CHAPTER 81: CHAPTER 81: GOING HOME

Ding Hu felt increasingly wronged. Before marriage, the work in the fields was done by his parents, and he didn’t have to worry about anything. When he was with Sun Chan, she was also a skilled worker and would help him from time to time.

And now? Every day he works like a donkey at the Liu Family’s and has to endure their scolding. What kind of life is this? If he had married Sun Chan back then, would he be this miserable? It’s hateful how Sun Chan is also so cold-blooded and heartless now. She’s found someone better and forgotten me, such a fickle woman!

Here he resents Sun Chan and also Liu Mei, and the thought of going to the city starts to take shape in his mind. Let me go make big money in the city! Far away from all of you!

Sun Chan naturally had no idea nor did she care. She got up in the morning for a wash, helped Liu Yunlan feed the pigs, and was sweeping the yard when Gu Junming came over. He was looking spirited, smiling as he walked in.

Sun Chan laughed and said, "Is the kang in the village chief’s house warm?"

Gu Junming smiled silently and, taking advantage of Liu Yunlan not paying attention, whispered, "The village chief’s wife wants her nephew from her mother’s side to join the army. He’s already twenty-four, way over the age limit, so I didn’t agree, and she got mad. She chased me out without breakfast."

Sun Chan couldn’t help but laugh, "The village chief must not know about this, or he’d definitely hit that wasteful wife of his. He still wants to win you over. Yet, she won’t even let you have a meal."

"Even if she did, I wouldn’t help her for personal gain. Besides, their food doesn’t look good at all."

The two of them joked quietly for a while, then Liu Yunlan came out. Both proposed to leave.

Liu Yunlan hurriedly held them back, "Have breakfast before you go, it won’t take long."

Gu Junming smiled, "We should have gone back yesterday, but somehow got delayed. If we don’t go home for breakfast, my parents will be unhappy. Thank you very much for your hospitality."

Liu Yunlan had no choice but to let it go. It was all Zhao Xiuxia’s doing. Meanwhile, Wang Dan packed some cucumbers and tomatoes for Sun Chan and urged her to visit when possible.

Sun Chan also said a few heartfelt words to Liu Yunlan before leaving with Gu Junming.

Watching them leave, Liu Yunlan pointed at her daughter’s forehead with her finger, "You silly girl, I urged you to date Gu Junming back then, but you refused. Now he’s the Deputy Battalion Commander! Look how handsome he is; I liked him back then. It’s too late for regrets now."

"So what? My boyfriend earns more than him even as a Commander. Hurry up, let’s eat. I need to go back to do business. When I earn a lot of money, I’ll buy all the good stuff for you and dad." Wang Dan cheerfully hugged her mother’s arm.

Liu Yunlan shook her head with a smile. This girl is married but still acts like a child.

When Su Chan and Gu Junming reached the village entrance, they saw a man coming over.

It was Ding Hu. He hadn’t fully recovered from his illness, and his complexion was poor. He coughed a few times as he approached.

Sun Chan said coldly, "I have nothing to say to you."

"I didn’t want to talk to you," he said as he went up to Gu Junming. "Don’t think that just because you’re with Sun Chan now, you can be smug. Sun Chan is always like that, worshipping the powerful and stepping on the weak. If she meets someone more capable, she’ll definitely dump you too!"

Gu Junming, unexpectedly, just coldly glanced at Ding Hu and walked away.

Ding Hu was dumbfounded. How could this guy not be angry at all?

He then turned to Sun Chan, "What kind of mind-controlling potion did you feed him?"

Sun Chan sneered, "Ding Hu, what are you trying to do by acting like this? Destroy me? You’re such a despicable creature! In my life, I’ve been deceived badly by Zhao Xiuxia and Sun Lijuan, but the thing they successfully did was make us fall apart. Let me give you some advice, live your life well and mind your own business, you really are shameless!" With that, she walked away.

Ding Hu staggered, looking at Sun Chan’s back for a long time before realizing that she was really completely different from before.

Neither Gu Junming nor Sun Chan mentioned what just happened. Such a person like Ding Hu was not worth talking about.

The weather was nice, and it was downhill all the way. After walking for more than an hour, they arrived at Xiangyang Village.

This was where Gu Junming had lived for over ten years. Corn stalks and sorghum canes lay on both sides, as it was about to be the leisure farming season.

Gu Junming told Su Chan, "The soil here is more alkaline; whenever the air is humid, it looks like there’s white frost everywhere. It’s very barren, and grain yields are low. We can only grow some sour jujubes, sweet sorghum, and corn. Life is tough."

Sun Chan nodded, "The two villages are very close, but the land is quite different."

"Yeah, there aren’t many people farming in Xiangyang Village now; most have gone to work elsewhere." He smiled, "I lived so close to you, yet we never met before."

Sun Chan felt similarly. In her past life, she never left the village; fortunately, in this life, she decided against living that way, or her future would still be bleak, and she wouldn’t have met Gu Junming.

Gu Junming pointed at two earthen houses in front and laughed, "That’s my home."

The house wasn’t large, but it was tidily organized. The yard was filled with sweet potato vines, the vegetable plot was well-kept, and the line for drying clothes had a few gray coats dripping with water.

"My sister is at home," Gu Junming laughed, "Whenever she’s home, everything is sparkling clean from morning till night."

Sun Chan thought of meeting Gu Junming’s family members and suddenly felt nervous.

Gu Junming held her hand, "Don’t worry, I’m here."

"No, someone might see." Sun Chan pushed his hand away.

Gu Junming knew she was shy and didn’t press her further.

As they were walking, two people approached the fork in the road, heading to the same house.

A woman around forty, carrying a small basket filled with boiled chestnuts and some sour jujubes, was accompanied by a girl of about eighteen or nineteen. The girl wore a patterned blouse, with two long braids hanging in front, looking quite pretty, with fair skin and big eyes that were quite striking everywhere she went.

The woman saw Gu Junming and greeted him warmly, "Is Mingzi back? Do you still remember us? I’m your Aunt Qiuyue. Here, Miao Miao, you’ve been thinking about Brother Gu all the time, and here he’s back. Say hello!"

She said this while pushing the girl beside her towards Gu Junming, who almost stumbled into her arms.

Gu Junming instinctively stepped back to avoid the incoming girl, "Aunt, don’t do this; we’re not kids anymore. People will gossip if they see us."

The girl bit her lip, a look of dissatisfaction on her face.

Sun Chan slightly frowned at Gu Junming; who was this girl?