“Tian Baozhu, where have you been running off to these past two days?
Do you know that you’re an educated youth? If you have no shame, the rest of us still do!”
Tan Yandong swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty, then stood up and spoke with righteous indignation.
“Where’s my money?”
Tian Baozhu reached out her hand toward Tan Yandong, asking with a blank expression.
“Tian Baozhu, did you even hear what I said?
What… what are you trying to do?”
Tan Yandong slammed the table with force, preparing to launch into a lengthy lecture at Tian Baozhu with great dismay.
But when he saw her striding toward him, he immediately dropped his lecturing demeanor. A hint of panic flashed across his face as he scrambled back several steps, raising his hands defensively in front of him, stammering out his question.
“Your ears don’t seem to work very well. If you don’t want them, should I cut them off for you?”
Tian Baozhu let out a cold laugh, stepped forward, and kicked him.
She sent Tan Yandong sprawling to the ground, then planted her foot on his chest, applying slight pressure. The pain was so intense that Tan Yandong felt as though his whole body was about to explode.
And that wasn’t all. Tian Baozhu bent down, reached out, and grabbed his ear, as if the next moment she was ready to tear it right off.
“Pay… up!
If you can’t understand that, then I suppose these ears are useless anyway.”
Tian Baozhu spoke as she tightened her grip.
“It hurts, it hurts! I’ll pay, I’ll pay! Let me go!”
For the first time, Tan Yandong felt a surge of fear wash over him. He knew with absolute certainty that Tian Baozhu would actually tear his ear off.
Hearing his words, Tian Baozhu didn’t immediately release her grip or her foot.
Instead, she studied Tan Yandong for a moment, let out a sneer, straightened up, and withdrew her foot.
The moment the weight lifted from his chest, Tan Yandong scrambled away, pale-faced, and scurried into his room. After dawdling for a bit, he returned with some money and ration tickets, holding them out to Tian Baozhu.
Tian Baozhu took them, examined them closely, and let out a humorless laugh.
“Tan Yandong, are you playing games with me?
All the food and things I gave you over these years are worth just this twenty yuan?
Let me tell you, every single thing I gave you is recorded in my little notebook. Don’t even think about denying it, because you can’t wriggle out of it.”
Seeing Tian Baozhu’s cold smirk, Tan Yandong felt a chill run down his spine and quickly said,
“Tian Baozhu, do you just get to name whatever amount you want?”
Tan Yandong was so agitated he growled in a low voice.
“Of course not. It’s not like people haven’t seen it with their own eyes.
Setting aside everything else, even that coat you’re wearing—I had my dad help exchange my own set of clothes for that and send it over to you, didn’t I?”
Tian Baozhu pointed with a smile at the green military coat Tan Yandong was wearing, but there was no trace of amusement in her eyes.
When the other educated youths heard this, they immediately began whispering among themselves.
“I never expected that military coat was given to Educated Youth Tan by Tian Baozhu!”
“I always thought Educated Youth Tan had connections in his family to get such a coat!”
“Educated Youth Tan isn’t denying it. Looks like what Tian Baozhu said is true?”
Hearing the murmurs around him, Tan Yandong felt as though he was being cut by knives.
“Tian Baozhu, name your price. I only have this much on me right now. Those things were given willingly by you. What exactly do you want?”
Tan Yandong said in a low, humiliated voice.
After this, he probably wouldn’t be able to stay at the educated youth spot any longer.
“Not much, just one hundred yuan.
There’s only twenty here. You still owe me eighty. When will you pay?
Don’t drag this out for a year or half a year. I don’t have that kind of patience.”
“Give me three more days. I’ll pay you back then, and we’ll be even.”
Tan Yandong stared at Tian Baozhu with disgust and said through gritted teeth.
“Fine. Since we’ve known each other since childhood, I’ll give you another three days.
If you don’t pay up, I’m sure you don’t want to find out what happens.”
Tian Baozhu raised an eyebrow, tapped the money against her palm, curled the corner of her mouth slightly, and turned to leave.
Perfect. She could busy herself with other things during this time.
Tian Baozhu figured that scumbag probably really only had this much money on him.
If she pushed him further, even if he had no money, the most she could do was give him a beating.
That scumbag—even if you chopped him up and sold him by the piece, he wouldn’t be worth eighty yuan.
Better to let him catch his breath and figure out a way to pay back the eighty he owed her.
The people at the educated youth spot had probably now seen the scumbag’s true colors.
So the only places he could scrape together money were either asking his family or turning to Cheng Baole.
Tian Baozhu was curious: if that scumbag asked his side piece for money, would she still adore her precious “Brother Yandong” as she had before?
The more she thought about it, the more amused she became. Then, her joy turned to misfortune as she walked straight into someone.
Before she could even rub her forehead and cry out in pain, she saw the person she’d bumped into fall straight to the ground. The basket on their back also tumbled down, its contents spilling out.
“Sorry, sorry, are you okay?”
Forgetting to rub her own forehead, Tian Baozhu hurried forward to help the person up.
Then she froze on the spot.
The young man before her had a face that could rival those heartthrobs from later generations.
Pink lips, white teeth, a tall nose bridge, and eyes that seemed to hold autumn waters—one look and you couldn’t help but be drawn in.
His features were perfectly proportioned: any more and they’d be too delicate, any less and they’d be too plain.
She hadn’t expected there to be such a treasure of a boy in this village!
“You… have I seen you somewhere before?”
After recovering from her shock, Tian Baozhu came to her senses. As she tried to help him up, she felt he looked somewhat familiar and couldn’t help but ask.
Xie Zhong hastily pulled away from Tian Baozhu’s outstretched hand and stuffed the wild pheasant that had fallen out back into his basket.
Once it was hidden, he stood up stiffly and glanced at Tian Baozhu, realizing that what he’d just done was futile—like covering his ears while stealing a bell.
“You’re that Xiao Xie!”
Seeing the tall figure standing before her, head lowered with hair covering half his face, a flash of recognition hit Tian Baozhu, and she blurted it out.
Hearing this, Xie Zhong flinched. After hesitating for what seemed like an eternity, he took the pheasant he’d just hidden in his basket, shoved it into Tian Baozhu’s hands, and then bolted without looking back.
Tian Baozhu was utterly confused by Xiao Xie’s behavior. She looked down at the pheasant in her hand, its neck already wrung, completely at a loss as to why he’d given it to her.
It wasn’t until Qi Yuegui came over with that half-full jar of oil and saw Tian Baozhu plucking the pheasant’s feathers that she learned it was from Xiao Xie. She let out a long sigh.
“It’s all because of poverty. Xiao Xie is trying to buy your silence.
That boy hasn’t had a decent meal since his grandfather died when he was twelve.
He has to go up the mountain to catch things just to fill his stomach.
But the things on the mountain belong to the collective.
If someone sees him, he has to share some of the spoils to get by without trouble.
Otherwise, if he gets caught, he’ll be sent to a labor camp.”