area51novel Chapter 278 Fight Again
Chapter 278 Fight Again
Banggeng stood beside the haystack behind the village, the cold wind swirled snow particles on his face, hurting him. He had been waiting here for several days, until now, he looked at Chunyan's third sister, whose face was 50% similar to Chunyan's but full of ridicule, and pinched his fingers into his palms in the sleeves of his cotton jacket.
"Where's your sister?" His voice was very hoarse.
The third sister sneered and stamped the snow on her feet: "Today I'm going to the Wang family for the engagement dinner." She deliberately shook open the small bundle in her hand, revealing the bright red wool inside, "See? This is the engagement gift from the Wang family, enough to knit a new sweater."
Banggeng stared at the dazzling red color and suddenly remembered Chunyan once said that she liked red sweaters the most. At that time, her eyes were shining and she said that she would wear them to the county market in the spring. Now this ball of red wool was like a fire, burning his internal organs.
"My dad said," the third sister rewrapped the wool and tilted her head to look at Banggeng, "If you really want to settle down in the village, Maya is the best choice. Her father is the team leader, and her three brothers are all strong laborers..." She suddenly lowered her voice, "but she is a little ugly, with pockmarks all over her face."
The sound of suona came from afar, and Banggeng knew that it was the Wang family coming to propose marriage. Sanmei suddenly stood on tiptoe to look at the source of the sound, and the red hairband on her braid swayed: "Ah! I have to go back quickly to watch the fun!" She ran two steps and turned back, "By the way, Maya is grinding flour in the team headquarters today, if you want to go, go early!"
Banggeng stood there, listening to the cheerful suona sound getting closer and closer. He took out the last piece of rock candy from his pocket - it was originally meant for Chunyan. The candy wrapper was softened by his body temperature and was still stained with cotton wool. He slowly peeled off the candy wrapper and suddenly found that his hands were shaking.
In the mill of the team headquarters, Maya was struggling to carry a bag of corn. She was just like what Sanmei said, with a round face full of acne scars and a body as strong as a jar. Seeing Banggeng standing at the door, she was stunned for a moment, and the bag of grain hit her feet with a "bang".
"I'll help you." Banggeng walked over to take the grain bag, and his fingers "accidentally" brushed against the back of Maya's hand. The girl's hands were as rough as tree bark, and there were cracks on the back of her hands from frostbite.
Ma Ya's face flushed red, and her freckles were made redder by the blood. She stammered that she didn't need it, but still let Bang Geng take the bag of grain. Bang Geng smelled the smell of cornmeal mixed with sweat on her body, unlike Chun Yan's sweet fragrance of frozen pear paste.
Banggeng tried to lift the cloth bag and put it on his shoulder, but he couldn't do it no matter how hard he tried. It was not until Maya came from behind that he could barely carry it. Maya was still holding it up from behind as they walked. Not far from the mill, Maya's two brothers came over from a distance and saw this scene.
Ma Ya's two brothers came over with big strides, their faces as gloomy as if a rainstorm was about to fall. The eldest brother, Li Tieniu, grabbed the grain bag and threw it over his shoulder with one hand, looking as relaxed as if he was carrying a bundle of straw. The second brother, Li Tiezhu, grabbed Banggeng by the collar.
"Jia Zhiqing," Tie Niu's voice was like thunder, "my sister is not someone you can think about."
Banggeng's feet were almost off the ground, and the collar of his cotton jacket made it hard for him to breathe. He saw Maya stamping her feet anxiously: "Brother! I asked him to help!"
Tiezhu sneered and threw the stick to the ground: "You are so ugly and you still want to help?" He pointed at the grain bag, "This bag is only about 100 pounds. A twelve-year-old kid in our village can carry it and jog."
Banggeng sat slumped in the snow, the old injury in his lungs began to ache again. He looked up at the bulging muscles on Tiezhu's arm, and suddenly remembered that Shazhu had also laughed at him in the courtyard.
"Brother!" Maya suddenly rushed over and stood in front of Banggeng, "He, he is a good man!"
