Chapter 10

"Wenwen." Wen Yiming waved at Xu Wen, "I came to your house to look for you. Grandma said you were herding sheep here. So I came to find you."

The road is long and it’s hard to turn back.

Xu Wen was just wearing a light purple floral cotton short-sleeved top and trousers, but now she changed into a floral knee-length dress.

Both sets of clothes didn't fit her well and were a bit too big for her. They must have been old clothes that someone at home had replaced. But it didn't affect her beauty at all.

Xu Wen's long hair, which had not yet been combed, was a little messy and dripping with water.

There is only one word left in my mind: lotus emerging from water.

He withdrew his gaze and stepped aside to make way.

He just held Wen Yiming because it was inconvenient for Xu Wen, but now that Xu Wen had finished taking a shower, he had no reason to hold anyone back.

"You guys chat." Lu Yuanzheng raised his hand and waved to Dongsheng, "Let's go home."

Dongsheng hugged Xu Wen's leg and shook his head like a rattle, "No! I want to be with my mom."

If it were Xu Wen, an unmarried young lady, she would definitely have some resistance to being a cheap mother. Especially when Dongsheng called her "Mom" in front of many people, she would be so embarrassed that she wanted to throw him out. However, after listening to Lu Yuanzheng's story about his parents, Xu Wen only felt distress and pity for Dongsheng.

She raised her hand and rubbed Dongsheng's head. "Then can you wait for me for a while? I want to talk to the guy with glasses... brother."

Dongsheng looked at Wen Yiming and then at Xu Wen, and reluctantly let go: "Mom, then don't let him fool you."

Xu Wen smiled and promised, "Okay."

Lu Yuanzheng: "..."

Can he leave on his own if Dongsheng stays with him?

I resigned myself to my fate and walked aside to herd sheep, becoming a reluctant light bulb.

"Why are you here?" Xu Wen was surprised. Their first meeting was not a pleasant one. She had never thought that Wen Yiming would look for her again.

Especially since the recent rumors about her in the commune also slightly affected Wen Yiming, she thought that her relationship with Wen Yiming ended on the day of the blind date.

Wen Yiming patted the handlebars of his bicycle and invited Xu Wen: "Would you like to go back to school together this afternoon? I'll give you a ride."

The commune was a bit far from the county town. The Xu family didn't have a bicycle, so Xu Wen usually took the bus to go to evening self-study.

Xu Wen was a little hesitant. He thought that if he followed Wen Yiming, he could save a few cents on the train ticket, but he would owe someone a favor.

After struggling for a while, Xu Wen shook his head and said, "I'd better take the bus!"

She is now a celebrity in the commune. If she were to ride Wen Yiming's bicycle to the county town, everyone in the commune, young and old, would have something new to talk about tomorrow.

It's a good thing to say that two men are fighting for her, but if things go wrong, people might say she's two-timing.

Although she really doesn't care what others think of her, she still has her family.

Besides, Wei Zhuang is rather feudal, and not only will she be criticized, but Wen Yiming's reputation will also be affected.

Wen Yiming pointed his eyes in the direction of Lu Yuanzheng and his son, "Because of them?"

Xu Wen shook his head and said frankly, "It will do you no good to get close to me."

"If I was afraid of people gossiping, I wouldn't have come to see you today. Besides, I've seen everything I need to see on my way here, so it doesn't matter if we go to school together." Wen Yiming smiled gently, "If you're afraid of owing me a favor, how about helping me with my homework? I'm not a good student."

Xu Wen was a little confused about how much of Wen Yiming's words were true and how much of them were false, and he was also a little confused about his true intentions. If it were a normal man, he would have walked away long ago after seeing her having an ambiguous relationship with a father and son twice, or even never had anything to do with her again. But Wen Yiming didn't say a word.

He knew that she was in the center of the storm but still came to her despite the gossip. He seemed gentle and polite but left her no room for rejection, nor did he clearly express that he wanted to be with her.

