Two Huge Geese Chased Her Around, Trying to Bite Her

Soft lips brushed against his arm. Zhou Chenglei's heart jolted as if he'd been shocked by electricity, and he quickly pulled away.

Jiang Xia's face instantly flushed red. She hurriedly backed away, only to bump into the bamboo chair on the tractor!

Zhou Chenglei quickly held it down. His long arm happened to brace above her head as he rasped, "Don't move. I'll move it. You go back inside first."

"Okay." Trapped between the tractor and Zhou Chenglei, Jiang Xia's face grew even hotter. This was too embarrassing—she couldn't stay here any longer. She carefully slipped out from beneath his long arm.

Zhou Chenglei secretly let out a sigh of relief, feeling that the weather was even hotter than at noon.

Jiang Xia ran into the courtyard, then remembered that she hadn't brought in the vegetable basket and fruit.

She turned around and went back to the driver's seat to carry the vegetable basket inside. Then she went to move the fruit and geese Jiang Yang had sent.

They were a little heavy, and she struggled somewhat as she carried them.

Zhou Chenglei was unloading the furniture from the tractor while Mother Zhou and Great-Grandmother helped support it. When he saw Jiang Xia, he said, "Leave it. I'll carry it later."

Jiang Xia said, "It's fine. I can do it."

Jiang Xia carried one goose weighing more than ten pounds down from the tractor.

Mother Zhou asked, "Why did you buy two geese?"

Zhou Chenglei said, "Jiang Yang sent them."

Mother Zhou said, "That boy is always sending this and that. Remember to send him some dried fish another day."

"Mm."

Mother Zhou continued, "Jiang Yang joined the army with you back then. His two children must be six or seven years old by now, right?"

"About that." Zhou Chenglei replied casually. With one hand, he carried the backs of two bamboo chairs over to Jiang Xia's side, then easily took the bag from her hand with one hand and carried it into the courtyard. He set the bamboo chairs and the bag of fruit beneath the eaves before going back out to continue moving the other tables and chairs.

Mother Zhou carried two bamboo chairs inside after him. "Then you two need to put in more effort too!"

This time, Zhou Chenglei did not answer.

Jiang Xia certainly didn't dare answer either. Her face was still burning.

Great-Grandmother carried two bamboo chairs inside with a beaming smile. "They've only just gotten married. Why are you in such a hurry? Let me tell you, don't rush this. The more anxious you are, the less likely a child is to come. If you don't care, one will quietly arrive on its own."

Mother Zhou fell silent at once. That was indeed how it was. One couldn't rush these things; the more anxious some people became, the harder it was for them to conceive.

She went outside to continue helping move the tables and chairs.

Jiang Xia secretly sighed in relief and stopped helping too, planning to wash some fruit for everyone to eat.

She went to the kitchen, found a bamboo basket, picked up the mangoes and grapes, and placed them inside, revealing two large watermelons.

She carried one watermelon to the well and used the water already in the bucket to wash its rind clean.

It was too hot, so she planned to cut the watermelon open. Once everyone finished moving the furniture, they could eat it.

The watermelon hadn't been chilled, though. In weather this hot, the flesh was probably warm too. Still, watermelon had plenty of juice and would at least quench their thirst.

Zhou Chenglei carried a bamboo bed inside and set it down. When he saw what she was doing, he walked over, picked up the watermelon, and tossed it into the well.

"Hey, what are you doing? What if the watermelon sinks?" Jiang Xia hurriedly leaned over to look into the well.

The watermelon disappeared beneath the water, splashing up a spray, then floated back to the surface.

Jiang Xia: "..."

It didn't sink? Zhou Chenglei pulled her several steps away from the edge of the well. "It won't sink. Weren't you trying to cool the watermelon? Leave it in the well to chill. Hoist it up at dusk, and it'll be ice-cold inside."

It was the first time Jiang Xia had seen this. She nodded. "Oh."

"Don't stand so close to the well." Still worried, Zhou Chenglei gave her another warning before continuing to move things.

