Chickens and dogs fly in chaos and rebirth

Chapter 103

He was held down again: "This is mine."

Xia Lin chuckled, as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world, and gave him a sarcastic look: "That's my sister."

His tone was overly sarcastic, showing no mercy to Ji Yunwen in front of everyone.

His face turned pale and then red, and he gritted his teeth, loudly questioning, "Qiu Xialin, are you looking for trouble?"

Xia Lin laughed: "I wouldn't dare to cause you any trouble. Who are you? You're so brave and fearless, facing knife-wielding thugs with unwavering courage and determination. Haha, take this!" He was deliberately trying to provoke Ji Yunwen, and at the end, he even struck a pose and imitated the tone of a storyteller, which made Ji Yunwen so angry that he almost died.

Ji Yunwen kicked the table over, causing it to slam heavily onto the long bench in front of him. The impact was blocked by the table in front of him, scattering food all over the floor and causing fried beans to roll around in all directions.

"What do you want?" Xia Lin also lost his temper when he saw this, and instead of backing down, he pressed him directly to ask.

Seeing this, Changsheng had already asked the girl who was on good terms with Shanglin to pull Shanglin away, but she refused and struggled, saying, "Qiu Xialin!"

Xia Lin didn't even turn his head: "Men fighting is none of your business."

Changsheng glared at the girl who was holding Shanglin and scolded Qiu Shanglin, "Don't come any closer!"

He personally went to defuse the situation and mediate, and Ouyang Linhao also joined in, advising, "Why bother? Why bother? We're all brothers."

Their arrival only made Ji Yunwen angrier.

My own buddies? My own buddies are stealing my boyfriend? Not just Li Changsheng, come at me one by one, do you think I'm easy to bully?

He slapped Li Changsheng's arm away: "Mind your own business!"

Changsheng's face instantly darkened.

"Ji Yunwen, don't push your luck."

Before he could finish speaking, Ji Yunwen threw a punch. The wind from the punch whistled past Changsheng's ear. He kept his lower body still and leaned his upper body slightly backward, dodging the punch.

He narrowed his eyes dangerously and reached out to block the fist that followed. "You are no match for me." As he spoke, he easily increased the pressure on his hand. Ji Yunwen felt a sharp pain in his wrist where he was gripped. He gritted his teeth and glared at him fiercely, refusing to admit defeat no matter what.

Shanglin struggled with the girls, saying, "Let me go, I won't argue with them anymore—don't worry, they won't hurt me, they won't hit me..." He was a little depressed about his good relationships with others.

She hadn't noticed how close they were to her before, but now that something had happened, they all rushed out to help her, chattering and worried that she might get hurt.

Unable to break free from them, he could only shout at the top of his lungs amidst the chaos, "Qiu Xialin, no fighting! If you dare to fight, I'll go back and tell Mom and Dad!"

Amidst the chaos, Xia Lin turned around with a grin, waved to indicate that he hadn't moved, and said, "I'm not fighting."

"Li Changsheng, Li Changsheng!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Changsheng stepped forward from the crowd, coldly saying, "What are you yelling about? Is your voice not loud enough like a duck's?"

She recently caught a cold and her voice is hoarse.

This was the first time Shang Lin had eaten his pork ribs since he grew up. He was stunned.

Changsheng looked back at Ji Yunwen, who was being held back by the crowd, and said with a resentful expression, "Don't make us feel like we owe you something—don't forget who introduced you to people back when Qiu Shanglin and you weren't familiar with each other!"

There's something else I've been keeping to myself: don't be too pragmatic. Our relationship used to be so good, but you caused a rift and made things awkward for everyone.

Late spring cold snap

After a spring rain, the families in Qiujia Village who had not yet removed the plastic film also took action, putting away the film to save for next year. The new varieties of vegetables in the fields had already sprouted and were in dire need of more sunlight and water.

Qiuhe's father emerged from his family's plastic greenhouse, his padded jacket soaked with sweat, the fabric emitting a fermenting, stinky tofu-like smell from the steam. He looked around; several neighboring families had brought in fermented farmyard manure and were spreading it in their vegetable gardens.

