Chapter 34: Heart-to-Heart Talk with Zhang Qian

  Hearing Liu Lele's words, Wang Haodong hesitated for a moment and asked: "Is the scene set up?"

  "Last night was a success, everything went smoothly, but unexpectedly, when I came out of the venue this morning to eat, I was beaten by Wu Bin's people. Two other brothers were also beaten. Lai Zi threatened that anyone who dared to follow Kai Ge would have to see blood next time."

  "It seems that your contradictions have become very intense." Wang Haodong muttered to himself, asking: "Who is Lai Zi?"

  Liu Lele gritted her teeth and said, "Wu Bin's subordinate, Lin Yuannan from the south of the town, is ruthless in his methods. My head was split open by him."

  As they were talking, Liu Zhen walked out of the store with a pack of Yuxi cigarettes in his hand.

  Wang Haodong was about to pay when Liu Lele said: "I'll get it, sister. Put this on my tab."

  "You've remembered over 500 accounts." Liu Zhen glared at Liu Lele with great displeasure.

  "I'll pay," said Wang Haodong, taking out a 100-yuan bill.

  "Liu Lele hastily stopped her: 'Elder sister, aren't you slapping me in the face? I said I'd give it to you, could I possibly shortchange you? We're family, I couldn't bear to lose your money.'"

  "Alright, I'll put it on your account." Liu Zhen only complained for a moment before turning around and entering the house.

  Wang Haodong opened a pack of cigarettes and handed one to Liu Lele. The two stood on the west side of the store, smoking and chatting in hushed tones.

  Liu Lele said: "I was getting an IV at the hospital this afternoon, and Ge Kai told me to come find you, so I came this afternoon."

  "The thing Wang Kai told me last time, I'm still considering it." Wang Haodong pretended to be deep in thought and politely declined his request. What a joke, sending a younger brother to invite me, would I have gone?

  "Brother, when are you free?"

  Wang Haodong said: "Recently I've been helping Shufang with some things, it'll take two or three days."

  "Brother, I'll just tell Kai Ge what you said." Liu Lele nodded and asked: "It's almost time to eat, let's go, brother, we're going to Old Xiao's house for dinner."

  Wang Haodong didn't even agree to go to the town, so eating was out of the question. He said: "I have something to do tonight, you go ahead and I'll treat you next time."

  Seeing Wang Haodong not responding, Liu Lele had no choice and couldn't drag him away, so she said: "Okay, I'll go home first, brother, I'm leaving."

  Liu Lele left, addressing each other as brothers. If it were a few days ago, Zhang Shufang would have been shocked to see this, because just a few days ago they were still in opposing positions. However, there are no eternal enemies in this world, and the line of interest quickly entwined them together. The two people who were shouting and killing each other just a few days ago had already become sworn brothers.

  Liu Lele's figure disappeared from Wang Haodong's line of sight, he walked into the store with big strides, and there was only Liu Zhen alone in the store, she was busy arranging the goods on the shelves. Seeing Wang Haodong come in, she hastily put on a smile and said: "You're Wang Haodong, right?"

  "Yes."

  Liu Zhen asked while busy: "I heard you are a city person, how did you come to our mountain village?"

  "Come here and have some fun." Wang Haodong smiled and said, "Get me a bottle of white wine."

  "Okay." Liu Zhen responded, moved a stool over, stood on it, and reached for the white wine on the top shelf. However, she didn't realize that the stool wasn't placed properly, her foot slipped, and she fell to the south.

  Liu Zhen let out a scream, Wang Haodong happened to be standing beside her, seeing the situation hastily stretched out his arms to hold her, Liu Zhen directly lay in his embrace, her left hand tightly grasping his shoulder, her right hand grasping at the clothes on his lower abdomen.

  Ouch.

  "What's in your waist?" Liu Zhen exclaimed, "How can it be so big?"

  What the heck is that? Something all men have.

  Liu Zhen let out a soft cry, quickly understanding what it was, her neck actually turned red, and she trembled with voice: "Wang Haodong, thank you, please let me go."

