Chapter 131

Bai Qiuye couldn’t help but widen her eyes. She felt that this woman was trying to cheat her just to raise the price.

“I’m not going to play games with you. Seven yuan a month. Don’t push your luck. Even houses in town rent for this price.”

Lu Weiguo saw his wife being mistreated and said coldly, “We don’t need your few yuan. If there’s nothing else, leave. We are busy.”

After saying this, he moved to close the door without waiting for a response.

At this moment, Bai Qiuye, finding some sudden courage, reached out to block the door.

Lu Weiguo didn’t dare to use force, fearing that hurting her would lead to endless trouble.

“What do you mean by this? I’ve been polite, but this is how you treat me?”

Bai Qiuye couldn’t believe anyone would refuse to rent out their house, especially in this rural village. They had few ways to earn money and wouldn’t pass up such a good opportunity.

Even if she had heard that the man’s family was in the military, it didn’t change the fact that he came from the village. One’s background determined their perspective.

Shi Tingyu thought this woman was crazy. If they didn’t want to rent, they didn’t want to rent. Did she not understand Chinese?

“Why do you want to rent our house? If I’m not mistaken, you’re a ‘zhiqing,’ right? Why aren’t you staying at the zhiqing point?”

Bai Qiuye thought she was making a breakthrough and smiled with joy. “There are so many people at the zhiqing point, several people sleeping on one kang, and the environment is terrible, with constant friction. Who would want to live in such conditions?”

Shi Tingyu had been waiting for this response.

“Aren’t zhiqing supposed to go up the mountains and down to the countryside to receive reeducation from the poor and lower-middle peasants? Your aversion to hardship is incorrect. If other zhiqing can live there, why can’t you? This is a sign of ideological regression, and you’re indulging in capitalist hedonism.”

Bai Qiuye’s face turned pale with fear.

If she was labeled as indulging in capitalist hedonism, it would be a big problem.

She glared at Shi Tingyu, “You don’t want money, but don’t regret it later!”

Her response was the loud bang of Lu Weiguo closing the courtyard door.

Bai Qiuye was trembling with anger, never having been treated this way.

She planned to talk to the woman’s mother-in-law when she came back for the New Year. Once the money was in her mother-in-law’s hands, the woman wouldn’t get a penny.

At this moment, the neighbor’s door opened, and Aunt Lu from next door, hearing the commotion, was looking over.

Bai Qiuye knew she was the team leader’s wife and didn’t dare act rashly.

She awkwardly forced a smile and left.

Aunt Lu shook her head helplessly. They had said they wouldn’t rent the house. Why was she so persistent?

At first, Aunt Lu thought the eldest family was missing out on some money, but later her husband explained the family’s reasoning, and she found it made sense.

Now, she thought it more than made sense. That zhiqing was clearly troublesome. If she became their neighbor, even though both sons were married, she worried she’d cause other problems.

After returning, a zhiqing from the point sarcastically asked, “Did you rent the house?”

Bai Qiuye glared at them, “What does it matter to you if I rented it or not? Mind your own business.”

The person just sneered in mockery.

Everyone with some means had tried to rent the house next to the team leader’s. Who succeeded? They all left empty-handed.

Yet this newcomer was causing a stir.

Bai Qiuye was furious at the attitude but didn’t dare completely fall out with them. They were an old zhiqing with some influence at the point.

Seeing Bai Qiuye turn and lie down on the kang, the zhiqing said, “It’s your turn to cook today. Hurry up, everyone is hungry.”

Bai Qiuye looked reluctant. She had been out so long and thought they would have cooked by now. But they hadn’t done anything, waiting for her to return.

Under their gaze, Bai Qiuye reluctantly got up, thinking that in a few days, when that woman’s mother-in-law came back for the New Year, she would surely be able to rent the house.

Shi Tingyu didn’t know Bai Qiuye hadn’t given up. She and Lu Weiguo had finished eating and were packing things to take to Shi’s parents.

Late at night, they planned to visit the cowshed to see her parents.

The wait was torturous, but in the winter night, no one would be wandering around.

Looking at her watch, it was already eleven o’clock. They wrapped up warmly and headed to the cowshed.

The whole village was silent, the north wind howling. Lu Weiguo held a flashlight in one hand and wrapped his other arm around Shi Tingyu’s shoulder as they walked toward the cowshed.

The cowshed was on the north side of the village, near the back mountain. The farther they went, the fewer houses there were.

As the cowshed came into view, Lu Weiguo suddenly turned off the flashlight and covered Shi Tingyu’s mouth.

At the same time, Shi Tingyu’s mind revealed that there were two people not far from the cowshed.

This was a notification from the space she had just received in her mind.

She didn’t know when the space had upgraded, but now as long as she thought about it, she could detect people within a fifty-meter radius.

As she walked along the road, she had been silently hoping that this time would go smoothly without being discovered, and immediately, the space had alerted her.

She tapped Lu Weiguo’s hand, indicating that she wouldn’t make a sound. He then released her.

Neither of them moved. Lu Weiguo’s eyebrows furrowed. His long training instinct told him there were people near the cowshed.

They waited in the cold wind for a long time, but the feeling persisted.

Shi Tingyu’s space notifications continued.

Finally, Lu Weiguo took Shi Tingyu’s hand and led her back the way they had come.

Shi Tingyu realized they wouldn’t be able to see her parents today.

The return trip was much slower than the way there. Without the flashlight, the pitch-dark winter night made them tread especially carefully.

After getting home, Lu Weiguo let Shi Tingyu get onto the kang first.

Shi Tingyu, anxious, asked, “Are there people watching my parents?”

Lu Weiguo was silent for a while before saying, “Possibly.”

“Will my parents be in danger?” Shi Tingyu was truly worried now.

However, Lu Weiguo had a different perspective. When he sensed people near the cowshed, he initially thought his in-laws were being watched.

But then he reconsidered.

Seeing his wife so anxious, Lu Weiguo shared his thoughts with her, “If someone is indeed watching your parents, I don’t think they’re bad people.”

“How so?” Shi Tingyu asked urgently.

“Thinking about it now, your parents’ transfer to Qianxi Brigade seemed too smooth. Our marriage isn’t a secret. If someone had been watching your parents all along, they would surely know Qianxi Brigade is my hometown, and it’s unlikely they’d assign them here.”

“Also, if someone was watching your parents, they would have noticed my second uncle and his special care for them, especially when they brought them cotton-padded clothes. Such a noticeable gesture couldn’t have gone unnoticed by anyone keeping watch.”

Shi Tingyu’s eyes narrowed slightly, her mind racing. “So, you mean the person keeping watch might not be an enemy.”

^[1]Zhiqing The sent-down, rusticated, or “educated” youth