Chapter 65 Driving the Cart

Going steady?

A slight pause flickered across Zhou Yichen’s face.

Looking at the young woman before him with her neck stiffened and the look of a martyr facing execution, he felt a faint urge to laugh.

This girl was truly bold and reckless.

She could spit out such a phrase with such righteous confidence.

Seeing that Zhou Yichen remained silent, Jiang Xiaoman felt even more insecure inside, yet refused to lose her momentum in the slightest.

She glared at him fiercely, resembling a small beast guarding its food.

"What? Not allowed?"

That gaze seemed to say that if he dared to utter a single negative word, she would fight him to the death today!

"This isn't a question of whether it's allowed or not."

Zhou Yichen put away the smile on his face, deliberately furrowing his brow to put on an expression of utter distress.

"It's just that once the two of us become a couple, it will be... rather difficult for me to find a wife in the future."

The air inside the room instantly plunged to freezing point.

Jiang Xiaoman’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"You... still want to find a wife?"

She squeezed these words out from between her teeth, and a nameless fire instantly surged straight to the top of her head.

She felt her very gums itch, wishing she could pounce forward right this second and take a vicious bite out of Zhou Yichen’s detestable face!

This bastard!

Last night, the two of them... the two of them had slept on the exact same brick bed!

Even though nothing had happened, once word got out, she could forget about ever getting married for the rest of her life!

And yet, this fellow had the nerve to still be thinking about finding some other wife!

Watching her face turn red with anger while holding back his laughter inside, Zhou Yichen maintained a completely solemn and matter-of-fact expression on the outside as he said:

"Isn't finding a wife only natural?"

"In the countryside, people my age already have kids."

"You... you bastard!"

Jiang Xiaoman could no longer hold back; whatever shred of reason she had left was completely ignited by his words.

With a shrill shriek, like an enraged little she-leopard, she bared her claws and lunged straight at Zhou Yichen.

Zhou Yichen had anticipated this and agilely sidestepped with a smile.

Inside the small room, the two of them engaged in a game of chase and dodge—one baring claws and brandishing fangs, the other moving with effortless ease.

Rather than a fight, it was more like playful banter.

After a flurry of chaos, Jiang Xiaoman finally grew tired, pressing her hands against her knees as she gasped for air, her chest heaving violently.

Although she hadn't managed to land a single blow on Zhou Yichen, the pent-up frustration and anger in her heart had completely dissipated through this venting session.

Her mood had finally returned to normal.

She was simply that kind of person—straightforward and breezy, with troubles that came quickly and went just as fast, never letting anything linger in her heart overnight after dark.

The farce having come to an end, both of them remembered the business at hand.

They still needed to head to the entrance of the village to catch Uncle Zhang's cart and go to the commune to buy a bicycle today.

After the commotion, Jiang Xiaoman and Zhou Yichen briskly set to work.

As for the matter of becoming a couple, the two of them tacitly and mutually chose to put it out of their minds.

Soon, Jiang Xiaoman lit the fire and prepared breakfast.

A simple corn mush, accompanied by two boiled eggs.

Truth be told, Zhou Yichen's massage from the previous night had truly produced immediate and remarkable results.

Following a sound and deeply refreshing sleep, Jiang Xiaoman felt her entire body teeming with inexhaustible energy; the soreness and aches accumulated from cutting firewood over the past few days had long since vanished without a trace.

Zhou Yichen quickly washed up using the well water in the courtyard and returned to the room, carrying a crisp coolness about him.

Neither of them brought up the previous topic again, as if an unspoken tacit understanding had formed between them.

He hurriedly finished his breakfast, took the prepared money and industrial ration coupons from the drawer, and carefully tucked them securely against his body.

Then, he threw on his outer coat and prepared to head out.

"I'll go to the village entrance to wait for Uncle Zhang first."

He tossed these words to Jiang Xiaoman, who was currently washing the bowls.

"Mm, got it!"

Jiang Xiaoman replied without turning her head, her voice carrying a light and breezy tone.

Zhou Yichen pushed open the door, and the chilly morning wind rushed against his face.

Facing the faint light of dawn, he walked in the direction of the village entrance.

Walking along the dirt path leading to the village entrance, the morning chill assaulted him, instantly clearing his chaotic thoughts by several degrees.

Yet, unbidden, Jiang Xiaoman's angry, puffed-up doll-like face surfaced in his mind.

At once headstrong and utterly adorable.

Thinking of her morning demeanor—frustrated and aggrieved, yet stubbornly insisting on becoming a couple with him—a curve formed naturally at the corner of Zhou Yichen's mouth, an arc he hadn't even consciously realized.

He discovered that towards this childhood companion he had grown up alongside, he truly seemed to have developed some unusual thoughts.

If they could really end up as a pair in the future, it seemed... quite nice?

They knew each other inside and out as childhood sweethearts, sparing them the trouble of a lengthy adjustment period.

Besides...

Although he was a soul living a second life with a temperament far more mature than his peers, this body was presently in the very prime of fiery youth.

In this freezing snowy weather, sleeping alone at night on a cold brick bed, how could it ever compare to holding a fragrant, soft young woman in one's arms?

As soon as this thought popped up, Zhou Yichen shook his head with an amused chuckle at himself.

He made up his mind.

He needed to take the initiative.

He couldn't let Jiang Xiaoman bear all the pressure alone as a young woman.

Since they were heading to the county seat today anyway, he would buy her a gift to coax her, which would also serve to firmly cement this relationship.

Yesterday's incident, though brought up by the girl herself, would ultimately harm her reputation if word leaked out.

Therefore, the title of being a "couple" needed to be officially established as soon as possible!

Lost in these wandering thoughts, the entrance of the village came into view.

The hour was still early, but a few people had already gathered in twos and threes beneath the barren old locust tree at the village entrance, stamping their feet to fend off the cold while chatting and exhaling plumes of white mist.

"Doctor Zhou, heading to the county seat?"

A woman in her fifties spotted him and immediately greeted him warmly.

Although Zhou Yichen had not arrived at the Xiangyang Production Brigade very long ago, his reputation had long since spread throughout the brigade, whether for delivering calves or curing Uncle Zhang’s angina.

He didn't know everyone in the village, but nearly everyone in the village recognized his face.

"That's right, Auntie, are you going to the market too?"

Zhou Yichen wore a gentle smile as he responded naturally.

"Of course, I'm going to buy a couple of bolts of cloth for my grandson to make him a new outfit."

"Doctor Zhou, I listened to your advice from a couple of days ago and soaked my feet in hot water every night. Let me tell you, these legs and feet really do feel a lot more agile!" Another man chimed in with a grateful expression.

Zhou Yichen nodded with a smile. Within the span of a few sentences, he had already grown familiar with these villagers he had never met before, smoothly committing their names and faces to memory.

At that moment, the rhythmic sound of "da-da-da" horse hooves and rolling cart wheels drew near from afar.

It was Uncle Zhang driving his horse-drawn cart over.

"Little Doctor Zhou! You're here!"

Uncle Zhang spotted the tall and straight young man beneath the locust tree from afar, his face instantly blooming into a smile as he cracked his horse whip in the air and called out.

The cart came to a steady halt, and the villagers skillfully climbed aboard.

"Little Doctor Zhou, hurry, get on! Sit right beside me, it's spacious here and there's less wind!"

Uncle Zhang deliberately patted the comfortable spot cushioned with burlap sacks right beside him, warmly beckoning.

Zhou Yichen expressed his thanks and nimbly climbed onto the cart.

Once everyone was seated securely, Auntie Wang from earlier pulled five cents from her pocket and handed it to Uncle Zhang.