Chapter 155: Countdown to Jiang Xiaoli's Departure

Han Li soothed the dogs and checked the surroundings with his spiritual sense, a faint smile curving the corners of his mouth.

After bolting the courtyard gate and securing the dogs, he walked into the room without turning on the lamp, undressed, and slipped straight under the covers.

Shortly after, he was entangled by a passionate, writhing octopus. Following a bout of intense, breathless wrestling, a howling gale picked up outside, the sound of the wind whistling clearly through the room.

None of this interfered with Han Li’s routine check of his vehicle: handlebars, handbrake, bell, front tire, rear tire, and the saddle were inspected one by one.

With a low, muffled roar, Han Li completed the inspection and began his journey down the road.

As the saying goes, when the roc rises with the wind in a single day, it soars up ninety thousand miles.

After receiving diverse guidance from his video instructors and undergoing two rounds of real-world practice, Han Li’s driving skills were no longer what they used to be.

Now, he could execute all sorts of riding techniques with effortless ease. Starting from the basic side-straddle method familiar to children, the bicycle’s speed began to accelerate in a straight line.

Like lightning driven by the wind, he seized every opportunity to pick up speed along the way.

The whistling wind mixed with the ringing of the bicycle bell gave the passenger a strong sense of backward propulsion.

In the end, Han Li completely let himself go, even riding hands-free on the high-speed stretch.

This was the dividing line officially worn in after the vehicle had traveled three thousand six hundred revolutions.

The next day, Han Li woke up, opened the window to let in some fresh air, added some firewood to the stove, and set about clearing the snow from the courtyard.

In the past, Han Li had never bothered to shovel snow at home, and back at school, he would just idly scrape at it along with everyone else.

Perhaps due to a shift in mindset, or perhaps because he had recently been jumping and hunting frequently through the mountain forests, Han Li noticed today while shoveling the snow in his courtyard that the action could perfectly align the power of his arms, waist, and thighs into a single, seamless line. It was remarkably similar to what his master had taught him when practicing with staff weapons.

Thus, Han Li adjusted his method of exerting force. Power generated from his feet was transmitted to his waist, which twisted slightly to convey the momentum to his arms, and finally swept out smoothly with the large broom in his hands. He began sweeping back and forth, left and right.

As he continued, Han Li kept refining his exertion technique, and before he knew it, he felt reluctant to stop.

They say labor is the best teacher; much like tending the fields at the beginning, Han Li quickly found an extremely appropriate way to exert his strength. Not only could he sweep the snow spotlessly clean, but it also served as an excellent exercise to familiarize himself with the muscle dynamics of staff-play.

In this manner, Han Li not only cleaned his own courtyard completely, but he also cleared the doorsteps of several nearby houses.

A clear path was shoveled all the way to the doors of the educated youths' courtyard, Hao Hongmin's home, the Yun family home, He Mi's home, Zhang Xiangjun's home, and Wu Lili's home.

By the time he finished all this, Han Li’s body was slightly warm. He returned to the courtyard to practice his martial forms for a while, allowing his muscles to gradually calm down, before heading back inside to wash his face and brush his teeth.

Han Li was sitting on the kang, reading a book intently, when Yun Yingying walked over along the cleared path he had made.

"You've been up for a while, haven't you? The snow on the path must have been cleared by you. Are you hungry? I'll go make breakfast right now."

Han Li replied, "I woke up with nothing to do, so I cleared the snow around our place. But I actually am a bit hungry. It would be even better if I could have a couple of steamed milk buns garnished with cherries right now."

A slight blush appeared on Yun Yingying's face before she gave him a playful, exasperated look and said, "Don't even dream about it right now. Elder sister will be coming over later."

Hearing this, far from feeling displeased, Han Li sat on the kang and burst into hearty laughter.

What is efficiency? What are truly remarkable results?

Although Yun Yingying had originally been quite carefree, she would never have said such a thing before. The current situation was undoubtedly the result of Han Li's step-by-step guidance.

Yun Yingying was somewhat bewildered by his laughter, thinking he might still be feeling unwell, so she reached out to feel his forehead.

Instead, Han Li gently caught her finger between his lips and blinked his eyes twice.

This little move completely shattered Yun Yingying's composure. Reminded of something, her pretty face instantly turned as red as blood.

"We definitely can't do that right now, don't even think about it."

With that, Yun Yingying fled to the outer kitchen. Only then did Han Li realize she must have misunderstood his intent.

Sitting on the kang, Han Li laughed even more heartily. Hearing him from the outer kitchen, Yun Yingying gave the floor an indignant stomp.

"You are not allowed to laugh anymore, or you can forget about me helping you in the future."

*

After Han Li finished a meal with the Yun sisters, the three of them were sitting on the kang playing Chinese checkers when Jiang Xiaoli suddenly walked in.

Seeing how fresh and spirited Jiang Xiaoli looked, Han Li couldn't help but inwardly praise her exceptional physical stamina.

Looking at her now, there was no trace of the trembling figure leaning against the wall on her way back to the educated youths' courtyard the previous night.

During their deep communication last night, Han Li had already known what she was coming for today, but he still maintained his usual, calm demeanor.

"Sister Jiang, you're here. Care to join us for a game of Chinese checkers?"

