Chapter 208: That Brother
As June arrived, the weather became increasingly hot.
The discounted clothes Huai Yu had bought before finally became too uncomfortable to wear, so she needed to check out the market again.
To be honest, life was simple and stable now, with workers coming to the house every day as soon as she woke up. It was a sense of peace and calm like never before, and she really didn’t feel like going to the market.
But with the high temperatures arriving and the morning news forecasting several days of continuous rain ahead, the vegetables in the fields wouldn’t withstand the rain. She had to take this chance to sell as much as possible.
So, with Zhou Qian’s help, the two of them pushed a bicycle loaded with over 200 jin (about 100 kg) of vegetables to wait at the station.
“If only we had a car,” Huai Yu said dreamily. “If we had one, we could sell 500 or 600 jin at a time and sell whenever we wanted.”
They wouldn’t have to keep making trip after trip with a bicycle, dragging sacks of goods.
But then she looked at Zhou Qian, who was drenched in sweat, and smiled happily. “But having you here, Brother Zhou Qian, is just as good. I couldn’t handle this many veggies by myself.”
Zhou Qian sighed. “If your veggies could be sold freely in the camp, we wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble.”
But there was no choice. Even though the mutation index wasn’t too high—kept around 13—the Defense Force had strict controls. Even though they had good funding, they couldn’t just eat whatever they wanted.
Then he patted Huai Yu’s head. “While you’re out buying daily necessities, remember to get a mosquito net for yourself.”
“I’m going to the hospital for a check-up. My leg needs to be looked at again.”
“I’m going too,” Huai Yu said. “I haven’t visited Sister Chen Xing in so many days. I need to check in on her.”
It wasn’t that she’d been deliberately delaying, but farm work was precious. Even with her plant-accelerating ability, seedlings still needed time to grow properly. So once she had Zhou Qian as labor, she was busy making full use of him every day and hadn’t had a spare moment!
Zhou Qian nodded. “Alright.”
In any case, with so many vegetables today, they were moving together.
They chatted for a while, and then the bus arrived.
The doors opened, and Huai Yu stepped up first, softly saying to the driver, “Uncle, can you wait a moment for us to load our stuff?”
The driver looked at her, then at Zhou Qian, who was outside lifting a sack onto his shoulder, and suddenly asked, “Is that your brother?”
Huai Yu froze for a second, realizing this familiar driver had heard her “two brothers” story a few times already. She nodded seriously. “Yes!”
The driver chuckled. “No wonder he got into the Defense Force—look at those arms and legs, strong as an ox! Alright, load up.”
What hadn’t the buses carried these days? One time, folks from Jinyuan District even brought a millstone! Times were tough; as long as it could fit, anything went.
Zhou Qian heard this too and gave Huai Yu a look, knowing she’d been spinning her stories outside again. He just carried the sacks inside, piling them as neatly as possible in the corner.
He reminded her, “Xiao Yu, swipe an extra bus fare.”
Then called out, “Thanks, Uncle! I’ll keep an eye on the sacks to make sure they stay steady.”
The driver laughed even more.
As the bus drove along as usual, Zhou Qian and Huai Yu sat in the back. He asked in a low voice, “You even make stuff up to the bus driver?”
“I did not!” Huai Yu blinked her big eyes innocently. “Some auntie on the bus mentioned it, so I just said a few words casually. I didn’t really say anything…”
She looked utterly sincere.
Zhou Qian was skeptical.
Soon, the bus stopped at Jinyuan District.
This unfinished building complex had been hyped up as the biggest community in Huacheng when it was built. In a way, it achieved that—judging by the huge crowd that swarmed onto the bus every time, it really was the most populated place.
Men, women, and children chatted noisily as they found their seats, voices loud and clear, talking about all kinds of trivial things.
Zhou Qian now believed the driver had overheard by chance. But then a nearby auntie suddenly turned her head, curiously looking at the two of them.
“Oh, little girl, you’re going into town again?”
They hadn’t exchanged names, but Huai Yu recognized the auntie’s face from seeing her a few times on the bus. She gave a shy and polite smile.
But the auntie was quite friendly: “Now that things are stable, life must be much better, right? Look at you, taller and with some meat on your face—you’re becoming quite the young lady. How old did you say you were last time?”
Huai Yu: “…”
She didn’t really want to answer, but the auntie’s eyes shifted to Zhou Qian, who was looking at her.
Being stared at like that, even though Zhou Qian had been through all kinds of situations, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine and went on high alert.
The next moment, the auntie’s eyes lit up as she looked Zhou Qian up and down, then glanced at Huai Yu: “Oh my, girl, this must be your brother, right?”
Zhou Qian: “…”
Huai Yu didn’t even dare look at Zhou Qian’s face now. She just nodded vaguely. “Mm…”
“Which one is he? The married one or the unmarried one?”
She looked him over again and shook her head with a tsk. “Must be the married one, right? Young man, let me tell you, it’s a blessing for a family to be together and live well, but you can’t forget about your little sister after getting married.”
“Look at her skinny arms and legs—how can she live alone in that Defense Force family dorm?”
Her voice was loud, and soon other aunties curiously gathered around. Seeing Huai Yu, one slapped her thigh: “Oh! It’s this little girl!”
They chimed in: “Young man, you really shouldn’t do that!”
Zhou Qian was stunned by the accusations. He turned to glare at Huai Yu, only to see her ears bright red and her head hanging low, looking completely guilty!
He ground his teeth, then forced a smile. “You’ve misunderstood. I’m not married.”
Huh?
Misunderstood?
The aunties were stunned.
Zhou Qian shifted uncomfortably, and when he glanced at Huai Yu, he saw her eyes sparkling strangely, as if saying—
[You’re doomed now!]
Zhou Qian was baffled.
But the next moment, one of the aunties scooted over and sat diagonally in front of them, lowering her voice conspiratorially:
“Not married? How old are you? You must be earning a good salary in the Defense Force?”
“Young man, the country’s encouraging marriage and childbirth now—there are subsidies for raising kids, you know. Being in the Defense Force is risky; you need a solid family backing you up… You should hurry up and settle down!”
Zhou Qian’s eyebrow twitched, and he instinctively tried to shrink his tall frame into the pile of sacks.
But it was no use.
Because the auntie had already locked eyes on him, full of enthusiasm: “Not gonna lie, my daughter is single too!”
