Sun Ziqiang turned and glared angrily at Lu Yuan, about to retort, but when he met Lu Yuan's warning gaze, he realized that he could not tell the truth in public.
If he dared to say he was kicked into the river, this kid would definitely accuse him of being a pervert.
The next second, he gritted his teeth and said with a forced smile,
"Yes, I was a step too slow. Wen Zhiqing was rescued by Lu Yuan."
"Hey, you three, why aren't you working properly during work hours? What are you all doing by the river?"
An old woman in the village, who never liked to stir up trouble, slapped her thigh and asked.
This woman, Wang Cuihua, was a notorious gossip in the village.
She's always gossiping about this family and that family; she's the fastest at spreading any news.
So everyone secretly calls her Trumpet Flower.
As soon as she spoke, the others began to echo her.
"Yes, they all fell into the river and ended up in this state. It's really indecent."
Lu Yuan frowned. Were these old women trying to drive the female educated youth next to him to her death?
Just as he was about to say something fair, he heard a muffled sob coming from behind him.
"Waaah, ladies, I just came to the river to wash some clothes, and then I slipped and fell in."
"Waaaaah, I didn't want this either. My clothes were washed away by the river. And now these aunties are making fun of me. I... I don't want to live anymore."
He then made a move as if to jump into the river.
Lu Yuan quickly stopped her.
"Hey, Wen Zhiqing, don't think so negatively."
The morning glory and the sarcastic woman were also startled and quickly stepped forward to pull the person back, lest they really let the person jump into the river.
If they really jump, then it can be said that they drove them to their deaths.
"Oh, Wen Zhiqing, I was just saying it offhand, please don't take it to heart."
The morning glory quickly yielded.
"Yes, it was just something I said casually, nothing more."
Lu Yuan thought to himself, "This Wen Zhiqing is quite clever. She is obviously aware of her own situation and understands my intention to cover up the truth."
Not only that, but he also knew how to feign weakness and retreat in order to silence gossip and prevent people from speaking ill of him.
Seeing that no one was saying anything, Yang Caihong's eyes lit up and an idea came to her.
He stepped forward to support Wen Moxue, feigning concern as he asked, "Moxue, are you alright?"
Wen Muxue glanced at her indifferently before gently shaking her head, "I'm fine."
Yang Caihong breathed a heavy sigh of relief and then looked at Lu Yuan.
"Comrade Lu, thank you for saving Mo Xue."
Lu Yuan was about to say "You're welcome" when he heard the other person continue,
"But everyone saw you two hugging just now, you can't shirk your responsibility."
Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. Was he going to be stuck with this situation?
However, on the other hand, when Wen Moxue fell into the river and he rescued her, they did hug and touch each other.
In this conservative year of 1968, the two finally had physical intimacy.
If he doesn't take responsibility, the woman's reputation will be ruined, and she'll never be able to marry into a good family again.
However, Lu Yuan also had a bad reputation in the village; he was a notorious troublemaker.
He's lazy, doesn't work hard, and spends all his time idling around.
No family with a good daughter would want to marry him.
This female educated youth named Yang Caihong clearly did it on purpose.
He looked at Wen Moxue, not believing she would want him to take responsibility.
"I was just doing a good deed like Lei Feng, rescuing people from the river. My relationship with Wen Zhiqing is completely innocent. I would never dare to use this to seek favors or repay kindness."
Before anyone else could say anything, Wen Moxue looked at him with tears welling up in her eyes.
"Comrade Lu, are you trying to shirk responsibility?"
Lu Yuan's eyes widened. What did this girl mean?
Could it be that he really wants to cling to me?
However, considering her current situation, if she doesn't marry him, even a scoundrel like Sun Ziqiang would think she's marrying above her station.
Seeing how delicate and frail she was, I was afraid that if I didn't take care of her, things would really get even more difficult for her in the future.
Putting everything else aside, being targeted by a scoundrel like Sun Ziqiang, it's impossible for me to be so lucky as to run into him every time.
“It’s not that I don’t want to take responsibility, it’s just that I’m afraid of wronging Wen Zhiqing. If you don’t mind that I’m penniless and have a bad reputation, I have no problem with it.”
And just like that, Lu Yuan gained a wife for nothing while saving someone.
For Sun Ziqiang, who had long coveted Wen Moxue's beauty, this was nothing short of a humiliating loss of his wife.
He had long considered Wen Moxue as his possession.
The meat that was almost in his mouth was gone just like that, and Sun Ziqiang hated Lu Yuan to death.
His eyes were incredibly sinister.
"Disperse, everyone disperse!"
Seeing his nephew's expression, Captain Sun Changsheng frowned. With a wave of his hand, he began to disperse the crowd.
Nobody wanted to leave. There wasn't much entertainment these days, and they hadn't had enough of the excitement yet.
Everyone started making jokes and chatter.
"Lu Yuan, Wen Zhiqing, when are you getting married?"
"Should we hold a banquet or distribute wedding candy?"
"Dream on! How could Lu Yuan possibly hold a banquet and buy wedding candy?"
In those days, people lacked food and clothing, and couldn't even get enough to eat, so how could they possibly have enough grain to hold a banquet?
Moreover, wedding banquets are no longer common nowadays. If the groom is generous, a few pounds of sorghum flour or corn flour can be given as a bride price.
The woman packed a few clothes and went home with the man.
The two rolled onto the kang (a heated brick bed), and the marriage was considered settled.
Giving out wedding candy is even more out of the question; you need tickets to buy anything.
Sugar coupons were hard to come by; people in rural areas had nowhere to get them, and they weren't guaranteed to have any sugar during holidays.
No family has the means to distribute wedding candy at their wedding.
That person was just delusional.
"Isn't there still Wen Zhiqing? She's from the city, and when she gets married, her family will definitely send some wedding candy over."
Lu Yuan's lips twitched. Even if someone sent wedding candy, he couldn't just hand it out casually.
With hundreds of households in the village, how many people would need to be distributed?
He asked with a roguish grin, "Sun Maodou, you're already thinking about wedding candy? Are you planning to give us a gift? What are you getting? A pillowcase or a water bottle?"
Sun Maodou choked, how could he possibly give such a nice gift?
Let alone giving him something so nice, he wouldn't even be willing to give him a simple steamed bun.
He snorted and left.
Everyone else burst into laughter.
Sun Changsheng waved his hand impatiently again.
"Get to work quickly, or you'll lose work points."
Upon hearing that work points would be deducted, everyone scattered in panic.
Sun Ziqiang was also preparing to leave, but he was very unwilling and spat at Lu Yuan.
He cursed inwardly, "That son of a bitch got off easy!"
He still looked at Wen Moxue with a lecherous gaze.
Wen Moxue instinctively hid behind Lu Yuan.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan bared his teeth, clenched his fists, and made a move to step forward and beat someone up.
Sun Ziqiang took off running as if he were being chased by a dog.
Lu Yuan scoffed inwardly, "Why call him Sun Ziqiang? Just drop the 'Qiang' and call him Sun Zi (son)."
This spineless coward is no different from a grandson.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
