Romance
Ye Yuanyin shook his head and said calmly: "I won't go back."
Shen Yan turned around and saw her bathed in the moonlight, a hint of sadness shrouding her pretty face, like a bit of ink splashed on the white snow, a kind of calmness that came from accepting one's fate.
After not seeing her for half a year, she had changed a lot - courage, ambition, edges, enthusiasm... all these words with strong emotional connotations had disappeared, and her heart had been smoothed and peaceful.
Only those who have suffered inner torment will feel this tired.
From the moment he experienced her leaving without saying goodbye, Chen Yan learned for the first time how to read her expression and act accordingly. "This place is nice, but it's a waste for you."
"Thank you for your affirmation." Ye Yuanyin said calmly and objectively, "My mother is old. Since she suddenly fainted during National Day last year, her health has not been very good. If I stay, I can take care of her. Besides, Ancheng is really too big..."
She didn't finish her words, but Xiandi already understood what she meant.
He doesn't like to force things, so naturally he won't persuade her anymore.
Ye Yuanyin apologized, "I left so suddenly, I hope I didn't cause you too much trouble."
Sediment shook his head. In the face of life, everything is trivial.
Then she asked again, "Are you here because you have business to discuss?"
"Well, there's a project on AI healing that's been launched," the superior said frankly, not needing to hide his purpose. "More importantly, I came to see you. After all, you're still my wife."
The plate in his hand slipped and fell with a crisp sound.
Ye Yuanyin couldn't understand it. He was not satisfied with this marriage in the first place. Since he was the one who proposed it, why didn't he take the opportunity to sign the contract and separate.
But it doesn’t matter if I can’t figure it out. The past is like a passing cloud. The six years I spent in Ancheng were like a dream, and it will all be gone when I wake up.
Because of his kind and sincere heart, Ye Yuanyin lowered his eyes and said in a gentle and calm manner: "Take off your shirt later and I will wash it for you."
*
The next day was a beautiful, sunny day. Sediment's awakening was the sound of birdsong in the mountains. It was already bright daylight, and he checked his phone: it was past seven.
"The mountain air is beautiful at dusk, and the birds fly back home together."
These two lines of poetry kept circling in his mind. The mountains have their own wild charm. No wonder Mr. Wu Liu retired to the countryside and lived a different life.
He stood up and turned around to see the room piled high with books. Under the sunlight, the room looked simple and quiet, and he felt a lot of good feelings towards it.
When she went downstairs, the shirt had been neatly folded on a bamboo chair, and the stains on it had been washed clean. When Chen Yan picked it up, a clean and pleasant fragrance filled her nose, just like the natural gift she had given her for the first time as a thank you.
He put on his clothes and opened the door, only to hear a quarrel in the yard.
"I'm telling you, Youshan, don't be stupid! It's no big deal, but you're still grabbing weapons. Are you thinking of rebelling?"
A man who looked like a cadre in his forties or fifties was confronting a dark-skinned young man. The young man held a stick in his left hand and a rope in his right hand with a fierce look on his face. He shook off the cadre's hand that was blocking him.
"Uncle Long, don't stop me. I'm not done with them today!"
Ye Yuanyin rushed over and blocked the door, frowning slightly and said angrily, "Are you being reasonable?"
"Stop meddling in other people's business!"
The countryman's hands were rough and strong, and Ye Yuanyin was pushed by him and almost fell down. A pair of strong hands supported her waist. She turned around in shock and met Chen Yan'an's eyes.
"Are you okay?"
After she stood firm, the hands left.
The places he touched felt like they were on fire, making her feel upset.
Jiutao Village Party Secretary Long Yan, seeing Chen Di'an, ignored Zheng Youshan's tantrums and quickly extended his hand to shake his. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Shen. I had a last-minute work arrangement in town last night, so I rushed back in the wee hours. Living conditions in the countryside are limited. Are you used to it?"
Yan Dian'an shook the hand that Secretary Long extended to him, smiled dignifiedly, and said sincerely, "I haven't slept so soundly in a long time."
While the two were chatting, Zheng Youshan slipped out of Aunt Long's house.
Zheng Youshan is the son of village director Zheng Baoshu.
The Spring Festival had just passed and the first month of the lunar year had not yet ended. His vegetable stall in Ancheng had not yet opened, so he stayed in his hometown for a few more days.
