Shen Yu's heart was burning with excitement. He went forward to embrace his fiancée, combed her hair, and said, "Let Xu Yuting and Liu Jianli do this kind of thing. Don't get tired, take a rest."
Meng Zhehan followed behind: "What are you doing? Pulling and tugging, that's not right."
He put Xiao Wangcai down again and said, "Go and protect your master!"
Xiao Wangcai has long been accustomed to Shen Yu flirting with his master. Although he is extremely opposed to it in his heart, he feels helpless when his master seems to be willing.
In the past, it was intimidated by Shen Yu's pressure and dared not speak out, but now with Gan Guoguo's support, it became a little bolder. It barked twice and rushed over aggressively. Before it started to bite, it saw the hostess reaching out to it, and immediately turned in the direction, threw itself into the hostess's arms, and stayed there obediently.
Meng Zhehan: “…”
This is actually a pet dog, not a guard dog? Shen Yu flicked Xiao Wangcai's head as punishment, and glared at Meng Zhehan: Can you do something human? You can't stand seeing others doing well? You deserve to be single!
Meng Tao said to Meng Zhehan, "I'll boil some herbal water for everyone to soak their feet. I just added water to the pot and it's not hot yet. You have to wait a while before you can take a bath."
Like Shen Yu, Meng Zhehan has to take a bath every day no matter how cold it is. When they arrived, Wang Tiegen almost went crazy carrying water.
It doesn’t matter to them whether they soak their feet or not, because the bath water is mixed with pine needle dew anyway.
"Okay, call me brother when the water gets hot." Meng Zhehan said.
This again earned Shen Yu a string of cold glares: Don't go too far, this is my wife, not your fire-making girl, and you have to ask me many times to make water for you to take a bath, why are you putting on airs, if you want to be a master go back home! Meng Zhehan calmly gave Shen Yu a look: Do I need to put on airs? Do you know what siblings are, real siblings! He smiled and stretched out his hand to Meng Tao, and Meng Tao handed Xiao Wangcai to him. Xiao Wangcai was reluctant to leave, and Meng Tao patted it gently, telling it to be good and not to make its brother angry.
Shen Yu was depressed. His wife obviously hated Meng Shaoan and rejected the Meng family, but she cared about Meng Zhehan. The two got along so naturally and tacitly. Although they were cousins, Shen Yu was still jealous and felt sour.
Meng Zhehan took Xiao Wangcai into the house to find some clothes to change into. Shen Yu looked around and saw that there was no one else in the yard. The two annoying guys, Xu Yuting and Liu Jianli, who usually stuck to Meng Tao, did not show up at this time. They must have been impressed by Grandpa Xu's chess skills and were still fighting on the chessboard. This was a rare opportunity to be alone, so Shen Yu immediately pulled Meng Tao into the kitchen.
Meng Tao was hugged in his arms, her face flushed and her heart beat fast, and she couldn't help but complain: They are obviously engaged, but they still act like they are having an affair, running to the kitchen stove to have a love affair. Maybe they are the only two of them.
The sweet time by the stove was very short, only four or five minutes. When Shen Yu heard the barking of Xiao Wangcai coming closer, he gritted his teeth in anger and said, "I want to break up with Meng Zhehan. Let's kick him out!"
Meng Tao nodded without hesitation: "Okay."
Shen Yu's mood suddenly turned from gloomy to bright, and his smile was as bright as spring: My wife and I are of the same mind, what else is there to be dissatisfied with? Okay, I will temporarily forgive that evil-minded and hateful guy.
After the engagement, Grandpa Xu, Grandma Xu, Liu Yongsheng and his wife, and Wang Cuixi wanted to stay a few more days and planned to leave after the Lantern Festival. The main reason was that Linshui Village had good feng shui, good air, delicious food, and they felt very comfortable.
