Chapter 98

Feng Shishi, emphasizing their shared background of growing up in the same courtyard and now working together as educated youth, insisted that Liu Cuifang’s wedding—a major event—should be announced to He Ting and Zhou Yanfeng.

She pulled Liu Cuifang along toward the health clinic. At a fork in the path by the stream, they ran into Tang Yunling and Zhou Yanfeng, who had just returned from the mountains with bamboo baskets on their backs.

Previously, Zhou Yanfeng had accompanied Liu Zaicheng and Professor Chen to a neighboring county to buy breeding rabbits, which caused him to miss the opportunity to go chestnut picking in the mountains with Tang Yunling.

Now, He Ting, his close friend and the manager of the rabbit farm, had arranged for Zhou Yanfeng to have some time off. Tang Yunling had been tasked with leading him to the mountains to gather chestnuts.

The nearby Xiangyang Mountain, close to the brigade, had already been combed over by the local community members. The aftermath was akin to a swarm of locusts having passed through—only spiny chestnut shells littered the ground.

Tang Yunling used tongs to rummage through the shells, painstakingly finding a few chestnuts, which were either riddled with wormholes or shriveled and defective.

Looking up at the tree above, she saw only a few lonely, hairy chestnut husks hanging from the branches.

“The outer trees have been picked clean. I’ll take you deeper into the mountains,” Tang Yunling said, ready to lead Zhou Yanfeng into the wilderness.

Zhou Yanfeng hesitated.

The deep mountains were teeming with venomous insects, rodents, and ants. Going further in meant they wouldn’t be able to descend the mountain the same day and would have to spend the night there.

This time, it wasn’t a group outing—just him and Tang Yunling. He had to consider their safety.

But then he thought, if he and Tang Yunling were to spend a night alone in the deep mountains, perhaps it would break through the barrier between them and bring their relationship to the next level.

It was a tempting prospect.

Tang Yunling exuded the confidence of someone who could take on a tiger and win. Zhou Yanfeng quickly decided to follow her lead.

Unfortunately, while he had the courage to venture into the deep mountains, he had overlooked one crucial fact: he was terrified of snakes.

And he was particularly prone to attracting them.

Not long after they took a shortcut through some brush, a red-banded snake slid down from a pine tree, dangling right in front of Zhou Yanfeng and flicking its tongue ominously.

“There’s a snake! Help me!” Zhou Yanfeng screamed, instinctively leaping back and grabbing for Tang Yunling’s arm.

But Tang Yunling paid him no mind. Her eyes lit up as she darted past him, grabbed the snake at its weak point, and flung it against the tree.

“This little red-banded snake is great! I’ll take it back for Old Tang to make snake wine,” she said triumphantly.

The two emerged from the brush and found themselves standing on the edge of a slope. If Tang Yunling had supported Zhou Yanfeng, he could have avoided the snake and found footing to steady himself.

But Tang Yunling was too busy catching the snake.

As a result, Zhou Yanfeng lost his balance and tumbled straight down the slope into the brush below.

“Zhou Yanfeng, I’ve realized you’re a snake magnet. Next time I take Old Tang to catch snakes for wine, I’ll make sure to bring you along…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Tang Yunling turned around and saw Zhou Yanfeng sprawled out in the brush below, looking utterly miserable.

Zhou Yanfeng’s face was full of indignation.

“Tang Yunling, you’ve gone too far!”

“Tang Yunling, you’re too much!”

Not only did Tang Yunling leave Zhou Yanfeng to fend for himself in a moment of crisis, but she even joked about his supposed “snake-attracting” physique, saying she’d bring him along next time to catch snakes for snake wine.

Zhou Yanfeng’s feelings of attachment to Tang Yunling stemmed from the first time he joined the group on a mountain trek. Back then, in a dangerous moment, Tang Yunling had grabbed a venomous snake that lunged at him, making him feel incredibly safe in her presence.

He had always thought she cared about him, risking her hands to catch the snake for his sake.

But the events that had just unfolded made it painfully clear: she cared about the snake, not him!

In truth, Zhou Yanfeng hadn’t been hurt much when he tumbled down the slope—the thorny brush had broken his fall. But his heart was wounded, and he lay in the brush sulking, unwilling to get up.

