NOVPUBChapter 90: Chapter 90: A Fortuitous Encounter
Chapter 90 -90: A Fortuitous Encounter
The tractor suddenly died halfway through the journey.
With a violent lurch forward, everyone nearly flew out.
Liu Baoguo snapped to attention.
“What happened?”
The tractor driver, Zhao Heizi, said with annoyance, “Village chief, we’ve run out of fuel and can’t go any further. I had just used it to haul grain for the village during the day, and I had planned to refuel tomorrow—I didn’t anticipate this… Now it’s definitely not going to work, we can’t move an inch.”
“Why the hell didn’t you refuel? Now look at the mess we’re in—I…” Liu Baoguo wanted to hit someone, to curse someone out.
Bai Xiao steadied herself on the tractor, jumped off, “Stop talking and let’s walk. It seems we’re about halfway there, no use wasting time now.” No one knew if it was manageable, but were even less willing to waste time. She had already maintained good relations with the village chief and his family and gained powerful support within the village. This was not a connection she was willing to give up lightly. She did not want to see Liu Baoguo fall from grace due to Liu Hong again.
After all, her despicable grandmother would return to the village. Even though she was not Li Chunhua’s biological granddaughter, her older brother and sisters were his biological grandchildren. When Li Chunhua kicked up a fuss, it would be problematic – you could be tough, but you can’t let people criticize your family. If the village chief stepped in to administer justice in domestic affairs, that would be different.
In the village, the village chief’s word was law.
Whether it was welfare, delivering grain taxes, or allocations for house foundations, nothing happened without the village chief’s say-so. His word was final, and no one dared to defy the village chief without good reason.
Despite the Han Family’s bluster, how could Mother Han not be anxious?
If Liu Baoguo wanted to deal with them, they really had no recourse.
It all came down to who was more shameless.
The Han Family was betting on Liu Baoguo’s sense of shame, that it would hold him back. If he cared about his reputation, he would be restrained by others’ opinions; if he cared about face, he would not want his daughter to suffer. This was the Han Family’s hope.
So, Bai Xiao was laying groundwork for the future. Without long-term planning, there are bound to be immediate worries. After she was married to Fang Xiaoshan, hadn’t her older brother and sisters been harshly controlled by their grandmother, Li Chunhua?
Her whole life was about escaping from Li Chunhua’s clutches, but Bai Jianguo, who would exploit others without hesitation, wouldn’t let go of free labor and easy money-making schemes that easily.
Even with Li Chunhua paralyzed, he’d still concoct schemes to demand money from them—it was his right.
Therefore, if Liu Baoguo had a good impression of her, and she saved Liu Hong, he would definitely protect her older brother and the rest from Bai Jianguo. That was the way of the world.
On hearing this, everyone agreed, what good would getting angry do? Better to just walk with their own two legs.
A few people got off and began walking together. The country roads were devoid of streetlights, and the road between villages was pitch black, not a single light to be found—thank goodness they had brought flashlights. Liu Baoguo, frustrated and anxious, walked ahead with his flashlight, and Bai Xiao, silent as ever, followed behind him, navigating by the light of his torch.
After about half a mile, someone suddenly asked ahead, “Who goes there?”
A few shadowy figures surrounded them.
Bai Xiao, too, was startled.
Being accosted in the dead of night was truly alarming, especially when no one expected to be waylaid by robbers. It was 1985, after all, during a crackdown—were there really people bold enough to rob others in broad daylight?
Weren’t they afraid of rotting in jail?
“We are from Liupan Village, the village chief here. We’re heading to Shili Shop to find someone,” Liu Baoguo said as he shone his flashlight around. As the leader of the group, he was the first to realize that these people were not robbers—the bright clothing they wore were that of j-school students.
“Liupan Village?” A voice emerged, and Liu Baoguo was overjoyed, recognizing it as Instructor An Zhiyuan. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
They had had many dealings, so he recognized the instructor in an instant.
Bai Xiao felt a sudden surge of emotion in her heart—they really were fated to meet.
They had just seen each other in town that morning, and here they were, encountering each other again on the way back to the village in the evening. What kind of fate was this?
“Instructor An!” Liu Baoguo called out eagerly.
As soon as An Zhiyuan looked, he indeed recognized the person. The flashlight moved from one face to another until it revealed Bai Xiao, squinting to avoid the light. Without saying anything else, he asked, “What are you doing going to Shili Shop in the dead of night?”
Liu Baoguo hurriedly explained his situation, he couldn’t keep the fact that his daughter was missing a secret any longer.
“In that case! We’ll take you, it’s still over ten miles away, let’s go. Our truck is over there, it’ll only take about ten minutes to get there if we drive. Come on, Xiaowo, go start the car.” An Zhiyuan instructed.
Liu Baoguo’s heart warmed instantly, the world was full of good people indeed.
“Thank you, thank you, Instructor An, we won’t be getting in the way of your work, will we?”
An Zhiyuan waved his hand, “Not at all, when faced with a situation like this, we should definitely lend a hand.” He glanced at Bai Xiao, who didn’t spare him a single look.
Several people got into the vehicle. Their truck was a large one. Seeing that Bai Xiao was a girl, they let her sit inside the driving cabin while the rest climbed into the back.
An Zhiyuan and Xiaowo drove, with Bai Xiao sitting behind them! She stared at the back of An Zhiyuan’s head, not knowing what to say.
Xiaowo knew Bai Xiao well; after all, she was the famous wife of their instructor. Back in the day, he had carried water for Bai Xiao and even been punished by the instructor with push-ups because of that incident.
“Sister-in-law, you’re going too?”
The address ‘sister-in-law’ made Bai Xiao’s face turn red.
“Liu Hong is a girl, it’s easier for me to help out.”
An Zhiyuan looked at Bai Xiao, realizing she had gotten straight into the car upon return without taking a rest, probably not even having time to catch her breath. He felt a muted anger; this girl was half-dead yesterday, and now she’s rushing around for others again, this wasn’t the way to be a good person.
“Even her own mother isn’t going, what are you doing!”
His words came out harsh, making Xiaowo stare. Didn’t the instructor know how to make conversation?
This was surely going to upset sister-in-law.
Bai Xiao retorted unpleasantly, “I want to!”
This left An Zhiyuan with his breath caught in his chest.
He couldn’t express it, nor suppress it.
Xiaowo didn’t dare to say a word, whatever he said would be inappropriate.
He quietly turned into a tree.
When the truck arrived at Shili Shop, several people jumped out. Bai Xiao thought that An Zhiyuan and the others would head back, but to her surprise, An Zhiyuan jumped out of the truck and followed them into the village.
Bai Xiao asked around for the house with the crooked-neck tree, and they quickly found it.
There it was, a crooked-neck tree right in front of a courtyard, very conspicuous. The gate was locked, and apart from the light, nothing could be seen or heard.
Liu Baoguo hesitated, glancing at Bai Xiao, then pointing at the courtyard.
“Here?”
What he didn’t ask out loud was how Bai Xiao knew about this place.
Bai Xiao couldn’t be certain either; it was just what people said in her past life, “I don’t know! I just knew that there was a family here in Shili Shop that specializes in treating women’s private ailments that are hard to speak of. I guessed if Liu Hong came here, it must be for that reason…” She didn’t need to finish her sentence for Liu Baoguo to understand.
His eyes turned red, this was practically a death sentence for Liu Hong.
Suddenly, a sharp cry from a woman broke the silence from inside the courtyard, followed by quietness.
