Chapter 87 The Pearl: The Shadow Behind the Pearl
Zhong Ying blew twice into the microphone in front of her, and then began to read the manuscript aloud.
"Even in the deepest mountain valleys, there are 'luminous pearls'..."
Her clear voice came through the loudspeaker hanging next to the utility pole.
Women washing clothes, children running around, and men carrying hoes all stopped what they were doing and listened quietly to the sound.
Only when the broadcast stopped did people seem to be put back on track and start moving again. They looked at each other with joy, their faces filled with pride, because the article was praising their Tonggan Production Team!
"This is the first time in so many years that I've heard the commune praise our production team!"
"Have the other production teams already read this unified document?"
"Of course!"
“You’re really something. I’m going back to my parents’ home in Liwangou this afternoon to show off.”
"Sure enough, the young people's leadership has brought a new look to the production team. Yingni'er's mother, don't hold back your laughter. If you want to laugh, then laugh. If I had a daughter like that, I would laugh out loud three times too."
Deng Xia, whose title had changed from "Chengzi's mother" to "Yingni's mother," just smiled and spat at the woman who was teasing her. She carried a basin of washed clothes home and, on the way, grabbed her youngest son who was carrying a straw basket and was about to go collect firewood.
"Do you remember what your sister said on the radio? Hurry up and write a letter to your brother!" Deng Xia urged anxiously. "You can mail it as soon as the postman comes to deliver mail again!"
Zhong Xin had barely stepped out the door when he was dragged back home to write another letter.
On the other side, Yu Jing helped Zhong Ying turn off the radio.
"Having electricity is like upgrading from a slingshot to a cannon," Zhong Ying said with emotion as she put away her manuscript. "Otherwise, I would have had to gather everyone in the production team together and stand in front of them to read it aloud at the top of my lungs."
"That's why the country strongly encourages rural areas to build their own small hydropower stations. Electricity has brought convenience to people's lives," Yu Jing said with a smile. The hydropower station has successfully generated electricity and is now in use. As one of the builders, Yu Jing's joy is no less than anyone else's.
Zhong Ying locked the door. This house originally belonged to Li Linshi's third uncle. However, after Li Gangshi moved away from the production team with his family, the house was left vacant and has now been reused as the production team's broadcasting station.
The production team now has its own broadcasting system, which has made Zhong Ying's work much easier: she can simply speak into the microphone to issue notices, saving time and effort; and she no longer needs to walk through the streets and alleys blowing whistles to wake the members up for work every morning. Now, people only need to hear "The East Is Red" playing on the loudspeaker to know it's time to go out and work...
Zhong Ying and Yu Jing walked out arm in arm.
"I also want to thank you for lending the radio to the team." Zhong Ying thanked her. "If the electric light is a 'pearl in the night,' then the radio is a window that allows everyone to understand the outside world. You brought all of this, and I really want to thank you on behalf of all the members of the team."
Yu Jing smiled and shook her head, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Zhong Ying. "I think you are the real 'pearl hidden in the deep mountains,' because it is because of you that all these changes have occurred."
Li Linshi, who was standing to the side, thought so too. In his eyes, Zhong Ying was the one who shone brighter and more dazzling than a light bulb.
Young girls of similar age walked together, chatting intimately.
"Han Yanqun and I..." Yu Jing's blushing face was as beautiful as the azaleas blooming in May.
Zhong Ying's eyes widened. "You two are together? Tell me how you got together!"
Yu Jing suppressed her embarrassment and tried to remain calm as she said, "We were busy building the hydropower station together every day. I saw that he and I had the same goals and ideals, so when he asked me if we wanted to continue to work together in the future, I agreed."
After listening, Zhong Ying only had six points to make: the innocent and hazy feelings between men and women, even more so than those between elementary school students, truly reflected the spirit of this era.
Yu Jing has already moved on from the past, so she started worrying about her friend, "You should also look forward. Being a widow is a backward idea from the old society. You can't be confined by it. You're so young, you can still have new happiness!"
Li Linshi's face immediately darkened.
Zhong Ying was also surprised. She blinked at Yu Jing. What was this? Her former rival was wielding a small hoe to dig up the wall of her former crush?
