Jiang Qingqing looked at the man with sweat soaking his back, her heart aching. "Liunian, I want to get down and walk around."
Zhang Liunian stopped when he heard her words. "You're right, it's rare for us to come to the county town. Let's stroll together."
Zhang Liunian put down the flatbed cart and walked to the back to help his wife down.
Jiang Qingqing, disregarding the conservatism of the era, raised her hand and used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Zhang Liunian's forehead, her eyes filled with concern.
Her man had always been refined and upright; when had he ever been so disheveled?
Zhang Liunian let Jiang Qingqing wipe his sweat, smiling like a child who had just received candy.
"Daddy, Huabao wants to get down too, me too!" Seeing her mother getting down, Huabao spread her arms, indicating she wanted to be carried down as well.
"Daddy's here." Hearing this, Zhang Liunian immediately turned and carried their daughter down.
Jiang Qingqing looked at the man beside her and stepped forward to take their daughter's hand. "Huabao, hold mommy's hand, okay!"
"Okay."
The family of three hadn't walked for long when Zhang Liunian spotted a baozi vendor. "Shall we eat meat buns?"
"Want to eat! Huabao, Daddy, Mommy, everyone wants to eat."
They had lunch early that morning, so they were hungry now.
Zhang Liunian went up and bought ten large meat buns, paying the owner with the new renminbi bills from last year.
As they ate and browsed, they unexpectedly ran into Li Qi, a friend of a friend of Zhang Liunian.
Li Qi had only met Zhang Liunian twice, and both of them had learned about each other through Qian Fei.
One relied on his wife to attend university, and the other relied on his parents.
The former was, naturally, the past Zhang Liunian, and the latter was Li Qi.
Unfortunately, Li Qi disliked men like Zhang Liunian, who relied on their wives, the most.
Now that they had met unexpectedly, Li Qi couldn't help but want to mock Zhang Liunian with his words.
"What a coincidence, meeting classmate Zhang Liunian, who relies on his wife, on the road?"
Li Qi stood in front of Zhang Liunian with his hands in his pockets, openly mocking him.
Zhang Liunian looked at Li Qi, whom he didn't know well, and curved his lips. "Envious that I have a wife to rely on? If you have the ability, go find one yourself!"
Zhang Liunian's words made Jiang Qingqing, whose little face was tense, instantly turn from anger to amusement. Really, saying such things in broad daylight was quite embarrassing.
Jiang Qingqing tidied her hair from her ears, her delicate face radiating a faint smile.
Li Qi also noticed Jiang Qingqing behind Zhang Liunian and happened to meet her smiling eyes. His heart skipped a beat. What a beauty.
Did Zhang Liunian's wife really look this good?
"Such a beauty, and you don't protect her properly, but instead rely on her to support you? You truly don't know how to cherish her!"
Li Qi's gaze was fixed on Jiang Qingqing. Zhang Liunian stepped aside, completely blocking his wife, and forced Li Qi to avert his gaze. "This is my wife. Please show some respect."
Hearing this, Li Qi knew he had lost his composure. He awkwardly rubbed his nose, trying to save face.
"That, I..."
"You what? If I see you looking at my wife like that again, I won't be polite." Zhang Liunian finished speaking, shoved him hard, and then left with his wife and daughter.
Li Qi staggered back from Zhang Liunian's push. When he steadied himself, he saw Zhang Liunian's family of three walking away, chatting and laughing.
Li Qi was speechless, thinking that Zhang Liunian's wife looked good, but her mind wasn't quite right. For a man like Zhang Liunian, she still treated him like a treasure. She was truly blind in both sight and heart.
They arrived home around four in the afternoon. Zhang Liunian put down his things, started cooking, and then rushed to the county town with his shoulder pole without delay.
"You're a bit late?" the old man selling noodles greeted Zhang Liunian when he finally arrived.
"Something delayed me a bit." Zhang Liunian put down the iron bucket, and people immediately came to buy. However, because he was late, half of the 120 catties he brought had not been sold.
Seeing that there was no one at the construction site, Zhang Liunian picked up his shoulder pole and headed towards the black market.
At this time, workers were getting off work, and the black market was most lively.
When Zhang Liunian arrived, the place was bustling with people.
"Delicious 'Dragon Soaring to the Sky,' can be a dish or a meal, don't miss it." Placing the bucket on the ground, Zhang Liunian shouted at the top of his lungs. In no time, his voice attracted passersby.
The married women and young girls, seeing that the seller was a handsome young man, all sneered dismissively.
"He looks so good, why did he become a self-employed vendor?"
"Exactly, it's a waste of his face."
"..."
Zhang Liunian hadn't expected them to look down on self-employed vendors so much. He glanced around and asked, "Everyone here is self-employed, why are you only talking about me?"
"Because you're good-looking, who else would we talk about?"
"..."
Thank you very much, but because he was handsome, he had disappointed everyone's expectations?
He was truly sorry about that.
"Go on, go on. Being good-looking doesn't put food on the table. Young man, let me see what you're selling."
An old lady squeezed her way in. Zhang Liunian quickly scooped some crayfish into a bowl. "Auntie, please try."
The old lady took two with her fingers, and Zhang Liunian gave some to the women gathered around to try.
Indeed, as long as the taste was good, after trying it, people would want to buy.
As a result, after Zhang Liunian had everyone around try the samples, they immediately took out their money to purchase.
"Delicious, the taste is really good."
"This taste is incredibly delicious, I want a portion."
"Me too."
"..."
Just like that, the bucket of crayfish meat he brought was quickly sold out.
Zhang Liunian happily carried the shoulder pole home. Upon returning, he realized his shoulders were burning with pain. He took off his shirt and saw that the blisters had broken and were bleeding.
"Hiss!" He reached out to disinfect it with white wine when a slender hand took his cotton cloth.
"Don't move, I'll help you." Jiang Qingqing hadn't expected her man's shoulders to become like this. Her eyes turned red with heartache, and her hand holding the cotton cloth trembled slightly.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
Jiang Qingqing's voice sounded a little off. Zhang Liunian turned around and saw her tearful little face. He sighed and pulled her into his arms. "It doesn't hurt, not at all. Don't be sad, your sadness makes my heart ache."
"Sob!" Hearing his words, Jiang Qingqing's emotions completely broke down, and she wailed out loud.
She realized her emotions had been very unstable these past two days, perhaps due to her pregnancy.
"Don't be sad, this little injury will be fine in a couple of days."
Zhang Liunian held his wife and soothed her gently.
Jiang Qingqing looked at the terrible state of his shoulders and couldn't believe they would be better in a couple of days.
First, blisters had formed on his shoulders, then the skin broke and became inflamed. The situation was truly worrying.
"I'll go pick some 'latoucao' to treat it for you." Latoucao was a commonly used herb in Zhangjia Village for stopping bleeding and reducing inflammation, and it could be found everywhere.
Jiang Qingqing finished speaking and hurried out of the house. When she returned, she held a handful of latoucao.
She crushed the grass and gently applied it to the wound, then took out a cloth strip to tie it for him.
After tending to the wound, Zhang Liunian held his wife's trembling hand. "Don't be sad anymore, I really don't hurt anymore."
"You're lying."