Wen Ranran quickly used her mind to gather the droplets of water and cautiously drank two of them. Her head was still a little dizzy, but much of her strength returned, and her body felt noticeably lighter.
Wen Ranran was overjoyed. She knew this had to be the kind of cheat ability often found in fantasy novels, something similar to a spiritual spring.
Although it wasn’t as useful as a farming space that could solve food and survival problems, it was still compensation from heaven for throwing her into a novel for no reason. Wen Ranran was quite satisfied with this golden finger.
“Educated Youth Wen, it’s time to eat!”
“Coming!”
There was only one cooking pot at the educated youth station, so everyone cooked together. The meals were always simple, usually mixed-grain porridge with some pickled vegetables. But lately, because of the busy farming season and the need for nutrition and strength to work, the meals had been upgraded to mixed-flour steamed buns and cabbage stir-fried with lard.
This was already considered very good food at the educated youth station, but for Wen Ranran, who had been pampered all her life, it was still difficult to swallow.
Zhu Pingjuan had almost wrongly accused Wen Ranran earlier by only listening to one side of the story. The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt. So she主动 divided her own portion of stir-fried cabbage and gave some to Wen Ranran.
“Educated Youth Wen, eat a little more. That way you’ll recover faster.”
Looking at Zhu Pingjuan with her two braided pigtails, Wen Ranran remembered that she was the supporting female character in the novel who loved but could never obtain the hero.
In the novel, the male lead Zhou Musheng and the female lead Jiang Yue fell in love at first sight and secretly pledged themselves to each other after meeting again. But Zhou Musheng’s family looked down on Jiang Yue. Although she appeared quiet and obedient, she flirted openly with men before marriage, acting far too bold and improper. At first glance, she didn’t seem like someone who would honestly settle down and live a proper life.
Furthermore, Jiang Yue’s family upbringing was terrible. The daughters in her family existed only to support the two sons!
To buy jobs and wives for the sons, Jiang Yue’s three older sisters had worked like cattle and horses at home. Before getting married, their parents had even demanded huge bride prices from their husbands’ families.
The Zhou family thought very poorly of such a woman. The person Zhou Musheng’s parents actually favored was another educated youth from the same production team as Jiang Yue—Zhu Pingjuan.
Once, while shopping in town, Mother Zhou had her wallet stolen. Zhu Pingjuan happened to notice it, helped recover the wallet, and even treated her injuries. Mother Zhou immediately took a liking to Zhu Pingjuan and thought she would make an excellent daughter-in-law!
As for Zhu Pingjuan, she had fallen deeply in love with Zhou Musheng after he rescued her from a fire like a hero descending from heaven.
Seeing that Zhu Pingjuan liked their son, Zhou Musheng’s parents constantly tried to matchmake them both openly and secretly. But Zhou Musheng only had Jiang Yue in his heart. The two were unwaveringly devoted to each other, leaving Zhu Pingjuan no choice but to bury her feelings deep inside. In the end, when Zhou and Jiang overcame countless hardships and remarried, Zhu Pingjuan spent a huge sum to buy them a gift and sincerely blessed them.
Since they were all victims of the protagonist halo, and Zhu Pingjuan was the type who corrected her mistakes once she realized them, Wen Ranran held no grudge over what had happened earlier.
So she smiled kindly and said generously, “Educated Youth Zhu, thank you for giving me some vegetables. Don’t take what happened earlier to heart. I’m not blaming you.”
Wen Ranran smiled brightly, seemingly carrying a faint fragrance around her. Zhu Pingjuan was completely captivated.
Blushing slightly, she lowered her head and thought to herself that Educated Youth Wen was truly graceful in both movement and stillness—every smile and expression looked beautiful.
Hearing Wen Ranran say she didn’t blame her instantly lifted the heavy weight from Zhu Pingjuan’s heart.
“Ranran, hurry and eat. Eat more!”
Zhu Pingjuan felt relieved, but Wen Ranran couldn’t feel relaxed at all as she looked at the coarse steamed bun and cabbage in her bowl.
She normally only ate the tenderest part of a fish. How could she possibly endure this kind of rough, scratchy peasant food?
Even so, Wen Ranran knew that having food at all was already fortunate. This was no time to be delicate and picky. So she forced herself to finish the cabbage, while giving the steamed bun to Zhu Pingjuan, who was still hungry, all the while thinking about what to do next.
At the other side of the table, Jiang Yue also had no appetite.
After she and Zhou Musheng became successful in business in her previous life, their dining table was filled with shark fin soup, bird’s nest, and endless imported meats. She hadn’t seen food this lacking in oil or flavor for many years. How was this any different from pig feed?
Jiang Yue felt increasingly irritated, unable to stop resenting heaven for not letting her be reborn after she became wealthy. Why did she have to suffer through this miserable life all over again?
The more Jiang Yue thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, and tears threatened to spill out.
But she had cried too hard earlier. Both her eyes were now red and swollen nearly into slits, and even the slightest touch caused piercing pain. She could only force herself to hold back the tears.
Then she saw Wen Ranran and Zhu Pingjuan chatting and laughing happily, acting as if she didn’t matter at all, and her chest heaved violently with anger.
“I’m not eating anymore!”
Jiang Yue slammed her chopsticks onto the table and stormed back into her room in fury.
Everyone at the table jumped in shock, completely baffled.
Was Jiang Yue sick in the head? It had originally been her turn to cook, but she didn’t do it. Now she was eating a ready-made meal and still taking her anger out on everyone else. She was seriously crazy!
How had they never realized before that Jiang Yue was such a difficult person to get along with?
Even Niu Yuanfang, usually the biggest peacemaker among them, had no desire to comfort Jiang Yue this time. Earlier, when she had chased after Jiang Yue, Jiang Yue had treated her like an emotional dumping ground, pouring out endless complaints that didn’t make sense at all, and then ended it with, “There’s no point telling you anyway.” Niu Yuanfang had no intention of doing such thankless work again.
After their initial surprise, everyone in the kitchen calmly continued eating. Not a single person paid attention to Jiang Yue running off.
Jiang Yue waited in her room for a long time, but no one came to comfort her. Finally, she collapsed onto the bed and burst into tears.
She grabbed her pillow and hurled it around wildly while cursing nonstop.
None of the people here had any heart! After becoming successful in her previous life, she had never once missed her days as an educated youth. In this life, armed with all her memories, she would only live better than before. One day, they would regret not clinging to her for support!
While Jiang Yue secretly made plans in her room, everyone outside had already finished eating.
Wen Ranran quietly waited until everyone had put down their bowls before standing up to leave. But the moment she rose, dizziness struck her head so suddenly that she nearly lost her balance.
“Careful!”
Zhu Pingjuan quickly caught her. Looking at Wen Ranran’s pale lips, she asked worriedly, “Ranran, are you still feeling unwell? How about I go with you to see the brigade leader? You can ask for leave this afternoon and rest in your room. He’ll probably agree.”
Hearing Zhu Pingjuan’s words reminded Wen Ranran of something.
Today, the pharmaceutical factory in the county town was organizing a social mixer. In the novel, this was exactly where the male and female leads reunited!
Thinking that she might meet a suitable marriage partner at the event, Wen Ranran’s heart stirred.
She didn’t care what happened between Jiang Yue and Zhou Musheng, but she truly did not want to continue working the fields here as an educated youth.
So no matter what, Wen Ranran had to attend this mixer.
“No need, Educated Youth Zhu. You still have work this afternoon, so you should rest properly. I can go to the brigade leader’s house by myself.”