Wen Wan wore a white dress, and even her voice was gentle. "Brother Zhou, are you going to the market? Could you give me a ride? I left home a little late today, and I'm afraid that if I arrive too late, the mutton won't sell well. If I can't sell it all, it'll spoil in this heat."
Her voice was very gentle—a natural gentleness, not the affected kind. It made people feel as if they were bathing in a spring breeze.
Zhou Chenglei glanced at the mutton in her Iron Bucket Cart and hesitated.
Normally, as fellow villagers, if Zhou Chenglei could help, he would.
But he was afraid Jiang Xia couldn't stand the smell of mutton. She already got carsick on tractors, and with the mutton's strong, gamey odor, she would have an even harder time.
He turned back and asked Jiang Xia, "Are you afraid of bad smells?"
Wen Wan: "..."
Did he really have to ask her?
Could it be that if Jiang Xia was afraid of the smell, he wouldn't let her onto the tractor? What happened to soldiers serving the people? Jiang Xia wasn't afraid of bad smells. She had grown up in the Vegetable Market—how could she be afraid of them?
Seeing Zhou Chenglei's hesitation, she said, "I'm not afraid."
Only then did Zhou Chenglei say to Wen Wan, "You can come."
Zhou Chenglei wasn't surprised by her answer. She had changed a great deal over the past two days.
Zhou Chenglei climbed down from the driver's seat. Still worried that Jiang Xia wouldn't be able to stand it, he said to her, "The mutton smells strong. Why don't you sit in the front with me?"
"Sure."
The tractor's driver's seat was fairly long and could fit two people. More importantly, it had a roof that could provide shade.
Jiang Xia answered and was about to climb down from the tractor.
When she jumped down from the truck bed, Zhou Chenglei reached out and helped her.
The tractor's truck bed was high, and he was afraid she might twist her ankle jumping down.
Wen Wan glanced at Zhou Chenglei. There was no doubt that he was an extremely considerate man—he could take such good care of even a woman who had cuckolded him.
But when were the two of them getting divorced? Could Jiang Xia stand that shabby house? Or were they going to get divorced today? After helping Jiang Xia down from the tractor, Zhou Chenglei went to help Wen Wan carry the mutton aboard.
Wen Wan came to her senses and hurriedly said, "Don't trouble yourself, Brother Zhou. I can carry it myself."
Just as Zhou Chenglei's hands closed around the wooden tray, Wen Wan's hand reached over as well and landed on his.
Her face flushed, and she quickly withdrew her hand. "I—I'm sorry."
Expressionless, Zhou Chenglei carried that tray of mutton onto the tractor. Then he loaded the Iron Bucket Cart aboard as well. He found two stones by the little river beside the road, propped them against the cart's two wheels, and washed his hands while he was at it.
He said to Wen Wan, "Remember to hold onto the Iron Bucket Cart later."
His voice was cold, carrying a clear message to keep strangers at arm's length.
After saying that, he went straight back to the driver's seat.
Wen Wan felt that Zhou Chenglei had grown even colder and answered in a quiet, flustered voice.
She felt a little aggrieved. Wasn't it perfectly normal to bump into someone by accident? It wasn't as if she had done it on purpose!
Wen Wan then remembered that she had dreamed of him saving her after she was swept away by the waves.
In her dream, she had been tossed up and down in the waves, thinking she was doomed, when he had plunged into the sea without hesitation and gathered her into his arms.
The scene had felt incredibly real. It had been after a typhoon, when she had gone Tide Catching. She felt it was a premonition—and at that time, Jiang Xia and he had already divorced.
The typhoon wasn't far off!
At that thought, Wen Wan happily climbed onto the tractor.
The tractor's truck bed was somewhat high. Wearing a skirt, she moved rather inelegantly as she climbed up, and Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia happened to both turn and look at her.
Her face turned the color of pig liver.
Zhou Chenglei glanced at her once, then turned back around.
Wen Wan looked at Jiang Xia, feeling that Jiang Xia was laughing at her.
Just now, when Jiang Xia had climbed down from the tractor, Zhou Chenglei had helped her. Even when she climbed up onto the low driver's platform, Zhou Chenglei had reached out to shield her head.