After Wang Cuixi rubbed her body and soaked her feet with the herbal water boiled by Meng Tao, she felt much more relaxed. She no longer had back pain, leg pain, or dizziness. She was able to walk around the village with Grandma Xu, Han Shufang, and Aunt Xu.
Meng Tao naturally welcomed them to stay for a long time.
Xu Yuting and Liu Jicheng are college students. School has not started yet, so they can stay with the elderly. However, Director Shen, Liu Jianxin and Sun Hong and his wife have to return to work.
Shen Yu originally only had four days off. After Uncle Xu returned to Beijing, he called the leader of their inspection team and extended his vacation to accompany Grandpa Xu until Grandpa and Grandma Xu returned to Beijing.
The academy where Meng Zhehan teaches will not start until a week later, so he doesn't need to rush.
The car that came to pick up Director Shen also sent Liu Jianxin and his family of three back to Pingjiang City. When leaving, Xiao Mingming was reluctant to leave Sister Taohua and cried loudly. Meng Tao held him and got into the car driven by Shen Yu to send him to the commune. She coaxed and reasoned with him all the way, telling him that when the wild strawberries in the mountains are ripe in April, Sister Taohua will pick a basket and send it to Pingjiang for him to eat. Xiao Mingming made a promise with tears in his eyes: "No matter whether the wild strawberries are ripe or not, you must come in April!"
Meng Tao agreed: "Okay, I will definitely come."
Little Mingming stopped crying then, and obediently followed his parents into Director Shen's car, ready to go home.
Shen Yu and Meng Tao also said goodbye to Director Shen.
Because of the unfair treatment of Tian Zhigao before, Meng Tao still has some resentment towards Director Shen in her heart. Apart from responding politely, she doesn't like to pay attention to him at other times. Shen Yu understands this. Every time his wife has to face her father, he will accompany her without much explanation. He understands his family and believes that after getting along for a long time, the father-in-law and daughter-in-law will naturally get along well.
Director Shen had a very good attitude. He was not optimistic about Meng Taohua at first, but after she became his own daughter-in-law, he devoted all his efforts to cherish her. The engagement gift was arranged by Grandma Xu, and he, as a father-in-law, also prepared one himself. According to the customs of Haishi, in addition to two large suitcases of new clothes and various fabrics, the cash was given in an auspicious number of 9,999 yuan, 90 cents and 9 cents. In that era, this was a huge sum of money. Meng Tao didn't dare to accept it. Shen Yu took it for her and said that it was the wedding money that Director Shen had saved for his son, so she could just take it.
Shen Yu's mother also had some jewelry, and Director Shen wanted to keep it as a keepsake, saying that he would naturally pass it on to his daughter-in-law after he passed away.
Today, Director Shen felt very happy that his daughter-in-law came to the commune specially to send him there. He told Meng Tao:
"The salary of two of us is enough to live on. You don't have to work in the fields anymore. Don't get tanned and thin. Dad won't recognize you when his eyes are blurry. Just stay at home and take care of Jinniu for a month or two. When Jinniu gets better, Shen Yu will take you back to the provincial capital. Whether you want to study or work, Dad will arrange it for you."
This was happening on the side of the road, with people coming and going and watching. Meng Tao didn't know what to say, so she just nodded to show that she understood.
The car drove away, and a small hand came out of the window and waved. Meng Tao also kept waving and said goodbye to Xiao Mingming.
Shen Yu stood behind her, feeling depressed: How easy is it for him to get a wife? So many brothers were trying to stop him, his grandfather was testing him strictly, and even a little kid was trying to win his favor.
But he couldn't mess with the little brat, he couldn't even look at him, for fear that his eyes would accidentally scare the little brat and make him cry even harder. Taohua would feel even more distressed and would hold him tightly.
Other people’s children are like this, what if it’s your own child?
Shen Yu imagined that he and Taohua would have a child in the future. Taohua would probably hold and coax the child every day. She would only have the child in her eyes and heart. She would no longer see him and he would have no place in the world. He couldn't help but feel depressed and secretly decided: not to have children in the future.
