Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

On the dirt road back to the village, Liu Neng pushed his cart and sighed all the way, his head drooping, looking dejected, just like Xie Yongqiang.

He kicked at the pebbles on the roadside, feeling increasingly frustrated and humiliated.

He intended to trick others, but ended up tricking himself and benefiting his opponent.

Feeling utterly frustrated, he squatted down on the roadside embankment, pulled out a flattened cigarette, and smoked it in silence, his brows furrowed and his mind in turmoil.

Could it be... that I really have to swallow my pride and go to Zhao Si's house to apologize?

No way! I, Liu Neng, would be utterly disgraced! I can't possibly go looking for him!

……

The weather was nice today. Sunlight streamed through the windows into the village primary school classroom. The classroom was quiet. Xie Yongqiang stood at the podium, chalk in hand, explaining math word problems to the children.

But he hadn't had a moment's peace all day. Ever since his father, Xie Guangkun, came back and started nagging about how Wang Xiaomeng was doing better and better, he felt like he had a huge rock stuck in his chest.

Standing on the podium, his mind was completely elsewhere, filled with images of Wang Xiaomeng and how he had treated her in the past.

He mechanically wrote out equations and steps on the blackboard, his hands following the motions of inertia, his mind completely elsewhere.

When it came time to calculate the answer, my mind went completely astray, and without thinking, I wrote down the three characters "Wang Xiaomeng" after the equals sign.

The elementary school students below, with their sharp eyes, immediately looked up in unison. The children in the front row raised their hands and shouted loudly:

"Teacher, teacher! You wrote it wrong! The answer is Wang Xiaomeng!"

That shout made the children burst into laughter, chattering and laughing so hard they almost lifted the roof off the classroom.

Xie Yongqiang snapped back to reality, looked up and saw the three crooked characters on the blackboard, and his mind went completely blank.

He hurriedly grabbed the blackboard eraser and frantically scrubbed the three words, wishing he could disappear into a crack in the ground. He kept telling the students not to tell anyone, but elementary school students don't care about such things; it was bound to get out sooner or later.

He was completely wasted the rest of the class. His eyes were wandering, constantly looking out the window. His mind was a mess, and he was absent-minded the whole time, making the class a complete mess.

As soon as the bell rang, Xie Yongqiang packed up his things and returned to the teachers' office dejectedly.

I had just sat down to catch my breath when Pi Changshan came in through the door.

He walked over to Xie Yongqiang's desk, slammed his hand on the desk, and started to criticize him in a sarcastic tone in front of all the teachers in the room. His voice wasn't loud, but every word was sharp.

"Wow, Teacher Xie, you're really something! Your teaching skills are getting better and better. You spent ages calculating math, and the final answer was equal to Wang Xiaomeng's?"

"What? Is the podium your bed at home? Thinking about your girlfriend while teaching? This is a place for educating and nurturing students, not a place for you to indulge in romantic fantasies! Can you be a little more reliable?"

All the teachers in the office looked up to see what was going on, their eyes scanning the two of them.

Xie Yongqiang lowered his head, too ashamed to face anyone, clutching his lesson plan tightly in his hand, his voice muffled:

"I was daydreaming just now, I'll pay attention next time."

"Distracted? You think 'distracted' is enough?"

Pi Changshan persisted, raising his voice and relentlessly asserting his point:

"You're a teacher! You're paid by the state, you're on the government payroll! If you're distracted in class, you're misleading your students. Do you think you're doing right by these kids? Do you think you're doing right by this job?"

"I still remember when you first came back to the village, you went up on stage and gave us a long, rambling speech. You were so smooth-talking, talking about settling down in the countryside and dedicating your youth to it. It sounded better than any performance! And now? You're just a lazy bum?"

Xie Yongqiang's face burned with embarrassment, and he couldn't help but look up and retort:

"Wasn't that the speech you told me to say?"

"I told you to speak, and this is how you teach my students?"

Pi Changshan's face was full of contempt, and his mouth was incredibly sharp, always picking on where it hurt:

"Thank goodness we didn't transfer you to the county education commission back then. Now I understand why; the leadership had such foresight. If you had gone, the entire county's education system would have been ruined!"

"A college graduate, my foot! Looking at you now, you're not even as good as a village teacher without a formal position! You're useless at everything, but you're a master at daydreaming!"

Actually, Pi Changshan has been harboring a lot of resentment these past two days with nowhere to vent it.

Xie Lan at home would argue with him every few days, speaking in a sarcastic and unfriendly manner. She was a housewife who didn't earn any money every day, yet she still gave him attitude. Yan Dongdong was also driven away by this family, and he felt resentful.

Xie Yongqiang happened to be daydreaming in class and made a fool of himself, so he took out all his anger on his brother-in-law.

Xie Yongqiang was furious and about to lose his temper, staring intently at Pi Changshan:

"Brother-in-law, you've gone too far! That's enough!"

"Excessive? Is this excessive?"

