"No...no, no...no, I didn't," Zhang Qinghua stammered, covering his lips.
Seeing him like this, Song Lili really wanted to tease him again, so she couldn't help but lean closer and ask, "So you mean you're willing to be kissed by me?" A sly glint flashed in her eyes.
Now, Zhang Qinghua was even more at a loss for words. To him, these words were too explicit, and he couldn't bring himself to say them.
But I really liked what Song Lili said. Although I was shy, I was also happy.
Seeing Zhang Qinghua's flushed cheeks, Song Lili was overjoyed, like a mouse that had stolen rice.
Hearing Song Lili's giggling laughter, Zhang Qinghua felt uneasy, as if he had a needle under his butt.
He was wondering whether he should leave now, but he was also reluctant to do so.
Song Lili knew when to stop. Seeing that Zhang Qinghua was about to flee in panic, she stopped saying those words that would embarrass him.
"The days ahead may not be peaceful, so be careful." Don't give others any leverage against you.
Zhang Qinghua nodded. "I will. You must be careful too."
"good"
The two of them sat quietly, leaning on each other, for over an hour before Zhang Qinghua finally left.
After Zhang Qinghua left, Song Lili didn't go back to work. Instead, she sat there, gazing blankly at the distant sky.
In early May of the lunar calendar, Song Lili's worries were resolved, and she felt a sense of relief.
Before, I always felt like I was hanging in mid-air, neither up nor down, but now that it has happened, I feel more at ease.
Song Lili then realized that what was most terrifying was not what had already happened, but the unknown.
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which should have been the Dragon Boat Festival, a day for everyone to celebrate happily, an unexpected event disrupted everything.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, the people of Hongqi Village still went to work in the fields as usual. For farmers, nothing is more important than the land.
However, at noon, everyone was drawn to the noise on the road outside the village and kept looking around.
Today, everyone is in the fields behind the village, working in the fields, so it's easy to see them.
Song Lili was planning to visit the town sometime, so she didn't notice it until Xia Niu nudged her and pointed it out to her.
Looking over, I saw a group of about seven or eight people huddled together, arguing loudly in the middle. As for what they were saying, it was too far away to hear clearly.
Song Lili looked up and saw the distinctive logo, the red armband, and knew what it was.
There was no curiosity in her eyes, only heaviness and sympathy for someone being targeted by those people.
As they got closer, they could see that it was six or seven boys, around fifteen or sixteen years old, surrounding a woman in her thirties, pointing at her and cursing.
Song Lili listened casually to some of the stories and seemed to hear about demons, monsters, and feudal superstitions, and she began to form her own guesses.
"What's going on? What are they doing?" Yang Weimin stood up and asked seriously.
"Uncle Weimin, I... I think it's better not to get involved." Song Lili hesitated for a moment, then leaned closer to Yang Weimin and whispered.
"Why?" Yang Weimin looked at Song Lili in surprise, seemingly not understanding why Song Lili would say such a thing.
"It's beyond our control." In the days to come, this is the general trend, and no one or a few people can change it at all.
Perhaps you'll get yourself into trouble and become the target of public criticism, so it's best to ignore it.
Moreover, that group of people were all teenagers, in the middle of their rebellious phase, and the more they were controlled, the stronger the backlash would be. Song Lili did not want to confront them directly.
When you encounter them, you always feel like a scholar trying to reason with a soldier, unable to get through to them.
Therefore, she chose to avoid it.
You can say she's timid and cowardly, you can say she lacks compassion, you can even say she's ruthless—anyway, she just doesn't want to get involved and only wants to protect herself.
Song Lili took one last look, then squatted down and continued doing her own thing.
She knew how things would end, but she was powerless to change it; all she could do was what she could.
In the end, it's unclear whether Yang Weimin listened to Song Lili's advice or had his own considerations, but he didn't care.
The others didn't receive as much encouragement; they all dropped what they were doing and ran off to watch the spectacle.
Song Lili didn't go, nor did she ask Song Yongren and Song Jianshe to go. Only Xia Niu had already run far away.
Song Lili watched Xia Niu run away, her expression shifting unpredictably before finally regaining its composure after a long while.
Looking at the disheveled woman stumbling forward as she was pushed around, Song Lili could only sigh.
She couldn't bear to watch any longer. "Big brother, let's get back to work. There are some things we shouldn't be watching."
However, she could never find peace in her heart.
Although I've decided to stay out of it, I still feel uncomfortable watching it, my heart feels heavy, and I can't help but blame myself and feel guilty.
She remained consumed by these emotions until the onlookers returned.
"So that woman was promoting feudal superstition, that's why she was tied up and paraded down the street?"
"How did eating zongzi and commemorating Qu Yuan during the Dragon Boat Festival become feudal superstition? Wasn't this how it was done before?" some people asked, puzzled.
"Yeah, I heard that woman is a teacher. I didn't expect her to believe in this stuff. What I didn't expect was that she was dragged along by someone else. It's so embarrassing."
"Ah... these things, you can't talk about them, who knows what's going on? We're all scholars, we're just roughnecks, we can't understand them."
"Yes, yes, we farmers are very practical. As long as the land is good, we don't care about anything else."
Those who came to watch the spectacle returned and discussed it enthusiastically, while Song Lili listened expressionlessly.
For now, they can still listen to these things as jokes, but before long, they probably won't be able to discuss them so recklessly anymore.
Back then, we didn't dare say a word about these topics, for fear of getting into trouble and suffering the consequences. We kept our mouths shut, and even if we had a lot of thoughts in our minds, we didn't dare to say them out loud.
Song Lili thought about it and felt a little ironic. That's how people are; when their own interests aren't involved, they'll talk about things in a nonchalant way.
People only defend themselves when it concerns them personally; this is a characteristic of the Chinese people.
That day, everyone was talking about the number 9, but Song Lili didn't say a word.
As it got dark and they were about to go home, Daqing suddenly ran over, tossed Song Lili a sentence, "That's my junior high school teacher, Teacher Ma," and ran off.
It took Song Lili a long time to understand what Daqing meant by those words and why he had come all the way to tell her.
Because the woman she met today is also connected to her; she is her teacher.
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