Chapter 65 Bait She could leave at any time; she always had it…
The day after Zhong Cheng returned, he went to the fields with his family early in the morning. Although his parents saw that he had one arm in a sling and advised him to stay home and rest, Zhong Cheng couldn't stay home.
When he arrived at the field, Zhong Cheng stared in a daze at the combine harvester cutting the wheat.
How could so many changes have occurred in the Tonggan production team in just one year?
When he returned yesterday afternoon, the first thing he saw was the propaganda poster on the wall at the entrance of the village. According to his wife, Miao Suyun, it was painted by his sister, Zhong Ying, and several comrades from the painting team who went to the countryside.
His son, Zhong Guoqiang, skipped and hopped to the daycare, and even boasted to Zhong Cheng that it was organized by his aunt.
Deng Xia and Zhong Cheng chatted about everyday family matters. She mentioned that her uncle, who had tried to harm her when she was a child, had recently died from a drunken stupor. Her cousin, Zhong Ni, had gotten married and become sisters-in-law with Fan Wu's daughter, Da Ni. She also mentioned that Fan Da Ni had almost died from drinking some kind of fertility drug, and it was Nie Jinlong's wife, Yao Dongxiu, who saved her. This led to the topic of Nie Jinlong and his wife going to the commune's medical training class, and it was his sister who insisted that Yao Dongxiu also attend.
Looking at the harvester in front of him, Zhong Cheng listened to his father, Zhong Chunsheng, tell him that it was also modified by his sister from a plow frame.
Zhong Cheng could easily detect the pride and smugness in his father's words.
"Your sister has grown up." Zhong Chunsheng sighed. His daughter has become more and more like a reliable adult since getting married, but he couldn't help feeling a little melancholy as her father.
Liu Qiang, who was picking up wheat stalks with the combine harvester, chimed in with praise, "Isn't that right? I also think Yingni'er has become much more sensible!"
He couldn't help but cast an envious glance at Zhong Chunsheng. Zhong Lao Er, who had once been ridiculed, had really turned his life around in recent years. The things men talked about and compared were nothing more than whose wife was virtuous and whose sons were many. Zhong Chunsheng had none of those qualities. His wife was fierce, and he only had two sons and a daughter.
Liu Qiang has many sons, but none of them can compare to Zhong Cheng, or even Zhong Ying. They all either beat their wives or drink their fathers to death. The slightly better one, Xiao Wu, who doesn't cause trouble, is about the same as Zhong Xin from Zhong Lao Er's family.
"Tsk..." Liu Qiang continued picking up wheat stalks, muttering to himself, "You have to thin out the seedlings when you plant crops. How could I forget that too many seedlings won't grow well..."
Although everyone praised Zhong Ying for growing up and becoming more sensible, Zhong Cheng wasn't particularly happy.
Is it a good thing when a child who was always willful and unruly suddenly grows up and becomes sensible? It must mean they've been wronged!
Zhong Cheng looked at the modified harvester again. If he hadn't been told that his sister had made it, he would have thought that Li Linshi had made it. He knew that Li Linshi was no longer alive, but he also knew that the university Li Linshi attended was something about agricultural mechanization.
Various thoughts intertwined in Zhong Cheng's mind, and he finally came to a conclusion: Li Linshi would haunt Zhong Ying even in death, and forced her to do things he hadn't finished.
When Zhong Ying was found by her brother again, she always felt that Zhong Cheng looked at her as if he were looking at a small cabbage in their family plot whose leaves had curled and turned yellow due to insect damage, with a strange and eerie affection.
“Yingni’er, you should come with me,” Zhong Cheng said.
Zhong Ying was in a bind; why hadn't her brother given up yet?
When she looked up at Li Lin, her gaze traveled from his high, straight nose to his pale, thin lips...
"No, no," Zhong Ying refused firmly. "I think everything is perfect right now."
The only discordant element has been harmonized.
Zhong Cheng became even more convinced of his guess. Yesterday, Zhong Ying did not think that Li Linshi was perfect, but after just one night, she changed her mind and said that "everything is perfect".
Zhong Cheng was very experienced in knowing when people were most likely to change their minds – after being beaten.
"Tell me, do you still dare to run up the mountain?" Deng Xia was both shocked and angry.
The young Zhong Cheng raised his head and said, "What's there to be afraid of?"
The broom smacked against my buttocks.
