Huo Nanting chuckled, placing another mushroom in her bowl, eyes playful. “Eat more of the poisonous mushrooms, talk more nonsense. I love hearing it.”
“If you love it, I won’t say anything!”
Lan Xingyu lowered her head and ate.
Huo Nanting continued feeding her favorite mushrooms, his gaze full of affection. Once Zhang Weiping returned, he stopped serving.
“Wow, these mushrooms are so good!”
Zhang Weiping praised them as he ate.
“Next time, I’ll go pick more, pick extra.”
They ate quietly, ignoring his remark.
As Lan Xingyu finished, outside came Old Lady Wang’s voice: “Pears for sale, 0.3 yuan per jin.”
“Let me see.”
“Sweet?”
Several zhiqing came out to check the pears. Fruit was rare—scarce in the city and countryside alike.
Lan Xingyu stood at the door. Old Lady Wang called her: “Lan Zhiqing, you live in that room.”
She handed four pears to Lan Xingyu. “For you to eat.”
“I’ll pay.”
Old Lady Wang was warm-hearted. She couldn’t refuse.
“No need.”
The old lady shoved the pears into her hands and walked off.
Lan Xingyu whispered thanks, returned inside, placed the pears on the table, then went under the eaves and gave the old lady a handful of White Rabbit candies. The old lady smiled: “Lan Zhiqing, you’re too polite!”
“Give these to Xiao Haitao.”
“Thank you.”
The old lady immediately knew this young one was a good kid.
A female zhiqing complained: “Old Lady Wang, you give Lan Zhiqing pears but none for us?”
The old lady’s face hardened. “I have a bond with her, not with you. 0.3 yuan per jin—buy it or leave it!”
“Exactly! Move aside, I want pears!”
Miss Wang Na echoed, shoving others aside, arrogantly.
The old lady waved: “Come, come, the pears are sweet.”
The basket was surrounded by people, scrambling to buy.
Tang Zhirou glanced at the departing Lan Xingyu, inexplicably annoyed.
Zhang Weiping stuffed a few mushrooms into his mouth, dropped his chopsticks, and ran off to buy pears for Zhao Jiani. The night before, Zhao Jiani had agreed to date him—but in truth, she had no interest; she was just humoring him.
The old lady sold half the basket of pears quickly. Villagers could bring items like eggs directly to the Zhiqing compound for easy sales.
After the afternoon break, everyone went out to work. Lan Xingyu checked the yard—it was still muddy. She decided not to work and lay on the bed to read.
Village Head Liu already guessed she wouldn’t come to work. Sure enough, Zhang Weiping came to request her leave, saying she had a stomach ache.
“Got it!”
Village Head Liu didn’t bother further.
The afternoon passed quickly. After work, a little girl approached Tang Zhirou: “Tang Zhīqīng, Huo Zhīqīng wants you on that hillside. He has something to tell you.”
Tang Zhirou glanced at the distant mountains. She knew something was up, but wanted to see what schemes Jiang Wanwan might be plotting. She walked toward the hill.
Jiang Wanwan had sent the little girl to deliver the message, just to try. If Tang Zhirou didn’t go, she’d come up with another plan. Unexpectedly, Tang Zhirou actually went.
Tang Zhirou’s mind was working overtime. This time, she had spent 150 yuan—her entire savings—and she was determined to ruin Tang Zhirou!
Su Mengya knew of two small-time thugs in town, so she spent 50 yuan to hire them to assault Tang Zhirou. The moment the thugs heard there was a woman to prey on, they agreed without question.
By now, they were lying in wait in the forest. As soon as Tang Zhirou appeared, they would grab her!
Tang Zhirou had her space, so she dared to go. She walked a stretch through the mountains, saw no one, and was about to turn back when two men jumped out from behind a large rock. They wore black caps, with only their eyes visible.
Fang Dalong covered Tang Zhirou’s mouth and held her upper body, while Zhu Erwa grabbed her legs. Together, they lifted her and carried her further up the mountain.
Tang Zhirou struggled with all her strength, to no avail. In her mind, she cursed Jiang Wanwan and Su Mengya. Just wait—she would make them pay!
They carried her into a cave. Fang Dalong kept her mouth covered, restraining her upper body, while Zhu Erwa started undressing her from the waist down. They played rock-paper-scissors; Zhu Erwa won, so he went first.
