Chapter 61 Returning Home

A man came over from the other side of the alley. He stared at the smirking Lin Shu and felt as if his soul had been seduced away.

Lin Shu felt that the sticky and uncomfortable look was just like the wretched man she met when she was a child. She turned her head and glared at him fiercely, saying fiercely: "What are you looking at!"

She walked away quickly with the flour bag on her back and the ladle in her hand.

The man stood behind her with a more frenzied look.

At the Xu family, Xu's mother cried breathlessly, and the little grandson lay on her, also crying.

Xu Shihua sighed, helped Xu's mother up and sent her to the kang, and made her a bowl of brown sugar water.

"Mom, it's not that our family can't afford to eat now, why are you still so hungry?"

Xu's mother sobbed, "Who am I doing this for? Isn't it for you and the children? Life is a little better now than before, but there is still not enough food. If I eat one more bite, you and the children will eat one less bite, how can that be? Even if I starve to death, even if I give you my blood and flesh to drink, I can't let you go hungry."

What she said was too heavy, Xu Shihua was too lazy to correct her, and just carried her son up to let him accompany his grandmother on the kang.

Mother Xu drank some brown sugar water to regain some strength, and then gave it to her grandson. She said to Xu Shihua, "I don't know what nonsense your wife said when she returned to her parents' home. Her mother came over to ask for food, and her sister-in-law came over to snatch food. How much can a child like Xiaoyou eat? I think they have colluded with each other and are targeting our family."

Xu Shihua said nothing, because he knew that no matter what he said, his mother had her logic.

Xu's mother continued, "Is she dissatisfied with us for not giving her a betrothal gift? But she didn't want it herself, and we didn't refuse to give it. Wasn't the dowry she brought less than others?"

She started crying again, "Isn't it just grinding the mill? I've suffered all kinds of hardships and done all kinds of work. How can I let her grind the mill and my own mother squeezes me out, and my sister-in-law bullies me? Oh, our food, yours and Yaoyao's food, it hurts me so much."

Xu Shihua immediately said, "Mom, don't cry, I'll borrow some food coupons from my colleagues later and buy some more. Come back with some noodles, at worst we can eat corn noodles first."

Xu's mother didn't respond to his words and continued to cry, "Son, mother asked you to hold her, why didn't you hold her, what do you think, can't you move when you see her? Son, you can't be like this, you are such an outstanding person, only women can stick to you, you can't stick to women."

Xu's mother has always been proud of her son's charm. When he was in school, girls gave him notebooks, pens, scarves, meal tickets and so on. She was very proud.

But she herself was very stingy and didn't allow her son to spend a penny on female classmates. If her

son wrote poems to others and female classmates treated him better, she would think it was good and her family was not at a disadvantage at all.

Xu's mother couldn't bear to part with the few kilograms of noodles, and forced Xu Shihua to get them back, "You go, ask her parents-in-law for them, I think they are so shameless."

Xu Shihua said helplessly: "Mom, how did she take it away from you?"

Xu's mother cried again immediately, "I'm old and useless, I'm useless, I'm tired, I'm starving to death, forget it-"

The grandson was holding her and crying, "Grandma, grandma..."

Xu's mother used both soft and hard tactics, forcing and begging, anyway, she wanted Xu Shihua to get the noodles back. But

Xu Shihua couldn't bring herself to do that.

He knew that his father-in-law and mother-in-law didn't like him. When they went to pick up the bride, they didn't smile at all, as if they were going to eat him, so he didn't go to the three-day return visit, and just sent Lu Hehuan to the door and said he would pick her up in the evening.

As a result, she stayed at her parents' house for a night, making him wait for half an hour in vain, and he went home without picking her up.

Didn't she come back later?

Anyway, it's so close, why should he pick her up?

What a pretense.

If he were asked to go to his father-in-law's house to ask for flour now, he couldn't even step into the Lu family's door.

It's not that he doesn't know etiquette, and it's not that he doesn't want to visit his parents-in-law, but he really can't bear the sullen look from his mother-in-law, as if he was a criminal who kidnapped her daughter.

Forget it, let Lu Hehuan go to ask for it.

