Volume 1, Chapter 62: The Boys

It was a fine car, otherwise Meng Yingcai wouldn't have paid special attention to it.

Peering through the rearview mirror, Guo Dong also frowned.

"It must be a coincidence. I don't even have any enemies!"

Guo Dong wasn't driving fast, casting glances behind him from time to time!

He even deliberately took a detour down a side road midway.

Only to find that the car was indeed tailing them.

No matter where he turned, the other party followed at a distance.

When he drove slowly, they slowed down; when he sped up, their speed increased too!

"What on earth are they trying to do?" Meng Yingcai felt a bit uneasy.

Being tailed—wasn't that a plotline from television? How had it actually happened to him?

"Never mind them. Once we reach the village, they won't dare pull anything!"

He stepped hard on the gas pedal, and the vehicle's speed surged instantly.

This sudden acceleration startled the two passengers in the back seat.

The two had been chatting in low voices all along and were completely unaware of being tailed.

Until the car drove into Lijiagou and made a sharp, stylish turn right in front of Li Tianhu's house.

"Is Uncle Huasheng home?"

Guo Dong stepped out of the car and called out in a raised voice.

"Guodong, lad? Your Uncle Huasheng went over to your village. Looking for him about something?"

Guo Dong took a deep breath and said, "On my way back, I was being followed!"

Li Tianhu's mother was startled for a moment. Frightened, she immediately took out her phone and dialed Li Tianhu's number.

"Tianhu, is your dad with you?

Don't come back just yet. Those people from last time might be causing trouble.

It's fine, Guodong is right here!"

Hanging up the phone with a worried expression, she turned to Guo Dong and said, "Wait here a moment, I'll go call some people from the village!"

Before Guo Dong could react, she had already rushed out.

Meanwhile, that white compact car was lingering in the distance.

Seeing Guo Dong park, they had pulled over and stopped as well.

A window rolled down, and an arm extended out from inside.

Clenching a cigarette between its fingers, it took casual puffs.

"Guodong, what's going on here? How did you get mixed up with Tianhu again?"

"It's a long story. Come over to my house tonight, whip up a few small dishes, and I'll tell you all about it!"

Guo Dong wasn't entirely certain yet whether this was related to Li Tianhu.

He was merely suspecting it!

Before long, Li Tianhu's mother had brought over a dozen old men from the village.

Each of them carrying a hoe, they arrived at the intersection.

"Where are they?"

"Is that the car?"

"Let's go take a look!"

A group of a dozen men, dragging hoes and smoking cigarettes, walked toward the compact car.

They looked precisely like veteran local toughs straight out of a movie!

Just as Guo Dong wanted to run over to check out the situation, the white compact car suddenly started up, made a U-turn, and sped away!

"They really were tailing us! These scoundrels have zero regard for the law!"

Guo Dong was furious!

"Come on, let's head back and tell Tianhu to be careful lately!"

He had no idea that this tailing incident had nothing whatsoever to do with Li Tianhu.

The target of those people was him all along.

Ever since he walked out of Xianghe Hotel, his photograph had been transmitted directly into Zhou Peng's hands.

The moment Zhou Peng laid eyes on him, his first reaction was that the target had appeared.

As long as they followed Guo Dong, they would surely discover the source of the vegetables!

Who could have expected that the person tailing him would get scared off the moment they entered Lijiagou and fled right back.

***

Xiantaocun, by the fish pond.

Li Huasheng stood at the water's edge, watching several men haul in fish.

The tools were very simple: two small boats and two fishing nets!

With a single cast of the net, over a dozen grass carp were dragged onto the bank.

"Dad, keep an eye on this for a moment and have them weigh the catch. I need to run back home."

With that, he untied the rope and handed it to Li Huasheng, who had been watching the commotion.

"What are you rushing back for?"

"To grab something. Mom just called and said Guodong came to our house!"

"What's that boy doing at our house? Didn't he go to the county town to pick up Kunzi's son?"

"Who?"

Li Tianhu halted his actions, looked at his father, and asked, "Yingcai?"

"Must be, though I don't know him!"

Li Tianhu couldn't possibly stay busy any longer; he turned on his heel and sprinted.

Shouting as he ran, "Right, when they pay later, have them transfer the money straight to Xiaohan's account!"

Looking at the still-thrashing grass carp in the net, Li Huasheng drew a sharp breath.

Normally, he wouldn't have been envious.

Things were different now; even if there weren't many fish, nothing could stop the prices from being high!

On the other side, Li Tianhu accelerated and ran at full tilt all the way.

He didn't slow down until he reached the entrance of Xiantaocun.

There he saw Guo Dong driving the pickup truck back.

"Guodong, why are you back? Where's my mother?"

He ran toward the pickup and slapped his hand against the window.

The window rolled down, and Meng Yingcai poked his head out.

"Stop slapping! Your mother is fine, she's already left!"

Hearing this, Li Tianhu finally breathed a sigh of relief, though something suddenly felt off.

"Yingcai, why didn't you give a heads-up before coming back?

As it happens, we're selling fish today. I specially kept a few back, let's cook up some dishes and have a couple of drinks!"

Meng Yingcai got out of the truck and threw an arm around the other man's shoulders.

"If anyone's drinking, it'll be me and Guodong. You're from another village, what are you intruding for?"

"You little brat, looking for a beating, are you?"

Meng Yingcai burst into laughter: "You should call me older brother, showing no respect!"

Young people got along best when they were together.

They could say anything without reservation, so both of their moods were exceptionally cheerful!

"Guodong, drive the truck back and head over to the fish pond later!"

The car door opened, and Meng Xiaohan stepped out as well. Behind her, Tian Fang looked somewhat shy, keeping her head lowered without uttering a sound.

"What fish pond? Come to my house, I'm cooking today!" Meng Xiaohan suddenly interjected.

"No way!" Li Tianhu shook his head repeatedly. "If I go to your place, I wouldn't even dare have a single cup of wine with your mother sitting right there, it's too restraining!"

"Oh?"

Suddenly, Li Tianhu shifted his gaze to Tian Fang!

"And who might this be?"

"Your sister-in-law. Hurry up, call her sister-in-law!" Meng Yingcai chuckled.

"Go on, stop messing around. What's actually going on here?" Li Tianhu shoved Meng Yingcai's arm away and asked grumpily.

By this time, Guo Dong had already driven the vehicle back home.

Sure enough, even though it was already afternoon, Grandpa was still at his house and hadn't left.

He could almost be certain that, given how happily the two old men were chatting, they might genuinely end up staying in the village for the day.

"Grandpa, Yingcai is back. I won't be eating at home this afternoon, you all eat yourselves and don't wait for me!"

With that, he shouldered a large bundle of luggage and jogged toward Uncle Kun's house.

"Lads, let's go!"

Familiar voices, a familiar vibe—the three of them laughed heartily as they hurried toward Uncle Kun's place.

Watching the three figures ahead of them, Tian Fang whispered, "They seem to have a really close bond!"

Meng Xiaohan shook her head. "They grew up playing together since they were kids!

Don't look at them chatting and laughing now; sometimes when they get hot-headed, they still end up coming to blows."

"Really?"

"Of course. Just a short while ago, Tianhu almost got into a fight with Guodong."

Tian Fang smiled faintly, following closely behind Meng Xiaohan while constantly scanning her surroundings in the village.

Her heart was pounding with nervousness!

She was about to meet Meng Yingcai's father, and she had no idea what address to use for him!