Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2847 Growing up
"Just like that?" Tan Shuangxi muttered, still not coming to his senses for a while. The word divorce was not new to him, he heard it often, but this was the first time someone he knew got divorced.

"What else can we do if we don't want to divorce?" Old Man Chen exhaled a smoke ring and sighed, "My mother's parents came to persuade us, and my brother and sister-in-law also came to persuade us. They said that Caiwang is an honest farmer, his family is well-off, and his parents-in-law are not mean people. What's wrong with that? But they just can't persuade her! After all, this is the 'law' of the Senate, as long as one party proposes it, the two can divorce amicably. Even if her family doesn't agree, she can go to the county court, and the result will be the same. It's better to save face."

Tan Shuangxi still hadn't recovered from the shock, and just nodded silently. Some people in the army often say things like "your wife dumped you" and "you'll get a divorce when you get home", but the Senate has a policy to protect military marriages, so divorces are rare.

"Could it be that this woman already has a lover?" Tan Shuangxi suddenly remembered the puppet show "A Coin" that promoted freedom of marriage. The heroine in the show was just like that.

"That's probably true," said the old scholar, "but she doesn't admit that she has an affair outside. She just said that she and Cai Wang don't get along and can't live together. Girls always have some sense of shame."

"If you had any sense of shame, you wouldn't get divorced."

"I think it's just that you despise the poor and love the rich!"

"Yes, there is a wild man!"

……

The "News Center" immediately fell into condemnation of "Qian Caiwang's wife". In this matter, everyone felt that Caiwang had done nothing wrong. In short, everyone's opinion was that Caiwang was "unlucky".

"…Not only did my wife run away, but I also lost a lot of money for nothing!"

"bride price?"

"It's the betrothal gift." Old Man Chen put out the cigarette that was about to burn his fingers. "Sixty yuan! His wife's family was only willing to return half. His father appealed everywhere, and I helped his family to speak up. Finally, the village came forward and went to the town government to file a complaint. The town's judicial department mediated between the two sides, and finally they returned two-thirds of the money."

"Just think about it, twenty dollars are just gone like that. How much can Cai Wang's family save in a year by digging in the soil? She is a girl, and she only took away twenty dollars in a year! The world is really going downhill!" The old scholar was indignant.

Tan Shuangxi didn't know what to say. It was rare to hear such shocking things in the army, and it was a little hard to accept at this moment. Suddenly he remembered the agreement between him and Yang Zhaodi, and felt uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly. Could this girl have done something to deceive and use him? !

He suddenly fell into a state of uneasiness and suspicion, his expression changed immediately, and he walked away after making a few random remarks.

Tan Shuangxi wandered aimlessly along the stream, trying to calm down. He thought about it. Yang Zhaodi hadn't lied to him in the first place. As for the promise, it didn't really matter. After all, no one had asked him whether he had made it or not. If they had asked, he could have just given an ambiguous answer. Besides, he could have reported to the political department that they had broken up in a month or two. Even if they were married, they could get divorced. Why couldn't they break up when they were in love?
Besides, his marriage was guaranteed by the Senate, so he didn't have to worry about it. Thinking of this, his originally depressed mood was somewhat relieved.

My mood became lighter and my steps became lighter. I was walking through a field when I suddenly saw a familiar figure repairing a leak on the ridge. I looked closely and it was Cai Wang!

Cai Wang's figure looked somewhat lonely under the sunlight. His movements were skillful and powerful, but Tan Shuangxi could sense a hint of fatigue emanating from him.

Tan Shuangxi quickened his pace, walked behind Cai Wang, and called softly, "Cai Wang."

Cai Wang's body trembled, and he turned around with a surprised expression on his face. A hint of complex emotions flashed in his eyes, but was quickly replaced by a smile. "Shuangxi? You're back!" His voice was a little hoarse, but more of surprise.

The two hugged each other tightly, then Cai Wang took a step back and looked Tan Shuangxi up and down.

"You look more and more like a soldier," he said with a smile, and then looked at her again, "Everyone says you got a promotion..."

"Acting platoon leader, and a soldier at that." Tan Shuangxi also laughed. He patted Cai Wang on the shoulder and said, "You are becoming more and more like a veteran."

Cai Wang is one year older than him and has shed his youthfulness. Working in the fields has made him strong and has also left wrinkles on his skin.

The two men smiled at each other, and Cai Wang pointed to a stone on the ridge of the field and said, "Come, sit down." They sat down, and Cai Wang took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, handed one to Tan Shuangxi, and took one for himself.

Seeing that his cigarettes were the cheapest white-shelled mass-produced ones, Tan Shuangxi wanted to ask him to smoke his own cigarettes, but he was afraid that he would misunderstand, so he took out a match and lit it.

"Repair the canal?"

"Well, there is less rain now, so it's a good time to repair it." Cai Wang said, "This year my family has leased more than ten acres of land, so we will do a big job next year."

