Chapter 16, Chapter 16 016 ...

Chapter 16, Chapter 16 016 ...

016

The weather in the south in October was already a bit cool, but it was still warmer than in the north. It was just a matter of adding a light jacket. Jiang Lai was wearing a shirt with a little floral print, a pair of overalls that she had made herself yesterday, and a modified military jacket. Jiang Lai got hot while riding her bike and didn't button it up.

When Ye Anguo saw Jiang Lai, he saw her dressed like this, with a gentle breeze blowing the hem of her clothes and her ponytail. Ye Anguo felt as if she were shining, illuminating his heart.

In fact, Jiang Lai didn't think her current outfit was very attractive. Compared to the pretty dresses she liked, her overall look was rather drab. However, in Ye Anguo's eyes, Jiang Lai, walking towards him in her little leather shoes, was exceptionally beautiful and charming.

Upon seeing Jiang Lai, Ye Anguo immediately asked someone nearby to help him operate the threshing machine, while he quickly washed his hands and hurried toward her.

In Jiang Lai's eyes, Ye Anguo's image at this moment was not very good. Operating the threshing machine was a dirty and tiring job. Working under the sun, even though the weather was not hot, he was still covered in sweat. In addition, he was harvesting rice, so Ye Anguo, who was in charge of operating the threshing machine, was soaked in mud and water. However, Jiang Lai found Ye Anguo's hard work to be very charming, which made her heart flutter.

"Jiang Lai? What brings you here today?" Judging from Ye Anguo's tone, he still didn't quite believe it, and he didn't expect Jiang Lai to come looking for him at this time.

"Aren't you taking the train tonight? I made some food for you to eat on the way." Ye Anguo only noticed Jiang Lai then. She was carrying a basket that was full and looked quite heavy.

"There's no shortage of food along the way. Your hands are all red from carrying all this." Ye Anguo quickly reached out to take it.

Jiang Lai didn't stand on ceremony with him. Since she had undergone the cleansing and marrow-refining process, she had become a little stronger, but her skin was even more delicate than before. In just a short while, her palms were already burning hot, so when he reached out to take her hand, Jiang Lai quickly let him take it.

"You brought way too much stuff!" Ye Anguo glanced at it and exclaimed. Good heavens, there were two lunchboxes and a small jar, more than 20 centimeters in diameter, wrapped in a cotton quilt. No wonder Jiang Lai's hands were all red from the tight packaging.

"I happened to buy some lotus root and beef today, so I braised some and brought some over for you," Jiang Lai said simply.

"It's something you rarely buy. You're weak, so you should keep it to nourish yourself. There's no need to send it all this way." Ye Anguo didn't quite approve of Jiang Lai's behavior, but at the same time, he was secretly delighted.

Jiang Lai didn't reply to him, she just looked at him and smiled. As for what Ye Anguo might imagine, that was none of her business.

As expected, Ye Anguo was so pleased with the mood he had imagined that he couldn't suppress the smile on his face: "Wait here for me for a moment, I'll go ask the captain for leave."

"No need, it looks like you'll be off work soon. It's almost 11:30 now, what time are you getting off? There's no need to ask for leave, I'll wait for you here." Jiang Lai quickly stopped them after checking the time. They usually get off work at 12 o'clock, and it's not worth it to ask for leave and lose work points with only half an hour left.

"It's still early, an hour and a half. We finish work here at 1:00." After saying that, Ye Anguo went to ask for leave. Jiang Lai couldn't say anything to stop him. Half an hour would be fine, but now everyone around her was looking at her like she was a monkey. An hour and a half was something she knew she couldn't handle.

Ye Anguo quickly obtained leave and, under the watchful eyes of everyone, led Jiang Lai toward the Ye family home.

As soon as Ye Anguo and Jiang Lai left, Ye Anguo's mother, You Maidong, who was harvesting rice nearby, also went to ask the brigade leader for leave. The brigade leader, who knew the situation here, granted the leave without saying a word and generously said that they could come back a little later in the afternoon.

Ye Anguo led Jiang Lai towards his home, introducing her to the village's situation from time to time. That was the village's threshing ground, where large meetings were usually held. Over there was a cowshed where several scholars who had been sent down to the countryside lived.

However, the villagers were not the kind of people who liked to criticize and struggle against others. These people living in the cowshed were doing alright. They would only hold a symbolic criticism meeting when there was a task to criticize and struggle against them from above. No one beat or scolded them or deliberately made things difficult for them. In fact, some families with better conditions would even secretly help them out.