After a decade of hard work in the city, he finally splashed out on a BYD electric car at the end of the year. He immediately impressed the villagers when he drove it home. When relatives came to visit, he'd drive around, delivering them to one and another. His pride was greatly bolstered by the constant compliments of his relatives, who kept saying, "You've got a lot of potential in the mountains," and "You're doing well in Ancheng."
But just as he was about to return to the city, he discovered that his car had been hit by Wang's cow. The brand new car hadn't even gotten used to the newness of the car when two deep marks were made on the hood.
If it was someone else's family, they would just pay a little more for the car repairs and consider themselves unlucky. But Old Wang's family is extremely poor. How can they afford to pay compensation when they have a half-blind grandmother and two grandchildren who are only about ten years old?
Zheng Youshan was so furious that he felt like vomiting blood. He raised his stick and rope and headed to Old Wang's house to tie up the cow. Although they couldn't afford to pay for the car, they could at least make some money by selling the animal in the city.
Wang Yaya and her brother Wang Zhizhi were frightened by his aggressive appearance.
Especially his younger brother Zhizhi, who had a strange personality and didn't like playing with other boys his age, but preferred to whisper to the family's cow. Now, watching his friend being taken away by Zheng Youshan, he desperately hugged the cow's neck and refused to let go.
Zheng Youshan didn't care. He tied the rope into a loop and tried to tie the ox's head several times, but failed. Instead, the ox bumped into him several times. Zheng Youshan got anxious and picked up a stick to hit the ox.
Grandma Wang was so frightened that she clasped her hands together and begged for mercy, her gray eyes unable to focus. "Uncle Zheng, please don't be angry, but watch over the child. Please don't hurt him, I beg you!"
When Ye Yuanyin walked in, she saw this heart-wrenching scene. She rushed over regardless of anything, pushed Zheng Youshan away and picked up the child. Wang Yaya ran over and reached out to hold the corner of her clothes.
"Sister."
Ye Yuanyin put Wang Zhizhi in a safe place, lowered his head and softly comforted Yaya. "Don't be afraid."
The village party secretary, Long Yan, shouted angrily, "Youshan, throw away the stick immediately! If you really hurt the child, whether it's a distant relative or a neighbor, how can you still have the nerve to come back? How can your father still work in the village?"
Zheng Youshan at least gave the secretary some face. He threw away his stick and said angrily, "You can't hit me, you can't scold me! So what do you think about my new car? I only bought it a month ago and it hasn't even arrived yet!"
After being silent for a long time, Chen Yan suddenly spoke. His voice was cold and solemn, but it sounded calm.
"Is 100,000 enough to repair the car?"
Everyone looked at him in shock. Mountain people are very sensitive to money. Some people can't even earn 100,000 yuan in their entire lives. It's enough to buy a car, let alone repair it.
Zheng Youshan couldn't believe that such a good thing could happen to him?
Chen Dian took out a business card from the inside pocket of his coat and handed it to him. There was Secretary Ma's phone number printed on it.
He said sparingly, "Contact him."
Zheng Youshan opened his mouth wide and wiped his hands on the clothes behind him several times before taking it.
Long Yan looked at the slightly impatient look on Dian Xi'an's face and thought that this man, who was personally introduced by the county's Secretary Lin, was indeed of noble status and extraordinary ability.
Ye Yuanyin watched the scene in front of him without saying a word, taking in his arrogance.
A memory from deep within her heart was awakened. At that time, You Jing threw a card in her face and said through gritted teeth, "One million to buy your self-esteem, what a bargain."
She couldn't help but clench her fists.
*
That day, members of the village committee and the two-member team of Dian Dian were in a meeting. The county leaders also attached great importance to the project to be discussed. The village committee compound was filled with black official cars, and a thick layer of mud was on their tires.
In the village where it had just rained, as the sun came out, the air was filled with the smell of grass and crushed soil.
Ye Yuanyin accompanied his mother in sifting clay in the yard.
Jiutao Village is an unknown village in the southwestern border area. In the past hundred years, the only time it attracted national attention was because a tomb was unearthed with exquisitely crafted black pottery among the burial objects, which was more than 4,000 years old.
