that his brother was particularly annoying at the moment.
Lu Donglin stopped talking, and the whole world was quiet. Lu Donglin lay there looking at the dark ceiling, and Wen Wan's cute little face appeared involuntarily in his mind. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he pinched his hand. He was one step closer to the little girl, and it was a big step!
In the morning, Lu Donglin got up before dawn as usual. He and Lu Chun'e washed up outside, and then left with a light for a long time before it became a little light outside.
Lu Donglin lay down for a while before getting up to make a fire.
After breakfast, Lu Dongping didn't go up the mountain directly. He called Wen Wan and said, "My father and I are going to the pig farm to see if there are any suitable pig sons. Do you want to come with us?"
Wen Wan nodded: "Yes, yes." She had no plans to go up the mountain today. It was a rare opportunity for her to have some free time, so she planned to wash some clothes.
Cotton-padded jackets and trousers should be washed in the spring when it gets warmer. It won’t be a problem if you have protective clothing to cover them, but it is impossible to wear the autumn clothes, autumn trousers and sweaters inside for the whole winter without changing them.
When Lu Dongping said he wanted to go to the pig farm, she became interested again. She had never seen what a pig farm looked like, so she had to go and see it.
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