Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

The two argued more and more fiercely, bringing up a whole bunch of old, trivial matters, from the job transfer to household chores and social interactions, going over and over them, each refusing to give in.

Xie Lan was furious. She picked up the rice bowl on the table and slammed it hard on the stove with a loud crash, scattering shards all over the stove.

"If you think I'm not good enough for you, just say so! If we can make it work, great; if not, then forget it!"

"Fine, fine!" Pi Changshan was furious and slammed his hand on the table in a fit of anger.

Before she could finish speaking, Xie Lan couldn't hold back anymore, and tears streamed down her face as she squatted down and covered her face, crying.

Pi Changshan was panting heavily. Seeing Xie Lan crying like this, he felt a little regretful. This matter really had nothing to do with her.

The room was quiet for a while, with only Xie Lan's intermittent sobs remaining.

"Alright, I was wrong. I was just in a bad mood and took it out on you. But honey, you know me. I dream of climbing the ladder, and now they won't let me, and I don't even know why. How do you think I feel?"

Xie Lan wiped away her tears, ignored him, and cleaned up the mess on her own.

Pi Changshan thought for a moment, then continued:

"Your dad's influence is definitely gone. How about we ask Lin Chen? Even Mayor Qi has to flatter him. His words carry more weight than our dad's. Let him make a phone call and ask what's going on. We need to know the truth before we die."

Upon hearing this, Xie Lan immediately raised her head and shook it vigorously, like a rattle drum.

"No, no, it's not convenient these two days. Let's talk about it in a couple of days."

"What's inconvenient about it? You can stay home all day without any problems."

Xie Lan's eyes darted away, and she stammered, trying to find an excuse:

"Well... I need to go help out at my dad's place for the next couple of days. There are a lot of people selling mountain products here, and besides, Brother Chen is busy with village affairs every day, so I feel bad troubling him all the time. I'll talk to him after I finish these two days. Don't worry, it'll only be a matter of two or three days."

Pi Changshan was preoccupied with his job transfer and didn't think much about anything else.

"Alright, alright, then you better remember this: you can't let this opportunity slip away like this."

……

It was past ten o'clock at night. There was no moon tonight, and the whole village was pitch black.

The evening wind howled, and the old trees outside the village clinic were whipped back and forth by the wind, making a constant whooshing sound, just like someone was scratching at the window.

Wang Tianlai is on night shift tonight. He is naturally timid and gets scared as soon as it gets dark, so he locked all the door bolts in the house, both inside and out.

He was sitting at his desk writing something when suddenly, a soft rustling sound came from under the window, followed by the sharp, fragmented sound of fingernails scraping against glass, sending chills down one's spine.

Wang Tianlai was so startled that he dropped the pen from his hand. He mustered his courage, his throat tightened, and his voice trembled:

"Who is it? Stop messing around! Why are you scaring people in the middle of the night!"

There was no sound outside, and no one answered, but the sound of scraping glass grew more frequent and piercing. Then a faint, soft sobbing sound drifted in, weak and eerie, like a woman crying in a low voice, especially chilling in the dark night.

Wang Tianlai couldn't hold back any longer. His back tensed up, and cold sweat poured from his palms.

His legs were shaking so badly that he shuffled along, tiptoeing towards the window, slowly peeking out with his head squinting and his eyes narrowed to slits.

The porch light was dim, making it impossible to see very far. In the very center of the yard, there seemed to be a tall, dark figure, covered in something long and black that dragged on the ground, with a messy clump on its head that looked exactly like long, disheveled hair.

The shadow didn't lift its feet at all; it floated towards the door, making no sound!

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Help!"

Wang Tianlai broke down instantly, letting out a scream that pierced the night with its sharpness.

He was so frightened that he lunged backward, his legs went weak and he couldn't stand up. His lower back slammed hard against the corner of the medicine cabinet, making him wince in pain. But at that moment, he couldn't care less about anything else; his whole body was stiff as a piece of wood.

He bent his knees and knelt down on the ground with a thud. His face was as white as rice paper, without a trace of blood, and his lips trembled incessantly.

The dark shadow outside the window was still moving quickly, its head stretching out and retracting, swaying from side to side, looking increasingly eerie.

Wang Tianlai clutched his head tightly with both hands, burying it in his chest. He curled up into a small ball, trembling like a leaf, his teeth chattering wildly, unable to speak coherently, only whimpering sobs remaining.

"Huh...what is that...don't come any closer...I'm a scaredy-cat...I'm not from around here, don't come looking for me if you need anything..."

