The sack was quite large.
If it were filled with grass, it would weigh at least a hundred pounds. Two male educated youths at the educated youth settlement would have to rest several times while carrying it back.
But in Xie Zhuo's hands, the sack was as heavy as if it contained several kilograms of cotton.
Liu Mancang: "!"
Third Brother is truly a man among men in Qingshan Brigade!
It's not surprising that Xiao Xu, a former educated youth, fell for him!
Xie Zhuo carried the sack to greet the brigade leader. The brigade leader was also taken aback by his display and worried that he might hurt his back.
"If all else fails, we'll carry it back with Liu Mancang later," Song Guangming said.
"No need," Xie Zhuo said, and walked towards the commune's hay storage area. After emptying the hay from the sack, he hesitated for a moment before heading to the educated youth settlement.
He was afraid he wouldn't be able to sleep at night if he didn't ask some questions clearly.
However, before Xie Zhuo even stepped into the gate of the educated youth settlement, he heard someone grabbing Xu Yan's hand and asking him questions, even more anxiously than he was.
"Little Xu, are you really going to marry Xie Laosan?"
Judging from the voice, it was Qian Yingxiu, the mother of Wang Ermazi from the west end of the village.
What is she doing here?
Xie Zhuo frowned. He wanted to leave, but he still wanted to hear Xu Yan's answer.
Xu Yan looked at the old woman in front of him, whom he had never met before, who was tightly gripping his hand and asking about what happened at noon, and he was still a little confused.
However, since she was the one who said it, and she did indeed want to marry Xie Zhuo, she didn't hesitate to say "Mmm" without much hesitation.
After responding, he immediately withdrew his hand.
Then they heard Granny Qian suddenly exclaim "Ah!"
Xu Yan thought she was being bitten by something, so he quickly looked down at the ground.
There was nothing there.
All I could see were the old woman's cloth shoes, with several patches on the toes, but the patches seemed to be torn, revealing her big toe.
"Little Xu, the educated youth!"
Granny Qian slammed her hand on the table with a "you're finished" look on her face, then reached out and grabbed Xu Yan's hand again, so tightly that Xu Yan couldn't break free.
Then I heard the old woman in front of me say, "It's not that I'm speaking ill of him to you, it's just that Xie Laosan is really not a good match for you!"
Xu Yan: "?"
Xu Yan paused, then stopped trying to pull his hand away.
Her expression gradually darkened; she had never seen anyone so nosy, meddling directly in her home affairs.
“I see you haven’t been in Qingshan Brigade for very long, so you don’t know much about the Xie family,” Granny Qian said.
She has a deep voice and speaks loudly; if you don't listen carefully, you might think someone is arguing.
"What's going on?" Xu Yan asked, looking at her.
"Everyone in our Qingshan Brigade knows about this, only you educated youth who haven't been here long don't know."
Granny Qian, with her wrinkled old face, feigned mystery and beckoned to Xu Yan, signaling her to come closer.
This must not be heard by anyone else.
But she didn't realize that since the Qingshan Brigade already knew, there was no secrecy left.
Besides, it's hot in summer, and people sweat a lot.
It's common for the village women to go one or two months without bathing, and some slovenly women only bathe a few times a year. I don't know how often Granny Qian bathes, but when she came over, she had a strong smell of sweat on her body.
Xu Yan: "..."
Xu Yan was so overwhelmed by the fumes that she wanted to cover her nose and breathe through her mouth.
Therefore, she not only didn't move closer, but also leaned back slightly, pretending not to understand what she meant, and said, "Auntie, you can say it."
Seeing her like this, Granny Qian didn't force herself to go any closer, and instead glanced around the courtyard.
"Auntie, just say it without worry," Xu Yan said, following her gaze into the courtyard.
The courtyard gate was wide open, but there was nothing there.
“Right now, in the entire educated youth settlement, it’s just the two of us, there’s no one else,” Xu Yan said.
Granny Qian let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, finally feeling at ease.
It seemed like she was really telling Xu Yan some earth-shattering secret.
"The Xie family members were all cursed to death by the third son of the Xie family!"
Granny Qian said that her eyebrows were furrowed and her expression was rich, and she looked like a veteran who had been gossiping and talking behind people's backs for years. "The fortune teller said that Xie Laosan of the Xie family is destined to be a lone star."
Hearing her say that, Xu Yan's face grew even colder. "Auntie, don't talk nonsense!"
“I’m not making this up; everyone in the village knows,” Granny Qian said.
"So you mean only we people don't know?" Xu Yan looked at her.
“Of course,” said Granny Qian. “It’s because no one told you these things that you thought Xie Laosan was a good man and wanted to marry him.”
“Oh,” Xu Yan replied, drawing out the sound.
To be honest, she still doesn't quite understand what this old woman's intention was in coming to her and saying all this.
Xie Zhuo's enemy?
Is it because they can't stand seeing him get married that they're here to cause trouble?
If that's the case, then anyone who's timid and afraid of ghosts would have broken up on the spot.
"Don't disbelieve me," Granny Qian said, her eyes darting around as she saw that Xu Yan wasn't frightened at all. She lowered her voice and said, "The fortune teller said that he was destined to die, and anyone who got close to him would die."
The last word, "death," deliberately emphasized in her husky voice, actually carried a certain weight.
Xu Yan chuckled inwardly.
Not wanting to listen to her foul-smelling nonsense any longer, he changed his tune and said perfunctorily, "Is that really so? Auntie, you're so kind of me to come all the way here to tell me."
Xie Zhuo's eyes darkened when he heard those words.
The sunflowers that he had casually stuck in the haystack that morning were now wilted by the sun, their leaves wrinkled and drooping, looking listless.
He shouldn't have come.
I was going to ask more questions, but after hearing that, I didn't want to anymore.
As a result, just as I was about to leave, I heard an even more infuriating remark.
"Auntie, which family in Qingshan Brigade do you think would be a good match for a husband?"
Xie Zhuo scoffed in exasperation.
He just couldn't understand why Xu Yan was so eager to get married.
Although young women should be looking for a good match when they reach a certain age, Xu Yan is only 18 years old, not even 19, and she's a city girl. Why is she in such a hurry?
She had just declared in front of everyone that she wanted to marry him, and then immediately asked other people who in Qingshan Brigade was suitable to marry.
A woman's heart is truly unfathomable!
Don't take what the female educated youth said seriously!
"If you ask me, there really is someone suitable," Granny Qian said, her face beaming with barely suppressed joy as she saw that Xu Yan had been persuaded.
"Oh?" Xu Yan smiled, his eyes narrowing.
It was as if he was seriously considering it.
"Judging from the fact that you chose Xie Laosan, you probably prefer someone older than you, right?" Granny Qian asked, her expression still somewhat uneasy.
Xu Yan nodded.
Xie Zhu subconsciously calculated his and Xu Yan's ages in his mind.
He is six years older than Xu Yan.
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