"Whimper...whimper..."
In a daze, Li Yi seemed to hear a girl's cry, followed by a burst of noisy commotion, one wave higher than another.
Trying hard to open his eyes, Li Yi was a bit stunned at the scene in front of him!
What met his eyes was no longer the hospital ward but a dim, narrow mud-brick house. The air was no longer filled with the smell of disinfectant, but instead, a faint fresh fragrance.
Through the window paper, Li Yi saw a crowd gathered outside and he could faintly hear the clamor of these people:
"Oh dear God, how could Tang Xue end up in bed with this notorious Li family's loafer? What drove her to such despair?"
"Isn't that the truth? Little Tang was about to return to the city, what is she going to do now?"
"If this news spreads to the collective farm, do you think Little Tang will be paraded through the streets?"
"Ah, what a tragedy, a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung. What a waste of a pure girl like Tang Xue…"
Hook up?
Tang Xue?
Li Yi's muddled memory became slightly clearer as he turned his head towards the crying figure in the corner.
Although the girl was wrapped in a thin quilt, with her small head stuffed between her legs, Li Yi was still shocked to his core.
It was her—Tang Xue, the woman he had felt guilty for his entire life.
"Slam!"
Li Yi viciously slapped himself. Instantly, one side of his face swelled up!
Ouch!
Is this real?
Did he seriously go back to forty years ago?
After forcing himself to calm down, Li Yi tried hard to recall the current situation.
From the look of things outside, he seemed to have returned to the day after he accidentally had sex with Tang Xue, and he was being cornered on the spot.
Tang Xue was not from the Ni Zi Mountain Brigade. She was a village-educated youth who transferred here from his old hometown in Qin Province three years ago.
Because Tang Xue had a good relationship with Li Yi's third elder sister, Li Na, she often visited the Li family and was deeply loved by his parents.
Just a few days ago, Tang Xue received a notice from the county to return to the city, which would conclude her rural life in the Ni Zi Mountain Brigade.
To bid farewell to Tang Xue and a few other city youths who were also returning to the city, the Ni Zi Mountain Brigade held a farewell party for them. Quite a few people drank too much at the party, including Tang Xue.
On account of taking care of her drunk bestie, Li Na brought Tang Xue back to her own home and arranged for her to stay in her younger brother Li Yi's room, after all, his brother had been absent from home for several days, so it was fine to sleep for one night.
However, no one expected that Li Yi would come home in the middle of the night and he too had quite a lot to drink.
And so, Li Yi and Tang Xue, in a confused state, ended up in bed together!
Early the next morning, a few village-educated youth came to Li's home to find Tang Xue, planning to pack their stuff to return to the city, but they ended up finding the two of them in bed together.
Before long, this incident alarmed Li Yi's parents and other villagers, who were now all gathered outside Li Yi's room watching the commotion!
Outside the wooden door, Feng Kai, the branch secretary of the Nian Zi Mountain squad, looked gloomily at Li Shan Kui squatting on the side, and asked angrily, "Shan Kui, how could your family do such a thing? How am I going to explain this to the county?”
Li Shan Kui said nothing, just fiercely smoking his dry pipe. No one knew what he was thinking!
On the other hand, Li's mother, Zhang Yue Hong, asked anxiously, "My goodness, please think of a solution. Xiao Yi won't go to jail, will he?"
Feng Kai said grimly, "If Xiao Tang wants to prosecute your son, he's definitely going to be sentenced!”
"Oh dear, the sky is falling... Xiao Yi is our only son, he can't go to jail..."
Perhaps he didn't want to hear Zhang Yue Hong's wailing, the Branch Secretary Feng directly said loudly, "Stop quarreling. There's only one solution now that might save Xiao Yi!"
"What's the solution?"
"Let Xiao Yi marry Tang Xue, but only if Tang Xue agrees!”
Hearing this, both Li's parents fell silent!
Not to mention that their son, who was uneducated, jobless, and uncultured, wasn't worthy of Tang Xue. Based on the state policy alone, if a "zhiqing"
educated youth sent down to the countryside
got married locally, they would not be arranged to return to the city.
Due to this policy, recently there had been many "zhiqing" applying for divorce at the county civil affairs bureau.
Now that Tang Xue has received notice to return to the city, if she gets married now, she may lose her qualifications to return, something most people would not agree to!
At this point, Li Yi's elder sister, Li Na, stood up and said, "I'll go and ask Xiao Xue."
"Squeak."
The wooden door of the adobe house was pushed open, and then, Elder Sister Li Na's heroic figure appeared in the room!
First, she angrily glared at Li Yi, then coldly said, "Get dressed, and get out of here!"
Knowing that his third sister was angry, Li Yi didn’t dare say much. He quickly found his clothes on the kang, put them on, and then headed outside.
As soon as he opened the door, everyone's eyes were fixed on Li Yi.
Li Shan Kui, who had just been smoking, suddenly stood up, picked up the whip used to herd livestock from the side, and charged at Li Yi. The whip was then lashed straight onto Li Yi.
Li Yi had a fresh memory of the whipping he received in his past life. It wasn’t because it was painful, but because he had run away, and to chase him, his father had fallen and broken an arm.
So, when he saw the whip nearing him, this time he didn’t plan to avoid it!
"Ouch!"
The piercing pain made Li Yi tremble all over, but he didn’t dodge or run away. Instead, he directly knelt down in front of his father!
Li Shan Kui's anger did not subside because of his son's kneeling. The whip in his hand kept lashing onto Li Yi.
Shortly, a few rips appeared in Li Yi's clothes, and seven to eight blood marks on his back.
Zhang Yue Hong snapped back to her senses. She hurried forward to stop Li Shan Kui while sobbing, "You old man, do you want to kill my son…wah wah wah…"
"Get out of my sight! It’s your spoiling that indulged him in eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, being deceitful and fraudulent. Now he's done something utterly immoral. Do you really want him to be executed publicly?" Li Shan Kui yelled angrily.
While everyone was arguing, Li Nao walked out of the house and loudly shouted: "Stop arguing!”
Everyone was instantly quiet, and all eyes were on Li Nao.
Ignoring others, Li Nao said to Li Yi, "Come inside, Xiao Xue has something to tell you!"
Li Yi stood up from the muddy ground, enduring the pain in his back, and turned to walk towards the adobe house.
Upon entering the house, Li Yi saw that Tang Xue had already dressed herself, but her demeanor remained desolate and sad, achingly distressing to look at.
"I'm sorry!"
Tang Xue did not respond to Li Yi's apology. Instead, she asked in a hoarse voice, "Will you marry me?"
At the sound of these words once again, Li Yi's heart was filled with a mix of excitement and intricacy, leaving him momentarily in a daze!
