Chapter 36: I Love Her

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: I Love Her

The village chief coughed lightly twice, signaling to them that there were outsiders present. They shouldn’t argue so fiercely that they forgot about their ties and lost all sense of reality.

The main thing was that his youngest son was currently in a state of being in love without realizing it. He didn’t want this argument to suddenly enlighten the boy.

He had wanted to take advantage of the time before his son figured out his own feelings to quickly find a good girl and pair him up with her. Once he started a family, this inappropriate infatuation would naturally be cut off.

These two coughs acted like a lit fuse. Zhang Jiahua pointed at the two leaders and asked Zhang Ci Hao, "Do you dare to swear in front of the village chief and the brigade captain that you don’t want to be Deng Yuyuan’s husband?!"

"I..." Zhang Ci Hao had just opened his mouth to answer—if he became Deng Yuyuan’s husband, he could rightfully be with her every day, take perfect care of her, shelter her from the wind and rain, and ensure she always wore a smile as beautiful as a blooming flower.

Could this be... what it meant to like someone? No, this was love. He loved Deng Yuyuan.

Zhang Ci Hao’s eyes, still carrying a hint of confusion, gradually turned serious. He felt a sense of sudden enlightenment, as if he had been completely reborn. No wonder he had taken such great care of Tuantuan but always felt that something was amiss, wishing he could just sleep on the floor at the Knowledge Youth Institute.

His body was more honest than his heart, and much more proactive.

He nodded, answering Brother Jiahua like a man, "Yes, I like Deng Yuyuan. Moreover, I have both money and free time to protect my wife and daughter well."

The village chief slapped a palm over his face, already thinking about how to explain this to his wife when he got back. It wasn’t that Deng Yuyuan was bad, but his son had never been married before. How could he... how could he marry a woman on her second marriage?

As he replayed his memories over and over, Zhang Ci Hao grew even more resolute. Thinking of the little details of their time together, a wave of sweetness surged into his heart.

"Brother Jiahua, let’s compete fairly and see who Deng Yuyuan chooses." Zhang Ci Hao felt he had given a perfect answer.

Zhang Jiahua clenched his fists, trying hard to suppress the urge to smash them into Zhang Ci Hao’s face. "What fair competition? You... you scheming, shameless, home-wrecking fox spirit!"

He really wanted to tear apart Zhang Ci Hao’s smug, despicable face—one that was younger than his and just as handsome. Running to the Knowledge Youth Institute every day to seduce Deng Yuyuan... No wonder Yuanyuan still refused to forgive him.

Zhang Ci Hao also got angry. He felt he had already been very accommodating to Zhang Jiahua, but why did his words have to be so nasty?

"Who’s a home-wrecker? Comrade Deng Yuyuan is currently single. Any man of upright character can pursue her!" Zhang Ci Hao tried hard to recall the adjectives for an ideal partner from the miscellaneous books he had read—tall, hardworking, skilled in the fields... No, no, that didn’t match his own traits. He needed a different angle.

"I’m virtuous and good at taking care of children. I’m tall, lean, and fair-skinned, which will make Comrade Deng Yuyuan look great when we go out together. I earn a lot of money and I’m magnanimous. Unlike you—Comrade Deng Yuyuan can’t even be bothered to talk to you." Zhang Ci Hao spoke while withstanding Zhang Jiahua’s murderous glare. The last sentence was an absolute gut punch.

Hold on, hold on. Son, are those really words you should be using?

The village chief stepped out to smooth things over. "Enough! Do you still think you haven’t made a big enough scene today? Don’t get into a fight today only for it to reach Comrade Deng Yuyuan’s ears tomorrow. She’ll think the two of you are violent maniacs with a potential for domestic abuse."

Zhang Jiahua said unwillingly, "I’ll go find Yuanyuan this afternoon and tell her about your wolfish ambitions. Let’s see if she’s still willing to let you interact with Tuantuan every day."

