Romance
The shadowy figure looked about two meters tall, its arms clasped tightly across its chest, its short legs struggling to move forward. Its entire body was cylindrical, and most importantly, its face was blank...
Ye Yuanyin got goosebumps all over his body and wondered if this was a human or a ghost?
Chen Yan was also unsure, so he carefully identified it in the light of the car lights. Suddenly, an idea came to him, and he laughed out loud.
"get off."
"What?" Ye Yuan yelled in fear, "I won't get off! I won't get off!"
Chen Dian came out of the main driver's cab, walked around the front of the car and opened the passenger door.
She covered her face tightly like an ostrich, hunched over and hid herself tightly. Chen Yanan suppressed his laughter and tried to pull her hand, but Ye Yuanyin struggled and refused to cooperate at all. "Ah! Don't pull me! I won't get off the car!"
Sediment threatened her: "If you don't run away, the ghost will eat you!"
She finally released her hands that were covering her face, raised her pale face and shook her head vigorously, her expression was pleading, and Chen Yan half-hugged her and dragged her out of the car.
The Faceless Man seemed to have noticed them, moving left and right, refusing to come near them. Ye Yuanyin's hair almost stood on end.
Chen Yan'an took her hand and suddenly called out, "Zheng Youshan."
Ye Yuanyin suddenly opened his eyes wide. Sure enough, the monster-like man stopped moving, and something was peeled off from his body with a "bang".
Ye Yuanyin took a closer look and saw it was a cylindrical rock about half a meter tall. Hidden behind the rock was indeed Zheng Youshan's square face. The car lights shone palely, and he was wearing drab gray clothes. The rock blended perfectly with his figure, and he deliberately hid his face, which frightened anyone who saw him.
She asked in disbelief, "What are you doing?"
Zheng Youshan's face flushed crimson. He'd tried to avoid them, but who would have thought Dian Yan would see through him? He chuckled, rubbing his hands awkwardly as he said, "Well, I own a tea plantation, don't I? I need a name for it. A few days ago, I asked a blind man in the village to tell my fortune, and he said I'd need a whole rock to hold it in place..."
That's why he took advantage of the dark night and strong wind, sneaked up the mountain, dug up a stone, and then secretly moved it down when no one was paying attention.
"I'm not taking advantage of anyone!" Zheng Youshan explained quickly. "When my tea garden starts to make money, I'll repair all the roads in the village! Then I'll build a whole homestay for city dwellers to come and experience life there. Even if I just use a piece of stone from the village, Uncle Long will chase me and give me a certificate of honor."
Regardless of whether his vision could be realized, Ye Yuanyin felt that his behavior was speechless. "Then you should at least find someone to help you. What if you really get hurt?"
Her words were warm and soothing. Youshan felt a surge of warmth in his heart, thinking that his father always said that he didn't listen to advice and was stubborn. If Ah Yin could persuade him, he would definitely listen to her.
But now she was married. The man she married, though a dishonest businessman, was incredibly charming. Village ladies, from eighty-year-old ladies to eight-year-old girls, all praised his handsomeness. Even worse, he wasn't just handsome; he was also rich! She felt completely hopeless, a mixture of sadness and shame.
"Ayin, it's so late, where are you going?"
"Oh, by the way!" Ye Yuanyin asked him, "You just came down from the mountain. Did you see Lin Yi?"
"Of course I have! Do you see this stone? He helped me dig it."
Chen Yan raised his wrist to check the time, then surveyed the nearby mountains. He figured that if he searched aimlessly, he might not even find him by daybreak. He took over the conversation and discussed with Zheng Youshan, "Since you know where he is, why don't you lead the way and accompany us to look for him?"
"Why?!" Zheng Youshan stiffened his neck and thought, "Not only did you rob Ah Yin, but now you want me to do whatever I want. Doesn't that make me your lackey? No, I won't do it!" So he said forcefully, "I just came down so hard, I can't walk anymore."
Chen Yan turned his head and tapped his chin on his stone, saying with a pleasant face, "I happen to know a painter who just returned from abroad with an award. He's been sketching in Jiutao Village these days. Your help shouldn't be in vain. How about this, let him design your tea garden tomorrow? What do you think?"
Ye Yuanyin knew he was talking about You Jing and thought, this excuse is too contrived. You Jing doesn't seem to have a good relationship with him. Can he really convince this rebellious person?
But with profit at the forefront, Zheng Youshan wavered. "Then—what about my stone? I worked so hard to get it down here. If I lose it, all my efforts will be in vain."
Chen Yan turned to look at Ye Yuanyin, his words tinged with sarcasm as he instructed her, "Isn't that guy trying to show his affection? Give him a call and have him come over to watch over you."
The contempt in his words seemed intentional.
Ye Yuanyin quickly shook her head and disagreed, "You can't do that. It's not possible." She didn't want to have any connection with You Jing anymore, so naturally she wouldn't do anything that would cause him to misunderstand.
Chen Di'an thought, why is she so honest? She has suffered so much, and now she is so eager to win her back. She doesn't even use such good resources and bargaining chips. She is really stupid. Whether she enters the system or outside the system in the future, she will only be bullied.
Intellectually, he understood, and emotionally, he felt reliable. He thought the girl still didn't know how to change her ways. Otherwise, she would continue to bother him for no reason, and he would be upset when he saw her.
Dian Yan called Secretary Ma and gave him just one instruction, and he knew what to do.
"I'll do it right away."
*
The mountain road is steep, the bluestone is slippery, and the plants on the roadside grow wildly.
Chen Yan walked in front and stretched out his hand, and Ye Yuanyin, who was lagging behind, naturally shook it.
