country bumpkin

Kong Xiujin felt sad, and Xiong Shanhe felt sorry for her as he watched her wipe away tears with red eyes.

He advised, "Xiujin, don't be sad. Since your sisterly bond with her is broken, let's not bother her anymore. It's best for us to live our own lives peacefully. Let's not make her dislike us."

Kong Xiujin listened to Xiong Shanhe's advice and thought it made a lot of sense. Since they couldn't reach him, they should give up!

As long as Xiong Shanhe continues to treat her well, what does it matter if she has no friends? Having a family is enough for her.

As they walked and talked, Xiong Shanhe suddenly looked up and saw the place where they used to go on dates and have fun, and sighed again.

After walking for a while, Xiong Shanhe stopped in front of a small hotel. This hotel was a relatively hidden and inexpensive place located at the corner of an alley.

The two of them shared a room, which was only 6 square meters in size. Besides a bed, there was only enough space for a small table; it was very cramped.

The couple didn't have much money, and their travel expenses back to Kongjia Village were paid by her parents-in-law. After leaving her parents' home, Yuan Yicao gave her daughter another 50 yuan, telling her to buy whatever she wanted to eat.

Looking at the cramped and narrow room in front of her, Kong Xiujin felt suffocated and stifled.

Xiong Shanhe felt the same way, but for now, he could only make do for the night.

They didn't have much money, so they had to be careful with it, otherwise they wouldn't have enough for the return trip and would be in trouble. They didn't want to have to beg on foot to get home again.

Xiong Shanhe took off his clothes and lay down on the bed, telling Kong Xiujin to rest quickly.

Kong Xiujin could only endure the suffocating feeling as she lay on the bed. Fortunately, it was a double bed, big enough for two people to squeeze in.

They lay down without speaking, each thinking about what had happened in the past, and drifted off to sleep.

On the other side, Kong Xiufang and Lin Junhui returned home. After dinner, Song Shiyue took her grandson back to her room to rest.

The two lay in bed talking about what had happened that day. Lin Junhui asked, "Fangfang, do you want to forgive Kong Xiujin?"

Kong Xiufang sighed and said, "Whether I forgive her or not is irrelevant now. She's having a hard time right now, and I'm afraid I'll never see her again."

Lin Junhui said, "Yes, she married that man and went back to his hometown. She won't come to the city often anymore."

Kong Xiufang added, "Actually, I still feel a little guilty, after all, we used to be sisters. It was I who brought her to the city and to the garment factory, otherwise she wouldn't have met Xiong Shanhe."

Lin Junhui held her hand and comforted her, "Let bygones be bygones. You don't need to blame yourself too much. There are so many girls in the factory, how come only she went astray? It's not your fault. If someone doesn't want to take the straight path, who can they blame?"

The two chatted for a while longer before gradually falling asleep.

In that cramped hotel, Kong Xiujin was awakened in the middle of the night by a commotion. She groggily opened her eyes and found that Xiong Shanhe was not beside her.

She got up and saw that there was an argument outside the hotel. Kong Xiujin felt a little scared, put on her clothes, and went out of the room.

At the end of the corridor, she saw Xiong Shanhe arguing with a man. Apparently, the man was drunk and bumped into Xiong Shanhe when she got up to use the restroom, and he didn't apologize.

Kong Xiujin quickly stepped forward and pulled Xiong Shanhe back, urging him not to act impulsively. Looking at Kong Xiujin's worried eyes, Xiong Shanhe took a deep breath and led her back to their room.

Back in the room, Kong Xiujin hugged Xiong Shanhe tightly and said, "Don't be so impulsive in the future, I'm scared."

Xiong Shanhe patted her back and said softly, "Don't worry, I'm here. I won't make you worry anymore."

The two lay down again, embraced each other, and drifted off to sleep.

The moonlight outside the window, like a gentle stream, quietly spills onto the earth, as if softly draping all things in the world in a layer of mysterious silver gauze.

The next day, the two got up, quickly washed their faces, and went to eat breakfast. They went to a stall selling large steamed buns and bought two meat-filled buns and two vegetarian-filled buns.

Xiong Shanhe pushed the meat-filled buns to Kong Xiujin, and ate two large vegetarian buns himself. He didn't buy soup, but only poured a bowl of free boiled water.

After quickly finishing their meal, Xiong Shanhe led Kong Xiujin to the bus station to wait for their bus. While waiting at the Yicheng bus station, they met Xiao Zhang, a male worker from the garment factory.

Xiao Zhang had been bullied by Xiong Shanhe before. Xiong Shanhe took a liking to Xiao Zhang's younger sister and wanted her to be his mistress. Xiao Zhang, to avenge his sister, beat up Xiong Shanhe.

Xiong Shanhe deliberately made things difficult for Xiao Zhang, picking fights with him every day for no reason. After this happened repeatedly, Xiao Zhang couldn't take it anymore and had no choice but to resign.

Now, Xiao Zhang works as a porter at the bus station. He carries and hauls goods for people and picks up and drops off passengers on the side.

He was sitting in his empty tricycle waiting for customers when he suddenly saw a familiar figure – it was Xiong Shanhe.

Xiong Shanhe had changed drastically. He was no longer as arrogant and domineering as before, and he was much thinner.

His skin had darkened, and he was wearing an ordinary shirt and a faded old chuck. He used to wear a Zhongshan suit with a pen clipped to his breast pocket, which made him look quite imposing.

He is now a completely different person from when he was a section chief.

Looking at the thin, sallow woman next to Xiong Shanhe, and seeing how close the two were, she must be his new wife.

He left the company before Kong Xiujin joined the factory, so he didn't know her.

However, this did not stop him from hearing the rumors about Xiong Shanhe, so this thin and sallow woman must be Xiong Shanhe's mistress when he was a section chief.

Thinking of this, Xiao Zhang's eyes flashed with a fierce light as he walked towards Xiong Shanhe.

Xiong Shanhe was alarmed to find Xiao Zhang glaring at him fiercely and walking towards him; he knew this guy meant no harm.

Xiong Shanhe wanted to run, but then he remembered that Kong Xiujin was pregnant. He knew he couldn't run very fast; he could only face Xiao Zhang.

He instinctively shielded Kong Xiujin behind him.

Xiao Zhang walked up to them and sneered, "Oh, isn't this Section Chief Xiong? What happened to you and you've fallen on hard times?"

Xiong Shanhe forced himself to remain calm and said, "Xiao Zhang, let's not bring up the past anymore."

Xiao Zhang snorted: "Past events? I'll never forget how you bullied me back then." As he spoke, he raised his fist.

Seeing this, Kong Xiujin quickly said, "Brother, it's all in the past. He's changed now. Let's not dwell on it. We still need to catch our train."

Looking at Kong Xiujin's frail appearance, Xiao Zhang's anger subsided slightly. However, he still didn't want to let Xiong Shanhe off easily.

Just then, the bus station's loudspeaker announced that their bus was about to depart.

Xiong Shanhe was about to leave with Kong Xiujin when Xiao Zhang stopped them: "Want to leave? Not so easy."

Just as the atmosphere became tense, a station staff member came over and asked what had happened.

Seeing this, Xiao Zhang had no choice but to lower his fist and move aside. He didn't want to offend the bus station staff, otherwise how would he wait for work in the future?

Xiao Zhang spat angrily, "You won't be so lucky next time I see you."

Xiong Shanhe was extremely flustered. He quickly got into the car with Kong Xiujin and watched Xiao Zhang gradually disappear out the window. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief.