Chapter 63 ☆ Meal Delivery

On the day of watermelon picking in the village, everyone, young and old, worked hard. The watermelon harvest was abundant, and the workers’ tanned backs and necks were visible under their vests. The watermelons, large and green-skinned, were picked carefully and transported to the shade of the trees by the riverbank. They were sorted and weighed.

Despite the scorching heat, the villagers were enthusiastic. The watermelons were sent to the city first to avoid famine later in the year. Xie Zhao, now driving a tractor, was greeted more warmly than before. He worked tirelessly until noon when the team leader called for a break.

As the villagers took a rest, Xie Zhao moved a few watermelons under the tree. Someone called out, “Xie San, let’s go eat?”

“Okay, wait a moment,” Xie Zhao replied casually.

The villagers sat in the shade, enjoying their dry food. A young wife brought a water chestnut-shaped basket with sour noodle soup, drawing envious looks.

Xie Zhao thought about how Cheng Yaoyao prepared sour soup noodles for him, and a smile crept onto his face as he imagined her bringing him food. He was momentarily lost in thoughts of her.

Suddenly, Xie Zhao’s attention was drawn to Cheng Yaoyao, who was walking towards him with a large basket. The field fell silent, and all eyes were on her. Cheng Yaoyao, carrying the basket with some difficulty, looked up at him with flushed cheeks.

“I brought you food,” she said, setting the basket down. Xie Zhao quickly helped her, noticing the porcelain bowls clinking inside the basket.

Cheng Yaoyao, panting and looking like a kitten asking for praise, raised her hat and smiled at him.

Xie Zhao, feeling self-conscious with everyone watching, managed to say, “Hmm.”

Cheng Yaoyao blinked, looking a bit puzzled. Xie Zhao interrupted before she could speak further, asking, “Why did I ask you to deliver it? Where’s Xiao Fei?”

“Xiao Fei isn’t well yet, but I was on my way anyway,” Cheng Yaoyao explained, noticing someone approaching.

Sister Jinhua came over with a bowl, peering into the basket and commenting, “Oh, Xie San’er’s life seems to be getting better. Someone brought him food! What’s in it?”

Cheng Yaoyao put on her hat and said to Xie Zhaoxiong, “Hurry up and eat the meal Sister made for you! I’ll bring it back on the way after you finish eating!”

After saying that, she lifted her chin and walked away.

Xie Zhao was speechless. Sister Jinhua stared at Cheng Yaoyao’s back and said, “Tsk tsk, you have such a bad temper. You must be annoyed by her staying at your house. City women are like this. They are not as good as our country girls, who are hardworking, honest, and can take care of the family!”

In the shade of the trees in the distance, Cheng Yaoyao, Han Yin, and Zhang Xiaofeng sat together to eat. They enjoyed the steamed bread they brought from home and the spicy crayfish meat that Cheng Yaoyao brought with her.

Cheng Yaoyao broke off half of a steamed bun, held it in her hand without eating it, and stared in one direction with a frown on her face.

Han Yin followed Cheng Yaoyao’s gaze and whispered, “Sister Jinhua wants to propose marriage to your landlord!”

“Propose a marriage?!” Cheng Yaoyao’s eyes widened. “What is Sister Jinhua doing? Aren’t matchmakers not allowed now? Where did this old practice come from?!”

Han Yin swallowed the shrimp in her mouth and leaned in. Cheng Yaoyao had been in the village for so long, and apart from Xie Zhao’s family, she didn’t know many villagers. Han Yin was the opposite; she knew everything about the villagers. 

“That Jinhua sister is a famous matchmaker in the surrounding villages! But her reputation is not very good. She once introduced people to all kinds of unsuitable matches, cheating several girls,” Han Yin explained vividly. “You should tell your landlord to be careful.”

Cheng Yaoyao was angry and snorted, “What does it have to do with me?”

Zhang Xiaofeng smiled and said, “That’s right. Yaoyao is a girl; how can she discuss this with a young man?”

Cheng Yaoyao asked again, “Xie Zhao’s family is a landlord family; how could they arrange a marriage for him?”

Han Yin said, “Did you know that some rich peasants in other villages have been rehabilitated? They are driving tractors now, which is a good job. Besides…”

Han Yin mentioned this with a shyness that only girls have, and Zhang Xiaofeng added, “Besides, she is the famous Yue Yun in the village!”

