*
Nan Qing sat in the back seat, her two small hands tightly gripping the sides of He Monian's clothes. Occasionally, when passing over some unstable spots, her soft little fists would always touch He Monian's firm waistline.
Nan Qing didn't notice this little detail.
She was wearing her woven, openwork hat, and most of the sun was blocked by He Monian in front of her. There was a gentle breeze blowing as she rode the bicycle, which felt wonderful.
Looking at the lush green scenery and farmland on both sides of the road, and enveloped in a warm but not too hot temperature, Nanqing even felt a little drowsy sitting in the back seat.
But He Monian, a rough man riding a bicycle, had his heart tightly gripped by those small hands.
To him, Nan Qing's hands weren't just gripping his clothes, but were gripping the very core of his heart.
Every accidental touch made him extremely nervous.
He gripped the handlebars of the bicycle tightly, and even clenched his back teeth.
And the places that Nan Qing touched also felt unbearably hot.
Although he enjoyed Qingqing's touch, he would still be very careful to avoid all the small stones and bumpy places along the way, trying his best to make Nanqing as comfortable as possible.
When they returned, it was already past 4 p.m., and the sun wasn't so strong anymore. Most of the people in the brigade were busy working in the fields.
So many people saw that the young man from the He family in their team had someone who looked like an angel riding in the back seat.
Because Nanqing and the other two educated youths went directly to the educated youth's place by tractor yesterday, not many people saw them. And since Nanqing and the others haven't started working yet today, many people don't know that Nanqing is a new educated youth in their team.
Like Lin Guofu, many people assumed that this was He Monian's girlfriend.
Even when passing by the square in the center of the brigade, several women working under the big banyan tree nearby started whispering among themselves.
They said that all those matchmakers introduced so many women, but He Monian didn't like any of them. It turns out his standards were so high. That girl, let alone in the surrounding brigades, even in Jiangcheng, they had never seen a girl as beautiful as her.
However, Nan Qing was unaware of all of this.
She didn't even know that He Monian deliberately passed by the brigade square; they could have gone in another direction instead of this one.
In fact, He Monian acted somewhat impulsively. The pretty boy in the city had given him a rude awakening, and Lin Guofu's words "sister-in-law" had also stirred up some ulterior motives in him.
There are quite a few men in their brigade. His Qingqing is so beautiful, those restless guys are bound to show up, so he has to protect Qingqing first.
We can't let his commander's daughter get seduced by those rotten cabbages outside.
Nan Qing is such a good person, it's obvious to anyone with eyes that he's just trying to get his hands on a swan, and it won't have any negative impact on Nan Qing's reputation.
So He Monian, with this in mind, deliberately chose a winding road, passing through many places in the procession and being seen by many people, before finally taking Nanqing home.
After dropping Nanqing off at home, he first poured her some cooled boiled water that he had prepared that morning to quench her thirst. After Nanqing sat on the small chair under the tree to rest, he rode his bicycle to the brigade leader's house to return the bicycle and also to bring back Nanqing's packages.
Captain Lin had just seen He Monian driving the female educated youth who had just arrived at their brigade back from the direction of Jiangcheng when he saw her in the field. He also heard the various speculations about the two of them from the people he was working with. He quickly put down what he was doing and went home to wait for He Monian.
He Monian lost both his parents when he was 12 years old. Captain Lin and several family members who were close to his family helped with his parents' funeral arrangements and took care of He Monian, who was only 12 years old at the time. However, he joined the army when he was 16 years old and did not return for more than ten years.
Captain Lin had a good relationship with He Monian's father, so when He Monian returned, he was overjoyed to see that he had built a house immediately and to hear that he had risen to the position of regimental commander in the army.
But it's been over a year since he came back, and he's 27 now. So many people want to talk to him about things, but no one is willing to take a look.
That day, he suddenly told himself that he wanted to go with him to pick up the educated youth. His comrade's daughter was coming to their brigade to be an educated youth. He hadn't thought much about it yet.
He's always been good at judging people. Today, He Monian didn't take his usual route and insisted on taking such a long detour back. How could he not know what was going on in that kid's mind?
Although the educated youth who came to the countryside were all children who had been educated in the city, he could tell at a glance that the woman named Sheng Nanqing was definitely not a girl raised by an ordinary family. She might not stay here for long before returning to the city.
If He Monian were to fall headfirst into this, with his stubbornness, he might really do it. Given his current circumstances, he could easily find a partner no matter what. Even in Jiangcheng, several families have sent people to speak on his behalf.
But he also knew that no matter how outstanding Mo Nian was in their area, he would still go back to the city when he wanted to. That woman was clearly not the type to endure the hardships they faced.
So when He Monian returned the bicycle, bundled the three packages together, and was about to leave, Captain Lin stopped him. He even turned to look at the courtyard gate, and seeing no one passing by, he lowered his voice and said:
"Mo Nian, tell your Uncle Lin, he's not serious, is he? That female educated youth who's staying at your house, she'll probably be going back to the city soon. What are you going to do then?"
"Listen to your uncle, I know a deputy director of a machinery factory in Jiangcheng. He asked me about you last time. His daughter is a highly educated intellectual who went to university. Why don't you come to Jiangcheng with me sometime and meet her?"
Although other educated youths in their team had married people from their team or married daughters from other families, he could tell that this female educated youth who came this time was different from the others. Moreover, she didn't seem to know how to manage a household. He still hoped that He Monian could find a down-to-earth girl to settle down with.
He Monian stopped what he was doing. He knew that Uncle Lin meant well, but before he met Nan Qing, he had no intention of getting married.
Moreover, at this point, he didn't dare to imagine that anything could actually happen between him and Nan Qing.
He just wanted to be good to Nan Qing and take good care of her during the time she stayed at his house.
As for the rest...
Qingqing will definitely return to Beijing, and it probably won't be long. He knows Commander Sheng very well; he won't let his precious daughter, whom he always talks about, suffer here.
So He Monian simply looked at Captain Lin and said, "Uncle Lin, I know what I'm doing." Then he picked up the three packages and left Captain Lin's house.
He felt that he and Qingqing must have met in a past life, otherwise he wouldn't have felt a sense of familiarity when he first met Nanqing, and there would have been a voice in his heart urging him to get closer to Nanqing.
He even had an urge to hold Qingqing tightly...
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