After all, this was the first man she had ever fallen for.
“Are you… asking to marry me?”
Gu Shaonan couldn’t quite put his feelings into words, but there was a faint, sharp twinge in his chest. He nodded firmly. “Yes, I want to marry you. As soon as your father is discharged from the hospital, we’ll hold the wedding.”
“You’re in quite a hurry. Don’t you think I might say no?”
“Before, I had no money. But now… I do.”
Chen Qinghe smiled shyly. “Of course I’m willing. Compared to that scruffy Liu Gao, Gu Shaonan is far better-looking.”
Yet in her mind, another thought lingered: Liu Gao had already built himself a three-story house, and people said he was planning to buy a place in Guangzhou too.
“I’m still focused entirely on my father right now. Let’s talk about marriage once things settle down. As for the betrothal gift, I’ll return it to Liu Gang.”
To Gu Shaonan, it sounded like she wasn’t breaking things off — they were back together again.
In her past life, this moment would have filled him with overwhelming joy. Even now, he felt a warm swell of happiness.
Gu Shaonan smiled. “I have to get back to the factory. Orders have been pouring in lately; I can’t take too much time off.”
“All right. Drive safely. That’s quite a sum of money you’ve got there — several thousand yuan, isn’t it?”
Liang Fengjiao’s eyes went wide, and she nearly dropped her spatula. She slammed a hand down on the table. “Did you steal it? Rob someone? Or did you do something shameful?”
“No wonder you didn’t come home until so late last night! I heard someone say you even arrived in a car!”
Furious, Liang Fengjiao raised her spatula as if ready to strike her shameless daughter. “Our Lin family may be poor, but we will never sink so low!”
Lin Sui’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest. Her mother’s temper was no joke. She bolted out the door, only to find her grandmother feeding chickens in the yard.
“Grandma! Help me — quick!”
Grandma Lin stepped in front of her granddaughter protectively. “What’s all this shouting about this early in the morning?”
The commotion sent the chickens squawking and fluttering everywhere.
“You ask her!” Liang Fengjiao pointed her spatula at the startled birds. “At such a young age, instead of learning decency, she goes and does that — selling herself like a common streetwalker! Did I raise you just for this?”
Lin Sui finally realized what her mother had misunderstood. “Oh, Mom, it’s not like that at all! The car I rode in last night belonged to Secretary Zhou.”
Those three words — Secretary Zhou — were like a calming anchor. Liang Fengjiao froze instantly. “Secretary Zhou? Is that really true?”
“Let me explain everything properly.”
Lin Sui told her about buying stocks — how a former coworker had shared an insider tip, how prices had surged recently, and how she’d invested the 2,000 yuan she had saved. To make it sound like a difficult, legitimate effort and teach her mother a lesson, she added, “I had to squeeze through crowds until my bones ached just to grab this small opportunity. It was exhausting!”
Sure enough, Liang Fengjiao’s anger melted into concern. “Oh, my poor girl… I’ll never doubt you like that again!”
Seeing that her mother was starting to believe her, Lin Sui brought out the gifts she’d bought in Shenzhen the day before and handed them to everyone in the family.
“Now do you trust me? If you still don’t, I’ll go with you right now to ask Secretary Zhou himself.”
She also told them about running into trouble with hooligans the night before, and how Secretary Zhou had stepped in to rescue her. Liang Fengjiao listened, her skin prickling with anxiety. Only then did she believe her daughter completely.
“Since he saved our girl, we ought to thank him properly.”
Their village had no fine gifts to offer, but the New Year was only four months away, and every household raised their own poultry. Grandma Lin, known throughout Nanfeng County for her plump, free-range chickens, reached out and grabbed two of them without hesitation, ready to present them to Secretary Zhou.
Lin Sui was stunned. Her grandmother was notoriously thrifty — she’d raised these chickens for a whole year, wouldn’t even slaughter one for her own birthday, and planned to save them for the New Year feast. To give two away so freely showed just how truly grateful she was.
Lin Sui was touched and hurried to take the chickens, afraid her grandmother might change her mind.
Once back in the yard, she paused — not out of stinginess, but thinking that giving only chickens might get boring. She swapped one chicken for a plump duck, and paired the other chicken with a second duck, so she could give one set to Secretary Zhou and the other to the square-faced man who had also helped them the night before.
