Chapter 142: Squash that Thought
Translator: Lonelytree
Xiao Lingyu did not take the news of Chen Ran to heart. Due to a large number of people, they managed to plant more than 10 Mu of land in one day.
The next day, the three children had to return to school, and Gu Ziye and the men had to return to their companies. Therefore, after dinner, the nine departed for the county town.
Gu Ziye and the men shared one car. Xiao Lingyu drove Xiao Lingye and the kids. They reached the county town in an hour. Xiao Lingye sighed, “Sis, having a car is so convenient. In the past, no matter how quick I was, I would arrive at the county town around evening even if I departed in the morning. But now, it only takes one hour to reach the school.”
Xiao Lingyu smiled, “After you finish your exam, you should learn how to drive. After all, you’d be eighteen then. You can drive this car whenever you want!”
“Sis, for real?” Xiao Lingye was excited.
“Of course!” Xiao Lingyu nodded.
“Ye, we’ll take the driving lessons with you!” Ning Weiyi and the other two came over and said. Even though they already knew how to drive, they still hadn’t had an official driver’s license due to their age. They would get their license at eighteen, but they still needed to go through the process. Their families were insistent about that.
“Okay!” Xiao Lingye was very happy.
Xiao Lingyu bid farewell to the children and also Gu Ziye and the others.
…
In the car, Zheng Haiyang said, “Ziye, have you noticed the strange ways the people at Taoyuan Village look at us?”
Yuan Xuanhao said indifferently, “Of course, they would look at us that way. They thought we were there to pursue Xiao Lingyu.” Due to his family background, Yuan Xuanhao had seen that gaze from many women before. He could tell what the villagers were thinking easily.
Qian Yifan spat out the water he was drinking. He almost got the water on Gu Ziye’s face.
“No wonder I felt something was wrong!” Zheng Haiyang said. Then, he asked with some doubt, “But why would those people think that way? We are clearly just friends with Xiao Lingyu.”
Yuan Xuanhao said matter-of-factly, “Most villagers are conservative. Xiao Lingyu is single, and she is pretty. We’re all single young men, so it’s natural for them to think like that. Unlike in the city, we can’t make friends without considering their gender.”
“You’re right!” Zheng Haiyang and the others agreed.
Suddenly, Zheng Haiyang thought of something and said with a strange expression, “Hao, when we followed Xiao Lingye to the mountains to play, I heard a woman say that Xiao Lingyu broke up with a man not too long ago, but she was already seducing other men. She called Lingyu some horrible names.” Zheng Haiyang had a great power of hearing. The village woman thought he couldn’t hear her, but he did. Thankfully, Xiao Lingye didn’t hear the woman, or they would be in a fight.
“There’s such a thing?” Qian Yifan was intrigued. “However, isn’t it normal for Xiao Lingyu to have an ex-boyfriend or boyfriend at her age?”
Yuan Xuanhao said, “That is normal, yes. But based on what Haiyang said, Xiao Lingyu just broke up with that boyfriend, so our appearance caused people to gossip.” Only then did they realize the trouble they had caused Xiao Lingyu.
“Now, it makes sense.” Qian Yifan said, “When we first met Mother Xiao and told her we were Xiao Lingyu’s friends, there was a strange and suspicious look in her eyes. She must have thought we were there to pursue Xiao Lingyu. She was full of vigilance. At the time, I thought that was how the villagers treated outsiders, but now I realized she was alerted because she thought we were there for her daughter. Haha…”
They really took Xiao Lingyu as a friend. They were interested when they heard Ning Weiyi and his friends were going to Taoyuan Village to help Xiao Lingyu plant peanuts and soybeans. They were curious, so they followed along. Now that they had analyzed the situation, they felt quite embarrassed.
“Xiao Lingyu is a wonderful girl. If she really wants a boyfriend, I want to pursue her.” Zheng Haiyang said with a serious expression.
Qian Yifan spat out another mouthful of water. “Cough cough…” He patted his chest and asked, “Haiyang, are you serious?”
Zheng Haiyang nodded and said, “Of course I’m serious.”
