Chapter 001: The Town of Caorong Li

As soon as Xu Wumei heard this, she was not very pleased: "Not long ago, my sister-in-law sent someone to propose to Guizhen's family, and Guizhen said her daughter was only seventeen and needed to stay for another two years. How is it that she has already promised her daughter to someone else?"

There is a car in front

Guizhen's daughter got engaged yesterday

The girl was somewhat hesitant to look at him: "He Tong."

At that moment, a young woman passed by the door, and all the women turned to look at her

No one has arrived yet, but light has already shone through. The sky has not completely darkened, yet that light is surprisingly bright, unlike an ordinary flashlight. Once the dogs saw the person, they all quieted down.

The fifth family has a son who is in his twenties

Xu Wumei speculated: "Speaking without an accent, they must be from out of town." She gazed from afar at that slender waist, "On a day like this, wearing such an outfit, aren't they afraid of the cold?"

He answered a phone call while inebriated

The women in front of the house did not see her face, but they noticed her slender waist and the way she walked gracefully, as if each step was a blooming lotus. Even her voice resembled the sound of spring water striking stones, ethereal and melodious

The setting sun casts a yellow hue, and beneath the rocking chair lies a powerful flashlight, upon which a few petals of osmanthus have fallen

She walked to the door, her gaze timid, casting a glance at the man bathed in sunlight, but she quickly averted her eyes after just that one glance

It is precisely October, a clear autumn. Just a few days ago, it had rained, and there is still a hint of dampness in the wind. The maple leaves rustle by the roadside, and the warm autumn sun filters through the gaps in the trees, casting a mosaic of shadows on the blue brick stone path.

She adjusted her clothing and walked forward slowly

Rong Li made a sound of acknowledgment, removed the hood of his sweatshirt, walked to the nearest shelf, took a bag of sandwiches, opened the packaging, and put it in his mouth. He then pulled up a chair and placed it in a sunny spot. The sunlight was somewhat blinding, so he put the hood back on, rested his legs on a cardboard box, took out his phone, and started a game

Xiao Niang asked, "Which village is the young lady from?" Truly charming.

Xiangyun Town is located directly to the south, nestled between the mountains and by the water

Rong Guanguan hopped into the kitchen while carrying a bag

The weather changed suddenly that day; the wind was strong, and the rain was about to fall but had not yet started. Rong Li arrived at his doorstep, and just as he pushed the door open, a three or four-year-old boy ran out from the main room, calling out sweetly, "Brother." The child was chubby and adorable, with a round face, walking in a wobbly manner, "Brother."

This facade is exceedingly gentle

He turned off the game and pulled off his hat: "Let's go eat."

The photo features a girl wearing a qipao

The wind outside stirred, lifting the photograph that had been burned halfway. Suddenly, raindrops fell, extinguishing the flames above. The girl in the photograph had bright, expressive eyes, radiating brilliance as she glanced around.

This time she saw clearly, he walked out from the sunlight, his hair cut very short, not covering his forehead and eyebrows at all, his skin was somewhat pale, and beneath his almond-shaped eyes, his bone structure was very beautiful

The girl, after sizing him up, blushed and lowered her head

It is Rong Li

The gaze, shrouded in mist and veiled in smoke, is very faint, reminiscent of the landscapes in the misty rain of Jiangnan, stunning yet elusive. When he gazes intently, there is a hint of carefree nonchalance in his eyes, a touch of decadence, and a sense of loss; though well concealed, there remains an untamed wildness that has not been subdued.

Good

Old Yang's nose was bright red, still not sober from the alcohol: "What are you playing mahjong for, there's no money!"

The girl looks up: `` 8946 . ''

The street is crowded with people, and there are dozens of villages, large and small, near Xiangyun Town. This is the only commercial street, and today is another weekend, making the street bustling with activity.

Jiangnan produces beautiful women, and this girl is truly extraordinary

Yang Laosi is a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong. He stammered, "I will return all the money to you." He took out all the money he had on him and threw it on the ground, saying, "Your wallet is in the trash can at the door, and I haven't touched anything else."

The voice is clear and crisp, carrying a hint of casual laziness

This is a damn rookie

He circumvented the obstructing package and entered the store

The store is quiet and desolate, with only the sounds from the games.

His friends mock him

He threw the lit lighter into the iron bucket, and with a bang, flames burst forth.

Rong Li went to the refrigerator and took a bottle of mineral water, threw it to Wang Xiaodan, and then grabbed a can of beer for himself

The girl in the photo is wearing a qipao and holding a round fan

The girl then redirected her gaze and handed over the phone

Those eyes are quite different from during the day, dark and gloomy, sending chills down one's spine

Wang Xiaodan's mouth was stuffed full: "Mineral water will do."

