Chapter 74: Sharing a Ride with Lu Huaishen

Chen Xiulan had always taken great pride in having given birth to three sons, constantly singing their praises to the skies.

And yet—

Now, all three of her sons ignored her. They treated her poorly and didn’t even bother visiting her during the holidays.

Song Yue deliberately pressed, “Auntie, you’re not saying anything. Does that mean they don’t treat you well?”

Chen Xiulan was so furious that she shot Song Yue a sharp glare.

She wanted to lie and say that her sons treated her wonderfully, but she was afraid the other women around her would expose the truth.

Song Yue was new to the countryside and didn’t know how her three sons really treated her.

But these women did.

If she lied and they called her out on it, wouldn’t that be utterly humiliating?

“Ah~” Song Yue let out a long sigh, her voice full of lament. “Having a capable womb is useless if the children don’t treat you well… Ah…”

The women in the cart: “…”

Chen Xiulan’s face turned green with rage.

Song Yue sighed again. “Ah…”

Chen Xiulan: “!!!”

…

Suddenly, one of the women tensed up and said, “Comrade Song, hush for a moment.”

Song Yue looked over at her.

The woman put a finger to her lips, signaling for her to stay quiet.

The others also turned to look at her, confused.

Lowering her voice, the woman pointed ahead. “Look over there.”

Song Yue raised her head and looked forward.

Two figures stood on the road ahead.

She recognized them instantly—Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye.

One of the women muttered, “Look at those two…”

The moment they spotted Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye, their expressions changed.

After all, those two had been sent down here by the higher-ups…

One woman drew in a sharp breath. “Hiss…”

Another hurried the driver, “Uncle Li, speed up! Don’t let us cross paths with them!”

As the distance between them closed, one of the women reminded, “Lower your heads, don’t look.”

Song Yue noticed how strongly these women reacted upon seeing Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye, and it left her feeling a bit uneasy.

Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye must have heard the commotion because they turned their heads.

Their gazes landed directly on Song Yue.

Among a group of older women, she was the only young girl—it was impossible not to notice her at a glance.

Their eyes met. Both of them remained composed, showing no obvious reaction.

Though Lu Huaishen seemed unaffected, his mind was already in turmoil.

Meanwhile, Song Yue was debating how to return the money to him.

Should she just stuff it in his hands and run?

That seemed a bit rude—after all, he had saved her life.

Should she invite him to a meal and return the money then?

Zhou Ye, on the other hand, was practically bursting with excitement inside. Oh my god, it was their sister-in-law!

He wanted to call out to her, but remembering their current situation, he forcibly held back his excitement.

Sneaking a glance at his boss, he wanted to see what expression Lu Huaishen had upon seeing their sister-in-law.

Tch.

An indifferent, unreadable face.

But Zhou Ye knew better—Lu Huaishen was just pretending. On the outside, he looked aloof, but on the inside, he was probably ecstatic.

After all… Some people had dragged him out in the dead of night to exact revenge for their sister-in-law.

Tch.

Lu Huaishen retracted his gaze and coldly said, “Let’s go.”

Then, he turned and walked away, with Zhou Ye following behind.

The two continued forward.

Song Yue also withdrew her gaze.

Just as the ox cart was about to pass them, it suddenly came to a halt.

The women panicked. “Hey!”

“Why did we stop?!”

The cart driver, Uncle Li, looked at Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye. “There’s still some distance to go. Hop on.”

The women were dumbfounded, screaming internally—was this old man insane?

Those two had been sent here for re-education; their backgrounds were completely different!

If they rode together and someone gossiped about it, what would they do?

Of course…

None of them dared to voice these thoughts out loud.

They were afraid.

They didn’t dare provoke them.

Lu Huaishen glanced at the girl in the cart, then chose to get on. “Thanks.”

Zhou Ye grinned. “Thanks, Uncle.”

The only available seats were beside Song Yue.

Zhou Ye deliberately lagged behind.

This way, the boss would sit next to their sister-in-law.

However—

Things didn’t go as planned.

Aunt Chen, seeing that Song Yue was about to sit with those kinds of people, grew concerned that the gossiping women—especially Chen Xiulan, whom Song Yue had offended—might spread rumors.

She quickly got up and switched seats. “Comrade Song, come sit inside.”

Song Yue understood Aunt Chen’s intention and was about to refuse. “Auntie Chen, actually—”

Before she could finish, Aunt Chen had already stood up. She had no choice but to change her words and accept. “Thank you.”

Zhou Ye, watching his plan fall apart: “…”

Lu Huaishen remained expressionless.

The two men sat down.

The ox cart continued toward the commune.

From the moment Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye got on, the women became utterly silent, not even daring to breathe too loudly or let their gazes wander.

They rode in complete silence until they reached the commune.

Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye were the first to get off.

The cart driver, Uncle Li, spoke up. “Same as always, we’ll head back after lunch. Once everyone’s here, we’ll go.”

Song Yue and the women responded, “Got it.”

Lu Huaishen got off and walked up to the driver, handing him some money. “For me and him.”

“For the round trip.”

The driver looked at him but didn’t take the money.

The women watched this exchange curiously.

Song Yue, noticing the driver’s reaction, sensed that something was off.

Sure enough—

Lu Huaishen’s next words were, “Fair is fair.”

Song Yue’s eyebrows twitched.

Only then did the driver accept the money. “Alright.”

He then reminded them, “Come back early.”

“Mm.”

Lu Huaishen turned and left. As he passed Song Yue, he cast her a brief glance, then walked away with Zhou Ye.

Song Yue watched them go.

She didn’t want to stay with the women, so she hurried off as well.

Once the three had left, the women started complaining to the driver.

“Uncle Li, why did you do that? You know what their background is! How are we supposed to ride with them?”

“Exactly!”

“Sitting with their kind makes my whole body feel uncomfortable.”

Faced with their complaints, the driver simply said, “You don’t have to ride. You can walk back, and I’ll refund your money.”

He even reached for his pocket.

The women were stunned. They hadn’t expected Uncle Li to say that.

“You—”

The driver asked, “So, are you riding or not?”

The women didn’t want to walk all the way back, so they lowered their heads. “We’ll ride… we’ll ride…”

…

Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye walked quickly and soon disappeared from sight.

Song Yue could tell they were trying to avoid causing trouble by keeping their distance.

She couldn’t just chase after them either, in case it caused problems.

But the money… When would she be able to return it?

Sighing, she decided to head to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Just as she was thinking about it—

Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye suddenly reappeared, walking alongside her, keeping a two-person distance.

Song Yue was stunned. Hadn’t they already left? Where did they come from?

Lu Huaishen kept his gaze forward. “Where are you going?”

Song Yue instinctively turned to look at him.

His voice rang out. “Don’t look back. Keep walking.”