Early one morning, a long-lost broadcast came from the sky above Qinlao Village, waking up Shen Zhizhu who was sleeping lazily.
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She stood up, stretched, and concentrated her attention, trying to hear clearly what was being said.
"Good news, great news. Our village has bought its first tractor. It's in the west square. Everyone can come and see it."
Huh? Tractor?
The voice coming from the radio was Du Zaide. Since the last incident, he seemed to have let it go and was no longer entangled in the grudge between him and Shen Zhizhu.
Instead, they work diligently for the village. It has been so long since the incident happened. After all, they are all from the same village. There is no need for any huge hatred between them. Although the villagers still have some grudges about the previous events.
But the attitude towards Du Zai De has obviously improved.
This was understandable. Shen Zhizhu had guessed the current situation and was not very surprised.
But, it's November now, and December will soon be here. Why buy a tractor? There's still a long time before the autumn harvest, so why buy one now?
After a round of thinking, her mind finally cleared up. Shen Zhizhu got up from the bed, washed her face, combed her hair casually, and tied it into a low ponytail.
It just so happened that Xu Haonan came back from hunting in the back mountain with a pheasant on his back and a half-meter-long fish in his hand.
"You're awake now. Wait for me to put down my things and then we can go to the square to have a look?"
Shen Zhizhu wanted to step forward to take it, but was avoided by Xu Haonan.
"You just washed your hands, don't get them dirty. I'll do it. Are you hungry? I saw you were sleeping soundly this morning, so I didn't call you. I'll go make you a bowl of noodles to fill your stomach.
Shen Zhizhu watched Xu Haonan busying around, and she didn't forget to worry about whether she was hungry. She followed Xu Haonan and went wherever he went.
"Don't bother, we can just go there. We just woke up and we're not hungry. This fish is really good, it's so big. When we come back later, we can cut it up and fry it into fish nuggets. It will taste good that way too."
As he spoke, he rubbed his hands together, eager to give it a try.
She has always been thinking about this taste. In her previous life, she only had it a few times from her colleagues. It was really delicious, but she had never made it herself.
Now that Xu Haonanβs cooking skills are so good, the fish fillets he makes must be very delicious.
"Okay, I'll do it for you after we're done."
Xu Haonan quickly put away the things in his hands, then pulled Shen Zhizhu along, and the two of them staggered towards the square.
On the way, the two met many people who were also going to the square. As expected, they were all going to see the tractors they bought.
Different from their leisurely attitude, they were so enthusiastic that they couldn't wait to go to the square. During the time, someone asked them to hurry up so that they would not miss out on a good seat if they arrived too late.
Shen Zhizhu told Xu Haonan about his doubts. Xu Haonan did not expect that the village chief would buy a tractor at this time.
"Maybe, tractors are cheaper this season because fewer people are buying them?"
It seems that this is possible.
"Forget it. It has nothing to do with us. Du Zai De probably used the money that the villagers had paid. When I was at my aunt's house, they did pay, but now that I'm in this situation with them, I'm afraid they won't count my share. After all, I didn't pay anything on the surface. How about you? Did you pay?"
"I haven't done that either."
Xu Haonan couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed. In fact, they didn't have to go at all, since there was no place for them.
"Why didn't you hand it in? If you didn't hand it in, how could Du Zai De let you go?"
Xu Haonan thought about it.
"When Du Zai De collected the money, I happened to be out hunting in the back mountains. He couldn't find me, so he went to look for other people in the village first, and then waited in front of my house until I came back."
Shen Zhizhu became even more curious. Since Du Zaide was so persistent, he must be determined to get Xu Haonan's money. How could he let him go so easily?
Now that he has been with Shen Zhizhu for a long time, even without listening to Shen Zhizhu's inner thoughts, Xu Haonan can guess something just based on her reactions and expressions.
Knowing that Shen Zhizhu wanted to know, he continued.
"At that time, he came into the yard with me and explained his purpose. He said that he wanted to raise money to buy a tractor for the village later. He had already convinced everyone in the village, except me. But I thought that I only had two acres of land to grow food and clothing, and I could handle the farm work and hunting in the mountains. I didn't need a tractor at all, so I refused."
"Of course he wanted to persuade me again, so he walked back and forth behind me, trying to persuade me for a while, but I don't know why, he suddenly stopped persuading me, and before he left, he cursed and threatened me. He said, if you don't want to hand it over, then don't hand it over. What's so fierce about it? When the time comes, he will be too busy, so he will watch others leisurely waiting for the tractor to work, so I won't be jealous."
In the village, every household has much more land than he does. The whole village shares one tractor, and it depends on the severity of the situation how long it will take for him to get his turn.
If he had the time to wait, he would have already cleaned up the things on the ground. In this case, there would be no need for a tractor.
Shen Zhizhu became more and more curious. Why did he leave on his own after all the persuasion? Suddenly, an idea flashed in her mind. She grabbed Xu Haonan's arm and asked.
"What did you do after you returned to the yard? What were you doing when Duzaide spoke to you?"
A long time has passed, and Xu Haonan needs to think carefully about that day. He remembers that he came back from hunting and cleaned the animal out of habit. The prey he hunted that day was seriously injured and looked bloody.
"Hmm... I'm using a knife to separate the stuck skin and flesh."
Maybe in Xu Haonan's eyes, it was not a very bloody thing, but apart from killing chickens, they would not come into contact with any killing, not to mention that it was a dark and windy night, and polished farm tools were hung on the walls of Xu Haonan's house.
In such an environment, how could Du Zai De not be afraid when Xu Haonan handled the animal corpses without blinking an eye?
Shen Zhizhu, who figured it out, laughed out loud. He never expected it to be like this.
With Shen Zhizhu's reminder and his own memories, Xu Haonan finally understood what he didn't understand at first.
"So that's why. But it's okay. At least Du Zai De didn't come to talk to me about this again."
He asked belatedly.
"He's lived for so long, and he was scared when he saw me handling animals. Weren't you scared too, especially when I was carrying a wild boar that day, covered in blood."