Reborn in 1977

Chapter 310 A Huge Joke

Before entering, Chen Fan thought it would just be a normal communication between acquaintances, but he didn't expect it to be an argument.

He didn't really like prying into people's privacy, but there was only one alley here, and there was no way to avoid it.

If he wanted to avoid it, he could only retreat.

Just as he was thinking of retreating a little, he heard another voice.

"Don't you look at your current situation? Do you still think you are the darling of the heavens who was surrounded by stars back then? Huh? You are just a daughter from a family who has been rejected for marriage, unwanted, and inferior. What's more, you are already 21 years old and an old maid. Which decent family do you expect to marry you?

No matter what, Lao Li has a clean family background and is a proper worker. His father is also a leader in the factory. Isn't he more than enough for you?

Oh, now it's good. He doesn't dislike you, but you dislike him. Do you have any brains? I kindly came to you to be a matchmaker. I've run back and forth at least eight times in the past few days, right? I've really said all the good and bad things, but you don't listen at all. Then you just wait to never marry for the rest of your life and be an old maid."

Hearing this, Chen Fan frowned, his face turned livid, and he walked forward quickly, his voice becoming clearer and clearer.

Jiang Tiantian gasped for breath, trying to suppress the anger in her heart, "I respect you and call you Sister Liu, but look at what you've done. Do you deserve me calling you sister? Who in the Quanmian Textile Factory doesn't know what kind of person he is? He's lazy at work, always idle, and only knows how to loaf around all day long. As soon as he gets his salary, he goes out to eat, drink, and gamble. There are also two children at home, all of whom follow him and learn bad things, doing whatever they want all day long. His wife just died not long ago. Did he cry even once? It's only been a few days and he's already thinking about finding someone?

You even have the nerve to say that you are doing this for my own good? Bah, I think you just took his dirty money and want to curry favor with him to become the deputy director's father, so you're pushing me into a fire pit. Is this how you treat people? You don't deserve to be human at all!"

"Hey, what nonsense are you talking about, you stinky girl? No matter how bad Lao Li is, his background is ten thousand times higher than yours. Marrying him is a great honor…"

Walking here, Chen Fan could already see two figures. He really couldn't bear it anymore, so he said "squeak, squeak" to the mouse who was looking at him expectantly, and threw a candy over.

The mouse jumped up and grabbed it in one bite.

Then Chen Fan gently kicked it, sending it flying out in an arc.

Then he looked up, lightly jumped, reached out and hooked the top of the wall, and jumped onto the roof to hide.

The next second, that Sister Liu immediately let out a scream, "Ah… a mouse…"

Chen Fan squatted on the roof and saw a woman in her forties or fifties with two pigtails rushing out of the corner, waving her hands and running forward, screaming constantly. Under the pursuit of that mouse, she ran out of the alley at the speed of light and disappeared without a trace.

Looking at the empty alley, Chen Fan snorted coldly and silently prayed that the mouse didn't have too many viruses.

Otherwise, she deserved to die.

Jiang Tiantian leaned against the corner, stunned, and hadn't reacted yet.

She was arguing just fine, and suddenly a mouse fell from the sky and landed on Sister Liu's head, scratching and biting her, scaring her so much that her hands and feet went weak, and she hid in the corner, afraid to move. But she didn't expect that the mouse only chased and bit Sister Liu, and didn't catch her?

When Sister Liu's voice disappeared, she gasped for breath and cautiously stretched out her head, only to see that the front of the alley was empty and there was nothing.

Only then did she slide down against the wall and squat down, burying her face in her arms, trying to hold back her voice and sobbing.

After a while, Jiang Tiantian barely managed to suppress her emotions, took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her face, and stood up with her head down.

Then she looked up and saw Chen Fan standing in front of her, looking at her with a smile, with a handkerchief in his outstretched hand.

"Xiao… Xiaofan?"

Jiang Tiantian looked at him blankly, not reacting for a moment, "You… why are you here?"

Chen Fan pursed his lips and smiled slightly, stretching his hand forward, "It's clean, wipe it."

Jiang Tiantian quickly took the handkerchief from his hand, turned her back and wiped her face clean, and took a few more deep breaths before turning around and saying with her head down, "You… did you see everything?"

Chen Fan didn't say much, just took out the letter written by Jiang Lili from his bag, as well as the small cloth bag tied tightly with a rope, and handed them to her together, "I'm here on a business trip to the prefecture committee. Lili asked me to bring this to you."

Jiang Tiantian took it with both hands. Seeing her sister's handwriting on the envelope, she couldn't help but feel a mixture of emotions, and tears almost welled up again.