It was her fault. Her mother asked her to take care of Youyou, so why did she leave the child to her sister-

in-law from her parents' house? As a result, her mother and sister-in-law came to Xu's house to make a fuss, making her mother sick.

He went to Lujiazhuang Primary School to find Lu Hehuan.

Lu Hehuan was in class. When she saw Xu Shihua coming, she was immediately very happy. Her sleepy face was filled with a charming glow.

Xu Shihua thought she was pretty, but not as pretty as Lin Shu.

He had feelings for Lin Shu and felt let down.

It wasn't that he had to be with Lin Shu. He

just felt that when Lin Aidi mentioned it, he went to see her on purpose.

To him, she was not perfect. She was

too cowardly and too beautiful.

He was not a person who judged people by appearance. When choosing a partner, he not only looked at appearance but also focused on soul and inner qualities. Whether

the other person could understand his soul and thoughts, whether they had a common language, and whether they could provide substantial help to his career.

Wait...

Although she was not good enough, he reluctantly fell in love with her.

He thought so much and was mentally prepared to marry a flashy vase woman, ready to face more storms and difficulties in the second half of his life because of her, but in the end... the Lin family did not agree.

To be honest, he was a little disappointed, no, a little angry.

But he was a generous and well-mannered person, and did not care about these.

After all, women were only a part of his life, a not very important part, and there was no need to worry about it. If

she did not agree, there were countless women vying to marry him.

But he was not so obsessed with women, just so-so. Most of them were superficial, vulgar, philistine, and nagging. No matter how bright and beautiful they were when they were young, they would become as boring as dead fish eyes when they reached a certain age, and they were extremely disgusting.

They attached themselves to you like blood-sucking leeches and would not stop until they had squeezed you dry.

If you don't obey them, they will cry, make a scene, or even threaten to commit suicide, using both soft and hard tactics to force you to agree.

If you want to live a peaceful life for a few days, you have to surrender. If you don't surrender, they will blow the horn of war and make you restless.

It feels like being on the vast dark sea, you can't see any light, and there is no hope.

Then you sink, sinking continuously, and just when you are about to sink to the bottom of the sea, you see a faint starlight coming from the shore.

It is the lighthouse on the coast, which can point you in the direction but cannot give you strength.

And she stands there, watching you up and down, laughing at you, without a trace of sympathy.

This is the way the world is.

Xu Shihua's mind is full of his loneliness, solitude, darkness, lighthouse, lack of freedom, and lack of recognition, but Lu Hehuan is full of joy, thinking that he came to see her and wanted to see her.

As soon as the class was over, she ran out without assigning any homework, and flew towards him like a bird flying into the forest, "Shihua!"

Xu Shihua dodged immediately, and her frowning brows became even tighter, "Be careful of the impact."

Lu Hehuan smiled innocently, "Shihua, you are looking for me, do you want to go for a walk by the river with me? I know a place, there is a forest, a path, countless wild flowers, and a clear stream, which can definitely help you find inspiration for writing."

Xu Shihua was impatient, thinking: Look, these women will ask him to do this and that, and let him compromise himself to cooperate with them. If this is not taking advantage of him, what is it?

Why should he satisfy her?

Why should he compromise himself to make her happy?

Her smile was vulgar and dazzling, and he was not responsible for it.

She came to him on her own, so why should he flatter her?

Was she worthy?

He frowned and said calmly, "Don't just think about playing during work."

Lu Hehuan was disappointed by him, but she was not annoyed and was still happy. "Then what do you want to do? I will accompany you. Anyway, I don't have classes next week. I will have classes in the afternoon."

Xu Shihua frowned even more tightly, "If you have nothing to do, go home and help your mother with some work. Don't run around and play all day long."

Except for writing those lonely and cold poems himself, he and Lu Hehuan have never had any poetic feelings, and he has never written poems for her. Their life and conversations are all about work, work, work, taking care of children, grinding mills, fetching water, feeding pigs, and working in their own plots. My mother has a hard life, you must be filial to her.

Lu Hehuan then realized something was wrong and frowned, "What are you doing? You come up and blame me, I thought you came to see me because you missed me."

Xu Shihua: "Didn't you go back to your parents' home?"