Why not pursue when the person has not yet gone far, in broad daylight

Amidst the swirling smoke, a pair of beautiful eyes blended with the deepening twilight, both dense and imposing

He is in his thirties, with a strong build and broad shoulders.

At this moment, there are no customers in the store, only one employee, a young boy with a refined appearance. The boy is sitting in front of the cash register, hears a sound, looks up, and calls out: "Rong Ge"

Teammate: "... ..."

Wang Xiaodan has not worked at the convenience store for long, and does not know much about Rong Li. She only knows that he speaks little, does not like to smile, is lazy, and has many admirers. He always exudes an aura that cannot be cultivated in a small town, and Wang Xiaodan even has the illusion that beneath his exterior, there may be another side to him

Rong Li threw the cigarette on the ground, extinguished it, and weighed the brick in his hand

"I killed a few, but not a single fat one." He spat on the ground and said, "Damn it, a bunch of poor wretches."

His brother said, "There is someone slaughtering pigs at the end of the street, this is pig's blood"

This rascal. Wang Xiaodan turned around to chase after him

The person collecting the package at the end of the street is from the village of Zhuluanrong at the back. Although he has only recently returned to the town, his appearance is truly outstanding, and people from several surrounding villages have heard of him.

After finishing his meal, he placed a one-hundred-yuan note on the table, settled the bill for Wang Xiaodan, and left without waiting for change. Wang Xiaodan took a sip of soup and quickly got up.

What to drink

Xu Wumei's tone inevitably carried a hint of bitterness: "Wasn't it just recently that you mentioned Gui Zhen's daughter had taken a liking to that delivery person at the end of the street?"

After taking a few puffs of smoke, he pulled a wallet out of his pocket. Upon opening it, a photograph slipped out, presumably belonging to that Yang Laosi. He crouched down to pick it up, examining it in the light of the flame.

Hello

Old Yang Si was drunk again outside, swaying as he walked. He was whistling as he made his way to the end of the village. His small bungalow was located at the northernmost end, with no houses in front or behind.

Rong Li remained unperturbed, exited the game, and restarted it

His finger joints are long, and his nails are neatly trimmed, with very distinct small lunulae. If the palm is turned over, a thin layer of callus can be seen on the palm.

He said: "Save the money to buy your hand"

In this town, the most important factor in matchmaking is the conditions.

This bag was taken by Yang Laosi from a girl in a qipao at the porridge shop. He stuffed the money into his pocket and threw the rest into the trash can at the door

The boy's name is Wang Xiaodan. After failing the college entrance examination, he began working in a store, and it has been some time since then

The women gathered in a circle, cracking sunflower seeds and engaging in casual conversation, discussing the affairs of the neighbors to the east and chatting about the matters of those to the west

A child, running recklessly along the road, bumped into her arms and timidly apologized to her

In the courtyard, there is a osmanthus tree, beneath which sits a worn rocking chair. A person is seated in the rocking chair, with their head lowered, holding a mobile phone in one hand and a cigarette clenched between their lips

"Stop talking nonsense!" Yang Laosi pushed open the courtyard door, and his eyes were suddenly dazzled by the light of a flashlight. He raised his hand to shield his eyes and squinted to look into the courtyard, "Who is it?"

In fact, from an external perspective, being around twenty-seven or twenty-eight is not considered old. However, in this small town, there are not many educated individuals; most have left to work after completing junior or senior high school. By their early twenties, they are usually already helping their families arrange marriages.

In the evening, the moon sets behind the western mountains, and colorful clouds spread across half the sky. In front of the town of Xiangyun, there flows a white river, while behind it stands the Yulong Snow Mountain. The water and sky merge into one, shimmering in orange-red hues, connecting with the lush green of the mountains. This Jiangnan town, naturally sculpted, boasts exceptionally beautiful scenery

While crossing the street, a man from the opposite side collided recklessly, half of his body crashing into Rong Li's shoulder

The sound of banging is coming from the phone; he is playing a game

A few seconds later, with a loud bang, a car and two individuals were blown up together

After the girl expressed her gratitude, she embraced the package and went outside. It was only when she reached outside that she turned back to look at the store

Oh

Brother, you have returned

Old Yang Si turned and ran, but before he could exit the courtyard, his calf was struck. He turned back, and the person brushed off the osmanthus flowers that had fallen on his shoulder, walking through the wind, emerging from the flurry of flying cotton.

Rong Li remained silent, picked up a brick from the ground, stood up, and positioned himself under the tree. The osmanthus flowers in the garden danced chaotically in the wind, their fragrance permeating the air.

