The poor girl from the 1970s was forced to kiss by the damp educated youth.

Chen Zhi waited from dawn till dusk, but Xi Lang didn't return. Just as she was about to continue waiting, Chen's mother arrived with Chen Mu.

"Aren't you ashamed enough?" Chen's mother lowered her voice, her tone suggesting she wanted to beat Chen Zhi to death.

Chen Zhi glanced at her indifferently and said nothing.

Anyway, she has no reputation, so what does it matter if she loses face or not?

"Li Zhou'an doesn't want you, and Xi Lang doesn't want to talk to you either. Chen Zhi, are you still not giving up? Besides Li Jiaxiang, who else do you think you can marry?" Chen Mu wanted to slap Chen Zhi, but he held back when he thought about Li Jiaxiang coming tomorrow.

"Xi Lang wouldn't ignore me," Chen Zhi said angrily, but she wasn't sure if Xi Lang was really angry. Why wasn't he back yet?

"Oh--"

Chen Mu sneered, "Any man would mind what you did. Give up, Chen Zhi, there's no future for you with Li Zhou'an or Xi Lang!"

Chen Zhi pursed her lips and remained silent.

"Come back with your mother. Stop embarrassing yourself. Just wait patiently to marry your brother-in-law. Once you're in Sanhe Village, live a good life," Chen's mother said earnestly.

"I'm not going back." She hadn't explained things to Xi Lang yet, so she couldn't leave.

Mrs. Chen was furious. "Xiao Mu, drag her back."

Chen's mother grabbed Chen Zhi's one hand, and Chen Mu grabbed the other, and they led her home.

Chen Zhi was locked in her room. Her grandmother, Ding Fangfang, said she was being disobedient and punished her by not letting her eat dinner. No one spoke up for Chen Zhi; instead, they felt the punishment was too lenient.

Grandpa Chen Kai was even more furious, saying, "You shameful thing, it would be best if you were beaten to death."

"Dad, don't be angry. Zhizhi is still young. She'll mature as she gets married. Besides, after what happened today, she should face reality and obediently marry him." Auntie thought it was good that things turned out this way; otherwise, the villagers would think they were bullying Chen Zhi. Nowadays, everyone in the village knows that Chen Zhi is ambitious and has fallen for a sent-down youth, but has been rejected. When the Li family comes to propose marriage, everyone just thinks that the Li family is kind and willing to take on this hot potato of Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi is unwanted by everyone, so she should settle down and live a dutiful life in the Li family.

The uncle nodded, "People have to face reality."

The others agreed, saying, "That's right, what makes Chen Zhi think she can marry Li Zhou'an?"

Chen Zhi suffered from insomnia again, this time staying awake until dawn.

"Your brother-in-law is coming over today. I noticed he really enjoyed eating eels and loaches yesterday. Take Chen Zhi and go catch some from the river," Ding Fangfang instructed.

The reason for bringing Chen Zhi along is, of course, because Chen Da, Chen Gui, and Chen Mu cannot be captured.

With Chen Da and the others watching over Chen Zhi, there's no need to worry about her running around.

Chen Zhi didn't say anything. After eating breakfast, she picked up her bucket and followed Chen Da and the others out.

Along the way, they encountered many people who pointed at Chen Zhi and looked at her with disdain.

Chen Zhi kept her eyes straight ahead, her expression unchanged, as if she hadn't noticed anything. Chen Da and the others, on the other hand, were extremely embarrassed, their faces flushed with anger.

"Chen Zhi—"

Someone greeted Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi turned her head and saw Liang Xiaoqiu. Liang Xiaoqiu looked at Chen Zhi with sympathy, but hesitated to speak.

"Where are you going?" Chen Zhi asked her.

"Go cut some reeds to weave into fans," Liang Xiaoqiu said, then asked, "What about you?"

"Let's go catch some loaches." Chen Zhi thought to herself that it was all thanks to the loaches, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to leave the house.

The two walked together for a while. When they parted, Liang Xiaoqiu mustered up her courage and said, "Chen Zhi, try to be more open-minded."