Jiang Lai found Ye Anguo's words amusing. No wonder the male lead in "Little Stepmother of the 70s" offended someone, causing trouble for the female lead. Someone offered to help, and the male lead later said that it was someone who had been sent down to their village. If it was really as Ye Anguo said, it wouldn't be surprising that the other party would offer to help.

You have to understand that there are all kinds of people in this era. The people of Aoli Village don't have those who like to show off or cause trouble, but there are plenty of such people in other places. Some people from poor backgrounds like to seek a sense of existence after those who were once high-ranking scholars or powerful people have fallen on hard times. Some people can't stand it and give up on life before they are even exonerated.

"Wow, you have such a big river here?" Jiang Lai said curiously when she saw the river.

"That's not a river, it's the Gan River. It's just a little smaller here. If you go a little further ahead, it will be much bigger," Ye Anguo explained.

“You grew up by the river, no wonder you’re such a good swimmer.” Jiang Lai remembered how quickly Ye Anguo had rescued her from the river.

"It's alright, I learned it from catching fish in the river when I was a kid." Ye Anguo then told Jiang Lai some more stories about catching fish when he was a child.

"But no matter how good you are at swimming, don't go too far into the deep water. I have a childhood friend who almost drowned in this river because he was a good swimmer." Ye Anguo said this because he was thinking about how he and Jiang Lai met.

"Will your childhood friend become afraid of water later? I nearly drowned when I was little, and ever since then I've been terrified of water. But it's funny, actually, after Su Erniu dragged me into the water, I overcame my fear of water. You could say it was a blessing in disguise." Jiang Lai continued, following Ye Anguo's lead. She had to give Ye Anguo a heads-up, afraid that one day she might suddenly forget that the original owner was afraid of water, which would be quite a mess.

"If you see Su Erniu again, just take a detour." Ye Anguo had a terrible impression of Su Erniu. He didn't know if she was out of her mind, but every time he encountered her, she would look at him with a hesitant, enigmatic gaze, as if he were a scumbag who had deceived others' feelings. Ye Anguo was always made uneasy by her gaze. Not only did he ask Jiang Lai to take a detour, but Ye Anguo himself would turn around and walk away whenever he saw Su Erniu from afar. Her gaze was just too disgusting.

Jiang Lai was amused by Ye Anguo's psoriasis-squeamish expression: "I'm not stupid. I'm not going to go and be friends with her after she's wronged me once."

"By the way, you haven't mentioned your childhood friend yet. Did he become afraid of water later?" Jiang Lai was genuinely curious. From her limited understanding, many people who encounter this situation eventually develop a fear of water.

"Fortunately, my childhood friend has always been brave. After that incident, he was not afraid at all. Later, when the adults weren't paying attention, he went again. But this time, nothing dangerous happened. He even caught a lot of mandarin fish. Later, he was beaten by his parents. Unfortunately, he never learned his lesson. He was beaten every time he was caught. But there was one thing he couldn't live without going into the water. Later, we joined the army together. He wanted to join the navy, but in the end, by some twist of fate, his superior took him and made him join the army."

"So he must be quite capable, otherwise why would he have been recruited into the army?" Jiang Lai thought this might be another story of a troublemaker evolving into a hero.

That's exactly the case. Ye Anguo gave the answer: "Yes, he is very capable. If it really came down to a fight, I wouldn't be his match. If it weren't for his unruly personality and the fact that the leaders had to temper him, he wouldn't still be a battalion commander. At the very least, he would be my equal."

"Now that you mention it, I'm really curious about him." Jiang Lai's interest was genuinely piqued.

"Ye Changning is in the same unit as me now. If you go to the army in the future, I'll introduce you two." Ye Anguo was practically consumed by jealousy. He said this partly out of jealousy and partly out of a secret desire to get a formal title from Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai was well aware of this, but since she was currently infatuated with Ye Anguo, she naturally wouldn't hesitate to give him some reassurance: "Okay, I'll visit your unit if I have the chance."

Ye Anguo understood Jiang Lai's implied meaning and felt a little lightheaded. Fortunately, they had arrived at the Ye family home, and Ye Anguo led Jiang Lai into a house in a large courtyard.

It is a typical house for a large family in southern China (specifically referring to ordinary rural families, such as the author's hometown). It has a large courtyard that is obviously built later and widened, with three houses side by side, typical adobe houses in rural southern Jiangxi.

The three houses side by side meant that three families lived together in the same courtyard, which showed that the three brothers had already separated their households. There were three gates, and Ye Anguo led Jiang Lai into the middle house.