If I had this idea, I would have asked the matchmaker to convey the message a few days after the blind date, but no one has done so in recent days.

Lu Yuanzheng wanted to marry her, at least because of his sense of responsibility. Then why did Wen Yiming come to her again? Just to tutor her?

Xu Wen blinked and smiled gratefully: "See you this afternoon." Since Wen Yiming didn't want to say it, she would explain it clearly.

Wen Yiming pushed his glasses, nodded, looked in the direction of Lu Yuanzheng and his son, and couldn't help but ask: "Did we meet by chance today?"

Xu Wen frowned, not liking his questioning tone. Out of politeness, he answered, "No. Comrade Lu felt that he had implicated me, so he came to me to apologize."

Seeing that Xu Wen didn't want to talk about this topic, Wen Yiming nodded and said, "Then I'll go back first and pick you up in the afternoon."

Xu Wen saw Wen Yiming off and walked back to Yuanzheng and his son.

Lu Yuanzheng spoke first: "It seems we have caused you trouble again?"

Xu Wen shook his head.

"What I said is always valid, you should consider it carefully. Don't worry, if you have a better choice, I also wish you the best." Lu Yuanzheng patted Dongsheng's head, "The mission is accomplished, we should go home!"

Dongsheng shook his head and ran to hide behind Xu Wen, leaving only his head exposed to discuss with Lu Yuanzheng: "I want to herd sheep with Mom."

Lu Yuanzheng chuckled and raised his hand to give him a slap: "You little bastard, I think you are going to rebel!"

Dongsheng's neck shrank behind Xu Wen, and he shouted, "Mom, save me!"

"You can't be so violent to children all the time." Xu Wen patted Dongsheng soothingly with his hands behind his back and discussed with Lu Yuanzheng: "How about letting Dongsheng play here for a while? Just as if he were to keep me company. If you have something to do, go and do it first. I can take him home later."

Lu Yuanzheng didn't have much to do. During his vacation at home, he occasionally helped his uncles and aunts and took Dongsheng to familiarize himself with the environment of the commune. It was fun no matter where they went. He shook his head and said, "I'm sorry to trouble you again."

When Dongsheng heard that he could stay, he shouted happily and dived into the pile of sheep.

At the beginning of the year, the production team sold all the old sheep and lambs, leaving only ten goats and sheep in their prime.

In the past six months, several ewes have given birth to lambs. Together with the three lambs born the day before yesterday, there are now more than 30 lambs in the herd. They are quite conspicuous on the green grass.

Dongsheng chased the sheep for a while, and kept asking why.

"Why does this sheep have horns and that one doesn't?"

"Why does this sheep have a beard?"

"Why is this sheep's hair curly?"

“…”

At first, Lu Yuanzheng was able to explain everything to him patiently, but later on, his answers became more and more perfunctory.

Xu Wen shook his head as he watched, and walked up to Dongsheng to explain to him in detail the differences between sheep and goats, and between rams and ewes.

I also took Dongsheng to catch grasshoppers and see lizards.

The wilderness has no shortage of these.

Dongsheng grew up by the sea and was very familiar with fish and shrimp, but he had never seen these wild animals in the fields in the north being so happy.

There are several varieties of grasshoppers.

One type of winged grasshopper is particularly large, gray or pure green in color, and is called Lao Shao in Wei Zhuang.

This is the pronunciation. I can't tell which specific word it is. It's just a dialect name.

Xu Wen caught a green old Shao and handed it to Dongsheng.

Dongsheng swallowed and took a step back involuntarily.

"It won't bite." Xu Wen still held out his hand, his eyes encouraging, "If you hold its legs, it will kowtow! Isn't that fun?"

Dongsheng came closer to see that Lao Shao's two calves were pinched by Xu Wen's fingertips, and Lao Shao kept raising and lowering his head, as if he was kowtowing. His eyes suddenly lit up: "Really!"

"You try it?" Xu Wen encouraged him, "Look, I'm a girl and I'm not afraid. How can you, a little man, not be as brave as me?"

