Xie Jinghuai looked at her intensely, giving her a deep, long stare.
He glanced at the sack of grain beside her.
A trace of concern he himself didn’t notice surfaced in his voice as he said coldly:
“If you want to cook together, you can come over to my place.”
Ruan Liuzheng looked up at him, staring blankly for a moment before squeezing out a sentence:
“Are you a poor lower-middle peasant?”
Xie Jinghuai: “……”
What, if I’m not a poor lower-middle peasant, I’m not allowed to cook together?
Seeing his darkened face, Ruan Liuzheng couldn’t help poking his finger lightly.
“I… I’m just afraid the brigade leader won’t agree.”
Xie Jinghuai’s expression remained stern as he said in a low, slightly hoarse voice:
“The brigade leader won’t object. I’m usually not at home—I stay in the county. You can cook by yourself.”
Upon hearing this, Ruan Liuzheng’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Really?”
“Really?”
Xie Jinghuai curved his lips slightly, his gaze falling on the corners of her smiling eyes.
“Just don’t get sick first. I don’t want to come home and find a patient in my kitchen.”
With that, he picked up her sack of grain and walked away.
Ruan Liuzheng grinned, a shadow cast under her thick eyelashes.
She slowly lifted her gaze to the tall, broad-shouldered, long-legged figure ahead.
She couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
It seemed her target had already begun to care about her.
By evening, Chen Wenjuan and Zhai Xueying returned, chatting and laughing.
When Chen Wenjuan saw the things Zhai Xueying had brought back for her, a trace of jealousy flashed in her eyes.
Egg cakes and apples—such luxury! Damn bourgeois lifestyle!
Ruan Liuzheng didn’t care about her changing expression. She picked up an apple and handed it to Zhai Xueying.
“Xueying, thank you for today.”
Zhai Xueying tried to refuse, but Ruan Liuzheng pressed it into her hands.
“Xueying, I’ve found a family to cook with today. I’m really happy.”
Zhai Xueying smiled.
“Congratulations. That way you won’t come back from work with nothing to eat anymore.”
Ruan Liuzheng nodded gently.
Chen Wenjuan angrily stuffed her things into the cabinet. She was unwilling to share anything.
The key issue was—they were all together. Why didn’t Ruan Liuzheng share anything with her?
The next day, the new educated youths were arranged to go up the mountain to chop firewood and bundle it.
Fifty bundles per person per day. This was a required task for all new arrivals—a lesson in hardship.
They followed Zhang Xiaochuan into Dagou Mountain with sickles in hand.
The air in the forest was filled with the faint scent of pine, cool and refreshing.
The deep, layered mountains had a unique, tranquil beauty.
In the quiet forest, Zhang Xiaochuan’s rough voice echoed.
“This pine forest was planted by demobilized soldiers when they reclaimed the land. Most of our village’s firewood comes from here.”
“When you chop wood, make sure to use a stick to poke around first—there are snakes.”
At the mention of snakes, Zhai Xueying’s face turned pale.
They followed behind Zhang Xiaochuan as he walked ahead.
The journey was relatively calm, and everyone gradually relaxed.
Zhang Xiaochuan raised his sickle and bang bang bang chopped down several times, neatly splitting a log as thick as a wrist.
The others followed suit, but none of them seemed to get the technique right.
After half an hour, Zhang Xiaochuan had already finished more than half of his work. The two male educated youths looked at their own piles—less than a third of his—and flushed red with embarrassment.
Zhang Xiaochuan chuckled on the side, then pulled out a tobacco pouch and started smoking.
Chen Wenjuan was stunned.
“Zhang… Zhang comrade, aren’t you a female comrade? Why are you smoking?”
Instantly, the forest fell into awkward silence.
Zhang Xiaochuan stiffened, glancing at the tobacco pouch in her hand.
