Chapter 18 Side Quest: She never intended to do any stand-in literature...
Zhong Ying knew that the ghost had been following her, probably because of what she had said and wanted to find out the reason. So, after her family members went back to their rooms to sleep, she went back to her own room and, without keeping the ghost in suspense, said directly, "You know about schizophrenia, but do you know about depression?"
Li Linshi hadn't expected her to say something like that right away. He stopped in his tracks, and in a moment of realization, he asked, "You think Changgui has depression?"
“Yes, I have a friend in modern times who suffers from depression.” Zhong Ying wanted to sit on the bed, but the ailments of modern people prevented her from sitting on the bed in her outdoor clothes. There was no stool in her room, and she couldn’t change her clothes in front of this male ghost, so she could only stand there.
Zhong Ying recalled what her friend had complained about. She said her parents scolded her for being spoiled and that her good life had spoiled her. They said that decades ago, nobody suffered from depression.
This is truly hell. Zhong Ying thought of Li Changgui, whom she had met today. The reason why no one suffers from depression in this era is because people consider it a sign of laziness. Under such ignorant and backward thinking, it seems that only physical pain can be called an illness, while unseen and intangible mental ailments are only blamed.
"Didn't you say your cousin grew up following you around? Didn't you notice he has depression?" Zhong Ying stood with her arms crossed, thinking of her friend, her words carrying a hint of accusation.
"What kind of sexual depression?" Cao Fang entered through the wall. "I just saw my daughter come home after washing the clothes and came over right away. Ying'er, you said that young man Changgui is sick, is it this kind of sexual depression? What kind of illness is it? Does it mean he has no sexual desire? Can't have children?"
“It’s the ‘yu’ in ‘melancholy’.” Zhong Ying had to explain what depression was.
She spoke with a dry mouth, "So his behavior isn't really called 'laziness,' but rather the somatization of depression. He wasn't too lazy to do these things, but rather his body felt like it was carrying a heavy stone, and he really couldn't muster the energy."
Upon hearing this, Cao Fang frowned and said worriedly, "How could this happen? How could such a fine young man develop such a problem?"
Zhong Ying didn't answer, but silently looked at the male ghost.
“…I don’t know either.” Li Linshi looked somewhat frustrated.
He was quiet and reserved since childhood. Most of the children in Tonggan Village preferred to play with Zhong Cheng, who was crazy and noisy. Few were willing to play with Li Linshi. Only Li Changgui from his third uncle's family always followed behind him with eyes full of admiration, calling him "Fourth Cousin" excitedly.
In Li Linshi's heart, Li Changgui was not only his cousin with close blood ties, but also his closest friend since childhood. They went to the village school together every day and learned to write words on the yellow earth with wooden sticks. Although the two later went their separate ways.
Li Changgui was the only son in his family. His parents did not want their son to go out into the world, so like some other children in Tonggan Village, Li Changgui studied at the village primary school for five years and then continued to farm.
Li Linshi was intelligent. He went from a village primary school to Liuzhang Middle School in the town, and was selected to enter the county high school with excellent grades, ranking among the top three in his grade. He walked step by step on an increasingly narrow "single-plank bridge". His hard work day and night finally passed the test of the college entrance examination and stepped into university.
He did a quick calculation and realized that until he returned to the Tonggan production team this June, after three years at Liuzhang Middle School, three years at the county high school, and five years studying at the Capital University, Li Linshi hadn't paid much attention to his cousin for eleven years.
Even when Zhong Ying casts an inquiring glance, Li Linshi is unable to provide any answer. He genuinely doesn't know when Li Changgui started showing symptoms of depression, nor what caused Li Changgui's depression.
Li Linshi suddenly felt a sense of shame. While he was tirelessly improving himself and wholeheartedly moving towards his goal, had he also neglected many things? He couldn't even recall many memories of his family and friends from those eleven years.
Li Linshi looked up at Zhong Ying, their eyes met, and they stared at each other for a moment.
Zhong Ying spoke first, "It's not that it's impossible, but if I help you with something, you won't discard me after you've served your purpose, will you?"
Li Linshi ignored the probing in her words and, learning from her directness, reassured her, "I won't kill you."
He had long since given up the idea of taking her life.
Upon hearing this, Zhong Ying felt a sense of relief and said, "It's a deal."
"What? Is it because I'm from a different generation than you? I can't understand what you're saying." Cao Fang looked at Zhong Ying and then at Li Lin, completely bewildered.
