In other words, Luo Dashan ant that only a mundane woman like Zhou Yuni was fit to be with him, leading a life of unbearable hardship.
Now she wanted to see which good man this fairy-like woman, as Luo Dashan described, was paired with, who had ended up living in this place.
Thus, Zhou Yuni waited on the side with a very conflicted heart.
Neither of them knew how long they had been waiting; it must have been an hour or so, and they never saw Xiutao co or go, which left Zhou Yuni feeling weak in the legs and wanting to find a place to sit down.
But she saw Luo Dashan standing straight at the mouth of the alley, staring intently inside, so Zhou Yuni gritted her teeth and continued to stand.
After about another half an hour, a commotion suddenly ca from inside the alley. Imdiately, many people living there ca out of their houses to look towards the commotion.
Once they figured out which household was having the quarrel, most of them appeared indifferent and went back inside, as if they had seen such scenes many tis before and were used to it.
From where Luo Dashan was standing, he wasn’t sure if it was the house at the very end of the alley that was having a quarrel, but he was worried that sothing might have happened at Xiutao’s house, so he took a few steps inside.
Just as Luo Dashan was about to walk a few steps further to find out, a man and a woman suddenly ran out of the alley.
The one in front was a young man, looking no more than twenty years old, holding a handful of money, and running quickly out of the alley.
Behind him, a disheveled woman, who appeared to be sowhat older, was chasing him. Her steps were faltering, unable to catch up with the young man in front, but she was urgently shouting, "Xiao Wei, don’t take all the money at once, leave so for the family; we haven’t had money to buy food for days."
"If there’s no money, go to Uncle’s house; Uncle has so much money; it’s a waste not to take it," Xiao Wei said, slowing his pace and turning to look at the woman running behind him, saying through gritted teeth, "Besides, if it weren’t for him, would you have ended up like this, marrying such a man, and I wouldn’t have been born into this family."
It was evident that the woman didn’t want to talk about these matters. She didn’t respond to him but continued talking about the money, "Xiao Wei, I asked your uncle for several hundred yuan just a few days ago; I’m embarrassed to ask again. Just leave tens of dollars for living expenses. You wouldn’t want to see starve to death at ho, would you?"
Hearing this, a trace of pity flickered in Xiao Wei’s eyes. After hesitating for a mont, he reluctantly pulled out a few bills and, with a look of annoyance, said, "Fine, fine, here’s so money; it’s driving crazy."
The young man said this and impatiently threw the money onto the ground, right at Luo Dashan’s feet.
Instinctively, Luo Dashan bent down, intending to help pick up the money and hand it to the woman.
As soon as Luo Dashan picked up the money, the woman, as if frantic, rushed over and snatched the money from Luo Dashan’s hand, shouting, "Don’t touch it; it’s mine, it’s mine."
Being this close, Luo Dashan finally got a good look at the disheveled woman. At the mont of recognizing her face, Luo Dashan was completely stunned.
Wasn’t this the Xiutao he had been longing to et?
Although thirty years had passed, Xiutao’s face showed her age, her skin no longer as fair and clear as before, and her clothes were much more shabby, but her features were still familiar. Moreover, she was soone he had always kept in his heart, so how could he possibly mistake her?
However, this Xiutao was worlds apart from the image he had in his mind.
The Xiutao in front of him was wearing an oversized coarse cloth jacket of indeterminate age, covered in stains and so black marks that couldn’t be cleaned, her hair was gathered in a simple bun at the back, with strands of hair scattered all around, her face was dusty and sallow, as if she had not had enough to eat for a long ti, even won in the countryside might look better than her.
Despite knowing he couldn’t be wrong about the person, Luo Dashan hesitated to acknowledge her, his eyes fixated steadily on the person in front of him.
At this ti, Xiutao, fearing that Luo Dashan might have taken her money, frantically ran over to snatch the money from his hand, counting it in her hands, too busy to look at who had picked up her money.
After she finished counting the money, she noticed the person opposite her was staring at her, which puzzled her, so she moved her gaze to the opposite person.
Clearly, she recognized Luo Dashan imdiately as well.
Although Luo Dashan had been living in the countryside with a life not particularly good, n’s clothing and appearance change little over decades, so Xiutao recognized him instantly.
Sure enough, Xiutao had a long mont of disbelief, her body trembled again, her eyes widened, staring at Luo Dashan, afraid to acknowledge it.
Finally, after both of them ca to terms with it, Luo Dashan excitedly grabbed Xiutao’s arm, his voice trembling as he asked, "Xiutao, is it really you?"
Upon hearing Luo Dashan’s familiar voice, Xiutao imdiately felt her nose sting, her eyes welling up as if tears were going to spill over, but she tried her best to hold them back. Then she shook off Luo Dashan’s grip on her arm as if she didn’t recognize him and shook her head, saying, "I’m not Xiutao, you’ve got the wrong person."
With that, Xiutao turned and intended to leave.
But Luo Dashan blocked her path, looking at her with certainty and said, "Xiutao, it’s you. I know it’s you. I can’t mistake you for soone else. You are the Xiutao from Luojia Village back then."
At the ntion of the past, Xiutao felt imnse sha and anger. Over the years, she had always regretted why she had to replace her brother going to the countryside back then. Afterward, she was forced to do those things in the countryside, leading to her current predicant.
Therefore, she harshly shoved Luo Dashan away this ti, her eyes showing a hint of hatred, and spoke as if venting, "I said you got the wrong person, and you did. I am not Xiutao at all, nor do I know who Xiutao is. If you’re looking for soone, go elsewhere instead of coming to this place."
Seeing Xiutao like this, Luo Dashan didn’t mind at all and continued, "Xiutao, you may forget , but you won’t forget our child, right? He is all grown up, joined the army, doing well in the military, and now married with children, living happily as a family of four."
Upon ntioning their child, the look of hatred in Xiutao’s eyes intensified. She no longer denied being Xiutao and started shouting carelessly, "Don’t speak to about the child. If it wasn’t for that child, I, Liu Xiutao, wouldn’t be what I am today. I resent it, resent myself, resent you, and resent that child."
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