Zhao Mingyue didn't remember much about the movie; she was somewhat distracted throughout. Shen Xuyue was the same; although they didn't talk much, their attention was on each other. They were close, and Shen Xuyue slightly shifted his left leg to the left, touching Zhao Mingyue's bent knee. Even through the thick pants, they could feel each other's body heat. This indirect physical contact made their faces flush and their hearts race.
Physical touch with someone you like is a primal, instinctive psychological and physiological desire. Both parties, harboring secret thoughts, suppress their inner joy and touch each other cautiously. Zhao Mingyue thought that Shen Xuyue might feel the same way. However, she lacked the experience to judge the truth of her guess. Although she had been reborn, her experience in love might not be any more extensive than others.
The movie finally ended. Zhao Mingyue stood up, bewildered, and mechanically followed everyone back. Shen Xuyue walked beside her the whole time, neither of them saying a word. The people around them were excitedly discussing the movie. Yu Youqing followed behind Zhao Mingyue, watching her and Shen Xuyue walk side-by-side, their steps in sync. Although they didn't exchange a word, the unspoken understanding between them made him realize that Zhao Mingyue probably liked Shen Xuyue. Realizing this, Yu Youqing felt incredibly heartbroken and insecure. His first love, the first woman he had ever liked, was in love with someone else, someone who was clearly far superior to him. It was perfectly normal for Zhao Mingyue to like him. Insecurity was a habit of Yu Youqing's; he carefully concealed his hidden feelings, silently watching and caring for her.
Upon reaching the village entrance, the torches had all burned out, and darkness descended. In the familiar surroundings, even without lights, everyone could easily find their way home, and people dispersed. Shen Xuyue, who had been silent the entire way, stopped: "Um, Zhao Mingyue, let me take you home."
Zhao Mingyue glanced at her third brother, who was walking a little ahead, and hesitated greatly. She really wanted Shen Xuyue to take her home, but her third brother was still there. If he took her home, he would be the first to notice something was wrong. Her family did not allow her to get close to Shen Xuyue.
At this moment, Zhao Minglang turned around and said, "Mingyue, let's take Youfen home first, and then we'll go home later."
Zhao Mingyue whispered to Shen Xuyue, "Thank you, Secretary Shen. My third brother is here; I'll go back with him."
Shen Xuyue paused for a moment, then said, "Alright then, take care on your journey, goodbye!"
"goodbye!"
Shen Xuyue turned and walked away, disappearing into the darkness. Zhao Mingyue caught up with Zhao Minglang. Yu Youfen smiled and said, "Mingyue, you seem to know Secretary Shen quite well?"
Zhao Mingyue's heart skipped a beat: "Huh? No, we're not that close."
Yu Youfen didn't press the matter further, and Zhao Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief. Yu Youqing had been listening intently to their conversation, but Zhao Mingyue's outright rejection left him feeling uneasy; he wondered if she and Shen Xuyue should really get together.
Zhao Mingyue's words could fool Yu Youfen, but not Zhao Minglang. After escorting the Yu siblings back, the two siblings walked back, and Zhao Minglang asked his sister, "Mingyue, do you like Shen Xuyue?"
Zhao Mingyue said, "What nonsense are you talking about, brother?"
"You really don't like it?" Zhao Minglang asked again to confirm.
Zhao Mingyue looked at her brother speechlessly: "Brother, what's wrong?"
Zhao Minglang said seriously, "Shen Xuyue is good in every way, and it's normal for you to like him. But I think you should control your feelings. He's different from us. He'll go back to the city sooner or later, so he's unlikely to marry you. Don't waste too much of your feelings on him."
Zhao Mingyue knew her family had this concern, so she said, "Brother, can you control yourself from liking Sister Youfen?"
Zhao Minglang was stumped by the question. After a while, he said, "I'm afraid you'll get hurt."
Zhao Mingyue said again, "I know you mean well, brother. Just leave this to me. I'll handle it myself and won't do anything foolish. Brother, please don't tell Mom and Dad about this, okay?" My feelings for him are my business and have nothing to do with him.
Zhao Minglang hesitated for a moment: "You don't want your family to introduce you to potential partners, is it because of him?"
Zhao Mingyue shook her head: "No, I didn't think about it that way. I just feel that I'm still young and there are countless possibilities in the future, so why should I settle down for the rest of my life so early? This is a new society now, and I want to have a free choice in love and marriage."