The house was quite empty, and there was no sign of anyone living there. In the living room, apart from the square dining table, four benches, and an altar in front, there was only a large bench over two meters long against the wall. There was nothing else.

"Please have a seat, I'll go make some tea."

Ye Anguo put the bamboo basket on the table and left, so fast that Jiang Lai didn't even have time to speak.

"No, why are you making tea? You're all wet from working. Change your clothes first, we can talk about making tea later." Jiang Lai couldn't stop Ye Anguo and could only grab his clothes in the end.

"It's alright, I'm used to it. Making tea won't take much time." Ye Anguo didn't mind at all.

"No, go change your clothes first. My clothes are soaked. Hurry up." Jiang Lai said coldly, and when he still didn't listen, she said, "Otherwise, I'll go back."

"Wait for me a moment, I'll change quickly." Ye Anguo said and dashed into the room.

Then, Jiang Lai swore that she had never seen anyone change clothes so quickly. Jiang Lai swore that from the time Ye Anguo entered the room to the time he came out after changing his clothes, the time was definitely no more than 3 minutes.

Then Jiang Lai watched as Ye Anguo, after changing his clothes, rushed off to his brother's house next door like the wind. A few minutes later, Ye Anguo returned with a pot of tea.

Next, Jiang Lai watched as Ye Anguo took two enamel mugs, one new and one old, to the well in the yard to wash them. Then he used the new enamel mug to pour tea for Jiang Lai.

"Have some tea." Ye Anguo placed the tea in front of Jiang Lai, then went to the next room without saying a word. After a short while, he returned with a small bamboo winnowing basket. The basket was round and looked particularly delicate, about the width of two palms. On it were some candies and oranges. Also noteworthy was the large pomelo in Ye Anguo's hand.

"These oranges were sent by my sister-in-law's family, and they're quite delicious." Ye Anguo eagerly handed Jiang Lai oranges, and then began to open a pomelo.

Jiang Lai took the orange without suspicion, broke one open and started eating. The next second, she was so sour that she questioned her existence. Jiang Lai shivered and felt like her soul was about to be sucked out by the sourness: "Did you just say this orange was sweet?"

Jiang Lai is still shivering from the sourness, and feels like she can't open her eyes anymore; her face is probably already deformed.

"Yes, it's very sweet, but my family all say they love it and they save it for me." Ye Anguo said this with a touch of emotion.

Jiang Lai felt that the other members of the Ye family made a good point, so she handed him the oranges in her hand and said, "Then I'll save some for you too." She couldn't stand the sourness.

Jiang Lai's face scrunched up, and even Ye Anguo, who was terrible at reading faces, knew that Jiang Lai didn't like the food. However... Ye Anguo popped another segment of orange into his mouth and found it still tasted delicious, so he asked in great confusion, "Don't you like it?"

"What do you think? My teeth are so sore, I probably won't even be able to chew tofu at lunchtime today." Jiang Lai grinned, still finding the sourness quite unpleasant.

Ye Anguo, still somewhat skeptical, popped another segment of orange into his mouth: "It's not sour, it's delicious." He devoured the orange segment by segment in no time.

"You can eat way too much sour food." Just watching him eat oranges and ginger is almost unbearable.

"It's not sour. How about you have some candy? Or try this pomelo. My parents and siblings all love it." The pomelo Ye Anguo was referring to was a red naan pomelo that he had just opened.

It has to be said that this red pomelo looks particularly good. The red flesh looks especially tempting, making you want to take a bite. However, Jiang Lai's teeth are sore from a sour orange segment that she doesn't want to eat any at all.

"No, no, my teeth are so sensitive, I feel like I can't chew anything." Jiang Lai was really not joking.

Jiang Lai's expression finally made Ye Anguo realize how sour the orange was: "Then why don't you drink tea?"

"I doubt it will work either. You put in too much tea. If I drink one cup, I won't be able to sleep tonight." It wasn't that she was being disrespectful to Ye Anguo. Jiang Lai figured that Ye Anguo must really like drinking tea and that drinking tea regularly wouldn't have any negative effects, so he put in a lot of tea leaves.

It was so awkward! Even You Maidong, who was eavesdropping outside the room, couldn't stand it anymore. She was extremely anxious, afraid that Ye Anguo would ruin her daughter-in-law. This silly boy, even if the God of Love tied the red thread for him, he could still break it.

"Ahem," You Maidong coughed twice on purpose: "Anguo, Anguo, are you home?"

"Yes, Mother, why are you back? It's not time to get off work yet, is it?" Ye Anguo stood in front of Jiang Lai to make her feel uncomfortable, and also winked at You Maidong.

