Xu Keke had just finished a bowl of chicken soup and hadn't even eaten any meat when Chen Jianguo said, "Our family is all men now, so it's inconvenient for you to stay here. After you finish this meal, go to the women's director's house. I've already talked to her. She has three daughters, and the eldest has her own room. You can share a room with her, and someone will take care of you."
Xu Keke watched as he cut the two chicken legs off the bone and gave one to each of the old village chief and Xiaodouzi. After waiting for a long time, she received nothing.
Xu Keke got anxious, "Even if you don't give me chicken wings, you should at least give me chicken necks. Why don't I have anything?"
Chen Jianguo, who had just removed the chicken neck and head and put them in a bowl, was startled by her shout. "The chicken wings are in the basin, you can pick them up yourself."
Xu Keke was fuming; she was so angry with herself that she felt she had never been so humiliated.
These days, whenever there's something good to eat, Xu Keke shares it with Xiaodouzi, and the two get along exceptionally well. Seeing Xu Keke's expression, Xiaodouzi knew she was unhappy. She looked down at the chicken leg in her hand, swallowed hard, and held up her hand, "Aunt Bai, do you want a chicken leg? Here! Take it."
Seeing the chicken leg held up in front of her, still dripping with soup, Xu Keke forced a smile at Xiaodouzi and said, "Auntie misunderstood. She thought that eating chicken in your family was like distributing things in the village, and that you couldn't eat it just because it wasn't given to you. There are still chicken meat and chicken wings in this bowl, so Auntie can eat this."
The old village chief took a sip of wine from his cup, smiled, and said to his grandson, "Eat the beans yourself, your aunt will have some to eat."
Xiao Douzi then withdrew her hand, glanced at Xu Keke, and saw her pick up the chicken wings with her chopsticks. She then opened her mouth wide, biting into the chicken leg with her row of small teeth like corn kernels, and began to happily gnaw on the chicken leg in her hand.
Chen Jianguo had originally intended to distribute the chicken legs with ulterior motives. After Xu Keke's outburst, he realized he'd been too obvious. So he stopped talking and buried his head in the chicken neck in his bowl.
After everyone had almost finished eating, Chen Jianguo cleared his throat. "I've already spoken with the women's director. You... can rest for two more days before you go over."
Actually, he had told the women's director that he would go tomorrow, but seeing Xu Keke's expression, Chen Jianguo postponed the date.
"Didn't we say we'd go after this meal? I've packed up tonight and I'll head over first thing tomorrow morning." She was going to go sooner or later anyway, so a couple more days wouldn't make a difference.
Chen Jianguo, who was prepared for Xu Keke to be unreasonable, was surprised by her straightforwardness and looked at her in disbelief.
The old village chief finished his drink before eating, and ate slower than the others. Xu Keke first collected the chicken bones from the table into her bowl, then gathered the empty bowl and chopsticks that Xiaodouzi had finished eating and put them in her own bowl. When she took the bowl in front of Chen Jianguo, she looked up and saw him curiously examining her. Xu Keke rolled her eyes at him.
What's so strange about that? I came to their house to save myself the trouble. Since they don't like me, why should I stay at their house?
Besides, judging from the relationship between the women's director and Bai Lu in her past life, you can tell she's not a bad person.
That day, she insisted on coming to the old village chief's house, partly because of Bai Lu's additional task. After seeing things over the past few days, Xu Keke has completely decided to give up. She's never been one to take initiative. Asking her to compromise, to shamelessly beg others, is out of the question.
By the time all the dishes and chopsticks were cleaned and washed, it was already completely dark.
To save electricity, only the lights are on in the main house. At this time of year, the old village chief used to enjoy listening to storytelling on the radio. Since Xu Keke arrived, she tells Xiaodouzi stories every night.
The stories are incredibly diverse, ranging from machines that can fly to the moon to houses built in the sea and cars that run on bridges. In short, everything sounds perfectly natural coming from Xu Keke's mouth.
They knew she was just teasing the children, but it sounded fresh and new compared to the storytelling they'd heard for years. So the old village chief poured himself a pot of tea and joined in the fun with Xiaodouzi.
The pheasants needed to be kept in cages, so Chen Jianguo chopped some bamboo strips, took a low stool, and sat in the middle of the room, listening to Xu Keke and Xiaodouzi chatter on and on while weaving a chicken coop. He would occasionally glance up at Xu Keke; this educated youth was different from the one he remembered. He couldn't quite put his finger on what had changed.
I used to see her always following behind those other educated youths, quiet and reserved, not very talkative. She especially didn't like interacting with the villagers. Now, however, she's much better at speaking and acting than those other educated youths. She's not so arrogant anymore, she's easygoing, and not so formal, as if she's lived in the village for many years.
The three of them were listening intently to Xu Keke's story when Gao Jie and Chen Hong arrived. Only then did Xu Keke learn that Chen Jianguo had also sent a chicken to the educated youth compound.
Gao Jie and Chen Hong came on behalf of the educated youth to thank him.
Xu Keke sneered. She really should thank Chen Jianguo; thankfully, Chen had made all the arrangements for her, and she would be leaving tomorrow morning. Otherwise, she would have had to find a place to stay on her own.
"They beat me and they're doing a good deed? The brigade even rewarded them with a chicken, right?"
Chen Jianguo, who had been weaving baskets with his head down since the two entered, looked up at Xu Keke. In the dim light, with two people between them, neither of them could see the emotions in the other's eyes.
"Bai Lu, what's wrong with you? Why are you saying that to the brigade leader? Xiao Han had his head broken open and was sent to the hospital where he needed several stitches. He lost so much blood. What's wrong with the brigade giving him a chicken as compensation?"
Chen Hong's words interrupted their standoff.
Xu Keke's smile widened. "Did you hear that, Captain Chen? Your 'good intentions' are called compensation. Do you even know what compensation is? If you do something wrong, you need to make amends, you need to apologize, and that's when you should compensate the victim. What did you do wrong, or what did the brigade do wrong? Didn't Xiao Han admit to attacking me? Was the parading through the streets ordered by the commune? Was his injury caused by you or by someone from the brigade? Neither, right? You even gave him chickens to eat. Why don't you bring him home to take care of him?"
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