Zheng Youshan led the way, thinking back to when they'd climbed the "Ghost Difficulty Climb" a little over a month ago, how distant they'd been. He didn't know when they'd become so close. City folks were always thinking strangely. They were married, but he was still being so polite to them. He didn't know what was going on.
The mountain road was difficult to walk on, and it took more than an hour to cover only two-thirds of the distance.
Chen Yan'an was worried that Ye Yuan was tired, so he stopped Zheng Youshan who was walking in front and asked, "How long will it take to get there?"
"Not far."
He suddenly smiled and jokingly said, "You were able to carry the stone down. This is not something that can be achieved with ordinary determination and perseverance."
It was clearly a compliment, but Zheng Youshan couldn't help but think of it in a wrong way. This "hundred thousand yuan" was obviously a cunning and shrewd person. He was very careful in what he said and did, but what he said always seemed to have hidden meanings. He didn't know when he would be led into a ditch by him, so he didn't say a word.
After walking for another ten minutes, the three of them were stopped by several men holding torches.
“What are you doing?”
Zheng Youshan was suddenly shouted at and his heart was pounding with fear. He looked carefully and saw that they were some hooligans in the village who were idle and bullied the weak and feared the strong.
The one in the lead was known to Zheng Youshan and Ye Yuanyin. It was Tian Enliang, who had gone to elementary school with them for a few years but returned home to farm after the third grade.
"Hey, isn't this A'Yin from the Long family?" Tian Enliang walked towards her with a scoundrel look on his face, grinning, "Do you still recognize me?"
Ye Yuanyin had a vague recollection of him. He was a mischievous child, tearful and runny. He'd always have thick phlegm building up in his throat, which he'd spit out all over people with a "ha" or "puff." Even at a young age, he'd form cliques and tell stories about adults' affairs, earning the laughter and admiration of the mischievous boys.
"Aliang."
"Hey! Did you hear that?!" Tian Enliang turned around and shouted to his two companions, his tone still full of pride. He grinned, "The golden phoenix that flew away from the village still remembers me."
When Zheng Youshan saw him, he half-held his forehead and quickly hid behind Dian Jing'an.
Tian Enliang looked at the outsider in Dianchen'an and said, "This is your husband, right? I heard from my father that you just visited the ancestral temple a few days ago. But why don't you two stay at home and sleep? What are you doing up the mountain in the middle of the night?" He chuckled a few times at this point. He stared at her face with a dog-like expression and asked, "Are you two planning to do that thing in the mountains? It's quite romantic, hahaha——"
"Stop talking nonsense, we are here to find someone."
"No need to look for it," Chen Dian looked behind him. It was pitch black and he couldn't see the road. Now that he was familiar with the surroundings, he found a person sitting in the grass with a cloth stuffed in his mouth and his arms tied together behind his back.
Chen Yanan glanced at Ye Yuanyin and asked, "Is that Lin Yi?"
Ye Yuanyin asked for a torch and took a closer look. It was indeed Lin Yi. His face was red, swollen and bruised, probably because he had been beaten by several people.
"Why are you hitting people?"
Tian Enliang was already furious before he started talking, but now he was practically exasperated. "You knew the village was going to open a stone quarry, right? Director Zheng asked us to run it, and today is our first day on the job. Who would have thought a piece of stone would go missing right under our noses? If we don't beat up the thief, the money we lose is the smallest penalty, but the loss of face is the biggest. How are we going to survive in the village in the future?"
Zheng Youshan hid behind Chen Yan'an like an ostrich and whispered, "Don't blame me, don't blame me."
When Ye Yuanyin saw this, he thought that Zheng Youshan was too ignorant. In order to take advantage of this small advantage, he hurt Lin Yi badly.
"Can we pay the money and let the person go first?"
"Didn't I just tell you? It's not about the money! The village said they were afraid the villagers would take advantage of us, so they wanted us to make an example and establish our authority. We finally caught someone, how could we let him go?"
Zheng Youshan tugged at Ye Yuanyin's sleeve and whispered, "Lin Yi can't hear you again. The village's policies haven't been fully implemented, so it's normal for him to make some mistakes. Let's put it this way, I'll pay the fine for him."
"no."
"Ayin, please consider me too." Zheng Youshan's voice became even quieter. "My father is the village director. I can't be the first to tear him down. Just this once, okay? Can you just turn a blind eye? I risked my life to accompany you here in the dark. Otherwise, I would have slipped away long ago and never encountered this."
"That won't work either," Ye Yuanyin emphasized again, "It's not fair. Precisely because Lin Yi can't hear, we can't treat him like this."
"Then can you do this to me, just throw it away after use?" Zheng Youshan felt that he absolutely could not lose face, and asked Chen Di'an, "Boss Shen, tell me, what should we do?"
Chen Dian smiled calmly and said nonchalantly, "Just admit it. How much is your face worth?"
"Damn it!" Zheng Youshan was so angry that he almost jumped up. "Do you have any conscience? Who am I doing this for?"
There was a rustling noise all around. Zheng Youshan turned around and saw Secretary Zheng directing two strong villagers to move the stone back.
Zheng Youshan was dumbfounded. In a rage, he grabbed Chen Yan'an by the collar, and the conflict was about to break out. "Mr. Chen, what do you mean?"
Ji Quan also came along. She had changed out of her usual professional attire and was now wearing sportswear. Because she had just climbed up, her cheeks looked plump and rosy.
Ye Yuanyin's doubtful eyes met her worried ones. She stepped forward, her sharp eyes like a knife, "Let go!"
Under the pressure of her aura, Zheng Youshan actually trembled.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