"Waaaaah, Mom, I won't do it again, I'll never run up the mountain again..."
Zhong Cheng snapped back to reality from his childhood "dark history," and he hadn't missed Zhong Ying's subtle, knowing glance. A chill ran through him, and his resolve to take his sister away strengthened. He couldn't let the evil spirit haunt Zhong Ying like this; he refused to believe that any demons or monsters could cause trouble once they were under the red flag.
The most important thing is to make Zhong Ying want to rebel and be willing to follow him.
Zhong Cheng thought about it all night. Although Li Linshi was virtuous and beautiful, she was not perfect. He couldn't even earn work points now. As someone who was already dead in a social sense, Li Linshi naturally couldn't support a family like an ordinary man.
If you find the enemy's weakness, you must attack it fiercely.
“Take your brother me as an example. I’m a lieutenant now, and I get a monthly allowance of sixty or seventy yuan. I also get all sorts of coupons. If we don’t cook at home, we can just pay fifteen yuan to eat in the canteen…” Zhong Cheng knew his own sister well. He was sure to win Zhong Ying’s heart by offering her real benefits. “Men are in charge of external affairs and women are in charge of internal affairs. Who doesn’t leave all these things to their wives? You can come with me and your sister-in-law under the guise of visiting relatives. All of these things will be yours then.”
Zhong Cheng was confident that, putting aside his temperament and personality, with his sister's looks alone, she could hook up with any single man, not just those of his own caliber, but even those of higher rank.
“Captain Li isn’t a difficult person to talk to. Just nod, and I’ll negotiate with him.” Zhong Cheng had considered everything for his sister. “His family gave a dowry of sixty yuan before, right? I’ll return it for you. Think about it yourself, returning sixty yuan is better than receiving sixty yuan every month. Which is more worthwhile?”
Zhong Ying was indeed tempted by the money and tickets offered by her brother.
She understood what Zhong Cheng meant. Her brother was trying to find her a long-term meal ticket, which was exactly what a lazy bum wanted to do.
Li Linshi keenly noticed the change in Zhong Ying's breathing rate. He narrowed his eyes slightly. "You're tempted?"
Zhong Ying was indeed very tempted, but she still refused Zhong Cheng, saying, "Brother, really, it's not necessary. I'm not leaving."
She wanted to climb the ladder and gain power; once her ambition was ignited, she could no longer accept lying down and being a couch potato.
Zhong Cheng didn't expect Zhong Ying to agree so readily. "Anyway, I have a ten-day leave to visit my family this time, so you still have time to think about it."
He gave Zhong Ying a chance to change her mind.
——
The excitation of the sympathetic nervous system caused the skin to heat up and turn red. The cool lips landed on the reddened side of the neck, feeling the excited throbbing of the pulse from the subcutaneous blood vessels. Li Linshi could hear this subtle sound, as if the smallest river in the world was rushing for him. He was delighted by this thought and couldn't help but open his mouth to take it in.
He can hold it in his mouth, suck on it, but he can't bite! Zhong Ying felt the pain and immediately tried to elbow him from behind.
Of course, it didn't work out. Li Linshi merged into the water and then turned back to Zhong Ying to solidify his form again.
Wildly growing branches divided the crescent moon, with the clear light and darkness vying for supremacy. Li Linshi led Zhong Ying to a secluded section of the Ganlin River on Ying Mountain, where the introduced hot spring water mixed with the river water, creating a warm and pleasant temperature.
Zhong Ying felt hot, not because of the water, but because of the water ghost.
"When your brother laid out the 'bait,' didn't you want to take it too?" Li Linshi grabbed her, this time not her neck or face, but her waist, gently yet forcefully controlling her. His pale, slender fingers dug slightly into her warm white skin, the subtle difference in color carrying a strange and alluring beauty. And beneath the river, yin and yang reunited, intertwined once more.
The moonlight scattered on the water's surface shattered again and again with the ripples, becoming unrecognizable.
Zhong Ying gasped for breath, trying to expel the heat from her body, "I didn't eat any..."
The phrase has a double meaning, just like the current situation.
Li Linshi was an excellent student; Zhong Ying was merely "led in the door by the master," and he quickly learned to apply what he learned to other situations.
The cool light fell on Li Linshi. He lowered his head slightly, his wet hair hanging loosely over his beautiful and alluring eyebrows. Water droplets dripped from the ends of his hair and slid into his semi-transparent white shirt. His not-so-weak body seemed to be half-concealing his face, revealing the smooth lines of his muscles in a way that was not too slender.
