Northeast: My Absurd Woman

Chapter 187 Big Mouth Mahjong, a Man of Discerning Taste

Guo Erluzi, fueled by alcohol, lost control, shook off Zhang Changyao's hand, and clung to the table leg, refusing to get down.

"Zhang Changyao, get up and move aside, or you'll get hit."

Yang Wuni placed the child at her feet, in a safe place.

He picked up the broom beside him and watched as Zhang Changyao stepped aside.

He smacked Guo Erluzi on the head and struck him once.

"Hey! Who, who dares to hit me?" Guo Erluzi forgot that Yang Wuni was behind him.

Covering his face, which had been stung by the broom, he jumped high to the ground.

He turned around and looked at Yang Wuni on the kang (a heated brick bed), his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"What's wrong, Guo Erlvzi? Why aren't you talking anymore? Weren't you always so talkative?"

Sitting on my kang (heated brick bed), Zhang Changyao, a man of many words and a penchant for fuss, was talking about his family.

Are you really taking us Zhang family members for granted, thinking we're all easy to bully?

Who Zhang Changyao associates with or doesn't associate with is none of your business, you're just a bachelor.

You know he has a good relationship with Hou Liping, yet you still asked him to introduce you to her.

"Do you want to end up like Hou Da-yan, running to my house to confront Zhang Changyao every time you and your spouse have a fight?"

While Yang Wuni was talking about Guo Erluzi, she was also unhappy that Zhang Changyao had concealed his relationship with Hou Liping.

"Auntie, I don't think Erluzi has thought that much about it. Don't be angry, I'll go with Erluzi now."

Hu Xianjun tried to pull Guo Erlu away, but Guo Erlu wouldn't budge.

Touching his face and half of his head, covered in tiny red welts from being whipped with a broom, he gritted his teeth.

"Zhang Changyao, don't you do anything about your wife? What woman is like her, hitting people and cursing them like that?"

I'm practically a relative of yours, so you keep calling me "aunt" and "uncle."

Not only did I get nothing, but I also got a face full of bumps from being slapped.

"Xianjun, don't pull me! I'm not leaving. Let's see if Auntie dares to hit me again!"

Guo Erluzi was unwilling to leave just because he hadn't accomplished his mission.

"Guo Erluzi, let me tell you, no one can get away with pulling stalks from my house except Zhang Changyao's living father."

If you can stay, then stay. I won't kick you out.

"Auntie, you're younger than me, why are you so temperamental?"

My uncle and I were just joking, did you really believe it?

Nothing's wrong, don't take it to heart. My uncle will introduce me to potential partners if he wants to.

I'm the kind of person who repays kindness. If this is settled, you can cut down any trees in the village you want.

Guo Erluzi wasn't angry with Yang Wuni; instead, he smiled apologetically at her.

"Erluzi, I don't know what's wrong with the women in your village?"

Both of their eyes were fixed on my Zhang Changyao, as if they were blind.

He's so timid, his father would beat him to death and he wouldn't dare say a word. What is there for them to care about?

If you're so capable, go ask Hou Liping yourself. Zhang Changyao can't go.

She's a widow who's taken away her business; anyone who goes to her house will be gossiped about.

Yang Wuni's tone softened, and she put the broom she was holding aside.

"Auntie, you're right. I'll go to Hou Jiu's house to find Hou Liping tomorrow."

If she's sensible, she'll immediately agree; if not, I'll force myself on her, hahaha!

Guo Erluzi's expression was strange, one corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk, and he pulled Hu Xianjun out of the house.

Zhang Changyao didn't go out to see them off; it was Guo Erluzi and Hu Xianjun who did.

He knew Yang Wuni was still angry, he thought to himself.

How can I explain my relationship with Hou Liping in a way that Yang Wuni can understand?

"Zhang Changyao, I don't want to know whether you and Hou Liping went into the woods."

I just want to know, is your relationship with her now what Guo Erlvzi described?

