First of all, the so-called “right of publicity” was something they had never even heard of. For them, having their photos published in the newspaper was a tremendous honor. Who would be so foolish as to give up this opportunity for a bit of money, the amount of which was uncertain anyway?
Calling the police over such a trivial matter? Who knows who would end up getting into trouble if they did.
Zhao Yuyin hadn’t expected her intentions to be so blatantly exposed. For a moment, her face turned red with anger, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears.
The key point was… even at this moment, in front of everyone, she still pitifully glanced at Lin Zhen, as if hoping he would stand up for her.
Song Wei thought to herself, “You’re really being annoying now.”
She took two steps forward, standing in front of Lin Zhen. Although her height wasn’t enough to completely block Lin Zhen’s large frame, her presence was strong.
“If you keep looking at my man like that, I’ll dig your eyes out!”
The crowd also looked on with disdain. Have some shame, will you?
In the end, Zhao Yuyin stomped her foot, cried in frustration, and ran off.
After returning home, she swore to herself that she would make everyone regret this.
It must be said that Song Wei had sparked a wave of enthusiasm for writing.
But they didn’t have photos, and that was a problem.
So, some people shamelessly tried to borrow Song Wei and Lin Zhen’s camera to take pictures.
The ones who came were all people she wasn’t familiar with, so of course, Song Wei and Lin Zhen refused.
The most shameless was Luo Yecheng, who actually came to find her again. With a deeply affectionate look in his eyes, he spouted a bunch of mushy nonsense, all just to borrow the camera for free.
Song Wei said, “How thick-skinned do you have to be to say something like that?”
Back when he wasn’t so disheveled and downcast, she hadn’t paid him any attention. Now, in this state, how could he even dare?
Luo Yecheng was really just skin and bones now. Everything should be in moderation—being too fat or too thin isn’t good. He was now extremely thin, looking like someone who had been on drugs.
In the end, Luo Yecheng was scared off by the two wolves at home.
As the newspaper’s buzz gradually died down, Song Wei and Lin Zhen went to town again.
One reason was to continue submitting articles to the newspaper. This time, it was photos of the dog brigade hunting in the mountains, with the wolf pack also making an appearance.
Compared to people, Song Wei found that she really preferred taking photos of animals.
It was fun, and animals didn’t require all the fuss. Plus, they genuinely had stories to tell.
Ping’an Brigade wasn’t without its own stories, but some of them weren’t suitable for the newspaper just yet.
As for farming stories, to be honest, which brigade in the countryside didn’t farm? There wasn’t anything particularly novel about it. Perhaps they could write an article during the harvest season.
After mailing the submission, Song Wei and Lin Zhen went to deposit the money from the newspaper and their recent earnings into the credit cooperative. Holding the passbook and seeing the over ten thousand yuan in savings, both of them felt satisfied.
As they walked, Lin Zhen suddenly said, “Let’s ask the brigade leader for an introduction letter and go to the northwest.”
Song Wei paused and looked at him.
She understood what Lin Zhen meant.
“Winter there is very cold, and traveling long distances is dangerous. Right now, there’s a lot of work in the fields, but it’s not too busy. This is the best time.”
During non-harvest seasons, the brigade could manage without the two of them.
This winter, they were going to get married, so they definitely needed to meet each other’s families first.
Song Wei’s older brother had already been met, and now there was only her long-missed uncle left.
As for her parents, Song Wei now completely ignored her scumbag father.
Song Wei actually really wanted to see her uncle too, to personally confirm how he was doing.
So, she nodded.
She held Lin Zhen’s hand and said, “Thank you.”
“Should we bring Hei Dan? What about Wolf One and Wolf Two?”
Lin Zhen replied, “The northwest has harsh conditions, and we’re not entirely sure about the situation there. Bringing Hei Dan would be risky. It’ll just be the two of us.”
“Hei Dan, Wolf One, and Wolf Two—I’ll have my great-uncle’s family and the brigade leader look after them. This time, I guarantee that Old Lady Lin won’t have the time to cause trouble for Hei Dan.”
A cold glint flashed in his eyes.
Lin Youfu should be getting out soon.
But just because he’s out doesn’t mean life will be easy for him.
The families of those local thugs weren’t exactly easy to deal with. If they were to find out that Lin Youfu had betrayed his companions, there would be quite a show.
When Lin Youfu was released, he returned to Ping’an Brigade quietly and Ashamedly.
But someone still saw him.
So, news of Lin Youfu’s return quickly spread.
Those who loved drama secretly went to observe the situation.
Of course, they were driven away by the fierce Old Lady Lin.
Old Lady Lin held her beloved grandson, wailing, “You’ve lost so much weight! What suffering you’ve endured! Those damned people, what does this have to do with my grandson? Why should he be dragged into this?”