He dared not open his eyes, only peeking out through his fingers. When he saw the shadow still moving, he immediately closed his eyes tightly, muttering to himself rapidly and incoherently.

"May Amitabha Buddha and Bodhisattva protect me, God save me... I haven't done anything wrong... Please stop bothering me..."

As she read, tears welled up and fell in large drops, followed by snot streaming down her face, making it a complete mess.

The ghost outside the window was none other than Li Daguo. He was wrapped in a tattered black raincoat, and his face was covered with a thick layer of talcum powder, making him look eerily white and particularly frightening in the night. He already looked like a skeleton that had come to life.

He used a twig to scrape the glass, mimicking a woman's sobbing in a high-pitched voice, trying to suppress his laughter so hard that his shoulders twitched and his stomach ached. He felt incredibly pleased to see Wang Tianlai inside, terrified and cowardly.

Serves you right for being such a chatterbox and tattling! Serves you right for me getting involved in my business with Xiangxiu! You wouldn't leave, would you? Today I'll scare you into submission, you coward!

Inside the room, Wang Tianlai heard the sound of the door being scratched, and then let out another scream. He crawled under the bed, wishing he could disappear into the crack in the wall.

Tears and snot streamed down her face; she cried so hard she could barely breathe.

"Mom! Mom! What is that?! What is that?!"

Li Daguo was feeling restless outside, so he forced himself to laugh and wandered around a couple more times. Once he felt he had scared the freak out enough, he tiptoed to the back wall, took off his raincoat and threw it aside, preparing to continue scaring the freak out the next night.

Xie Xiaomei's throat was a little sore, so Lin Chen thought he would go to the clinic to get some medicine, since he was out of medicine at home.

As soon as I arrived at the clinic, I heard a loud wail coming from inside. It was a series of sobs and whimpers, like a pig being slaughtered.

Lin Chen thought someone had suddenly fallen ill, so he quickly went up to knock on the door and called out loudly:

Is anyone inside? I'm Lin Chen.

Upon hearing voices inside the house, Wang Tianlai felt as if he had grasped a lifeline. He instantly came to life, scrambling to the door with trembling hands. He had to pull the latch three times before he could open it.

The moment the door opened, he rushed out without a word, clinging tightly to Lin Chen's leg, his face pressed against his trousers, sobbing uncontrollably, wailing in heart-wrenching pain.

"Brother! You're like my own father! You've finally come! If you'd been any later, I would be dead!"

Lin Chen froze on the spot and reached out to pull him away:

"What's your seniority? You're Wang Tianlai, right? Just call me Brother Chen, no need to be so polite. What's wrong? Why are you crying like this in the middle of the night?"

Wang Tianlai stood up, gripping his arm tightly and refusing to let go, his head constantly darting back, his eyes filled with fear, as if a ghost were chasing him.

He hurriedly pulled Lin Chen into the house, panting heavily, tears still streaming down his face.

"Brother Chen... I saw a ghost! There really was something just now... dark and blurry... floating around, with disheveled hair, crying, and scratching at the window!"

He was sobbing, his voice was hoarse from crying, his eyes were red, his face was covered in tears and snot, and his hair was a mess stuck to his forehead. He looked extremely disheveled.

"Did you see anything when you came in?"

"There's nothing there, I just heard you crying inside," Lin Chen said helplessly.

Upon hearing this, Wang Tianlai's lips trembled, and his sobs rose a notch, as if he had suffered a great injustice, wailing incessantly.

"It really happened! I saw it with my own eyes! It was floating around right in front of the window! It almost came in and grabbed me! It scared me to death!"

Lin Chen pulled him up, looking at his pale face and trembling body, and said helplessly:

"You're a grown man, how can you be so timid? Why are you so scared?"

"There's something fishy going on, Brother Chen!"

Wang Tianlai pointed at the window, his voice cracking, his eyes filled with terror:

"It was terrifying. It was crying and floating around."

Lin Chen shook his head and said:

"Alright, stop crying. I'll go out for a walk in a bit."

Wang Tianlai sobbed as he wiped away tears, leaving his face streaked with them. After a long while, he finally remembered to ask:

"Brother Chen... what... what are you doing here?"

"I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it. I came to get some medicine for my sore throat."

Wang Tianlai pointed weakly to the medicine cabinet inside, his whole demeanor absent-minded:

"Take it yourself... take whichever you want... I'm not going to care anymore..."

Seeing his terrified expression, Lin Chen shook his head helplessly:

"Forget it, you still won't figure it out like this. I'll come back tomorrow."

(I'm late today. I stayed up too late last night. This is the fourth update.)