He glanced at the older brother still holding his arm, and Li Zheng'guo's eyes blinked.
"Um, I'll stay at your place first. Tell me in detail about your situation here, and I need to think about how to get back."
"Okay."
The passerby still held onto the hem of Li Zheng'guo's cotton jacket, fearing that if he turned around, this lifesaver would be gone.
"Brother, my name is Wang Weijun, what's yours?"
"Li Zheng'guo."
"Brother, your name sounds so strong and upright."
"Does it?"
Li Zheng'guo looked up at the hazy sky. If he was upright, how could this situation have happened?
He had already guessed that this was neither the apocalypse his wife had spoken of, nor the first life he and Tiantian had shared.
Then it was likely the future of the third life, or perhaps the fourth life, or any life between the fourth and ninth.
He, the male protagonist in the author's pen, couldn't have transmigrated outside the book; it could only be within the book's world.
As expected, from Wang Weijun's words, he learned that it was the winter of 1986, and since the beginning of the year, things had suddenly become like this.
After the environment changed, people's nature had become somewhat restless.
Those with power and influence, the big merchants, hired many security guards.
Small merchants soon dared not open for business.
Later, even the big merchants no longer readily sold goods and food to the outside world.
Unless it was traded for gold and antiques.
A period of half a year of gloom. The male protagonist of this world, he actually failed to resolve Tiantian's heart's knot.
Li Zheng'guo strongly suspected, was the male protagonist of this world him? How could he be so foolish and dull?
Since the weather changed in the spring of 1986, it meant that the time of his infidelity should have been before this.
Therefore, the six months to a year before the spring of 1986 were the times he needed to guard against.
Wang Weijun babbled on, and Li Zheng'guo merely responded with "mm-hmm" and "ah."
Upon entering a courtyard, Li Zheng'guo immediately spotted a dusty "er-ba-da-gang" bicycle.
"Can this bicycle of yours still be ridden?"
"Certainly, I just haven't ridden it for half a year."
"It's okay, I..."
Li Zheng'guo hesitated for a moment before saying, "To tell you the truth, I want your bicycle, but I can't take you to the formation."
"However, I can help you exchange for food. I have a medicinal liquid that is very effective. Do you have any channels, or any news?"
Wang Weijun's eyes immediately lit up. "Yes, there happens to be a big merchant who has some health problems. The hospital can't cure it, and they're looking for folk remedies."
Li Zheng'guo raised an eyebrow. "It's not a problem with his sexual function, is it? My medicinal liquid won't help with that; it's for nourishing the body."
Wang Weijun quickly shook his head. "Brother Li, you misunderstand. The big merchant doesn't have any major issues detected by the hospital, but he has many minor ailments."
"Accumulated together, he's not just dizzy today, but his feet hurt tomorrow. In short, he's uncomfortable every day."
Li Zheng'guo nodded. "Alright, prepare yourself. We'll go now. I want to leave by tomorrow morning."
"Okay."
Wang Weijun was very straightforward. He went out for a while and returned, shouting at Li Zheng'guo, who was repairing the bicycle, "Brother Li, it's done! They said if the medicinal liquid is effective, they'll give us four sacks of food."
Li Zheng'guo put down his work, washed his hands, and picked up a wine bottle he had found in Wang Weijun's kitchen.
In front of Wang Weijun, he poured some of the yellow liquid from his pocket, added half a bottle of water, and shook it.
He said to the astonished and wide-mouthed Wang Weijun, "Let's go."
About an hour later, the two returned carrying four sacks.
Li Zheng'guo only asked for half a sack of instant food, tied it to the bicycle seat, and waved goodbye to Wang Weijun.
He had to hurry back to his home.
To see what the situation was like there.
When it was dark, he arrived at Feng County and found a guesthouse. He took out the letter of introduction he had tricked Wang Weijun into getting from the street, and used some food to win over the service staff.
The service staff gave him the lounge to rest.
The next day, at dawn, he hurriedly rode his bicycle towards Ling County.
Upon arriving in Ling County, he found the situation here to be slightly better.
At noon, he reached the five-mile slope bend.
Although the snow here was not packed hard and had not frozen, the uphill slope and sharp turns forced him to push his bicycle with difficulty.
If the bicycle couldn't prove he was who he was, he would have abandoned it.
He entered the village in the evening and found the environment here to be even better than in the county town.
As he couldn't understand why the environment improved the closer he got to Tiantian, the environment suddenly changed again.
It became even more oppressive than in Qishan.
Some villagers ran out.
"Quick, quick, go and see, something must be happening at the end of the village again."
"Mm-hmm, it's just strange, why does the weather change every time there's trouble?"
"Who knows? Never mind that, let's go and see if Li Min and her mother are showing favoritism to that woman again."
"Speaking of which, it's not Tiantian's fault. Li Min's mother said that after the child is born, she'll let that woman leave."
"You're wrong. I remember Tiantian saying that Li's family is managed by her, right? If Li Min's mother didn't make that promise, could Tiantian say she's the mistress of the Li family? And then again... Oh dear, Zheng'guo, you, why are you here?"
"Hello, comrade, my name is Wang Weijun."
With clear, standard Mandarin, it came from Li Zheng'guo's mouth. He took out the letter of introduction again.
"Excuse me, is the Li Zheng'guo you are talking about someone who looks very much like me?"
The villagers waved at Li Zheng'guo. "I can't read. Are you really not Li Zheng'guo?"
"My name is Wang Weijun, and I'm looking for my wife."
"Your wife?"
"Yes."
Li Zheng'guo nodded. "She's pregnant and ran away from home in anger. I searched for a long time before finding this place."
"I heard there's a man here who looks very much like me, and a wife suddenly appeared in his family."
"So, I came to see if the wife who appeared out of nowhere is my wife."
"My wife, she always disliked me for being poor and said she definitely had to find a richer man."
"I don't care if my wife ran off with someone else, but I absolutely cannot let my child call another man 'dad'! Comrade, don't you agree?"
Seeing Li Zheng'guo's distressed and pained expression, the villagers were deeply moved.
"Right! You absolutely cannot let your child call another man 'dad.' This is a man's shame. Come, I'll take you to the Li family."
...
A crowd had already gathered at the entrance of the Li family's courtyard.
The villagers pulled the head of Li Zheng'guo's bicycle and shouted at the tightly packed crowd, "Make way, make way, the woman's husband has arrived."
These words caused the crowd to turn their heads with a hundred percent accuracy.
Upon seeing Li Zheng'guo, the crowd immediately scoffed at the villager, "Are you crazy? This is Li Zheng'guo, at most that woman's lover."
The villager looked smug. "His name is Wang Weijun, not Li Zheng'guo. Where is Li Zheng'guo? Quickly call him out for a confrontation."
The crowd paused for a moment, thinking, that's right, they hadn't seen Li Zheng'guo go out. Moreover, this person has a bicycle, and the Li family hasn't bought one.
'Tiantian' in the courtyard had already heard the voices of the villagers outside.
She turned and walked out.
The crowd quickly made way for her.
What met 'Tiantian's' eyes was a husband with an upright demeanor, a husband who looked not guilty.
A husband who looked like a stranger, a husband who kept people at a distance.
'Tiantian,' whose heart had been deeply hurt by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, felt even colder.