Yao Cong was a militiaman in the village, owned a bicycle, and was the nephew of Secretary Yao. He was also quite smart and considered by the village girls to be one of the good catches to marry.
His reputation was good, so Chiang Songhai and Ge Liutao felt relieved to hear that he would accompany Chiang Xiao to the town.
Otherwise, how could Chiang Xiao have convinced them to let her go to the town by herself?
However, once in town, she would need to find an excuse to separate from Yao Cong for a while.
Sitting on the rear rack of the bicycle, Chiang Xiao looked back at Siyang Village receding behind her, feeling a slight thrill in her heart.
This time, she not only intended to sell those eleven bundles of Tianxiang Green and buy some paper for painting but also to check out the town’s drugstore to gauge the market and see if she could make money by selling medicinal herbs.
If the town’s drugstores couldn’t handle her quality herbs, she would have to find a chance to go to the county city.
"Chiang Xiao, the road ahead is rough. Do you want to hold on to my waist?" Yao Cong turned his head and glanced at her. This little girl was really light. Carrying her was like playing, he couldn’t feel any weight at all.
Chiang Xiao had made quite an impression on him the day they had to reenact the case, and now he was full of curiosity about this little girl. So, when Secretary Yao first asked him to take Chiang Xiao to town with him, he didn’t think twice and agreed. Moreover, he found himself bewitched into saying this to her.
If the little girl held his waist, wouldn’t it be like they were dating?
Tsk, what a mess of thoughts he was having; how old was this girl, after all! Yao Cong despised himself but couldn’t suppress a faint, inexplicable sense of anticipation within.
"No need, I’ll hold on tight," Chiang Xiao said, not overthinking it, assuming Yao Cong was genuinely worried about the bumpy road.
But she wasn’t accustomed to being too close to someone she wasn’t close with, so she sat a little distance away from Yao Cong, her hands gripping the frame under her seat.
What was this sense of disappointment and loss all about?
Yao Cong tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Yong Cong Brother, Secretary Uncle mentioned you’re going to handle some matters at the commune, right?"
"How much time will that take, approximately?"
"About two hours. By the time I come back, it will almost be dark. Are you afraid?" Yao Cong asked.
Little did he know, Chiang Xiao was secretly delighted inside.
Two hours should be enough for her to get things done.
"I’m not scared. Yong Cong Brother, once we get to the town, you can drop me off, and I’ll go to the bookstore by myself. After you’re done, you can pick me up at the bookstore."
That way, they wouldn’t hold each other up.
"Can you manage alone?"
"Of course I can!" Chiang Xiao hurriedly assured.
Yao Cong also knew this was the best solution. Once in town, he let her off, repeatedly emphasizing a few instructions, then rode his bike away to handle his business at the commune.
Chiang Xiao didn’t dare waste time and quickly ran towards the vegetable market.
In her past life, she had also attended middle school in the town and knew the layout very well.
To save time, she even took a shortcut through a dark alleyway, deciding to take a quick route.
The shortcut was something she had come across unintentionally before. Passing through it led to an area of old houses, and right next to it was the vegetable market.
However, on one side of the alley was the ancestral hall of the former big landlord, and on the other side were several ancient houses from the Qing Dynasty. There were not many residents, resulting in a somewhat eerie ambiance, so normally, very few people took this path.
At that moment, in front of one of the old houses, a round-faced young man had just knocked on the door.
In the corner next to the wall, a handsome man leaned against the wall, concealing his figure, his deep eyes watching intently. When he saw the woman who opened the door, his pupils contracted slightly.
The round-faced young man seemed a bit at a loss as he gazed at the woman, "Big Sister, does Chu Liang live here?"