Chapter 60: Pride is finally willing to talk to me?
Zhou Linjin stood under a big tree not far from Shen Lianxiu's house for almost the entire morning.
He saw Luo Wuniang go out for a while, and Luo Wuniang obviously saw him, but then she lowered her head and hurried away. After a while, Luo Wuniang brought back her child, and An An followed. Then Luo Wuniang and the child returned home, and An An returned to her own home.
An An didn't notice Zhou Linjin, and Zhou Linjin didn't call her.
After a while, Bi Cha came back and told Zhou Linjin that the matter had been settled.
Then Zhou Linjin saw someone hurriedly going to Luo Wu Niang's house. Bi Cha said that it was the aunt of the Wang family at the entrance of the village. Zhou Linjin turned his head away and didn't look again.
In addition, there were five or six people who came to Chen Lianxiu's house to see a doctor. As soon as they came out, Zhou Linjin would ask Bi Cha to go and tell them that Chen Lianxiu's husband had returned.
It was almost noon when Chen Lianxiu finally stopped. Some people in the village didn't know that she had returned home, so not many people came to see her today. Although there were not many patients, Chen Lianxiu examined them carefully. Sometimes, if she found medicinal materials she had, she would directly prescribe medicine for them, which took more time.
After seeing off the last patient, Chen Lianxiu saw that no one else came. She rubbed her aching waist and shoulders, and remembered that she had been busy all morning and had not gone to buy vegetables. She wanted to go to Luo Wuniang's field next door to pick some more vegetables to eat. Someone should come to see a doctor soon in the afternoon. After all, she had been away for a long time, and she was treating some chronic diseases or minor illnesses of some villagers, so someone would definitely come.
After leaving the house, Chen Lianxiu first saw An An squatting under the eaves, playing with a snail out of boredom. He looked a little listless and not very happy.
Shen Lianxiu could tell at a glance that something was wrong with her own daughter.
Most of the time, An An would go out to play with the kids next door when Shen Lianxiu was busy. There were only two families living nearby, so it was a very normal thing for them. They were the only ones who had so much fun that they forgot to come back for dinner, and were finally caught by Luo Wuniang. They never came home early, and every time they came back, they were sweating and extremely excited. But it was not like today. The two little tufts of hair on her head were still neatly combed, the same as they were in the morning, without even a strand of hair sticking out. Her face and neck were also dry and smooth, with no trace of sweat.
"What's wrong?" Shen Lianxiu bent down and asked her, "Did you have a fight with your friends?"
An An shook his head, poked the snail a few times with a straw, watched the snail shrink back, and said, "Let's go home."
Chen Lianxiu didn't take it too seriously. Even if it was just a quarrel between children, it would be fine after a while. There was no need to get involved.
She straightened up and saw Zhou Linjin leaning against a big tree with his arms folded not far away, and Bi Cha next to him had just finished talking to someone. That person was the patient who had just left her.
Chen Lianxiu immediately had a bad premonition and she hurried out of the house, but the patient had already walked far away and Zhou Linjin was looking at her over there, so she didn't dare to chase him or shout anymore.
Chen Lianxiu frowned and wanted to go over and ask Zhou Linjin what he was doing, but if he took the initiative to speak, his plan would be ruined.
She glanced at Zhou Linjin coldly, then turned her gaze to Bi Cha who was standing there. Bi Cha lowered his head and didn't dare to look at her. Shen Lianxiu was about to call Bi Cha over to ask, but suddenly she heard Luo Wu Niang calling her softly in the small courtyard next door: "A Yu, come here, come here..."
Chen Lianxiu waved at Luo Wuniang, indicating that she understood, then turned back to get a vegetable basket from home, picked up An An who was still squatting on the ground playing with snails, and went straight to Luo Wuniang's house without even looking at Zhou Linjin.
Luo Wuniang was anxiously waiting for her in the yard. As soon as Chen Lianxiu arrived, she pulled Chen Lianxiu into the house.
Chen Lianxiu put down the basket and said, "Wu Niang, pick some vegetables for me..."
"Oh, what are you still pulling vegetables for?" Luo Wuniang interrupted her hastily, pointing outside. "Tell me clearly, what's going on with that person?"
Chen Lianxiu said: "It's nothing serious, he's going back to Beijing soon, don't worry about it."
Luo Wuniang frowned: "Do you know what he said to me early in the morning?"
Chen Lianxiu's heart skipped a beat and she asked, "What did he say?"
"It's also my fault for not keeping my mouth shut. The children at home heard it and said bad things about him in front of him..." Luo Wuniang's face showed a slightly embarrassed look, and she glanced at Chen Lianxiu tentatively, "He said that An An is his biological daughter."
The cicadas chirped noisily outside the house. Although it was a hot day, Shen Lianxiu felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head.
She thought this was a matter between her and Zhou Linjin. No matter how much Zhou Linjin pestered her, she never thought that he would tell it directly to the people around her.
Since Luo Wuniang knew everything, then Bi Cha and those people must have been talking about the same thing just now.
In fact, she was not afraid that others would know that Zhou Linjin was An An's father, but Chen Lianxiu was very afraid that others would follow up on this and ask about the past that she did not want to mention again.