Meng Tao didn't know yet that her future husband had shown signs of being a DINK so early.
It was a rare occasion that there was no third wheel following them today, so Shen Yu and Meng Tao were very happy. They drove along the road and talked heartily. Whenever they saw a secluded place with beautiful scenery along the way, they would get off the car to play. In early spring in February or March, the mountains and forests had sprouted new buds, and everything was green and full of vitality. It was an undisturbed world for the two of them, and they felt so comfortable and relaxed. They walked hand in hand in the countryside, whispering sweet nothings to each other in the spring breeze and warm sunshine, and enjoyed their sweet and happy time to their heart's content. Before they knew it, it was getting dark, and when they looked at the time, it was already past five in the afternoon.
They walked a little far, and it took them an hour to get back to their home in Linshui Village. It was already dark. The adults were relieved to see that they had returned safely, and they didn't say much. It was normal for a newly engaged couple to forget to go home because of their love affair. Everyone had a youthful past, so they could understand it. Besides, Grandpa Xu said that Shen Yu had practiced martial arts since he was a child, and he was well trained and could protect Taohua. That was enough.
Instead, a few young people including Meng Zhehan, Xu Yuting and Liu Jianli surrounded Shen Yu and Meng Tao and asked them all sorts of questions. Shen Yu was in a good mood today and was in a good mood to deal with them. He answered all their questions without Meng Tao having to say a word.
After a while, Aunt Yang and Aunt Yu prepared dinner and called people to eat, and the matter was over.
After dinner, Team Leader Bao came. He was reminded by Liu Yongsheng and came to discuss something with Jinniu and Meng Tao, namely the housing problem of the educated youth.
After the Lantern Festival, each production team had to prepare to resume production and begin spring ploughing, and the educated youth who had returned to the city to celebrate the festival should also come back.
Before, because no one lived in the Meng family courtyard, it became a dormitory for educated youth. Now Taohua is back, Meng Jinniu is also here, and Taohua is engaged, so it is not appropriate for her to live with the educated youth. The educated youth have to find another place to live.
The problem now is that there are no vacant houses in the village, and there is no empty room in the brigade headquarters except for the warehouse. The warehouse is filled with messy items and is obviously not suitable for living. It is not enough to accommodate eight educated youth.
It is impossible to ask the team to take out money to build new dormitories for the educated youth at the moment. Spring plowing is approaching, and the team has already planned to use the little money it has to buy fertilizers and seeds, purchase farm tools, etc.
If there was no other option, the educated youth had to be dispersed when they returned, and arranged one by one to live in the homes of villagers with vacant rooms.
The educated youth were probably not happy about being separated like this, after all, they were used to living together, and the villagers would definitely not be used to having an outsider suddenly living in their home.
I heard that Jinniu is going to build a new courtyard house. The foundation is on the left side of the Meng family's courtyard. Meng Shengli used to reclaim land and grow some crops there. It belongs to the Meng family's private land. The team has also approved this residential land for the Meng family. If Jinniu wants to build a new courtyard house, he only needs to pay for some materials, and the team can allocate some labor to help. If they work hard, it will only take ten days or half a month to finish. Jinniu is single now, and the spare rooms will be temporarily given to the educated youth. After a year or two, when the team has surplus money, the housing problem of the educated youth should be solved.
Meng Tao agreed with Captain Bao's suggestion.
Dear fairies, the author is back to update. First of all, I want to say sorry to everyone! Then I want to thank you deeply. Even though I have stopped updating, you still voted for me. I am really touched. Thank you all kind and beautiful fairies! There is a reason for the stop for so many days. The author went back to his hometown. There is internet in the countryside, but the author can't write. The environment is very important. The author can't find peace in the hustle and bustle, so...
Apologies again! And thanks everyone!
The author will work hard to update! Come on! There will be another update in the evening.
(End of this chapter)