Translator: Lonelytree
Li Yuanhang and Gong Tianhao were driving to Taoyuan Village. They frowned as they studied the road, which got increasingly remote.
“Tianhao, this road is full of potholes. It’s so hard for cars to navigate.” Li Yuanhang said, “The condition here is very bad. It’ll be torture for the old master to come and leave here every time.”
“Park the car!” Gong Tianhao order. Li Yuanhang parked the car, and both of them got down.
“Ah!” Li Yuanhang wasn’t paying attention, and he stepped on cow dung. Looking at his pair of leather shoes which were stained with cow dung, Li Yuanhang wanted to cry. He turned to Gong Tianhao. “Tianhao, this place is too remote and dirty. Are you sure we can send the old master here?”
Gong Tianhao’s lips curled coldly, seeing his friend’s ruined shoes. “But look at the beautiful scenery! The traffic condition is not so good, but the place is perfect for grandfather’s recovery!”
Li Yuanhang said with despair. “Are you sure?”
Gong Tianhao nodded. “Yes!”
“Fine, if you say so.” Li Yuanhang looked around and saw a small stream not far away, “Tianhao, wait for me. I’ll go wash up in that stream! This is too smelly. It’ll kill me if I don’t wash this off.” Li Yuanhang had a bit of obsession with cleanliness.
“I’ll go with you!” They jumped down from the roadside into the field. It was seeding season. The field had been plowed and filled with water.
Some of the fields already had paddy seedlings in them. They were growing and taking root. Some looked yellow and dwarfed, but in a few days, they would grow tall and strong.
Li Yuanhang looked at the seedlings in the field and asked, “Tianhao, what are these?” Well, the man lived in a big city since he was young, so he had not seen a paddy seedling before.
“They look like paddy seedlings!” Gong Tianhao said with some uncertainty. This was yet another city boy.
“Paddy seeds?” Li Yuanhang asked suspiciously, “How come you sound so not confident?”
Gong Tianhao didn’t respond. He needed to maintain his aloof appearance.
Regardless, the two studied the seedlings curiously. Suddenly, Li Yuanhang pointed at a leech and said in surprise, “Tianhao, is this a leech? The kind that can suck blood?”
Gong Tianhao rolled his eyes at Li Yuanhang’s surprised look and said coldly, “Isn’t that a given? Are there leeches that don’t suck blood?”
Li Yuanhang walked for a while and saw something resembling a string of pink pearls hanging on a paddy seedling. It looked quite cute. “What is this?” He asked.
“I believe they are river snail eggs!” Gong Tianhao had a good memory. He remembered reading about them in his biology class.
“Oh, so these are river snail eggs!” Li Yuanhang gasped, “I’ve eaten river snails, but I haven’t seen their eggs! They are quite cute.” He paused and looked around. His eyes colored with contention. “Tianhao, it does seem like life here wouldn’t be so bad!” It was a pity that they couldn’t shed their responsibility and move here just like that.
“The air is naturally fresh. The mountains are beautiful, the water is clear. The birds are singing, and the flowers are blooming. This scenery can make anyone feel relaxed.” Li Yuanhang looked at the cow dung on his shoes, and he said regretfully, “It’s a pity that the traffic is so inconvenient. The cow dung along the road doesn’t help either!”
Gong Tianhao said, “The big cities will have good roads and no cow dung, but do you think you can find this beautiful nature there?”
“Of course not!” Li Yuanhang said.
“There are two sides to everything!” Gong Tianhao’s deep and sharp eyes looked at the clear mountain ahead and sighed lightly, “There’s a gain for every loss! The grass is always greener on the other side.”
Li Yuanhang also sighed, “Yes! The rural people envy the city people for their money, but the city people envy the rural people for their leisure.”
The two of them walked toward the small river silently.
Seeing the clear river, Li Yuanhang exclaimed, “I can actually see the bottom of the river!”
Gong Tianhao didn’t say anything. He walked to a stone step, squatted down, washed his hands and his face.
Li Yuanhang squatted down and studied his shoes. He looked around and found a piece of hay. He grabbed the hay and returned to the river. He used the hay to scrape the cow dung off his shoes. Accidentally, the hay also scratched his shoes. It made Li Yuanhang’s heart ache.