At that moment, Ruan Liuzheng stepped forward and said with a smile:
“Comrade Chen, you might not know this, but in Heilong Province it’s actually quite common for girls to smoke. There’s even a folk rhyme about it.”
“In Northeast China there are Eight Wonders: window paper pasted on the outside; girls smoking long tobacco pipes; big and small jars used for pickling sauerkraut; babies raised by being hung up; festive glutinous rice dumplings; fur coats worn inside-out; thatched houses with fenced yards; and dog-skin hats worn on the head.”
Zhang Xiaochuan listened to Ruan Liuzheng’s voice, clear like a flowing spring, as if he were hearing a beautiful poem. Goodness—this female educated youth was pretty, cultured, and even defended him. She was a good person.
Chen Wenjuan’s face turned bright red. “I, I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
A small incident passed, and everyone thought it was over.
While working, Chen Wenjuan saw Zhang Xiaochuan personally teaching Ruan Liuzheng how to chop firewood, and she grew increasingly resentful—hating Zhang Xiaochuan for being neither properly masculine nor feminine, and hating Ruan Liuzheng for pretending.
Zhai Xueying quietly moved a bit farther away from her.
Scary.
As Chen Wenjuan chopped firewood, she suddenly heard a rustling sound from the grass.
Seeing something move inside, she immediately had an idea.
She picked up her sickle and walked to the other side of Ruan Liuzheng.
“Comrade Ruan, move a bit over there. The wood is easier to chop on that side.”
Ruan Liuzheng, who had been working steadily, frowned slightly and glanced at her.
When someone suddenly shows kindness for no reason, it’s either fraud or theft.
She never believed in free benefits falling from the sky. Even if they did, they would never land on her.
Otherwise, how would she have ended up transmigrating and losing her memory?
Ruan Liuzheng’s eyes rolled slightly. In this forest, what was the most common thing? Snakes.
It seemed it was time to teach someone a lesson.
A faint change appeared in her eyes as she shifted slightly in that direction.
She glanced at Chen Wenjuan and saw her lowering her head nervously.
Heh.
Her gaze swept around.
Sure enough, she spotted a snake—at a glance she could tell it was non-venomous.
Taking advantage of no one noticing, she directly grabbed it by the neck and stored it into her space.
Who would ever know she was cheating with a spatial ability?
Chen Wenjuan saw that nothing had happened to her and spat in frustration. Why was she so lucky?
Ruan Liuzheng was already thinking of three different ways to scare her.
With a flick of her eyes, when they were bundling firewood together, she placed the snake into the middle of Chen Wenjuan’s bundle.
No one would know about spatial cheating anyway.
Chen Wenjuan muttered as she reached to tie the firewood—suddenly, a piercing scream rang out.
“Ahhh! There’s a snake!!”
Zhai Xueying turned around and saw a snake biting Chen Wenjuan’s hand. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted from fright.
“Snake! Snake! Snake…”
Chen Wenjuan’s face turned green with terror. Two male workers rushed over and drove the snake away.
“Am I going to die?” she cried.
Zhang Xiaochuan quickly checked her hand and let out a sigh of relief. “It’s not venomous.”
Ruan Liuzheng also added, “Comrade Chen, I know a bit of medicine—it’s a non-venomous snake.”
“I still think you should go get it checked,” a male educated youth suggested.
“Yes, I’m going,” Chen Wenjuan said through tears, clearly not believing Ruan Liuzheng.
Zhang Xiaochuan rolled his eyes. “If you want to go, then go!”
Crying and sniffling, Chen Wenjuan went down the mountain.
A passing villager heard she’d been bitten by a snake and was shocked.
“If it’s a venomous snake bite, she might die!”
Deng Yuanchao was talking with Xie Jinghuai when someone suddenly rushed in shouting.
“Director! Something bad happened! That new female educated youth was bitten by a venomous snake—she’s about to die!”
“What?!”
In an instant, Xie Jinghuai felt his heart plunge into an ice cellar.
He immediately turned and ran outside.