By comparison, Wen Wan looked especially unloved.
But a good man like this wouldn't be cherished by Jiang Xia. Sooner or later, he would be hers.
Blushing, she said to Zhou Chenglei, "Brother Zhou, I'm seated."
Zhou Chenglei didn't answer her. He turned his head toward Jiang Xia and said, "Sit properly. I'm starting the tractor."
Jiang Xia had only looked back because Wen Wan had taken so long to climb aboard. Hearing this, she turned around and sat properly. "I'm ready. Let's go!"
The tractor went putt-putting and lurched along the bumpy dirt road.
Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei sat side by side. Because the road was so uneven and the tractor shook so violently, their shoulders inevitably bumped against each other from time to time.
Jiang Xia quietly shifted her bottom outward.
She somewhat regretted sitting with him. She was afraid that one careless jolt would send her tumbling off.
She reached out and gripped the handle above the tractor tightly.
Zhou Chenglei was afraid she would fall from the tractor, but also afraid she would get carsick. "Sit a little closer. Be careful not to fall."
Jiang Xia didn't move. "I won't. I'm holding on tight."
The tractor's driver's seat had no cabin. Sitting in the truck bed behind them, Wen Wan watched their intangible intimacy over the not-too-high barrier. It made her feel uncomfortable, and she wanted to shatter it.
She laughed loudly and said, "Sister Jiang Xia looks like someone who's used to riding in cars. And since Sister Jiang Xia is from the city, you city people probably aren't used to riding tractors, are you?"
She knew Jiang Xia was proud of being from the city and looked down on rural people.
Jiang Xia countered, "Does every household in the village have a tractor?"
Wen Wan: "How could that be? In our village, only one household and the village committee have one."
Jiang Xia: "So there you go."
Wen Wan: "..."
So what? Wen Wan was baffled.
Suddenly, she understood. Jiang Xia meant that since not every household in the village had a tractor, city people weren't the only ones unaccustomed to riding them. Rural people weren't used to them either.
Wen Wan didn't want to talk to Jiang Xia anymore. This woman spoke in circles and was so sarcastic! She hated how city people acted as if they were high and mighty.
In her previous life, there had been a local woman in the dormitory where she worked in the city. That woman's eyes seemed to grow right out of her forehead.
Wen Wan had slept on the upper bunk and that woman on the lower bunk. When Wen Wan had sat on her bed for a moment, the woman had complained, looking down on her for being from the countryside.
Jiang Xia looked like that kind of person too.
Hmph! If you look down on rural people, then go back to the city!
Wen Wan turned to Zhou Chenglei and probingly asked, "Brother Zhou, are you going to the market, or somewhere else?"
Wen Wan was sitting on Zhou Chenglei's side. She knew that one of his ears was deaf, so she leaned her head toward the front barrier. It wasn't very high, and she could see the top of Zhou Chenglei's head.
She leaned close to the back of his head and asked him.
Zhou Chenglei had initially been leaning against the barrier. He straightened up, moved away from it, and gave a faint "Mm."
Mm? What did that mean? Was he going to the market? Wen Wan asked again, "What are you planning to buy? I often sell mutton at the market. I know whose goods are good and whose prices are fair."
"Some things."
Wen Wan: "..."
"Brother Zhou, is your house finished being repaired?"
"Mm."
"I heard there might be a typhoon in a couple of days, with strong winds and waves. Remember to moor the boat properly, and don't go out to sea."
"Mm."
"Brother Zhou, around what time do you go out to sea every day?"
"..."
"Brother Zhou, around what time do you usually come back from the sea? Do you hire someone to gut fish? I want to earn some money for my tuition."
"No need to hire anyone."
"That's all right. When you need someone, remember to hire me. I'm very good at gutting fish."
"Brother Zhou..."
Wen Wan kept talking about this and that.
Zhou Chenglei was a man of few words. He had never felt that the road to town was so long!
He somewhat regretted bringing her along.
Couldn't she sit quietly in the tractor like Jiang Xia?
In the end, Zhou Chenglei couldn't hold back and said, "You're so noisy!"
Wen Wan: "..."
Before you continue