Seeing Jiang Xiaoli enter, Yun Yingying cheerfully invited her, but Jiang Xiaoli smiled and shook her head, saying, "No thanks. I'm here this time to ask your man for a favor—to help haul some grain to the commune in exchange for grain coupons."

Hearing this, Yun Yingying frowned. When she had originally agreed to it, she hadn't expected it to snow afterward. Pulling a cart through more than ten miles of snow was simply too difficult, and a trace of reluctance crept into her tone.

"Sister Jiang, has your reporting date been set? If it's not urgent, shouldn't we wait until the roads are easier to travel?"

"They said we need to gather in the city the day after tomorrow, but the roads might be difficult to navigate right after the snow. That's why I plan to exchange the grain coupons today and rush to the city early tomorrow morning. However, I’ve already arranged it with Zhang Chaomei. As long as Han Li can drive the cart, the village will lend me the horse-drawn carriage today so it won't be too hard on your man. But Han Li, can you drive a cart?"

Han Li chuckled. "Heh, what's so complicated about driving a cart? As long as you swing the whip well, the horse will trot along obediently. But where is the old uncle who usually drives the cart for the village?"

"When I went to look for Chaomei yesterday, I found out he's been feeling under the weather these past two days; otherwise, I wouldn't have asked you to drive."

"Is that so? Well then, the sooner the better—let's hurry up and load the grain so we can head to the commune. Who knows how long we'll have to wait at the grain station."

"Then you go to the shed to harness the horse and cart. I'll go get a few people to help with the loading, then go find the village leaders to open the granary and weigh the load. We'll meet at the granary shortly."

With that, Jiang Xiaoli went off to gather others, while Han Li led the Yun sisters to the shed to hitch up the cart.

The old man who usually drove the cart was indeed feeling a bit unwell. He instructed Han Li on how to harness the horse and rattled off a long list of precautions before letting him leave.

It was Han Li's first time driving a cart, and he found it quite novel. Holding the horse whip, he shouted out all the commands he knew—"Giddyup!", "Dei!", "Whoa!", and "Hitch!"—one after another.

When they arrived at the granary, they found that almost everyone had shown up, except for Xiong Xianjun and Zhou Guoan: two people from Hao Hongmin's courtyard, two from He Mi's courtyard, Qi Ruying, Yuan Hongying, Wu Lili, and Zhang Xiangjun.

They gathered and chatted, though most of their tones still carried a strong hint of envy.

Shortly after, the relevant village personnel arrived. Jiang Xiaoli walked at the very end, arm-in-arm with Zhang Chaomei. Han Li couldn't help wondering when their relationship had gotten so close.

Signing, issuing receipts, weighing, and loading the cart—finally, Han Li drove the horse-drawn carriage toward the commune.

However, Han Li and Jiang Xiaoli weren't the only ones heading to the commune; several other educated youths needed to go buy a few things there.

In their words, even if they couldn't ride on the cart going there, sitting on an empty cart on the way back would be fine. Every bit of strength and shoe leather saved was worth it.

Han Li welcomed them along; otherwise, traveling that long road with just the two of them might inevitably lead to wandering thoughts.

Fortunately, the snowfall wasn't too heavy, and the road wasn't excessively difficult to traverse. Chatting and laughing, the group arrived at the commune.

However, the grain required a lengthy process of paperwork and procedures here, and no one knew how long it would take.

Thus, the others wandered off to run their own errands. Jiang Xiaoli went to handle the paperwork, while Han Li sat on the cart and read a book.

Once Jiang Xiaoli finished the paperwork, the next steps were quality inspection, price valuation, weighing, and warehousing.

Jiang Xiaoli untied the ropes at the back of the cart and lent a hand whenever Han Li lifted a sack of grain. Afterward, they would have to fold the empty sacks and return them to the village.

As luck would have it, the granary designated for storage this time was the exact same one they had used during the previous grain delivery.

However, the interior of the granary was much emptier than before, likely because the autumn harvest grain had already been shipped away.

Working in tandem, the two of them quickly finished storing all the grain. By then, it was not yet 12:00 noon.

Climbing up and down had left a thin layer of sweat on Han Li's forehead. Jiang Xiaoli remarked pointedly, "You look even more exhausted right now than when you were riding your bicycle. Don't tell me the energy you spent last night hasn't recovered yet?"

"Heh, who was it last night crying and begging me to spare them?"

Remembering that intense wave of backward propulsion from before, along with everything else, Jiang Xiaoli's cheeks flushed.

"Hmph! I'm going to collect the grain coupons. Considerate of your hard work, I'll treat you to a meal later."

Watching Jiang Xiaoli pull out her receipt and turn to head toward the grain station office, Han Li drove the cart outside to wait. He took out a handful of soybeans—plundered from a field mouse's nest—and fed them to the horse. After finishing the beans, the horse nudged Han Li with its head, looking at him with an expression that seemed to say, "Boss, give me some more."

Seeing this, Han Li couldn't help but smile. All living creatures in this world ultimately sought nothing more than to fill their bellies. Compared to the simple happiness of animals, humans possessed seven emotions and six desires, which constantly plunged them into needless worries.

Han Li took out another handful of soybeans, watching the horse shake its head and chew with an expression of utter satisfaction.

Before long, Jiang Xiaoli emerged from the grain station. At that moment, she appeared exceedingly nervous, one hand tightly clutching her pocket.

***

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*(End of Chapter)*