Chapter 63

Seeing Lu Chen’s surprised expression, Meng Yinyin quickly tried to explain, “Well, you have work to do during the day, and you’re already tired. Since I was the one who was saved, I should go and thank him properly, don’t you think?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen furrowed his brows and hesitated for a moment. In the end, he still felt uneasy about letting Meng Yinyin go alone. After all, given what happened with Song Yue, he couldn’t bear the thought of Meng Yinyin being alone outside.

At that critical moment, Meng Yinyin’s quick thinking helped her figure out Lu Chen’s concerns. She quickly stopped him again.

“I can really do it on my own! Or do you think that I am such a grown-up, I can’t do other things well, and I can’t even handle such a small thing?”

As she spoke, she deliberately pouted and glared at Lu Chen.

Seeing her expression, Lu Chen didn’t dare to argue. He could only helplessly nod.

When she saw that Lu Chen had finally abandoned the idea of visiting Dou Zhengrong’s house, Meng Yinyin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fearing that something else might go wrong, Meng Yinyin quickly found an excuse to return to her room and rest, not wanting to continue discussing this topic with Lu Chen.

Once back in her room, she noticed that her back was already covered with a thin layer of sweat and couldn’t help but complain to herself about Lu Chen.

However, she also knew in her heart that if such situations continued to happen, her nerves might eventually snap. So, the best solution was to completely resolve this matter. Otherwise, if this kept happening, she felt she wouldn’t be able to handle the stress.

So, for the entire afternoon, she kept thinking about ways to avoid further entanglements between Lu Chen, Lin Xiuzhi, and Dou Zhengrong.

However, after thinking for the entire afternoon, she still couldn’t come up with a good solution.

After all, Lu Chen and Dou Zhengrong, along with Lin Xiuzhi, were all in the same brigade, and no matter how hard she tried, avoiding them completely wasn’t realistic.

Thus, simply avoiding them didn’t seem feasible. Since that was the case, maybe she could try to persuade them? Just like she had managed to influence Lu Chen, maybe she could gradually instill the idea in them that they shouldn’t be together?

After considering it for a while, Meng Yinyin felt this idea wasn’t bad and decided that when she went to Dou Zhengrong’s house in the afternoon, she would try to gently influence both him and his wife, Lin Xiuzhi, to understand they should stay apart!

Even if they couldn’t stay together, Lin Xiuzhi shouldn’t come after Lu Chen, especially since Lu Chen was with her now. If Lin Xiuzhi were to approach him, it would be impolite.

Once she had made up her mind, Meng Yinyin quickly started thinking of the right words to say, and before long, time passed by quickly.

Before leaving for work in the afternoon, Lu Chen had already prepared the things for Dou Zhengrong and placed them in the living room. As soon as Meng Yinyin woke up and left her room, she saw them there.

In the countryside, people were usually very practical when giving gifts. They would either give food or useful items, and Lu Chen was no exception. He had prepared a basket of vegetables for Meng Yinyin to take, and underneath the vegetables, there was a piece of dried meat weighing about a pound. This was considered a rather high-end gift in the countryside, and it would certainly be enough to make a good impression.

With everything prepared, Meng Yinyin didn’t need to worry about what to bring, and she knew the gift would be appropriate. She couldn’t help but think that Lu Chen was becoming more and more capable.

Quickly, she grabbed the basket, locked the door, and headed towards Dou Zhengrong’s house.

When she reached the area near Dou Zhengrong’s house, she saw the door wide open, and Dou Zhengrong was sitting in the yard, repairing a stool. Dabao and Erbao were nowhere to be seen, perhaps out playing or searching for wild vegetables.

As for Lin Xiuzhi, Meng Yinyin didn’t see her in the yard, and she wasn’t sure whether she was inside the house or had gone out.

So, was she going to face Dou Zhengrong alone?

She had been thinking that since both she and Lin Xiuzhi were women, it might be easier to talk things over. However, she didn’t expect not to see Lin Xiuzhi at all.

If she were alone facing Dou Zhengrong, she would have been a bit worried about the strange relationship between them.

For a moment, Meng Yinyin felt stuck, unsure of how to proceed.

However, while she was hesitating, Dou Zhengrong had already noticed her and took the initiative to greet her.

“Educated Youth Meng, what brings you here?”

Meng Yinyin snapped out of her thoughts and realized Dou Zhengrong was looking at her. At that moment, she truly found herself in a difficult position.

She could only force a smile and replied to Dou Zhengrong.

“Ha, haha, yes, I came over because I need to talk to you about something.”

Upon hearing this, Dou Zhengrong immediately put down what he was doing, propped himself up on his crutch, stood up, and invited Meng Yinyin to sit in the yard.

But noticing Meng Yinyin’s hesitant steps, he quickly realized something. His brows furrowed slightly, and with a suppressed expression of annoyance, he called into the house behind him.

“Xiuzhi, Educated Youth Meng is here. Come out for a moment.”

As a man, even though it was daytime, Dou Zhengrong knew that being alone with Meng Yinyin could lead to gossip, so he had no choice but to call Lin Xiuzhi, who was lying inside, to come out.