Zhao Minglang said, "Yes, I also think that free love is better, but people should be more realistic and not be too unrealistic."
"Brother, don't worry, I know."
As the Lunar New Year approaches, every household is preparing to slaughter their pigs for the holiday. This is the biggest production for each family in a year. Usually, a family raises two pigs, one for the production team and one for their own family. They can't raise too many, or they'll be considered capitalists and their tails will be cut off.
The pigs belonging to the team were sent away as early as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Individual families usually raised their pigs until the end of the year before slaughtering them, ensuring they had meat to eat and money to spend during the New Year, allowing them to have a good celebration. Slaughtering the New Year pig meant the New Year was approaching, and the children were overjoyed because they knew there would be meat to eat.
On the day before the Lunar New Year, Zhao Mingyue's family slaughtered a pig. She didn't go to work that day and went to gather firewood with her cousin, Zhao Mingxiu. Zhao Mingyue carried a load of firewood back from Xiaogangshan. When she got to her doorstep, she saw two or three educated youths chatting at her door. Shen Xuyue was among them. When he saw the load on Zhao Mingyue's shoulder, he quickly came over and said, "Give it to me, I'll take it." He reached out to take the carrying pole from her shoulder.
"Thank you." Zhao Mingyue blushed, but she had been carrying firewood for a long time and her face was already flushed, so it wasn't very noticeable. This blush made her complexion look like peach blossoms, charming and beautiful. For a moment, the two educated youths standing in the corridor were stunned.
Zhao Mingyue was puzzled as to why Shen Xuyue and the others had come. She directed Shen Xuyue to carry the firewood to the woodshed: "Put it here, thank you, Secretary Shen."
Shen Xuyue said, "You're welcome."
Zhao Mingyue didn't ask Shen Xuyue what he was doing at her home. Instead, she went to the kitchen and asked her mother, who was busy cooking, "Mom, why are Secretary Shen and the others here?"
Hu Nianchun said with a smile, "They came to our house to buy meat, and they happened to come over to help slaughter the pig. I invited them to stay for dinner." Several educated youths knew that her family was slaughtering a pig, so they pooled their money to come and buy meat for a treat. Since the pig hadn't been slaughtered yet, they helped catch and butcher it together.
Zhao Mingyue was secretly pleased, but said aloud, "Be careful they don't eat you out of house and home." They were all strong young men, and each of them could eat a lot. How many would it take to feed them all?
Hu Nianchun laughed and said, "How could one meal possibly bankrupt us?"
When Zhao Mingyue saw her mother lift the lid of the pot, she saw a large pot full of kelp and bones. She then lifted the lid of the pot next to it, which was also full of taro and fatty pork. She couldn't help but smile.
Zhao Mingyue brought out the dishes one bowl at a time. Because there were many people, the dishes were served in large bowls, piled up to overflowing, which showed the host's enthusiasm.
Shen Xuyue laughed and said, "Auntie, did you bring your whole pig to the table? Don't be so polite, just eat whatever you like."
Zhao Mingyue smiled and whispered, "Dream on!"
Shen Xuyue looked at Zhao Mingyue with a smile, grinning foolishly.
The meal was incredibly lavish, with a very rustic style: pork bone stew with kelp, fatty pork stew with taro, stir-fried lung slices, small intestine soup, cabbage, and a bowl of frozen fish. This was the most abundant meal one could imagine these days. The table full of food made the eyes of everyone who had long been lacking in oil and meat light up.
As is customary, when guests are present, Zhao Mingyue and her mother eat in the back kitchen and not at the table. Once the guests were all seated in the main room, Shen Xuyue asked, "Where are Auntie and Zhao Mingyue? Why aren't they eating?"
Zhao Shunsheng said, "Don't worry about it, let's eat."
Shen Xuyue said, "How can that be? They are the hardest working people. They have been busy for so long. How can they not come to eat?" He stood up and said, "Auntie, Zhao Mingyue, you should all come outside to eat."
Hu Nianchun waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about us, go eat. We'll eat here; we have food here too."
Shen Xuyue stood at the door without moving: "In our family, my mother and sisters always eat with us. There is no reason for women not to sit at the table. Chairman Mao said that men and women should be equal, and this equality should begin with eliminating the practice of men and women eating separately."