A vegetable farmer he knew joked, "You little rascal from Qiu San's family, have you figured out how to treat prickly heat yet?"

The voice was cheerful and loud. The vegetable farmers in the nearby fields put down their work, straightened up and laughed. Someone joked, "It's not that people get heat rash, it's that your vegetables get heat rash too, the company won't accept them!"

The village technician walked over through several other plots of land, frowned as he looked at the greenhouse with the straw mats lifted but still covered by plastic film, and said in a harsh tone: "Brother Qiu, this won't do. The new variety has very high requirements for sunlight and temperature. Keeping it covered like this is not good for the vegetables' growth."

Qiuhe's father wiped his sweat and smiled sheepishly: "Teacher Chen, I was just worried about a late spring cold snap..."

Xiao Chen interrupted him without hesitation: "I told you there wouldn't be a cold snap in spring! You're worrying unnecessarily! You can't just starve yourself for fear of choking, can you?"

The vegetable farmers who had been listening to their conversation burst into laughter, their good-natured mockery: "Old Qiu is always so cautious, he's even worried the bed frame will collapse when he goes to bed with his wife... hahaha."

Chen, a cultured man, had worked in Qiujia Village for quite some time, but he always maintained a high-handed attitude. The farmers were usually careful what they said in front of them, rarely uttering vulgarities. Suddenly hearing blatant profanity, he frowned slightly.

"Brother Qiu, hurry up and remove the plastic film—it's getting dark, everyone come and lend a hand, let's help Brother Qiu remove the plastic film and go home!" Without realizing it, he had gotten used to giving orders.

Several people responded in unison, putting down their work to help. Qiu Laosan stopped them repeatedly, saying, "No need, no need, really no need."

Xiao Chen's face darkened: "Brother Qiu, do you not trust me?"

Qiu Laosan gave an ingratiating yet awkward smile: "Teacher Chen, I didn't mean it..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Chen abruptly interrupted, "Then let's leave!"

As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves, raised his hand to pull at the lowest plastic sheet, and his fair and refined face was filled with dissatisfaction with Qiu Laosan.

Seeing this, Qiu Laosan panicked and quickly tried to stop him: "Teacher Chen, Teacher Chen, listen to me..."

Xiao Chen quickly withdrew his hand, his face darkening: "Brother Qiu!"

Several quick-footed men nearby grabbed Qiu Laosan's arm and said, "Laosan, have you lost your mind? Do as Teacher Chen says. Come on, let's help each other out, finish the work side by side, and then go to Laosan's house for dinner!"

Qiu Laosan's personality has a simple and honest side, but it is mostly stubborn.

Glaring: "Who dares!"

He glared at them without any politeness: "My land, my greenhouse! I can leave whenever I want, or I can leave whenever I want!" He couldn't explain himself no matter how hard he tried; he just stared at them with wide eyes, panting heavily, and stammering, "Teacher Chen, I looked at the sky, I looked at the sky—the sky is changing... a cold snap in spring..."

Xiao Chen was annoyed and flung his hand away: "Change what? I just asked a friend yesterday, and he said the weather will definitely not change—is the meteorological bureau's science not as good as your senses?"

As she spoke, she felt wronged. She pushed up her glasses and began to recount the hardships of coming to the village, continuing to talk about the poor accommodations and food, and how the villagers didn't trust them. They portrayed the two technicians as hostages who had suffered a great injustice.

The villagers offered their advice in unison, and Xiao Chen increasingly felt that he had truly suffered a tremendous injustice. He, a university graduate and a rising star of the research institute, if he didn't genuinely care about them, why would he leave his hometown to come to a northern rural area where he knew no one—he forgot about his high salary.

The villagers advised Qiu Laosan to back down and apologize.

He was a stubborn man, refusing to budge even when pushed, and turning back even when led away. He lit a cigarette and smoked silently, refusing to utter a sound. The situation suddenly became tense.