“Ah!”
Fang Dalong let go in shock and grabbed his armpit, finding it covered in blood. Where had that knife come from?
“Ah, you bastard!”
Tang Zhirou sat up, drove a knife into Zhu Erwa’s shoulder, pulled it out, and scrambled to her feet, scattering a handful of powder at the two before running off.
It was the medicine she had prepared after her rebirth—its effect was phenomenal!
Before long, the two thugs in the cave were struggling in a bloody, indescribable way.
Tang Zhirou didn’t report it to the authorities. If she wanted to lock Jiang Wanwan and Xiao Heng into trouble, reporting it would ruin her plan.
She returned as if nothing had happened, even standing under the eaves talking to Xia Qianqian, deliberately letting the others hear.
Jiang Wanwan and Su Mengya were shocked—how was she unharmed?
Once Tang Zhirou returned to her room, Su Mengya whispered to Jiang Wanwan, “Impossible! Two grown men couldn’t catch her?”
Jiang Wanwan panicked. “Why don’t you go up the mountain and see?”
“You go! I still have to cook!”
Clearly scared, Su Mengya worried about what the thugs might do to her.
Both hesitated—neither dared to go.
Su Mengya suggested, “Let’s ask in town tomorrow. For now, let’s head back.”
Jiang Wanwan nodded grimly—they had no other choice.
Both were anxious, not knowing what had happened, barely touching their food.
Finally, Su Mengya added, “You could go up with Huo Zhīqīng, say you lost your bracelet while gathering firewood the other day.”
“That could work.”
Jiang Wanwan was desperate to see for herself, so she went to find Huo Nanting. Huo Nanting squinted at her. “It’s not proper for the two of us to go up together. People would gossip.”
Jiang Wanwan had a bright idea: “I’ll pay one yuan to have Zhang Zhīqīng come with us to help find the bracelet.”
“Sure, I’ll go,” Zhang Weiping immediately agreed.
Jiang Wanwan handed him the money. After finishing their meal, the three headed up the mountain.
After walking a short distance, they heard shocking sounds. Zhang Weiping ran quickly to the hillside, shone his flashlight at a nearby cave, and widened his eyes. “Holy crap!”
“What is it?”
Jiang Wanwan had guessed, but she wanted to see for herself—and saw something indecent.
Huo Nanting also peeked into the cave. The scene shattered all his fantasies—disgusting! Maybe it was because they were so ugly? The sight was unbearable.
“Let’s go. I don’t even want to find the bracelet. Let’s head back to the Zhiqing compound.”
Jiang Wanwan pulled them down the mountain, worried they might report it—then she’d be done for.
Neither wanted to get involved, so they followed her down. Huo Nanting was distracted, not in the mood to search for rabbits anymore.
Zhang Weiping went inside, closed the door, and whispered to Lan Xingyu at her bedside, “Lan Zhiqing, we saw two men messing with each other’s butts on the mountain. There was blood… it was terrifying!”
“Oh.”
There were homosexuals in the village?
Lan Xingyu was shocked.
Seeing her lack of interest, Zhang Weiping stopped talking, sitting by her bed and patting his chest—scary and nerve-wracking.
Huo Nanting lay on his bed, lighting a cigarette. Honestly, the scene had shocked him, and he wondered—if it had been him with the little master, would it have looked more… aesthetic?
Though the prior scene was unpleasant, his desire for the little master remained, undiminished.
He turned his gaze toward the opposite side, determined to replace the memory with a more beautiful image of himself with the little master.
“I’m off to check on Zhao Zhīqīng. After tonight, she’ll be able to come out.”
Zhang Weiping also wanted to tell Zhao Jiani what had happened.
Jiang Wanwan went back and told Su Mengya, who guessed Tang Zhirou had used medicine and warned her to be careful—she could no longer help. She was now in danger herself.
Upon returning to the Zhiqing compound, Su Mengya asked Ma Wenjing in the next room to swap rooms. She wanted distance from Jiang Wanwan, hoping Tang Zhirou would go easy on her.
Jiang Wanwan sat on her bed, watching Su Mengya move, and couldn’t help crying. What to do? Su Mengya had tricked her out of her money and planned to run!
How would Tang Zhirou deal with her?
Hand her over to which old man?
She had no idea that Tang Zhirou would throw her to Xiao Heng—she would laugh herself awake in her sleep.