“Ah…”
Yun Su was stunned by the scene before her. Good heavens, this Female lead was way too bold!
There, in the open space in front of the brigade headquarters, Yun Feng had tackled Gu Zhengrong straight to the ground. A basket of fresh fish he had been carrying scattered everywhere. One particularly lively little yellow croaker, the moment it hit the ground, flicked its tail and slapped Yun Feng right across the face, leaving a red mark.
A lively little yellow croaker like that would have fetched a good price at the purchasing station. But right now, everyone’s attention was completely absorbed by the man and woman tangled together on the ground—so much so that they were speechless.
Yun Su noticed Gu Zhengrong trying to push Yun Feng off him. But Yun Feng, perhaps having made up her mind about something, summoned an enormous burst of strength and managed to resist his pushing.
Due to the force of their opposing efforts, the two rolled a full circle on the ground, still locked together.
In short, the sight was quite shocking.
Yun Su felt fortunate to have witnessed such a dramatic moment.
“What are you doing? Someone help them up!”
Brigade Captain Uncle’s voice broke the silence. Immediately, the people who had followed behind, intending to rescue Yun Feng, stepped in and finally managed to separate the two.
Gu Zhengrong, looking very uncomfortable, brushed the dust off his clothes. Yun Su clearly saw a flicker of displeasure in his eyes. Clearly, Yun Feng’s forceful movements had not gone unnoticed.
Yun Feng, helped to her feet, rushed straight to the brigade captain and cried out: “Uncle, my mother… my mother…”
Then the tears came cascading down like a waterfall, washing away the dirt on her face and leaving behind streaks of yellow.
A sharp-tongued auntie quickly stepped in and explained the whole sequence of events in just a few sentences.
Yun Su kept her eyes on Yun Feng’s expression. She expected her to start making accusations. But this woman truly knew how to bend as needed—she just kept her head down and cried.
——
“Captain Yun, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”
Gu Zhengrong suddenly spoke up, abandoning even the fish scattered on the ground. He turned and headed toward the village entrance.
Yun Feng’s head, which had been bowed in tears, finally lifted. She looked at Gu Zhengrong with an expression of pleading.
In truth, the moment she had tackled him to the ground, she had whispered a plea for help in his ear.
But now, he was leaving just like that—it was truly heartbreaking. She had worked so hard over the past few days to make a good impression on Comrade Gu.
The time he fell into the sea and she helped save him, the time at the sewage ditch, the time at the supply cooperative—every opportunity she had fought for. She had learned how often he came to the brigade and knew he was on leave these days.
She could have kept performing, but no—her mother had to go and set her up with that kind of match!
Yun Feng couldn’t accept it!
She called out loudly: “Comrade Gu, I just lost my balance back there and accidentally fell on you. You’re not hurt, are you?”
Hearing this, the onlookers exchanged knowing glances and raised eyebrows. They were starting to figure it out—Yun Feng had her eye on Comrade Gu. With that thought, they all turned to look at Gu Zhengrong, waiting for his answer.
But they were destined to be disappointed.
Gu Zhengrong simply shook his head without a word and quickened his pace away.
——
“Big Brother, you’re back! Did you get any rare fish today? Mom said she really wants to eat hairtail…”
Gu Honghua saw her brother enter the house and chirped away at him, asking questions. But then she noticed his empty hands and said in surprise, “Big Brother, you didn’t buy any fish?”
That couldn’t be right! Every time her brother went to the Yunjia’ao brigade to pick up medicine, he would also buy some fish to bring home for a good meal. Even though the cafeteria sold fish too, you couldn’t choose the variety. Going to the fishing village meant you could spend a little money and pick out some fresh varieties—it was a great deal.
Gu Zhengrong shook his head with a stern face: “No. If you want fish, buy it from the cafeteria at noon.”
“Big sister, is your big brother back?”
A woman’s voice sounded from inside the house. Then a thin, dark-skinned woman of about fifty emerged.
“Mom, I’m back. There was a bit of a situation, so I didn’t get any fish.”
“That’s fine if you didn’t get any. In a couple of days, I’ll have your big sister go ask. Oh, by the way, someone came by today to propose a match for you…”
Gu’s mother began chatting excitedly. Her eldest son was an impressive man. A regimental commander before even turning thirty. Her son had earned that rank with his life, and she had always been proud of him. But there were gossiping women outside who mocked him for not landing a good partner. She knew her son was held back by his family.
After all, no girl from a good family would want to marry into a household with only a widowed mother and two younger sisters.
But Gu’s mother also looked down on girls from poor families.
Today, a sister-in-law she knew had introduced a wonderful girl—the best match among all the introductions in recent years.
Hearing it was about a blind date, Gu Zhengrong’s expression darkened another shade. Because it reminded him of what that comrade Yun Feng had whispered in his ear when she fell on him: “Comrade Gu, please, marry me!”
…
At the Yunjia’ao brigade headquarters, things were quite lively.
Although Gu Zhengrong had left, everyone had witnessed Yun Feng tackle a man to the ground and roll around with him.
Even though Yun Feng insisted she had simply lost her balance, no one there was a fool.
“Your mother is forcing you to marry some young man from Yangcheng? Then where’s your father? Where did he run off to today?”
The brigade captain, Old Uncle, was deeply annoyed by this kind of mess. He was so irritated that he forgot to light the rolled cigarette dangling from his mouth. What had just happened at the brigade headquarters entrance was utterly embarrassing.