However, You Maidong ignored him and manually pushed it aside: "I went home early to cook, move aside a bit, I heard you have a friend coming over so I came to say hello."

Jiang Lai had already stood up when she heard the voice: "Hello, Auntie, I apologize for disturbing you by coming here."

"Oh, no, no, young lady, you must be Jiang Lai. Please, have a seat. My third son is a bit of a chatterbox, but I could hear him talking about those sour oranges from far away. Only he could stand them. It's not that we don't like them; it's clearly that my eldest son's mother-in-law specially brought them over after hearing he was back..."

You Maidong really liked Jiang Lai, who had a dignified appearance. She was articulate, poised, and had a sunny smile; in short, she was very much to You Maidong's liking. Therefore, You Maidong talked to Jiang Lai non-stop, recounting all the embarrassing things that happened to Ye Anguo when he was little. From lying about rain when he wet the bed at age two, to being a mischievous and unruly teenager who would get into fights at the drop of a hat, to having a fatal flaw: he was afraid of girls. Whenever he fought someone with a girl, Ye Anguo would invariably lose…

"Mom, didn't you come back to cook? Hurry up, otherwise my dad, my older brother and sister-in-law will be back soon. Do you need my help? Or can I help you start the fire?" Ye Anguo broke out in a cold sweat when he heard his mother talking about his embarrassing childhood stories.

“That’s perfect. You go cook, I’ll talk to Jiang Lai for a bit,” You Maidong said without hesitation, waving his hand.

“This isn’t Jiang Lai’s first time visiting our house, is it? You can let her try your cooking. I’ve always praised your cooking.”

Jiang Lai raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. It seemed that Ye Anguo was not as honest as he appeared on the surface. She really couldn't tell that he could lie to her face.

However, Jiang Lai wasn't angry. Instead, she found it amusing. It seems Ye Anguo was afraid his mother would talk about his shameful childhood, perhaps because he was worried about affecting her perfect image of him.

“No, you can go by yourself. I’m just your mother. What good is it if I cook well? The key is whether you cook well or not. So you cook lunch today, and I, as your mother, will also taste your cooking.” You Maidong said with a mysterious look on her face.

"...Mother." Ye Anguo had no choice but to beg for mercy: "I have to catch the train this afternoon."

"Alright, alright, I guess I owe you something in this lifetime." In the end, she still gave Ye Anguo face, but You Maidong turned to Jiang Lai and said, "Miss, is there anything you like to eat? Not to brag, but my cooking skills are pretty good. People often ask me to cook."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony with you. I heard from Ye Anguo that your taro paste is absolutely amazing. I've loved this dish since I was a child. I wonder if I'll have the chance to try it today?" Jiang Lai said with a smile.

"Of course! We just happened to have some freshly dug taro at home. Let Anguo sit with you for a while, and lunch will be ready soon." You Maidong happily went to cook, and firmly refused to allow Jiang Lai and Ye Anguo to help in the kitchen.

"Oh, right, I made some dishes for Ye Anguo to take on the train. He's been sitting for a while, so this is a good opportunity for Auntie and everyone to try my cooking." Jiang Lai pointed to the bamboo basket on the table: "They're not very hot anymore, but these dishes can be eaten as cold dishes, or you can just plate them up."

"Alright, alright, then I'll try your cooking too..." You Maidong was a straightforward and generous person. She liked Jiang Lai and got along well with her, so upon hearing this, she opened the jar. Instantly, an indescribable fragrance wafted out, and You Maidong subconsciously swallowed: "This smells so good."

"I made this haphazardly and it doesn't deserve your praise. I don't even know if you'll like it." Jiang Lai then pointed to two other lunchboxes stacked together and tightly wrapped in special cotton blankets, and said, "One of these lunchboxes contains braised chicken and duck eggs, and the other contains braised beef."

As Jiang Lai spoke, she began to untie the bundle. To be honest, she was quite reluctant to give the food to someone else, but after spending time with You Maidong, she had come to like her quite a bit, so she was willing to do so.

However, now that Jiang Lai was willing to part with it, You Maidong was reluctant: "No, no, no, why open it? There are already so many fragrant braised lotus root slices in this jar. We can eat this. Keep these for Anguo to eat on his way. Although our family has separated, we still eat together during the busy farming season. If we take these out, each person won't get much. So let's not take them out. Let him keep your good intentions."

"Anguo, stop sitting there and hurry up and kill that old hen in the backyard." You Maidong left in a flurry.

"Didn't you say you were going to keep them for laying eggs?"

A note from the author:

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