Hunting 81: Gathering Goods in the Mountains, I Spoil My Ex-Wife to the Extreme

"Tch, he's certainly generous."

Not to mention that Su Lihua, who is usually aloof, was secretly jealous, even Gao Hongmei, who is usually very easygoing, was filled with a sour jealousy when she learned that Li Yunshan had bought fabric to make new clothes for Lin Xiulan.

That bastard! I've never received this kind of treatment when I was with him.

Thinking of this, Gao Hongmei felt a pang of envy for Lin Xiulan. She nudged Lin Xiulan with her elbow and asked, "Xiulan, Li Yunshan treated you badly before. Have you ever thought about going back to your hometown?"

Lin Xiulan's expression darkened: "I've thought about it, but what's the use? If my parents cared about me, they wouldn't have kicked me out of the house and left me to fend for myself outside."

This is a painful memory for Lin Xiulan; her parents also favored sons over daughters.

That year, there was a famine in her hometown. In order to save some food for her older brother and younger brother, her parents gave her a few coarse grain cakes and a tattered bundle, and let her go out to escape the famine on her own.

She ran and ran, relying on begging and sneaking into the fields to dig up sweet potatoes and potatoes, until she finally made her way to Guapigou Village.

When they escaped to Guapigou Village, they were so hungry that they were barely clinging to life.

It was Li Yunshan who gave her a bite to eat, and that's how she came back to life.

Afterwards, Li Yunshan took her home.

She married Li Yunshan for two reasons: first, because he was tall, strong, and handsome; and second, because she felt insecure and wanted a home.

So, after Li Yunshan's sweet talk and persuasion, she quickly fell for him.

However, after marriage, Li Yunshan revealed his true colors and treated her poorly, especially after Dou Dou was born, when he became even worse.

At that time, she had considered taking DouDou back to her parents' home, but when she thought about how her parents also favored boys over girls, she gave up the idea and has been living in Guapigou Village ever since.

However, Li Yunshan has changed now. He is slowly learning to be better, and Lin Xiulan is gradually developing a sense of belonging to this land and this home.

"Ugh!"

Seeing Lin Xiulan's listless expression, Gao Hongmei sighed. She shouldn't have talked to Lin Xiulan about this.

"So you're just going to live with him like this from now on?" Su Lihua asked.

"If he can turn over a new leaf and stop messing around, I want to stay with him."

Su Lihua and Gao Hongmei exchanged glances, seemingly surprised by the answer, but upon reflection, it made perfect sense.

If Lin Xiulan hadn't been kicked out of her home by her parents to escape famine, she would at least have had somewhere to go after leaving Li Yunshan.

But her home was gone the moment she was driven out to flee famine.

Where could she go after leaving Li Yunshan's house?

Although they had all been intimate with Li Yunshan, at least they had a place to live after leaving him.

Gao Hongmei was from Guapigou Village and was the only daughter in her family. After separating from Li Yunshan, she returned to her parents' home. Su Lihua was an educated youth sent to the countryside. After her divorce, she moved back to the educated youth settlement.

The winter before last, the educated youth settlement collapsed under the weight of heavy snow, so she moved to Gao Hongmei's place to keep her company.

"If you can make it through, that's good. If you can't, remember we're here for you!" Su Lihua said, expressing her heartfelt sympathy for her younger sister, Lin Xiulan.

Just then, Li Yunshan returned from the supply and marketing cooperative after buying his goods. Gao Hongmei and the other two tacitly stopped talking about what they had just been discussing.

"Hehe, Hongmei, Lihua, look what I bought for you."

Li Yunshan held up the things he had just bought with a happy smile.

Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua exchanged glances after just one look, feeling flattered and overwhelmed.

In Li Yunshan's hands were not only four boxes of face cream, but also several colors of fabric.

Judging from the appearance, each type of fabric is also five feet long.

Why are you wasting money buying so much stuff? I was just joking with you.

Gao Hongmei frowned. This Li Yunshan, he got cocky as soon as he had two coins in his pocket, and he spends money so extravagantly. What a spendthrift!

"Since Xiulan already has one, I bought one for you too," Li Yunshan said, already stuffing the items into their hands.

"I don't need it. Take it back right now. I'll earn the money and buy what I want myself. I don't need your charity."

Gao Hongmei directly stuffed the things into Li Yunshan's hands.

Li Yunshan held her hand: "Take it, I bought it especially for you."

"Who cares about your stuff? You think you're so great just because you have a few stinking bucks?"

Gao Hongmei shook off his hand, refused the things Li Yunshan had given her, and tugged at Su Lihua: "Lihua, let's go."

Su Lihua didn't say anything. After glancing at Li Yunshan, she followed Gao Hongmei away.

"Hey, Hongmei, Lihua, what's going on here?!"

Looking at what he was holding, and then at the departing figures of Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua, Li Yunshan suddenly felt as if he had punched a piece of cotton.

He had just thought that Gao Hongmei, Su Lihua, and Lin Xiulan were all his ex-wives. Since he had already bought two boxes of face cream for Lin Xiulan and five feet of various fabrics, he couldn't be biased towards one another. So he bought four more boxes of face cream, intending to give two boxes each to Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua, and two sets of various fabrics, one set for each of them.

