Mrs. Zhou’s expression was somewhat odd, "You saw her?"
"Mm-hm," Zhou Weimin nodded, he said, "Those three children were playing at the courtyard entrance with Yichen and his brothers. I saw them on my way back, riding my bike."
To prevent her son from overthinking, Mrs. Zhou didn’t continue the conversation. She filled a basin with water and placed it on the steps under the eaves, "Hungry? Hurry up and wash your hands. Your sister-in-law will be lifting the lid off the pot soon."
Zhou Weimin’s lips twitched slightly; he hummed affirmatively, washed his hands, and sat on the bamboo chair nearby, lost in thought as he gazed at the evening glow in the sky.
He’s back... Li Bao’s back!
A dull pain throbbed in his chest.
And the corners of his eyes began to sting involuntarily.
Zhou Weimin knew that the moment Kang Li left Aoli Village two years ago, he... he already regretted... regretted having been too hasty in calling off the engagement, so much so that when Kang Li left, there was no reason to keep his childhood sweetheart by his side.
He couldn’t understand. He had known Kang Li since childhood, and their relationship was so good that all the village youths were envious. Moreover, it was he who had asked his mother to propose marriage to the Kang Family and had set the engagement between them.
But then... just when they were about to register for marriage and have the wedding, he... he betrayed Li Bao for a moment of vanity, betrayed his childhood sweetheart, betrayed his fiancée of an arranged marriage, and started a relationship with Su Qing, an educated youth from the city.
"What are you spacing out for? Dinner’s ready."
Mrs. Zhou’s voice suddenly rose, pulling Zhou Weimin back from his reverie.
"Oh."
Zhou Weimin responded and got up to take a bowl of sweet potato and corn porridge, then returned to sit on the same bamboo chair.
"You think a bowl of that will fill you up?"
And it was this fool of a son who was blinded by Su Qing, the vixen, resulting in the end of the marriage arrangement with the Kang Family. Now, two years after the engagement was broken off, if her foolish son showed up in front of Li Bao to pester her, wouldn’t their family be drowned by the villagers’ spit?
"What nonsense are you talking about, Mother?"
Ignoring the expression on Su Qing’s face, Zhou Weimin impatiently said to Mrs. Zhou, "How shameless would I have to be to go saying nonsense in front of Li Bao? It was I who wronged Li Bao. As long as Li Bao doesn’t hate me, I’m content. Why would I go and trouble her by appearing in front of her after two years?"
He spoke these words, but what Zhou Weimin truly felt inside was quite the opposite.
He wanted to see Kang Li, wanted to apologize to her in person, wanted to ask if she had been doing well these past two years in North City...
"You haven’t let go of Li Bao in your heart for these two years." Mrs. Zhou pursed her lips and said, "When you were about to break off the engagement with Li Bao, I clearly told you to think it over, to avoid future regrets. You..."
Zhou Weimin interrupted, "Mother, can you please not bring up the past?"

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