The wind stirred the leaves, causing them to rise and fall, eventually drifting in front of a pair of white sneakers. The owner of the shoes walked over from across the street, stepping on the fallen leaves. He was very tall, with long legs, and walked leisurely.

Teammate: "What the hell! Why did you blow me up?! Do you even know how to—"

Having been a matchmaker for a long time, she felt quite eager upon seeing such an outstanding person

He has mild night blindness; when it gets slightly dark, he needs to turn on the lights, and they must be particularly bright

The child loves to laugh, and his round eyes shine particularly bright when he smiles. He stumbles and runs up to his brother, asking in a sweet, childish voice: "Brother, what did you buy?"

A group of friends jokingly said over the phone that they would take him to do something big

The shop door was left open, and the dining place was just across the street. Rong Li preferred meat and did not like to eat vegetables, so he went to a familiar braised meat restaurant.

Old Yang, feeling a bit dizzy, hung up the phone and rubbed his eyes: "Who the hell are you! What are you doing in my yard?"

Rong Li made a sound: "I saw it."

On the left side of the commercial street, there are two villages separated by a road, one end being Wujiatai and the other Xujiagang. In the afternoon, with the sun shining just right, the farming women in the village found some free time and moved their stools to the yard in front of their doors to chat.

Pick up the package

Beside the Bai Dian River, there is a village called Hua Qiao Yang. In the village, there lives a bachelor named Yang Lao Si. Yang Lao Si usually does not engage in proper work; he steals and pilfers on the streets, and sometimes he follows outsiders to the city to sell cigarettes.

He was holding a black bag in his hand, inside which were two bottles of liquor, as well as a white satin pouch containing a small amount of cash, a handkerchief embroidered with flowers, and a photograph

Rongguan stared wide-eyed at his brother

In Zhuanrong Village, almost every household has a dog. As soon as there is a sound of footsteps in the alley, a pack of dogs begins to bark.

She smiled gently and said, "It's alright."

Brother, you are bleeding

The teammate said: "There are people behind, I will drive, you throw the grenade"

That person sat back down in the chair, lowering his head to look at his phone. The sunlight streamed through the glass window, falling on his face. He wore the hood of his sweatshirt, and the shadow of his eyelashes occasionally fluttered. Upon closer inspection, there was a small beauty mark at the corner of his right eye.

Moving neither too fast nor too slow, he flipped through the topmost layer of the shelf to the bottommost layer

The boy is named Rong Guanguan and has no blood relation to Rong Li; he is the child of his stepmother.

I am sorry, sister

After a rustling sound, he walked out: "What is your name?"

The girl signed and handed it back to him

The young lady was dressed in a sky-blue qipao that reached her ankles, with a pair of beige flat leather shoes on her feet. Her hair fell just past her shoulders, half pinned up and half flowing down. Over the qipao, she wore a beige knitted cardigan, and in her hand was a white satin bag, seemingly crafted by an embroiderer's hand, with a flower embroidered in the same color as her qipao at the lower corner.

He tore off the signed document and threw it into the paper box along with the pen

Rong Li went to the main room, took a bottle of gasoline, removed his coat and sweatshirt, and threw them into the iron and book bins in the yard, then poured the gasoline over them. He took a cigarette from the pack, bit it between his lips, and lit it.

The woman knitting nearby interjected, "The fifth family has only one son, and they have bought houses in both the county and the city, plus they own two storefronts on the street. I don't know how many families in the town want to marry into the fifth family." The woman is Xiao Niang's sister-in-law, and she laughed as she said, "Don't mention seventeen; even fifteen Guizhen has agreed."

Rong Li passed her and walked to the nearest shelf, beginning to rummage through it. He placed his phone on the chair, and the gunfire from the game continued unabated.

Rong Li closed the courtyard door: "Hmm."

Xiao Niang grabbed a handful of peanuts and said while shelling them: "The old Wu family that sells electrical appliances on the street"

Ash fell onto the photograph, and Rong Li took out the identification card from his wallet, throwing the remaining items along with the photograph into the fire. He turned and entered the main room

Yang Laosi took out a men's wallet from his coat again. There wasn't much cash inside, just an ID card belonging to Rong Li from Zhu Luan Rong Village. Yang Laosi ignored it, stuffed the ID card back in, pulled out all the cash, counted it, and threw the wallet away, saying, "What nonsense, who is afraid of whom, you brat!" The men's wallet that was thrown into the trash can sank to the bottom, and coincidentally, a girl's photo slipped in.

Yang Laosi's pupils dilated, trembling, crawling towards the door.

Wang Xiaodan glanced at the delivery information: "Rong Ge, it's on the shelf behind, in a bag."