Chen Zhi was taken aback, a warmth spreading through her heart. She smiled and said, "I will."

After Liang Xiaoqiu left, Chen Zhi ran into another group of people: Chen Peng, Chen Da, Chen Xiaoshuai, and Chen Ergou. Upon hearing that Chen Zhi was going to catch loaches and eels, the four of them immediately said they wanted to go with her.

Several men were talking, while Chen Zhi was the only girl, lagging behind.

"Sister Chen Zhi, are you alright?" Chen asked her in a low voice, his concern genuine.

Chen Zhi shook her head.

"Should we go and beat up Li Zhou'an to vent your anger?" Chen Da didn't mention Xi Lang. Chen Peng had told them about what happened the night Liang Song died. Xi Lang was strange and unfathomable, and they were afraid they couldn't beat him.

Moreover, in their view, Xi Lang should like Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi shook her head again, "It has nothing to do with Li Zhou'an."

Chen Da: "Is that because of Xi Lang?"

Chen Zhi pursed her lips and remained silent.

By this time, they had arrived at the riverbank. Chen Da wanted to ask something, but Chen Zhi didn't give him the chance and walked straight into the river.

Now that the harvest season is over, people come to the river every day. Not only have the number of fish in the river decreased, but the number of snails has also decreased.

Everyone went their separate ways.

Chen Zhi distanced herself from these people and went alone to a place full of rocks.

At first, Chen Da, Chen Gui, and Chen Mu kept a close eye on Chen Zhi, but when they saw her obediently touching the snails, they assumed that she had really come to terms with things and gradually relaxed their vigilance.

Chen Zhi didn't intend to run away, but nowadays you need a letter of introduction to go anywhere, so she can't escape.

She just wanted to see Xi Lang, to explain the misunderstanding from yesterday, and to ask him if he was willing to marry her.

If Xi Lang doesn't want to, she'll run off to the mountains and become a wild woman!

Chen Zhi thought resentfully, since no one cares about her anyway, she might as well live like a wild woman.

As the sun rose higher, Chen Zhi's bucket contained more snails, seven or eight loaches, and three eels.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, she turned her head to look to the side and met Xi Lang's cold and indifferent eyes.

The owner of the eyes seemed not to see him and walked straight into the water.

Chen Zhi's eyes suddenly turned red.

She couldn't stand Xi Lang treating her like this!

A bold idea popped into Chen Zhi's mind, and once it came out, she couldn't suppress it.

The next second, she pushed the bucket in her hand to Chen Da, "Keep this safe for me."

After saying that, she sank into the water and quickly swam towards Xi Lang.

"What are you going to do?" Chen Da asked, but Chen Zhi had already swum far away.

When they were about two meters away from Xi Lang, Chen Zhi suddenly surfaced in the water and shouted, "Someone is drowning!"

"Someone is drowning!"

After shouting, she continued swimming towards Xi Lang. Ignoring Xi Lang's shocked expression, she grabbed him and dragged him into deeper water.

Chen Da, who was not far away, stared in disbelief at the scene. After a couple of seconds of stunned silence, he shouted, "Someone's drowning!"

"Who, who's drowning?" Chen Peng asked.

"It's Xi Lang! Xi Lang is drowning! Chen Zhi went to save him!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Peng was about to go and help, but Chen Da stopped him. Chen Da gave him a look and whispered, "It's on purpose."

Chen Peng: "..."

Next, Chen Peng and Chen Da shouted together, "Xi Lang is drowning!"

Unaware of the situation, Chen Ergou and Chen Xiaoshuai also shouted, "Xi Lang is drowning!"

Before long, everyone from this section of the river arrived.

Chen Da, Chen Gui, and Chen Mu only heard that Xi Lang had drowned, but they didn't know that Chen Zhi had gone to "rescue" him.

Chen Zhi's hand crossed Xi Lang's chest, leading him to swim ashore. Just as they were about to reach the shore, she grabbed her clothes and ripped them apart, revealing her floral undershirt and her fair, delicate skin.