He was indeed stingy; he used either water or his hands to completely cover Zhong Ying's graceful figure.
Li Linshi threw out his "bait," his eyes gleaming, his voice hoarse, and carrying a certain blush-inducing panting, "So what do you want to eat?"
Zhong Ying's legs went weak from being teased so much, and she glared at him irritably, "I'll eat you, okay? I'll eat you, alright!"
Her brother was a master at provoke, driving Li Linshi to the brink of madness once or twice.
Li Linshi finally smiled.
While underwater, Zhong Ying suddenly felt her two calves being bound together by an invisible whirlpool-like current. Startled, she opened her eyes wide and looked up.
"This will help you squeeze tighter," Li Linshi kindly explained to her, but his movements suddenly became swift.
Zhong Ying only had time to curse "pervert" before she was swept up in a tide of pleasure.
Her fingers gripped Li Linshi's arm, and she pressed her forehead against his chest, unable to contain herself...
The water was as calm as a mirror, finally reflecting the moon, and the humid steam slowly dissipated from the river surface.
Zhong Ying was still in a state of post-coital clarity, her mind blank, with only the instinctive rise and fall of her chest.
Her long hair, which was scattered on her back, was brushed aside, and something slightly cool fell into the hollow of her collarbone. Zhong Ying suddenly came to her senses. The thing slid down as she straightened up, but instead of falling into the water, it hovered there.
Li Linshi appeared behind Zhong Ying with a swift movement, like a fish swimming. He didn't let go of her hair, but instead draped it over his arm. The wet, long hair, like a winding water snake, wrapped around her pale forearm. The extreme black and white intertwined. He couldn't help but glance at her, then focused on what he hadn't finished. His fingers deftly tied a tight knot in the red string behind her neck.
"Huh, are you giving me a necklace?" Zhong Ying asked, puzzled yet pleasantly surprised. Was it something from the river? Was it a pearl or a gemstone? She gripped the object hanging from the rope and looked down at it.
After Zhong Ying saw what it was, she fell silent.
She made this herself, and now Li Linshi has given it to her.
Zhong Ying looked at the small wooden plaque, about the length of a finger, in her palm, with the words "The Position of My Deceased Husband, Li Linshi" written on it...
Who would give their own memorial tablet to someone else? Zhong Ying was terrified, and the hair on her head stood on end.
A familiar chill enveloped Zhong Ying's back. Li Linshi wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear, "You wear my memorial tablet, so I can accompany you to the ends of the earth."
Zhong Ying's forehead veins bulged. "Do you think I'm your grave?"
"Is it not allowed?" Li Linshi chuckled, his gentle voice carrying a hint of manic obsession.
Even though Zhong Ying rejected Zhong Cheng at the time, Li Linshi was still uneasy.
If Zhong Ying regrets it, she can leave at any time; she will always have a choice.
However, due to the limitations imposed by the ghost, he will be trapped in Tonggan Village, just like his cousin Li Changgui was once, unable to leave even a step.
Zhong Ying was aware of this as well.
So once she gets tired of him and wants to leave him, it's simple: she just needs to leave with her brother.
Then Zhong Cheng will find a new partner for his sister, and she will openly marry another man under the festive red "double happiness" character and spend the rest of her life with him...
Li Linshi only thought about it, but his dark eyes quickly turned terrifyingly sinister. Even if it meant being forced, he would still do it—
Fortunately, Zhong Ying was very accepting. She let go of her hand, letting the small wooden sign hang naturally around her neck, and said with a helpless indulgence in her tone, "Alright, alright."
Understanding King Zhou, or even becoming King Zhou, isn't that difficult; just satisfy him.
Most people wear their keys around their necks, but she wore a wooden tag. It was a bit strange, but since it was hidden inside her clothes, no one could see it.
Zhong Ying yawned and patted her arm in front of her. "Where are my clothes? What time is it? Stop dawdling. I want to go back to sleep. I want to get up early tomorrow morning and finish making the spiked roller."
“…You sleep, I’ll do it tonight.” Li Linshi, who hadn’t expected to be accused of being slow and indecisive, was somewhat speechless.
So, is sleep the most important thing?
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Author's Note: Zhong Ying: Have some fun, then go to sleep!
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