Rebirth begins with an arranged marriage

Chapter 50 Muddy Road

Having witnessed Tang Huaiyi's gaze sweep over and then withdraw, a feeling that was both joy and something else welled up inside her, like a tickling, uncomfortable itch that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Yes, this muddy road is wet, slippery, and sticky when it gets wet."

Li Xiujuan straightened her clothes and said in a low voice, "If I had known it would be like this, it wouldn't have been so difficult for us to walk to school this morning."

Li Xiufang endured that strange feeling—she wanted Tang Huaiyi to take another look, and she wanted to take a look at him too, but she also felt it was inappropriate.

Hearing his second sister's words, he coughed lightly and said, "Don't step on the muddy road. Walk along the grass by the roadside; it will be much easier."

"You just have to be careful not to slip into the ditch while walking on the roadside grass."

"Okay, Sister Xiufang, be careful on your way back," Tang Huaiyi said, then remembered something else, "Oh right, just wash your clothes and leave them at home, you don't need to bring them to school anymore, it's such a long way."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiufang, though knowing he meant well, couldn't help but blurt out, "What, you're interfering even if I go to school? You don't like me that much?"

"Neither Erni nor I are wearing the right size clothes, so we've just had to make do. How can we not exchange them?"

"I'll buy Li Xiujuan some clothes tomorrow at noon," Tang Huaiyi said.

He had barely finished speaking when a gasp was heard. Li Xiujuan blushed and was so embarrassed that she didn't know what to do, so she lowered her head.

Li Xiufang couldn't help but straighten her face and look at Tang Huaiyi: "Do you know what you just said?"

Tang Huaiyi was taken aback: "I bought her clothes, what's wrong with that?"

"Here in our area, once a blind date has been arranged and everything is agreed upon, the man only buys the woman a new outfit. That means they're about to get married, didn't you know?"

Li Xiufang noticed that Tang Huaiyi seemed genuinely unaware of what was going on, so she specifically reminded him.

Tang Huaiyi then realized, "Oh, is that so?"

She chuckled again: "It's just an outfit. Let's not think about it that way, and let's not tell anyone, okay?"

"Besides, we almost got married during the previous exchange marriage, so why would we care about this now?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiufang's initial eagerness cooled down, and she said dryly, "If you put it that way, you're right."

Li Xiujuan felt at peace, feeling both ashamed and happy.

Tang Huaiyi is right. We're both in this state now, so it's time to buy us some new clothes.

How could I possibly be with someone else?

"I'm short on cash right now, let's not buy it for now, we'll talk about it later..." Li Xiujuan said softly.

Tang Huaiyi smiled and said, "There will be clothes for the future, and there are clothes for now, so don't be shy."

"I'll buy myself a new outfit tomorrow. We don't need anything too fancy or trendy, just something suitable and wearable, something to have a spare."

Li Xiujuan initially wanted to decline, but after hearing Tang Huaiyi say that, she thought it was indeed the right thing to do to buy him clothes.

He's so good-looking, and he talks to teachers and classmates all the time, so it's not good for him to always wear old clothes.

Seeing that one of them was willing and the other even more so, Li Xiufang said, "Alright, if you have the money, go ahead and buy it. But I still need to come back and change into these clothes. These tight clothes are inconvenient for me to work in the fields. I'll come back tomorrow or the day after and change back into them."

After speaking, he walked back along the muddy road.

After taking a couple of steps, he couldn't resist turning back to look at Tang Huaiyi: "Tang Huaiyi, don't forget to eat those duck eggs!"

"Okay, I understand, Sister Xiufang."

Tang Huaiyi agreed, and Li Xiufang was relieved and hurried away, her feet kicking up a trail of mud and water.

Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan also headed towards the county town.

Since it started raining, the two had anticipated that the muddy road would be difficult to travel, but the difficulty of the journey still made them very tired.

Stepping on the roadside grass inevitably makes it wet and a bit slippery; if you don't step on the grass, the mud sticks to your feet, and after walking a short distance, the mud on the soles of your shoes becomes heavier than the entire cloth shoe.

Tang Huaiyi took Li Xiujuan's handbag, crossed the two handbags on his shoulder, and then held Li Xiujuan's hand, slowly walking forward. Only by supporting each other could they avoid falling down—otherwise, if one of them slipped, the other would slip and fall more than twice before they had walked a mile.

As we walked deeper into the county, it was already overcast after a rain, and the sun no longer peeked out. The darkness made it impossible to tell how much time had passed.

As they approached the county town, with the smooth main road just around the corner, Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Just then, with a "whoosh," Li Xiujuan was about to slip and fall again, but Tang Huaiyi reached out and pulled her back from mid-air.

Li Xiujuan immediately fell into his arms.

The two embraced, their bodies pressed together through their damp clothes, their eyes meeting. Li Xiujuan blushed, her eyelashes drooping, and she dared not utter a sound.

Tang Huaiyi helped her up and didn't let go, walking towards the main road in a half-hug, half-support manner.

Why won't Tang Huaiyi let go?

Li Xiujuan's mind was in a jumbled mess.

But she dared not utter a sound, fearing that Tang Huaiyi would misunderstand that she was unhappy and would no longer be on good terms with her.

Continuing to walk forward, in just a few dozen meters, Li Xiujuan felt her whole body burning up, as if she had no bones left.

Finally reaching the edge of the road, Tang Huaiyi let go and began to rub the mud off the soles of his feet.

Li Xiujuan blushed and stood close to him, also lowering her head to remove the mud from the soles of her shoes.

The mud had just been removed when a pair of hands reached out and wrapped around her waist.

Li Xiujuan let out a soft gasp of surprise and silently endured it.

Then, he cautiously lowered his head and looked around, afraid that someone would see him.

In the distance, a figure appeared, and Li Xiujuan quickly whispered, "Tang Huaiyi, someone's here..."

Tang Huaiyi loosened his grip on her waist: "Let's go."

Li Xiujuan breathed a sigh of relief—it would be too embarrassing if others saw them hugging and cuddling.

Then, worried that Tang Huaiyi would be angry, she followed behind him in small steps, secretly observing his expression.

Seeing that he was neither happy nor angry, I felt a little flustered.

"Tang Huaiyi, I'm not..."

"Not what?"

"It's not that I'm unwilling..." Li Xiujuan said softly, "It wouldn't be good if someone saw us."

"What if you don't want people to see you?" Tang Huaiyi asked.

Li Xiujuan blushed, feeling hot all over, but she still kept her head down and hummed, "Hmm."

"That's good." Tang Huaiyi didn't continue the conversation. "Let's go. When we get to school, we still need to study hard."

Talking about relationships is a luxury for them nowadays, and they must not get too caught up in it or let it interfere with their studies.

Li Xiujuan nodded and followed behind him.

The roads in the county town were no longer muddy, and the two walked quickly.

After arriving at school, everyone went back to their dormitories to pack their clothes, wrung them out as much as possible, and put them back on before heading to the classroom to begin studying.