  "No problem." Wang Haodong smiled and quickly let her go. After she stood firm, he asked: "Didn't you get hurt?"

  "Thanks to you, otherwise I would have fallen badly and might even have had to stay in the hospital, who knows, maybe even gotten disfigured." Liu Zhen took out a small mirror, looked at her face, and smiled: "Thank you, Wang Haodong."

  "I can't just watch you fall, can I?"

  Wang Haodong smiled, his eyes scanning her body a few times. At this moment, the glass door of the store was opened by someone, revealing a very familiar face - Zhang Shufang. Seeing Wang Haodong here, she was slightly stunned, then said: "Jen sister, get me three packs of baking powder."

  "Okay." Liu Zhen smiled and took a packet of baking powder, then brought down the white wine that Wang Haodong wanted. This time she didn't knock anything over, but instead was very steady.

  When settling the bill, Wang Haodong asked to settle Zhang Shufang's money together. The three packets of yeast powder were only two yuan, and she insisted on not wanting to pay, leaving him very helpless. In the end, he had to resort to being unreasonable, directly putting the money on the counter and turning around to leave, which finally changed her mind.

  "Hao Dong..."

  Wang Haodong turned his face and saw Zhang Shufang walking out of the store, so he stopped in his tracks and asked: "Steaming buns tonight?"

  "Yes, steamed buns, I came back from the ground and didn't see you, didn't expect you to come shopping."

  While speaking, a 16 or 17-year-old girl with a backpack on her back and riding a bicycle came over. She looked like a student returning home from school after class. When she arrived at Zhang Shufang's side, she quickly stopped the bike and said: "Sister Shufang, Zhang Qian's bicycle is broken, she's pushing it."

  "Ah?" Zhang Shufang asked in surprise: "Where did she go?"

  The female student replied: "Halfway, I suppose."

  "Is there anyone fixing cars on the road?" Wang Haodong asked.

  "Yes, but Zhang Qian seems to have no money."

  The girl student said and left. Zhang Shufang looked at the sky and said, "It's getting dark soon, Haodong, why don't you go home first, I'll go pick her up."

  "You go back, I'll go pick her up." After Wang Haodong finished speaking, he handed the white wine he had bought to Zhang Shufang and ran quickly in the direction of the school.

  The village is almost ten miles away from the school, and it takes half an hour to ride a bike. It's not far or near, mainly because the road is bad. Zhang Qian is a weak woman, if she pushes her bike back, she will definitely be exhausted.

  It's time to get off school now, and you can see students going home from school on the road from time to time. Some are walking, some are riding bicycles, and some are laughing and chatting. Someone even recognizes Wang Haodong, who helped Zhang Qian beat up a few hooligans, and comes forward to chat with him.

  Wang Haodong responded with a few words, then ran forward in big strides. After more than ten minutes, he finally saw Zhang Qian, who was pushing the cart with an angry expression on her face. She would stop from time to time and kick the cart with her foot, muttering something under her breath.

  "Qianqian." Wang Haodong came over to her side, shouting loudly.

  Zhang Qian saw Wang Haodong and was taken aback for a moment, "How did you get here?"

  "I heard from the village students that your car broke down. I was idle and had nothing to do, so I came over to pick you up." Wang Haodong said with a smile, "Give me the car."

  "Oh." Zhang Qian oh a sound, handed the car over to Wang Haodong.

  Wang Haodong took a look and found that the tire was flat, but he didn't know where it had been punctured. He asked, "I remember there's a bike repair shop at the school entrance, why don't you get it fixed?"

  "I didn't bring money."

  "Didn't bring money, don't know how to get by? Wang Haodong smiled wryly: "You can borrow some money from your classmates, or repair the car first and send the money to the repair master tomorrow. I believe he won't refuse to fix it for you."

  Zhang Qian shook her head and said, "That person is so infatuated, I don't even bother to pay attention to him."

  It was because of this that Wang Haodong finally understood why Zhang Qian didn't look for someone to fix the car, and instead chose to push it back herself. He said, "Alright, let's push the car into the village and find someone to repair it."

