“I’m cruel. If you don’t leave, I’ll make you disappear forever.” Xu Ying’s voice was a low threat, her eyes dropping pointedly to his crotch.
Dong Wenjie gasped, quickly covering himself. His usual confidence drained away, and he just stammered, “You… you, you, you!”
“You, you, you what? Get lost!” Xu Ying snapped, lifting her right foot in a clear warning.
“Ah! You cruel woman! How shameless!” Dong Wenjie shrieked, clutching his trousers as he hopped away. He couldn’t believe her harshness, her willingness to even threaten him there. He thought she was truly evil.
Xu Ying watched him go, a hint of disgust on her face. He was even more pathetic than Dong Wenzhong. And as if on cue, Dong Wenzhong himself appeared.
“Xu Ying, wait! I have something to tell you!” Dong Wenzhong called out, his voice filled with worry.
She turned to face him. His usual energetic look was gone, replaced by a pale, dusty face. His back was slightly bent, a clear sign of how hard he’d been working lately. Seeing Xu Ying, he looked like a drowning man grasping a lifeline. He was a grown man, but tears welled up in his eyes. “Xu Ying, I know I was wrong. I’m willing to marry you.”
A touch of amusement, almost playful, flickered in Xu Ying’s eyes. She slowly pushed her bicycle. “Dong Wenzhong, what do you think I am? Do you just get to decide when you want me and when you don’t?”
He looked at her, confused. “Then what do you want me to do?”
“How about this?” Xu Ying’s voice dropped, each word slow and cutting. “Go to hell!” For a brief moment, intense hatred blazed in her eyes, showing her true feelings.
Dong Wenzhong recoiled, a shiver running down his spine. He felt that Xu Ying wasn’t joking; she was serious. Why had she changed so much? Was it because he and Chen Yanran had been so close?
“Xu Ying, I can explain! Chen Yanran and I truly have nothing going on. We grew up together, and you know she’s not well, so I just wanted to help her more.” He spoke quickly, desperation clear in his voice.
“Well, that has nothing to do with me!” Xu Ying replied, uncaring.
“And she’s been getting closer to Xu Xiangdong lately, so we haven’t even talked much recently!” Dong Wenzhong’s voice rose with sudden anger. He couldn’t understand why Chen Yanran was upset with him; she’d been distant.
Xu Ying skillfully managed to make her eyes look a little troubled.
Dong Wenzhong immediately brightened. He knew it! Xu Ying still cared for him. “Yingying, I’m sorry, I truly realize my mistake. When we get married, I absolutely promise I won’t talk to Chen Yanran again.”
“Really?” Xu Ying asked, sounding like she might be convinced.
“Really! I swear!” He raised his hand, ready to make his promise official.
Xu Ying just watched him calmly.
Dong Wenzhong’s face showed his frustration. She wasn’t going to stop him. He took a deep breath and forced himself to say, “I, Dong Wenzhong, swear that I will only care for Xu Ying in my life, absolutely…”
“You don’t have to say you care for me,” Xu Ying interrupted, a cold edge to her voice. “Just say you won’t associate with Chen Yanran in the future.”
Dong Wenzhong breathed a sigh of relief and quickly spoke. “I swear, I will never associate with Chen Yanran in the future, or I’ll die a terrible death!”
“Good, I understand. I’m off next Wednesday. You can wait for me in the woods where we used to go, in the afternoon. I have something to tell you.” With that, Xu Ying turned and cycled away.
Dong Wenzhong was immediately overjoyed, already imagining his happy days ahead. After being separated from Xu Ying and suffering so much, he truly believed he understood his mistake and how important she was. His life in the countryside was hard, and he had to cling to Xu Ying as his lifeline out of this difficult situation. He looked at the blisters and scars on his palms, feeling a small spark of joy that these hard times were finally ending.
“Dong Wenzhong, are you really going to stop interacting with me?” Chen Yanran’s voice, like a ghost, startled him from behind.
Normally, he would have been happy to hear Chen Yanran, but having just sworn an oath, seeing her now made him feel terrible. “What are you doing here?” he snapped.
But Chen Yanran didn’t care about his mood. If Dong Wenzhong truly abandoned her for Xu Ying, her own comfortable life would be over. “Wenzhong,” she began, her head bowed, her fingers twisting, and her shoulders shaking with soft, fake sobs. “Are you really not going to have any contact with me?”
A familiar twinge of pity stirred in Dong Wenzhong’s chest. After all, she was the woman he genuinely cared for. “Yanran, don’t cry.”
Chen Yanran seized the perfect moment. Her small face, wet with cleverly produced tears, instantly lifted. Her wide, sad eyes, like a deer’s, looked at him with heartbreaking appeal. “Wenzhong. Are you going to abandon me too? Am I so annoying? Then what’s the point of my life? I might as well die.”
Dong Wenzhong’s heart felt like it was breaking. He reached out to pull her into his arms, his hand hovering near her shoulder.
Suddenly, from her hidden spot, Xu Ying called out to her system.
A deafening crack of thunder, shockingly loud in the clear daylight, exploded above them. Dong Wenzhong was so terrified that he immediately pushed Chen Yanran away.
Chen Yanran stared at Dong Wenzhong, shocked. “Wenzhong, you really hate me!”
Dong Wenzhong was scared and anxious. Could his oath be coming true already? He was still trembling from the thunder.
Xu Ying, still hidden, almost burst out laughing. Seeing it was nearly time for work, she quickly got on her bike and rode away.
After she left, Huo Chen stepped out from his hiding place, his face dark with displeasure.
“Brother Chen, Sister-in-law wouldn’t really get back with that pretty boy, would she?” Wu Qingsong asked, only to get a sharp knock on the head.
Huo Chen’s face was extremely cold. Hearing Xu Ying say she would meet Dong Wenzhong made him feel a sharp, uncomfortable pain in his heart.
“Brother Chen, where are you going?” Wu Qingsong saw him storm off and quickly followed.
“Make money!”
Wu Qingsong’s eyes lit up. More money meant he could marry the person he liked. “Okay, should we go out of town?” Since Wu Qingsong had experienced the easy money from outside, he no longer looked down on their smaller earnings at home.
“Don’t go out of town!” Things had been a bit strange outside lately, making them more cautious.
Wu Qingsong was obedient. Otherwise, Huo Chen wouldn’t have brought him along for business. The two of them went to the village where they often bought goods and collected a lot of items in one day. If they then went to the black market, they could make over a hundred yuan in a single day. If they found really good items, they could earn hundreds. It was far more profitable than regular work. However, the black market was too dangerous, so they didn’t go often, only a few times a month, and worked in the village the rest of the time. Sometimes, when Xu Shengwu came back, he’d bring them a lot of goods from other provinces, which was the most profitable.
“Yanran, I swore an oath that I’d die badly if I interacted with you. It’s not that I hate you; I’m just scared of what would happen if the oath came true.” Dong Wenzhong looked terrified, still shaken by the recent thunder.
Chen Yanran stood quietly, saying nothing, her eyes filled with sadness.
Dong Wenzhong couldn’t bear it. “Yanran, please stay away from me in the future!”
Chen Yanran nodded as if she understood, but a cruel flash crossed her eyes, hidden from his view.
“I still have time to go back,” Dong Wenzhong said, then turned and ran off.
Chen Yanran wiped away the tears she had just squeezed out, then spun around and hurried towards the supply and marketing cooperative.