Rongli is almost 28 years old. There are no other adults in the family, only a four-year-old child. In the eyes of elders, he is not considered a good match. However, it doesn't matter. With his appearance, he won't have trouble finding a wife.

The wife of the head of Wujiachai village who loves to play matchmaker is called Xiao Niang by everyone in the surrounding villages.

A few women laughed and chatted, and then they talked about the affairs of the widows at the end of the village and the bachelors at the head of the village, starting from the girls in Gui Zhen's family.

Xiao Niang smiled and said, "If I had that figure, I would wear a qipao even on snowy days."

After a while, a guest arrived. She was a young girl, wearing short boots, a short skirt, and a British-style woolen coat.

He is a pickpocket.

Wang Xiaodan glanced at the time, it was 11 o'clock.

What's wrong, Brother Rong?

Rong Li closed the game, raised her head, and her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were like a moon falling into a deep well, blurring the line between brightness and darkness.

He ordered two servings of braised pork rice, took a pair of disposable chopsticks, tore off the packaging with his mouth, transferred all the meat from one serving to the other, and picked out all the vegetables.

In less than five minutes, the game character let out a sound and said, game over

He is a fair-weather friend, inviting him to play mahjong

A long street, with two rows of tree shadows, along the way are storefronts, and people come and go on the street.

Rong Li glanced at the cuff: "It is not my blood"

The money was placed on the table. Wang Xiaodan greeted the boss and ran after him.

Opened several shots, not a single one hit.

He put away his phone and took out a pair of black gloves from his pocket, then put them on.

Wang

Yang Laosi finally saw the person clearly. It was the young man from earlier in the day, and the banknotes he hadn't had time to stuff into his pocket were his.

Rong Li went to look for it behind.

He has a pair of seemingly well-behaved eyes, with a slight curve of double eyelids that slightly inwardly bends. His eyelashes are not particularly long, but they are quite dense.

Fresh peaches and plums, radiant with brilliance.

Rong Li took a few bites of the remaining half sandwich in the bag and said, "Alright"

His shoes are very clean, the black pants are stained with dust from an unknown source, and he is wearing a gray hoodie underneath his jacket. The hoodie has a loose hood casually draped over his head. The sun shines from the left, casting his profile on the right, while the shadow on the ground is distinctly outlined, exuding a lazy and carefree aura

Woof woof

Wang

The woman is from the neighboring Xu family in Xujia Gang, with the surname Xu. She is the fifth child in her family, with the given name Yan Jiao and the nickname Wu Mei

The setting sun gradually dimmed, and the dog at the village entrance barked frantically

At the end of the street, there is a convenience store named Meifujia. The store door is open, and scattered along the outside corridor are many packages, some of which are blocking the way

Rong Li turned back and glanced briefly, saying: "Forget it, it's not much money."

The man spat on the ground again and walked away grumbling.

The sound is faint like a wisp of smoke, devoid of any emotion

Xiao Niang is a matchmaker and has some understanding of the single men and women in the village: "But it also depends on whether someone finds her appealing. Although the young man from the Rong family is a bit older and has a burden to carry, his looks are unmatched in the town. Haven't you noticed that all the young girls who come to his shop to pick up packages are actually there to see him?"

Well

Wang Xiaodan was angry and retorted, "Who are you cursing?".

The woman next to Xiao Niang asked, "Who was it granted to?"

What a sight to behold

Rong Li handed him the bag. The sleeves of his sweatshirt were very long, sticking out from his coat. There were bloodstains on the cuffs. Rong Guanguan squinted his eyes and saw it.

At this moment, the boy in front of the cash register asked the customer, "Can I see the text message?"

It's just that his appearance doesn't quite match his demeanor. His sitting posture is rough, and his hair seems to have been cut at the old Qitou's shop across the street for thirty yuan each, only responsible for the length, not the styling.

Rong Li shrugged his shoulders and remained silent.

Thank you.

A man spat on the ground: "Blind, walking without looking."

The waist is really slim.

After he checked the name, he took a pen from the small cardboard box on the ground and handed it over with the package, saying, "Sign here."

As for "戎黎手插 | 进兜里 , 摸了摸", it can be translated to "With his hand inserted into his pocket, Rongli touched it."

Go to the kitchen and get chopsticks.

Let's go, let's do something big together, bro.

Rongli said: "Tangyoubaba."

Don't come over!

The soldier at Rongguan Pass extended his chubby hand and said, "Let me help you carry it."

Rong Li retracted the legs placed on the cardboard box: "Mobile phone ending in."

He is a gaming enthusiast.

He ate quickly, and in no time the plate was empty.