She didn't know if she would be able to calm down and be at ease with all those unbearable and embarrassing things as time passed. For now, she couldn't face it.
Luo Wuniang looked at Shen Lianxiu's instantly pale face, and she understood something in her heart. She sighed, helped Shen Lianxiu sit down at the table, poured her a cup of tea, and said, "Alas, I should have seen it earlier."
"Wu Niang, I..." Chen Lianxiu choked and could not continue.
Luo Wuniang waved her hand: "I don't blame you for not telling me the truth. In fact, think about it, I have lived on my own for so many years, and there is no need to talk about it. What happened in the past is in the past. Don't say it anymore. I don't want to hear it either."
Chen Lianxiu's heart ached, and she almost shed tears: "I... I'm not his concubine. Anyway, I'm not in those business, so don't doubt me..."
"I won't miss you that much. The Yu family knows Baixi Village inside and out, and you and I have been together for so many years. How could I not know what kind of person you are?" Luo Wuniang patted Shen Lianxiu's cold hand, and she became worried for a moment. "But now he has come to find you, what are you going to do? Before, you just said that he would go back to the capital, and I didn't think much of it. But given the current situation, I don't think he will leave so easily. What if he wants to snatch An An from you?"
Chen Lianxiu was silent for a while, then said, "He came to Baixi Village on official business, not for me and An'an. When I was with him before, he was blind, so he had no idea what I looked like. That's why I pretended to be dumb at first, trying to fool him, but he found out. But even so, he couldn't have stayed in Baixi Village forever. He told me that An'an and I should go back with him, and he also said that he wouldn't take An'an with me. I believe him on this point. He's not the kind of person who would lie and flatter others."
"Then we can only delay it until he comes back, but...what if he comes back again?"
"Let's talk about the future later. Anyway, I'm not leaving. He can't tie me back."
Luo Wuniang hesitated for a moment and said, "If it wasn't a big deal in the past, think about it carefully. It's common for couples to quarrel. He left in anger, but looking back, it's nothing serious. I see that he has a very good look, and he doesn't look like someone with a cunning and evil heart. After all, he is An An's biological father. You..."
"It's a big deal." Chen Lianxiu knew what Luo Wuniang would say next, and she also understood the principle of persuading reconciliation rather than separation, but she still stopped Luo Wuniang from continuing. "I don't blame him. I'll just think that everything is my own fault, but I will never get over this hurdle in my heart. You don't need to persuade me anymore."
Luo Wuniang rarely saw Chen Lianxiu so resolute. In her impression, she was always gentle and easy to talk to, and she would never take anything to heart. She thought she should be easy to coax. If she was not really hurt, she would not say such words.
So, upon hearing this, Luo Wuniang just sighed heavily and said nothing more. She left Shen Lianxiu sitting there and took the vegetable basket she had brought over. She went to the field to pull out a cabbage and two cucumbers, some homemade pickles, a piece of tofu that was left over from lunch, and half a freshly cooked chicken, and stuffed them all into the basket for her.
Chen Lianxiu was lost in thought for a while. When Luo Wuniang finished packing and brought it over, she stood up and took the basket. She said, "Wu Niang, thank you. I ate at your house yesterday and again today. When I have time, I'll buy you some chicken and duck."
"No, no, usually when someone in our family has a headache or fever, you are the one who treats them. You don't charge us and you even get us medicine. This little thing is nothing at all." Luo Wuniang said as she saw that she was walking unsteadily, so she sent her out.
Chen Lianxiu called An An, who was playing with her friends over there. Just as she was about to leave, Luo Wu Niang seemed to remember something and whispered to her, "Oh, I forgot to tell you just now. Aunt Wang just came to see me. They also went to the Wang family and told them to stop bothering you."
Shen Lianxiu paused, his expression becoming even darker.
"I was going to refuse the Wang family on your behalf, but I didn't have time... Look at what this has caused," Luo Wuniang said, "and the one who went was the servant next to him. Madam Wang felt humiliated, and her words were rude when she came over. I can't explain much on your behalf. After all, you didn't have that intention in the first place. It's all my fault for acting on my own. I was just trying to set you up..."
Chen Lianxiu took An An's hand, took a deep breath to calm down, and said: "I don't blame you, I know in my heart whose fault it is."
Luo Wuniang opened her mouth, hesitantly wanting to say something else, but Chen Lianxiu had already turned around and walked away quickly, so Luo Wuniang could only sigh.
Zhou Linjin's eyes were still fixed on her as she passed by. Shen Lianxiu returned home and wanted to cook first, but she couldn't calm down. So she could only break off a chicken leg for An An to chew on. She put everything aside and went out.
Bi Cha had just bought some food outside and was planning to have a quick bite with Zhou Linjin. When he saw Chen Lianxiu coming over angrily, he quickly slipped aside with the food box.
Zhou Linjin slowly stood up from the tree and watched Shen Lianxiu walk up to him.
He had never seen her so angry before, not now, and this was what she looked like when she was angry.
Before he could speak, he saw Shen Lianxiu bit his lower lip heavily and said, “I didn’t think so before, but now that I’m away from the capital, I realize that you are so arrogant.”
Zhou Linjin's eyes were filled with smiles: "Finally you're willing to talk to me?"
Chen Lianxiu glanced at him coldly and turned his head away.
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