My Beloved Super Fierce Wife
Chapter 371 Unrequited Love is Especially Bitter

Chapter 371: 371 Unrequited Love is Especially Bitter

Lin Qingmu lifted his chin with an air of smug confidence.

"Inside are all kinds of rare stuff. If we don’t need it at home, Mom can trade with folks in the village. I brought this from far away, so getting a little compensation for my troubles isn’t too much to ask, right?"

His calculations were ticking away rapidly.

Even people far away in Jing City claimed they could hear it.

"Not too much at all, quite reasonable. You deserve some credit, third brother," Lin Tang said.

But third brother, have you got dollar signs in your eyes or what? (′ʘ⌄ʘ‵)

Lin Qingmu took his sister’s words as a compliment, puffing up with pride.

"Hey, if my little sister is outstanding, as her brother, I can’t lag behind, can I?"

Having said that, he grabbed his clothes and bath ticket, and left for the bathhouse.

By the time he came back, Lin Tang had finished cooking.

"Third brother, hurry up and eat."

The weather was so hot that neither had much of an appetite. She had made some cold noodles during the day.

And there was plenty left over.

Perfect for tweaking to suit third brother’s taste.

Crisp cucumbers, chewy wheat gluten, all tossed in her homemade chili oil and family’s vinegar.

The flavors were beyond amazing.

In the scorching heat of summer, the dish was delicious and refreshing.

Lin Qingmu caught the tangy and spicy scent, and instantly felt his appetite kick in.

"What’s this?"

He asked as he took a bite.

Sour and spicy, one word: refreshing!

Lin Tang: "Cold noodles, do they taste good?"

Lin Qingmu was eating non-stop, merely nodding as he did.

"Delicious. This really hits the spot in summer."

The sour/spicy flavor was appetizing.

His sister sure knew how to enjoy good eats!

"Of course, why else would I make it?"

While talking, Lin Tang took out the sour plum soup she had chilled in the well and poured a bowl.

"Third brother, I also made sour plum soup."

Lin Qingmu’s eating pace was naturally fast.

After joining the transportation team, his pace had only gotten quicker, not slower.

He finished a bowl of cold noodles in minutes.

"I’ll leave it here; I’ll drink it in a bit."

After saying that, he carried his bowl to the kitchen.

Lin Tang followed behind him.

"Third brother, are you full? There’s more if you want it."

Lin Qingmu: "I’m stuffed."

A big bowl of cold noodles was enough.

After washing the dishes, the siblings sat in the courtyard.

The summer breeze, hot and dry, rustled the leaves on the trees.

With mosquito repellent sprayed all around, the buzzing of mosquitoes was absent.

Sitting in the courtyard was quite comfortable.

The siblings, who hadn’t seen each other for days, chatted about this and that.

Lin Tang told Lin Qingmu about the happenings at home.

Mostly about matters concerning their aunt.

Lin Qingmu’s heart raced as he listened to his sister’s words, as if he was on a roller coaster.

But upon hearing the tentative verdict, he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Good, good! Damn, you scared me to death."

After talking about home, Lin Tang remembered what Qingqing had said.

She took out the three Big Unity bills that Qin Suqing had left behind.

"Third brother, did you do Qingqing a favor? She brought the money over."

Curious about how emotionally invested her third brother was, Lin Tang looked directly at Lin Qingmu as she spoke.

Lin Qingmu stiffened.

His expression suddenly darkened.

There was an inevitable bitterness at the pit of his stomach.

"Mhm, you keep the money," he said.

It had been wishful thinking from the start.

It was time to wake up from it.

Lin Tang felt sorry for her third brother, yet she couldn’t control what Suqing thought.

All she could hope for was that he would come to terms with it.

Love has its sweetness and its bitterness.

Especially the bitterness of unrequited love.

It’s just how it is.

"Third brother, are you okay?"

Lin Qingmu said with a smile, "I’m fine. What could possibly be wrong? Life goes on as usual."

Feeling distressed was inevitable.

But...

Becoming obsessed over it only leads to trouble.

Lin Tang patted her older brother’s shoulder, comforting him gently.

"Third Brother, don’t be sad; maybe your fate is waiting for you down the road."

