Chapter 118: The Chubby Boy’s Attempt to Strike Up a Conversation

After arriving at the location, Zhou Sinian picked out the perfect spot for playing with the ice sled—a small slope.

At his command, the children eagerly began using their small sleds to transport snow over, while Zhou Sinian was in charge of stomping it down to make the surface firm.

Before long, the small slope had transformed into a natural slide, leading directly onto the ice below.

When Zhou Sinian successfully slid down the slope on his sled and glided onto the ice, the children burst into excited cheers, attracting the attention of everyone around.

Compared to simple ice skating, this looked far more entertaining.

Ming Dai also thought Zhou Sinian was quite clever. With the help of the slope, he didn’t need to push off with sticks—his sled shot forward effortlessly.

As soon as Zhou Sinian slid down again, the other children cheered and eagerly lined up at the top of the slope.

Their little faces were flushed red from the cold, but none of them cut in line or pushed. They patiently waited for their turn, one after another.

“Ming Dai! Ming Dai! Look at me! Look at me!”

Ming Dai was fully engrossed in watching the fun when she suddenly heard someone calling her name. She turned her head and saw Zhou Sinian waving his sticks excitedly, maneuvering his sled to spin wildly in place on the ice. The sight left everyone around him momentarily stunned.

Seeing how much fun he was having, Ming Dai felt tempted to join in and waved at him.

Zhou Sinian, full of energy, quickly steered his sled over.

“Zhou Sinian, let me have a turn!”

Since Ming Dai asked, Zhou Sinian generously handed over his sled. Not only that, but he even helped her pull it up to the top of the slope. Walking behind the children, he reminded her with a serious expression, “You have to wait in line.”

Ming Dai looked at the two nervous little kids in front of her and sighed helplessly before nodding.

Only then did the two little ones relax and turn back around, watching as the children ahead of them slid down one after another.

When it was finally Ming Dai’s turn, she had just settled onto the sled when she suddenly heard Zhou Sinian say, “Ming Dai, I’ll help you!”

She hadn’t even figured out what he meant when Zhou Sinian suddenly gave the sled a powerful push, launching it straight down the slope.

Ming Dai was so startled that she immediately shut her eyes and screamed as she shot downward.

In the background, she could still hear Zhou Sinian shouting excitedly, “Ming Dai! Charge forward!”

Ming Dai: Charge your sister!!!

By the time she reached the bottom of the slope, the sled didn’t just stop—it went airborne!

For a brief moment, she felt completely weightless before crashing down onto the ice, sled and all. The nearby people scrambled to dodge her incoming trajectory.

Fortunately, the ice was thick, the sled was sturdy, and Ming Dai had a tough fate—so she landed safely.

However, due to the momentum, the sled didn’t stop. Instead, it continued sliding toward the center of the frozen river.

Ming Dai screamed again, frantically trying to brake with the wooden sticks in her hands.

But it was useless!

“Ahhhh! Get out of the way!! Move!! I can’t stop!!!”

In the end, she sped past all the other sleds like a lone warrior, successfully reaching the middle of the river.

When the sled finally came to a stop, Ming Dai couldn’t hear anything except the loud thump-thump-thump of her heartbeat. Her soul was still lingering somewhere in the air, yet to return to her body.

She was finally brought back to reality by Zhou Sinian’s excited voice. “Ming Dai! Wasn’t that fun? Do you want to go again?!”

Ming Dai quickly shook her head. “No, no, no!!”

She reached up to wipe away the frost that had formed on her eyelashes, then extended a hand toward Zhou Sinian, signaling for him to pull her up.

There was no helping it—her legs had gone weak.

Though Zhou Sinian looked a little disappointed, he still respected her decision.

As they returned to the shore, they happened to run into the brigade leader’s family.

Huang Dalian was also playing with a sled, being pulled along by Liu Laifu. It looked both fun and safe—Ming Dai was envious.

“Xiao Ming, you’re amazing! I’ve never slid that far before!”

Ming Dai gave Huang Dalian an awkward smile in response.

Wuuu!! That nearly scared the life out of me!!

As expected, boys were naturally more reckless. Before long, only Zhou Sinian and a few other boys were still playing the high-speed sledding game, while the girls had moved on to playing one-legged donkey.

 (T/N: The “one-legged donkey” is a popular type of ice sled in China. Riders either squat on a wooden board mounted on an ice skate blade or sit on a seat attached to the board. To move forward, they use two steel spikes to propel themselves across the ice.)

Ming Dai also brought out her secret weapon—two one-legged donkeys, which were actually just bulky ice skates.

She strapped them onto her feet, tested them a few times to find her balance, and smoothly glided forward, quickly becoming the brightest star in the crowd.

Feeling a little proud of herself, she thought that all the time she had spent practicing in secret, falling over again and again, had not been in vain.

The more she skated, the smoother her movements became. Though these makeshift skates weren’t as agile as real ice blades, she could still perform some basic moves.