  Zhang Qian nodded and walked forward with Wang Haodong, turning her head to ask: "Can't you fix the car?"

  "I haven't learned how to fix it, I can only ride a bike, fixing a car is probably not possible."

  Wang Haodong frankly said that this is nothing to be ashamed of. Now, in the city, electric vehicles are widely used. Students either take buses or ride electric vehicles, and few ride bicycles. Only in these remote villages, bicycles are still widely used by students.

  "Then I'll find someone else." Zhang Qian said in a low voice, and then took big strides forward, not intending to talk to Wang Haodong.

  Wang Haodong knew she was still angry, and for the past few days, if it wasn't necessary, she wouldn't talk to him. However, when she threw a tantrum, she looked quite cute. Wang Haodong didn't blame her; instead, he wanted to make amends with her, so he took the initiative to speak up: "Zhang Qian, the college entrance exam is coming soon, how many more days do you have off from school?"

  "Three days later, we won't have classes and the school will give us a holiday. We'll have five days to review freely. On the 6th morning, we'll go to school to get our admission tickets, bring our own luggage, and follow the school's rented bus to stay in a hotel in the city area. On the 6th afternoon, teachers will take us to familiarize ourselves with the exam venue. The exams will be on the 7th and 8th, and we'll return on the morning of the 9th."

  "It's arranged very well." Wang Haodong said slowly: "I'm familiar with the city, if you don't want to go with the school, I can take you to the exam venue."

  "No," Zhang Qian shook her head and said, "I'll just stick with the school group. There are more of us and it's more lively."

  Wang Haodong hummed in response and walked for a few more minutes before asking, "Are you tired? If so, let's take a break."

  "Oh." Zhang Qian nodded and stood still, squatting down to take deep breaths, occasionally glancing at Wang Haodong before shifting her gaze elsewhere.

  The sunset has fallen into the western mountains, and the sky is gradually getting darker. When the two of them rested, only occasionally did students pass by, and the fields seemed very quiet.

  Wang Haodong wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Zhang Qian, so he took the initiative to say: "Qianqian, are you still angry with me?"

  "Yes."

  Seeing her unhesitating acknowledgment, Wang Haodong smiled and said: "Is it because of Xiao Yufen's matter?"

  "Yes." Zhang Qian's voice grew louder as she interrogated, "In what way is she better than my sister? You don't want my sister and instead pursue her?"

  Wang Haodong thought for a moment and said, "This point I'm not quite clear about."

  "Is she still divorced? Is my sister okay?"

  "Everyone has their own strengths, your sister is very good, but I feel inferior, I have nothing and have accomplished nothing."

  Zhang Qian asked in surprise: "Don't you have a house in the city?"

  "There was originally a house with two rooms and a small yard, left to me by my parents. Three years ago, my paternal grandmother fell seriously ill, I didn't have an uncle, she only had my mother as her daughter, but my mother had died in a car accident, so I, the only grandson, came to help out. At that time, I was also penniless, so I sold the house to pay for my grandmother's medical treatment."

  Wang Haodong was telling the truth, but his grandmother still couldn't pull through. Mainly because she was old and in poor health, the tens of thousands of yuan from selling the house were mostly spent on her medical treatment and funeral expenses, leaving little remaining. Afterwards, he would have to rent a place to live.

  Wang Haodong's true story moved Zhang Qian as well, and she murmured: "I didn't expect you to be so filial."

  Wang Haodong sighed and said: "My grandmother raised me, I am unfilial to her, there is no one else for me to be filial to."

  Zhang Qian looked at Wang Haodong and said, "Although I'm still angry with you now, I think you're really good. I think you and my sister can make a home together. It's okay if the family is poor, in today's rapidly changing society, as long as you're willing to work hard, there will definitely be food on the table, and things will slowly get better."

  Looking at her speaking like a little adult, Wang Haodong couldn't help but say: "Can you still make decisions for your sister?"

  "Of course, my sister listens to me." Zhang Qian nodded, "If you want to be good with my sister, the prerequisite is that you must break up with Xiao Yufen and never contact her again."