Chapter 24 Chapter 24 (Xiao Xiu) In the rice fields...
The millet in the rice field had been harvested, and Uncle Cheng took Cheng Xin's place and stepped on the thresher to help thresh the grain.
Cheng Xin sat on the edge of the field, eating a watermelon, the red juice dripping down her trouser legs. Geng Yunye strode across the ditch, his trousers stained with rice awns, and sat down beside her.
"We are in such a hurry to harvest the grain this year..." Cheng Xin squinted her eyes and looked at the cumulonimbus clouds on the distant mountaintops. "You said last time that there might be rain?"
Geng Yunye took off his straw hat and fanned himself: "Not possible." He picked up the enamel pot and took a big sip of tea, his Adam's apple moving, "I went to the commune for this matter."
Cheng Xin turned her head and widened her eyes: "Did you know it was going to rain?" Her fingers were unconsciously picking at the mud on the ridge of the field, and her left leg was two fists away from Geng Yunye's right leg.
Geng Yunye lowered his head and tore the skin of the straw: "Hmm." When picking up the straw, he deliberately leaned to the right, and the sunburned skin on the back of his neck was bright red.
Cheng Xin placed the watermelon rind on the ridge of the field, rubbed her juiced hands on the grass, and made a major decision in her heart, "Comrade Geng, I promise what you said last time."
The sound was blown away a little by the sudden wind and just happened to reach Geng Yunye's ears.
Geng Yunye didn't react for a while, and the straw in his hand fell off. When he bent down to pick it up, his ears turned red: "Are you serious? I can wait for you to think it over. Don't agree just because I help your family with farm work..."
Frogs under the ridge of the field jumped into the pond. Cheng Xin grabbed her hair that was flying in the wind and tucked it behind her ears. Her fingertips rubbed her hot earlobes and she laughed out loud, "I'm not stupid!"
She picked up a piece of dirt and threw it at the sparrows that were eating the rice. "The radio said that we can divorce freely now."
Geng Yunye straightened his back, put his hands on his knees, and said in a loud voice, "I will treat you well and I promise not to let you think about divorce." The tips of his ears were as red as his sunburned neck, and the seams of his trousers were almost rubbed out.
Cheng Xin grabbed a piece of grass and poked his calf: "You know my father's condition. I want to wait until he gets better before considering the important things in his life."
Geng Yunye squatted down and adjusted his straw hat. "Once we finish your family's affairs, we will take your father to the provincial hospital for a physical examination. By the way, you need to teach me about raising pigs. I bought two piglets a few days ago."
Cheng Xin's eyes sparkled, and she gestured with her hands covered in dirt: "If we raise pigs, we need to pave the pig pen with cement!" She suddenly dropped her shoulders, "I've thought about raising pigs, but raising pigs requires building a pig pen, and buying cement requires industrial coupons. Pigs eat a lot, and it takes a year to get a return. In terms of cost-effectiveness, it's more cost-effective to raise rabbits and chickens."
Raising pigs is not only tiring, but they also grow fat only when they eat well. Unlike rabbits and chickens, which grow fast when they eat less.
Her eyes sparkled: "I don't know the specifics, but my mother has experience. She helped raise pigs when she was earning work points."
Geng Yunye was still squatting and talking as usual, with his trouser legs rolled up to his knees and his muddy rubber shoes stepping on her shadow, just like when they were dating.
Cheng Lei brought a winnowing basket and snakeskin bags. After the millet is threshed, it needs to be sent to the drying yard to be screened twice before being dried and bagged. It happened that other families had not started to harvest millet yet, so there was no need to reserve a spot in advance.
Geng Yunye's bicycle helped with transportation, so his uncle didn't need to carry the bagged millet to the ridge of the field and then borrow the brigade's cart to take the millet to the drying yard.
Wang Jiangang and his brothers returned from the mountain with nothing. This time, not to mention wild boars, they couldn't even see a pheasant or rabbit.
Seeing Geng Yunye riding a bicycle to help the Cheng family carry grain to the drying ground, he slapped his forehead and shouted, "Oh no! How could I forget about this?"
He wanted to use the opportunity of harvesting grain to change Cheng Xin's opinion of him, but ended up forgetting about the matter completely.
He kicked away the stones on the roadside, shook off the two followers behind him and ran home.
Ten minutes later, Wang Jiangang caught up on his clanking bicycle. He slammed the brakes in front of Cheng Xin, making an emergency stop that he thought looked very cool.
The tires left twisted marks on the dirt road, raising a cloud of choking yellow sand.
