In the 14th year of the Republic of China, Tianjin, late spring in April.

Although it stands to reason that it is now summer, but the weather in Tianjin is still cold, there was a light snow two days ago, open the window to see out, the eyes are full of white, and the summer is not close to the edge, the silver is thinly wrapped, a bit of spring cold meaning.

Lin Baitang sat cross-legged on the kang to pick leeks, this is a light job, it doesn't take much effort, the main thing is to pinch the wilted and yellowed leeks and throw them down, and throw the rest of the good ones into the well bucket on the side to stir them, so that the leeks are fresh and tender, and when they will fry a leek egg and make dumplings to eat, even if they don't add any more seasoning, they also reveal a fresh taste.

Lin Baitang couldn't help swallowing saliva when she thought about it, but before she finished picking the vegetables, she heard Uncle Zhou, who was driving the ox cart in the village, shouting, "Lin girl, someone from your family is here." ”

This sound came suddenly, Lin Baitang was inevitably stunned, the death of her parents is something that everyone in the village knows, and in addition, there is no one in his family.

It's a little scary to think about.

Although his mind was full of doubts, but it was not good to make people wait, Lin Baitang wiped the mud on his hands on the apron casually, and answered while opening the door: "Eh, here it is." ”

Lijia Village is close to the mountains, and most of the people in the village eat and drink by digging in the soil, so most of them wear gray coarse cloth, one is dirt-resistant, and the other is also strong, but now Lin Baitang is standing outside the door, but it is a modern young man wearing a dress and taking his small suitcase from the ox cart.

Isn't this his fiancé Meng Zhenghui? Lin Baitang said in his heart.

I didn't expect him to really find this place, but it's normal, after all, he still has other people's money in his hands.

He has now been kicked out of his home, and he is probably living on the money.

Their marriage should have collapsed, and they came to ask for money.

Give it to him or not.

You have to give it to him, otherwise this money is hot, but you can't give it in vain, how much, you have to give yourself a little hard money.

Lin Baitang's mind was interrupted by Meng Zhenghui's action of taking out the money from the wallet after taking the box, she took a step and took the wallet from Meng Zhenghui's hand, stuffed back half of the big ticket that Meng Zhenghui had drawn, and then took out a few pieces of change from her pocket, and handed it to Uncle Zhou, with a bright smile on her face: "Thank you, you can take these money to drink and warm up." ”

Meng Zhenghui looked at the tickets and seemed to feel a little less, and was about to say something, but was glared at by Lin Baitang, so he had to swallow his words, and only said softly: "It's hard work." ”

Uncle Zhou smiled and took the money and put it in his pocket, he was not used to Meng Zhenghui's serious way of thanking him, waved his hand casually, and then set up the ox cart and swayed to his house again.

Lin Baitang saw that Meng Zhenghui's cowhide wallet was pinched by herself A few mud marks, she didn't feel embarrassed, picked up the apron and wiped it a few times, handed it to Meng Zhenghui, and didn't forget to educate him: "Generally, just take an ox cart and give a dime, it's all like you, take a few yuan, and they will pit you in the future." ”

Meng Zhenghui didn't refute, just nodded and said gently: "I'll pay attention next time." ”

Lin Baitang is a person who eats soft and does not eat hard, he couldn't do anything about Meng Zhenghui's temper when he was in Meng's house before, and it is the same now, as soon as he is soft, Lin Baitang has nowhere to say when his stomach is full, so he has to take the initiative to help Meng Zhenghui carry a box, and said: "Let's go into the house, you came by coincidence, I am cooking, did you eat on the way." ”

Meng Zhenghui carried other things and followed: "Eat some in the morning, ...... at noon Haven't eaten yet. ”

Meng Zhenghui's words were a little hesitant, he actually saw a lot of food sellers on the road, but the closer he got to the countryside, the rougher the food became, and the ones that were not covered were placed on the side of the road, and the dust raised by cars fell on the food.

The person who sells doesn't care, just pat it and sell it, and the person who buys it doesn't care, and after buying it, he pats it and eats it.

Meng Zhenghui was a little hungry before, but he also bought two pieces of cooking cakes, but he just looked at the thin layer of dust on it, patted it a few times, and didn't shoot it off, but didn't put it in his mouth, but stuffed it into the box casually, which was the one Lin Baitang was carrying.

Lin Baitang heard the hesitation in Meng Zhenghui's words, but she misunderstood.

She thought that Meng Zhenghui used to live in a small western-style building, and there were smooth bricks and tiles everywhere that were exquisite, although she didn't show her dislike for this small courtyard at this time, but looking at his hesitant steps, she could also see that he was afraid that he had never been to such a place in the past 20 years.

There was no coat rack at the door, and no one came up to take over the coat, Meng Zhenghui hesitated to know where to put the box in his hand, or Lin Baitang directly reached out and took it and put it on the cabinet next to him.

He deliberately wiped the stool with a cloth and let Meng Zhenghui sit.

Lin Baitang didn't want to get more money later to please Meng Zhenghui, she was just a little soft-hearted, she felt that the eldest young master fell to this point a few months ago, although she couldn't take care of it everywhere, but let him feel comfortable, she was still willing to do these little things.

Before Meng Zhenghui came, Lin Baitang was picking leeks, so he sat back at this time, and asked while picking: "Have you taken care of everything at home?"

Meng Zhenghui was wearing a suit and windbreaker that Lin Baitang was used to, and his hair was carefully combed back, looking still the same upper-class appearance, but because of the busyness of this time, and the bumps on the ox cart before, he looked a little embarrassed.