“But she’s just a farmer and vegetable vendor.” Qian Yifan told Zheng Haiyang. “Plus, would Uncle Zheng agree? I heard that Uncle Zheng is very fond of the daughter of a certain company’s boss.”
Zheng Haiyang immediately said, “I’m the one marrying, not him. If he likes the daughter that much, he can marry her!”
“Tsk tsk, if Uncle Zheng heard this, he would slap you with his shoe!” Yuan Xuanhao said with a smile.
At this moment, he looked at Gu Ziye, who had a serious expression and had not said a word. He asked in puzzlement, “Ziye, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Gu Ziye explained, “When I first met Xiao Lingyu, I saw her talking and laughing with Jiang Tao. They were very close!”
“Jiang Tao?” Qian Yifan said, “Our cold-faced chief?”
“Yes!” Gu Ziye said, “Jiang Tao has been our police chief for three years already. Have any of you seen him being close to a woman and even laughing with them?”
Three years ago, Jiang Tao appeared out of nowhere and became the police chief in Xing Yin County. There was a rumor that Jiang Tao came from a powerful background and he was just here to gain experience. However, none of them could find out more about his family.
That meant that Jiang Tao’s family was very powerful. For the sake of safety, most local families had their children interact with Jiang Tao. If they couldn’t befriend him, they shouldn’t offend him.
Of the four, Gu Ziye was the only lucky one to have interacted a few times with Jiang Tao. Their connection was through Uncle Chen. They met a few times at Master Chen’s place, and Gu Ziye would go to greet Jiang Tao every time. But Jiang Tao was cold. Of course, he heard that Jiang Tao was cold to everyone.
The only time he saw Jiang Tao be relaxed and amicable was when they had dinner with Xiao Lingyu. At the time, Gu Ziye wanted to discuss cooperation with Xiao Lingyu. He half-joked that Jiang Tao was his friend. To his surprise, Jiang Tao laughed and helped him along.
In their circle, no one had been able to gain any favor from Jiang Tao before!
Jiang Tao was an upright police chief. He was also cold and unfeeling. He would always reject those who wanted to flatter him.
However, Gu Ziye met an exception.
The other three were silent.
Zheng Haiyang pretended to be confused and asked, “Ziye, what do you mean by that?”
Gu Ziye said seriously, “Xiao Lingyu is very likely to be Jiang Tao’s girlfriend!”
Zheng Haiyang pouted and said, “You said, very likely. Maybe she is not.”
Gu Ziye said, “Regardless, Haiyang, we can’t afford to offend Jiang Tao. You’ve heard of Jiang Tao’s background.”
Gu Ziye had to squash his friend’s thoughts before it was too late. If Zheng Haiyang pursued Xiao Lingyu and she was really Jiang Tao’s girlfriend, it would be a tragedy.
Zheng Haiyang was silent.
Yuan Xuanhao added, “Haiyang, what Gu Ziye said makes sense. We can’t afford to offend Jiang Tao. You’d better give up this idea!”
At this moment, Zheng Haiyang said with a smile, “Haha, I was just joking with you guys.”
“That’s good!” The others heaved a sigh of relief.
Other than the fear of offending Jiang Tao, there was another reason they didn’t want Zheng Haiyang to fall for Xiao Lingyu. They were incompatible with her. Even if they liked Xiao Lingyu, their families wouldn’t.
“Why are you guys looking at me like that? I swear I was only joking!” Zheng Haiyang saw the disbelief in his good friends’ eyes. He immediately rolled his eyes. “However, we need to be careful when we interact with Xiao Lingyu, especially at Taoyuan Village. We have appeared unannounced today. Who knows how much trouble we’ve caused her?”
Yuan Xuanhao rolled his eyes and said, “You really need to take your own advice. We need to watch ourselves in the future. It doesn’t matter because we’re men, but Lingyu is a woman. Reputation is important.”
…
Xiao Lingyu was not privy to the conversations between Gu Ziye and the men. She also didn’t know another big trouble was coming.
She was tired because she hadn’t done any fieldwork for a long time already.
She had been back home for a month, but she was only helping out around the house. This was her first time working the fields since she came back.
She teleported into the farming space to take a look when she reached the rental.. Then she showered and slept.