Fake! It Was All Fake!

Seeing the displeased look on her face, Bai Yao could hardly have been happier.

He had known it: in this era, marrying a wife was more like acquiring an old ox to toil for a lifetime, right up until it dropped dead.

How could a new mother-in-law, who had finally endured her way up from daughter-in-law to mother-in-law, possibly let the new bride manage the household?

"No, that won't do. Who ever heard of a new bride managing the household?"

"Auntie, listen to yourself. Educated Youth Jiang lives so freely on her own, doing whatever she wants. Why should she have to listen to other people just because she gets married?"

"Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog. A married woman should listen to her man. What could be more normal than that?"

"That's not right. Even the Chairman said women hold up half the sky. Educated Youth Jiang has money and ability, so why should she have to live by someone else's rules once she's married?"

"And another thing, Auntie, I know you're still thinking of invoking filial piety. That's common enough in every household. But have you considered this? You lay down the rules for your new daughter-in-law, and she endures it out of filial piety. But she can go back to her room and beat your son. You can't go sticking your nose into a fight between a young married couple, can you?"

As he spoke, Bai Yao took the wild vegetables the woman had prepared and put them in the basket.

As for where the basket had come from?

He had lent it out yesterday, and the village chief's wife, Aunt Cuihua, had just brought it back.

Once the wild vegetables were packed, Bai Yao handed the basket to Kong Wu beside him, got up, and patted the dirt off his clothes. "Auntie, you should give it up. Educated Youth Jiang isn't the kind of daughter-in-law you want. Besides, she said herself that she wasn't looking for a partner in the countryside. You'd better have your youngest son find someone else to set his sights on."

With that, Bai Yao left.

Wonderful. He had spent a little while chatting, and someone else had done all the troublesome work of preparing the wild vegetables.

Only after Bai Yao had left did the middle-aged woman realize he had played her.

It should have taken just one sentence, yet she had argued with him for so long and done so much work, only to be told it was impossible.

Anger surged through her, and she jumped to her feet, ready to curse him out.

The thing was, you couldn't jump up after squatting for a long time. In later years, everyone knew that, but this auntie didn't. She sprang up, and before she could open her mouth to curse, a sudden dizzy spell made her lose her balance and sit right back down.

The onlookers thought something was about to happen, but the next second, she unleashed an uninterrupted stream of curses, making everyone roll their eyes.

They had worried for nothing.

"Oh, come on, Cao Granny. The newly arrived educated youths might not know, but who in all the villages for miles around doesn't know about your lazy, gluttonous son?"

"So he's taken a fancy to Educated Youth Jiang? Take a look at your family and see whether he's worthy of her. She'd turn her nose up at him even as a live-in son-in-law. Good thing Educated Youth Bai was clever and didn't let an old thing like you take advantage of him..."

At that point, Li Cuihua simply couldn't hold back her laughter.

Cao Granny was usually the one taking advantage of others, but this time she had been tricked into doing someone else's work. Not only had she gained nothing, she had given everyone a show.

When Li Cuihua first saw Cao Granny approach Bai Yao, she had worried he would be taken in. Educated Youth Bai was such a good person. Just the pickled cucumbers and the wild-vegetable-and-meat buns he had given her family yesterday had helped her daughter-in-law produce milk to feed the baby. That alone was enough for her whole family to remember his kindness.

So she had used returning the basket as an excuse to come and take a look, only to see Cao Granny being made a monkey of.

She had kept quiet then, watching the show with the others who had gathered.

But now that Cao Granny was cursing Educated Youth Bai, she couldn't stand it.

Still, at the thought of what had just happened, she really couldn't hold back.

Once Li Cuihua took the lead and laughed, the other onlookers couldn't help laughing either.

For a while, the place was full of merriment, drawing other people who didn't know what had happened to come and ask.

One person told two, two told four, and before long, the whole village knew about it.

Although some people thought it was wrong for Bai Yao, an outsider and an educated youth, to bully someone from the village, more people thought he had done well.

After all, Cao Granny's reputation was notoriously bad.

Bai Yao knew nothing about any of this, though. Kong Wu was bothering him at the moment.

On the way back, Bai Yao said there was no need to make lunch for him, as he was going to town to buy some things.

When Kong Wu heard that, he wanted to come along. How could Bai Yao possibly agree? He was going alone this time to cool down his brain, which kept overheating from time to time, so that seeing Kong Wu wouldn't remind him of that explosive scene from yesterday evening.

Kong Wu wasn't pleased to hear it and stuck close to Bai Yao, asking to go with him.

As for how completely out of character Kong Wu was being, Bai Yao had already come to accept it. He even wondered if this might be Kong Wu's true personality.

Aloof and cold?

Fake! It was all fake!

"No. Stay home, and I'll bring you back some watermelon." Bai Yao refused him again.

"All right, then. Be careful out there," Kong Wu said.

How could he not know that once Bai Yao said no, he meant it? He was only doing this to bring the two of them closer.

As for his pride?

That was nothing compared to Bai Yao.

Seeing Kong Wu agree, Bai Yao couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief.

For some reason, though, he always had the feeling that Kong Wu was testing his limits.

Of course, the limits in question were the point at which he would lose his temper, not anything else.

But he figured it was probably just his imagination. Kong Wu probably just wanted to come along for fun.

"Next time there's an errand to run in town, I'll just let him go."

Soon, the two returned home. Kong Wu went to make lunch, while Bai Yao wheeled his bicycle out.

Leaving now, he would reach town just in time for lunch at the state-run restaurant.

If the food at the state-run restaurant still didn't taste good, he would bring it back for Kong Wu.

He could say he had brought it especially for him. Kong Wu wouldn't know anyway.

With that thought, Bai Yao pushed down on the pedals and rode off.

The wind in his face, the summer cicadas, the dappled shadows of the trees, and the distant mountains for company.

With scenery like this, Bai Yao felt his horizons broaden.

By the time he reached town, Bai Yao had indeed temporarily put the matter of Kong Wu out of his mind.

For the first half of the ride, it was because of the beautiful scenery along the road. By the second half, he was too hot to spare a thought for anything else.

The awful weather was enough to make Bai Yao start hating summer.

At the state-run restaurant, Bai Yao ordered a bowl of cold noodles and a bottle of soda.

Even though there were still meat dishes available, he was simply too hot to want any.

After eating his fill, Bai Yao prepared to leave.

But just after stepping outside, Bai Yao saw someone he knew ride swiftly past on a bicycle.

"Jiang Rou? What's she doing out here in the middle of the day?"

Curious, Bai Yao secretly followed her.