His ears seemed to echo with Song Guodong’s words again. The young man had sighed in Cheng Lang’s ear about how Feng Man still thought of her childhood betrothed, even going so far as to run away from her arranged marriage and follow him thousands of miles. What kind of affection was that?
By the time they found the real betrothed, they might get married right away…
A chill flashed in Cheng Lang’s eyes. As he withdrew his gaze, he spoke coldly, “Nothing. I’m very busy in Ink River. How do you plan to settle down next?”
Feng Man saw the man’s mood shifting unpredictably and just assumed he was exhausted from driving the truck for a week. She didn’t take it to heart and immediately smiled brightly. “I’ll get familiar with the place first and see if I can start a small business.”
She had a clear plan in mind, but Ink River in this era was unfamiliar to Feng Man, and with the fictional changes, it was vastly different. Of course, she needed to familiarize herself first.
As the two talked, before Cheng Lang could respond, a startled cry came from afar—“A-Lang!”
A bicycle came to a hurried stop ahead. A lean man got off the 28-inch bike.
The man was a bit older, with a square face, but his brows carried a sturdy temperament, just like Cheng Lang’s.
The lean man looked around and lit up when he spotted the familiar license plate on the blue truck. He hurried toward the driver’s seat.
Cheng Lang jumped down from the driver’s seat. After the man whispered a few words, his expression changed abruptly. “He’s really in a hurry.”
“Of course. He just wants to get in your way, tripping you up while you’re on leave back home.”
Cheng Lang pondered briefly, a trace of ferocity rising in his stern brows. “Bro, I’ll go unload the cargo first.”
“Alright.” The man was none other than Cheng Lang’s cousin Fan Zhenghua. He nodded. “I rushed over just to tell you, worried you’d go straight back and clash with him, only to suffer a loss.”
As he spoke, Fan Zhenghua glanced at the truck Feng Man had followed Cheng Lang in. He marveled at his cousin’s capabilities—this haul alone could earn a thousand or two. But his gaze froze when he spotted a figure in goose yellow in the driver’s seat.
Seeing a woman by Cheng Lang’s side was as shocking as Tang Sanzang getting lost in the Land of Women. And from the looks of it, the woman in the cab had come back from out of town with Cheng Lang!
Fan Zhenghua drew in a sharp breath. His finger trembled as he pointed at the vague shadow in the cab, lowering his voice in curiosity. “A-Lang, you… on this trip, how did you end up bringing a woman back?”
Cheng Lang frowned wordlessly, cutting off his cousin’s endless fantasies with one sentence. “Nothing. She’s from our village, named Feng Man. Take her and settle her in. See where she wants to go. I need to deliver the goods.”
He turned and rapped his knuckles lightly on the window beside Feng Man. “This is my cousin Fan Zhenghua. He’ll take you. I have things to do.”
The blue truck sped away quickly, leaving Fan Zhenghua and Feng Man staring at each other wide-eyed.
Even having seen all sorts of women in Ink River, Fan Zhenghua had never seen one this beautiful.
A woman appearing by Cheng Lang’s side was shocking enough, let alone one he’d brought back while handling business. From the looks of it, the two had ridden back together in the truck.
Shocking, truly too shocking!
For his cousin to have a woman by his side—and to ask him to help settle her—Fan Zhenghua was utterly stunned. He immediately said amiably, “Fan Zhenghua, Cheng Lang’s cousin. Just call me Hua Bro.”
Fan Zhenghua was three years older than Cheng Lang and looked a bit older. The two shared some resemblance, but when he smiled, he lacked Cheng Lang’s coldness.
No, Feng Man thought, she hadn’t seen Cheng Lang smile at all. She then said generously, “Hello, Hua Bro. I’m Feng Man.”
With the conversation started, Fan Zhenghua no longer held back. He curiously and gossipy probed Feng Man for details.
When he learned the two had truly traveled together from Nine Mountains Village, spending nearly a week in the truck, Fan Zhenghua’s beady eyes widened to the largest they’d ever been. He marveled inwardly—impressive!
His cousin, with that icy demeanor, had actually brought a woman along for over two thousand kilometers. It was as if the sun had risen from the west!
As for his cousin’s instruction to settle her, it had to be taking her back to the mine district!
Feng Man sat on the back seat of Fan Zhenghua’s 28-inch bike as they headed from the Ink River highway entrance toward the mine district. They passed through unfamiliar yet familiar streets and alleys. Green shade rushed by her side, brick-and-tile houses stood in rows, sketching out a hometown spanning decades. Feng Man stared intently, trying to find traces of her future hometown in this 1980s era thick with the spirit of the times.
This was a fictional novel, connected to reality yet not entirely the same. Feng Man tried to recognize shadows of real places and felt joy in her heart.
When they arrived at Ink River’s renowned mine district by bike, grand mountains loomed beneath which the factory area sprawled. Majestic rocks stood tall in the distance, rolling continuously. Massive, sturdy equipment operated, while nearby a ring of iron gates enclosed the area. Workers in red safety helmets bustled in and out, their hurried steps overlapping with the vendors’ calls from small stalls.
Feng Man had a mine district in her real Ink River hometown too, but she’d never been there. By then, mining had lost its main pillar as the internet boomed and traditional industries declined.
Now, immersed in it, the mine district remained Ink River City’s pillar industry in the 1980s, thriving with vigor everywhere.
