Chapter 128 - 127: Wang Defa Freaks Out
They joked around for a while longer, then suddenly fell silent at the same time.
"Lin Zhiyin, so... are you willing to be my girlfriend?"
Zhao Wendong looked at Lin Zhiyin. The wind around them seemed to stand still. The only sound was the CLIP-CLOP of the big brown horse’s hooves on the snow. Flakes of snow began to drift down from the sky.
Lin Zhiyin didn’t speak. She just quietly gazed back at the anxious Zhao Wendong. ’Her mind raced, replaying every little moment she had spent with him: the way he had taken care of her these past few days, the help he had given her parents, and the blissful feeling of being protected by him. Was this love? She didn’t know, but she liked it very much.’
’The more she looked at Zhao Wendong’s face, the more dear it became to her. Slowly, it felt as if he was the only one in her heart and in her sight. He was the one who had freed her from her worries. He was the one who had given her whole family hope. And he was the one who had made her start to believe in this world again.’
Just as Zhao Wendong’s heart was about to sink to its lowest depths, Lin Zhiyin slowly nodded. She looked at him seriously and said, word by word...
"I’m willing!"
Zhao Wendong felt a wave of pure ecstasy wash over him. He burst out laughing. He wanted to reach out and hug Lin Zhiyin, but he was a bit nervous. ’People aren’t that open in this day and age. This is the first girlfriend I’ve had in two lifetimes. If I’m too rash, will I scare her?’ Zhao Wendong couldn’t help but start overthinking things, afraid of losing what he just gained.
At a loss for words, he blurted out subconsciously.
"Thank you, Lin Zhiyin! Thank you for thinking so highly of me. I, Zhao Wendong, will definitely give you the best life possible!"
"Pfft!"
Lin Zhiyin couldn’t help but let out a laugh. It grew louder and louder until her face was blooming like a flower and her eyes were curved like crescent moons. She laughed so hard she bent over, clutching her stomach as she looked at the dazed-looking Zhao Wendong.
"I believe you, Zhao Wendong! But why are you thanking me? If anything, I should be thanking you! You’re the one who’s been helping and taking care of me! Let’s not keep thanking each other from now on, okay? Aren’t we a couple now?"
"Mm, you’re right!"
Zhao Wendong nodded happily.
"Since we’re a couple now, I won’t thank you, and you don’t thank me. Let’s not be strangers with each other. Now then, come on, let me see your legs!"
Lin Zhiyin looked confused.
"See my legs? What’s wrong with my legs?"
As she spoke, she stretched out her long legs, which even her thick, cotton-padded pants couldn’t hide, for Zhao Wendong to see.
’Oh crap,’ Zhao Wendong thought. He’d accidentally blurted out a phrase he picked up from short-form videos in his past life, back when he was an old man practically confined to his bed. Luckily, Lin Zhiyin didn’t get the reference. He quickly pretended to inspect her legs.
"Nothing’s wrong. I was just checking if you were wearing enough. It’s started snowing, and I was worried you’d get cold!"
"Oh, it’s fine. I’m wearing the new cotton-padded pants you bought me underneath. I’m plenty warm!"
Lin Zhiyin didn’t suspect a thing and was actually quite touched by Zhao Wendong’s thoughtfulness.
"This snow won’t get heavier, will it?"
Zhao Wendong looked up at the sky. There was no wind, and the cloud cover wasn’t too thick.
"It’s fine. It won’t get heavy, but it won’t stop for a little while."
Lin Zhiyin hummed in agreement, shuffled closer to Zhao Wendong, and rested her head on his shoulder. Zhao Wendong’s body stiffened for a moment, then he slowly relaxed. He could feel something called happiness beginning to grow in his heart.
"Zhao Wendong, can we really keep this little tiger?"
"Mhm, we can, but not for long."
Zhao Wendong was telling the truth. These were hard years, even for people. A full-grown tiger required an astonishing amount of food. The game they got from hunting probably wouldn’t be enough to feed it.
Lin Zhiyin had clearly thought of this too. She hugged the little tiger tighter, letting it sleep more comfortably, and looked at its cute, tiger-like face with reluctance.
"Let me give it a name!"
"Okay!"
"How about we call him Tiger Head? Because he has such a cute, tiger-like head!"
"He’s already a tiger. You might as well call him Pig Head!"
"You shut up!"