Coincidentally, Liu Yan had also dragged Qi Zhijun along to play today. At first, they were having fun riding a sled together, but when Liu Yan saw Ming Dai gliding so gracefully on the ice, she suddenly felt uneasy.

Qi Zhijun noticed too. His mind immediately drifted back to the ice-skating rinks in Beijing, making him feel even more frustrated. Without a word, he tossed aside the wooden sticks he had been using, abandoned the sled, and started walking toward the shore.

Liu Yan was utterly confused. She had no idea what had upset him this time, so she could only pick up the sled and stumble after him.

Meanwhile, Huang Dalian, impressed by Ming Dai’s skills, strapped on a pair of one-legged donkeys and asked Ming Dai to guide her.

Ming Dai happily took her hand and spun her around on the ice. The two of them laughed, their joy echoing through the air.

Most people in Liujiawan couldn’t afford real ice skates, but some from the commune could.

At that moment, a few young men wearing proper ice skates were gliding over from the commune, carrying fishing gear.

Among them was a man with a face full of acne. He stared at Ming Dai’s smooth movements, a lecherous glint in his eyes, making it clear that his intentions were anything but pure.

The chubby man beside him noticed and gave a fawning smile. “Brother Fa, want me to call her over to keep you company?”

The acne-faced man shot him a glare. “So crude! You should say invite!”

The chubby man didn’t take offense at all. He grinned, nodding eagerly. “Right, right, I’ll invitethis comrade over to introduce her to you.”

The acne-faced man nodded in satisfaction. “Make sure you’re polite.”

The chubby man agreed with exaggerated enthusiasm, then dragged his heavy body across the ice toward Ming Dai.

At that moment, Ming Dai was chatting with Huang Dalian and a few others, explaining how to skate properly.

Seeing how effortlessly she moved, the other women were eager to give it a try.

Just as they were deep in conversation, a breathless voice interrupted them.

“Comrade, comrade! Our Brother Fa would like to exchange ice-skating techniques with you.”

Ming Dai frowned and turned her head, only to be met with a face so round that the man’s eyes were barely visible—something quite rare in those days.

As he spoke, he gestured toward a group of people on the other side of the river. One of them raised a hand in greeting—clearly, that was Brother Fa.

Ming Dai found their boldness unbelievable. Openly hitting on a female comrade at a time like this? If taken seriously, this could even be considered hooligan behavior. And they dared to do it right in front of Huang Dalian and the others?

Sure enough, before Ming Dai could even say a word, Huang Dalian had already pulled her behind her. The other women quickly followed, forming a protective barrier around her, shielding her from view.

“Ptui! You fat fool, what nonsense are you spouting?! Who’s going to exchange techniques with you?! Exchange my foot! How about I exchange something with you instead?!”

As she yelled, she swung the wooden stick in her hand straight at him. The other women joined in, cursing and hitting him with their sticks.

The chubby man was completely stunned, too shocked to even dodge.

He was from Xiavan Village, the neighboring settlement, and he knew the people from Liujiawan. Seeing that Ming Dai was an unfamiliar face, he had guessed she was one of the newly assigned educated youths.

And it was precisely becauseshe was an educated youth that he had dared to approach her.

After all, the conflict between the villagers of Liujiawan and the educated youths was infamous across the entire commune.

But this—what was going on here?!

Had these women lost their minds?!

Why were they suddenly defendingan educated youth?!

That had neverbeen the case in previous years!

But Huang Dalian and the others didn’t care about any of that. If anyone dared to bully Xiao Ming, they would beat him senseless!

Their sticks rained down mercilessly, striking only the exposed parts of his body.

The chubby man wailed like a pig being slaughtered, struggling to keep his footing. In the end, he had no choice but to roll and crawl his way out of their encirclement.

Ming Dai’s eyes sparkled as she watched the scene unfold.

In her past life, she had heard stories about how fierce the women of this village were—but she had never witnessed it firsthand.

Now, she finally had.

And it was glorious!

Huang Dalian and the other women were absolutely delighted by the admiration in Ming Dai’s eyes. Their hearts swelled with pride as they waved their wooden sticks toward the men on the opposite side of the river.

“You little brats, always up to no good!” Huang Dalian scolded, glaring at the troublemakers.

Then she turned to Ming Dai with a serious expression. “Xiao Ming, you need to be careful. Those boys are all the rotten sons of the commune’s leadership. They love harassing pretty young girls.”

“They especially target educated youths. Over the years, a few from our village have fallen for their tricks.”

“But don’t be scared. Just make sure you always have that madman with you. They’re afraid of him. As long as he’s around, they won’t dare come near you.”

Just as she finished speaking, a figure came speeding toward them on an ice sled—Zhou Sinian, his face dark with fury.

Clearly, he had seen everything.

Ming Dai braced herself. This was going to be interesting.