Zhang Xiaofeng and Han Yin chuckled. Cheng Yaoyao crushed the steamed bread in her hand, and alarm bells rang in her mind!

Sister Jinhua chattered non-stop beside Xie Zhao. He stared at her face and silently opened the basket. It contained a bowl of red rice with a few pickled cucumbers on top, and no meat. Xie Zhao buried his head in the food.

Jinhua glanced at him and secretly curled her lips. It was busy farming season, and even the poorest families were willing to eat fine grains and bacon. A strong young man like Xie Zhao only ate this? The Xie family must be poor. But Xie Zhao was driving a tractor now and worked hard. In a few years, when that sick grandmother passed away, life would improve. Besides, looking at Xie Zhao’s muscular body and deep eyebrows, many girls would be willing to marry him.

Jinhua’s mouth was dry from talking so much, and she still couldn’t find a match for her cousin’s daughter. She walked away angrily, saying, “You think you are so popular? You come from a landlord family, and you are lucky to have a wife! You still want to pick the moon from the sky?!”

Xie Zhao ignored her. The red rice was chewy and sweet. He turned it over with his chopsticks and found a few slices of soft pork with preserved vegetables and a half-cooked poached egg underneath. He picked it up with his chopsticks, and the orange-red yolk of the local egg flowed out. He mixed it with the rice and swallowed it quickly. His stomach was satisfied, and the tip of his tongue gradually became sweet.

The basket of eggs his sister had been saving was empty again.

After finishing his meal, Xie Zhao put the empty bowl and chopsticks back into the basket, took out the kettle, and drank a few sips of honeysuckle tea. Since the beginning of summer, Cheng Yaoyao liked to make bayberry soup, but Xie Zhao didn’t like the sweet drink, so Cheng Yaoyao made this for him. After drinking it, he felt refreshed and full of energy, but the tea was too strong, and Xie Zhao had nosebleeds several times.

After a break in the field, Xie Zhao got up to work again when the whistle blew. The pink figure was still under the shade of the tree. Xie Zhao frowned and spoke to Lin Daguan, who was in charge of weighing the melons. They exchanged tasks.

Cheng Yaoyao was recording the weight of the watermelons. Her face was cold as she pointed at the scale and the pile of watermelons on the ground. “Pick out the 20-jin ^[1]which are a unit of weight equal to 1 kilogram. ones and put them in a pile. Report the number after you weigh them.”

The melons on the ground were particularly large, the best of the best, or “the best” in Tianshui Village’s old saying. Xie Zhao picked up a huge watermelon and put it on the scale. As he exerted force, his muscles bulged, sweat rolled down his cheeks, and an abundant and attractive yang energy came over him.

Cheng Yaoyao held her breath and tried to focus on the notebook, but her strokes still turned out wavy. She tore a page of paper in frustration, crumpled it up, and threw it away, then wrote a new page. The accountant saw this and praised Cheng Yaoyao for her seriousness and meticulousness in her work.

Cheng Yaoyao gave him a cold look, her eyes clearly showing “Is there anything I can do for you?” Even this look made the accountant nervous, and he talked more and more, sticking to Cheng Yaoyao and refusing to leave.

Xie Zhao worked hard to move hundreds of large watermelons, and the accountant was finally called away reluctantly. Xie Zhao then spoke to Cheng Yaoyao: “Yaoyao, why don’t you go home?”

Cheng Yaoyao said seriously, “I have to work.”

Picking melons is a big event in the village. Men, women, young, and old have to work, and Cheng Yaoyao is no exception.

Xie Zhao hesitated to speak. His expression was fleeting, but Cheng Yaoyao still noticed it. Cheng Yaoyao was angry and said, “Why? Is it strange that I work? I have been taking care of these melons for a month, and I have a lot of feelings for them!”

Xie Zhao wisely chose to remain silent.

When has this spoiled girl ever worked? These days, Xie Zhao has been doing double the work, and Cheng Yaoyao didn’t even show up for check-in — anyway, the person who registered was Han Yin, and the supervisor was Lin Jiajun.

