Chapter 135

Han Cheng left Sujia Village after lunch. Since the weather was cold, Su Xiaoxiao didn’t want him to eat dry food. Instead, she suggested he buy a hot meal directly on the train. At noon, when she cooked braised pork, Su Xiaoxiao prepared an extra-large box for him to bring to the train as an additional dish. This way, he could enjoy it even when buried under the warmth of other dishes.

Li Yufeng packed a large bag of dried goods—black fungus, dried bamboo shoots, dried beans, and other items—to take to Grandpa Zhuzi.

Coincidentally, some educated youth were going back to their hometown early for the Chinese New Year, so Han Cheng rode the team’s tractor to the county town with them.

Before Han Cheng left, he also told Su Xiaoxiao shocking news: Liu Shuixian had set her sights on Yang Lin!

Although Han Cheng said he had already informed Yang Lin about Liu Shuixian’s character, after careful consideration by Teacher Dong and Teacher Yang, they probably wouldn’t approve of them being together.

Su Xiaoxiao took quite a while to process the information. An honest and studious widow? A good match for Liu Shuixian? Why does it sound a bit compatible?

Su Xiaoxiao had heard from Li Yufeng that matchmaker Xu had been introducing potential partners to Liu Shuixian in recent years. However, Liu Shuixian was either dissatisfied with this or that, always finding faults in every male comrade. How could she suddenly fall in love with Yang Lin?

According to reason, people like Liu Shuixian, who have eyes above their heads^[1]Someone with high standards or who looks down on someone should have distanced themselves from someone like Yang Lin, an intellectual sent down for re-education. How could she voluntarily approach him? Could it be that she had received some news, knowing that Teacher Yang’s family was returning to the city soon?

After pondering, Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t think of any other reason besides this.

In fact, it is not difficult for Su Xiaoxiao to understand why Yang Lin is attracted to Liu Shuixian. According to 21st-century standards, Yang Lin was a typical science and engineering nerd plus a homebody, making him susceptible to the charm of a mature, alluring, well-proportioned woman like Liu Shuixian. With the woman actively approaching, it would be difficult for this clueless nerd to escape her grasp.

Su Xiaoxiao was actually a bit worried. If Liu Shuixian found out that Yang Lin backed out and she genuinely fancied him, a simple fall into his arms or a shout of harassment in this era of heightened gender awareness would force Yang Lin to marry her. Su Xiaoxiao decided to remind her father to pay attention to Liu Shuixian so as not to cause any embarrassment during the New Year.

As Li Yufeng said, a constant stream of members passed by their house for various reasons, all wanting to come in and see the twins. Even though the twins were napping, some still had the idea of peeking into their room. Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t concentrate on reading with all the disturbances.

Deciding to go to the kitchen early to prepare dinner for everyone, when Li Yufeng was preparing dried goods for Han Cheng, she also picked some wood ear mushrooms and dried daylilies, planning to stew meat for the evening.

Su Xiaoxiao found that there was plenty of time, so she decided to stew the pig trotters first.

Looking at the hair on the pig trotters, Su Xiaoxiao shouted into the house, “Fantuan, Da Bao, Xiao Bao, go pick some straw and bring back a little more. Auntie needs it to burn the pig hair.”

Pig skin burned with straw would have a fragrance of straw. Su Xiaoxiao had thought of using straw to burn it back when she was in the army, but there were no rice fields nearby, making it difficult to find straw.

“Coming!” The three kids ran out; they always moved together wherever they went.

Su Xiaoxiao said, “Don’t play outside, come back quickly. I’ll need it soon.”

The three kids nodded, and Da Bao said, “Auntie, we know. There’s straw near the willow tree across the small river. We’ll be back soon.”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “Be careful when crossing the bridge. Watch out falling into the river on a cold day is not a joke.”

“Got it.” The three cubs bounced and ran out.

…….

Just outside the door, across a road, was a small river. On the other side were vast paddy fields, and stacks of straw were placed there. Some were piled into pyramid shapes on top of sheds, drying well. In the winter, without fresh and tender grass, these were important foods for the big water buffalo of the production team. Taking some back to burn pig hair was okay, but taking a lot to use as firewood was not allowed.

The bridge over the river was built by Su Weimin himself, using wood and planks. With a few boards nailed onto two large wooden logs, it became a very sturdy bridge.

The river seemed narrow, but it was deep. There had been drowning incidents before, so Su Weimin had the villagers install guardrails made of bamboo and put up signs every short distance saying, “The river is deep and has caused drowning. Please watch your children closely.”

