Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Never Bully the Young and Poor!
Gu Zishu said that he was the only one’s brother-in-law, and he, in fact, did not want to call him brother-in-law.
Qin Yize turned his head to see a thinly dressed youth coming down another narrow goat path, carrying a bundle of broken branches on his back.
He curled up the corners of his mouth and nodded to him.
Then he lowered his head to observe Gu Qiaoqiao’s expression, and indeed, the guardedness and alienation, along with the full heart and eyes of troubles, seemed to be just his misperception after all.
Gu Qiaoqiao revealed a brilliant smile to Chang Qing, radiant just like the first time he saw it.
It turned out, she could still smile like that.
It’s just that the person wasn’t him.
Chang Qing pulled at the corners of his mouth, suppressing the sourness in his heart.
Sister Qiaoqiao and Big Brother Qin are really a good match.
Just quietly looking at each other, it seemed as if everything else around had receded, as though in this world, there were only the two of them.
Chang Qing felt he should be very happy.
After all, he was the man Sister Qiaoqiao had fallen for at first sight, and only such an outstanding man deserved his Sister Qiaoqiao.
However, he tugged at the corner of his mouth, yet he couldn’t smile.
Seeing it was Chang Qing, Gu Qiaoqiao couldn’t help but laugh.
But at the same time, she frowned, “Chang Qing, did you go to gather firewood early in the morning?”
“Yes, gathering wood early allows me to revise English, and with no one to disturb me, it’s really nice,”
Chang Qing hurriedly explained.
Gu Qiaoqiao thought, helping him wasn’t urgent in these few days; after all, she would be staying at home this period.
Thinking so, she did not say anything, but pulled out a piece of candy from her pocket, stepped forward, and unbidden, stuffed it into Chang Qing’s cotton jacket pocket, speaking as if coddling a child, “This candy is really tasty, not too sweet, and it can also restore energy. Don’t overexert yourself, you need to be healthy to enter the exam hall and get good results…”
Chang Qing didn’t refuse anymore, with his head half-lowered, a layer of moisture filled his eyes.
When he was ten, if it hadn’t been for Sister Qiaoqiao rushing over, his crazed stepmother might have killed him.
He naively thought they could always be neighbors.
He thought they could go to college together.
He stubbornly believed Sister Qiaoqiao would always be his Sister Qiaoqiao.
But he hadn’t expected that Sister Qiaoqiao would get married, and on the other side of the fence, there would no longer be that bright and warm smile…
And the man standing beside her was a handsome man, Sister Qiaoqiao’s husband!
Chang Qing desperately suppressed the sourness in his heart, desperately tried to control his breathing, but it was no use. He carelessly wiped his face with his sleeve, then stopped dodging.
After all, it wasn’t the first time he had cried in front of Gu Qiaoqiao.
There was nothing shameful about it.
He simply raised his head, finally smiled, and said to Gu Qiaoqiao, “I understand now, Sister Qiaoqiao, you guys should go on, I need to get back too.”
Saying this, he politely nodded and then turned around and hurried away.
Qin Yize stayed silent, first because he had only met Chang Qing a few times and wasn’t familiar with him, and second because the young man didn’t need sympathy or pity.
He didn’t need to say anything.
Silence was the best language.
The two continued walking forward, with Gu Qiaoqiao evidently not dwelling too much on Chang Qing’s woeful circumstances.
She stepped on the snowy ground, which creaked under her feet, and her half-high boots sank into the soft snow beside the carriage wheel tracks.
A breeze came, picking up the loose snow from the ground and fluttering it onto her hair, quickly melting among the strands.
At this moment, the vast world was empty except for that unhurried man.
This inexplicably delighted Gu Qiaoqiao’s heart, her pace alternately quickening and slowing, her footsteps light, boots covered in snowflakes.
In the distance was a grove of poplar trees, with flocks of sparrows fluttering about.
Gu Qiaoqiao looked up at the blue sky. The sky was so clear, the clouds so soft.
She felt her heart at this moment seemed to become soft as well.
Qin Yize inexplicably recalled the little squirrel he had made eye contact with in the snow burrow, which had also been joyfully hopping around in his hidden snow burrow.
He still walked with stable strides, but his gaze was intently fixed on Gu Qiaoqiao.
The corners of his mouth, unbeknownst to even himself, curved upwards slightly.
It was as if tender twigs at the bottom of his heart were sprouting.
They seemed to want to push through the thick snow, quietly blooming.
Gu Qiaoqiao’s gaze finally landed on the man who was as pale as snow, and for once, she found him considerably pleasant to look at.
So, Gu Qiaoqiao, in a good mood, asked Qin Yize, “Guess what saying I thought of when I saw Chang Qing?”
Qin Yize seemed not to expect Gu Qiaoqiao to speak to him. He raised his eyebrows subtly, yet asked lightly, “What saying?”
Gu Qiaoqiao cocked her head, “You’re so smart, take a guess.”
“Don’t bully the poor young!”
Gu Qiaoqiao laughed heartily, took a few frolicsome steps, and then laughed again as if she remembered something, a smug glint flashing in her eyes, “Right, it’s ‘Don’t bully the poor young.’ One day his stepmother will regret it bitterly, hehe…”
Qin Yize didn’t speak.
Gu Qiaoqiao then started speaking on her own, “Chang Qing is so clever. Even though he hasn’t attended high school, he can still get into university.”
Really, so confident?
He knew about this; Gu Tianfeng had mentioned it last night.
But what slightly surprised Qin Yize was Gu Qiaoqiao’s term of address for Chang Qing…
He asked nonchalantly, “You’re only two years older than him. Why do you call him a kid?”
“In my eyes, he is certainly a kid…” Gu Qiaoqiao said nonchalantly, “He is like my little brother, only he is much more sensible than my actual brother.”
To Gu Qiaoqiao, Chang Qing, at seventeen, was indeed still a child.
Qin Yize’s eyes darkened, watching the oblivious Gu Qiaoqiao, thinking to himself that Chang Qing might not really like being her little brother.
Don’t ask how he knew.
Anyway, he just knew.
After that, the two of them talked intermittently.
Most of the talking was done by Gu Qiaoqiao.
Qin Yize chose to listen quietly.
Just like that, before they realized it, they arrived at Lian Family Village.
As the name suggests, Lian is a major surname in this village.
Even as a major surname, the village was really small, with only about a hundred households.
At that time, every household still had big red couplets and blessings pasted up.
This added a splash of color to the modest mud houses.
Only a few people had become rich; many still lived just to get by.
They also believed that by sticking to their homes and their own land, they would not starve.
Moreover, compared to ten years ago, the days now can truly be described as turned upside down.
At the very least, every family had surplus grain, and rice and wheat flour were no longer rare commodities.
Gu Qiaoqiao remembered clearly, when she was young, her grandparents and Lian Yuhong along with their three children were all rural residents, but because her father was a public school teacher, they ate rationed grain.