Pi Changshan took half a step forward, his imposing manner intensifying, becoming increasingly aggressive:

"You did something like this and you're afraid of what others will say? Let me tell you, Xie Yongqiang, if I weren't your brother-in-law, protecting you, with your carefree attitude, you wouldn't even be able to touch the podium at this village school!"

"He thinks he's so great, a college graduate? In the end, he's still stuck in the village teaching elementary school students math. He has no ambition whatsoever!"

These words completely shattered Xie Yongqiang's last shred of self-respect.

He had been having a lot of bad luck lately, experiencing setbacks in his relationships and feeling frustrated. He was also constantly frustrated and upset at work, and all the pent-up grievances had piled up.

Being publicly humiliated, manipulated, and mocked by Pi Changshan caused all her emotions to erupt instantly.

Xie Yongqiang suddenly stood up, the chair legs scraping hard against the cement floor, making a screeching sound that startled the teachers next to him.

He grabbed the backpack from the table and slammed it over his shoulder, gritting his teeth and roaring, his anger barely contained:

"Fine! I can't handle this shift! I quit!"

Pi Changshan was stunned for two seconds, never expecting that Xie Yongqiang, who was usually so cowardly, would actually dare to confront him head-on and simply give up.

After a moment of stunned silence, he immediately forced a strong stance, maintaining his composed demeanor.

"Have you thought this through? Don't quit on a whim. So many people are fighting tooth and nail for this job. If you quit now and regret it later, don't come begging me for help!"

Xie Yongqiang didn't turn back at all, his tone resolute and firm:

"Whoever regrets it is a fool!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and strode out, swinging his arm violently.

"Clang!"

The office door was slammed shut, almost tearing it off. The entire office fell silent instantly, and everyone stared in disbelief.

As Xie Yongqiang stepped out of the school gate, a cool breeze swept over him. Standing on the empty dirt road, he looked at the endless fields of crops in the distance and took a deep breath.

He couldn't quite tell whether he felt relieved or frustrated; he was filled with mixed emotions. But he was exceptionally clear-headed: there was really no need to continue attending this lousy class.

Living in constant fear and humiliation, enduring public disapproval and being publicly shamed, just wasting away day after day with no hope of advancement.

Instead of wasting my time here, I should do something I want to do; that would be better than what I'm doing now.

In the office, Pi Changshan's arrogance gradually faded, and he felt somewhat panicked.

He just wanted to vent his anger on his brother-in-law in public; he never intended to actually force him to resign.

If the Xie family father and daughter found out, they would definitely make a huge scene, and the house would be in chaos again.

The afternoon was when the autumn heat was at its most intense.

The sun was so hot that the soil on the ground was burning hot to the touch.

The chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs in the village all hid in the shade, panting. The entire Ivory Mountain was quiet, and no one wanted to go out and suffer under the scorching sun.

The pavilion in Lin Chen's yard —

The pavilion completely blocked out the scorching sunlight. On the stone table were brewed herbal tea and several bottles of chilled orange juice with ice cubes, emitting a slight chill.

Lin Chen, wearing sunglasses, lay lazily on a recliner, his body swaying gently with the chair, looking incredibly relaxed.

On the other side, Zhao Yutian, shirtless and with his back tanned dark and shiny, squatted by the flower bed, sweating profusely, carefully tending to Lin Chen's flower bed with a small shovel in his hand.

He took great care of the flowers and plants, leaving no weeds behind, and loosening the soil finely and evenly. Every seedling had its branches and leaves stretched out, glossy and shiny, looking exceptionally vibrant.

The autumn harvest is just around the corner, but the weather shows no sign of cooling down. It's so hot and humid that it's hard to breathe, except for the mornings and evenings when it's relatively better.

Yutian had been busy for most of the day, and was covered in sweat, which dripped down his chin.

Lin Chen slid his sunglasses down to rest them on the bridge of his nose, looked up at the busy Zhao Yutian, and called out:

"Yutian, stop working and come rest! Don't get heatstroke in this heat. Have something cool to cool down."

"Hey! Chen-ge, come right away!"

Zhao Yutian responded, wiped the sweat from his face, his hands still covered in mud, and strode back to the pavilion.

He picked up the large enamel mug on the table, tilted his head back, and gulped down half of the mug of cold tea.

Then he picked up the palm-leaf fan beside him and fanned himself vigorously several times to dispel the heat from his body, his face still damp with sweat.

Lin Chen slowly praised him:

"You really know how to grow these flowers. They look even more vibrant than those carefully cultivated in a flower nursery. You've got real skills."

This compliment made Zhao Yutian feel incredibly flattered. He immediately slapped his thigh and straightened his back considerably.

"Absolutely! Brother Chen, I'm not bragging, but when it comes to growing flowers, I, Zhao Yutian, definitely have the authority to speak on the subject. I'm growing to love these flowers more and more these days."

"I've been thinking about something important these past few days. I'm planning to set up a small flower nursery myself. I won't go for a big one at first; I'll just do it in my own yard. Once I gain experience and make some money, I can slowly expand it!"