Lu Hehuan thought he didn't like her going back to her parents' home, and got angry. She stuck out her tongue and said playfully: "Okay, don't be angry, I'll ask you next time I go back to my parents' home."

She pulled his arm and shook it, tilted her head to look at him, blinking her beautiful big eyes, "Okay?"

Xu Shihua just thought she was annoying, artificial, and pretentious, "Your mother and your sister-in-law came home and took away a lot of food, you let them?"

Lu Hehuan was stunned, "My sister-in-law ? My mother and I know that my mother is getting food for Xiaoyou, a bucket of corn flour, how can my sister-in-law get it? "

Xu Shihua shook her hand away, "Mom said, let you go and get it back. It's okay what your mother took away, but your sister-in-law took away the flour I just bought, which is Yaoyao's food, bring it back."

Lu Hehuan frowned and pouted, stamping his feet, "Why is my sister-in-law like this! Too much! I'll go ask her for it!"

Xu Shihua put his hands in his pockets, lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking, and raised his head and said, "I'll take you there."

He didn't know why, but he always felt that there was a ball of fire burning in front of his eyes, burning him a little flustered. He wanted to get closer, but was afraid that it would be too hot.

This was what he wanted, and he was willing to devote himself to it.

He wanted to write poems for her.

The two arrived at Lujiazhuang, but before they could go to Lu's house, they were stopped by Xu Xiaoyou.

"Dad, Mom?"

Mrs. Qiu and a few others were there. She shouted to Lu Hehuan, "Hehuan, are you and your son-in-law coming back to give money to your sister-in-law?"

Mrs. Qiu continued, "I told you that your mother-in-law is really an open-minded person. I misunderstood her before. At that time, she didn't give you a dowry or make new clothes for you. I thought she was alone. Now she wants you to send your daughter to live with her parents. I thought, wow, this old woman is really calculating!"

Lu Hehuan was so embarrassed that he waved his hands again and again, "No, it's not my mother-in-law..."

Xu Shihua's face was gloomy as if it was going to thunder and rain.

Jin Ping'er pinched her throat and said, "What a generous person. My granddaughter is at the second grandmother's house, and they sent some vegetables over today. They also asked Shaotang's wife to go to the back and bring back some eggs, saying that my son and his wife would give me five yuan later."

Lu Hehuan smiled awkwardly and wanted to pull Xu Shihua away.

The 93-year-old uncle sighed, "Why does this young man not want to talk to us old people? Look at his wrinkled brows. Young man, I'm an experienced old man. I tell you, you should live the kind of life you are. If you are frowning all day long, you should live a frowning life. If you are happy all day long, you should live a happy life."

An old woman said, "This son-in-law is really no good. He doesn't even smile when he returns to his father-in-law's house. He really doesn't give face to his daughter-in-law."

"Not at all. He didn't even send his daughter-in-law back when she returned to her parents' home."

"He is busy. Is he busier than Shaotang? Shaotang went to pick up the bride by himself, and accompanied his wife to return home for three days before leaving."

Xu Shihua's wrinkled brows became tighter, his face turned ashen, and his fingers were clenched in his trouser pockets.

But in her heart, she thought: These old fools, half buried in the ground, know nothing. I won't bother with them.

Seeing that his face was extremely gloomy, Lu Hehuan knew that she couldn't go back to her parents' home to ask for face, so she had to pull Xu Shihua away.

On the way, Xu Shihua walked fast and fast with big strides, as if she was afraid that Lu Hehuan would catch up.

Lu Hehuan trotted after him, "Shihua, wait for me."

Xu Shihua suddenly stopped and suppressed her anger, but her tone was angry and ashamed, "Lu Hehuan, are you satisfied now? You let me go back to my parents' home with you just to let them humiliate me?"

Lu Hehuan blinked, a little puzzled, "That... Shihua, didn't you want to come here?"

Xu Shihua's heart slammed.

He said angrily: "You always blamed me for not accompanying you back to your parents' home. You saw it today, and that's why I didn't come back."

Lu Hehuan immediately coaxed him and admitted his mistake in a low voice, "I was wrong, I won't let you come back in the future."