Those rounded breasts were faintly visible in the water, and Xi Lang's eyes darkened.

As soon as the two got ashore, a group of people surrounded them.

Originally, Chen Zhi was dragging Xi Lang to the shore, but then Xi Lang stopped her with one hand while quickly taking off his shirt with the other and wrapping Chen Zhi up tightly with it.

Xi Lang held Chen Zhi in his arms. Chen Zhi looked up and saw only a sharp chin.

She didn't struggle and just let Xi Lang hold her.

"Xi Lang, let go of my sister!" Chen Da shouted angrily.

Xi Lang didn't let go. "She was exhausted from saving me."

"We can take care of her, we don't need you." Chen Da tried to grab her, but Xi Lang dodged him. He was even angrier. "What do you mean?"

"Your sister just hugged me, and now I've hugged her too. We've already had physical intimacy, and I want to marry her. As her husband, I don't feel comfortable handing her over to other men," Xi Lang said matter-of-factly.

The onlookers: "......."

That makes a lot of sense.

"You're willing to repay my life-saving grace with your body, Xi Lang, you're a responsible person." Chen Dachao gave Xi Lang a thumbs up.

Xi Lang shook his head. "You overestimate me. It was Zhizhi who didn't want to marry me, and I was so distraught that I wanted to commit suicide."

Hey!

She committed suicide because of love!

Everyone present stared wide-eyed in shock.

Even Chen Da and his brothers were stunned. Didn't they say that Xi Lang was also unwilling to marry Chen Zhiyao?

"I wanted to commit suicide, but Zhizhi came to save me, and I didn't want to die anymore. I want to marry Zhizhi and live a good life with her." Xi Lang said earnestly.

His affectionate appearance immediately touched everyone present.

"Chen Zhi risked her life to save you, so she must care about you too. You two should live your lives well; that's more important than anything else."

"Xi Lang, a grown man, is so upset about Chen Zhi. It shows how deep his feelings for Chen Zhi are. It's rare to find a lover like him. Chen Zhi, Li Zhou'an is a good man, but he doesn't like you. You shouldn't miss out on a man as affectionate as Xi Lang."

"I think Xi Lang is not bad either. Xi Lang is tall, and now that he's taken off his clothes, he looks quite strong. After a man gets married, he will take on the responsibility of supporting his family. With his physique, earning ten work points a day is no problem."

"Looking at it this closely, Xi Lang's features are not bad."

"Chen Zhi is also beautiful; they are a perfect match."

"Chen Zhi, a man committed suicide for you. You should be content and live a good life with him."

Chen Zhi: "..."

How did it come to the point that Xi Lang committed suicide for her?

The three brothers, Chen Da, Chen Gui, and Chen Mu, returned home with dark faces, followed by Xi Lang and Chen Zhi.

Xi Lang and Chen Zhi stood side by side, with Xi Lang's clothes draped over Chen Zhi's shoulders.

Besides them, there were also many onlookers.

Before Chen Zhi and the others even got home, the onlookers were already shouting towards the Chen family, "Aunt Ding, little sister, someone has come to your house to propose marriage!"

Chen Zhi was taken aback again. Had things escalated to the point of proposing marriage?

She glanced up at Xi Lang, but saw that Xi Lang remained expressionless and showed no intention of stopping her.

Ding Fangfang, Chen's mother, and others ran out of their home, along with Li Jiaxiang.

"Aunt Ding, Little Sister, congratulations!" Everyone congratulated Ding Fangfang and Chen Xiaomei.

Ding Fangfang had a bad feeling. No one had told anyone about the Li family's plan to marry Chen Zhi, so these people shouldn't know.

"Oh dear, Aunt Ding is still in the dark." Someone laughed.

"Aunt Ding, this is your granddaughter's husband. He was so upset because your Zhizhi didn't want to marry him that he jumped into the river and tried to commit suicide. Your Zhizhi is a very kind and righteous person, and she risked her life to save him. It's rare to see such a loving couple, so please grant them your blessing."