She wasn’t very good at comforting people, especially someone who had been ’heartbroken’.

Her attempts at comfort sounded dry and forced.

Lin Qingmu’s bitter heart was shattered by his sister’s clumsy words of comfort.

It even brought a rueful smile to his face.

He reached out and tousled Lin Tang’s hair.

"...you’re consoling me, eh? Don’t worry, your brother isn’t that fragile."

He had nothing to his name, not even a place to stay in the county.

He had no means to think about all those what-ifs.

After running around outside for so long, how could he not have made any progress?

In life, not everything goes your way.

The heart is like fallen leaves, marked by the wind’s passage.

Apart from family, nothing else is substantial.

Seeing that her brother was in good spirits, Lin Tang smiled and said, "All right, all right, I know Third Brother is awesome."

Lin Qingmu couldn’t help but chuckle.

The last bit of his distress dissipated.

"Let’s go to bed early; we have work tomorrow."

Lin Tang: "Then I’ll sleep first; you take care of spreading the bed yourself, huh."

"I know, hurry back to your room."

After speaking, Lin Qingmu returned to his room.

It was too hot; he opened the window.

The breeze that blew in dispelled the stuffiness inside.

The room was dark except for the soft moonlight; no other light shone through.

Lin Qingmu changed into a tank top and shorts and lay down on the cool mat.

His eyes were open, his body was exhausted, but he couldn’t sleep.

The first time he’d felt this way, and the outcome was ’but why should the bright moon appear over the ditch at all?’, a sentiment that would make anyone restless.

The smiling face of that girl flashed through Lin Qingmu’s mind, leaving him with an indescribable feeling.

His mind was a mess, and he only fell asleep in the wee hours of the night.

The night passed quickly.

The next day.

Lin Tang stepped out the door and immediately noticed her brother’s dark eye circles.

"...Third Brother, good morning! You don’t look like you slept well; if you’re tired, you can sleep in for a bit longer."

His eye circles were almost rivaling that of a national treasure.

Lin Qingmu touched his lower eyelids.

He cleared his throat.

"No need; last night a mosquito kept me up; I didn’t sleep well," he found a casual excuse.

In truth, it wasn’t that he hadn’t slept well; he didn’t sleep at all.

Lin Tang: Third Brother, you’re being impolite; you’re insulting my mosquito repellent.

She complained internally, but knowing that her brother was hit by heartbreak, she didn’t have the heart to pull away his fig leaf.

"If you didn’t sleep well, take a longer nap at lunch."

Lin Qingmu nodded.

After eating two buns and drinking a bowl of soy milk, he took out the gifts he brought for his sister from his bag, shouldered it, and with the cold noodles Lin Tang had given him to take back, he headed back to the village.

Once he left, Lin Tang looked through the things her Third Brother had left for her.

A butterfly hair clip, a small wallet, a notebook, a fountain pen, crispy candies... there were both snacks and useful items.

She felt a bit helpless.

Because—she had just managed to use up the big bag of various things that Gu Yingzhou had sent over.

Experiencing the sweet burden that came with being the beloved of the group, Lin Tang understood quite well.

It felt pretty awesome!

On the other side.

Lin Qingmu shouldered his bag and walked toward the brigade, running into Lin Qingshan, who had just dropped off Ning Xinrou.

"Old Third..." Lin Qingshan saw the increasingly broad and steady figure and somewhat recognized his younger brother, calling out.

Lin Qingmu heard the voice and turned his head.

"Big Brother!" he greeted cheerfully.

As the words fell, Lin Qingshan cycled up beside him.

Without saying much, Lin Qingmu promptly hopped onto the back seat.

"What a coincidence! It’s great running into you; I don’t have to walk back."

Lin Qingshan knew his younger brother’s temperament well; the bicycle didn’t even wobble as he pedaled steadily forward.

"Was your trip successful?" he asked with concern.

"Took the main roads, smooth sailing! How about you, Big Brother? How are things at the commune?" asked Lin Qingmu.

His older brother had been working as a Pig Breeding Technician at the commune for some time, and he had never asked about it.

A rare moment alone with his big brother, he took the opportunity to ask more questions.