This is the first time Xiao Fantuan has crossed this bridge, he hasn’t even arrived at the river yet and said, “Wow, this place is so spacious, big and small. Da Bao, Xiao Bao, the rice fields have no water. We can come here tomorrow to dig sweet potato nests.”

Xiao Bao nodded. “Of course, Grandma planted a lot of sweet potatoes on the mountain slope over there. Some haven’t been dug yet. We can dig them up and roast them immediately. That’s the most delicious way.”

Xiao Fantuan smacked his lips. “Just thinking about it, and I know it must be delicious. Let’s do that tomorrow!”

Da Bao said, “Let’s go quickly and get the straw. Auntie is waiting at home.”

Xiao Fantuan sighed. “Yes, we need to hurry. Finally, we can have Mom’s braised pig’s trotters tonight. She hasn’t made this dish in a long time.”

The three kids raced towards the straw shed. As they approached, they saw two figures inside, apparently arguing and tugging at each other.

Xiao Bao furrowed his brow. “Why does it look like Teacher Xiao Yang?”

Da Bao said, “It’s Teacher Xiao Yang and Aunt Liu?”

Da Bao and Xiao Bao call Yang Nanhuai Teacher Yang and Yang Lin Teacher Xiao Yang.

Xiao Bao looked puzzled and said, “Ah, how could Teacher Xiao Yang know her?”

When their aunt got married, Xiao Bao was already six years old. Adults never avoided speaking in front of him, so he still remembered the time when his aunt Su and Liu, the widow, went to meet Uncle together.

Xiao Fantuan, thinking they were school teachers, didn’t pay much attention. As they approached, they saw Liu, the widow, suddenly jump into the water with a “plop!”

The three kids exchanged glances, wondering what was happening.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao couldn’t care less about that at the moment. They rushed over and asked, “Teacher Xiao Yang, what’s going on? Why did she jump into the river?”

Liu Shuixian didn’t expect the water to be so deep. As soon as she jumped in, she started sinking. She originally wanted to shout for help to attract everyone to come and watch, but after swallowing a few mouthfuls of water, she shivered from the cold and couldn’t speak. She floated and sank, struggling to raise her hand.

Yang Lin was already anxious, unable to explain much. “Quick, Da Bao, Xiao Bao, I can’t swim. Go get the adults to save her, hurry up!”

Seeing a long bamboo by the riverbank, Xiao Fantuan pulled it out and handed it down. “Grab onto the bamboo. We’ll pull you up!” But Liu Shuixian seemed oblivious, only flailing in the water.

Xiao Fantuan had no choice but to take off his thick jacket, slide down the riverbank, and say this to Da Bao and Xiao Bao. “Don’t come down. During my summer vacation, Dad taught me how to swim. I’ll go and pull her over. I’m afraid I won’t have enough strength, so give me that bamboo and help me pull her up.”

Xiao Bao also took off his cotton jacket and said, “I also learned to swim in the river in the summer. I’ll come down to help you.”

Xiao Fantuan shook his head. “Xiao Bao, don’t come down! The water is too cold. You two stay up there and pull us up. Da Bao, go quickly and inform the adults!”

Da Bao, afraid of water and not having learned to swim, was already in a panic. Upon hearing Fantuan’s instructions, he turned around and ran back to call for help.

After Fantuan finished speaking, he immediately jumped into the water. Fortunately, the water flow wasn’t too strong in the winter. Liu Shuixian was struggling in one spot, not drifting far. However, the water was truly cold in the middle of winter, and Fantuan’s teeth started chattering shortly after going in.

With one hand holding Liu Shuixian and the other grabbing the bamboo handed down by Yang Lin, Yang Lin, and Xiao Bao worked together to pull them to the shore.

When a person is drowning, they will desperately grab the last straw to save their life. Liu Shuixian held onto Fantuan tightly. She was already much heavier than Fantuan, and with soaked clothes weighing her down even more, Fantuan, being small and not very strong, would have been dragged down if not for the help of the bamboo.

(T/N: Seriously, I want to skin this girl alive. Poor baby Fantuan.)

After a lot of effort, the three of them managed to drag Liu Shuixian onto the shore. At this point, Fantuan’s face was already purple from the cold.

Xiao Bao handed over his cotton-padded jacket and said, “Fantuan, quickly, take off your clothes and wear this cotton-padded jacket directly.”

Xiao Fantuan’s hands were frozen stiff, it was so cold that he couldn’t help but stomp his feet. Xiao Bao quickly helped him take off the soaked clothes and put the cotton-padded jacket on him.

