Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Yutian could no longer hold back and burst out laughing. He quickly sat up and reached for the bedding on the bed.

"You said it yourself, so you have to keep your word! Okay, pack your things, let's go home."

He moved swiftly, quickly packed his luggage, extinguished the mosquito coil, reached out and took Liu Ying's wrist, and stepped outside.

The faint light of the flashlight swayed gently on the country path. Two figures stood close together, and the awkwardness and estrangement of the past few days completely vanished in this night.

As he led her forward, Liu Ying secretly pinched his arm.

All talk of saving face, showing off, winning or losing, right or wrong, is meaningless. What matters most is for the couple to live a good life together.

……

It was almost noon, and Lin Chen was bored at home. He remembered that Zhao Yutian had called him early in the morning to ask him to come to his house for lunch, saying that he wanted to thank him.

Lin Chen greeted Da Jiao and went out, then strolled slowly along the dirt road in the village toward Zhao Si's house.

Lin Chen was playing with the children under the tree when he heard the clanging of a bicycle.

Looking up, I saw Xie Yongqiang riding his bicycle. He was sweating profusely, his hair was soaked, and a cloth bag was hanging from the handlebars, swaying back and forth.

Upon seeing Lin Chen, Xie Yongqiang's eyes lit up. He immediately braked the car, braced himself with one foot, and quickly pushed the car to Lin Chen, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Brother Chen, strolling around? I just happened to run into you. I want to apologize to you, but please don't take what happened to my dad at the celebration the other day to heart. You know what kind of person he is, and there was nothing I could do. Please don't take it to heart."

Lin Chen leaned against a tree, casually waved his hand, and said with a smile:

"It's no big deal. I scolded him and he forgot about it. Do you think I don't know your dad's personality? Getting angry with him is just asking for trouble. Let's not talk about him anymore. You're all sweaty, what have you been doing?"

Xie Yongqiang raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his face and said:

"I originally planned to go to the job market to hire someone with agricultural expertise to help me manage the orchard, but now the orchard is getting busier and busier, and I really can't manage it all by myself."

"As soon as I arrived at the town government gate, my uncle stopped me. He told me that the Provincial Youth Federation had sent a group of college student volunteers who had already arrived in the town."

"My uncle said he'll pick someone for me who's a good match for my major and is reliable and excellent. He'll come to the orchard in a couple of days, which will make things much easier for me."

"This is a good thing. With the help of professionals, your orchard will avoid many detours in the future. Work hard and make the orchard better, that's better than anything else."

"Yes, that's what I think too."

Xie Yongqiang smiled and then asked:

"Brother Chen, which way are you going?"

"Yutian invited me to his house for lunch."

Lin Chen then added:

"Don't worry about what your dad says. Just let it go in one ear and out the other. It's normal that they don't understand what we young people do. If the orchard really encounters difficulties in the future, don't try to tough it out. If you need help, come to me."

Xie Yongqiang nodded emphatically:

"I understand, Brother Chen. I'll head back to the orchard now. I still need to work with the construction team to repair the irrigation ditch this afternoon."

"Okay, go ahead and get busy."

Xie Yongqiang hopped on his bicycle, rang the bell, and pedaled along the dirt road toward the orchard on the back hill.

……

As soon as Lin Chen stepped into Zhao Si's yard, he saw Zhao Si squatting there killing a chicken. With a light cut of the knife, the chicken blood slowly flowed into the bowl along the rim.

Hearing the noise, Zhao Si looked up and saw Lin Chen. He raised his chin and greeted him:

"Xiao Chen is here. Come in and sit down. I'll clean up the chickens first."

Zhao Yutian and Liu Ying were busy inside when they heard Lin Chen arrive. They called out to him and invited him to come in and sit down.

Before Lin Chen could say anything, Liu Neng stormed into the courtyard.

Liu Neng stood at the door with his hands behind his back, his face long and angry, clearly having come here specifically to cause trouble.

Zhao Si glanced up at him, her hands still busy, and her tone remained relatively enthusiastic:

"The in-laws are here? Perfect timing, let's have lunch here, some freshly killed chicken."

"I won't eat it!"

Liu Neng strode into the courtyard, stood in the middle, and coldly swept his gaze around, speaking in a sarcastic tone:

"Why kill... why kill a chicken? Who are you trying to impress? I don't have time to eat."

Zhao Si didn't argue with him, too lazy to pay attention, and turned to go into the outer room with the half-processed chicken, leaving the yard to him.

Lin Chen didn't say much. He moved a stool and sat under the shade of a tree, quietly watching the excitement. He just loved watching excitement.

The courtyard fell silent, and Liu Neng became even more excited. He paced back and forth a couple of times with his hands behind his back, then turned and shouted into the house:

"Yutian! Liu Ying! You two come out here!"

Zhao Yutian and Liu Ying came out of the house one after the other.

