Chapter 186 Encountering Xie Yunze teaching Xu Zhili
When Xie Yunze saw Xu Zhili come out, he simply stepped aside and opened the passenger door for her, saying simply, "Get in, I'll take you home."
Xu Zhili thanked her softly and bent down to get into the car.
Xie Yunze carefully closed the car door, walked around the front of the car, and returned to the driver's seat.
Soon, the engine emitted a deep roar, and the jeep smoothly drove out of the arsenal gate, heading towards the Xiangyang Brigade.
Outside the car window, the rural scenery of the 1970s slowly moved backward in the twilight, with wisps of smoke rising from the distant villages, a scene of tranquility.
However, the weather in July is as unpredictable as a child's face, changing in an instant.
Just moments ago, the sun was still shining brightly, but in the blink of an eye, dark clouds rolled in from the horizon, and the sound of rumbling thunder grew louder as it approached, making the air feel oppressive.
Xu Zhili looked at Xie Yunce, who was focused on driving beside her. His profile looked cool and composed in the deepening twilight, and his brows revealed the resolute temperament unique to soldiers.
This made her suddenly recall, somewhat dazedly, that he was said to have been a lively and cheerful boy before he joined the army, with a bright, innocent light shining in his eyes.
This calm and even somewhat aloof image seems to represent two completely different states.
This contrast stirred a subtle and indescribable feeling within her.
Xie Yunce.
Xu Zhili silently repeated the name in her heart one more time.
Initially, she didn't have much interaction with him, and her only impression came from rumors in the village—he was the young man from the Xie family who had joined the army at a young age and now seemed to have some position in the army. Every time he came home to visit his family, he would become the focus of the villagers' discussion.
In everyone's description, he was an extremely upright yet extremely silent person, with a cold and stern look in his eyes that was unique to soldiers.
As my thoughts drifted, a deep and powerful engine sound came from afar.
He was wearing a faded old military uniform, without a military cap, and his hair was cut very short, which made his features look even more rugged.
Rain soaked his shoulders and hair, but he didn't care. He strode up to Xu Zhili, his voice steady, with a hint of barely perceptible restraint: "Xu Zhili, don't worry. I'll take you back."
"Thank you for your help, Comrade Xie Yunze."
Xu Zhili nodded quickly and returned a polite smile.
His gaze lingered on her face for a brief moment before quickly shifting away, and he casually remarked, "The rain is going to get heavier."
Shortly after the car left the county town, a torrential downpour began, with dense raindrops violently pounding against the car roof and hood, making a crackling sound.
Visibility quickly blurred, and the windshield wipers struggled to swing left and right, barely managing to clear a small fan-shaped area.
The already uneven dirt road was instantly turned into a muddy swamp.
The jeep struggled through the mud, its wheels frequently slipping. Xie Yunze gripped the steering wheel with complete concentration.
His arms were taut and his chin was slightly tucked in, clearly indicating that he was struggling to drive.
Suddenly, the car lurched, accompanied by an unsettling spinning sound, as the right front wheel sank heavily into a deep, rain-covered ditch.
No matter how loudly the engine roared, the vehicle could not move forward even an inch.
Xie Yunce frowned and tried to reverse and move forward several times, but the wheels only sank deeper and deeper into the mud pit, splashing up a lot of murky mud.
He promptly turned off the engine.
A military green jeep broke through the increasingly dense rain, but the vehicle got stuck in a hole.
The car door opened, and a tall, upright figure nimbly jumped out.
"The car is stuck; we need to get out and push it."
He turned to Xu Zhili and said in a clear voice amidst the noisy rain, "You stay in the car and keep an eye on the direction for me. If necessary, lightly press the accelerator."
"It's raining so hard, how can you manage by yourself? I'll go down and push it too."
Xu Zhili started to unbuckle her seatbelt.
She knew how difficult it was for one person to push a cart on such a muddy road.
Xie Yunze seemed to want to refuse, but seeing her resolute attitude, he swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue and only said in a deep voice, "Be careful, the road is slippery."
The two rushed into the downpour one after the other. The icy rainwater instantly soaked through their clothes.
Xu Zhili went around to the back of the car and pressed her hands against the cold trunk lid.
Xie Yunze walked to the wheel that was stuck in the ditch and bent down to examine the situation carefully.
"Listen to my command, one, two, three, push!" he shouted.
Xu Zhili gritted her teeth and used all her strength to push forward.
Her heels sank deep into the mud, and the rain blurred her vision.
Xie Yunze leaned half his body against the car, his arm and back muscles bulging, unleashing astonishing power.
"Try again! One, two, three!"
The wheel struggled in the mud for a few turns, finally using the force to lurch upwards! In that instant, the wheel rolled over the edge of the ditch, kicking up a large cloud of murky mud that splashed all over the unsuspecting Xu Zhili. She gasped and instinctively took a step back, nearly slipping.
A strong and warm hand caught her arm just in time, steadying her.
It was Xie Yunce.
He noticed that her brand-new light-colored shirt and blue trousers were already stained with mud, and her face was no exception; her wet hair clung to her forehead and cheeks, making her look quite disheveled.
He quickly withdrew his hand, the movement slightly abrupt. His brows furrowed even more, and obvious annoyance and apology flashed in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," his voice sounded low and muffled in the rain, "I wasn't paying attention..."
"It's alright, it's alright, pushing the cart is the priority."
Xu Zhili wiped the rain and mud off her face and forced a smile.
Although he looked disheveled, it wasn't right to blame him.
Xie Yunze didn't say anything more. He turned around and took out a slightly worn military green towel from the driver's seat. The fabric was thick and it looked quite dry.
He handed it to her, his movements a little stiff, his gaze shifting elsewhere: "It's clean, wipe it."
Xu Zhili was slightly taken aback.
In this era of scarcity, even a good towel was a rare commodity.
She hesitated and said, "Thank you, but no need, I..." Her clothes were soaked through, and wiping them wouldn't help.
"Take it." His words were brief, yet carried an air of undeniable authority, and the towel was already shoved into her hand.
Her fingertips inadvertently brushed against his slightly calloused fingers, and Xu Zhili's heart skipped a beat. She lowered her head and whispered, "...Thank you."
When he wiped his face with the towel, he could smell a faint scent of soapberry, just like the smell in his car.
The slight awkwardness and distance I felt while pushing the stroller seemed to have been quietly absorbed and dissolved by this dry and warm towel.
After we got back on the road, the atmosphere inside the car subtly changed.
The rain was gradually subsiding, but the roads remained difficult to travel on.
The silence no longer felt suffocating; instead, it conveyed a subtle sense of peace.
When passing through the town where the commune was located, Xie Yunze suddenly slowed down and stopped the car under the old locust tree in front of the supply and marketing cooperative.
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