Chapter 296 - 150: A Longed-for Life

Chapter 296: Chapter 150: A Longed-for Life

"She’s not from the village. She’s my adopted little sister from the city."

"How old?"

"Sixteen."

"She’s still a minor?"

"What are you all... thinking? She’s my adopted sister, not my biological sister."

"Then you should invite your sister to come hang out with us."

"Forget it. She has a sharp tongue. If she came, she’d probably piss all four of you off. Let’s not bother ’Her Highness.’ Come on, I’ll take you to the village banquet."

"Hey, don’t run away. Tell us the story about your adopted sister."

"There’s nothing to tell. No story. Let’s go, let’s go."

"Your expression gives it away. Does your adopted sister have a crush on you?"

"It’s normal for a young girl to like an older guy. I just see her as a little sister. Didn’t you all have an older brother figure you looked up to when you were young?"

"Nope."

The four of them shook their heads in unison.

"Lies."

"What do you mean, ’lies’? We really didn’t. You think everyone has a handsome and caring older brother figure like you around, like your adopted sister does?"

"I’ve decided. Starting today, I’m going to be a cold, heartless man."

"Tsk~"

...

The village banquet was held in a clearing in the bamboo forest outside Aunt Liu’s house. Seven or eight tables had been set up, and the villagers were gradually taking their seats. Just as Su Ran and his group sat down, they saw Uncle Qin, who had just finished helping carry out the dishes, standing there looking for a place to sit. But none of the villagers wanted to sit with a madman like him, so he could only stand there, watching wistfully.

Su Ran patted the empty seat beside him. "Uncle Qin, there’s a spot over here."

"No, no." Uncle Qin waved his hand, declining. He felt he was too slovenly and would ruin the appetites of Su Ran’s friends.

"Sigh." Su Ran didn’t press him. Whenever there was a feast, the old man never sat at the same table as him. Only in private would he eat with Su Ran. This was mainly because when they ate together at a feast, the other villagers would make fun of ’Fool Qin.’ He didn’t want Su Ran to see his embarrassing side.

That’s how it was for a Village Guardian. They were an indispensable part of every village. If you called for him, he would come without a second thought, doing the dirty, tiring work without complaint. But the villagers would never treat him as one of their own, nor would they show any concern for a muddle-headed fool. Perhaps one day he wouldn’t be able to move anymore. On some cold night, he would die in his bed, and it would be many days before the villagers, noticing his absence, would discover his cold body.

Village Guardians were often pitiful people with mental instabilities, abandoned by the times.

Xie Yiren watched Uncle Qin squatting on a stone block under the bamboo, waiting for everyone else to finish so he could eat. This had become his habit.

"I’ll go try to bring him over."

Filled with pity, Xie Yiren stood up and walked over to Uncle Qin.

"Uncle Qin."

It was as if Uncle Qin heard ’her’ calling his name in his ear. "Qin Liheng~"

Hearing this voice, Uncle Qin’s heart trembled. "Yes," he answered, slowly raising his head. He looked at the young woman crouched before him, who was reaching up to tuck a long strand of fallen hair behind her ear. The last rays of the setting sun shone from behind her, casting an orange-red glow upon him, as if plating him in a layer of gold.

"Uncle Qin, come eat with us over there. We’re just one person short. If you don’t come, our table won’t be full. Let’s go."

"I... Okay!"

Uncle Qin nodded emphatically. Xie Yiren reached out to help him up, but he quickly waved his hands. "I’m filthy." He pushed himself up and followed behind Xie Yiren towards their table. Along the way, a few mischievous children surrounded Old Qin, giggling and calling him Madman Qin. Old Qin just lowered his head a little and quickened his pace to keep up.

"Uncle Qin, you can sit here."

Xie Yiren pulled out the stool next to her, and Uncle Qin grunted in acknowledgment as he sat down.

Su Ran poured Uncle Qin a cup of wine and teased, "Uncle Qin, you’re quite the celebrity. I invite you and you refuse, but you come right away when a beautiful woman asks you personally."

Uncle Qin said, "I’m filthy. I was afraid I’d spoil your appetites. Miss Yiren insisted I come over, so it was hard to refuse. Now that I’m here, will you lose your appetite?"

"Of course not. Now that everyone’s here, let’s eat." Su Ran picked up a cold-dressed chicken leg with his chopsticks and placed it in Xie Yiren’s bowl. "Miss Yiren, you’re a good person. This chicken leg is your reward. No objections, right everyone?"