However, there are quite a few people who share the same thoughts as Yu Jing.
Zhong Ying went to the commune to sign a written agreement for the sale of electricity, putting the clear scheduling arrangements and electricity prices on paper.
“Yu, the educated youth, said that once the water turbine we ordered arrives in June, we can equip it with a more sophisticated and powerful set of machinery, which will increase the power generation of the hydroelectric power station,” Zhong Ying said. “However, this will have to wait until after the busy farming season is over.”
Deputy Director Ding understood, "Yes, everything is made way for the 'Three Summer Harvests' (summer harvest season)."
After finishing their business, Deputy Director Ding saw Zhong Ying off and then, during their casual conversation, brought up personal matters, saying, "Xiao Zhong, haven't you thought about your personal life? You're so young and already a widow. Do you need the organization to help you find someone new to rely on?"
Deputy Director Ding genuinely felt sorry for Zhong Ying. She was a young and capable woman with a bright future, but unfortunately, she encountered misfortune in her personal life, like a pearl covered in dust, which is truly lamentable.
Zhong Ying glanced at Li Lin beside her, smiled awkwardly, and declined to Deputy Director Ding, saying, "Right now, I just want to pay off the loan from the credit union as soon as possible, and then lead the members to make their lives better and better. As for relying on others... I just want to be someone everyone can rely on, and to be a good production team leader."
Deputy Director Ding could only sigh, but he appreciated Zhong Ying even more, saying, "You sacrifice your small family for the greater good. Although you are young, you have great benevolence and righteousness."
Zhong Ying could only laugh it off and accept her "great, glorious, and righteous" image as a matter of course.
But as Zhong Ying shone brighter, the people around her seemed to start to feel sorry for her. Even Li Linshi's older sister, Li Rou, had a heart-to-heart talk with Zhong Ying in private.
“You’re not like your sister. You still have a long life ahead of you. Find a good man,” Li Rou earnestly advised. “There’s no need for you to stay with my brother for the rest of your life.”
Zhong Ying hesitated, glancing at Li Linshi's unpleasant expression. How could she tell her sister that it wasn't her guarding Li Linshi, but rather this ghost guarding her?
Even those who knew the inside story were tempted.
Zhong Ying went back to her parents' home for dinner and was pulled into the kitchen by her mother.
Deng Xia lowered her voice, as if exchanging a secret code, "Are you there?"
Zhong Ying shook her head. Li Linshi usually didn't go near places with fire, so he didn't come in and was currently in the courtyard outside.
Deng Xia breathed a sigh of relief and began whispering to her daughter, "You should think about your future. Do you really want to live like this for the rest of your life? Thinking back, it's a good thing you didn't agree to the adoption a while ago, otherwise, with another son, you would really be tied to the Li family!"
Zhong Ying felt overwhelmed; even her mother was trying to persuade her.
"You've got such a silver tongue to use on your parents, why don't you know how to use it now?" Deng Xia, unaware that the ghosts outside had far superior hearing, still gave her daughter advice, "You should coax him, coax him to hurry up and be reincarnated, then you can find a good young man to marry!"
"I think that educated youth Cheng is definitely interested in you, otherwise he wouldn't be hanging around you every day—"
Zhong Ying interrupted Deng Xia, "Mom! You're overthinking it. Cheng Zhiqing is a scorekeeper, and I'm the team leader now. It's normal for us to have overlapping work and set production targets every day. It's not what you think at all."
Deng Xia curled her lip, looking unconvinced. "Your mother is half an old woman. Do you think I can't see through the little schemes of you young people?"
Zhong Ying's attitude was firm: "Anyway, I have no such intentions."
If she wanted to marry a normal man, why did she go through all that trouble to marry Li Linshi?
Fearing that her mother would continue to nag her, Zhong Ying slipped away as soon as she finished dinner.
Back in her house, Li Rou was sitting under the light sewing clothes, while Qianqian was playing with a beanbag made from scraps of cloth next to her.
Hongtang rushed to Zhong Ying first, wagging its tail. Then Qianqian also ran over with her short legs, calling out "Auntie" repeatedly.
Zhong Ying patted the dog's head and then the child's head, then looked at Li Rou and said, "Sister, even with a light, don't sew clothes late at night, it'll hurt your eyes."
