Wang Jinfeng let out a dry laugh. “She’s my daughter after all. I just wanted to see how she was doing.”
Zhou Wanning didn’t believe a single word of it. If she truly cared about Er Ya, Er Ya wouldn’t have had so many bruises on her body, nor would she have sold her off to strangers for a mere eighty-eight yuan.
She pulled Er Ya behind her. “Er Ya is part of our family now. Stay away from her from now on. If you come near her again, I won’t keep her—you can give me back that eighty-eight.”
The moment she heard the money might be taken back, Wang Jinfeng’s face couldn’t hold its composure. “You city folks are nothing but capitalists. We already gave you the person, and now you want the money back too?”
Zhou Wanning didn’t budge an inch. “Say another word, and I don’t mind making that a reality.”
Wang Jinfeng’s face turned even uglier. She realized that both Li Zhanye and his wife were nothing but ruffians—there was simply no reasoning with them.
In all her years, she’d never seen people of their standing be so shameless.
“Hmph, the common folk don’t fight the officials. Whatever you say goes, I suppose.”
Zhou Wanning ignored her entirely, grabbed Er Ya, and walked off.
Wang Jinfeng spat at their retreating backs. “Pah, you bitch. You’ll get what’s coming to you sooner or later.”
Under the shade of a tree
Zhou Wanning handed Er Ya the military canteen. “It’s mung bean soup—good for cooling off. Have a drink.”
“Thank you, sister.”
Er Ya’s eyes were red-rimmed. As she drank the sweet water, tears threatened to spill over. She never imagined Zhou Wanning would bring her water—and sweetened mung bean soup at that.
She’d only been sold over as a maid, yet she was living better here than she ever had in her own home.
“If you can’t let go of her, I can send you back.”
Er Ya wiped her tears fiercely. “No. I’m not going back.”
Having barely escaped those claws, how could she ever willingly return to that den of misery? “Sister, as long as you don’t chase me away, I’ll follow you for the rest of my life.”
“I understand what you mean.”
Zhou Wanning said to Er Ya, “From now on, there’s no need to tolerate them. Even if you cause a huge mess, we’ll have your back.”
She gave her a reassurance. “Even if we leave someday, we’ll take you with us.”
“Sister… thank you.”
“Don’t cry so much. Only those without ability shed tears. Making those who bully you cry—that’s where your real skill lies.”
Zhou Wanning had made flatbreads at noon, but no one came back. By the time it was nearly one o’clock, she couldn’t wait any longer. She picked up her bamboo basket and headed straight to the fields.
Quite a few people were sitting at the edge of the field, eating cornmeal buns with boiled cabbage.
Xiao Zhang watched Li Zhanye cutting wheat alone in the field and felt a pang of sympathy. “Commander, sit down and have something to eat. We’ll help you finish your wife’s share of the work later.”
Li Zhanye wiped his sweat. “No need. You all eat. Once I finish this stretch, I’ll head home and eat. My wife made me flatbreads.”
At one o’clock, the sun was at its harshest. Li Zhanye’s sleeveless undershirt was completely soaked through with sweat, and beads of sweat the size of beans came crashing down onto the ground.
Even the mung bean soup Zhou Wanning had specially chilled for him had been turned into hot water by the scorching sun—drinking it did little to cool him down, only slightly quenching his thirst.
“Why don’t you head home and eat first? The sun’s too fierce right now—don’t get heatstroke.”
But Li Zhanye was unwilling. If he didn’t hurry now, he wouldn’t know how late he’d have to work into the night, and he still wanted to spend more time with Zhou Wanning in the evening.
After all, his little girl was rather delicate. If he didn’t attend to her carefully, she’d throw a tantrum again.
Thinking of Zhou Wanning, Li Zhanye immediately perked up. “You go rest. I’ll work a bit more and then head over to eat.”
“Li Zhanye.”
A clear female voice came from the direction of the field ridge. He looked up and saw Zhou Wanning carrying a basket, her brows furrowed. “Come here. Eat.”
Li Zhanye’s heart melted into a pool of water. He handed his sickle to Xiao Zhang, his tone laced with pride. “My wife came to bring me food. You don’t have that, do you? Tsk tsk tsk, see that? I said this morning I wanted flatbread, and your sister-in-law, who’s never lifted a finger in the kitchen, still made it for me. That’s because she dotes on me. No one makes it for you, right?”
Xiao Zhang: “…”
Li Zhanye patted his shoulder. “You should find yourself a wife soon too. But you definitely won’t find one as good as mine, because no one can be better than my wife.”
Xiao Zhang gritted his teeth in fury. Right now, he wished he could strangle the version of himself that had just felt sorry for Li Zhanye. Someone like him didn’t deserve any sympathy at all! He was ten thousand times more pitiable than Li Zhanye, alright?!
“Wifey~”
Li Zhanye’s voice was like a hook, clingy as could be. Zhou Wanning raised her index finger and pressed it against his chest. “Stop messing around. Eat first.”
“Feed me.”
Seeing Zhou Wanning frown, Li Zhanye quickly said, “My hands are all covered in dirt. It’s dirty if I hold it myself.”
Xiao Zhang, passing by with his sickle, felt their regiment commander was utterly shameless. This was a man who, during training in the mud, would eat rock sugar right there in the dirt and laugh, saying “what’s not clean won’t make you sick.” Now, with just a bit of sweat and dirt on his hands, he thought it was dirty.
Truly unbearable to watch.
Zhou Wanning looked carefully and indeed, they were a bit dirty.
She took out the flatbread from the basket, then wrapped the prepared shredded potatoes and braised meat inside the bread and rolled it up before feeding it to him. “Eat.”
Whether Li Zhanye did it on purpose or not, the moment he opened his mouth, he swallowed her fingers along with the bread. She could even feel his teeth lightly nibble on her.
The gazes of those around them swept over intentionally or not, making Zhou Wanning feel extremely uncomfortable, as if she were being teased in public.
“Li Zhanye!”
“Just an accident.”
Li Zhanye, like a big dog, kept trying to nuzzle into Zhou Wanning. “Wifey, ah~”
In the end, her heart softened, and Zhou Wanning continued feeding him.
Those around them were indeed discussing the two of them, but not their intimacy—rather, the food Zhou Wanning had brought out.
“Did you see that? That’s flatbread and meat.”
An old man sniffed the air hard, then took a fierce bite of his own corn bun. “It’s not just seeing it—I can smell it. So fragrant!”
“It’s good to be an official. Their family eats meat every meal. Last night I even smelled them braising meat.”
“Yesterday my second kid peeked over the fence and saw—not only do they eat meat, they even give Er Ya meat to eat.”
“Hey, you think if Er Ya can eat meat, then if we send our people over, they’d give us some meat and share some money too? I remember they gave Wang Jinfeng 88 yuan.”
“That’s right, if that little girl can get 88, then our girl is even prettier than her—she should be able to get at least 100. Once we’re done with today’s work, I’ll take my little girl over to check it out. After raising her all this time, it’s about time she gave something back to the family.”