Yun Feng was normally so capable and steady—how could she learn from those good-for-nothings and use such underhanded tactics to trap someone? Fortunately, Comrade Gu was an upright and honorable man who chose not to hold it against them.
Yun Feng shook her head tearfully: “My father was sent off early this morning by my mother to deliver food to my grandmother’s house. Uncle, you can go and ask—the things those supply cooperative people said were truly horrible. And they wanted me to kneel, kowtow, and apologize. That will never happen. The Yun family’s knees aren’t that weak. People with such low character—how good could her nephew be?”
“That’s right! That’s right! You judge a pig by its pen…”
A few people chimed in agreement. They also disliked that woman Chen Xiangye. Coming to their village to bully people—wasn’t that looking down on the Yuns?
While everyone was still making a ruckus, Liu Zhaodi came rushing over with the blind date party.
As soon as they met, Chen Xiangye snorted coldly: “If she’s not willing to apologize, I’m not interested anyway! With such good prospects, my nephew could find someone better anywhere. Let’s go…”
Liu Zhaodi hadn’t expected that after saying every good word she could think of and bringing everyone over to try to salvage the situation, this would be the outcome. She was so furious she nearly fainted on the spot.
——
By the time she came to her senses, Chen Xiangye and her group were already gone.
Liu Zhaodi was so angry that she plopped down on the ground, slapped her thighs, and began wailing: “My life is so hard! My life is so hard! What kind of girl behaves like this? I finally find her a good match, and she goes and scares him away…”
The wailing was truly vigorous, punctuated by her pounding her own chest with her fists. Yun Su watched, dumbfounded.
Now she understood why everyone loved watching the drama.
With no TV, no phone, no novels to read, people-watching was a fine way to pass the time!
Many of the onlookers, after hearing Liu Zhaodi’s words, felt that being a mother was truly difficult. Then someone leaned close to Liu Zhaodi’s ear and told her about Yun Feng hugging Gu Zhengrong and rolling around on the ground.
Liu Zhaodi’s eyes widened to the size of a child’s fist.
“You… you shameless thing…”
But this time, Liu Zhaodi’s theatrical voice came to an abrupt halt.
Because the Second Uncle, who was supposedly delivering food to his in-laws’ house, suddenly appeared: “Alright, alright. If it doesn’t work out this time, there will be a next. With so many young men out there, a good girl like Feng will surely find someone better.”
“That’s right, that’s right…”
Quite a few people started chatting casually. They were all from the same clan and wouldn’t deliberately dig up someone’s wounds. Especially about Yun Feng rolling around hugging a man—they might enjoy the spectacle, but they wouldn’t spread it outside.
Seeing this, Yun Su figured the drama was about to end, though she felt a bit unsatisfied. She wondered how Yun Feng would ultimately resolve the situation with Gu Zhengrong.
——
“Are you sure you can really marry that Commander Gu?” Back at home, Second Uncle Yun immediately asked Yun Feng.
Now that her father was back, Yun Feng felt much more at ease. She no longer wanted to hide things and quickly explained the situation in a few words. She had come to realize that her father was the only one in the family who could make decisions. The reason she hadn’t spoken up before was that she was afraid her mother and sisters would mess things up. Now, she really had no choice. She truly didn’t want to marry a man shorter than herself and extremely ugly to boot.
“Father, Comrade Gu is truly exceptional. And he’s a very responsible man. Just give me a little more time, and I guarantee I can win him over. If I marry well, I can also help the family.”
Second Uncle Yun could hear the confidence in his daughter’s voice. He knew this child had always been capable. After thinking for a moment, he nodded: “These days, marriage is all about freedom. Arranged marriages aren’t in fashion anymore. Why didn’t you say earlier that you had someone in mind? You made your mother go through all that trouble for nothing. First, apologize to your mother.”
Hearing her husband’s words, Liu Zhaodi was moved to tears. Sure enough, her man was a good one. He remembered that she had been wronged. And wasn’t she wronged? That wretched girl Yun Feng actually dared to hide finding a boyfriend from her family.
Yun Feng immediately apologized to her mother, then pulled her father aside to whisper and scheme.
Seeing this, Yun Yan stomped her foot in frustration and stormed out. As long as her eldest sister was around, there was no room for her. Clearly, her sister was the one who had done something wrong—turning down such a good match, just like that—and now her parents were praising her.
Hmph!
Yun Yan wasn’t popular either. With nowhere else to go, she ended up at Yun Su’s house across the way.
The door was open, but the front yard was empty. As she walked, Yun Yan deliberately stepped on the vegetables planted in the yard, stomping them into a mushy mess. That improved her mood.
“What are you doing…” Yun Su came out from the backyard and saw Yun Yan trampling her vegetables.
Yun Yan was startled, then kicked over several bamboo baskets propped against the courtyard wall. She shouted loudly, “I’ll trample them! I’ll trample them! What are you going to do about it?”
She kept shouting as she ran outside, terrified that Yun Su might catch her.
She wasn’t afraid of Yun Su herself, but she was afraid of Yun Huaimin and Yun Huaifu.
Yun Su wanted to chase after her and land a kick. But when her eyes fell on the overturned baskets on the ground, she immediately stopped in her tracks. She seemed to have discovered something extraordinary.
She rubbed her eyes and looked again.
Oh my god! Her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
Leave a Reply