Lin Zhiyin raised a fist and playfully swatted him. She thought long and hard again. Just as the houses on the outskirts of the county town came into view, she finally made up her mind.
"Then let’s call him Zhuangzhuang."
"What the heck?"
’Zhuangzhuang, my ass,’ Zhao Wendong thought, a little speechless. ’Why does that name sound so cringey?’
"Zhuangzhuang. I hope he can grow up healthy and strong, and become the most handsome king of the mountains. How’s that for a name?"
"Great! That’s a really good name!"
Zhao Wendong nodded in agreement, a look of approval on his face. ’I feel so dirty right now,’ he thought, consoling himself. ’Lin Zhiyin is my girlfriend now. I’m supposed to make her happy.’
Since the horse-drawn sleigh was empty on the way back, their return trip was faster than their journey out. It was only 2:40 in the afternoon when they entered the county town’s streets. The sky hadn’t started to darken yet. Zhao Wendong tucked the pocket watch back into his coat and looked at the dense crowd on the Robe.
The sleigh happened to be passing the grain station, where several hundred people were waiting outside in the light snow, hoping to buy some grain at a high price.
Seeing Zhao Wendong approach on a horse-drawn sleigh, a crowd of people swarmed forward. When they saw his sleigh was empty, devoid of any grain, they left in disappointment and went back to squatting on the Robe, waiting for the next person who might have grain to sell.
The sleigh made its way to the county’s main purchasing station. Wang Defa wasn’t there. Zhao Wendong didn’t stand on ceremony; he familiarly drove the big brown horse to the station’s warehouse. He handed a Grape brand cigarette to Old Liu, who was in charge of the livestock and the warehouse, and the two of them started chatting away, puffing out clouds of smoke.
Lin Zhiyin’s brow furrowed slightly. Her father didn’t smoke, and she had hated smoking since she was a child. But she immediately had a startling thought, secretly admonishing herself. ’Just because Zhao Wendong likes me doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want. In this era, cigarettes and alcohol are inseparable, and most men enjoy both. It would be foolish to try and restrict Zhao Wendong because of my own preferences.’
After a short wait, Wang Defa hurried back, an anxious look on his face. When he saw Zhao Wendong, his expression immediately changed to one of unconcealed, pleasant surprise.
"Haha, Wendong, when did you get back?"
"Just a little while ago. Brother Wang, where did you run off to? You look a little troubled."
"Hah, don’t even ask!"
Wang Defa gloomily accepted the Grape cigarette Zhao Wendong offered him. He was just about to pull out his own matches when Zhao Wendong flicked on a lighter with a CLICK. Wang Defa glanced at the lighter and chuckled.
"Haha, you managed to pry Old Zheng’s prized possession away from him? How’d you do it? That old coot is as stingy as they come!"
"Hehehe, Brother Zheng isn’t stingy with me!"
Wang Defa was about to speak when he seemed to notice something was off. He jerked his head up and stared at Lin Zhiyin for a few moments, a stunned and amazed look in his eyes. Then he pulled Zhao Wendong aside.
"Wendong! I know Lin Zhiyin’s class background isn’t good, but she has such a great personality! Sure, she wasn’t as pretty as this one, but you can’t just replace her so quickly! I’m not trying to lecture you as your big brother, but what you’ve done here is just not right!"
"Hahaha!"
Zhao Wendong couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Lin Zhiyin overheard and walked over, explaining with a mix of amusement and emotion.
"Brother Wang, I *am* Lin Zhiyin!"
"Huh?"
Wang Defa was dumbfounded!
After a good while, once he understood the whole story, he couldn’t help but give Zhao Wendong a thumbs-up.
"Little brother, you’ve got some serious luck with the ladies! You go out to sea and catch four thousand jin of fish, you find a girlfriend and she turns out to be this beautiful... your luck, man, I’m impressed!"
Zhao Wendong shot him a smug look, raising his eyebrows. The expression on his face was so cocky that Lin Zhiyin felt like kicking him.
"Hehe, Brother Wang, you don’t get it. This isn’t called luck; this is what you call skill, you know? Besides, luck is a part of skill! Back in the day, the old man, he..."
"Oh, stop rambling. Weren’t you going to ask Brother Wang what happened?"
Lin Zhiyin directly covered Zhao Wendong’s mouth. Her reminder brought Wang Defa back to what he was going to say, and he spoke with a gloomy expression.
"A truck from the transport team is missing!"