Chapter 5

The motorcycle only took 14 minutes to travel 10 li and enter Shangcun.

As soon as they entered the village, the road and fields were filled with chickens, ducks, and geese running around, making all sorts of noises and barking dogs.

At the crossroads, Zhang Xuan looked at the dilapidated wooden houses and felt like turning around and leaving. He didn’t know why heaven had given him a second chance, but he was truly tired of the hard life with poor food and clothing.

Hearing the sound of the motorcycle, the older sister, who was chopping pig grass in the hall, put down the kitchen knife and came out without a word, skillfully helping to unload the things.

Seeing Zhang Ping, Ouyang Yong smiled broadly and kept staring at her until her face turned red, then he realized he had been too forward.

Ouyang Yong leaned close to Zhang Ping and whispered, "It's almost New Year's. I'll take you somewhere tomorrow."

Zhang Ping asked softly, "Where?"

Just as Ouyang Yong was about to be playful, Ruan Xiuqin came out of the room, so he quickly changed his tone, "I'll keep it a secret for now. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning."

The last sentence seemed to have drained all of Ouyang Yong's energy. He hurriedly exchanged a few polite words with Ruan Xiuqin and then ran away, feeling guilty.

Ruan Xiuqin watched the motorcycle gradually disappear, then looked at her daughter, saying nothing, pretending not to know, and squatted down to start organizing things.

It had been many years since Zhang Xuan had done household chores. He felt a sudden urge to help, but after walking around, he found that the house had already been tidied up by his older sister, leaving him with no way to help.

After dealing with the clutter brought back from the hospital, Ruan Xiuqin went to make the bed, while Zhang Ping continued chopping pig grass.

With nothing to do, Zhang Xuan squatted on the doorstep. Having lived in the city for decades, he found everything in the rural area of his childhood fascinating.

Across the road was a small store. It seemed they had just slaughtered a pig for the New Year, and they were rendering lard. A group of half-grown children, tall and short, stood around the fire like fence posts, eagerly watching the lard in the pot.

The store owner, surnamed Na, was a kind and friendly person. Seeing the children's eagerness, he smiled and put a bowl of lard in a vegetable bowl, sprinkled some salt, and watched the children fight over it.

On the diagonal side of the road, two families were having a heated argument, and the way they argued was quite unique.

The woman from the northern family held a kitchen knife and a cutting board, sitting at the door, chopping and cursing, spewing invectives, and insulting the other family's ancestors for generations.

The northern family was being aggressive, but the old lady from the southern family was not to be outdone.

The old lady had a basin in front of her and a stack of thick paper money on a low stool. She burned a piece of paper and called out a name from the other family, followed by a string of vicious dialect, cursing them to an early death.

The villagers were really good at arguing, with a variety of methods, no repetition, and a long, powerful voice with a good rhythm. Zhang Xuan listened for a while, feeling a sense of familiarity.

Finally, he asked his older sister, "What's the big grudge between these two families?"

Zhang Ping told him the reason: It turned out that in the morning, an old lady's calf had accidentally run into the northern family's house, ate some radishes piled in the hall, and left some droppings under the shrine, which led to the argument.

Zhang Ping added, "The two families have been arguing all day. At first, many people tried to mediate, but when they saw it was no use, they just watched the show."

...

The snow started in the morning and continued until the afternoon, getting heavier and heavier. The temperature also dropped.

After being curious for half an hour on the doorstep, Zhang Xuan couldn't bear it anymore and went back to his room.

Speaking of his room, although he had lived there for several nights since his rebirth, he still felt a bit uneasy.

A wooden bed that creaked when sat on, an old desk, and a bench were all the room had. There wasn't even a wardrobe, making it look very shabby.

It was so shabby that it was hard to bear.

Zhang Xuan leaned against the head of the bed, and his eyes immediately fell on the poster on the wall, a picture from a concert by Zhou Huimin.

This poster was the only decoration in the room, which he had gotten from his classmate Du Shuangling.

He didn't usually follow stars, but he just thought Zhou Huimin was beautiful and wanted to hang it by his bed. In those days, such things were considered luxuries, costing several yuan.

Yes, beautiful. He looked at it from all angles and still thought it was beautiful. In the current entertainment industry, it was a time of fierce competition, while in the future, it was a time of chaos. Zhang Xuan comforted himself, thinking that he should enjoy it while he could, as he wouldn't have such leisure time in the future.

Lost in thought, Zhang Xuan fell asleep. When he woke up, it was already dark. He stretched and realized it was time for dinner.

As expected, the meal was simple, and the dishes were simple. Zhang Xuan quickly finished eating, just going through the motions, feeling that this life couldn't continue, as his mouth was almost tasteless.

Ruan Xiuqin saw this and, after Zhang Xuan finished eating and went to get his medicine and saline for an IV, she said to Zhang Ping, "Your brother is weak. Go and buy a pound of meat tomorrow morning."

After saying this, she took a bite of sweet potato rice and quickly added, "Also buy two pieces of tofu and cook it with the meat. He loves it."

Hearing this, Zhang Ping was a bit surprised, as the family hadn't had meat for almost two months.

In the past, whenever Ruan Xiuqin went out, she would hold five yuan, intending to buy some meat, but once she got to the meat stall, she would always change her mind and buy two pieces of tofu from the tofu stall next to it to save face and avoid being laughed at.

Pork cost 3 yuan per pound, which was about half a day's wages, and the family had no main labor force working outside to earn money. Money couldn't generate more money, so expenses were very tight.

Moreover, compared to the high price of meat, tofu cost only 15 cents per piece. Two pieces of tofu, with some peppers and garlic, could make a large bowl of food, enough for the whole family. So, in Ruan Xiuqin's mind, the importance of meat and tofu was clearly different.

After wasting the afternoon dreaming about Zhou Huimin, Zhang Xuan decided to be more serious in the evening. While getting his IV, he reviewed his books.

There were only a few months left until the college entrance exam, and time was tight, so he couldn't afford to waste it. Fortunately, in his previous life, he was a college teacher, and the learning atmosphere from the classroom still lingered, making it easier for him to get back into it.

The only problem was that he had to occasionally deal with the eldest daughter of the barefoot doctor. This girl was 15, in high school, and at an age where she was very curious about the opposite sex.

Seeing that her father, the doctor, had gone out on business and no one else was around, the girl sat in the chair opposite and asked, "Zhang Xuan, you'll be 18 after the New Year, right?"

Zhang Xuan didn't even look up, responding weakly, "Yes."

"How tall are you now?"

"176 cm."

"Since you study in such a big place like Shaoshi, there must be many beautiful girls in your school, right?"

"Yes."

The girl paused and then asked, "Have you met any girls you like?"

"What do you want to know that for, little girl?"

"I'm just curious. Besides, I'm not that young anymore."

Seeing that she wouldn't stop, Zhang Xuan lifted his head and lazily stared at the girl for a while. Seeing that her big eyes were twinkling and she wasn't intimidated, he had no choice but to use his ultimate move.

Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "You're doing this all wrong. Shouldn't you first arrange for a matchmaker to come to my house to check our compatibility before talking about marriage?"

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