Zhong Ying explained to her, "I'm helping him find out the reason for Li Changgui's depression. Aunt, you can be a witness. Li Linshi said he won't kill me anymore. If he goes back on his word, you have to stop him. I still have a use for this life. I also need to help you find out from Zhong Ni what kind of young man she likes."
Cao Fang nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes, don't worry, niece."
Zhong Ying took on two side quests at once. The two ghosts could keep each other in check while she helped them. Great, her life was safe now.
As for the key figures corresponding to the two side quests, Zhong Ni is quite close to her. She is only two years younger than Zhong Ying, and the two are of similar age and cousins. They gradually became acquainted after gathering firewood several times.
Zhong Ying strolled ahead, dragging her bamboo rake along. She piled a large amount of firewood onto the rake's teeth without picking it up herself. The people behind her conscientiously picked up the firewood and put it into the baskets they were carrying.
The young people nearby followed suit and eagerly stepped forward to help, saying, "Sister, let me do it."
Zhong Ni couldn't argue with him, so she could only let her younger brother, Zhong Shuanzhu, take the basket off her back.
"Let him do it." Zhong Ying continued dragging the bamboo rake forward with a relaxed expression. "Isn't it only right for a younger brother to help his older sister with chores?"
Zhong Xin, with a good-natured demeanor, nodded honestly, "My mother asked me to come along so I could help my sister carry her basket."
Zhong Ni couldn't help but look envious; her father would only scold her and make her learn to do chores eagerly.
Zhong Ying glanced at Zhong Shuanzhu beside her; the young man, only sixteen years old, still had clear, innocent eyes.
“Luckily, these two kids are like me,” Cao Fang said, floating in mid-air with a look of relief, “unlike that old man.”
After blurting it out, Cao Fang suddenly realized that no one could hear her now. She looked down at Zhong Ying in alarm. Seriously speaking, this niece was related to the old man by blood, but not to her, her aunt.
Zhong Ying remained calm after hearing the story, only glancing at Cao Fang before concluding that her aunt's words were not wrong.
Cao Fang died at the young age of twenty-eight, still retaining the appearance of youth. When she floated beside Zhong Ni, they looked like sisters rather than mother and daughter. Zhong Qiushou, on the other hand, was already halfway to the grave. Farmers exposed to the wind and sun in the fields naturally look old, and his appearance reflected his inner state. His narrow-mindedness was evident on his face. Zhong Ying remembered that she had met Uncle Zhong at Li Linshi's funeral. He was already a very typical old man.
Fortunately, Zhong Shuanzhu wasn't like that old man, otherwise Zhong Ying would have told this cousin to get lost long ago.
With that in mind, Zhong Ying was willing to talk to her cousin a little longer.
"Shuanzhu, look at me. Although I can't say I'm a great older sister, my brother is definitely the best younger brother in our production team!" Zhong Ying's praise made Zhong Xin, who was standing next to her, lower his head in embarrassment.
Zhong Ying continued, "Look at your sister, she's an absolutely wonderful sister. She's been incredibly good to you. She's only three years older than you, but she's raised you since you were little. If she doesn't have a bite to eat, you'll definitely have one too. She's like a mother to you..."
The power of emotional appeal is enough to make a grown man cry. Zhong Shuanzhu raised his arm and wiped his eyes. "I know, cousin. I will definitely strive to be a good younger brother in the production team! I will treat my sister with all my heart for the rest of my life!"
Zhong Ying's bright black eyes were full of "Young man, you have a lot of awareness, I have high hopes for you," and she patted Zhong Shuanzhu's shoulder. "Good, that's what a man should be like! Don't listen to those people who say that chores like gathering firewood and washing clothes should be done by women, and that whoever does it best should do it. Your sister has to put in twelve times the effort to do these chores well, and you're probably only putting in half the effort, so—"
"So it's better if I do it!" Zhong Shuanzhu was successfully "brainwashed" and enthusiastically snatched the bamboo rake from Zhong Ni's hand, "Sister, I'll do it!"
He huffed and puffed as he strode ahead, carrying a basket and dragging a rake. Zhong Ni inexplicably saw the shadow of the old ox in the production team in her younger brother's back.
However, Zhong Ni suddenly had nothing to do, and she panicked a little. "This, this won't do. Shuanzhu, let me do it."