The watermelon couldn't be eaten yet, but there was other fruit. Jiang Xia washed the grapes and Myrtles clean and placed them in the fruit basket. Then she peeled the last pineapple, carefully cutting away the black eyes in neat diagonal rings, divided it into six pieces, and soaked them in cooled boiled salt water.

Finally, she cut open several mangoes, diced the flesh, and placed it in a large-mouthed bowl.

Once she finished all this, Zhou Chenglei and the other two had just finished moving everything inside and arranging it.

Jiang Xia wiped the newly bought tea table clean with a rag, then placed several plates of fruit on it.

Jiang Xia smiled and called everyone over to eat fruit.

Zhou Chenglei drank a whole enamel mug of water and said, "You eat. I'm going to return the tractor."

Jiang Xia tugged at his sleeve. "Why the hurry? It won't be too late to return it after you eat."

Great-Grandmother came over with a beaming smile and sat down on the new wooden sofa. "Exactly. Return it after eating some fruit; it won't make any difference! Oh my, this bench is comfortable!"

When Mother Zhou saw the fruit on the table, her heart ached a little. Who ate this much fruit at once? It must have cost quite a bit, right? She thought of her several grandsons. "A Guang and his brothers haven't had fruit in a long time either. How much did you buy? Is there any left? I'll give them some..."

Great-Grandmother plucked a grape and stuffed it into Mother Zhou's mouth, blocking the words before they could leave her lips. "This grape is sweet. Try it!"

Mother Zhou: "..."

Children and grandchildren had their own blessings, so why worry about so much? The greatest taboo for parents-in-law was being unable to see clearly: eating one son's food while constantly thinking about another, wishing they could take everything from this son's household to subsidize the other son.

Jiang Xia picked up a piece of pineapple with a toothpick and held it out to Zhou Chenglei. "Try it first and see if it's sweet."

Zhou Chenglei glanced at her before taking the pineapple from her hand. His large palm brushed against her hand unintentionally.

Jiang Xia felt her heart give a little leap. Thinking of what had just happened, her face heated up again. She quickly lowered her head, picked out another piece of pineapple for Great-Grandmother and Mother Zhou, and handed it to them.

After eating the pineapple, Zhou Chenglei peeled some grapes. He didn't eat them himself after peeling them, instead placing the half-bowl of grape flesh in front of Jiang Xia. "I'm going to return the tractor."

Then he stood and walked outside.

Jiang Xia froze for a moment and turned to look at him. His long legs crossed the threshold, his figure tall and straight, his back strikingly distinguished.

She withdrew her gaze, picked up a grape, and put it into her mouth. It was very sweet.

Great-Grandmother and Mother Zhou couldn't bear to eat too much either. After each eating a piece of pineapple, a grape, and a piece of mango, they stopped eating and went together to Great-Grandmother's house to weave Fishing Nets.

The village women would weave Fishing Nets whenever they had free time at home to earn money.

Very few people simply sat around idle. Of course, some especially lazy women would gather in groups of three or five to play cards or mahjong. But Mother Zhou and Great-Grandmother were not like that; whenever they had spare time, they wove Fishing Nets to earn money.

After Jiang Xia finished the pineapple, she ate the half-bowl of grape flesh, along with some mangoes and Myrtles.

After finishing the fruit, she washed her hands and took out a hoe, planning to plant the fruit-tree saplings and flowers she had brought back.

Then she saw two large geese in the corner, their legs and wings still tied.

Remembering that Jiang Yang had said to untie the two geese as soon as she got home, since they would die if tied up for too long, Jiang Xia walked over, grabbed one goose by the head in each hand, and carried both geese toward the duck pen to release them.

Jiang Yang had grabbed geese this way too, so there shouldn't have been a problem.

But after she untied the two geese, she turned and walked away.

The two huge creatures spread their wings and chased after her, trying to bite her! When had Jiang Xia ever encountered a scene like this?

She instinctively broke into a run! When Zhou Chenglei returned, he saw Jiang Xia being chased by two large geese.

When he saw her running toward him, he assumed that timid Jiang Xia would throw herself into his arms.

He instinctively reached out...

On the first day of the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, I sincerely wish all the students taking the exam divine aid at their writing desks, a victorious first battle, and success in making the honors list!