He sat elegantly on a creaky old wooden chair and nodded: "Yes, everything has been counted and taken away by the person entrusted by my father before his death, and we should not be able to go back without children." ”

For a man who has just lost a loved one, his reaction is actually a little too calm.

Lin Baitang sighed, and from Meng Zhenghui's sentence, we heard that Meng Zhenghui didn't seem to have any intention of terminating the marriage contract.

Lin Baitang looked back at him, Meng Zhenghui was stretching, he seemed to be laughing, and he seemed to sigh tiredly: "I can also make time to be sad." ”

When Meng Zhenghui said this, it was actually no different from his usual tone, but Lin Baitang's heart was pinched when he heard it.

Lin Baitang and Meng Zhenghui have only known each other for a few months, but because they love him for their beautiful and gentle appearance, they also have a little love for him, and they can't help but feel a little motherly, and want to pat him on the back to comfort him, but she didn't move, just pulled the wilting leek leaves, and whispered: "The meal is almost ready." ”

She didn't get a response, though.

Meng Zhenghui has been tired for too long, but now he is finally at ease, although he is sitting on a chair with different legs, maybe it is the warmth in the room, or maybe he sees a familiar person, he actually fell asleep like this.

Meng Zhenghui slept until dark, and when he first woke up, he looked at the waste paper wall and the slightly old room, and even felt a little dreaming, and then remembered that he was in his fiancée's house.

To be honest, he didn't know how he could sleep so deeply, and he couldn't imagine how Lin Baitang's small physique took off a sleeping self and moved it to the bed.

Stretched comfortably, he got up to look for Lin Baitang, Lin Baitang didn't go far, just sat next to the stove and guarded the light doing needlework, and when he saw that he was awake, he put the needlework basket in his hand, and put the wet cloth to lift the lid of the pot: "Wake up, let's eat." ”

Meng Zhenghui saw that the pot was filled with dumplings that were heated through water, and remembered that when he came, he saw Lin Baitang picking leeks: "Didn't you eat at noon?"

Lin Baitang spoke, but he didn't delay his work, and moved the table and put the dishes and chopsticks very neatly: "I was going to eat with you, but you have been asleep, and when I was packing up the box for you, I saw two pieces of bread inside, so I ate it first." ”

Meng Zhenghui has never done these things, when Lin Baitang lived in Meng's house before, he had never seen Lin Baitang do this, after all, there were a lot of maids and wives at that time, they just needed to be honest, so that now Meng Zhenghui wants to help, but he doesn't know where to start, but because a very tall man is standing here and dangling, it seems a little in the way.

Lin Baitang couldn't help frowning, but when she saw Meng Zhenghui lowering her eyelashes and being a little lost, she handed the dumplings to Meng Zhenghui: "You go eat first, I'll pour the water in the pot." ”

Meng Zhenghui answered, and as soon as he walked to the inner room, he heard a sharp female voice outside: "Yo, isn't this Lin girl, when I went to the city to have a lot of scenery, why did I come back to our small place now?"

Meng Zhenghui has been away all these years, although he doesn't have to worry about the trivial things in life, he still has some understanding of human feelings, like listening to this sentence in his ears, he can know that the person who said this has no bad intentions.

Because he was afraid that Lin Baitang would suffer a loss, he hurriedly walked out in a few steps, but forgot that he still had dumplings in his hand.

The gate of the courtyard was open, and a fat woman in a flower shirt leaned against the door and looked in, and when she saw the white-flour dumplings in Meng Zhenghui's hand, her eyes lit up, and her fat body turned into the house as soon as she twisted it, and she pretended to be kind to educate Lin Baitang: "I also eat dumplings, this is not a year, you don't have adults in your family, you just won't live." ”

Most of the people in the village are simple, and it is common for them to stay and eat a meal, but they usually stay when they eat coarse grains, and when they eat this kind of fine grain, most of them find their own reasons to leave.

But obviously, the woman in front of her didn't seem to want any face.

This woman Meng Zhenghui also had a vague impression, when he was shopping with Lin Baitang, he was seen by a woman who went to the city to sell vegetables, she saw that Lin Baitang and herself were dressed well, so she had some attachment thoughts, and sent her son and herself to the door of Meng's house, saying that it was from the villagers, and begged Lin Baitang to give her food, not more, just give a few dozen yuan a month.

It's also thanks to what she said, a couple of people with no special skills, dare to ask for such a high price, you must know that it is the master in the restaurant, only a dozen yuan a month, they just saw that it was not good for Lin Baitang to live in her husband's house before she got married, so they didn't care if they were engaged or not, the main room, anyway, they made up their minds that Lin Baitang would take the money to settle the matter.

But they did calculate correctly, when these words reached Meng Zhenghui's ears, Meng Zhenghui really wanted to use money to gag their mouths, after all, although their own family knew that this was false, they couldn't prevent outsiders from talking about it.

However, when the housekeeper reported that day, Meng Zhenghui and Lin Baitang were together, Lin Baitang stopped Meng Zhenghui's decision, and instead asked the housekeeper to drive people away.

And it is precisely because of this that the fat woman holds a grudge against Lin Baitang, feeling that she has cut off her own wealth, no matter how you look at her, she used to be in the city, she couldn't help it, but now that she has returned to the township, it can be seen that she is down, so she can't help but pinch and knead it?

The fat woman thought about it, the expression on her face was even more arrogant, and she was still thinking that if she could eat this meal of white flour dumplings today, she would be willing to scold Lin Baitang a few words.