The voluptuous and beautiful nanny, Technician Shen fell for her.

Shen Huai neither went inside nor went far. He simply pushed his bicycle to the locust tree across the street, put his shirt back on, but only buttoned it up to his chest.

The lights at the back gate of the compound didn't reach here, and the intermittent opera singing from the gatekeeper's radio, mixed with the chirping of insects on a summer night, made one's heart feel heavy.

He should have gone home.

Su Nianhe had already gone inside, her skirt covering her completely, so even if Wang Liping wanted to ask, she wouldn't be able to get any information out of him.

But as Shen Huai stood in the shadows of the trees, his hand on the handlebars, his mind kept replaying the words she had spoken in the alley.

You don't understand.

How could he not understand?

But in the past, no one dared to put those words in front of him, nor did anyone leave him speechless after hearing them.

Laughter from a young woman came from the back door.

Shen Huai looked up and saw Li Lianhua carrying a cloth bag coming in through the doorway. She took a couple of steps, then turned back and waved to the outside.

"Comrade Li, take your time going back. Don't be late for work tomorrow."

Li Tiejun stood under the streetlight outside the door, his security uniform neatly worn, and he smiled, revealing a set of white teeth.

"Don't worry, it won't be late. But you, don't fall when you come in. You stepped on me three times while dancing today, so watch your step on the ground on the way home."

Li Lianhua's face flushed, but she refused to back down, saying, "Your dance moves weren't that great either. You kept leading me to bump into table legs. I'm already being lenient by not arguing with you."

"Okay, okay, it's my fault. I'll treat you to a soda another day to make up for it."

"Who cares about your soda?"

Li Lianhua said this, but her steps became much lighter. She even leaned halfway out of the door to wave before the gatekeeper jokingly urged her to go back inside.

Li Tiejun stood there watching her figure disappear. As he turned around, he was still humming the dance tune from the club. Just as he reached the locust tree, he saw Shen Huai standing in the shadows, holding his bicycle.

"Yo."

Li Tiejun stopped and laughed.

"Old Shen, are you guarding the gate or waiting for someone?"

Shen Huai turned the car towards the street corner without answering him.

Li Tiejun followed him, walked around to his side, and insisted on making his point clear.

"The way you walked into the club tonight, I almost thought there was an accident in the workshop. But you went straight to Comrade Xiao Su and didn't even hear me calling you."

Shen Huai straddled the bicycle, stepped on the pedals, and glided forward half a meter.

"go home."

Li Tiejun caught up in a few steps, brazenly pushed himself up on the back seat, and sat down.

The car slumped down, but Shen Huai steadied himself with a strong grip on his wrist and glanced back at him.

"Get out of here."

"I don't."

Li Tiejun gripped the metal frame of the back seat, settling in securely: "You took that girl away, and I brought Li Lianhua back for you. Consider me half a hero, right? What's wrong with riding in your car for a bit?"

Shen Huai ignored him and pushed off with his foot, sending the wheel rolling forward along the street.

Li Tiejun sat in the back seat, his long legs awkwardly spread out to the sides, but he couldn't stop talking.

"Seriously, what's going on between you and Comrade Xiao Su?"

Shen Huai did not answer.

"A couple of days ago you asked me to investigate her, and I thought it was just that the Shen family was hiring someone who didn't trust her. But tonight, I realized it wasn't about investigating her background, it was about investigating her mental health."

Shen Huai rode the bike a little faster.

Li Tiejun was jostled so much that he gripped the metal frame tightly, but he still managed a smile.

"Hey, don't take it out on the car. I'll be in pain if I fall."

There's a small restaurant at the intersection ahead with its lights still on. Incandescent light bulbs hang at the entrance, and braised tofu, peanuts, and smashed cucumbers are displayed in the glass cabinet. The aroma of hot oil wafts from the kitchen.

Li Tiejun reached out and patted Shen Huai on the back. "Don't go back. Jianguo just asked me to have a couple of drinks. He said he was kicked out by his wife again and he needs someone to listen to his complaints."

Shen Huai didn't stop walking.

Li Tiejun added, "Looking like this tonight, you won't be able to sleep at home. Have a couple of drinks, so you won't ride your bicycle all the way to the southern province."

The bicycle stopped in front of the restaurant.

Li Tiejun jumped off the back seat, straightened his uniform which had been ruffled by the wind, and grinned in an annoying way, "I knew you wanted to drink."

Shen Huai locked the car and stepped inside.

There were only a few customers in the small restaurant. A man in his late twenties, wearing blue overalls and with messy hair, sat at a wooden table against the wall. Half a bottle of liquor was already in front of him, and he was poking at the peanuts in the plate with his chopsticks.

As soon as Li Tiejun entered, he shouted, "Zhou Jianguo, didn't you say you had no one to keep you company? I've brought someone for you."

Zhou Jianguo looked up and said, "Old Shen, is this something special?"

Shen Huai remained silent and sat down in a seat near the outside.

Li Tiejun waved to the proprietress, "Sister-in-law, another bottle of Jiangcheng Daqu, two plates of peanuts, a plate of braised tofu, and some cucumber salad, put it on my tab."