The people in the village have been dealing with clay since they were born. It is the unique red soil on the back mountain. It has a sticky texture and is easy to shape.
In rural areas, favoring sons over daughters was common practice, especially when villagers had no other livelihoods besides manual labor. Boys were worth several times more than girls. But Ye Yuanyin's grandparents were an exception. Although they were uneducated and treated their older and younger uncles very harshly, they doted on their youngest daughter, allowing her to do whatever her mother wanted.
My eldest uncle was a bright child. After finishing middle school, he became a village official, a position he held for thirty years. My youngest uncle left home as a teenager and remains missing. My mother has no name; as she is the third daughter of the Long family, the villagers call her the Third Daughter of the Long Family.
The third daughter of the Long family has had a talent for pottery making since she was young. She is calm, can sit still, and has steady hands. The black pottery she makes is as black as lacquer, as bright as a mirror, and as loud as a bell, and is famous far and wide.
"Ayin, did Professor Sun like the pottery I sent her last time?"
Ye Yuanyin thought sadly, how could she possibly look down on him?
"like."
"That's good."
Seeing her daughter wasn't in high spirits, her mother considered for a while, but still asked cautiously: "You've been at home for a long time, aren't you going back?"
From October to now, a full six months have passed. She didn't go back to the city and didn't paint either. Amma couldn't bear it any longer and started to urge her.
Ye Yuanyin replied perfunctorily, "I will go back."
The mother didn't get the answer she wanted, thinking that the older the child grew, the more hidden her thoughts would become, and the more she would look like her father.
"I went out yesterday and saw that the flowers on the mountain were in bloom. They were so beautiful."
Ye Yuanyin didn't stop her hands. She sifted the clay skillfully and said, "What's so strange about this? We just have a lot of flowers here."
"Has the matter with Youshan been resolved?"
"Solved."
"How did you solve it?"
Seeing that she didn't say anything, A'ma guessed, "Your uncle is there, he won't let Yaya and Zhizhi suffer any harm."
Ye Yuan responded and said yes.
Grandma added, "I wonder if Mr. Shen will come back to stay tonight?"
Ye Yuanyin said irritably: "You are not in good health, so don't worry so much. Uncle will make arrangements."
The mother and daughter were busy, and before they knew it, the afternoon had passed.
As expected, Chen Dian'an didn't come to dinner. Ye Yuanyin thought that maybe he had already returned to Ancheng.
It's all very well to come to the countryside and mountains to seek some fresh air, but if you stay there for a long time, who would have the patience to endure the loneliness? Especially for someone like him, who could walk through a field of flowers without getting a single leaf on him.
After finishing her work in the afternoon, she was covered in dirt. In the evening, after taking a shower, she went to the yard to dry her hair.
The bamboo chair is old and creaks.
She sat on it and waved her hands to play with a cat.
"Spring Equinox, come here."
The cat was raised by my mother three years ago. When it first arrived, it was skinny and bony, but now it has become plump and plump and can hardly walk.
But the cat was very lazy and just lay there motionless no matter how she called it.
"Alas—Equinox, you fat cat."
Suddenly, a light laugh was heard. Ye Yuanyin looked up and saw Chen Dian walking in from the main door. His coat was draped over his arm, his shirt collar was unbuttoned, and his sleeves were rolled up. He lacked the seriousness of the daytime, but instead exuded a more bewitching debauchery.
"It would be fine if you didn't come play with it, but you called it fat."
His attitude was too intimate for their relationship.
She was surprised for a moment, but also felt a little embarrassed.
"I thought you were gone."
"Let's go tomorrow."
A moment of melancholy passed by, and she smiled and said, "Have a nice trip."
The man didn't respond to her. Instead, he stroked the cat's chin with his slender fingers, scratching it gently for a while before stroking its head and the back of its neck. "Spring Equinox is so good."
This careless and extremely lazy look was just like the casual affection he always had for her.
Ye Yuanyin turned her head away and refused to look again. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a man's voice called her, "Sister Long, are you there?"
Chen Yan stopped what he was doing and looked over with half-closed eyes. Their gazes suddenly met in mid-air.
The last memory before leaving Ancheng came flooding back. Ye Yuanyin was secretly sulking and stood up with great self-respect, but he felt puzzled in his heart.
What is he doing here at this time?
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