After a long time, Li Yuanhang finally got his shoes cleaned. However, his pair of shoes, which cost around ten thousand RMB, had new scratch marks.
After that, the two of them returned to the car.
“How long is it before we reach Taoyuan Village?” Gong Tianhao asked.
Li Yuanhang checked the navigation and said, “About half an hour! What’s Wrong?”
“Nothing!” Gong Tianhao sat down in a serious manner. “Let’s continue driving!”
Actually, he was quite hungry. Before they departed, he calculated the schedule, and they believed they should be able to return to the city around noon. Therefore, other than two bottles of water, there was nothing to eat in the car.
However, too many accidents happened along the way. The bumpy road shook the car. If it weren’t for the high quality of the car, they would be shaken dizzy.
The navigation said it would take them half an hour to arrive at Taoyuan Village. However, due to the bumpy road, when they arrived, it was already one hour later.
It was 1.30 pm. The two men were hungry that their bodies felt weak.
Li Yuanhang touched his stomach and said, “Tianhao, I think we should find a place to fill our stomachs first, or else I don’t think I have the strength to walk.”
Of course, Gong Tianhao did not object. They looked around and frowned. They didn’t know where to find food. They felt rather conflicted when they saw the mud houses. Rural people were honest, but many of them also didn’t care that much about hygiene.
For these two city men who were obsessed with cleanliness, finding food was a difficult problem. They were hungry, but they couldn’t settle for anything. They wouldn’t be able to eat stuff covered in dirt.
“Tianhao, what do you think?” Li Yuanhang felt a little repulsed. In his impression, rural people didn’t care about hygiene. “Let’s drive a little further in.” Gong Tianhao said, “We’ll take a look around.”
“Okay!”
Once the car entered the village, it attracted the attention of many villagers. After all, no one in the village had their own car. Therefore, many curious children crowded over. They followed the car as it moved ahead.
“Little Loach, come on. There’s a car in the village. Let’s go take a look!” Xiao Xiaohui was going to the river to catch some fish when he was stopped by the boys.
Xiao Xiaohui was immediately interested, “Really?”
“Of course!” Little Charcoal said, “The car is black and shiny. It’s very beautiful.”
“Let’s go then!” Xiao Xiaohui immediately said. The boys were very curious about the car.
The car got the attention of both children and adults. Some adults followed behind the children to examine the car.
1
The two inside the car frowned when they saw the crowd. ‘Why are they surrounding our car?’
After driving slowly for who knew how long, Gong Tianhao suddenly said, “Stop the car!” His eyes saw a house with a flower wall.
Li Yuanhang was confused. He turned around to ask, “What’s wrong?” Then, he followed his friend’s gaze. Based on the house’s appearance, this should be a respectable family in the village.
Gong Tianhao said, “Let’s get down to ask!”
“Okay!” Li Yuanhang got down. He looked around and hesitated when he saw the gate of the house was locked. He hesitated.
At this moment, Xiao Xiaohui walked over and asked, “Uncle, are you looking for my second aunt’s house?”
The others thought so too. In Taoyuan Village, other than Xiao Lingyu, who would know someone from the city? And these two men were clearly from the city.
Li Yuanhang saw Xiao Xiaohui’s tanned face, dark eyes, and dirty body.
“Who is your second aunt?” Li Yuanhang was confused.
Xiao Xiaohui pointed to the house in front of him and said, “This is my second aunt’s house. I notice you’ve been staring at it for a long time.” At this point, Xiao Xiaohui asked again, “Are you from a big city? Are you my eldest cousin’s friends?” Without waiting for Li Yuanhang’s reply, he said, “You must be. Because in the entire Taoyuan Village, only my eldest cousin would have friends in the big city.”
Hearing this, Li Yuanhang immediately said with some interest, “Oh, your eldest cousin has friends in the big city?”
“Of course.” Xiao Xiaohui said very proudly, “My eldest cousin is a famous university student and has worked in the big city for a few years. She is the only university student from Taoyuan Village.”
Li Yuanhang was immediately reminded of the girl Jiang Tao mentioned. “What is your eldest cousin’s name?” Li Yuanhang guessed, “Is it Xiao Lingyu?”
“Yes!”