Chapter 5

"Where do you live? I'll send you home."

Xia Chenxi wanted to refuse, but when she remembered that the hooligan had not been caught yet, she swallowed her words. However, she did not say where she lived.

She walked in front of the other party for the rest of the journey.

They maintained a distance of four to five meters.

When they were almost at the door, Xia Chenxi turned around. "I'm home. Thank you."

Gu Yanqing nodded and did not insist. Since they were close enough, the hooligan probably did not have the guts to come out again.

The door to the courtyard was not locked. Xia Chenxi pushed the door open and entered. The central room was still lit. As soon as she closed the door, she heard Du Hongmei's voice. "Why are you home so late?

Your father has been home for a while. "

What had happened tonight had brought great fear to Xia Chenxi. Even though she had already returned home, she still did not relax.

"Mom …" Xia Chenxi stood at the entrance of the courtyard and shouted.

Du Hongmei came out of the house and said as she walked, "Come home earlier in the future. Don't stay too late. People need to rest too."

This child usually liked to go out at night, so Du Hongmei did not think much of it.

When Xia Chenxi heard her words of concern, she felt wronged and called out again, "Mom …"

This time, her daughter's voice was obviously trembling and sobbing.

Only then did Du Hongmei realize that something was wrong. She hurried over and asked, "What happened?

Did someone bully you? Or did someone make you angry? "

Du Hongmei had also gone to the party tonight, but she had come home before the party ended. Earlier, everyone had been quite kind to her daughter. Could it be that they had wronged her?

Xia Chenxi only felt that her eyes were very sore. Ever since she was a child, she had always shouldered everything by herself. She was never willing to show her pain in front of others, and there was no one she could rely on. Even her biological parents were unreliable.

But now that she had been reborn in Xia Juan's body, she also wanted someone to rely on and counsel her when facing Du Hongmei.

Du Hongmei had never seen her daughter so helpless. She was not willing to suffer losses and had a bad temper. Even when she was beaten by her father with a belt, she still refused to admit her mistake. Du Hongmei was in despair. With her daughter's character, she would be tortured by her in-laws in the future.

"Juanzi …" Du Hongmei was a little surprised to be hugged by her all of a sudden. It had been a long time since her daughter had relied on her like this. With her bad temper and impatience, she would be extremely annoyed if she said more than a few words.

"Mom …" Xia Chenxi called out again. Her eyes were moist. The strength that she had been holding back all this time and the helplessness and helplessness that she had felt after coming to this place to become Xia Juan suddenly seemed to have found a way to vent. For the first time, she let herself be and cried silently.

Du Hongmei was shocked by her and hurriedly asked, "Juanzi, what happened?

You child, tell me quickly. "

Xia Chenxi cried to her heart's content. Du Hongmei was at a loss and did not know what to do. She just kept crying and didn't say anything. Du Hongmei could only pat her on the shoulder and comfort her. "Good girl, Mom and Dad are here. If you feel wronged, tell Mom and we'll solve it together.

Don't cry, don't cry … "

Du Hongmei waited for her to cry for a while before pulling her into the house.

She personally fetched water for her daughter to wash her face. Seeing that there were still traces of tears on her face and her eyes were red, she twisted a handkerchief and handed it to her. "Wash your face. Tell me, what happened that made you cry?"

Her daughter was strong-willed and rarely cried. Even if she argued with others, she would never lose. It was rare to see her cry and show such a weak side.

Xia Chenxi also looked at her. Originally, she would not have any interaction with her, but fate was such a joke. Now, she had become her daughter.

Xia Chenxi did not know why she was so weak just now. At that moment, she really did treat her as her mother.

When encountering such a thing, as a woman, she would be ashamed to speak up. Moreover, she was still in the countryside in the 1970s. If word of this got out, there would be a lot of gossip.

However, that person ran away, which meant that the potential danger was still in the village. Tonight, it was her. Tomorrow night, it could be someone else.

Thinking of this, Xia Chenxi calmed herself down and told her about what happened to her.

Du Hongmei almost fainted. Fortunately, her daughter came back safe and sound. No wonder she cried when she came back. She did not expect that it was because of such a terrible thing.

If it really happened, Du Hongmei did not dare to imagine the consequences.

Du Hongmei quickly called her husband and two sons. As she spoke, she also cried. Her eyes and nose were red. "What do you think we should do?

With such a person in the village, who will feel at ease in the future? "

When Xia Zhigang heard that his sister was bullied by a hooligan on the way back, he immediately ran to the kitchen and came out with a chopper. He said angrily, "How dare he bully my sister? I'm going to kill him!"

Xia Dongsheng frowned. "What are you making a fuss about?

You think you can do it?

What are you shouting about in the middle of the night?

Do you want to let the whole village know that your sister was bullied? "

Xia Zhigang clenched his cheeks tightly and said angrily, "Then what should we do?

Are we just going to let it go? "

Xia Dongsheng glared at him and said, "You two brothers, come with me."

Du Hongmei wanted to go with them, but Xia Dongsheng ordered her to stay at home.

