Chapter 7 : Flirting with Her

When faced with imminent danger, Fan Yanxing showed no signs of panic. Forget about kneeling and begging for mercy; he even lazily leaned against the tree that Liang Qingqing had tried to avoid earlier, looking relaxed and at ease, without a trace of guilt or nervousness.

The atmosphere inexplicably paused for two seconds before Fan Yanxing raised an eyebrow, breaking the silence at a leisurely pace. “What rabbit? Comrade Liang has seen so much that everything looks like a rabbit to her, huh?”

Upon hearing this, Liang Qingqing’s gaze shifted from the basket that Fan Yanxing was casually holding to his mouth, which was spouting such shameless remarks. His sexy thin lips curved into a cold, mocking smile, which looked rather intimidating.

It was only then that she noticed Fan Yanxing’s outfit for the day. The short jacket commonly worn by men in the countryside looked inexplicably stylish on him. The sleeveless design revealed the muscular lines of his arms, and his tanned skin was both sexy and alluring.

His long legs were crossed under his black pants, and even when leaning sideways, his proportions were impressively balanced: tall and slender, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Coupled with his chiseled and handsome face, he was seducing her with his masculine charm without even trying!

This brat’s appearance really had no flaws!

Liang Qingqing subtly swallowed, realizing her own weakness, and harshly berated herself in her mind.

“A wise woman doesn’t compete with a handsome man,” was one of her life mottos. Besides, he had saved her twice already. If she were to do something like betray him now, wouldn’t that be repaying kindness with ingratitude?

But still, she couldn’t afford to lose face!

So Liang Qingqing lifted her chin and coldly snorted, “Whether it’s a rabbit or not, just dump out the contents of the basket and let me see.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Liang Qingqing thought Fan Yanxing would be scared and change the topic. Then she could mock him back, make him furious, and then they’d part ways.

But to her surprise, he actually made a move to dump the contents onto the ground. Seeing this, Liang Qingqing’s eyes widened, and she hurriedly stopped him. If a rabbit really came out, she would be ungrateful if she reported him, and she would lose face if she didn’t.

Either way, she would be at a disadvantage!

“Don’t you dare dump out those weeds and flowers and dirty the village roads! Hmph, I’m in a good mood today, so I won’t argue with you. Goodbye!”

With that, she made a face and turned to leave, running faster than when the big yellow dog chased her, as if something even more terrifying was behind her. Clean roads? Fan Yanxing pulled back the tilted basket, his eyes scanning the messy surroundings before landing on the retreating, angry figure of Liang Qingqing.

When he came to his senses, he realized that at some point, a faint smile had crept up on his lips.

As night fell, a long line of villagers appeared on the field paths, returning home. After a busy day, it was finally time to rest. Though their faces showed fatigue, they were smiling, chatting about the day’s events in the village.

The most talked-about topic was definitely the midday drama in the soybean field.

As they chatted, everyone’s gaze naturally turned to the Liang family in the group. Who in the village didn’t know that Liang Qingqing had been visiting the educated youth spot every day recently?

Unfortunately, it was a case of unrequited affection. She was trying to be friendly but got a cold shoulder in return!

The Liang family’s expressions varied,

most of them were used to this kind of attention,

pretending not to see and continuing on their way,

but Liang Junqiang had a hot temper and couldn’t stand hearing people mock his sister. The next second, he rolled up his sleeves and shouted back, “What are you looking at? Keep staring, and I’ll dig your eyes out!”

Liang Junqiang was tall and strong, one of the few in the village who could consistently earn full work points every year. The muscles on his arms made people shiver, and one punch from him could probably take half a life away.

Seeing this, the crowd immediately fell silent, but there was always someone unafraid of trouble who provoked, “So we can’t even look? If you have the guts, go ahead and hit me!”

“If you dare, come over here, and let’s settle this.”

Liang Junqiang was about to charge forward when he felt his arm being pulled back. He turned to see a disapproving look from his newlywed wife, Wang Xiaomei.

She glared at him and shook her head. “What are you showing off for? Let’s go home.”

Hearing this, Liang Junqiang immediately felt unhappy. “Hey, they’re talking about my little sister like that, and I shouldn’t curse them back as her brother?”

“Are you coming or not? If you don’t, I’m leaving.”Wang Xiaomei looked around, feeling that everyone was watching them. Her husband wasn’t siding with her and kept opposing her, which was utterly embarrassing. She stomped her foot and hurried forward, head down.

When she had run far enough without seeing Liang Junqiang follow, she felt a pang of sadness and couldn’t help but blame Liang Qingqing: every time she was mentioned, nothing good came of it.

The whole family earned work points in the fields, but Liang Qingqing stayed home like a lord, doing nothing. Not only that, she now made the whole village laugh at them! If this continued, not only would Liang Qingqing’s reputation suffer, but hers would too!

To make matters worse, her husband was foolish. Instead of building good relationships with the villagers, he almost fought with them over Liang Qingqing. Reckless and impulsive—what did she ever see in him?

