Training the Heavens

Chapter 192 Li Xiuzhi

"Alright! I won't drink a sip of wine from you, but you should at least give me a sip of water, right? It's really tough! You ran thirty miles back and forth without touching the ground all afternoon." He stretched out his hand to scoop a ladle of well water from the lead bucket, drank it all in one gulp, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve and let out a long "Hi".

Then he shouted outside, "Hey! Why don't you come in? Come in, come in! This is your home. Come and meet me, this is the 'Old Right' I was talking about. His full name is Xu Lingjun. He's good in every way, except that he's a little poor, but the poorer he is, the more glorious he is!"

Xu Lingjun looked over from the door and saw a group of children outside surrounding a strange girl. The girl was wearing a wrinkled gray shirt and carrying a small white bag. She was looking carefully at the small earthen house covered with dust and smoke.

The girl had two pigtails and was obviously tired from the journey, her eyes full of worry about her uncertain fate.

"This... this is impossible!" Xu Lingjun said, imitating the lines from the movie, "You're joking too much!"

"Why not? Don't be careless." Guo Zizi pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and slapped it on the edge of the kang. "The certificate is here. This is the law. Do you understand the law? I told the political department that you were out herding horses and asked me to take care of it. It would be really unkind of you to just walk away."

Guo Zizi knew that Xu Lingjun had some concerns, so he acted first and asked for permission later. Now that the procedures had been completed, there was no room for Xu Lingjun to regret. He was already 32 years old this year, which made him an absolute single young man at this age. If he didn't take this opportunity to finalize the marriage, he would probably be single for the rest of his life.

At this time, the girl also saw the situation in the room and Xu Lingjun's appearance clearly. She felt a little relieved, bit her lip, walked straight in, and sat down on the small stool calmly.

Guo Zizi put the certificate on the kang and said, "Okay, live well! If you have a fat boy next year, don't forget to invite me to the wedding."

After saying that, he left. When he reached the door, he spread his arms and chased the children away like chickens. "What are you looking at? What are you looking at? Haven't you seen your father and your mother get married? Go back and ask your father and your mother. Go, go, go!"

It was already dark at this time. Under the dim light, Xu Lingjun looked at the girl. She looked tired, haggard, and her face was full of traces of vulgarity. However, it was obvious that her foundation was still very good. If she took good care of herself for a few days and replenished her nutrition, she would be a beautiful girl.

Xu Lingjun stood up and poured her a glass of water. "Drink it. You must be tired after walking such a long way, right?"

After pouring the water, I secretly reminded myself to change the water bucket in the next few days. Lead is a heavy metal. If people drink water from such a bucket for a long time, it will definitely affect their health.

The young girl raised her head, glanced at Xu Lingjun, and silently drank a glass of water. She seemed to have recovered some strength, so she knelt on the kang and folded the quilt. Then she pulled over a pair of pants, spread the worn area on her knees on her thighs, untied the small white bag she had brought, took out a small square of blue cloth and needle and thread, and lowered her head to mend the wound.

If the old Xu Lingjun saw this scene, he probably wouldn't know what to say. But the current Xu Lingjun has no lack of experience in dealing with girls, and he immediately understood what the girl was thinking.

She is now at her wit's end. When she agreed to Guo Zizi, she probably had already made up her mind that no matter who he introduced her to, as long as he could keep her alive, she would spend her whole life with him and accept her fate.

So he didn't waste any words at this time, he got up and started to make a fire to cook porridge, "You haven't eaten yet, no matter what you plan, fill your stomach first."

"Let me do it," the girl finally spoke. Cooking, in her opinion, was a woman's job. Since she had agreed to marry Xu Lingjun, it was her job. "Then you can help with the fire. Oh, and by the way, cow dung burns, right? We're on a ranch, and we don't have much firewood. We rely on cow dung for cooking and heating," Xu Lingjun muttered as he worked.

Hearing this, the girl slowly relaxed. "I heard from my cousin that when I was at home, I also helped to collect cow dung. However, I didn't use it to make fire, but as fertilizer. Crops grew better with cow dung."

"Where are you from? By the way, I don't know your name yet. My name is Xu Lingjun. My family was originally from the capital, but later I was labeled and sent down here. I have been here for more than ten years." Xu Lingjun asked.

"My name is Li Xiuzhi, and I'm from Jiangyou, Sichuan." She used tongs to adjust the position of the cow dung in the stove, leaving some gaps between the pieces of cow dung so that the fire could light quickly. She had never burned cow dung before, but the principle was the same, and the fire in the stove soon became prosperous.

"Jiangyou is a great place. The great poet Li Bai was from Jiangyou."

"When I was in elementary school, my teacher also talked about it and taught us to recite his poems. But I can't remember much now. My family was poor, so I stopped attending school after the second grade."

As they chatted, Li Xiuzhi gradually relaxed and a smile appeared on her face. She felt that she was lucky to meet someone like Xu Lingjun.

The situation in Jiangyou has not been very good in recent years. Many families can't even fill their stomachs, so the girls can only leave in batches. As long as there is someone willing to take them in and provide them with food, they will marry that person.

At this time, they have no time to be picky. No matter if they are blind, lame or stupid, it is good enough to be able to get married.

Li Xiuzhi had heard many similar things. Now she saw that Xu Lingjun was not lame or mute, spoke politely, and his house was tidy. Apart from being a little older, he had no other shortcomings.

Oh, by the way, there's also the issue of Old Right's hat. That's actually not a big deal. If he hadn't been wearing a hat, he would have already gotten married. How could it be her turn then? Besides, she wasn't in a position to be picky about it right now.

Considering that Li Xiuzhi must be starving and has been malnourished for a long time, Xu Lingjun cooked a pot of porridge and added some dried meat. It was best to drink porridge at this time, and eating other things might harm the body.

After it was done, Xu Lingjun first served a bowl to Li Xiuzhi, filling it with all the dried meat. He also explained, "It's not that I don't want to give you more, but it's mainly because people who have been hungry for a long time shouldn't eat too much at once, lest they upset their stomachs. Have a bowl of porridge first, and I'll cook for you if you're hungry tonight."

"You are the boss, the meat should be yours." Li Xiuzhi compared the situation in the pot, picked up the chopsticks and was about to give the dried meat to Xu Lingjun.

Xu Lingjun wanted to pick it up for her, but there was only one pair of chopsticks at home, and he didn't know what to do.

"Pfft." Li Xiuzhi couldn't help laughing when she saw this funny scene.

(End of this chapter)