After talking about this matter, Xia Chenxi felt a lot more relaxed. She suddenly felt that she did not have to shoulder the difficulties in life alone. It felt good to have someone to share her burden.

— —

The Xia family went to the scene of the incident first. There were not many people around the cowshed. If something really happened here, it would not be so easy to find out.

Xia Zhigang still looked angry. Xia Dongsheng knew that his youngest son was brave, but also impulsive. He did not consider the consequences of his actions, so he asked his eldest son about it.

Xia Zhiyuan came to the Xia family when he was five years old. Although he was not part of the Xia family, none of the relatives on his father's side were willing to accept him, so he remarried with his mother. His stepfather was also very good to him, so Xia Zhiyuan also accepted his identity.

However, after his younger siblings were born, Xia Zhiyuan became much quieter and stopped being naughty. He knew that he did not have the capital to be willful, so he could only be sensible and obedient in order to gain his parents' attention.

"Dad, why don't we go and ask Gu Yanqing?

Juanzi said that someone saved her, so he is the only one who lives here. "

Xia Zhiyuan felt that Gu Yanqing was most likely the person who saved his sister. However, his sister was frightened and did not remember her savior.

Xia Zhigang rolled his eyes. "He's a member of the underworld!"

Xia Dongsheng thought about it and nodded. "Zhiyuan is right. He lives here. If something really happened, he would be the first one to come."

Xia Zhigang wanted to say something, but Xia Dongsheng glared at him, so he did not say anything else.

Not long after Gu Yanqing laid down again, he heard a voice calling him from outside. He only paused for a moment before he realized who it was and what it was about. He also knew in his heart who it was that had come.

The cowshed that Gu Yanqing was living in was no longer used to raise cattle. There was a pile of hay at the bottom, so he lived on the second floor. He only had a small bed, a shabby desk, a chair, and some simple daily necessities. He was as poor as a church mouse.

Xia Dongsheng brought his two sons over. He did not feel embarrassed and directly asked, "How much do you know about what happened tonight?"

Gu Yanqing was not surprised that someone came looking for him. However, he was surprised that the person was Secretary Xia. Could that girl be Secretary Xia's daughter?

This thought only flashed through his mind. Gu Yanqing was smart enough not to ask. He took out a thermos bottle of water and poured a cup of tea. Then, he pulled a stool that he made with the village's waste for them to sit on before he slowly told them what he saw.

Gu Yanqing did not exaggerate, nor did he feel smug because he had saved someone. He calmly recounted what he had seen from the beginning to the end.

Hearing this, Xia Dongsheng's brows furrowed so tightly that they could squash a fly. According to Guanqing's words, this person might really be someone from the village. If such a scum was not eliminated, who would feel at ease?

After that, Gu Yanqing took them to the place where the hooligan disappeared. Looking at the pond in front of them, they all fell silent. If it was daytime, it would be fine. However, it was dark at night. If someone wanted to hide in the pond, it would be really easy for that person to escape!

This time, the hooligan escaped. The other party would definitely be alert. It would not be so easy to catch him next time.

Xia Zhigang did not have a good impression of Gu Yanqing. Now that the hooligan had escaped, he complained angrily, "Why couldn't you catch him?

Instead, you let him escape. Now that he has escaped, how can we catch him? "

"Shut up!" Xia Dongsheng scolded his son. "Bastard, if it wasn't for Gu Yanqing, would your sister have been saved?

If you're still angry, think about how to catch this person. Do you think you can compete with who has the loudest voice? "

His father had always been dignified at home. After being reprimanded, Xia Zhigang immediately did not dare to speak again.

"Gu Yanqing, thank you for tonight's matter.

However, this matter concerns the girl's reputation. What do you think … "

Since such a thing had happened and it was related to his daughter, of course, Xia Dongsheng did not want any gossip to spread.

"Secretary Xia, please don't worry. I will not reveal a single word."

Xia Dongsheng nodded. He looked at the young man in front of him and said, "I see that you have been performing well in our brigade for the past few years.

A few years ago, we didn't have a place to live and had no choice but to let you live in the cowshed.

If you have any difficulties now, tell us and we will definitely solve them for you. "

Gu Yanqing's situation was a little special. When he was transferred to their brigade, the leader had specially instructed them to keep an eye on his every word and action.

Ever since he had joined the Yiliang Brigade, although this young man's background was not good, he had been well-behaved and had not done anything out of line.

Gu Yanqing knew that Xia Dongsheng was just being polite. He had been alone all these years and had suffered so much that he could no longer remember. How could he be picky about where to live?

Back then, they had arranged for him to live in the cowshed and let him keep a distance from the others. Speaking of which, Gu Yanqing still had to thank them.

A person like him would not be welcomed no matter where he went.

"Thank you for your concern, Secretary Xia. I'm fine. I don't have any difficulties."

Seeing that Gu Yanqing was polite and did not threaten him because he had saved his daughter, Xia Dongsheng said, "Go herd the geese tomorrow. Put the matter of cleaning the pigsty aside for now."