According to Li Yunshan's thinking, even if Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua harbored resentment towards him, they had already accepted the money he earned from selling wild boar meat a couple of days ago, so they should accept the face cream and fabric as well.

But to his surprise, Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua didn't care at all.

He also wanted to give them the face cream and fabric to mend their relationship.

But Li Yunshan didn't understand that Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua accepted his money because of what Lin Xiulan had said.

That money was Li Yunshan's compensation to them.

This time, Gao Hongmei was simply upset because she saw Li Yunshan taking Lin Xiulan to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy face cream and fabric to make new clothes. Li Yunshan had never done such a thing when she was with him, so she was a little unbalanced and that's why she was irritable with him and didn't want the things he bought.

"Xiulan, I'll need your help later to deliver these things to Hongmei's house."

Lin Xiulan didn't speak, but nodded.

……

"So what if they have a few stinking bucks? What's the big deal?"

"It's just face cream, who cares about something like that?"

"..."

On the way back to the village, Gao Hongmei walked briskly, muttering to herself.

"Hey, Hongmei, wait for me."

Su Lihua chased after her, but almost couldn't catch up.

By the time she caught up with Gao Hongmei, she was already slightly out of breath.

"Hongmei, if you don't want what Li Yunshan gave you, just let it go. Why get angry with him?"

Su Lihua and Gao Hongmei walked side by side, trying to persuade her.

Despite her fiery personality and generally carefree nature, Gao Hongmei's constant muttering had brought tears to her eyes.

Su Lihua and Gao Hongmei have been companions for two years, and this is the first time she has seen her like this.

"There's nothing I can do. He never bought me face cream or fabric when we were together, but now that we're divorced, he's all over me. I get so angry when I see him like this."

Gao Hongmei wiped away the light mist from her eyes.

Why would you do this?

Su Lihua sighed.

"When you were together, he was idle all day long, but after the divorce, he's all over you. How can you not be angry?"

Gao Hongmei countered with a question.

"this……"

Su Lihua was stunned for a moment.

But upon closer examination, Gao Hongmei's words were not wrong. It's just that she has a cold personality, and even if she harbors resentment towards Li Yunshan, she won't easily show it.

"Right? If it were you, you'd be angry too."

Gao Hongmei said.

Su Lihua had no choice but to nod and quicken her pace to catch up with Gao Hongmei.

"Father, I'm back!"

However, when they returned home, they saw that the door to the main room was open. When Gao Hongmei called out to the room, there was no response.

"How come Dad's gotten so senile? He even forgets to close the door to the main room when he goes out."

Gao Hongmei placed the wicker basket under the eaves before going inside.

However, when she entered the main room and saw an elderly man with a full head of white hair lying on the ground, her heart skipped a beat.

"Father, Father, are you alright?"

Gao Hongmei quickly went to help the elderly woman, but as soon as she touched her, the woman broke out in a cold sweat and cried out, "Hongmei, it hurts, don't move..."

"Hongmei, what happened?"

Hearing Gao Hongmei's shouts, Su Lihua put down the wicker basket and rushed into the main room.

When Su Lihua saw the elderly man lying on the ground, she was startled: "Uncle Gao, what happened to you?"

"Sigh, I'm getting old and useless. I saw that you hadn't come back for so long, so I thought I'd go cook some rice, but I slipped and fell."

"I think I broke a bone. It hurts terribly here, ouch..."

Gao Hongmei's father, Gao Zhankui, couldn't help but wince in pain as he spoke.

"Dad, I'll take you to the commune clinic right away."

Seeing her elderly father wincing in pain, Gao Hongmei tried to help Gao Zhankui up.

"Hongmei, don't move him. It might cause him further injury. There aren't enough of us to get him to the commune clinic. I think we should find a carriage and have him lie down in it before we go to the clinic."

Su Lihua quickly stopped Gao Hongmei.

"Yes, yes, let's find a horse-drawn carriage first, then take my father to the commune clinic."

Concern cloudes judgment, and Gao Hongmei only realized this at this moment.

"I'll go find the carriage. You stay home and watch over Uncle."

After saying that, Su Lihua ran out.

In Guapigou Village, not many people own horse-drawn carriages, and the only one closest to the Gao family is Pang the horseman.

A moment later, Su Lihua ran to Pang Mafu's house: "Uncle Pang, are you home?"

Seeing that the gate to Pang Ma Fu's courtyard was tightly closed, Su Lihua had no choice but to stand outside the courtyard wall and shout loudly into it.

"Yes, yes."

A sound came from inside the house, and soon Pang Mafu opened the courtyard gate. He found Su Lihua and asked in surprise, "Su, you educated youth, why are you in such a hurry to see me?"

"Uncle Pang, Hongmei's father fell and probably broke his leg. We'd like to ask you to drive the horse-drawn carriage and take Uncle Gao to the commune clinic," Su Lihua explained.

"Oh, okay? Wait for me a moment."

Upon hearing this, Pang Ma Fu knew it was a life-saving emergency, so he went inside, put on his sheepskin coat, and then drove the carriage toward Gao Hongmei's house.