Rebirth begins with an arranged marriage

Chapter 41 Our Zhang Family

As soon as Song Siyuan uttered the words, his father turned around and glared at him: "You brat, what are you saying in front of your classmates!"

Song Siyuan then realized what was happening and pointed at the departing motorcycle, saying, "Dad, that's our homeroom teacher, Ms. Tian. She's usually so stern and intimidating, but the way she's riding this motorcycle is really... stylish."

After searching his stomach for a long time, Song Siyuan finally found this adjective.

His parents were very surprised. After they came to their senses, they said, "My goodness, look at that teacher, how sophisticated he is! He's so different from us country folk..."

"Siyuan, look how amazing your teacher is. You must study hard so that you can also have a good life in the future."

"When I have money in the future, I'll ride a motorcycle too," Song Siyuan said longingly. "That would be so interesting."

"You dare!"

His father glared at him again: "That thing doesn't look reliable. You can't drive it even if you have money in the future."

"Dad, you said our teacher is amazing. I'll learn from him. Riding a motorcycle is one way to do that, right?" Song Siyuan said.

"You are you, and your teacher is your teacher! If they can drive, that's their skill; don't even think about it..."

As Song Siyuan's father spoke, he symbolically patted the horse's rump with his riding crop and shouted, "Let's go!"

The horse pulling the cart then moved its four hooves, slowly pulling the cart across the road and heading out of the county town.

Song Siyuan muttered to himself, "He's just being unreasonable... If he can drive, I can drive too."

His father glanced at him sideways and said, "What did you say?"

"He didn't say anything." Song Siyuan chuckled and started talking to Tang Huaiyi again.

As the carriage moved forward, the brick and tile houses of the county town slowly receded. Among these houses were newly built cement and gravel buildings, as well as old buildings made of heavy bluestone bricks, some dating back to the time of landlords and wealthy households decades ago.

A gleaming bicycle came from behind, and I stopped with a screech as I gripped the handbrake.

"Tang Huaiyi, are you going home?"

Zhao Weimin, riding on his bicycle, greeted everyone with a smile, his gaze sweeping over the carriage and the people inside, his smile widening.

"Go home," Tang Huaiyi said calmly.

"Let's play basketball sometime." Zhao Weimin smiled inexplicably again, picked up his bicycle, and rode away without looking back.

Tang Huaiyi did not answer, and Zhao Weimin seemed unwilling to listen to his reply.

"Is this also a classmate of yours?" Song Siyuan's mother asked after Zhao Weimin rode his bicycle away.

Song Siyuan shook his head: "I don't know him."

"I'm not very familiar with the students in Class 3," Tang Huaiyi said.

"This classmate is so arrogant, he doesn't even look people in the eye when he speaks." Song Siyuan's father was driving the cart, his voice not loud, mixed with the sound of the horse's hooves.

As someone who runs a small business, aside from anything else, they can't be wrong in judging a person's appearance and tone of voice.

Tang Huaiyi spoke with Zhao Weimin twice, and after hearing what Song Siyuan's father said, he completely agreed.

Zhao Weimin was indeed picky, and when he compared Tang Huaiyi's conditions, he exuded an unspoken sense of pride.

For this reason, Tang Huaiyi had nothing to say to him.

Once outside the county town, the vast fields of corn were nearing harvest time, and the horse-drawn carriage moved forward at a leisurely pace.

The sisters Li Xiufang and Li Xiujuan didn't say much, only answering briefly when Song Siyuan's mother asked, saying they were from Lijia Gou and were in Class 1 of Senior Three, etc.

After Tang Huaiyi spoke with Song Siyuan for a while, Song Siyuan suggested that he bring more pickled vegetables next week so that he could eat them with Tang Huaiyi for breakfast and dinner. Song Siyuan's parents both smiled and agreed.

"Okay, I'll bring you a jar next week. You guys eat well, and you'll have energy to study hard when you're full."

Tang Huaiyi praised the family's pickled vegetables as delicious and said that they should not cause extra trouble or delay selling vegetables by pickling vegetables for themselves.

"It's not troublesome at all... Some vegetables are indeed hard to sell once they're picked. If they're bitten by insects or broken in half, they can't be sold in the city and we can only eat them at home."

As they talked, the carriage swayed and bumped along the dirt road, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the fork in the road between Songjiazhuang and Tangmaji Village.

Songjiazhuang is relatively close to Tangmaji Village, only a kilometer or two away, but both villages are quite far from Lijia Gou.

Tang Huaiyi got off the bus at the intersection, and Li Xiufang and Li Xiujuan followed him off.

"Uncle, Aunt, please guide us on this journey..."

"No trouble at all, it's on my way, I'm not giving you a ride specifically."

Song Siyuan's parents grinned, their smiles warm and genuine. Song Siyuan stood up from the carriage and waved vigorously to Tang Huaiyi.

Tang Huaiyi also smiled and waved.

After the carriage had driven away, Tang Huaiyi looked at Li Xiufang and Li Xiujuan: "Shall we go? Shall I take you back?"

"No need, let's go back ourselves..." Li Xiujuan said.

Li Xiufang laughed and said, "If you're willing to deliver it, then come along. I'll fry some duck eggs for you."

Tang Huaiyi exclaimed in surprise, "Duck eggs? I didn't keep any ducks at your house last time I visited."

Seeing his surprise, Li Xiufang smiled with delight and took out three green duck eggs from her bosom: "I got them from the pond in our village."

"Some people in the village raise ducks. Although they want the ducks to lay eggs at home, they can't always prevent them from laying their eggs in the grass on the bank or in the water."

"I wander around every day, and when I see one, I go over to collect it. There's another one that I dived into the water to retrieve."

Tang Huaiyi nodded in admiration: "Sister Xiufang, you really have a way... you managed to produce some meat. But why did you bring it with you today?"

Li Xiufang was taken aback by Tang Huaiyi's question. She paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Oh, I was thinking of bringing it to you so you can get some extra nutrition."

"Me?" Tang Huaiyi was slightly taken aback.

"Yes, it's you."

Li Xiufang tilted her head slightly and said, "Whether you get into university or not, you're going to marry Erni. Then you'll be the pillar of our Li family. If you're healthy, our family will be well too."

Tang Huaiyi seemed to understand something upon hearing this.

This means they see me as the future pillar of the Li family.

Right now, the most important thing is of course studying and getting into university, but marrying Li Xiujuan is not something that can be decided in just a few words...

Will he and Li Xiujuan be together after he gets into university?

If we hadn't gone to the same university, I'm afraid that no matter how much affection blossomed or how much loneliness accompanied us, it wouldn't have been able to withstand the wear and tear of the long distance and the days and nights, and would have ultimately just become "there was once such a classmate".

Seeing that Tang Huaiyi didn't speak, Li Xiufang became a little anxious: "What's wrong? You don't want to?"

"No, I was just thinking about it."

Tang Huaiyi smiled and said, "Let's go, I'll take you home."

Li Xiufang immediately smiled again, took Li Xiujuan's hand, and said, "Come on, let's go home. I'll make you some fried duck eggs!"