Liu Neng stared at the two of them for a long time, his tone sarcastic:

"Great, you look pretty good. It's only been one night and you've already made up."

Zhao Yutian knew he was there to cause trouble, so he touched his neck and yawned.

"Hi, I didn't sleep well last night, otherwise I would look even better."

These words infuriated Liu Neng, and he couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

After a long pause, Liu Neng cleared his throat and got down to business.

"Yutian, I... I'm not going to waste time with you. I have something important to say. When you first started your flower nursery, I invested 10,000 yuan in you as an equity investment. Now I'm withdrawing my investment, so you need to return the money to me."

Zhao Yutian was stunned on the spot, staring wide-eyed with a look of utter confusion:

"Dad, when did you invest in me? My flower farm started with Chen Ge's help, it has nothing to do with you."

"I'm not talking about this large base right now!"

Liu Neng retorted stubbornly:

"It's that old flower nursery! When you first started growing flowers, I invested 10,000 yuan—that was my initial investment! Now that I'm withdrawing, you have to return it to me!"

Liu Ying, who was standing nearby, couldn't stand it any longer and interrupted:

"Dad, wasn't that money my dowry? When did it become your investment?"

"What dowry?!"

Liu Neng's eyes widened, and his voice rose:

"That's an investment! I made it very clear back then, consider it my share in the flower shed!"

Just as Zhao Yutian was about to step forward and argue with him, Lin Chen put down his teacup and stood up.

"Uncle Neng, I know this best. I was the one who relayed the message. You clearly stated in front of me that it was Liu Ying's dowry. How did it turn into an investment? You can't just turn your back on your word."

When Lin Chen exposed him to his face, Liu Neng blushed, but remained unconcerned.

"No...no, it's an investment! You're just trying to renege on your debt! I won't even mention Liu Ying's fake pregnancy. Putting everything else aside, I'm not leaving until I get my money. I'm staying here!"

Zhao Yutian frowned and explained:

"Dad, we really have no money. We recently brought in a large batch of flower seedlings and bought a truck. All our money is tied up in the goods, and we don't have a single penny in hand."

"No money, huh? If you don't have money, I'll just sit here and wait!"

Liu Neng resorted to shamelessness, standing still and adopting a posture of waiting to see what would happen.

Zhao Yutian was also filial, so he turned around and picked up a chair:

"Dad, don't stand up, sitting is much more comfortable. I'll give it to you whenever I get the money back."

At this moment, Lin Chen walked over, patted Zhao Yutian on the shoulder, and said sternly:

"Yutian, how can you be so insensible!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Neng's eyes lit up, and a smug look immediately appeared on his face, thinking that Lin Chen was going to help him teach Zhao Yutian a lesson.

The next second, Lin Chen bent down, picked up the chair, placed it under the shade of the tree, and turned to Liu Neng, saying:

"Uncle Neng, please sit here."

"Yutian is young and doesn't know any better. How could I let you stand in the blazing sun? The sun is so strong in the dog days of summer. If you get heatstroke, it'll be a big problem. Yutian will have to go through the trouble of taking you to the hospital, which will cost a lot of money."

Liu Neng's smile froze. He wanted to say something, but facing Lin Chen, he couldn't say anything.

He stood in the middle of the courtyard, unsure whether to stay or leave, his face full of frustration, wanting to lash out but unable to find a reason to.

Liu felt embarrassed and frustrated after Lin Chen's few words made him lose face. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

He glanced around with his triangular eyes, then his gaze locked onto the new half-truck by the courtyard wall. He pointed at it and immediately started acting like a rogue.

"No money, huh? Fine, I won't force you to pay up cash!"

"I'm taking your flower delivery truck now! You can only come back to my house to redeem it when you've scraped together that ten thousand yuan! This truck is your livelihood; it's your own fault if it delays your work. Think about it yourself!"

This half-finished truck was Zhao Yutian's special vehicle for delivering flowers and goods in the county town. He cherished it terribly and would wipe it clean whenever he had free time. The truck was so shiny that it was spotless, and he wouldn't even let anyone else touch it.

As soon as Liu Neng said this, Zhao Yutian, young and hot-blooded, instantly got angry. He grabbed the car keys and slammed them on the table with a loud "bang".

"Fine! If you're so capable, drive it away yourself. Leave the keys here, I won't stop you!"

Zhao Yutian didn't take it seriously at all. He knew Liu Neng couldn't drive and was just putting on airs to scare people and extort money.

Liu Neng refused to back down at this moment. He took a few steps forward, grabbed the key, tossed it in his hand, and looked smug with his chin held high.

He walked very slowly, thinking that Zhao Yutian would come and beg him, but Zhao Yutian and the others just stood there watching the show. Only Liu Ying said worriedly:

"Dad, stop messing around. You've never driven before. Let's go home!"

"Get out of here! I've been raising you for nothing, you're just helping that Zhao family!"