She tied the birds securely to the back rack of her bicycle, one on each side, then went back inside to fetch more cash. She would also repay Zhang Dongliang the money she owed him on the way.
After all expenses, they still had more than 3,000 yuan left. She gave 2,000 yuan to her mother, keeping 1,000 for herself to cover costs through the New Year.
“More money this time!” Liang Fengjiao beamed, tucking the bills safely into her pocket. “Now we have enough for New Year’s red envelopes and your brother’s tuition for next semester.”
“Look at my daughter — she’s got real grit!”
Lin Sui huffed. “Remember what you promised me: less drinking from now on.” In her past life, Liang Fengjiao had ruined her health with alcohol, developed cirrhosis, and suffered terribly in her final years.
“All right, all right — I’ll remember.”
Liang Fengjiao wanted to go along to thank Secretary Zhou, but she felt too ashamed over the whole mess with Zhang Dongliang, so she decided to stay out of sight for now.
“Another day, we’ll invite Secretary Zhou over for a proper meal.”
Lin Sui thought to herself: You can invite him all you want, but there’s no guarantee he’ll agree to come.
Back in her room, she packed her things and spotted the travel bag. Inside were a men’s suit and shirts. She quickly shoved them under the bed, deciding to deal with them later.
After eating two large bowls of sweet potato porridge to steady herself, Lin Sui hopped onto her sturdy 24-inch Wuyang single-bar bicycle and rode off briskly toward the village office.
With a chicken in one hand and a duck in the other, she drew stares from everyone there.
People from the surrounding villages all knew each other — especially someone as striking as Lin Sui. And ever since the incident with Zhang Dongliang had spread through the village gossip, she had become quite the talk of the town.
“Hey, Lin Sui! Ran out of money, so now you’re bringing poultry instead?” someone teased.
Since the village office stood right at the entrance of Zhangjia Village, everyone assumed she was there to settle matters with Zhang Dongliang.
Cuizhu Township had six villages, and Linjia was widely considered the poorest. Her grandmother had fallen seriously ill the year before, forcing her father to sell even their tractor, and they had already borrowed money from every relative they had.
Most people believed there was no way she could scrape together the 3,000 yuan to compensate Zhang Dongliang in just half a month.
Still, as the saying went: There’s a reason behind every person’s misfortune. Zhang Dongliang may have acted dishonorably, but if Liang Fengjiao hadn’t been so fond of drinking, none of this would have happened. Some even suspected she’d gotten drunk and effectively sold her daughter off. So few felt any real sympathy.
Lin Sui ignored the jabs. “I’m not here for Zhang Dongliang. I’ve come to see Secretary Zhou.”
At this, everyone fell silent. If she couldn’t pay up, going to the village chief could only mean one thing — she was going to file a complaint. And since several village officials were related to the Zhang family, word quickly raced over to warn Zhang Dongliang.
Secretary Zhou happened to be at the office that day, having just finished a meeting with local leaders. The square-faced driver from the night before was also there. Lin Sui didn’t recognize him, but also present was County Magistrate Yu, who was visiting quietly. Dressed simply and observing only, he said nothing, so no one realized his rank — most took him for just another driver.
In her past life, Lin Sui had learned that Zhou Chiye’s status was far from ordinary. People assumed he was only doing a short stint at the grassroots level before moving up the ladder, so having a driver was nothing unusual. But his eyes held a depth that didn’t lie.
Lin Sui guessed this quiet man must be a senior official from some bureau, and since he had stopped to help the night before, she owed him proper respect.
“Hello, Uncle — thank you so much for your help last night!”
Yu smiled back. “Ah, so it’s you, young lady.”
Seeing her bright and alert today, he chuckled. “No more slouching or looking downcast? Youth really is something — sleep it off, and all troubles vanish.”
Lin Sui huffed playfully. “I remember you said something quite different yesterday!”
“Ah, today’s young people — so quick to judge! Do you think I can’t handle a little hardship?”
Magistrate Yu found her boldness amusing. “Young lady, indeed.”
“I’m not that young anymore — I’m twenty! And you’re not old either; you look barely twenty-three. So please stop calling me ‘young lady’ all the time!”