Zhong Ying pulled her back, "I'm telling you, don't always put yourself in his shoes. He's not a three-year-old. You've protected him for so many years, it's time to turn the tables. Listen to me, don't just be nice to others, be nice to yourself too."
Zhong Ni's eyes were touched. She had always been confined to the role of caregiver, and no one had ever cared for her like this before...
Zhong Ying was the oldest among everyone present, both physically and spiritually. She waved her hand and said to her younger siblings, "After we finish gathering firewood, come with me to my house. I'll get you brown sugar water to drink!"
Zhong Ni and Zhong Shuanzhu, who turned around, both had excited expressions on their faces. Compared to their parents, who had broken off all ties and never contacted each other again, they still longed to be closer to their relatives.
Only Zhong Xin asked doubtfully, "Sister, did Mother say that?"
“I said it,” Zhong Ying replied.
Zhong Xin immediately understood, "Sis, you're trying to steal the brown sugar from the cupboard!"
Zhong Ying remained unfazed. "Hey, how can taking your own things be considered stealing?"
Hearing this from the side, Zhong Ni couldn't help but feel uneasy. "How about we forget it, cousin? Shuanzhu and I will just drink water..."
"It's okay, even if my mother finds out, she won't hit me." Zhong Ying winked at her.
Zhong Ni then pursed her lips and smiled softly.
Zhong Ying returned the smile, feeling that after a few more rounds of building goodwill and establishing a "sisterly" bond, she could ask about the secrets between the sisters and find out what kind of boy Zhong Ni liked for her aunt.
While one side quest is progressing smoothly, another is proving to be much more difficult.
The first major difficulty is the difference in gender.
In an era where the separation of men and women was strictly observed, it was not very convenient for Zhong Ying to directly try to get close to Li Changgui. Fortunately, one of them was "cunning, lazy, greedy, and sly," and the other was "lazy," and they could only do five or six work points' worth of work, so they would inevitably run into each other sometime.
In the newly planted cornfield, seedlings sprouted and grew. Soon after they emerged, they needed to be thinned out. People in the fields called this "the first weeding," which means weeding for the first time. The weeds were removed from the seedlings that were growing too densely or were weak, so that they could be kept at a reasonable distance from the plants to receive sunlight and fertilizer.
Li Ming, the production team leader, kept a close eye on the situation in the fields. He knew which ridges had sparser seedlings and which had denser ones. The sparser ridges required less work, so he assigned fewer work points; the denser ridges required more work and were more tiring, so he naturally assigned more work points.
After receiving their short-handled hoes from the custodian Li Gangshi, the people lined up at the edge of the field, each assigned to a row where the seedlings needed to be thinned. Zhong Ying and Li Changgui, who were not good at working, were assigned to two adjacent rows with sparse seedlings.
Weeding seedlings requires bending over at an angle of over 90 degrees to carefully see what the seedlings are doing in the soil. Under the scorching summer sun, even though Li Linshi, the "portable air conditioner," was there to cool things down, Zhong Ying didn't sweat much, but after working for a while, her back and waist ached.
Fortunately, the row of seedlings that Zhong Ying was responsible for was sparse. She gritted her teeth and persevered until she finished weeding without stopping. Only then did she straighten her back, stretch her back and stretch to relieve the pain. While everyone else in the field was busy working, she quietly returned the way she came and approached the young man who was working on the row next to her.
Li Changgui sensed someone approaching, looked up and saw Zhong Ying working on the ridge next to him. He then lowered his head and silently quickened his pace, trying to create some distance between them.
Zhong Ying was still thinking about how to start the conversation. Men are such a hassle; if you don't know how to handle it, they can easily misunderstand you.
She was lost in thought, unaware that Li Changgui wanted to shake her off, and followed him without realizing it.
Li Changgui gripped the short-handled hoe tightly, glared at Zhong Ying, and squeezed out through gritted teeth, "Don't follow me, I have no plans to get married."
See, see, Zhong Ying was rebuffed, and the first thing that came to her mind was, "Just as I thought. Men are always so confident. She hasn't even said anything yet, who said she wanted to marry him?"
However, Li Changgui's gloomy expression when he turned cold resembled the water ghost standing on the ground not far away. Zhong Ying looked at the two cousins, one human and one ghost, and couldn't help but sigh, "You and your cousin really do look a bit alike."