Just then, Qiuqin passed by in the distance and saw a group of people gathered in the fields. She smiled and called out, "Seventh Uncle, it's getting dark. Aren't you going home for dinner?"

Uncle Qi breathed a sigh of relief: "Come and persuade Teacher Li, hey, that stubborn old man, Lao San!"

Qiuqin understood the situation and persuaded everyone to leave. As darkness fell, some hospitable people invited Teacher Li to their homes for drinks, while everyone else packed up their farm tools and dispersed. Qiu Laosan silently smoked one cigarette after another.

Qiuqin and he grew up together, and their families were not far apart, within the fifth degree of kinship. Naturally, she knew his temper very well. She sighed, "Third Brother, your temper..."

She hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping herself. Her older brother was quite old, and she, as his younger sister, couldn't very well gossip about him behind his back.

He smiled and said, "Let's go home for dinner, Third Brother."

Qiu Laosan stood up, took off his cotton shoes, and rubbed off the mud on the ground. He looked up at the sky, then at the lush, thriving vegetable patch under the sky, and hesitated for a moment: "Qin Meizi... I have something to tell you..."

He hesitated and stammered, while Qiuqin raised her eyebrows and urged, "Third Brother, just say it."

"Teacher Li... everyone has removed the plastic film from the fields... but I think the weather looks off, and I reckon there'll be a cold snap in the next couple of days." He wasn't sure either, so he spoke with great hesitation.

Qiuqin was taken aback, then became serious: "Third Brother, are you serious?"

When Qiu Laosan was asked, and then looked at the sky, he knew he shouldn't be sure, but since it concerned the villagers' spring harvest, he hardened his heart and said, "Well, I reckon it'll be in the next day or two. I told them, but they didn't believe me..."

Qiuqin quickly pondered. Her third brother was a renowned expert in farming in the village; even without scientific farming methods, his harvests were always significantly higher than others, and his words were usually quite accurate. Most of the plastic sheeting in the vegetable garden had been removed, and in the distance, a lone greenhouse stood with its sheeting reflecting a pale, bleak light under the lamp, echoing the desolate state of her third brother's two greenhouses.

However, the old man's son at the village entrance had an accident, and the whole family was busy and didn't have time to take care of the shed.

After some deliberation, she made up her mind: "Third Brother, you go back first. I'll talk to Teacher Li tomorrow—and also find out if the weather has changed."

Qiuhe's mother and Grandma Qiu had already heard about their son's argument with Teacher Li from elsewhere. At the dinner table, the third daughter-in-law couldn't help but complain, "How many times have I told you not to offend Teacher Li—he's a teacher, he knows a lot. You know so little, yet you dare to argue with him. Besides, when we're harvesting vegetables, doesn't he help us check the quality? Don't you remember what that bastard from the east of the village did last year? He rated our vegetables as substandard with just one sentence, and we had to pay several thousand yuan..."

Qiu Laosan had been silent, letting his wife nag on, but the more he listened, the more annoyed he became. He slammed his chopsticks on the table and glared at her, saying, "Are you ever going to stop? What do women know?!"

She wasn't one to back down either, and immediately retorted, "How could I not understand? All I know is that Teacher Li is a top student from a university, while you didn't even finish elementary school and yet you know a ton of characters..."

"That's enough," Grandma Qiu said impatiently.

The old man was hard of hearing, but his eyesight was still good. After asking his son a few questions, he looked up at the sky, put down his chopsticks, rubbed his back, and slowly went back to his room, muttering to himself, "Getting old, my bones and muscles ache whenever the weather changes..."

After Qiuhe's mother and the elderly couple closed the door, she glanced at her husband who was still eating with his rice bowl in hand and asked, "Dad, is it really a late spring chill?"

The third brother ignored her and just uttered a silent groan.

She shook her head in bewilderment: "No way, the weather forecast said it wouldn't change..."

The third brother scoffed inwardly, "Weather forecast, utter nonsense."