She quickly took two deep breaths, held back her tears, wiped her eyes as discreetly as possible, and then raised her head and smiled reluctantly, "Thank you."

Chen Fan pursed his lips and smiled, "You're welcome."

Jiang Tiantian lowered her head, not knowing what to say for a moment. After a while, she murmured, "You… what did you hear just now?"

Chen Fan's eyes rolled slightly, "Uh, I didn't hear anything, just a little bit."

Jiang Tiantian's face turned red and white, and she said with her head down, "I made you laugh."

Chen Fan immediately shook his head, "Indeed, I saw a big joke…"

Jiang Tiantian was stunned, raised her head and looked at him with a pale face, feeling as if something was blocking her throat and chest, making her unable to speak.

But Chen Fan pointed to the entrance of the alley again, "I'm talking about that person. Doesn't she look in the mirror and see what she looks like? A toad wants to eat swan meat. It's really a huge joke."

Hearing this, Jiang Tiantian suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her head again.

Chen Fan looked at her and smiled, "Don't pay attention to that kind of villain. Someone will take care of them sooner or later."

After a pause, he said again, "I thought you were quite confident last time I saw you. Although life wasn't very satisfactory, you could still hold your head high. Why did you suddenly become like your sister?"

Jiang Tiantian was stunned, her lips moved slightly, holding the cloth bag and letter in her left hand, gently stroking the letter with her right hand, and said softly, "Every time she writes to me, she always says in the letter how good her life is, that she has enough to eat and wear, and that she has made friends. She never tells me the truth."

After speaking, after two seconds, she took a deep breath, tried to restore her usual appearance, looked at him and said, "What is my sister usually like?"

Chen Fan pursed his lips and shook his head, then looked left and right, and said, "This isn't the place to talk. How about we go somewhere else and I'll tell you about her? I mean, if it doesn't delay your work."

Jiang Tiantian nodded lightly and said with a smile, "Okay."

She looked back at the entrance of the alley, "There's nothing to delay with my current job. Although I'm still a salesperson, they won't give me important work. I just do odd jobs in the store, either sweeping the floor or moving goods. It's the same whether I'm there or not."

In the past, she would definitely not have said that, but Chen Fan had seen her most embarrassing side just now, so there was nothing to hide anymore.

She turned her face and smiled at Chen Fan, "This place is very close to the river. I know a place where no one usually goes. Let's go there."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Looking at the water and feeling the breeze, that's exactly what I want."

Jiang Tiantian smiled and continued walking deeper into the alley.

Chen Fan walked alongside her, curiously looking around, "There's still a path inside?"

She turned to look at Chen Fan and smiled, "It's not really a path, just a gap between a few houses, just enough for people to walk through."

After walking a few steps, Jiang Tiantian glanced at Chen Fan again, seeming hesitant to speak.

Chen Fan noticed her expression and couldn't help but smile, "Is there something you want to ask?"

Jiang Tiantian pursed her lips and asked curiously, "Just now, that rat?"

Chen Fan coughed lightly and said nonchalantly, "Ah, that woman was really unlucky. The rat just happened to fall on her head. But then again, she deserved it. She always does such immoral things. Otherwise, why would the rat bite her specifically, right?"

A smile appeared in Jiang Tiantian's eyes, and the corners of her lips slightly turned up. She didn't pursue the question further.

After walking a few more steps, a small alleyway only about a meter wide suddenly appeared. In Jiang Tiantian's words, it couldn't even be considered a path, just a gap left during construction. Even the dirt ground was uneven.

The two of them went in one after the other, then turned seven or eight corners in a row. Chen Fan couldn't help but say, "Do you usually walk here? This place doesn't seem very safe."

Jiang Tiantian instantly understood what he meant. She took out a screwdriver from her pants pocket, turned around, held it up, removed the bamboo tube covering it, and shook it at him, "I have this with me, so it's okay."

Chen Fan looked at the sharpened screwdriver tip and couldn't help but chuckle, "Is that thing useful?"

Jiang Tiantian put the bamboo tube back on, put the screwdriver back in her pants pocket, and said softly, "If I really encounter a bad guy, if I can't stab him to death, I'll stab myself to death."

The smile on Chen Fan's face gradually disappeared. He looked at her back, not knowing what to say.

Jiang Tiantian seemed to feel his gaze and said as she walked, "Actually, it's okay. Don't look at the fact that there's no one here now, but there are people all around. As long as I shout for help, many people will rush out immediately. No bad guy would dare to commit a crime here.