Lin Youfu was impatient. After this ordeal, he had become gloomy and his temper even more volatile.
“Stop crying! All you do is cry! If you knew I was suffering, why didn’t you come to save me sooner!”
Old Lady Lin stumbled back from the push, but she didn’t blame her grandson. After all, her beloved grandson had suffered greatly.
“Grandma wanted to save you too! It’s all because of that beast Lin Zhen, who doesn’t recognize his own grandmother. He had the ability to help but didn’t lift a finger.”
At the mention of Lin Zhen, Lin Youfu’s expression grew even darker.
“I heard that educated youth Song Wei made money from writing articles, didn’t she?”
Old Lady Lin cursed, “She was just lucky.”
“When I said I liked her back then, why didn’t you go propose? If you had, maybe she’d be mine now!”
Lin Youfu’s imagination was running wild.
Knowing that Song Wei was so capable but was Lin Zhen’s girlfriend, he felt jealous and twisted.
Why? Why did all the good things go to Lin Zhen?
Comparing their current situations, Lin Youfu was filled with jealousy and hatred, his entire mindset warped.
Although Old Lady Lin said that Song Wei was the one who missed out, deep down, she regretted it immensely.
Who would have thought that this educated youth was a golden goose? If she had known earlier, she would have encouraged her grandson to get closer to Song Wei.
Her grandson had made a few small mistakes, but he was just framed by others.
In Old Lady Lin’s eyes, her eldest son and this precious grandson were perfect in every way.
Lin Zhen had been keeping an eye on the Lin family.
Although Old Lady Lin and Lin Youfu were talking inside the house, their voices were loud enough.
Lin Zhen, who was watching them, quickly learned about their conversation and responded with a cold smile.
The next morning, Song Wei received a piece of mail.
Opening it, she was pleasantly surprised.
It was news from a newspaper in the capital.
The article she had submitted there had also been selected!
The payment was higher than the local newspaper’s—a money order for forty yuan, along with seven tickets and a reply.
The mail also included a copy of the newspaper, which featured her photo.
For the newspaper in the capital, she had used a different pen name: ‘Zhi Wo Yi’ (Know My Heart).
There wasn’t any special meaning behind it; she had just suddenly remembered a couple of lines from a poem she had read before.
‘Jian Qing Shan’ (See the Green Mountains) was taken from the line, “I see the green mountains so charming, and I imagine the green mountains see me the same way.”
At the time, looking at the mountain range in Ping’an Brigade, she had thought of this line.
‘Zhi Wo Yi’ (Know My Heart) came from the line, “The south wind knows my heart, carrying my dreams to the western isles.”
In her previous life, very few books had survived. Every time she went out scavenging, she would bring back any books she found to read.
This was her way of passing the time in her lonely life—reading books and writing diaries, both of which were related to words.
As for subjects like math that required calculations, without a professional to teach her, it was impossible to learn.
For some reason, these two lines of poetry had stuck in her memory, and when she needed a pen name, they had come to mind. Without much thought, she had used them.
So happy~
For now, she decided not to mention the newspaper in the capital.
It was far away, and it would take some time for the news to reach here. The people of Ping’an Brigade might not even notice.
After all, few people in the countryside read newspapers.
Even if they did find out, she could deal with it then.
For the local newspaper, she planned to only submit stories about Ping’an Brigade.
As for the capital’s newspaper, she’d see if there were any other interesting stories to write about in the future.
After lunch, there was a commotion at Old Lady Lin’s place.
Song Wei, with melon seeds, pine nuts, and other snacks stuffed in her pockets, happily went to enjoy the drama.
It turned out that the parents of the thugs who had been imprisoned with Lin Youfu had come.
While not all the parents of those local ruffians were unreasonable, there were always a few greedy and aggressive ones.
The ones who came today were exactly that kind.
Song Wei, Gao Le, and the others sat in their usual spot, passing around melon seeds to the little old ladies.
Compared to when they had first arrived, Gao Le and Zhao Su were now much tanner and thinner.
During the busy farming season, they had also been required to participate, crying while they worked.
Although they seemed a bit pathetic, they had managed to persevere.
After the busy season, the brigade leader, wanting to avoid seeing them, had assigned them to help with pig farming.
Pig farming didn’t earn many work points, but these two had used money, candy, and other means to get the village children to help them cut pig grass and feed the pigs.
They were even more delicate and lazy than Bai Yun Jiao, the female educated youth.
But who cared, since they had money?
This seemingly easy job wasn’t something just anyone could do.
Now, under Bai Yun Jiao’s planning and feeding, and with the financial support of these two young masters, the brigade’s pigs had never gone hungry. They were well-nourished and had grown plump and strong.
The brigade captain had checked on them a few times and was quite satisfied.
