Liu Zhixia remembered that in the novel, the male protagonist had once offered the Zhou family a tiny bit of help when they were at their lowest point.
Later, thanks to the Zhou family’s support after they regained their footing in the capital, he was able to rise through the ranks and enjoy great success.
But in Liu Zhixia’s eyes, that “help” had never come from kindness.
It was nothing more than a way to satisfy his pitiful pride and indulge his vanity by trampling a once-unreachable genius beneath his feet.
She clearly remembered a passage from the novel describing his thoughts:
“Who would have imagined that Zhou Yunting, once so untouchable, would one day fall into the dust? How the tides have turned.”
To avoid alerting the enemy, Liu Zhixia chose not to capture the two men.
Instead, she decided to return and tell Zhou Yunting what she had overheard.
She suspected these two were the real culprits behind the injuries suffered by the Zhou father and son in the novel. It was better to take precautions before disaster struck.
Given the Zhou family’s current situation, keeping a low profile was their best strategy.
After the two men left, Liu Zhixia picked up the two nests of quail eggs lying at her feet. She also took two catties (about one kilogram) of rice from her space before hurrying back the way she had come.
The Zhou family had repaired the outside of the thatched hut once more. Inside, only Old Master Zhou remained.
“You’re back, Zhixia.”
The old man’s warm voice greeted her.
“Grandpa Zhou, did Zhou Yunting and Uncle go out?”
Liu Zhixia already knew the answer but asked casually.
“They went with the production team leader to familiarize themselves with tomorrow’s work site. I heard the mountain roads are difficult, so they left early.”
There was a trace of worry in the old man’s voice.
Still, when they had been sent down to the countryside, he had already prepared himself mentally.
The jobs assigned to them would undoubtedly be the hardest while earning the fewest work points.
Liu Zhixia’s eyes flickered.
It seemed those people had already begun making their move.
This assignment was definitely not as simple as it appeared.
She couldn’t remember exactly what kind of work the Zhou family had done in the novel. She only knew that both father and son had been seriously injured.
Old Master Zhou, whose health had already been frail, had gradually wasted away afterward until he became bedridden.
Still, Liu Zhixia also knew that since the assignment came from above, they had no choice but to obey.
All they could do was remain vigilant.
“Grandpa Zhou, let me put something away first. Then I’ll need your help identifying two people.”
After entering the room, Liu Zhixia took out a sheet of paper and a pencil from her space.
Recalling the appearances of the two men, her hand moved faster and faster across the page.
Old Master Zhou followed her inside.
He was immediately stunned by her drawing skills.
The pencil flew across the paper.
With only a few quick strokes, one man’s facial features had already taken shape.
The old man barely noticed her remarkable artistry.
Instead, he recognized the person she was drawing.
It was the Wu family’s youngest son.
As far as he knew, Liu Zhixia should never have met him.
The youngest son of the Wu family had served in the military for years and had hardly returned to the military residential compound.
The old man’s expression grew increasingly grave.
Finally, Liu Zhixia let out a sigh of relief.
“Done.”
“Grandpa Zhou, take a look. Do you recognize these two?”
“Zhixia, where did you see them? Why did you suddenly draw their portraits? Did you discover something?”
Before this, Old Master Zhou hadn’t known Liu Zhixia very well.
His first impression of her hadn’t been favorable, especially after she tried to kill herself by smashing her head against the wall during the wedding.
But after the Zhou family suffered their catastrophe, everything she had done had been admirable.
She was only a young woman, after all. It was understandable that she couldn’t immediately accept such a drastic change in her life.
In the old man’s eyes, however, Liu Zhixia possessed the bearing of a true matriarch.
More importantly, she wasn’t someone who acted without reason.
If she had drawn these two men, then there had to be a serious problem.
“Grandpa Zhou, I overheard the two of them plotting deep in the mountains near the village…”
The old man’s pupils contracted sharply.
“Is that true?”
Liu Zhixia nodded silently.
By the time the Zhou father and son returned, dusk had already settled.
It was obvious that tomorrow’s work site was not merely far away—it was extremely far.
When the father and son saw Liu Zhixia and Old Master Zhou, they looked as though they wanted to say something but ultimately held back.
Liu Zhixia had been assigned to help cook.
The production team leader had taken pity on her delicate appearance, worried that something might happen to her, and reluctantly agreed.
As for Old Master Zhou…
He would have to accompany the father and son in building the reservoir.
After hearing Liu Zhixia’s warning earlier, Old Master Zhou had already prepared himself mentally.
He understood that the exhausting labor was only the surface of the problem.
The truly frightening part was the dirty tricks their enemies would use behind the scenes.
Those were far harder to guard against.
His brows remained tightly furrowed.
Liu Zhixia handed the two portraits directly to the father and son, explained everything that had happened, then walked over to the stove to begin cooking.
She steamed the rice and boiled the quail eggs.
Then she took a handful of sesame seeds from her pocket, toasted them, crushed them, and sprinkled them with a little salt.
The atmosphere among the three Zhou men was heavy and chaotic.
Still, none of them were cowards.
Now that they were on guard, it would be much harder for their enemies to sabotage them.
Perhaps because the dinner was so lavish compared to recent days, all three men felt their empty stomachs aching with anticipation.
In the past, meals like this had been ordinary.
But under their current circumstances…
Forget white rice.
Simply filling their stomachs had become a luxury.
Who could afford an entire pot of white rice?
Zhou Yunting swallowed unconsciously.
He was hungry too.
Still, he couldn’t help asking,
“Comrade Liu Zhixia… where did this rice come from?”
Commander Zhou and Old Master Zhou also looked at her expectantly.
They were equally curious.
Not only were they people undergoing political reeducation, but even among the villagers, very few households could afford a whole pot of white rice.
Liu Zhixia smiled and spread her hands.
“When I ran into those two men today, I happened to find several quail nearby.”
“And there were a couple of nests full of quail eggs.”
“I traded the quail for this rice. As for the eggs, I brought them back so we could improve our meals a little.”
Her explanation was only half true.
Still, no one in the Zhou family questioned it.
Whether they believed her or not didn’t really matter.
They would be living together for a long time.
She possessed many abilities.
Back in the twenty-first century, people would have called them her “hidden identities.”
The Zhou family would have to get used to them little by little.
Everyone enjoyed the meal immensely.
The shriveled emptiness in their stomachs from the past few days was finally replaced with satisfying fullness.
The next morning, to everyone’s surprise, Liu Zhixia chose to go to the work site alongside the men.
She asked Old Master Zhou to take her place tending the kitchen fire.
After all, he was elderly, while she possessed excellent stamina.
More importantly, she intended to stay with the Zhou father and son to make sure they avoided the accident that had injured them in the novel.
She was determined to foil the plot against them.
Old Master Zhou protested repeatedly.
Every objection was firmly rejected.
Finally, seeing that he still refused to switch places, Liu Zhixia leaned close to him and said with a shy smile,
“Grandpa Zhou… Yunting will help me.”
How could Old Master Zhou fail to see that the girl held no romantic feelings for his grandson?
Still, hearing her say that, he assumed she simply wanted an opportunity to grow closer to Zhou Yunting.
Only then did he agree.
Before they left, he repeatedly reminded the Zhou father and son to help Liu Zhixia with the heavy work and not let such a delicate young lady exhaust herself.
Yet only a short while later…
The “delicate young lady” left everyone utterly dumbfounded.
The young woman who shoveled earth faster than the men…
Was that really Liu Zhixia?