The other three girls and the few villagers at the table agreed.

"Thank you. Mmm... this is delicious. The meat is so firm, you can tell it’s a free-range chicken. Here, Uncle Qin, there’s another chicken leg for you."

"Thank you, thank you."

Uncle Qin was overwhelmed by the favor, clasping his hands together to thank Xie Yiren.

Xie Yiren was a simple girl. Having grown up in a Miao Village Tribe, she didn’t mind if someone was a little dirty. In fact, Uncle Qin wasn’t dirty at all today. He had taken a bath and was even wearing the Armani clothes Su Ran had given him.

During the meal, Uncle Qin didn’t say a word, just quietly ate his food. Su Ran, meanwhile, told the girls to stop acting so prim and proper and just dig in; one meal wouldn’t make them fat.

Liu Jinyu said, "It’s not about one meal. It’s that I’ve already gained two pounds just in the few days I’ve been with you."

Su Ran said, "A little extra meat just means there’s more to hold on to."

Tsk~

...

They ate their fill at dinner. Lacking entertainment facilities in the countryside, Su Ran invited them to a place he invested in, the SJ Bar in the city, but they refused. They said they wanted to experience the idyllic pastoral life of the countryside. So, the group took a stroll along the ridges of the fields before returning to the Mushroom House.

Family meeting.

Su Ran said, "Since you’re all so full you have nothing better to do and want to experience rural life, then you’d better not complain about it being hard or tiring, understand?"

The four girls nodded, promising they absolutely wouldn’t complain.

"Alright then, wait a second." Su Ran left for a moment and came back with a small box. He said, "In here are the ’rural life experience’ activities. Each of you draw one. Whatever you draw is the task you have to complete. Good luck."

The four girls each drew a crumpled ball of paper and opened it. Some were happy, some were not.

Liu Jinyu: "Mine is cleaning the chicken coop. Wanqing, let’s trade."

Xiao Wanqing: "Sure, go ahead. This one is ’scoop manure.’"

Liu Jinyu: "Ew, no thanks."

Aina: "Mine is to boil water and do the laundry."

Xie Yiren: "Mine is to pick vegetables and sweep the yard."

Su Ran: "Yiren will be in charge of picking vegetables from the garden tomorrow morning and making breakfast."

Xie Yiren: "Yay."

Su Ran: "Aina, you can go boil the hot water now and get everyone’s bathwater ready."

Aina: "Isn’t there a water heater? Why do I have to boil water?"

Su Ran: "Aren’t you here to experience rural life? What kind of experience is it if you use a water heater?"

"Oh..." Aina ran to the earthen stove in the kitchen and took a look. "What do I do if there’s no firewood?"

"I’ll chop some firewood in a bit. You go start the water first." After giving his instructions, Su Ran turned to Xiao Wanqing with a smile. "Sister Wanqing, you can go scoop your manure now."

Pfft.

The other women held back their laughter.

"Fine. I drew it, so I’ll do it. Yiren, go get me a few masks."

"Okay."

Su Ran smiled, then said to Liu Jinyu, "Sister Jinyu, the chicken coop hasn’t been cleaned in a long time. If you clean it up, I’ll slaughter an old hen and make soup for you."

Hearing this, Xiao Wanqing was not pleased. "Su Ran, what do you mean by that? Liu Jinyu cleans the chicken coop and you’re going to stew a chicken for her. I’m going to scoop manure, so what are you going to stew for me?"

Xie Yiren: "There are chickens in the chicken coop to stew. In the septic tank, there’s only manure to stew for you. The smell would be overwhelming."

Ugh~

The others gagged.

"Xie Yiren, you’re disgusting! You’re into some heavy stuff, huh? It’s always the ones who look harmless like you that are the most twisted."

CLAP CLAP CLAP...

Su Ran also felt that the ’little deviant’ Xie Yiren was back. ’Good. It shows she’s slowly coming out of her shell,’ he thought. He clapped his hands and said, "Alright, let’s not waste any more time. Get to work."

Wait...

The four women came to their senses.

"We’re all doing something. What are you doing?"

"I’m in charge of documenting your daily rural life on video. I’ll edit it into a movie for you all to watch later."

"Oh, so like one of those slice-of-life shows, right? Not bad. Let’s get to work."