“You care more about a snake than me, don’t you?” he accused Tang Yunling, sulking like a child.

Tang Yunling couldn’t comprehend his logic.

“Are you out of your mind? Why are you comparing yourself to a snake?”

She snapped at him with her usual bluntness: “Get up and follow me. If we go a little further, there’s a grove of chestnut trees up ahead.”

“No!” Zhou Yanfeng was dead set on being difficult.

“My whole body hurts from the fall, and I won’t move unless you come down and help me!”

What nonsense!

A grown man throwing a tantrum? He wasn’t some child like He Yunqi, who actually needed to be pampered.

“You want me to help you up?”

Tang Yunling reached into her basket, pulled out the dead snake, and hurled it at him.

When Zhou Yanfeng saw what was flying his way, he let out a panicked scream, leaping to his feet. His foot got caught in the brush, and he nearly rolled further down the slope, but he managed to grab onto a nearby branch just in time.

Now he didn’t need Tang Yunling’s help at all. He let go of the branch and clambered back up the slope on his own.

Tang Yunling called after him, “Wait! What’s that you’re holding?”

“Zhou Yanfeng, that’s sour jujube! Don’t come up yet—I’ll come down and pick some!”

She descended to where he stood as Zhou Yanfeng bit into the fruit in his hand.

“Ugh, it’s so sour my teeth might fall out!” he exclaimed, grimacing.

“Why would you pick something so sour and awful? What’s the point?”

“You’re such a blockhead,” Tang Yunling said with a smirk. “I’m picking them to make sour jujube cake for Weiwei!”

“Of course it’s for Weiwei! I’m picking these to make sour jujube cake for her,” Tang Yunling replied matter-of-factly.

“Don’t you know pregnant women love sour things?”

How would Zhou Yanfeng know? He’d never been pregnant.

The moment he heard the fruit was for Lu Baiwei, and that she was craving sour food due to her pregnancy, he immediately got motivated.

He energetically began helping Tang Yunling pick the fruit. After clearing the lower branches, Tang Yunling climbed up the tree to shake down more jujubes while Zhou Yanfeng collected them on the ground.

The two worked in perfect harmony, completely forgetting their original goal of collecting chestnuts.

With a basket full of sour jujubes, they cheerfully headed back downhill, laughing and joking the entire way—until they bumped into Feng Shishi and Liu Cuifang, who were heading to the village clinic.

“Zhou Yanfeng, I’m here to tell you that Fangfang is getting married,” Feng Shishi announced warmly, stepping up with a bright smile.

“Her fiancé is a carpenter from the neighboring Hongqi Brigade. Since we grew up in the same compound and are now posted close to each other in the countryside, you and He Ting must come. In a couple of days, join me in attending her wedding banquet.”

Marrying Zhao Yongsen?

Liu Cuifang must be out of her mind!

The last time Zhao Yongsen and his mother tried to manipulate things, they failed. And now Liu Cuifang was willingly walking into that pit herself?

Zhou Yanfeng’s first reaction was surprise at the news, followed by concern as he glanced at Tang Yunling.

He remembered the last time Zhao Yongsen had attended a drinking party at his elder brother Ting’s place. The man had been so vile that Tang Yunling declared she’d mentally labeled him as trash and kicked him out of her heart.

But what if she was just pretending to be indifferent?

Seeing Liu Cuifang act smug and come all the way to flaunt her decision in front of Tang Yunling infuriated Zhou Yanfeng.

Dropping his usual laid-back demeanor, his gaze sharpened with hostility.

“Liu Cuifang, did you come all the way to Xiangyang Brigade just to show off the junk you picked up?”

“Junk?”

Feng Shishi, oblivious to the underlying tension, frowned at his comment.

Not noticing Liu Cuifang’s darkened expression, Feng Shishi self-righteously retorted, “Zhou Yanfeng, how could you say such a thing?

“So what if Fangfang is marrying a carpenter? Don’t look down on ordinary rural workers.

“We came to the countryside to support rural development and to build strong connections with the farmers. How can you make such harsh, belittling remarks about them?

“Clearly, your ideological awareness has some serious issues,” Feng Shishi scolded.