Speaking of which, ever since Lu Chen came to visit Dou Zhengrong and directly asked Lin Xiuzhi why she had said those things to Meng Yinyin, Lin Xiuzhi had been in a low mood for a long time. She was still upset, and she had become completely confused about whether Lu Chen liked “Lin Xiuzhi” or not.

If he really liked “Lin Xiuzhi,” why would he say such harsh things to her and always take Meng Yinyin’s side? It was too disrespectful.

Moreover, the most important thing was that if Lu Chen really didn’t like “Lin Xiuzhi,” what would she do if she divorced Dou Zhengrong? Would she have to live alone?

However, she definitely didn’t want to stay and care for a cripple, nor play the role of a stepmother to two children. She wouldn’t willingly live such a hard life.

Because of all these troubles and concerns, Lin Xiuzhi had lost interest in doing anything else during this time. She just stayed at home, lost in thought and worry.

As for the rest of the family, she didn’t care. Dou Zhengrong and the two children weren’t her responsibility. If they weren’t doing well, it had nothing to do with her!

Dou Zhengrong, on the other hand, didn’t know if he was really upset by Lin Xiuzhi’s visit to Lu Chen that day, but ever since then, he had hardly spoken to her. Even the children noticed that their father was indifferent to their mother, and the couple’s relationship had reached an unprecedented deadlock.

Lin Xiuzhi didn’t mind at all. In fact, she thought it was better this way—both of them could mind their own business.

What surprised her, though, was that despite clearly being disappointed by her actions, Dou Zhengrong still took care of her meals. A few days ago, when she coughed a few times, he surprisingly asked if she was feeling unwell.

Lin Xiuzhi sneered inwardly, thinking to herself that Dou Zhengrong was spineless and cowardly. Even though she treated him this way—almost openly humiliating him—he still cared for her?

What a useless man!

Because of this, Lin Xiuzhi naturally looked down on Dou Zhengrong even more, and she felt more entitled to stay at the Dou family house and act like a princess.

However, as she was lying in the room, thinking about her future options, she suddenly heard Dou Zhengrong’s voice calling her outside, telling her that Meng Yinyin had arrived.

Her expression froze, and cold light flickered in her eyes at the mention of “Meng Yinyin”!

Meng Yinyin!

It’s all because of her!

If it weren’t for her, Lu Chen would never have fallen in love with someone else. She was the woman who stole Lu Chen away, and she was hiding in Lu Chen’s house dishonestly, and now she dares to come to her house?

Where did she get the nerve?!

Thinking that it was all because Meng Yinyin had changed the storyline and caused her to end up in this situation, Lin Xiuzhi felt an intense hatred for her.

Without hesitation, she jumped out of bed and quickly went to the yard.

She already hated Meng Yinyin to the bone, and now, seeing her bright and glowing face, while thinking about her own miserable life at the Dou house, Lin Xiuzhi nearly wanted to tear Meng Yinyin apart.

“What are you doing here?”

Lin Xiuzhi glared at Meng Yinyin fiercely.

By now, she had already severed ties with Dou Zhengrong, so she wasn’t worried about how he would view her anymore.

As for Meng Yinyin—

Lin Xiuzhi had always despised her, so she didn’t pretend to be friendly anymore.

Her cold expression and words successfully made Meng Yinyin pause. The last time she saw Lin Xiuzhi was when she came to find Lu Chen. Though Lin Xiuzhi’s attitude was a bit strange then, at least she was still acting somewhat normal. She hadn’t acted this hostile toward her before.

As for the time when Lu Chen came to the Dou family’s house to confront them about this, he only briefly told Meng Yinyin what happened after he left, but didn’t mention much about Lin Xiuzhi. So, Meng Yinyin had no idea that Lin Xiuzhi had changed so drastically.

However, Meng Yinyin wasn’t someone who would be bullied. Noticing the hostility in Lin Xiuzhi’s attitude, she wouldn’t let herself be intimidated.

With a cold expression, Meng Yinyin replied, “Of course, I came because I have something to discuss with you.”

As for what it was, she had originally planned to talk things over with Lin Xiuzhi, but seeing her attitude now, Meng Yinyin suddenly didn’t want to talk to her anymore.

Seeing that the two were on the verge of an argument, Dou Zhengrong could only step forward and speak.

“Educated Youth Meng, would you like to come in and sit down?”

Meng Yinyin was still upset, but then she remembered that she couldn’t leave without accomplishing something. She had to at least take care of a few matters; otherwise, this trip would have been a waste.

After thinking for a moment, Meng Yinyin suddenly adjusted her expression, flashing a smile that was both shy and somewhat content, and said to the two, “Actually, it’s nothing major. I just came to thank Comrade Dou for helping me last time. This is a small token of appreciation that Lu Chen and I prepared together. Comrade Dou, you must accept it.”

Dou Zhengrong knew about the matter, but Lin Xiuzhi didn’t.

When Lin Xiuzhi heard Meng Yinyin say this, her brows furrowed, and a suspicious look flashed between her and Dou Zhengrong. She couldn’t help but wonder if Meng Yinyin and Dou Zhengrong still had some ongoing relationship, and perhaps she had been too hasty in assuming that Meng Yinyin had already strayed from the plot.