Tie Niu narrowed his eyes: "Good person?" He pulled his sister's hand, "Are good people useful?" The palm was as rough as sandpaper, and there were corn silks embedded in the nails. "What we need here is labor, and someone who can work."
A cheerful suona sound came from afar. It was the Wang family's bride-picking party coming back. Chunyan, wearing a newly made red cotton-padded jacket, was surrounded by a group of girls and walked towards the village. She glanced over here and quickly turned her head away, her red hairband swinging in the wind.
Banggeng suddenly stood up and patted the snow off his body: "You two elder brothers are right, I overestimated my ability." He turned to Maya and smiled bleakly, "Comrade Maya, I'm sorry."
Tie Niu and his brother were stunned. They didn't expect this kid to be so sensible. Maya was anxious and grabbed Bang Geng's sleeve: "Brother Jia, don't..."
"I'm fine." Banggeng gently broke free of her hand and turned to walk towards the educated youth center. Tiezhu sneered from behind him: "You're smart, kid!"
Wang Yuanchao squatted on the haystack next to the mill, holding a piece of hay in his mouth, and took in the whole scene. He sneered and spit out the hay stem in his mouth, thinking that Banggeng was still too naive.
"How can you chase a girl so blatantly..." He shook his head, jumped down from the haystack, and patted the grass debris on his body. As the first person among the educated youth to gain a foothold in the village, Wang Yuanchao had a lot of experience in this regard.
He remembered that when he first came here, he also fell in love with the most beautiful girl in the village. But he was much smarter than Bang Geng - he first helped the girl with work quietly, and then slowly approached her after getting to know her. Now the girl follows him every day, and her parents also praise him highly.
"Jia Geng!" Li Yuanchao took a few quick steps to catch up with Bang Geng, "You can't do this."
Bang Geng turned around abruptly, with anger still in his eyes: "What does this have to do with you?"
Wang Yuanchao was not annoyed. He took out half a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and said, "Want one?" Seeing that Bang Geng didn't take it, he lit one himself and said slowly, "Do you know why I can make a living in the village?"
Banggeng stared at his brand new cotton-leather shoes - they were an engagement gift from his father-in-law, and felt a pang of sadness in his heart.
"First, you have to work hard." Wang Yuanchao blew out a smoke ring. "Second, you have to be strategic when chasing girls." He lowered his voice. "For someone like Maya, you have to please her family first."
Bang Geng sneered: "Didn't you see her two brothers just now..."
"Stupid!" Wang Yuanchao interrupted him, "Who told you to go straight up?" He pointed to the haystack in the distance, "See? Maya's father loves to smoke dry tobacco. If you help him tie two bundles of wheat straw after work every day, it will be more effective than saying a hundred nice words."
Banggeng was skeptical, but Wang Yuanchao's next words pricked up his ears: "When the spring comes to plant the crops, if you can dig up the wasteland that her family was allocated first..." He paused meaningfully, "Old Li will naturally know who did it."
In the distance came the sound of cheerful suona, and the Wang family's wedding procession was marching towards the village in a lively manner. Wang Yuanchao looked at Banggeng's gloomy face and patted him on the shoulder: "Chunyan, don't even think about it, but Maya... there is still a chance."
Banggeng clenched the loquat leaves in his pocket and suddenly asked, "Why are you helping me?"
Wang Yuanchao smiled and said, "We are all from Beijing. I can't just watch you starve to death here." He turned to leave, then turned back and added, "By the way, get up early tomorrow and go to the back mountain with me to pick pine cones. Maya's mother loves to use them to make porridge."
Watching Wang Yuanchao's back as he walked away, Banggeng suddenly thought of the Siheyuan...
The snow began to fall again. Banggeng stood at the entrance of the educated youth center, watching the smoke coming out of Maya's chimney. He touched the cracks on his face caused by the wind and suddenly grinned - this time it was no longer Qin Huairu's fake smile, but the cruel smile of a hungry wolf seeing its prey.