Li Rou responded, "I'll finish sewing this sleeve and then I won't sew anymore."
Zhong Ying locked the courtyard gate from the inside and chatted with Li Rou and her daughter in the courtyard for a while. Li Rou had no choice but to finish sewing the sleeves and put down the unfinished clothes, then went back to the house to rest with her daughter.
The light cord was pulled downwards, and the light suddenly went out.
Zhong Ying returned to her room, but as soon as she closed the door, she was enveloped by a cool body.
Zhong Ying didn't take those well-intentioned suggestions seriously, and Li Linshi also wanted to ignore them.
Li Linshi didn't distrust Zhong Ying; he was just afraid that if one well-meaning person after another came to persuade her, Zhong Ying wouldn't change once or twice, but if it happened ten or eight times, would she waver? Would she be assimilated by the ideas of others?
Just thinking about it this way, and the thought that Zhong Ying might change her mind one day, made Li Linshi feel unbearable.
The darkness, like stagnant water, engulfed Li Linshi from head to toe. He still had his reason, but he was powerless to resist it.
"How do you plan to coax me to leave? Do you want me to leave..." Li Linshi gritted his teeth, his movements fierce, his veins bulging, his heart pounding with excitement, as if he were shoving a fresh and passionate heart into her hands.
Li Linshi's dark eyes held a resolute stubbornness as he stared intently at Zhong Ying. The flush on her face was a result of his gaze, and her panting was caused by him...
Zhong Ying is the light, and he is the shadow, Li Linshi thought, they should have stayed entangled like this forever.
Li Linshi's lips were still damp with moisture as he lowered his head to kiss her, but Zhong Ying turned her head away, and his pale, handsome face was instantly shrouded in a deathly gloom.
Zhong Ying only remembered that he had just licked that spot, and it felt strange, so she subconsciously turned her head away, but she didn't expect that this would ignite the fire of fear in Li Linshi's heart.
A pair of pale, strong fingers suddenly gripped Zhong Ying's chin, delivering a passionate, stormy kiss that left no room for resistance.
“Even if you marry another man, I won’t leave you,” Li Linshi said, parting their lips and pressing his cheek against Zhong Ying’s, kissing her sweaty temples tenderly. “Even if he can’t see me, we can still do what we’re doing now…”
Zhong Ying was still panting heavily because of the lack of oxygen in her brain from the kiss, and she didn't even realize what he had said.
Li Linshi continued on his own, his slender fingers tracing the skin on the side of her neck. Then, suddenly, finger marks appeared on the warm skin below, like brushstrokes on white paper. He chuckled, as if he had thought of something amusing. "You can't see my hands, but you can see these marks. Does that scare you?"
Before Zhong Ying could say anything, Li Linshi grabbed her waist, forcing her to turn over and lie on her side. He then pressed himself against her again and pulled her into his arms.
Behind Zhong Ying's back, Li Linshi's face suddenly darkened, his gaze filled with a sinister yet possessive fervor.
Long after all worries were eliminated, it was no longer just a superficial attempt.
Li Linshi lowered his head and kissed Zhong Ying's nape. "Tell me, if he sees such a bizarre scene, won't he go crazy from fright, or maybe he'll just die of fright, saving me the trouble of doing anything..."
Li Linshi knew that his mindset was very wrong. After losing the basic needs of eating and sleeping that ordinary people have, all his desires were focused on Zhong Ying, which inevitably made him stubborn and crazy. Just imagining things made him unable to control himself.
Even Li Linshi himself was afraid of him like this, so he could only forcefully make her turn to the side, because he didn't want to see the fear on Zhong Ying's face.
Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, Li Linshi sensed a reaction that seemed to be excitement.
Zhong Ying was indeed excited. What kind of pervert is this in bed? It's more like oral sex.
"I didn't expect you to have mastered n/t/r so naturally!" Zhong Ying said, turning her head to look at Li Lin during a break in her movements, and then affectionately touched his face.
Li Linshi's "darkened" expression suddenly turned into blankness. "What...what are you talking about?"
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Author's note: New knowledge point: interrupting spellcasting lol
I'm out of ideas, I'm completely out of ideas. [Sighs]
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