Others who saw this also stopped feeling resentful.
After the busy farming season, these two young masters had a lot of free time. Seeing the impressive demeanor of the dog brigade, they also wanted to find a couple of dogs to raise.
Wherever there was excitement in the village, they were there, even more eager than Song Wei.
“They’re fighting again. Old Lady Lin gets into fights every year. Her health is really something.”
Everyone watched the chaotic fight below with sighs.
The main reason for the fight was that the other party wasn’t easy to deal with. They demanded five hundred yuan in compensation, and that was just from one family.
Old Lady Lin, being stingy, treated asking for money like asking for her life.
Both sides couldn’t agree, and Lin Youfu, standing nearby, provoked arrogantly, which led to the fight.
Several young and strong men, with fierce looks in their eyes, started beating Lin Youfu.
Screams echoed from the Lin family’s courtyard.
The brigade leader arrived, bringing along some young and strong men to separate the chaotic fight.
He wasn’t worried about Lin Youfu; he was worried about someone getting killed.
In a fight, when tempers flare, people can lose control.
The chaotic fight was eventually broken up, but Lin Youfu lay on the ground, screaming even louder.
His leg was broken.
“My leg! My leg hurts so much! Grandma, my leg is broken!”
Old Lady Lin let out a wail and immediately threw herself over him.
Realizing they had caused trouble, the debt collectors quickly left, not daring to ask for money anymore.
In the end, Old Man Ji was called over.
But Lin Youfu’s leg had been broken, and he might never be able to stand again.
Hearing this terrible news, Old Lady Lin’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the spot.
The rest of the Lin family also looked worried and distressed.
Old Man Ji said, “I can only help him avoid amputation, but I can’t make him walk again. Perhaps my medical skills are limited. You should take him to the city hospital. The town hospital probably won’t be able to help either.”
Hearing this, the Lin family’s hearts grew even heavier.
The city hospital—how much would that cost?
Old Man Ji had only offered a suggestion. What they decided to do was up to them.
After treating Lin Youfu, he left.
As the excitement died down, everyone learned that Lin Youfu’s leg was broken and might never heal. They all sighed in sympathy.
“So, this is a lesson in being down-to-earth. Lin Youfu is a living example. In the future, we must never mix with those local thugs. They might say they’ll help you make money, but who knows if it’s a trap?”
The adults used this opportunity to educate their children.
Song Wei, with Hei Dan and the two wolves, returned to Lin Zhen’s house. The flattering and affectionate fox wagged its tail and came over.
With its whining, Song Wei couldn’t help but pet it.
“Your bandages should be coming off soon. I hope your leg heals before we leave.”
It would be best to release this little guy back into the wild before they left.
The two wolves didn’t require much worry. Although they were meat-eaters and raising them purely on human resources would be difficult without resources, they could hunt for themselves.
When the two wolves led the dog brigade into the mountains to hunt, they never went hungry. They always returned with prey, so Song Wei wasn’t worried about leaving them behind.
Hei Dan, protected by the two wolves and looked after by the brigade leader and Lin Zhen’s great-uncle’s family, also didn’t need much worry.
Old Lady Lin was now too preoccupied with her own troubles to bother Hei Dan.
Since they had decided to go to the northwest, Song Wei and Lin Zhen began preparing.
When the wolf pack went hunting in the mountains, they would also go along, searching for medicinal herbs, hunting, and picking mushrooms…
As long as it was edible, Song Wei didn’t let it go.
They didn’t go with the dog brigade but instead went on their own.
One day, the two of them discovered a place with thick fog.
Even by noon, the fog hadn’t dissipated much.
The altitude here was relatively high, and there were many snakes and insects.
As they walked, they used sticks to tap around, scaring off many snakes and insects.
Lin Zhen looked around in amazement.
“What kind of place is this?”
Song Wei said, “Shall we go in and take a look?”
The altitude here was relatively high, and the humidity was noticeably higher than in other places.
Once inside, the thin fog enveloped them like a dancing veil. Sunlight filtered through, creating a scene that looked ethereal.
There were also streams and pools around.
The water in the pools was icy cold, and there were fish!
Song Wei looked at them and immediately thought of eating.
“Let’s have grilled fish later.”
Lin Zhen glanced at the fish, which looked quite plump, and said, “Sure.”
“It smells so good. Do you smell that?”
Song Wei sniffed the air, feeling like there was a hard-to-ignore fragrance lingering around.
Lin Zhen said, “It smells like some kind of leaves, but I’m not sure.”
The two of them followed the scent and eventually stopped under a tree.
Song Wei looked up, and a thought struck her: “It’s a tea tree. A really big one.”
The tea tree was lush and large, and standing beneath it, the fragrance of the tea leaves was even more pronounced.
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