Huo Yuanchen patted An Wen, signaling her to let him go.

An Wen did as he said, but after letting go, she kept her little finger hooked on his belt and hid behind him timidly, with her head down and no words.

As if Zhou Ying would do something to her.

Huo Yuanchen said to Zhou Ying, "Professor Zhou, do you want to talk to me about something?"

"It's not urgent. If Professor Huo is busy, I can come back later." Zhou Ying said.

Huo Yuanchen said, "Go ahead and talk. I'm not busy now."

Zhou Ying walked in and put a bag on Huo Yuanchen's desk.

Huo Yuanchen raised his eyebrows, "Is this for me?"

"Obviously not." Zhou Ying said, "Professor Huo, please pass some things that may be useful in the countryside to Professor Yu."

Huo Yuanchen asked her, "Wouldn't it be more convenient for you to hand it over to Professor Yu yourself?"

Zhou Ying glanced at him and said, "If I could pay it, I would have done it long ago. Why would I bother Professor Huo?"

Huo Yuanchen took a look inside the bag. It was filled with outdoor items like mosquito repellent and hemostatics. It was quite heavy when put together. I guess Yu Jingchen was too bothered to accept it.

He nodded, "I'll give it to Professor Yu."

"Thank you, Professor Huo."

After Zhou Ying left, An Wen looked at the bag and said with a bit of disdain, "Professor Zhou is so stingy. The gifts he gave me are too shabby."

Huo Yuanchen glanced at her and said nothing.

For some reason, An Wen saw a hint of envy in his look. She was moved and wondered if Brother Yuanchen was envious of Professor Yu.

She knew that he couldn't persuade Huo Yuanchen, so she had other ideas and left in a hurry.

However, what she didn't expect was that the departure time of the group going to the countryside to help farmers was advanced, and the group left on the same day.

...

Wen Li arrived at Xinfeng Village a day ago. Before she met Li Hong, she didn't even know that such a village existed.

She always remembered what Li Hong said. There were many people in Xinfeng Village who had never taken a photo in their entire lives, so that after the elderly passed away, their descendants could not remember what they looked like.

She found the contact information of the local village committee on the Internet and explained her idea of taking photos of the elderly in the village at her own expense. The villagers were naturally very welcoming, provided her with a detailed route map, and helped her contact a place for food and accommodation.

Before the Wen family fell into decline, they often donated money for charity. Wen Li was influenced by this and when he was studying abroad, although he didn't have much money, he would donate to charity foundations from time to time.

She paid all the expenses for her trip to Xinfeng Village herself, and did not ask the village to pay a penny. On the one hand, she really wanted to do something for the people there, and on the other hand, she also had some selfish motives, wanting to take this opportunity to relax.

She was scared of Lin Ruoyuan and worried that if she stayed in Haishi forever, someone would keep eye on her and some man with ulterior motives would come out and approach her on purpose.

She was lucky this time as she met Cheng Yang, a man with a conscience. But she may not be so lucky next time.

It was just her first time driving so far away alone, and she didn't expect the local road conditions to be so difficult. She had already wasted a day because she was unfamiliar with the road. Unexpectedly, it rained heavily for two days just after getting off the highway. The bumpy country roads were all muddy. She didn't have much confidence in her driving skills, so she stayed in a small hotel in the county town for two more days and only set off after the rain stopped completely.

Even so, her car got stuck in the mud and started skidding as soon as she stepped on the accelerator, making it impossible to move forward.

Wen Li was going crazy. She had never encountered such a situation before and had no idea how to get the car out of the mud. She also didn't know the local vehicle rescue phone number, and she waited on the road for a long time but didn't see a single car passing by.

After waiting for about half an hour, she finally saw a car passing by. Wen Li stood by the road and waved, hoping that the other party would help pull her car out, but the car drove straight past as if it didn't see her.

Wen Li was so angry that he kicked the tire hard.

Just after she kicked twice, someone called her from behind, "Xiao Wenli, who are you angry with?"

Wen Li turned around and looked at the person in front of him in disbelief, "Brother Lu Ke? Why are you here?"

Lu Ke pointed to his car not far away and explained, "I have business here, so I came to take a look. Just now I saw someone from a distance who looked like you, but I thought it was impossible. I didn't expect it to be you. Why are you here instead of staying in Hai City?"

Wen Li was too embarrassed to say that he came here to do charity work, but in the end he failed and the car hadn't reached the village for several days.

She said vaguely, "I came to... do something."

Lu Ke looked at her wheels and frowned, "Your car is stuck a bit too deep. You may not be able to get out just by stepping on the accelerator."

Wen Li nodded and said distressedly, "I tried, but I couldn't get out."

Lu Ke began to roll up his sleeves, rolling both sleeves high, revealing his wheat-colored skin and muscular lines.

He motioned for Wen Li to stand back, "Stand further away, don't let the mud splash on you."

Wen Li immediately obediently stood away.

Lu Ke moved a few stones from the roadside and placed them in the mud pit. The muddy water in the pit was turbid, and he didn't care about the situation, so he used his hands to grope and adjust the position of the stones without any disdain.

Wen Li saw that his hands, arms, and even sleeves were covered in mud, and felt a little sorry for it, so he came over and said, "Let me help you."

Lu Ke waved at her, "It's obvious that you've never done anything like this, so don't make things worse."

Wen Li retreated back awkwardly.

Soon, Lu Ke put stones in the pit and signaled Wen Li, "Get in the car and try it."

Wen Li drove the car, and after she stepped on the accelerator, the car began to move slowly forward. She had no experience, and was afraid that the car would be in danger if it drove too fast after getting out of the mud pit, so she didn't dare to step on the accelerator too hard.

After the car moved forward two steps, it slid back into the mud pit and couldn't get out.

Outside the car, Lu Ke wiped the mud off his hands with a piece of paper, and said with a smile, "Little Wen Li, your driving skills haven't improved at all in all these years."

Wen Li looked at him awkwardly.

He said, "Come on down, I'll help you drive."

Lu Ke often drives outside, and his driving skills are much better than Wen Li's. He easily drove Wen Li's car out.

When getting out of the car, he said apologetically, "I didn't wipe my hands clean, so I made your steering wheel dirty."

Wen Li felt bad and said, "I made your clothes dirty. How about I compensate you with a new one?"

Lu Ke said nonchalantly, "When I lived with your brother, we always wore each other's clothes. Maybe this piece of clothing was bought by your brother. Don't worry about it. Just think of it as compensation from your brother."

Wen Li was still embarrassed, so he said, "Then I'll treat you to a meal."

Lu Ke agreed readily, "Okay, I'm familiar with this place. Just drive a few kilometers along this road and there's a pretty good farmhouse. You can treat me to a meal there."

During the meal, Lu Ke's cell phone rang several times. He answered it once, and Wen Li heard the voice of a very young woman.

She ate quietly, trying to reduce her presence as much as possible.