Fantuan hugged the cotton-padded jacket and jumped around, still feeling extremely cold.

Looking at the unconscious Liu Shuixian, Yang Lin’s face turned pale. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do.

Luckily, the place wasn’t far from their home. After taking some time to rescue, Li Yufeng and Su Xiaoxiao arrived.

Da Bao went back and explained the whole story. Seeing these two people (Yang Lin and Stupid Liu), Su Xiaoxiao didn’t have any doubts. Unexpectedly, the thing she was most worried about had happened.

Li Yufeng knew someone had fallen into the water. Hearing that Fantuan had jumped in during the winter, she was scared out of her wits. However, she remembered to instruct Da Bao to take care of his younger siblings at home and rushed over with a quilt for each person.

Su Xiaoxiao made a quick decision: “Fantuan, take off those wet pants, wrap yourself in the quilt, and go home for a hot bath!”

She then looked at Yang Lin and said, “This is no longer your concern; you better leave.”

Yang Lin was still in a daze, pointing at Liu Shuixian. “But she…”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “If you don’t want to be implicated by her, and you don’t want to be forced to marry her, then hurry up and leave.”

Yang Lin is currently helping the team with bookkeeping. Although none of the members are working during this holiday, he still makes it a habit to go back to the office every day to see if there is anything to attend to. On his way back, he encountered Liu Shuixian and took the opportunity to tell her about their unsuitability.

When Liu Shuixian asked him why he suddenly mentioned how they were compatible, Yang Lin turned red. He thought that he and his mother must have misunderstood Liu Shuixian’s intention.

As usual, Liu Shuixian talks about not understanding the meaning of some poems. She asks if she can consult him. Talking by the roadside is inconvenient, so she suggests going to chat by the straw stack.

Yang Lin didn’t have many guards against people, and since they occasionally chatted like this before, he followed her. Who knew she suddenly grab him and ask him if she was pretty or not?

Yang Lin, a gentleman who avoids impropriety, naturally avoided her. To his surprise, she suddenly jumped into the river for no apparent reason. Honestly, Yang Lin is still confused about the whole situation.

Li Yufeng is already taking off Liu Shuixian’s clothes. Su Xiaoxiao ignored Yang Lin and said, “You can’t help here. After seeing her body, you really have to marry her. If you want to marry her, stay.”

Yang Lin ended up with another flushed face, said “Thank you,” and stumbled away, catching up with Xiao Bao and Xiao Fantuan ahead.

Yang Lin ran to Xiao Fantuan and squatted down. “Let me carry you so that we can get home faster.”

Normally, Fantuan can walk faster, but he is feeling too cold right now, so he didn’t act polite to him. He trembled as he climbed onto his back, while Xiao Bao helped tighten the quilt. The three of them quickly head home.

Li Yufeng took off Liu Shuixian’s wet clothes. The mother and daughter worked together to wrap her in a large quilt. Su Xiaoxiao, seeing no response from her, tried to recall the first aid lessons from her past life, pressing her chest to perform CPR.

Li Yufeng couldn’t understand her daughter’s action, so she asked Su Xiaoxiao. “Daughter, what are you doing? Let’s quickly take her back.”

Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t answer her mother’s words and could only say, “We need to squeeze out the water she swallowed.”

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t know how many times she pressed her chest. Sweat formed on her back, and Liu Shuixian finally coughed and sat up, sucking out the water.

Seeing her wake up, Li Yufeng quickly wrapped her in a big quilt and said, “Can you walk? If you can, quickly get up and go home to warm up and drink ginger soup.”

Li Yufeng is not foolish; she understands that Liu Shuixian had some ulterior motives for coming to the straw stack with a single man. She genuinely looks down on someone who doesn’t know self-respect.

Liu Shuixian was shivering from the cold and couldn’t answer Li Yufeng’s question.

“Mom, her home is at the village entrance. Our home is nearby. Let’s let her come to our house and drink ginger soup before leaving.” Su Xiaoxiao is worried about Xiao Fantuan and wants to go back home soon.

Li Yufeng, despite her disdain, won’t let someone die in front of her. The mother and daughter helped Liu Shuixian, holding her wet clothes and supporting her towards home.

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T/N: Hi! If you want to stay updated, please join our Discord. I don’t know why NU isn’t showing the new chapters. The chapters have been free since this morning, but they still aren’t appearing on the NU page. You can also go directly to Shanghai Fantasy every Tuesday and Friday! I unlock 4 chapters a week! Don’t worry, all chapters will be free in the future.

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