"Why are you staring at me like that?"
Meng Jingwei was not used to Qing Muyue's intense gaze.
The man's handsome face was filled with a smile as he looked straight ahead. "Awei, you look beautiful."
Awei, beautiful?
Meng Jingwei, who was holding the steering wheel, twitched at the corners of her mouth and couldn't help but glance at Qing Muyue. "Can you be normal?"
So cheesy.
Was this the same Qing Muyue she first met, the proud, cold, and arrogant one?
He was like a different person.
"What, Awei, do you want me to be abnormal?"
The man turned his head, a mischievous smile playing on his thin lips.
One look at that smile told her exactly what he meant.
Meng Jingwei kept her eyes on the road, driving carefully. "Mom and Dad are waiting for us to have lunch at home."
"Okay, then let's not keep Mom and Dad waiting. There's plenty of time in the future..."
"Hey, those are my parents!" Meng Jingwei corrected him.
"Awei's parents are my parents, Qing Muyue's parents."
"It's not even a sure thing yet, don't talk nonsense."
"It's just a matter of time."
Qing Muyue smiled faintly, an unshakeable joy evident in his brows.
Meng Jingwei: "..."
Speechless.
What he said was not wrong.
The two of them bought medicine in town and then headed back.
On the way, Meng Jingwei handed the medicine to Qing Muyue. "Put some on the blisters on your hands."
"No need."
Just a few blisters, why bother with medicine?
He, Qing Muyue, wasn't that delicate.
"Qing Muyue, is there something wrong with your brain? If you don't want to put on medicine, why did you go to town to buy it?"
"I wanted some alone time with you, to have some peace and quiet."
Qing Muyue spoke from the heart.
For a couple who had just confirmed their romantic relationship, they simply wanted to be alone together.
Even just sitting together and chatting was a beautiful thing.
Listening to Qing Muyue, Meng Jingwei felt a pang in her heart, and inexplicably felt a sense of pity for him.
A moment later, they returned home.
The food was already on the table, waiting for them.
Everyone sat at the table. Although it was a bit crowded, it was warm and full of atmosphere.
In the afternoon, seeing that Qing Muyue and his group were not leaving, Han Junyan did not mention going home.
The few of them, bored, sat together playing poker. However, considering that Old Chen Tou and Meng Tianhua were present, they played with very small stakes, just to pass the time.
Seeing this, Meng Jingwei also joined in and played with them.
After playing for a while, Han Yu found it boring and said he was going out for a cigarette.
Then, he wandered around Meng Jingwei's village alone.
Perhaps it was fate, as he walked on the rural ridges, looking at the vegetable patches, he saw someone cutting cabbage with a knife and walked over.
He wanted to experience rural life.
After all, in Lancheng, the fast-paced life and urbanized spaces could not compare to such a strong rural atmosphere.
When he got closer, he realized that the person cutting cabbage was Cheng Xiaorui.
This morning she was wearing a light green jacket, but now she was wearing a black and red checkered coat, perhaps to avoid getting her clothes dirty.
Han Yu stood aside, feeling inexplicably sad, but said nothing.
Cheng Xiaorui, who was cutting cabbage, cut a head of cabbage, placed it in the basket, and then saw Han Yu standing behind her.
She was surprised and smiled, looking endearingly simple.
But she said nothing, turning back to continue cutting cabbage.
"You, do you want to go back to school?"
Han Yu asked.
Cheng Xiaorui's chopping motion paused slightly. She straightened up, turned to face Han Yu, put down the sickle, and gestured, "I am mute, and my mother said it would be a waste of money for me to go to school. I won't have a great future."
"I heard you attended high school before, how were your grades?" Han Yu pressed.
Cheng Xiaorui lowered her head, pursed her lips, her dejected little face filled with complex emotions.
Then, she gestured again, "I was admitted to high school with the top score in town, but my family was poor, and the school teachers felt that being mute meant I had no future even if I could get into university, so they didn't insist on letting me study."
Although universities today can accept mute students, a mute person would have very little prospect or future after graduation.
Of course, there were mute individuals who excelled, but they had to work a hundred times harder than normal people to achieve a good job and a bright future.
"Do you want to study?" Han Yu felt some pity for Cheng Xiaorui's situation.
A young girl under eighteen, managing the household, and never complaining even with frostbitten hands.
In the prime of her youth, she should have been studying diligently at school.
His question made Cheng Xiaorui fall into deep thought, and even her beautiful eyes dimmed a little.
She shook her head, turned away, picked up the sickle, and continued to cut cabbage.
But for some reason, Cheng Xiaorui suddenly put down the sickle, turned back to look at Han Yu, "My mother has arranged a marriage for me, and I'll get married after the New Year. What's the point of studying further?"
In remote rural areas, girls who don't go to school are often married off early.
Cheng Xiaorui was no exception.
"A marriage arrangement?"
Han Yu was somewhat shocked.
She was still a young girl not yet eighteen, and they were arranging for her to marry so soon, to have children, and then spend her days doing farm work like this?
Cheng Xiaorui did not 'speak' again, but continued to cut cabbage.
"Do you want to get married?"
Han Yu took a step forward and asked.
He only saw Cheng Xiaorui's grip on the sickle falter, and then she continued to prepare the cabbage.
Perhaps it was her powerlessness to resist, and she could only resign herself to fate.
She felt that 'struggling' was meaningless.
"I know a charitable organization that can help you go back to school."
As Han Yu finished speaking, Cheng Xiaorui was stunned again. Then she put down the sickle, picked up the cabbage with her scarred hands and placed it in the basket, still ignoring him.
"As long as you want to study, no one can stop or interfere. Not even your stepmother and birth father, no one has the final say!"
Han Yu said stubbornly.
He didn't consider himself a warm-hearted person, but when he saw such a young girl drop out of school, suffer abuse, and be forced into an early marriage, he couldn't bear it.
Cheng Xiaorui's basket was full of cabbage. She carried the basket in one hand and the sickle in the other, and walked away without looking back.
Seeing this, Han Yu persistently followed and blocked her path.
The young girl stopped, looked up at the handsome man blocking her way, blinked her eyes, and said nothing, moving aside to continue walking.
But Han Yu suddenly noticed the mistiness in her reddened eyes, looking pitiful, yet stubbornly refusing to let anyone see her vulnerable side.
He reached out and blocked her path, "I'm a police officer, I have the right to help you."
To prove his identity, he specifically took out his police ID for Cheng Xiaorui to see.
Then he continued, "I will arrange for you to study at Lancheng High School. There, no one will bully you. Your stepmother and father will not interfere with anything you do."
Cheng Xiaorui furrowed her brow slightly, put down the basket and sickle, and glared at Han Yu with a huff, gesturing, "You don't need to interfere in my affairs, who do you think you are? Can you help me for a while, but can you help me for a lifetime?"
Perhaps Cheng Xiaorui was a bit annoyed, or perhaps she was too defensively wary of his overzealousness, her 'words' were quite harsh.