Lin Jiajun naturally didn’t say anything, and he hated being assigned the job of supervisor and not being able to help Cheng Yaoyao with the work. Han Yin just thought that Xie Zhao was working for Cheng Yaoyao and would earn a little more, so she didn’t object. The three of them had the same goal. Cheng Yaoyao’s attendance was full every day in the registration book, but she was the only one who didn’t know it.

A voice broke the silence between them: “Yaoyao.”

Shen Yan approached. He was tanned and thinner, with a light scar on his cheek. His trouser legs were rolled up, and he looked more energetic than before. He glanced at Xie Zhao, and their eyes met, making the atmosphere tense.

Cheng Yaoyao put down her pen and asked coldly, “What do you want?”

Shen Yan’s aloof demeanor didn’t scare Shen Yan away. He placed a paper bag on the table and said, “This is Fuling Cake. Try it.”

“I don’t want to,” Cheng Yaoyao said immediately.

“It was sent from my family. My mother specifically sent it to you,” Shen Yan said with a good-natured smile, “It’s a gift from my mother, so you can’t refuse it.”

Shen Yan’s mother? Cheng Yaoyao touched her chin, trying to recall details about Shen Yan’s mother from the original owner’s memory.

As she thought, she tilted her head, looking very cute. The sunlight filtering through the leaves illuminated her face, making her skin even clearer. Her pupils were a light amber color. Even in the summer, when everyone else was sweating and getting a tan, Cheng Yaoyao remained pale and fresh, with a faint fragrance.

Shen Yan’s eyes turned red with envy. He leaned across the table and said, “Do you remember when you were little, you often came to my house to play, and you loved this Fuling Cake the most?”

Suddenly, a hard blow hit Shen Yan in the right rib. He let out a hoarse scream, his handsome face contorted in pain. Xie Zhao, with his black hair dripping with sweat, said in a rough voice, “Weighed, a total of one hundred and ten!”

Cheng Yaoyao retreated, covering her nose and said, “I know.”

“Barbarian…” Shen Yan grimaced in pain, “You did it on purpose!”

Xie Zhao ignored him, made a tick on the notebook handed to him by Cheng Yaoyao, looked at Cheng Yaoyao sharply, put his wet coat on his shoulders, and walked away, showing a rare rebellious side.

Shen Yan finally caught his breath and said to Cheng Yaoyao, “Yaoyao, did you see that? This barbarian dared to be rude to you in front of me. You should move out immediately and not live in his house anymore!”

The hook on the notebook was so strong that it tore through the paper. Cheng Yaoyao closed the book and looked at Shen Yan with a raised eyebrow, confused: “What else? If I don’t live in his house, where should I go?”

Her eyes were full of water, with a teardrop mole reflecting it, making her look naturally sentimental. Shen Yan couldn’t help but say, “The village party secretary’s family, the team leader’s family—there must be a better option than his!”

Cheng Yaoyao shook her head: “There isn’t a better house in the village than his.”

Shen Yan’s mind raced: “Then leave this village!”

Cheng Yaoyao’s eyes showed surprise, expectation, and disbelief: “Leave this village?”

Shen Yan regretted his hasty words and fell silent.

Cheng Yaoyao’s eyes displayed a mix of surprise, expectation, and disbelief: “We are educated youth. How can we leave the village?”

Shen Yan’s heart raced as he saw Cheng Yaoyao’s eager gaze. He said, “Yaoyao, if you could leave the village, would you… follow me?”

Cheng Yaoyao asked tentatively, “What news did you get?”

Shen Yan ignored everything else and grabbed Cheng Yaoyao’s hand on the table: “Yaoyao, this matter cannot be revealed to others. My family wrote to me, and they are helping me to smooth things over. My mother’s letter specifically mentioned you…”

As Shen Yan spoke, he closely observed Cheng Yaoyao’s expression and revealed little by little: “My mother has always liked you very much. Do you remember when you were sixteen, my mother took me to celebrate your birthday?”

“Of course, I remember.” Cheng Yaoyao recalled Shen Yan’s family from the original owner’s memory.

Shen Yan’s mother was a very kind woman who liked the original owner a lot. On the original owner’s sixteenth birthday, Shen Yan’s parents half-jokingly mentioned getting engaged.
It was on that day that Shen Yan happened to run into Cheng Nuonuo, who was hiding in the corridor and crying.