Chapter 349: "Part of the reason for the road is to solicit the help of the Party Village Secretary; the other part is to have some good karma." (3)
When it was time to go, the old village head and the herdsmen threw a grand farewell celebration for them. Everybody in the village attended and they all gathered around the fire and sang and danced. Even Feng Zeyu and Shu Yan were urged to urged to dance for a little while.
The next morning, they got up, packed up, and Lin Dazhi brought them back to the city in the tractor.
“Lao Fang, there’s a phone in the troop now. Call me if you need anything. Do keep in touch.” Lin Dazhi had already learned about what had happened. He punched Feng Zeyu on his shoulder, leaned into him and said in a low voice, “Sister-in-law is quite nice. Be good to her.”
“I don’t need you to tell me that.” Feng Zeyu rolled his eyes at him. Of course he would be nice to his own wife. Who else would he be nice to? “Come visit us in City Nan sometime.”
They took the same rough trip back to City Nan and, when they got out off the train, Shu Yan let out a big sigh of relief.
“The grassland was fun but the transportation there was not very convenient.” Travelling at this day and age was very inconvenient. In the future, high-speed train between City Nan and capital city would only take 4-5 hours. It took close to 20 hours now. The difference was drastic.
Noticing that Shu Yan looked tired, Feng Zeyu had them waited by the exit and went to get the car himself.
It was roughly 5 PM when they returned to the little district and most people were off work. Feng Zeyu hesitated a little and decided to walk Shu Yan to her place.
Some of them who knew Shu Yan or Feng Zeyu saw them together and gossiped.
“Is that true? That Feng Zeyu was having an affair with a woman in our district?”
“What do you mean by having an affair? That is normal dating.” Grand Zhang spoke up for Shu Yan.
“Doesn’t that woman have kids already? I think her son is already going to kindergarten.”
“I know that. She was divorced a long time ago. Now both of them are single. What’s wrong with the two of them getting together? If you ask me, it will be difficult for Feng Zeyu to find a female comrade of suitable age. A divorce woman is perfect. Besides, Shu Yan is pretty and has a nice personality. She would have many suitors if she wasn’t divorced.” Grandma Zhang was familiar with Shu Yan’s situation and she defended her.
Within three days, many in the area learned that Feng Zeyu was dating someone and that she was a divorced woman with two children.
Most said that Feng Zeyu was a smart one. He had no job at his age and a scar on his face. It would be difficult for him to find himself a good girl. A divorce woman with two children was perfect. He didn’t need to shell out betrothal money, or hold a banquet. That was a big saving. Words had it that the woman had a house in Nanfu Mansion in City Nan. That meant she has money of her own. What a good deal.
“Didn’t you tell me that he wasn’t seeing anyone? How come he is dating now?” Zhou Xiaomei heard the neighbors gossiping on her way back from work and she rushed home to ask her mother.
“How would I know? Speaking of, what do you see in him anyway? Even if he was innocent back then but him having been in prison was still a fact and he lost his job. Nobody knows what he does now. The only thing good about him is his house but that stepmother of his is really someone. He does not make a good partner. Xiaomei, Mom will find a you a better one later. We are not in any hurry.” Mother Zhou insisted that her daughter only had feelings for Feng Zeyu because of previous trauma.
Zhou Xiaomei was the 30-something teacher that the old lady’s friend had mentioned to her before.
Zhou Xiaomei kept her head lowered. She had never told this to her family but, two years ago, she ran into a hooligan n her way home and, right when she thought that was the end of her, Feng Zeyu, who happened to walk by saved her.
The hooligan did not succeed in what he wanted to do but she was groped all over. She begged Feng Zeyu to not tell anyone and she did not contact the police. She was a teacher; she could not let words get out. And she had a fiancé studying overseas.
Her fiancé called off the betrothal later on and she thought about Feng Zeyu again. She thought marrying him wouldn’t be too bad and mentioned it to her mother. Her mother objected to it adamantly. Both her parents assumed that she only felt the way that she did because she was sad that her engagement was called off. Later on, then they heard that Feng Zeyu was innocent, Zhou Xiaomei was ecstatic and she asked her mother to ask around again.
The old lady who lived with Feng Zeyu said that he wasn’t seeing anyone. All of a sudden, not only was he dating, he was dating a divorced woman with two children. Zhou Xiaomei didn’t understand. Why would Feng Zeyu pick a woman with two children over her. Was it because of her age?