Chapter 1: Will You Marry Me?
“Sniffle, sniffle…”
In a daze, Li Yi seemed to hear a girl crying, followed immediately by a commotion that grew louder and louder.
Struggling to open his eyes, Li Yi stared at the scene before him, completely bewildered!
What met his eyes was no longer a hospital ward, but a dim, cramped mud-brick hut. The smell of disinfectant had vanished from the air, replaced by a faint, pleasant fragrance.
Through the paper window screen, Li Yi saw a crowd gathered outside and faintly heard their chaotic voices:
“What a disgrace! How could Tang Xue end up in bed with that street thug from the Li family? What was she thinking?”
“You’re telling me! Little Tang is about to go back to the city—what on earth are we going to do now?”
“If word of this gets back to the village committee, do you think Little Tang will be in trouble?”
“Ah, it’s truly a case of a fine flower planted in cow dung. What a pity for Tang Xue, a virgin girl…”
In bed?
Tang Xue?
A glimmer of clarity pierced Li Yi’s muddled mind, and he turned toward the sobbing figure in the corner!
Although the girl was wrapped in a thin blanket, her little head buried between her legs, Li Yi’s heart still skipped a beat!
It was her—Tang Xue, the woman who had haunted him with guilt his entire life!
“Smack!”
Li Yi slapped himself hard across the face, and half his face swelled up instantly!
It hurt!
Is this real?
Had he really gone back forty years?
After forcing himself to calm down, Li Yi tried to piece together his current situation.
Judging by the situation outside, he must have gone back to the day after he’d accidentally slept with Tang Xue, and now he was cornered on the kang.
Tang Xue wasn’t a member of the Nanzishan Brigade; she was a female educated youth who had been sent down here from her hometown in Qin Province three years ago.
Because she was close friends with Li Yi’s third older sister, Li Na, Tang Xue often visited the Li household and was deeply loved by Li Yi’s parents.
Just a few days earlier, Tang Xue had received a notice from the county authorities instructing her to return to the city, marking the end of her life as an educated youth in the Nianzi Mountain Brigade.
To bid farewell to Tang Xue and several other educated youths returning to the city, the Nianzi Mountain Brigade held a farewell party. At the party, many people got drunk, including Tang Xue.
To look after her tipsy best friend, Li Na took Tang Xue back to her own home and put her up in her younger brother Li Yi’s room—after all, her brother hadn’t been home for several days, so it wouldn’t matter if she slept there for one night.
However, no one could have anticipated that Li Yi would return home in the middle of the night—and he, too, had had quite a bit to drink.
And so, Li Yi and Tang Xue ended up in bed together by accident!
Early the next morning, several educated youths from the village came to the Li household looking for Tang Xue, intending to pack her things and head back to the city. Instead, they caught the two of them in bed together.
Word of the incident quickly reached Li Yi’s parents and the rest of the villagers, who now gathered outside Li Yi’s room to gawk at the spectacle!
Outside the wooden door, Feng Kai, the Party branch secretary of Nianzishan Brigade, glared darkly at Li Shankui, who was crouched on the ground beside him, and demanded angrily, “Shankui, how could your family do such a thing? How am I supposed to explain this to the county authorities?”
Li Shankui said nothing, merely taking deep drags from his pipe. No one knew what was going through his mind!
It was Li’s mother, Zhang Yuehong, who spoke up anxiously, “Uncle Feng, please think of a way out of this! Little Yi won’t end up in jail, will he?”
Feng Kai said in a grave tone, “If Xiao Tang decides to press charges against your son, he’ll definitely be sentenced to prison!”
“Oh my God, the sky is falling… Xiao Yi is our only son. He can’t go to prison…”
Perhaps not wanting to hear Zhang Yuehong’s wailing, Secretary Feng cut in sharply, “Enough with the fuss. Right now, there’s only one way—and it might just save Xiao Yi!”
“What’s the solution?”
“Have Xiao Yi marry Tang Xue—but only if Tang Xue agrees!”
Hearing this, Li’s parents fell silent!
Never mind that their son was uneducated, unemployed, and unqualified to be with Tang Xue—according to the policies from above, once an educated youth married locally, they could no longer be arranged to return to the city.
Because of this, many educated youth had been filing for divorce at the county Civil Affairs Bureau recently.
Tang Xue had already received her notice to return to the city. If she were to get married now, she would likely lose her eligibility to return—and surely no one would agree to that!
At that moment, Li Yi’s third older sister, Li Na, stood up and said, “I’ll go ask Xiao Xue!”
“Creak!”
The wooden door of the mud-brick house swung open, and Li Na’s spirited figure appeared in the room!
She first glared angrily at Li Yi, then said coldly, “Get dressed and get out of my way!”
Knowing his third older sister was furious, Li Yi didn’t dare say a word. He hurriedly found his clothes on the kang, pulled them on, and headed for the door.
The moment he opened the door, everyone’s gaze fixed on Li Yi.
Li Shankui, who had been smoking just moments ago, suddenly stood up, grabbed a cattle whip from nearby, and charged toward Li Yi, lashing the whip straight across his back.
Li Yi remembered that lashing from his past life all too well—not because of the pain, but because he had run away, and his father had broken his arm chasing after him to beat him.
So, when he saw the whip coming at him, this time he made no move to dodge!
“Ouch!”
The excruciating pain made Li Yi’s whole body tremble, but he didn’t dodge or run—instead, he knelt directly before his elderly father!
Enraged, Li Shankui’s anger was not appeased by his son’s kneeling; the whip in his hand cracked and lashed against Li Yi’s body.
Soon, Li Yi’s clothes were torn in several places, and his back was covered with seven or eight bloody welts.
At that moment, Zhang Yuehong snapped out of her daze. She rushed forward to stop Li Shankui, wailing, “You old fool! Do you want to beat my son to death… waaah…”
“Get the hell out of my way! It’s you, you old hag, who spoiled him rotten—drinking, gambling, whoring, swindling, and cheating. Now he’s done something so utterly depraved. Do you really want to watch him get dragged to the execution ground while you munch on peanuts?” Li Shankui shouted furiously.
Just as the commotion was reaching its peak, Li Na emerged from the house and shouted, “Everyone, stop arguing!”
The crowd fell silent instantly, all eyes fixed on Li Na!
Li Na ignored the others and said to Li Yi, “Go inside. Xiao Xue has something to tell you!”
Li Yi stood up from the muddy ground, gritting his teeth against the pain in his back, and turned toward the mud-brick house.
Once inside, Li Yi saw that Tang Xue had already gotten dressed, but her expression remained sorrowful and desolate—a sight that tugged at his heartstrings.
“I’m sorry!”
Tang Xue didn’t respond to Li Yi’s apology, but instead said in a hoarse voice, “Will you marry me?”
Hearing those words again, Li Yi felt a surge of mixed emotions, and for a moment, he was completely lost in thought!