Chapter 50: The Sky Fears Dark Clouds and the Earth Fears the Wind

In Li Xian's previous era, the small grove at school was accustomed to nightly commotion, but in this era, such passionate encounters were quite rare. His curiosity got the better of him, and he crouched down to sneak closer.

Zhou Yun, unsure of what was happening, had initially hesitated to follow him. However, having walked quite a distance from the site, with no lights visible and the occasional call of night owls sending chills down her spine, she felt the instinct to stay close in the dark. After a brief hesitation, she bit her lip and followed him.

They were now in a small grove behind the forestry department's office.

In the darkness, the rustling of leaves in the night wind created a constant, whispering noise. Outside, there might have been other sounds, but within the grove, the only noise was the rustle of the leaves overhead, and the previous sounds of heavy breathing mixed with moans were no longer audible.

At that moment, a rustling sound came from beside Li Xian.

"Ah! A rat!"

With Zhou Yun's scream, Li Xian felt a sudden, firm grip around him from behind.

Damn it!

Li Xian cursed inwardly, frustrated at his "teammate" for exposing them at such a crucial moment. With the scream, the forest became lively, with rustling leaves and a few more surprised cries from both men and women.

Unable to keep hiding, Li Xian decided to take the initiative and scare the intruders in the forest. He took a deep breath and called out in a deep voice, "Who's there? I see you—come out now!"

Initially, Li Xian found it amusing to mess with people in the woods, but this shout led to a shocking result that left him stunned…

"Second Brother?!"

The shout echoed through the woods, revealing a familiar voice.

Li Jie!

Hearing the trembling voice, Li Xian covered his face in disbelief; he had caught his own family in the act of infidelity.

What in the world is this!

A few minutes later, at the edge of the forest…

Li Jie was straightening her disheveled top, too embarrassed to look up. Beside her, Gao Ming, holding up his pants by the waistband, had a face full of discomfort.

They say the sky fears dark clouds, the earth fears wind, chicks fear hawks, accountants fear making mistakes, and young lovers fear streetlights.

In the forestry, there were no streetlights to worry about, but Gao Ming felt disoriented facing Li Xian.

Li Xian's silence made Gao Ming nervous. After a moment of hesitation, Gao Ming decided to take the initiative.

Seeing Zhou Yun behind Li Xian, almost wanting to run away in embarrassment, Gao Ming took out a cigarette and offered one to Li Xian. "Second Brother… I didn't know you were interested in this place too…"

"Get lost!" Li Xian, under the moonlight, looked at his younger uncle's face and was furious. "Do you think I'm the same as you?"

Li Xian's anger scared Gao Ming so much that he dropped his matchsticks and quickly stood straight.

Li Xian then walked around the "wild lovebirds" with his hands behind his back, deliberately teasing, "So, where are you two at in your relationship?"

"Second Brother!" Probably reaching the peak of embarrassment, Li Jie suddenly looked up and said angrily.

Seeing Gao Ming hanging his head in silence, Li Xian understood.

He knew that Gao Ming was not an irresponsible person, but Gao Ming came from a strict family that had migrated east. According to historical context, Li Jie and Gao Ming were supposed to marry because of an unplanned pregnancy. This situation had already caused some negative perception from Li Jie's family, and the recent request for a bride price due to Li Qings's difficulties had made things worse for Li Jie.

Li Xian thought that their actions were not a good solution.

After contemplating for a moment, he sighed deeply and told Gao Ming to quickly inform his family and finalize the wedding plans.

Gao Ming, who had been expecting a scolding, was overjoyed to hear this. Li Jie also looked at her second brother with surprise and secretly smiled.

…

Despite Zhou Yun's strict upbringing, being eighteen made her somewhat aware of personal matters. The events of the night were too intense for her, and after Li Xian sent Li Jie and Gao Ming away and escorted her home, she couldn't wait to distance herself from him.

She said a hasty goodbye and quickly ran back to her house.

Hearing the clacking sound of Zhou Yun's plastic sandals on the ground, Li Xian wiped his nose.

"Quite a catch…"

Recalling the earlier sensations, he felt a bit warm inside his nose.

…

The next morning, Old Zhou indeed came to the new house, trying to act tough but failing to ask Li Xian if the renovation team needed help.

Li Xian found the situation amusing, remembering the events of the previous night.

In this era, it wasn't the time to laugh at the poor but ignore the prostitutes; instead, the most contemptible were the idle and lazy. Since the passenger bus had been bought out and Old Zhou lost his job, he felt like his whole life was falling apart.

When Li Xian arranged a job for him to transport and pick up the construction team, Old Zhou felt relieved and his perception of Li Xian improved.

"You brat, I heard you got into a fight with those bus people yesterday?" After discussing work matters, Old Zhou didn't leave but took out a cigarette and handed it to Li Xian.

The cigarette wasn't high quality, just a black stick without a filter.

Seeing Li Xian refuse to smoke, Old Zhou lit one for himself and sighed, "Nowadays, the bus drivers are all from Xu San's gang. They're quite disgraceful. You fought with their people yesterday; you should be extra careful."

Li Xian didn't take Old Zhou's warning seriously.

He wasn't sure who Xu San was, but according to his thinking, the buses running between the forestry bureau and the eight or nine forestry sites were in his territory. Even though he was unreasonable yesterday, it was the bus people who instigated the conflict first.

Even if they were some ruffians, those doing business with the buses would likely avoid provoking him just for a small matter. Unless they didn't care about angering the masses and offending all the clients in the eight or nine forestry sites.

Seeing Li Xian's indifference, Old Zhou said nothing more, chatted for a while, and then took his leave.

With everything so busy, Li Xian just wanted to relax when he finally got home. Watching Zou Ni busy with the new house, he decided to join Li Daoyun in the backyard. They found an old tarp, lay down in the sun, and watched the old man prepare the coffin.

With Li Xian's legs swinging back and forth like a pendulum and the clouds shifting in the sky, the leisurely morning passed quickly.

At noon, just as Li Xian, hungry from waking up, was about to go find food, Li Pi, wearing cloth shoes, came running back, kicking up dust.

Finding Li Xian in the backyard, he shouted, "Second Brother, you need to come quickly! Wang Qinghe and his team have been beaten up!"