"It's Comrade Shen Yu. It's a coincidence that you came at this time. He also called yesterday to ask if you had arrived."

Meng Tao took the phone and said, "Hello, Comrade Shen Yu?"

Shen Yu: “…”

Zhou Cuiling glanced at Meng Tao, picked up her water cup and went out: Everyone knows that this couple is as close as one person, and they might even say "dear" or "daling" to each other in private. But in front of her, they pretend to be comrade Shen Yu, haha! Isn't it just because they are afraid that she will eavesdrop? She can leave, let them chat in private.

Shen Yu thought of the phone number he had borrowed from Zhou Cuiling's workplace. Since he was at work, it was not a good time to talk about anything else. He had to hurry up and asked, "Taotao, you've been out of the provincial capital for a few days. Why did you only return to the village today?"

"Well, I finished my business in Mengzhou, took care of the yard, and then went to Zhang Fuji's house in the county town. Aunt Zhang asked me to stay for another night."

"You didn't see Brother Taurus, did you?"

"No, I came to see Cuiling on the way and happened to receive your call. I will be back soon."

"Wife, I want to tell you something."

"you say."

"I rushed to finish my work here and wanted to go back to accompany you in the next two days, but plans can't keep up with changes. My boss asked me to go back to Beijing immediately to handle some special matters."

"Is that so? I get it. It's okay. Just focus on your work and don't worry about home. Dad is fine. He's a little busy at work but it's going well. I'm fine too. I have things to do too."

Shen Yu: “…”

I feel sad and upset. My wife, why are you so considerate? Can't you just say you miss me and ask me to come and accompany you?

Thinking about what his wife had just said, he felt strange: "Taotao, are you hiding something from me? Are you going to run around again?"

Meng Tao laughed: "What do you mean running around? I'm an adult, okay? I know what I can and can't do."

"Be good, tell me, what are you going to do?"

"It's hard to say now, right? Zhou Cuiling has to go to work, don't you want to work?"

"Work will come later, you go first: where are you going?"

"I heard that Nanfang Guangshi is very prosperous, with a lot of cheap and good things, such as clothing, shoes and socks and other daily necessities, as well as all kinds of fashionable and novel electrical appliances... Some people engage in speculation and profiteering, and they all buy goods from there. I also want to go and take a look."

Shen Yu paused. He knew that his wife was a small woman with big ideas. Once she made up her mind, she would basically do it and there was no way to stop her.

He said, "There is no direct train from Mengzhou to Guangzhou. You have to change trains in the provincial capital and take the train by yourself for several days. You have never been there before, you are unfamiliar with the place and the dialect is difficult to understand... How about finding two people to follow you?"

"No, you know I don't like it."

"But, Xiao Wangcai..."

"Xiao Wangcai is training at the base. Brother Zhehan said it's not time for him to graduate yet."

"You haven't learned it yet, so you're just running around. Don't forget to practice that every day. Don't be lazy."

"good."

"Then let's do this first. We need to let Zhou Cuiling come in to work."

"Taotao, stay there and don't leave. I'll call you at noon. I'm taking a flight to Beijing tomorrow, and I don't know when I'll be back. I'll contact my friends in Guangzhou later. When you get there, you can contact them if you need help or want to know anything."

"OK."

After hanging up the phone, Meng Tao went out and found Zhou Cuiling, saying that she couldn't leave yet and had to wait for a call at noon.

Zhou Cuiling didn't want Meng Tao to leave, so she asked her to sit next to her and accompany her to work. Anyway, the work at the grain station was not busy at the moment. Zhou Cuiling was the invoice issuer. After working half a day, there were only two groups of people who came to her to issue invoices, so she had a lot of free time.

Meng Tao went to the car and took out two bags, which contained snacks and gifts for Zhou Cuiling, including her favorite chocolate biscuits and beef cubes, three pounds of apples for her three younger brothers, and two boxes of fresh cherries and bayberries. When Zhou Cuiling saw these, her eyes lit up immediately, and she cheered and grabbed them, devouring them with relish. The chocolate and beef cubes no longer smelled good, so she put them aside for the time being.

At 12:05 noon, Shen Yu called. Meng Tao talked to him for more than 20 minutes and took notes with pen and paper. She wrote down Shen Yu's phone number in Beijing and agreed to call each other once every morning and evening. Shen Yu gave Meng Tao three contacts and their phone numbers. These three people were all familiar with Guangzhou City. He asked Meng Tao to find them when she arrived in Guangzhou City and to ask them to do anything she needed.

Meng Tao drove Zhou Cuiling back to Linshui Village, which caused another sensation. The villagers had only seen women driving in movies, but they didn't expect to see a real female driver today, and a girl who was born and raised in the village, driving a car freely. Everyone was extremely shocked and once again looked at Meng Tao with admiration.

Men and women all admired and envied her, but there were also a few people who were jealous, sarcastic and said sour words. Meng Tao ignored them, remembered these unfriendly people, and decided not to associate with them in the future.

Meng Jinniu and the educated youth happily welcomed Meng Tao, looked behind her, and then peered into the car through the window. Meng Tao knew what they were looking for and said that they did not bring Xiao Wangcai back this time. Everyone was disappointed because they hadn't seen the clever and cute Xiao Wangcai for a long time and missed it.

Meng Tao took out a bamboo basket of bayberries from the back of the car. The juicy and bright-colored fruits immediately healed everyone and lifted their spirits. They quickly carried the bamboo basket into the house and scrambled to eat the bayberries. At this time, they forgot about Xiao Wangcai.

Meng Tao watched Jinniu taste a bayberry, then walk to take down the clean bamboo basket hanging on the wall. He no longer needed a cane, and his steps were steady. He looked like an ordinary person. Meng Tao was very happy for him.

When Xu Guoliang saw Jinniu coming over with a bamboo basket, he looked at him warily. Sun Yutang blocked him directly: "Jinniu, what do you want to do?"

Jinniu said, "We can't just eat all the bayberries in this basket. We should keep half of them clean—Teacher Jiang and Teacher He haven't come back yet."

Xu Guoliang said, "What's wrong with eating them? They're not soupy, so they won't go bad if they're left in the basket. The bayberries will be more easily damaged if they're tossed around. Just tell me directly that you want to give some to your future father-in-law."

Qian Liang laughed, "You're still using Teacher Jiang and Teacher He as an excuse. I've taught you a lot, too. Why don't you think about Teacher Qian? I'm going to beat you up!"

Sun Yutang: "And me, Teacher Sun hasn't had enough to eat yet, but you're trying to snatch food from the tiger's mouth. You deserve a beating!"

Qian Xiaoyun and Jiang Limei were busy eating and didn't say a word.

Jinniu's face flushed red as he looked at Meng Tao and stammered, "Sister, I, I, I...that, it's, it's not..."

Seeing that he was sweating, Meng Tao said, "Brother Jinniu, don't be in a hurry. Take your time."

A few bad teachers laughed.

(End of this chapter)