This opening line was clearly a failure, because Li Changgui's expression darkened further, his eyes filled with hatred and disgust. He lowered his voice and said fiercely, "How dare you say such a thing? How can you face my fourth cousin? He died for you so long and you want to use me as a replacement? Stay away from me!"
After saying that, Li Changgui walked directly to the end of his row and began thinning the seedlings from back to front, keeping a good distance from Zhong Ying.
Zhong Ying frowned, looking constipated and speechless. She had no intention of doing any stand-in literature at all!
Some people had already finished their work in twos and threes. Some people went to help others, while those who did not want to help sat down in the shade at the edge of the field to rest until everyone had finished hoeing and then they would all call it a day.
Zhong Ying avoided the others and found a place to sit down. Then she said to the male ghost who had come with her, "If it were you approaching Li Changgui, it would definitely be easier than me. He's too wary of me! Am I the kind of person who falls in love with every guy I see? What are men? Do you think I want to marry him just because I see him?"
As she spoke, Zhong Ying's temper flared up. This was an insult, an insult to her dignity!
Li Linshi remained silent. He felt that he couldn't entirely blame his cousin, after all, he had been the one who suffered the consequences. His cousin's avoidance of Zhong Ying was understandable.
Zhong Ying looked at him and said, "It's not that I'm slacking off. Your cousin isn't cooperating, so I can only find another opportunity later. With him like this, I can only take it slow and steady."
Li Linshi nodded. "Mm."
The fields weren't as busy in the following days, and Zhong Ying had some free time, so she didn't find another opportunity to get close to Li Changgui.
With the work in the fields no longer holding Deng Xia's attention, her focus shifted back to her home. The zucchini in the private plot behind the house were ripe, so Deng Xia decided to treat her family to a good meal; she was going to make dumplings.
Shred the zucchini, squeeze out the excess water, add chopped green onions and salt, and a small piece of rendered pork fat saved from the Lunar New Year. Just looking at the filling makes everyone's mouth water.
Old Man Zhong and Zhong Xin were the type who silently drooled, while Zhong Ying was the one who drooled aloud, "Mom, fry a few more eggs and add them in, it'll taste even better!"
Zhong Guoqiang, though young, was still very greedy and immediately chimed in, "Add an egg! Grandma, Auntie said to add an egg!"
Miao Suyun, who was about to knead the dough, glared at her son. His grandmother had already taken out the flour and started kneading the dough!
Zhong Guoqiang immediately became obedient after being glared at by his mother. At such a young age, he had already understood a principle: he had no right to raise his voice in this family. What his aunt wanted was her privilege, and what he couldn't.
"You greedy girl, all you ever do is ask for the best things! Our three chickens are laying eggs non-stop and we still don't have enough to eat! I was trying to save up some eggs to exchange for something else. Where do you think we get our salt, matches, and soap from?" Although Deng Xia's words were full of complaints, her actions betrayed her. She had already stood up and was about to go to the chicken coop to check if there were any eggs left.
“There are only three chickens in total. The roosters are useless, and only two hens lay eggs, so of course it’s not enough to eat,” Zhong Ying said.
“What do you mean it’s useless? A rooster can crow, can’t it?” Deng Xia retorted.
Zhong Ying casually remarked, "All it has is a mouth."
The others just watched with amusement as the mother and daughter bickered back and forth.
Suddenly, a terrified and shrill scream shattered the tranquility of the village.
Deng Xia, who was about to crack an egg on the edge of the table, was so startled by the sudden noise that she almost dropped the precious egg in her hand. "Who is this? Why are you so startled?"
A pale but strong hand gripped the edge of the well in the yard. Then, with a push, a male ghost with black hair still dripping water emerged from the upper body. This terrifying scene, no less horrifying than Sadako crawling out of the television, was witnessed only by Zhong Ying. Even though she had encountered this ghost many times and was quite familiar with him, she was still startled and almost cursed out loud. Fortunately, she remained rational, as none of the Zhong family members around her could see him.
Li Linshi had no time to worry about whether the water on his body had soaked his white shirt again. He couldn't care about anything else at the moment. He just looked at Zhong Ying with his dark eyes, which seemed to have lost all light, and said with difficulty, "Chang Gui committed suicide."
Zhong Ying's eyes widened suddenly.
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Author's Note: This is just a personal choice for the character. It's better to be alive, because only by being alive can you see so many good novels (when I'm not writing, I eat a lot, and other authors write so well [let me see]).
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