He grew angry again right after speaking. What a despicable, calculating, and scheming man, cunningly trying to poach her away by currying favor with Tuantuan.

Zhang Ci Hao froze for a moment, his mind working rapidly. "Then I’ll just start pursuing her openly. We’ll see who loses out in the end."

In the end, neither side came to blows, nor did they threaten to make the matter public. It was just that they could no longer be brothers from another mother.

Using Granny Zhang as an excuse, the village chief finally persuaded Zhang Jiahua to leave. "Hurry up and go pay your mother’s fees. I happen to know the police officers who came this time, and Comrade Deng Yuyuan was accommodating. That’s the only reason a multi-year prison sentence was reduced to just a few days. The difference is as vast as heaven and earth. Even the units of measurement are different—one is years, the other is days. Do you understand what units are?"

He didn’t usually speak so sharply. He only did it for his youngest son—even though he strongly disapproved of his son’s choice, he had already started backing him up in arguments.

Zhang Jiahua’s anger-filled eyes revealed a hint of foolishness once again.

The village chief chuckled. "There are free meals in prison, but they taste terrible. Hurry up and go to the town to pay the money so your mother’s days behind bars can be a bit more comfortable."

Zhang Jiahua went back to get the money. The village chief led his youngest son back home, feeling utterly exasperated. "Of all the people you could like, you had to like her! What are you after? Are you after her beauty? How am I supposed to explain this to your mother?"

"I’m just after her as a person." Zhang Ci Hao’s gaze was resolute. "Dad, if you guys don’t support me, I’ll earn money to save up for the bride price myself, or I’ll just marry into her family."

"Oh, so you’re even willing to give yourself away," the village chief scoffed. "She might not even take a fancy to you. When she first came to the village, she was young and got deceived by Zhang Jiahua. Now that she’s a mother and more mature, she’ll definitely be looking for someone from the city."

"I didn’t deceive her."

"Even if you hadn’t, she still wouldn’t want you," the village chief said grumpily.

"Dad, Pops, stop jinxing me!" Zhang Ci Hao got annoyed. Refusing to walk with his father any longer, he headed in the direction of the Knowledge Youth Institute.

"Hey, where are you going!" The village chief really wanted to tie up his troublesome youngest son and drag him back. "Go home first. Go home! Because of the incident this morning, your mother didn’t go to work. Let’s talk to her about your situation."

Zhang Ci Hao was persuaded to stop. "Then what do we do if Mom doesn’t agree?"

"Since you’re so ’virtuous and magnanimous,’ you can just cry, make a fuss, and threaten to hang yourself, swearing you won’t marry anyone but her," the village chief rolled his eyes.

Now Zhang Ci Hao really wanted to temporarily sever his father-son relationship with his dad. He simply sprinted home first, leaving his father with his old arms and legs to walk back slowly.

Upon arriving home, the village chief’s wife immediately objected when she heard about Zhang Ci Hao’s situation. She only wanted Tuantuan to be her granddaughter-in-law; she had no intention of letting Deng Yuyuan become her daughter-in-law.

"I’ll quickly arrange for you to meet a few girls over the next few days. See if you feel a connection with any of them," the village chief’s wife said.

"I won’t feel anything," Zhang Ci Hao replied, a brilliant idea already secretly brewing in his mind.

"How can you say you won’t feel anything? What if I find a girl just as pretty as Deng Yuyuan?"

"You won’t be able to find one. That day when Deng Yuyuan returned to the Knowledge Youth Institute, she was as thin as a twig, yet she still possessed a certain elegance. She had that aura of ’standing aloof from the world’ that books talk about. Even if she wasn’t pretty, I would still like her." Zhang Ci Hao laid bare his desires in front of his mother. "I’m not after her for her looks. I’m after the kind of life where, when we’re old, we can count the fine wrinkles around each other’s eyes."

That was exactly what Zhang Ci Hao’s grandparents used to do when they were alive.

The village chief’s wife still felt that his enthusiasm would only be a passing phase. Her youngest son had never been one to stick with things.