1979: Reopening Wenhao Road from the Village

"Did Ermaita just mention Liang Xiao?"

After Ermaitai left, Su Man lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and said to Chen Weidong.

"It must be him."

There were six educated youths in Yangjiatun Brigade, and everyone knew them well. By process of elimination, they could all guess that it was Liang Xiao.

After all, only Liang Xiao could pull off such a foolish and simple trick.

"That guy is really despicable. Luckily, Fu Xiao didn't fall for him."

Su Man said angrily.

"So what should we do?"

"Ignore him, the innocent will clear themselves."

"Isn't it a bit wrong to just let it go like this?"

Su Man said with some concern.

"You know what's going on in the village. There are people like Widow Li around. The more you explain, the more they'll think you're guilty. You might end up making things worse by trying to explain yourself."

"Once 'The Herdsman' is released, these rumors will naturally fall apart, so don't worry."

Chen Weidong comforted Su Man, who then thought it made sense and put her worries aside.

"I hope your novel will be published soon."

After Su Man fell asleep, Chen Weidong turned over. He had just been comforting Su Man. They had gone so far as to bully him, how could he let it go like this?

He had already let Liang Xiao off the hook once before, not bothering to argue with him, but now that he's taking advantage of the situation, he certainly won't let him get away with it.

He may have settled down, but that doesn't mean he can't wield a knife anymore!

You have to understand that he was a shrewd and worldly man in his past life. He had seen all kinds of people and things. In his eyes, Liang Xiao's little tricks were just kindergarten level.

Chen Weidong wanted to show the other party what high school level was like... That's a bit much, he felt that elementary school level would be enough to deal with Liang Xiao.

……

The next day, after cleaning the horse stables, Chen Weidong went to Ermaita's house.

"Dong-ge, you were looking for me? We had a good time drinking yesterday, let's have some more today. It's at my place, my dad just bought a rooster, let's chop it up in a bit."

Ermaitai looked sleepy, clearly having just gotten up.

"I'll stop drinking now, I need to talk to you."

Chen Weidong immediately waved his hand, saying that the liquor was too strong and had a more intense aftereffect; he had a headache when he woke up that morning.

"What's up, Dong-ge?"

"I remember Widow Li had a daughter, surnamed Yu?"

"Yes, Dong-ge, her name is Yu Guo. She's the child of Widow Li and her first man. She's about three or four years younger than us, probably around twenty now. Why did you suddenly ask about her?"

"I heard that Yu Guo has some connection with Liang Xiao from our educated youth settlement. Could you find a few people to help me investigate?"

"Liang Xiao? Is he the educated youth Widow Li was talking about yesterday?"

Ermaitai immediately came to his senses and looked at Chen Weidong, who nodded without saying anything more.

"I'll go right away."

"Remember, try not to make a fuss. Let me know first if you find out."

"I understand, Brother Dong."

Don't let Er Maitai's seemingly dull appearance fool you; he's actually incredibly quick-witted, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to open his own restaurant later on.

This is also why Chen Weidong went directly to him – he knew that Ermaitai had this ability.

As for the matter between Yu Guo and Liang Xiao, it was actually Er Mai Tai who told him about it later.

Chen Weidong had completely forgotten about it, but he remembered it after Ermaita mentioned Widow Li yesterday.

When the two met again in their previous life and drank together, he heard Er Maitai talk about some things in the village, including Liang Xiao.

Liang Xiao's pursuit of Fu Xiao failed, and in the end, under Widow Li's scheme, he secretly got together with Yu Guo.

The mother and daughter had planned it all out, intending to take advantage of Liang Xiao's return to the city to leave Yangjiatun and enjoy life there.

Later, with the support of Widow Li and her daughter, Liang Xiao had no worries about food and clothing and devoted himself to the college entrance examination. After failing this year, he successfully passed the exam the following year. Although he only got into a junior college, he was able to return to the city through the college entrance examination.

However, Widow Li and her daughter Yu Guo did not receive any news to take them to the city. Instead, after Liang Xiao gained a foothold at the school, he decisively abandoned Yu Guo and her son, and Widow Li's plan failed.

Yu Guo had a child out of wedlock, and because of Widow Li's reputation, she didn't get married for several years. Later, when the restrictions eased, she left Yangjiatun alone, leaving the child with Widow Li, and never returned.

When Chen Weidong heard about this, he sighed for a long time. During that period, there were quite a few similar incidents.

He hadn't originally intended to bring this matter to light, since it wasn't really his concern. But now that Liang Xiao and Widow Li wanted to ruin his reputation, he couldn't be blamed. Maybe he could even salvage Yu Guo's reputation.

After handing the matter over to Ermaitai, Chen Weidong went to the brigade headquarters. Yang Shuzhi was on duty today.

"Accountant Yang."

"It's Wei Dong. Come in and have a seat."

When Yang Shuzhi saw that it was Chen Weidong, he was very enthusiastic. This was partly because Chen Weidong's manuscript had been accepted by Yanjing Magazine, and partly because Chen Weidong had come to his house to buy eggs.

Unlike his wife, who, upon hearing yesterday that Chen Weidong had come to their house and bought twenty yuan worth of eggs, had a vague feeling that something was amiss, he was not like that.

After all, although there weren't many people raising chickens in the village, there were still more than a dozen households. Why would Chen Weidong choose to come to his house instead of everyone else? How could he not have some doubts?

"I heard you went back to Yanjing a few days ago. Why didn't you stay home a few more days?"

Yang Shuzhi knew some details about the backgrounds of the educated youth in the brigade. Chen Weidong and He Yan were both from Yanjing. Their brigade was quite surprised at the time, after all, Yanjing was the capital, and everyone had heard of it, but no one had ever been there in their lives.

The sudden arrival of two people from Yanjing (Beijing) naturally aroused everyone's curiosity.

"Su Man just gave birth, and she can't take care of the baby by herself. I came back as soon as I finished revising the manuscript to help her out."

"As expected of a great writer, your awareness is indeed very high. I want to learn from you."

Yang Shuzhi was stunned for a moment. This was the first time he had heard such a statement. Although society had become more open and gender equality was emphasized, in rural areas, sons were still more beneficial. After all, whether it was farming or herding, men were stronger and were the pillars of the family. Therefore, everyone hoped to have more sons.

"Accountant Yang, you flatter me."

Chen Weidong modestly said that he was only at a very basic level and that his contributions to his family were just normal.

Unlike later times, when equality went too far and even divorced women with children were constantly asking for hundreds of thousands in dowry.

The attitudes have undergone tremendous changes: traditional bride prices, open-mindedness, independent thinking, dependent economics, the determination to marry into a higher social class, conditions for making a vow, random children, and definitions that are not allowed.

The traditional betrothal ceremony still exists, but the virginity mark of yesteryear is nowhere to be seen. Withered flowers and fallen willows line up in rows, demanding money, houses, and cars. They sing folk songs in bars, sweating profusely, but don't cook a single meal when they get home.

Some women even choose the money from a relationship over making money; robbers used to wear stockings, now they wear wedding dresses…

Later, Chen Xiaoan's marriage fell through because the bride price was insufficient.

Thinking of this, Chen Weidong couldn't help but sigh. He was quite a scoundrel when he was young, but compared to what he did later, he was nothing.

……