The proprietress peeked out from behind the counter. "Section Chief Li, you haven't settled your accounts from last time."

Li Tiejun laughed and slapped the money on the table, "Pay in cash today, don't embarrass me in front of Technician Shen."

The proprietress took the money, chuckled and scolded, then turned and went to the kitchen.

Zhou Jianguo poured wine for Shen Huai, but before he could even reach out, Shen Huai took the bottle and filled his own glass halfway.

Li Tiejun found this strange. "Hey, Lao Shen, didn't you always say that drinking leads to trouble?"

Shen Huai picked up the glass. The baijiu was spicy and burned down his throat, but he didn't even flinch.

"Nothing tonight."

Li Tiejun and Zhou Jianguo exchanged a glance.

Zhou Jianguo sighed first: "It's good that you're alright. Only people who are alright are truly blessed. I get a headache as soon as I get home."

Li Tiejun picked up a peanut and popped it into his mouth.

"You got kicked out by your sister-in-law again?"

"She complained that I didn't go to my mother-in-law's house to deliver coal coupons after get off work."

Zhou Jianguo became increasingly frustrated as he spoke, and slammed his wine glass down on the table.

"I was busy in the machine repair group until dark today and didn't even have a hot meal. But she just said I was heartless and didn't care about my family's affairs."

Li Tiejun laughed and said, "Didn't you say before you got married that city girls are particular, clean, cultured, and speak politely?"

"Decent my ass."

Zhou Jianguo took a sip of wine, his face turning red to his neck. "Her family is very particular. They have to use separate bowls and chopsticks when eating, and you can't pour the water from washing your feet into the yard. When my mother came from the countryside to stay for two days, she complained that the old woman smelled of dirt. Her words were very sarcastic."

Shen Huai paused, his hand still holding the food.

Rustic.

As those two words echoed in his ears, he recalled Su Nianhe bowing her head by the sofa, saying that she was not good enough for him.

Li Tiejun, oblivious to Zhou Jianguo's unease, continued teasing him: "You insisted on finding a city wife back then, ignoring everyone's advice. Now you regret it?"

Zhou Jianguo smiled bitterly: "It's too late to regret it now. We've already got the marriage certificate, and the baby is coming soon."

He finished the wine in his glass, tapped his chopsticks on the edge of the plate twice, and said, "If you ask me, the village girls are more suitable. They can endure hardship, know how to care for others, and speak honestly, unlike my daughter, who is always sarcastic."

Li Tiejun immediately perked up, "I love hearing that."

Zhou Jianguo glanced at him, "Didn't you go to a blind date today? Who did you like?"

Li Tiejun didn't hide anything, laughing heartily: "She helped out at the municipal party committee compound. Her name is Li Lianhua. She's quick-witted and straightforward."

"From the countryside?"

"So what if you're from the countryside?"

Li Tiejun put his wine glass on the table, his tone still smiling, but his words were more serious than before: "They earn their living by working hard, they don't steal or rob, and they are no less than anyone else."

Zhou Jianguo nodded. "That makes sense."

Li Tiejun turned to Shen Huai, deliberately passing the buck, "Old Shen, don't you think so?"

Shen Huai didn't respond to that, but simply drank the wine in his cup.

The baijiu burned my stomach, but the dullness in my chest didn't dissipate.

Seeing his expression, Li Tiejun stopped joking and picked up a piece of braised tofu with his chopsticks, placing it on his plate. "Don't drink it on an empty stomach. There's a meeting at the factory tomorrow."

Shen Huai picked up his chopsticks but didn't touch the piece of braised tofu.

Once Zhou Jianguo got into a drinking session, he talked more and more: "It's not that I look down on city girls, it's that I'm afraid of the kind of life they lead, with their arrogant faces all the time, and they even want to change my mother's accent."

Li Tiejun replied, "Don't generalize. There are good people in the city and bad people in the countryside. It all depends on the person."

"Yes, it depends on the person."

Zhou Jianguo slammed his hand on the table: "But how can you judge a person before marriage? The matchmaker only said that her father worked at the supply and marketing cooperative and her mother was a primary school teacher. At that time, I only thought about how good the conditions were. Who knew that in the end, it would be the two families using rules to bind you together?"

Shen Huai raised his head. "Good conditions don't necessarily mean suitable."

Li Tiejun raised an eyebrow. "Oh, Technician Shen has finally spoken up tonight."

Zhou Jianguo nodded hurriedly, "Yes, that's exactly what I meant."

Shen Huai put down his chopsticks and lowered his voice, "Marriage isn't about exchanging your household registration and job for someone else."

Li Tiejun sensed the weight of those words and his smile faded.

Zhou Jianguo, however, thought Shen Huai was talking about him, and replied with a bitter face, "I was out of my mind back then, only thinking about getting married, without considering whether two people could live together."

Li Tiejun raised his glass and clinked it against Zhou Jianguo's. "Alright, drink less. Talk to your wife properly when you get back tomorrow. It's normal for her to be irritable while she's pregnant."

"If I talk to her about it, will she listen?"

"But you can't hide forever."

Zhou Jianguo was silent for a moment, then picked up a handful of peanuts and stuffed them into his mouth.