It's only in those remote alleys where there are no houses nearby, or in places far away from the crowd, that the possibility of encountering a bad guy is much greater. But I never go to those places."

After a few more turns, Chen Fan saw the towering Yangtze River embankment outside the alley.

The two of them climbed up the grassy slope, crossed the top of the embankment, and there was the surging river water.

It was the flood season, although the water level wasn't particularly high, the flow rate of the river was not slow at all.

The river surface, more than three thousand meters wide, was now nearly two thousand meters wide. Coupled with the rolling water, it seemed like it could carry people away at any time. People with a little less courage probably wouldn't dare to get close to the river.

Jiang Tiantian, however, was familiar with the road and lightly followed a faint path on the outer embankment slope to a small grove.

She turned to look at Chen Fan, pointed to a broken piece of wood not far away, and said with a smile, "I dragged this piece of wood over here to use as a chair. I can see the river and not be seen by people outside. If anyone comes, the branches and fallen leaves here are the best sentries, and I can spot them immediately."

Chen Fan looked at the surrounding environment and couldn't help but smile, "Is this your secret garden?"

"Secret garden?"

Jiang Tiantian's eyes lit up. Although it was the first time she had heard the word, she immediately understood what Chen Fan meant and asked curiously, "Is there a story behind it?"

As she spoke, she took a few steps back and made a gesture of invitation, inviting Chen Fan to sit down, but a self-deprecating smile appeared on her face, "I can only ask you to sit here."

Chen Fan plopped down on it and smiled, "With such beautiful scenery to see, this place is much better than other places."

Jiang Tiantian smiled and sat on the other end of the broken wood.

Chen Fan first answered her question just now, "'The Secret Garden' is a fairy tale written by the American female writer Frances Hodgson Burnett at the beginning of this century. The story is very long, I won't tell it now, I'll tell you later when I have the chance. Later, this book swept the world, and people used the secret garden to describe a place that only they know, where they can relax their minds and let themselves go."

Jiang Tiantian hugged her cloth bag and looked into the distance at the Yangtze River, with a hint of reverie in her eyes, "A fairy tale? That's great!"

Chen Fan turned to look at her and smiled, "Do you want to read the letter first?"

Jiang Tiantian then straightened her body, looked at the letter, and suddenly smiled, "Actually, I don't need to read it. I know what's written inside. My sister is just writing a fairy tale, making my parents and me think that she lives in a fairy tale castle."

Chen Fan raised his eyebrows, his eyes rolled around twice, "Well, if you put it that way, you're the same."

After a pause, he smiled again, "Everyone with good intentions is weaving fairy tales for the people around them, hiding sadness and conveying happiness. Whether she is really happy or not, she must be happy when she writes this letter."

Jiang Tiantian turned to look at him, revealing a bright smile, "You're very good at comforting people."

Before Chen Fan could speak, she put her legs together, placed the cloth bag on her lap, carefully tore open the envelope, took out the letter and read it.

Chen Fan glanced at her, then turned his gaze to the Yangtze River, thinking silently in his heart, Zhang Juemin and Zhang Wenliang have books to read in Xinhua Bookstore, they shouldn't be getting impatient, right?

Not long after, Jiang Tiantian finished reading the letter, folded the letter paper, put it back in the envelope, turned her face and looked at Chen Fan curiously, with an unprecedented light in her eyes, "Did you write 'On the Field of Hope'? My God, you're the first real writer I've ever met!"

Chen Fan turned to look at her and couldn't help but laugh, "She even told you that?"

Jiang Tiantian nodded vigorously, "She did, and she also said that you built a house and made leather bags and belts yourself. You're really amazing!"

Chen Fan felt a little dizzy. Why did she write so much about me?

And to praise me like this in front of me, it's so embarrassing!

He could only be humble, "Actually, it's okay, they're just small things, not worth mentioning."

Jiang Tiantian immediately shook her head, "How can this be a small thing? It's clearly a great skill!"

She hugged the letter and cloth bag again, supported her arms on her legs, looked at the river not far away, and said with a face full of longing, "I've tried writing myself, but I always feel like I can't write well, so I admire great writers who can write good stories the most."

Then she turned to look at Chen Fan again, "But I didn't expect that there would be such a person by my side, it's really such a surprise."

Chen Fan pretended to be ashamed, "If you praise me like this again, then I can only jump into the river to hide."

Jiang Tiantian smiled and shook her head, "Okay, then I won't say it."

She then changed the subject, "Can you tell me about Lili?"

"Sure."

Chen Fan supported his elbows on his legs and told everything he knew about Jiang Lili without reservation.