No matter how old a man is, he cannot bear to hear such excitement. Dongsheng suddenly puffed out his chest, took Lao Shao from Xu Wen with a fierce expression, and was so nervous that he swallowed his saliva.

In a few seconds, the fear disappeared and only excitement remained. He excitedly took Lao Shao to show off to Lu Yuanzheng: "Dad, look, it can kowtow."

Lu Yuanzheng's mouth twitched, and he nodded perfunctorily: "Amazing!"

There was more meaning in the look he gave Xu Wen.

Dongsheng was young and had poor control of his hands, so he accidentally broke the grasshopper's leg, which made him very sad.

"It doesn't matter, just catch another one. There are so many here." Xu Wen pointed to the grass.

After a while, Dongsheng called Xu Wen and said, "Mom, look at this old Shao. It's so fierce!"

Xu Wen went over to take a look and shook his head: "This is not Lao Shao. This is a katydid. It will bite people, so don't catch it."

"Is it the one that can chirp? I want it."

Xu Wen didn't dare to catch this.

Lu Yuanzheng couldn't bear to see the two people, one big and one small, couldn't even touch the katydid, so he screamed. The katydid was so scared that it jumped and flew, and happened to bump into him. He reached out and caught it, pinching its wings to show them.

"Dad, you're awesome!"

"right."

Lu Yuanzheng: "..."

The admiring looks of Xu Wen and Dong Sheng made him feel inexplicably proud, as if he was holding the head of an enemy in his hands.

Xu Wen broke off some long grass and weaved a small portable cage for Dongsheng, put the katydid in it and let him carry it.

Lu Yuanzheng caught another katydid and put them both into the small cage.

After playing for a while, Lu Yuanzheng saw Xu Wen yawning and told Dongsheng to leave: "It's getting late, we should go back."

Dongsheng didn't want to leave because he hadn't had enough fun.

Lu Yuanzheng bent down and whispered something in his ear. Dongsheng looked up at Xu Wen and nodded reluctantly: "Okay! Goodbye, Mom! Go home and have a good sleep. I'll come see you tomorrow."

Xu Wen shook his head, squatted down and looked Dong Sheng in the eye: "I won't come to herd sheep tomorrow. I have to go to school in the county tomorrow, and I may not come here in the future."

Dongsheng was too young to hide his emotions, and his face was full of disappointment, as if he was about to cry: "So I won't be able to see you again in the future? Then will I be without a mother again?"

As she spoke, she started to cry, threw herself into Xu Wen's arms, and hugged her neck: "Wuwu, all the children in the compound have mothers, but I don't. I...hiccup...I finally found you, but you don't want me! Wuwu...I will go home and stop pestering you, please don't leave me, okay? I will be obedient."

Lu Yuanzheng was originally standing lazily aside, using his height advantage to provide shade for the big and small. When he heard Dongsheng crying, he glanced at Xu Wen, pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, and swallowed the words back.

Such a Dongsheng makes people feel particularly distressed.

Xu Wen patted Dongsheng on the back and promised, "I'm not giving up on you. I'm just going to school and will be back on the weekend. When I come back, I'll take you to the river to catch fish, okay?"

Dongsheng stood up and looked into Xu Wen's eyes, half believing and half doubting: "Really?"

His father often lied to him. Every time he sent him to the aunt's house next door, he said he would pick him up soon, but he never kept his word.

The same is true for other uncles.

Xu Wen nodded with a smile and extended his little finger, "Then how about we play hook?"

Dongsheng rubbed his dirty little hands on his clothes twice before he reached out to ask Xu about the hook, muttering, "Hang yourself on the hook for a hundred years and don't change it!"

When they parted, Lu Yuanzheng opened his mouth, then closed it again and said only "Goodbye."

Xu Wen called him and said, "Lu Yuanzheng, do you have something to tell me?"

He looked very confused just now.

He is not the kind of person who would waste time on this. What he said must be something that she would find difficult to accept.

Are you trying to withdraw your proposal?