Wasn't the man standing at the entrance, with a gentle look, her Brother Chen Ping?
Chen Ping was just like his name—ordinary, refined, and scholarly, carrying a frail air ever since birth.
He spoke logically and studied hard in school. In the eyes of the villagers, he was a good lad destined for greatness.
Qi Sui had rushed to the county town to do business in a fluster, but Chen Ping hadn't. He had long held onto the betrothal gift money his parents left for him to marry. Relying on his connections in the county town, he successfully infiltrated Wan Zi Qian Hong as a waiter.
But what he had to do was more than just waiting tables.
Now, his face was flushed red from the heat, his lips red and teeth white, completely shedding his former rustic look.
To be honest, as soon as Qi Sui shouted "Brother Chen Ping," she regretted it.
Chen Ping looked too different from before.
Back then, they were both country kids facing the earth and sky, wearing patched clothes without feeling shabby, even pointing at each other and laughing.
But now?
The Brother Chen Ping she longed for was wearing a sharp, nice-looking outfit. Qi Sui didn't even know what it was called, but she knew her boyfriend looked—
Simply—
Simply no different from a city person.
But what about her?
She was still in her rustic clothes, wearing shiny crystal sandals with white socks showing, stained with muddy dust.
Qi Sui lowered her head, curling her toes, feeling so conflicted she wanted to dig a hole and hide so no one would see her.
Until her head was patted with a slap. She looked up and saw Brother Chen Ping smiling, still the same as before, asking softly:
"Sui Sui, have you eaten? Found a job yet?"
Brother Chen Ping hadn't changed!
She knew it!
Qi Sui happily handed over the hot buns she'd been holding, her voice filled with dependence:
"I've eaten, I've eaten! Brother Chen Ping, have you? I brought you two meat buns—they're so fragrant. Try them! They're made with fine white flour; we never had such good buns at home!"
"Oh," Chen Ping quickly took the two buns, his expression softening, "I knew our Sui Sui was the best. I'm about to starve. I'll take them back to eat later."
Qi Sui smiled with her lips pressed together, not showing her teeth. Her face was round, exuding a cute, naive charm.
But soon, hesitation appeared on her face. Chen Ping caught it and asked calmly:
"What's wrong, Sui Sui? Why do you look like you've been bullied?"
Qi Sui looked up at the imposing four characters on the building, then at the sharp, proper Brother Chen Ping, and mumbled:
"Brother Chen Ping, how's your job? Is anyone bullying you?"
She didn't understand terms like "money pit" or "gambling." But she did grasp one thing Sister Liang had said: "taking it up the butt"—
That meant playing with a man's rear!
Qi Sui knew about this because of an old man in her village when she was little. He had been a sent-down youth and stayed in the village so long that when he finally had a chance to return to the city, his family was gone.
He acted strangely, always alone, but was very close to a young village man. The villagers thought he was just lonely.
But one day, a gossipy woman passing by his house heard noises—indescribable noises.
Back then, every household's members were strictly recorded. Suspicious, the woman worried the old man was carrying on with a widow, which would tarnish the village's reputation.
But when they pushed open the door, they saw pale buttocks exposed. The young village man was into taking it up the butt, and the old man actually looked like he was enjoying it.
It became a full-blown scandal.
Qi Sui remembered because her mother had carried her to watch the spectacle, and she saw it all clearly.
This thing was bad.
But no one could say exactly why it was bad.
The farmers were honest folks; anything against common sense seemed like a scourge. The old man and the young man were driven out of the village together, and no one knew where they went.
Qi Sui worried that her Brother Chen Ping might be bullied too.
Besides—
Besides, Brother Chen Ping was so good-looking; people had always called him a sissy. Chen Ping never got angry, just said he knew who he was.
Chen Ping still wore that smiling expression, but there was a hint of impatience in his eyes.
"How could anyone bully me?"
His voice was clear, speaking slowly and deliberately, "Sui Sui, you don't know—everyone around me is from the city. They're all very reasonable. If you do something wrong, they don't scold you; they just tell you to reflect."
He let out a "Ha," as if he found it wonderful, "This is really a great place—much better than the village."
Was that so?
Qi Sui blinked, remembering how she had been blocked at the door by two guards who called her a village girl. No matter how she thought about it, city people seemed more condescending than villagers.
But Qi Sui couldn't bother arguing with Brother Chen Ping. She parroted everything Sister Liang had said, word for word, and to scare Chen Ping, she even scrunched up her face to emphasize how terrifying that "AIDS disease" was and how catching it could kill you!