Xie Zhuo and Han Xiaoyu had never gotten along.
On one hand, it might simply be a clash of personalities; the two didn't really like each other when they first met, but since they lived in the same village, they were able to maintain a facade of peace. On the other hand... it's probably because Xie Zhuo's fiancée happens to be Sun Jiarou, whom Han Xiaoyu likes.
The two clashed in secret many times.
At first, Xie Zhuo didn't quite understand why Han Xiaoyu always wanted to compete with him. Even though he wasn't as strong as him, when he saw Han Xiaoyu carrying sacks to earn more work points, he insisted on swapping jobs with others to carry grain and show off, which resulted in him hurting his back.
Logically speaking, this matter had nothing to do with Xie Zhuo. The two were more than half an acre apart at the time, but when Han Xiaoyu was being helped past him, Han Xiaoyu suddenly turned his head and glared at him.
Xie Zhuo: "?"
Then the other educated youths at the settlement, without even asking what happened, also glared at him several times.
Xie Zhuo: "..."
It's fucking ridiculous.
Later, Xie Zhuo finally found out about Han Xiaoyu's little scheme. Then he would deliberately do the heavy and tiring work when the brigade secretary was around, and then watch the weak scholar from the city grit his teeth and compete with him in strength.
The educated youth at the settlement were unaware of Han Xiaoyu's intentions. They thought he simply wanted to show off in front of the Party Secretary and save face so that the villagers wouldn't look down on them. Little did they expect to run into Xie Zhuo, that annoying troublemaker.
Then some educated youths started cursing Xie Zhuo behind his back, calling him an uneducated, uncultured country bumpkin, and even spreading rumors that he was a good-for-nothing from Qingshan Brigade.
Unfortunately, Xie Zhuo didn't care about any of that.
He was happy as long as he could make Han Xiaoyu feel bad.
It wasn't that he was deeply in love with Sun Jiarou; he simply couldn't stand Han Xiaoyu.
Moreover, he and Sun Jiarou were betrothed when they were young. There were hundreds of households in Qingshan Brigade. His family lived in the south near the river, while Sun's family lived in the north near the supply and marketing cooperative. Apart from Sun Jiarou occasionally coming to the fields to deliver food to her family, the two of them had never met in private.
After Xie Zhuo's parents passed away, the Sun family's attitude changed.
They had previously said they would let Sun Jiarou and her husband get married when she came of age, but unexpectedly, less than a month after Sun Jiarou turned 18, the old lady of the Sun family suddenly passed away.
The Sun family said they had to observe a three-year mourning period, so the wedding had to be postponed again and again.
Some people in the village gossiped after dinner, saying that the Sun family didn't want to marry their daughter to Xie Laosan because the Xie family had no one left, only a young man with two children to support.
Xie Laosan is already twenty-four this year, and in two more years he'll be twenty-six.
By the time you're twenty-six in the village, you should already be holding three children.
The Sun family isn't in a hurry. They can't hold out any longer; eventually, they'll have to break off the engagement themselves.
But this is just something to talk about in private, since there used to be a saying that one should not see any joy during the three-year mourning period.
Xie Zhuo used to have some thoughts about whether or not to get married. Back then, his mother was still alive and loved to tease him about it, saying that he would be a father in a few years and that he still had a childish temper and liked to act spoiled.
But ever since his two older brothers died for their country and his parents passed away one after another from grief, he has stopped thinking about anything.
He had read in a book that a person's growth happens in an instant, and he didn't quite understand it at first. Later, he finally understood, and he also lost the person with whom he could act spoiled without restraint.
Having been given a second chance at life, he was even less inclined to do so.
Because he knew that Sun Jiarou could not marry him, and he also knew that Sun Jiarou would marry Han Xiaoyu in the future.
As for Xu Yan...
She died.
She didn't drown, but rather suffered from prolonged hunger and malnutrition. Eventually, something was found growing in her stomach. Xie Zhuo didn't remember clearly, only that less than two months after her death, Han Xiaoyu married Sun Jiarou.
The wedding was a lively affair.
For some unknown reason, Xie Zhuo snapped out of his reverie, a faint, mocking smile appearing on his face, followed by a click of his tongue.
His sudden shout seemed to break some kind of spell, and Xu Yan suddenly felt the pressure on his body lessen considerably.
“I,” she tried to speak again.
Although it still feels very difficult, at least I can now express complete sentences normally.
“The first time, I was indeed the one who distributed the things to them,” Xu Yan said in a hoarse voice.
The sun was still blazing at the gate, and the cicadas were chirping loudly, but no one cared about the heat or not; everyone was quietly waiting for her next words.
But after waiting for a long time, it still didn't arrive.
"Didn't you understand?" Xie Zhuo suddenly spoke up. "She means that, apart from the first time, she didn't give them anything on the other occasions."
After saying that, he gave Xu Yan a strange look.
After hearing his explanation, the crowd became lively again.
"Xu Yan, do you know what you're saying?" Han Xiaoyu's face was very ugly. He didn't expect that Xu Yan really wanted to take those things back.
"Xu Yan, are you trying to kill us?" Zhou Jingjing's eyes reddened with anger. "Don't you even listen to Brother Xiao Yu anymore?"
Whoever wants to listen can listen.
I don't want to hear it, so I don't want to listen!
Xu Yan inwardly grumbled, but because of Han Xiaoyu, she wanted to back down.
“If you’re really that angry, I’ll go find Liang Qian right now and make her apologize to you,” a male educated youth said as he ran toward the woods. Liang Qian usually went there when she was in a bad mood.
"I really don't know what triggered you," Wu Shi glared at Xu Yan, "How can you suddenly treat us like this, treat Brother Han like this, do you have a conscience?"
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