The curious Feng Man, scrutinizing her surroundings, naturally drew gazes from passersby. Fan Zhenghua leading a beautiful young woman back to the mine district had stall owners craning their necks in curiosity, while burly miners entering and exiting fixed their eyes on her, gleaming.
“Hua Bro, who’s this?” Everyone knew Fan Zhenghua had a wife and kid, so they wondered if she was a relative. The couple selling cigarettes at a nearby stall thought Fan Zhenghua didn’t look like he had such a pretty relative.
A few workers carrying tools, about to head out to support mining operations, paused. Their eyes stuck on the woman beside Fan Zhenghua.
“Hua Bro, you’re back. Is this a relative?” As they spoke, several young unmarried workers instinctively straightened their clothes, with Cheng Lang’s apprentice He Chunsheng the most excited.
The seventeen-year-old lad blushed quietly at the sudden appearance of the pretty stranger.
He tugged at his usually wrinkled short-sleeved shirt with rough hands, rubbing at the gray spots on it with his fingertips, inwardly anxious.
“Yeah, relative from home.” Fan Zhenghua considered that his cousin and Feng Man weren’t married yet, especially since he’d just dropped her off and left. He didn’t say much, just vaguely brushed it off.
“There are mostly men at the mine, so it’s hard to find wives. These guys’ eyes light up at any woman, especially a particularly beautiful one—they can’t walk away. Don’t mind them.” As they sidestepped toward the stall ahead, Fan Zhenghua explained for his embarrassing coworkers, though he knew it was human nature. After all, his cousin’s baby betrothal partner was too good-looking, even prettier than the actresses on TV.
Feng Man shook her head and smiled faintly. “I won’t. Everyone’s pretty straightforward.”
Most of those gazes were amazed, appreciative, and shy, not lecherous.
Where there were people, there were rumors. News of Fan Zhenghua bringing an exceptionally pretty relative spread quickly to the stall ahead. Dong Xiaojuan, minding the soda stall, paused at the words. “What relative? And exceptionally pretty…”
She didn’t know her man had such a pretty relative.
Fan Zhenghua hadn’t inherited his mother’s good looks, relying on his father’s influence. His eyes were small, nose flat, features rugged. Luckily, the Cheng family line had a sturdy temperament, with sharp jawlines in profile. Even his mother Cheng Yulan had a faint heroic air in her brows, barely saving Fan Zhenghua’s appearance.
Dong Xiaojuan always thought her man’s profile looked somewhat handsome when not smiling.
But his full face was another story.
“No kidding. I just went to relieve myself and saw it clearly. The woman your man brought—wow, so pretty! Face no bigger than my palm, big sparkling eyes, delicate skin and tender flesh.” The big sister selling tea eggs and roasted sweet potatoes chattered on.
“I saw her too. Liu Little Two and those single guys’ eyes went straight! When has our mine district ever had such a pretty girl? I bet she’ll be pursued…”
Everyone chimed in, making Dong Xiaojuan more curious. She was about to ask the big sister next to her to watch the stall and go look when she spotted her man’s figure.
Fan Zhenghua strode over and, in passing, truly saw a stunning girl.
Red lips, white teeth, delicate skin and tender flesh—his eyes lit up instantly!
Fan Zhenghua brought her to his wife. “Juan’er, this is Feng Man.”
He turned to Feng Man. “This is my wife Dong Xiaojuan. Call her Juan Sis. Juan’er, this is… she just came from home with Cheng Lang.”
The not-so-well-educated Hua Zi was at a loss for words. What was this situation? Cheng Lang’s woman? Wife? Girlfriend?
He didn’t know their exact relationship yet, but it was definitely not simple!
Feng Man said generously, “He and I have a baby betrothal from childhood.”
At those words, the couple Hua Zi and Juan Zi both drew sharp breaths. Cheng Lang had a baby betrothal? No one knew! He’d hidden it too well!
Especially looking at Feng Man—her delicate oval face was fair and pointed, maybe smaller than her own palm. She was truly beautiful. Even as a woman, Dong Xiaojuan liked what she saw, her gaze softening unconsciously. No wonder Cheng Lang had no interest in any women—cold to those who came, shooing away those who stuck. Turns out he had a beauty hidden back home!
A guest was a guest, especially from Nine Mountains Village thousands of miles away. Dong Xiaojuan quickly asked a worker’s wife nearby to watch her stall and led Feng Man home to rest with her husband.
The mine district had family housing and single dorms, but conditions were basic, and with more people than rooms, it might take years to get allocated one.
Fan Zhenghua had started in the single dorms—a big room with over ten bunks. Later, when he brought his wife and son, the family of three rented a room in the tube buildings about ten minutes’ walk from the mine district.
Three rooms and a living room, ten yuan a month rent. The five-story building had twenty-five households, mostly mine workers with families renting. Familiar faces abounded, lively as could be.
The couple bringing back a young, pretty stranger naturally drew neighbors’ curiosity, but they only got “relative from home” as an answer. Moments later, the three entered the middle door on the second floor.
“Little Feng, you’re new here, so settle in comfortably. Treat this as your own home.” The couple was warm to their cousin, especially thrilled to see him finally having someone. They were even more enthusiastic toward Feng Man. “Stay in that room—it’s the one we kept for Cheng Lang.”
A baby betrothal partner with an engagement was no different from a fiancée. Staying in Cheng Lang’s room was perfect!
Feng Man: QAQ