Hearing this, Zhao Mingyue smiled and took her mother's arm, saying, "Alright, Mom, Secretary Shen has already criticized and educated us. Let's go out to eat."
Shen Xuyue looked at Zhao Mingyue with a smile: "I wouldn't dare to criticize or lecture you."
Zhao Mingyue and her mother sat down at the table, making a total of eight people, including the butcher. Because there were so many people in the family, and they were worried that there wouldn't be enough food, Zhao Mingyue's two older brothers, after helping out, took the pig's blood and small intestines back to their own homes and wouldn't come over to celebrate the festival together until the evening.
Liu Weiguo said, "That's perfect, just enough for one table. Today is the Little New Year, and although it's only noon, let's join in the fun and have a family reunion."
Shen Xuyue picked up the wine pot and poured a cup of wine for Hu Nianchun and Zhao Mingyue, then raised his own cup: "Thank you, Uncle Zhao and Aunt Hu, for hosting us. This cup is for you."
The cup contains homemade rice wine. Because grain is scarce, the wine is extremely precious and can only be enjoyed during festivals and important occasions.
Everyone raised their glasses to toast, even Zhao Mingyue. Her alcohol tolerance was quite good in her previous life, so she didn't refuse the wine that Shen Xuyue poured for her.
When Hu Nianchun saw his daughter drinking, he said, "Mingyue, you don't drink alcohol, so drink less."
Zhao Mingyue smiled and said, "Okay, Mom, I'll try to drink a little, but not too much."
Zhao Shunsheng picked up some food with his chopsticks and said, "Don't be shy, eat up."
With the host taking the lead, the guests, who had been exchanging pleasantries for a long time, all picked up their chopsticks and reached for the dishes they had already set their sights on. They hadn't eaten meat in so long, and now that they had the chance to eat pork stew, how could they not eat to their heart's content?
For a moment, everyone stopped drinking and focused on eating. Hu Nianchun put a large piece of fatty meat in his daughter's bowl and said, "Eat up, Mingyue."
Zhao Mingyue looked at the large piece of meat cut into triangles, with only a little lean meat on top and the rest all white fat. She hesitated; she hadn't seen such a hearty way of eating meat in years. These days, fatty meat was considered the epitome of goodness; only fatty meat had flavor. Lean meat was too dry, and everyone was starved for fat, so they were happy to see it. Seeing everyone, including Shen Xuyue, enthusiastically chewing on the large piece of fatty meat, Zhao Mingyue reluctantly took a bite. Fortunately, the meat was stewed until very tender, melting in her mouth, and the taste was quite good. After Zhao Mingyue finished her piece, her mother tried to put a second piece on her plate, but Zhao Mingyue quickly put her bowl aside and said, "Mom, I don't want any more. You eat it yourself."
Hu Nianchun had already taken the meat out, but seeing that his daughter didn't want it, he had no choice but to turn around and put the meat into his wife's bowl next to him. Zhao Mingyue felt a pang of sadness as she watched her mother's actions. These days, once a woman becomes a mother, all she has left in her heart are her children and husband. She herself is completely weakened to nothing, and no need is taken into consideration.
Zhao Mingyue quickly picked up a piece of meat for her mother and put it in her bowl: "Mom, you eat too."
Hu Nianchun smiled and said, "I've already eaten, so don't put any more on my plate. You can eat it yourself."
"What's wrong with your daughter putting a piece of meat on your plate? Eat it, Mom." Zhao Mingyue looked at her thin mother and silently buried her head in her rice.
Shen Xuyue, sitting opposite them, watched the mother and daughter's actions. He lowered his eyes and silently memorized the scene.
Zhao Mingyue's alcohol tolerance was clearly not yet developed; after just one glass of wine, her face turned as red as a flower petal. Hu Nianchun said, "Mingyue is drunk; she shouldn't drink anymore."
Zhao Mingyue knew that alcohol made her face flush, so even though she wasn't drunk yet, she insisted on not drinking anymore. She put down her cup, listened to everyone talking with a smile, and slowly ate her meal.
Shen Xuyue sat opposite her, looking at the beautiful Zhao Mingyue, drinking rice wine with a low alcohol content, and felt a little drunk. He thought to himself, if a man could marry Zhao Mingyue, his life would be worthwhile.
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