Wang Jiangang supported himself on one foot, banging the bell on his bike. "Look at your face, it's all sunburned!" Sweat beads slid down his greasy neck into his shirt. His throat was so tight that water could come out of it. "Cheng Xin, why didn't you call me when your family was harvesting the grain?"
Cheng Xin was rushing to the drying yard with a winnowing basket in her arms when Wang Jiangang suddenly blocked her way and spoke in a husky voice. She took a half step back with the winnowing basket in her arms.
Cheng Xin looked surprised. What was wrong with Wang Jiangang?
"My uncle and his men will be harvesting the grain tomorrow, so we have enough manpower today."
Wang Jiangang opened his sweaty collar and said, "You're all tanned, one more person means more strength, and besides, our relationship isn't that distant."
Cheng Xin quickly stopped him: "Stop, Brother Jiangang, you just had a meal of meat at our house, don't say things that could cause misunderstanding."
Wang Jiangang blushed and pointed at Cheng Xin: "Why are you like this? You took my things and you're pretending not to know, right?"
Cheng Xin was confused: "What did I take from you?"
Geng Yunye just happened to ride over: "What happened?"
Wang Jiangang glared at Geng Yunye and said unhappily, "This is a private matter between Cheng Xin and me. It has nothing to do with you!" He looked at Cheng Xin again, "You said you wanted vanishing cream and clam oil. I asked your cousin to buy them and bring them back. How can you take them and not acknowledge them?"
Cheng Xin didn't want to be silenced: "What nonsense are you talking about? How come I don't know that I want vanishing cream? If I want it, can't I buy it myself?"
Wang Jiangang was anxious. He pointed at Cheng Xin's nose and cursed, "I didn't expect you to be this kind of woman. You can take other people's things and pretend nothing happened. I really misjudged you. I didn't expect you to be such a scheming woman!"
Cheng Xin slapped his hand that was pointing at her away and threw the dustpan on the ground. "Speak clearly, what do you mean by I took your things?"
Geng Yunye heard the problem and interrupted Wang Jiangang.
"You said Cheng Xin took your things?"
Wang Jiangang squinted his eyes at Geng Yunye and said, "Why? Didn't you give her a lot of gifts?"
Geng Yunye did not answer and continued to ask: "When did you give it to her? Did anyone see you giving her something?"
Wang Jiangang didn't want to cooperate. He disliked Geng Yunye in the first place, so how could he be willing to pay attention to him?
Geng Yunye said to himself: "Since you can't tell it, it means that you made it up out of thin air in order to destroy Cheng Xin's reputation and ruin her name."
Wang Jiangang was provoked and confessed everything, "I spent two yuan on her, which is a day's salary for an ordinary worker!"
After saying that, he looked at Cheng Xin: "Anyway, you have to return the money to me."
Cheng Xin was very annoyed: "You are dreaming, why should I give you money if I didn't take your things?"
Even if Wang Jiangang is the son of the king, it is useless. Why should she compensate him for no reason? Who wants to be liked by him?
Wang Jiangang pulled Cheng Xin and refused to let her leave. Geng Yunye took out a gift from his pocket that he had prepared long ago but had not given away.
He pulled Cheng Xin's wrist and put the gift on her wrist. "Cheng Xin is my girlfriend. She refused the watch I gave her. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to give her the gift as I wished. If you have nothing to do, go check the people around you. Don't embarrass yourself for two dollars."
Wang Jiangang stared at Cheng Xin's wrist. That was the Sea-Gull watch that he couldn't afford to buy even if he earned all the money. It cost 100 yuan with a ticket at the supply and marketing cooperative, and 200 yuan without a ticket on the black market.
Cheng Xin knew the watch was valuable and wanted to take it off and return it to him, but Geng Yunye held her hand firmly and said, "It looks great, wear it."
He turned to look at Wang Jiangang: "Why don't you leave? She doesn't even want a 100-dollar watch, just to covet your 2-dollar vanishing cream?"
Wang Jiangang rode away in shame and nearly hit a haystack.
The gossiping women who were watching the fun covered their mouths and talked in a low voice. They didn't expect that Wang Jiangang actually fell in love with Cheng Xin.
"Get in the car, Auntie is waiting for us."
Cheng Xin sat sideways on the bicycle and grabbed the corner of Geng Yunye's clothes.
After Geng Yunye rode for a distance, she explained in a low voice: "I didn't take his things."
Geng Yunye said without hesitation, "I believe you. You can afford a few cents of vanishing cream and clam oil yourself. Who would be embarrassed by giving someone a two-dollar gift?"
Cheng Xin was amused by him: "That's right, he pulled my sleeve and asked me to pay back the money. He didn't act like a man at all."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