Just as she thought this, a touch of yellow appeared before her eyes, the blooming flowers swaying beautifully in the air. Looking up, she saw a smiling face, dark from the sun but still clean and handsome.

Seeing this,Wang Xiaomei’s anger mostly dissipated.

“Wife, when others talk about my family, I have to stand up for them. Otherwise, they’d see me as weak and push me around.” Liang Junqiang scratched the back of his head, laughing awkwardly as he earnestly explained why he stood his ground in front of everyone.

Different people see things from different perspectives, and conflicts are normal. It depends on whether one side is willing to take the time to clear things up and resolve the issue.

Clearly, Liang Junqiang was the type who wouldn’t let any cracks form in their relationship.

Hearing this,Wang Xiaomei pondered for a couple of seconds and found some sense in his words. Just as she was struggling to find a way to ease the tension, she saw Liang Junqiang extending the bouquet toward her again. She quickly took it and scolded, “Even so, you can’t just start fighting with people.”

Seeing her accept the flowers, Liang Junqiang knew she was no longer angry. His smile deepened as he playfully said, “I’m not alone anymore. I have you, my wife. How could I fight those rascals recklessly? I was just trying to scare them.”

He still had to support their little home, and the consequences of a fight were too severe for him to bear.

What did he mean by “having her”? Hearing the underlying implication,Wang Xiaomei blushed and instinctively glanced around. Seeing that the others were still far away and no one had heard them, she relaxed.

“You should watch your mouth.”

“You’re right, my wife. We can discuss this more when we get home tonight.”

“Liang Junqiang!”

“Yes, yes, I’m here.”

After the two of them quarreled for a while, the other Liang family members caught up with them.

” Xiaomei, don’t hold it against Junqiang. He just has a hot temper,” Ma Xiuzhi first comforted Wang Xiaomei, and when she nodded in agreement, she turned to Liang Junqiang and said, “It’s good to stand up for your sister, but you need to hold back a bit. Don’t really get into a fight. We’re all from the same village and see each other every day; it doesn’t look good.”

“Mom, I know what I’m doing.  Xiaomei’s watching out for me,” Liang Junqiang nodded.

“Getting married really makes a difference. Our sister-in-law is sensible, and Second Brother is lucky,” Wang Xiaomei couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh when she saw the couple blushing.

“Sister-in-law,”Wang Xiaomei felt her face burning from the teasing, but luckily no one said anything more. The group continued walking toward the Liang family home.

Just before reaching the house, Ma Xiuzhi gave another reminder.

“Qingqing has become much more sensible lately. She hasn’t been going to the educated youth point anymore. I think she’s figured things out and settled down. From now on, let’s not mention Su Zhiqing in front of her. And don’t bring up what happened today.”

“Don’t worry, Mom, we won’t say a word!”

Everyone responded in unison.

But as soon as they entered, they heard Qiu Xiaoyan in the main room talking to Liang Qingqing about the incident in the soybean field at noon. Everyone turned to see Ma Xiuzhi’s face darken.

“Mom, should I go stop her?” Wang Xiaomei asked as she moved toward the main room.

“It’s too late!” Just by hearing a few words, Ma Xiuzhi knew Qiu Xiaoyan was already at the end of the story. What was the point of stopping her now? It was better to listen to what her daughter thought about the whole thing.

With this in mind, Ma Xiuzhi’s eyes flicked around as she whispered, “You and  Xiaomei start the fire and wash the vegetables. I’ll cook when I’m done. Old man, go find Songzi. The eldest and second sons can chop the firewood.”

“Got it!”

Everyone quietly went about their assigned tasks, while Ma Xiuzhi sneaked over to eavesdrop at the door of the main room.

Meanwhile, Liang Qingqing, unaware of this, was sitting in a chair with her chin propped up, listening intently to Qiu Xiaoyan’s story.

After escaping from being chased by the dog, she had barely rested at home when Qiu Xiaoyan arrived, vividly recounting the events. The story closely followed the book’s plot: the hero saves the heroine, justice is served, and the villain gets their comeuppance.

Listening to it, Liang Qingqing couldn’t help but yawn several times in a row.

“Qingqing, it’s a good thing you gave up on Su Zhiqing. I think he and Xu Qiao have probably been fooling around together for a while. Otherwise, why would he defend her so much? Disgusting.” After Qiu Xiaoyan finished speaking, she carefully observed Liang Qingqing’s expression. Seeing nothing unusual, she continued.

“But Xu Qiao really benefited from this incident. The team leader gave her three days off, and her work points are still counted.”

Isn’t that just paid leave? It is indeed a good deal.

Liang Qingqing nodded, and a plot from the book came to mind. It was during these three days off that Xu Qiao, while sending a letter in town, accidentally saved a high-ranking official from the county. As a result, she became a teacher at the commune primary school.

Although the salary wasn’t high, it included room and board, and occasionally she could receive some ration tickets. More importantly, she wouldn’t have to work in the fields under the sun anymore. It was a job that women fought fiercely to get.

Liang Qingqing wanted that too! After all, it was a formal job that allowed for independence, easy and free. But…