Tan Shuangxi knew that Caiwang's family didn't have many laborers. Apart from his parents, Caiwang had an older sister who was already married, and a younger brother who was only in his teens and not considered a strong laborer. "Your family has few laborers. Can you handle the farming?"

Cai Wangsheng lowered his head, took a few puffs of his cigarette silently, then looked up and said, "We originally had more than 40 acres, and this time I discussed with my father and decided to lease another 10 acres, making a total of 60 acres. We originally had one cow, and this time I agreed with the Tiandihui to take out a loan to raise another one. Taking advantage of the good grain market in recent years, we can grow more grain and make more money."

"This is too much work, can you handle it?"

"We have to work hard even if we are too busy. We have to make up for the shortfall." Cai Wang sighed, "By the way, what are your plans for coming back this time? I heard from Father Chen that veterans can retire this time."

Tan Shuangxi sighed, "I don't plan to come back for the time being. The war is still going on. I'll stay with my family first."

He paused, "What about you? What are your plans?"

Cai Wang smiled bitterly and said, "What plans can I make? I'll just live like this." His gaze fell on the fields in the distance, with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Tan Shuangxi looked at him, feeling a little uncomfortable. He knew that Caiwang had not had a easy time in the past two years, and he wanted to help him, but he didn't know where to start.

"I heard that your wife..." Tan Shuangxi hesitated for a moment, but still brought up the matter.

Cai Wang took a deep breath of cigarette and slowly exhaled, his eyes a little blurry. "Yes, she's gone." There was a hint of helplessness in his voice.

Tan Shuangxi was silent for a while, and then he said after a long while: "It's unfortunate that you have to deal with this."

"It's just bad luck." Cai Wang shook his head. "When we talked about marriage, she said she graduated from Fangcaodi Primary School, and later studied on her own and got a Class A diploma. I thought she was pretty. With a woman who can write and do math in the family, how can the family business not prosper in the future?"

"Didn't you say you didn't want to when we met?"

"After the wedding, the matchmaker said the girl was willing. Everything was fine when they first got married, but later she said she wanted to try to get into an agricultural technical school. I thought that was a good idea, because it's not a bad thing to be educated. Look at the agricultural technicians in the Tiandihui, they all graduated from agricultural technical schools. They are especially good at farming. So I asked her to study hard, and we will take on more of the housework."

"and then?"

"I asked for a divorce after I passed the exam." Cai Wang's eyes turned red. "Shuangxi, you probably don't know. It was a bolt from the blue. I never dreamed of it. I was fine the day before..."

Tan Shuangxi didn't know what to say for a moment. In the past, when he watched plays and listened to storytelling, he often heard the plot of "a man abandons his wife after passing the imperial examination." Unexpectedly, a similar plot happened in reverse to his childhood friend!

He suddenly thought of the inspirational stories that often happened in puppet shows and small reading books, and now it was happening in front of him. However, the men in the stories were always ignorant and violent, arrogant, bullying the weak and fearing the strong... and Caiwang was just an ordinary farmer. Maybe he was not smart and had no interest, but he was definitely not the "bad man" in the puppet show.

"Don't be sad..." He struggled to squeeze out a word of comfort, feeling weak and powerless.

Cai Wang shook his head. "It's okay. It's all over." He turned around and looked at Tan Shuangxi. "How are you doing in the army? I heard you've made a lot of contributions."

Tan Shuangxi smiled and said, "At least I'm still a whole person!"

Cai Wang said: "I heard that the troops suffered heavy casualties in the front. In the three villages of the salt field, four people have been killed, and one person from the village has also been killed. Recently, two seriously injured soldiers returned, both disabled..."

"In war, there are always casualties." Tan Shuangxi was a little confused. He was not willing to talk about the battlefield. Although after returning, everyone wanted him to tell battle stories, in order not to spoil the fun, he always picked some interesting things and things he saw in foreign places.

"I wanted to join the army last time. I heard that the salary was high and there were subsidies for going to battle. I thought that serving as a soldier for three years would make up for the famine in recent years." Cai Wang said, "Then I thought again, if I died or became disabled, even if there was a pension, my father and brothers would not be able to support this family business..."

Tan Shuangxi didn't know what to say, so he just said, "You've thought it through." In order to ease the somewhat heavy atmosphere, Tan Shuangxi talked about the life in the army and the interesting things that happened on the road to the Northern Expedition. Cai Wang listened with great interest. Time passed quietly during their conversation, the sun gradually rose, and the scorching sun spread all over the earth.

"Let me help you with your work." Tan Shuangxi felt that sitting there and chatting would delay his work.

"Okay, just help me." Cai Wang did not refuse.

The two men worked together to repair the canal. Tan Shuangxi soon began to sweat, and simply took off his shirt, leaving only his jacket. He hadn't done farm work for a long time, so he was a little unfamiliar at first, but as he worked, the memories deep in his body seemed to come back, and he became more and more comfortable. Tan Shuangxi felt very happy and felt much better.