Xu Shihua: "You'd better take care of your own affairs, and don't always let your mother and sister-in-law go to my mother for trivial matters."

Lu Hehuan apologized and coaxed him to go home.

She was worried about how to ask her sister-in-law to return the flour.

Oh, why is my sister-in-law so ignorant? She is more calculative than before, and it only makes trouble for her.

Forget it, she will go to her colleagues to borrow a few pounds of grain coupons. At worst, she can pay it back with other things.

Lin Shu was still at home preparing for Lu Hehuan to come to ask for flour, but the three little ones came back and said that their aunt and uncle had just come over and left angrily.

When Tiantian and Panpan were retelling the story, Xu Xiaoyou lowered her head and stood silently. Although she didn't know what the grandmothers were talking about, she could understand that it was not a good thing.

After listening to the story, Lin Shu praised, "Tiantian's speech was clear, and Panpan's gestures were very accurate. Mother understood what was going on."

She then said to Xu Xiaoyou, "Xiaoyou, your aunt has gone to your house to get some food. You must eat enough in the future."

Although Xu Xiaoyou was young, she knew that it was not her grandmother who gave it to her, but her aunt and Grandma Fang who asked for it.

She nodded and said, "Thank you, aunt."

In the evening, Lin Shu told her family about it at the dinner table.

The key point was naturally to tell Lu Ersao and Lu Cuicui, because they were very dissatisfied with Xu Xiaoyou's arrival.

"Today I went to Xu's house and brought back a few kilograms of noodles. Yesterday my mother also went to ask for a ladle of cornmeal and several eggs. These are Xiaoyou's food. I will ask for more after she finishes eating."

After saying that, she scooped a spoonful of eggs and salted vegetables for Xu Xiaoyou, lest she dare not eat it.

Second Sister Lu curled her lips and said nothing.

Now she can no longer laugh at all, just waiting for Lin Shu to make her new shoes.

Late at night.

The sea is as calm as a mirror, reflecting the starry sky.

Suddenly there is a wind, rippling the sea surface, and then there are gusts of wind and waves.

The wind is getting stronger and stronger, and the waves beat against the huge reefs on the coast, making bursts of sobbing sounds.

Chen Yanming wanted to ask Lu Shaotang several times whether he should take action, but he saw that the other party was as steady as a reef without any movement.

He even suspected that Lu had fallen asleep in the sound of the waves.

The soldiers beside him hid on the spot without any orders.

It was as if they did not exist in the dark reef area.

Only a patient hunter can catch the prey he wants.

Lu Shaotang has always been very steady. He knew this when he was five or six years old and went fishing in the river. When hiding, he should be as if he does not exist, and when moving, he should be as fast as thunder.

Based on the intelligence he obtained after risking his life, he gained the trust of the organization and was entrusted by the military district leaders to hide in their own country and then quickly eliminate one enemy base after another and the internal traitors.

This job is not easy, after all, the traitor was once a comrade-in-arms, or one did not expect that the comrade-in-arms turned out to be an enemy undercover.

Fortunately, he never had deep friendships with others, and few people except Chen Yanming knew his specific information.

According to the previous intelligence summary, there is a radio station base near the coast. After unplugging this one, this line is almost done.

Mission accomplished, he can go home!

Although he likes adventure, at this moment when he thinks of home, his heart beats especially strongly, and a gentle ripple ripples in his chest.

He has two lovely children, and he wants to go back and kiss them.

At this moment, there was a flash of light at the target location.

Lu Shaotang gave the signal: Action.

In an instant, a dozen warriors stalked like cheetahs. The previous high-intensity training made them walk on the dark coast as if it were flat ground.

The battle started silently, without any fierce exchange of fire, and ended very quickly.

This is Lu Shaotang's habit, to make as much preparation as possible, to fight as short a battle as possible, preferably with no casualties and no delays.

Through the intelligence collected again, they also have their subordinate contact points in Rongcheng, Qizhou and other places in this province.

Lu Shaotang asked the correspondent to send a telegram to the organization on the spot to report the results of tonight's action and the next action plan.

They will stay in Rongcheng and Qizhou for a while.

His hometown Qingxian belongs to Rongcheng.