Yang Wuni lay half-reclined, patting the child with one hand, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Wu Ni, my relationship with Hou Liping is just like your relationship with Brother Du Qiu. Our relationship is completely innocent."

She lost her husband and had two children; she didn't ask us for anything.

"It's just asking Du Qiu to go to his house to keep Hou Jiu company. How could I possibly refuse?"

Zhang Changyao compared Du Qiu to Yang Wuni, his eyes fixed on her, waiting to see what she would say.

"Well...that's true, it's just to keep Du Qiu company, it has nothing to do with you."

I told you that Guo Erluzi was just talking nonsense, making up stories as if they were the truth.

Who knows, Du Qiu and Hou Liping might actually get together, then we'd have done a good deed.

Yang Wuni smiled broadly at this thought, having long forgotten what Guo Erluzi had said about Zhang Changyao and Hou Liping sneaking into the grove.

"Wu Ni, let's go to bed early. I have to go haul bricks tomorrow morning."

I've done the math, and I think I can make a lot of money by spring.

Zhang Changyao moved the child to the end of the kang (a heated brick bed), and the two of them put their blankets together.

He embraced Yang Wuni tenderly, gently kissing every inch of her skin.

Before dawn, Yang Wuni found a few sets of clothes that Zhang Changyao could wear from the pile of clothes and put them on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Zhang Changyao crawled out from under the covers and shivered.

The obedient girl dressed herself up in layers upon layers, making herself look like an oval-shaped gourd.

Yang Deshan wrapped the freshly baked half-pot of cornbread and pickled vegetable dumplings in a cloth and handed them to Zhang Changyao.

Two large bowls for drinking water were hung on the back of the donkey cart along with the donkey's water bucket.

Zhang Changyao carefully tucked the brick clips into his pocket and drove his donkey cart northwards.

He rushed to the township's family planning office with great enthusiasm, but before he even entered the courtyard, he was stunned by the scene before him.

It wasn't exactly overcrowded, but there were cars packed tightly together.

Moreover, each horse-drawn carriage or donkey cart had more than two people sitting on it.

Zhang Changyao tied the donkey cart to a tree by the roadside and went inside to find Miao Yu.

Miao Yu took Zhang Changyao to the head of the construction department and told him that Zhang Changyao was her man.

Before leaving, he patted Zhang Changyao on the shoulder to show his concern.

After counting and registering the number of people, the horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts began to move slowly.

One by one, they got on the road from the irregular, crowded state.

They lined up in long queues, like ants foraging for food on the road.

Zhang Changyao sat between several donkey carts, following the group at a moderate pace.

The brick factory was located in an open space between the township government and a village.

The bricks sold to the family planning office have been separated by a hemp rope.

The people who came to haul bricks were scrambling to put the bricks from the pile onto their own trucks.

Zhang Changyao tried to squeeze through several times, but was chased away each time by people with sharp eyes.

They had no choice but to tie the donkey cart to a tree some distance away and borrow a wheelbarrow from the coal mine to slowly move things around.

He comforted himself, thinking, "You guys make two trips, I'll make one, and we'll earn about the same as you."

Clothes became a burden, so Zhang Changyao simply took off all but one set of clothes, tied the rest together, and draped them over the donkey.

At noon, people went to nearby wonton shops in pairs to eat and drink.

Only Zhang Changyao sat leisurely on the donkey cart, eating and pulling bricks at the same time.

The little donkey never goes hungry; as long as it loads bricks, Zhang Changyao will feed it hay.

To prevent the donkey from getting thirsty, we would pour more water into the fodder and mix it in.

Before long, it was evening, and there wasn't much open space left in the township government compound.

The person in charge said that the bowel movement should be finished in about half a day tomorrow, and told everyone to go home and rest.

Watching the horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts leave one by one, Zhang Changyao was secretly delighted. His chance to make a fortune was only just beginning.