The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 188 The Hemp Rope Always Breaks at the Thinnest Point_1
By the time Li Qing and Tang Jianmin, with a group of people, arrived at Sanhe Village with Jiang Youwei and his son, the old Shepherd had already been brought home.
In the dim and cramped little room, only an old light bulb was lit.
Li Qing was the first to enter.
He was tall, and the room was so low that he barely had to stretch his hand to touch the ceiling.
Tang Jianmin warmly went up and grasped the old Shepherd’s twig-like hands, "Old Yang brother, how are you feeling?"
The old Shepherd, also surnamed Yang, hurriedly climbed up from the kang when he saw so many people suddenly enter his home, "Is it the village head? It doesn’t hurt too much. They stitched up my head, but it only really hurt when they were sewing."
"As long as it’s nothing serious, it’s also a sign of your enormous luck," Tang Jianmin said with a laugh, patting the old Shepherd’s hand.
Li Qing silently turned his head away.
Using ’enormous luck’ in reference to the old Shepherd seemed somewhat ironic.
The elderly man who had outlived his offspring, who had turned into a lonely individual, where could one find any ’enormous luck’ in that!
"Old Yang brother, we’ve brought the kid from Hengqu Village over to apologize to you," Tang Jianmin said.
Jiang Youwei and his son were pushed into the door by a few villagers.
As soon as he entered, Jiang Youwei knelt down with a thud in front of the old Shepherd, "Grandpa Yang, I’m sorry, I was too impulsive."
The old Shepherd wiped his somewhat moist old eyes and waved his hands, "Get up quickly, don’t kneel."
"If I had died today, it might’ve been a relief, as I would have had one less worry, just thinking about my flock of sheep."
"Unfortunately, it seems that the heavens are not ready to take me."
Jiang Youwei, who was just putting on a show, quickly got up from the ground.
He took out a stack of money from his pocket and handed it over to the old Shepherd with both hands, "Grandpa Yang, take this money. It’s for your medical expenses; you can buy some nourishing food or something with it."
Li Qing glanced at it, it was roughly about a thousand yuan.
"That’s too much. I already asked about the medical expenses, sixty yuan. Just give me sixty, I shouldn’t need to spend this money," the old Shepherd said, waving his hand. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
Li Qing pushed the money back into the old Shepherd’s hand, "Grandpa Yang, that’s not how you calculate it."
"Take this money and buy some food and drink, rest well during this period."
Jiang Youwei quickly nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes, you should take it, elder."
"Take it," Tang Jianmin also said.
Seeing everyone’s reaction, the old Shepherd finally accepted the money, "As long as it’s not considered taking advantage, I’ll accept it."
"Having been through such an unwarranted disaster, you are entitled to this money," Li Qing persuaded.
Having dealt with the matter, everyone sat for a short while before leaving the old Shepherd’s home.
By then it was almost ten o’clock in the evening.
Everyone still had their own work to attend to the next day, so they all went back to their respective homes.
When Li Qing got home, Tian Yue’e had already gone back, but Han Mei was still there, washing his dirty clothes in the yard.
"Sister-in-law, leave it. I’ll wash it myself," Li Qing said, walking over.
Han Mei was vigorously scrubbing the clothes and said, "It’s alright, these are the last two pieces, I’ll be done soon."
"How was the old Shepherd’s situation handled? Was the injury not serious?"
"It wasn’t serious." Li Qing grabbed a small stool and sat down next to Han Mei, "He got a few stitches on his head. Those who sent the old Shepherd said it was just a scalp abrasion."
"It’s good that it’s not serious. After all, the old Shepherd is old, even a fall could be life-threatening, let alone a head injury," Han Mei said with a hint of sigh, "When people are weak, they tend to encounter more trouble."
"It seems the heavens have a habit of making jests with those who suffer."
Li Qing remained silent.
He knew Han Mei was thinking about both of their situations.
"Sister-in-law, things will get better for us," Li Qing said as he reached out and caught Han Mei’s white, spring onion-like tender wrist.
With her head lowered, Han Mei smiled faintly, "It’s already quite alright now, I just had a sudden feeling."
"By the way, did they pay you?"
"They did, something like a thousand yuan. It seemed enough to me, so I didn’t make a fuss," Li Qing said as he kneaded Han Mei’s hands, his gaze steadfastly fixed on the glimpses of delicate whiteness visible through her open neckline.
The summer night was exceptionally hot and oppressive, and Han Mei was still busy working.
She had directly undone three buttons of her neckline.
However, the angle at which Li Qing was seated wasn’t too good, and he could only see a little bit.
"Let go quickly, I still have to wash clothes!"
With her cheeks tinged red, Han Mei chided softly and withdrew her hand from Li Qing’s grasp.
"Sister-in-law, your hands are so soft," Li Qing chuckled, reaching out to gently push aside the collar obstructing his view.
He had just caught sight of a hint of a mark when Han Mei covered it back up again.
"You’re never serious. It’s very late, and there’s still work tomorrow, so stop fooling around," Han Mei scolded lightly.
"Sister-in-law, I just want to look," Li Qing pleaded pitifully, "When I see you, sister-in-law, I just can’t help myself."
"It’s not me you can’t resist, your thoughts in that regard are just too intense," Han Mei accused.
"That’s not true, it’s just that you’re too tempting. Plus, I’m young and full of vigor, with high spirits, and in front of a great beauty like you, sister-in-law, it seems quite normal to be unable to restrain myself for a moment," Li Qing argued convincingly as he once again pushed aside Han Mei’s collar.
With a huff, Han Mei gave Li Qing a sideways glance, "You can only look, no touching."
"Okay, sister-in-law, don’t worry, I’ll just look," Li Qing said immediately.
Under the open collar, two snowy, round half-spheres appeared, with the edge of the undergarment faintly visible.
Han Mei resumed washing the clothes, her movements skilled and swift.
The vigorous motion caused the two soft mounds to sway up and down.
Li Qing quietly swallowed and reached out his hand.
Just as his hand was about to delve inside the neckline, to grasp those round, doughy masses, it was smacked away by Han Mei.
"Stop fooling around, I need to get back. It’s already late, and it could lead to misunderstandings if someone saw us," Han Mei said, shaking off the water droplets on her hand, "You just need to wring out and hang up the clothes after a while."
"Sister-in-law, let me walk you home, it’s quite dark outside," said Li Qing, a bit disappointed as he stood up.
He hadn’t even thought about convincing Han Mei to stay a little longer or to stay the night.
Li Qing knew all too well that this was utterly impossible.
Han Mei was a woman of strong principles.
Under normal circumstances, she would have certainly gone back earlier.
It was only because she was worried Li Qing might encounter some trouble that she had waited so late today.
Li Qing escorted Han Mei all the way to her doorstep before he returned home, washed up, and went straight to bed.
As he lay down, Li Qing suddenly noticed several messages on his phone.
