country bumpkin

Chapter 422 A series of lies

Cao Aqiang snapped out of his daze and quickly took out his phone to call Chen Pingping.

"Beep...beep...beep..." The phone was busy; the call was connected, but no one answered.

Cao Aqiang became even more anxious. He was not only worried about Chen Pingping's safety, but also worried that she might betray him.

Cao Aqiang stared at his phone screen in despair, muttering, "The call was clearly connected, so why isn't Pingping answering? What is she doing?"

Seeing her son's dejected appearance, Cao's mother felt heartbroken and hated Chen Pingping even more.

Cao's mother spat out a mouthful of phlegm, spraying it out in a series of loud spitting sounds: "Ugh, ptooey! Shameless vixen, I wonder which wild man she's out having fun with again."

Hmph! I never liked her back then. She was so young, dating so early, following you everywhere, and moving in with you before even getting engaged. But you wouldn't listen to me and insisted on having her. Otherwise, why would you get angry with her so often…”

Cao's mother kept talking like a machine gun, which annoyed Cao Aqiang more and more. He hung up the phone in a fit of anger, went to the yard, got on his motorcycle, and went to his mother-in-law's house to demand that she take him away.

Before Cao's mother could stop her son, she could only chase after him to the front gate, anxiously calling out, "Son...where are you going? Be careful on the road, don't rush. You're just a woman. Out with the old, in with the new. Please drive slowly on the road..."

Cao Aqiang was in a state of confusion and couldn't hear his mother's words at all. He stepped on the gas and sped away. The wind whistled in his ears, but his anxiety did not diminish in the slightest.

Upon arriving at his mother-in-law's house, Cao Aqiang slammed on the brakes, the tires screeching as they rubbed against the ground.

He jumped out of the car and rushed into the house. His mother-in-law was sitting in the main room and was startled to see him like this.

"Qiang, what's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Cao Aqiang, panting heavily, asked, "Where's Pingping? Is she home?"

The mother-in-law looked bewildered: "She hasn't come home from get off work yet. What's wrong? What happened?"

Cao Aqiang was extremely anxious, pacing back and forth in the room, wondering where Chen Pingping had gone.

Cao Aqiang didn't know where to look for her, so he said goodbye to his mother-in-law and thought of going to Chen Pingping's workplace. He comforted himself, thinking that maybe Pingping was working overtime!

Chen's mother looked bewildered as she watched her son-in-law's retreating figure, muttering to herself, "What kind of trouble is Ping'er causing now? She's always such a worry."

When Cao Aqiang arrived at the shoe store where Chen Pingping worked, he found that Chen Pingping's electric bicycle was not at the store entrance.

So he went into the shop to ask the proprietress. The proprietress was working in the shop and when she saw Cao Aqiang arrive, she had a plan in mind.

The other shop assistants and people who knew Chen Pingping all knew what kind of person this girl was, and they all guessed who she had gone out to have fun with this time.

Cao Aqiang asked the landlady, "Auntie, is Pingping off work yet?"

The landlady said, "Oh, it's Qiang. Pingping got off work at 5 o'clock. She said she's going to her parents' house today. Why don't you go to her house and check on her?"

Cao Aqiang said with a bitter face, "I just came from her parents' house. She didn't go back."

The landlady didn't know where she had gone, but thinking of the man who delivered the food, she understood where Chen Pingping had gone. But she couldn't tell Cao Aqiang, otherwise the two would definitely break up.

The proprietress thought for a moment and said, "Oh! I remember now, she said she was going shopping with some colleagues after get off work, and would only go to her parents' house after that. Maybe she hasn't finished shopping yet!"

Hearing this, Cao Aqiang said in confusion, "But she didn't answer my call. It's impossible for her not to hear the phone ringing while she's out shopping, right?"

The proprietress thought to herself, "Aunt Pingping has done her best; now it's up to you how you explain it to her!"

Seeing that he couldn't get any results from the questioning, Cao Aqiang said goodbye to the landlady and rode his motorcycle back home.

He had only ridden halfway when his phone suddenly vibrated; it was Chen Pingping calling.

He checked the time; it was already 10 o'clock. He quickly answered the phone. Before he could speak, Chen Pingping's voice, trembling with tears, came from the other end: "Qiang, I...I'm at the hospital..."

Cao Aqiang's heart sank as he asked, "Pingping, what's wrong? What happened? Why are you at the hospital?"

On the phone, Chen Pingping's lies came out without hesitation: "Waaah...waaah...waaah...I went shopping with some colleagues after get off work and was knocked down by an electric tricycle. I was fine at the time, so I let them go. But when I wanted to continue shopping, I found that my foot hurt, so I came to the hospital."

Cao Aqiang didn't doubt Chen Pingping's words at all, and after asking which hospital it was, he quickly changed his route and went to that hospital.

Chen Pingping hung up the phone, patted her chest guiltily, and thought to herself, "Luckily, Cao Aqiang trusts me, and I managed to smooth things over."

Upon arriving at the hospital, Cao Aqiang rushed into the outpatient ward and saw Chen Pingping lying on the hospital bed with black plasters on her feet, looking pitiful.

Cao Aqiang was heartbroken and quickly stepped forward to hold her hand, asking, "Does it hurt? How could you be so careless?"

Chen Pingping sobbed, "I never expected it to turn out like this, A-Qiang, I'm so scared."

Cao Aqiang hugged her, looked at the plaster on her foot, and had no suspicion whatsoever.

But he was puzzled. Since she had come to the hospital, why didn't she answer his calls? Why didn't she call him first when something happened?

Cao Aqiang asked, "I called you around 7 o'clock. Where were you then? Why didn't you answer my call?"

Chen Pingping lowered her head guiltily, not daring to look Cao Aqiang in the eye. She was terrified, afraid that Cao Aqiang would notice her strange behavior, and quickly replied, "At the time, I was shopping, and there were so many people on the street that I didn't hear the phone ring."

Cao Aqiang didn't dwell on the issue and instead inquired about Chen Pingping's car accident.

Chen Pingping felt flustered, but when Cao Aqiang asked about the car accident, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she had already thought of how to make up a lie.

She pretended to be angry and said, "My colleague and I got hungry while shopping, so we went to the food street to eat. After we finished eating, we went home separately."

Just as I turned the corner of the food street, an electric tricycle came towards me. It didn't see my electric scooter and knocked me down.

At the time, my whole body was numb, and I didn't feel anything wrong, so I let him go. But after I rode my electric scooter for a while, I felt pain in my foot, so I came to the hospital myself.

Cao Aqiang nodded and asked worriedly, "How is your foot? Is it serious? Is there a fracture? Have you had an X-ray taken?"

Chen Pingping smiled gently and replied, "It's nothing, there's no fracture, just a little swelling. A plaster will do the trick."

Cao Aqiang was relieved after hearing this, then picked her up and prepared to go home. Chen Pingping said, "Oh no, wait, what about my electric scooter?"

Cao Aqiang said, "It's okay, I'll ride back tomorrow."

Chen Pingping nodded, "Okay!" Then she leaned into Cao Aqiang's arms and let him carry her to ride the motorcycle.