Seeing that Gu Zhouye wasn’t reacting, Shen Qiuqiu directly reached over and started undressing him. Gu Zhouye’s face turned crimson with embarrassment.
“I’ll do it myself…”
“So slow…”
In the middle of the night, rustling sounds went on and on. Afterward, Shen Qiuqiu fell deeply asleep in Gu Zhouye’s arms.
But Gu Zhouye couldn’t sleep at all. He actually felt a bit regretful. He had originally planned to treat Shen Qiuqiu with polite distance, but now he had lost control of himself.
Gu Zhouye pounded his chest in frustration.
In a daze, Shen Qiuqiu murmured a single word.
“Worth it.”
…
The next morning, Shen Qiuqiu woke up feeling refreshed. Gu Zhouye, on the other hand, looked somewhat haggard. Shen Qiuqiu looked at his dark circles with a hint of sympathy.
“Come on. It wasn’t even that many times.”
Gu Zhouye quickly covered Shen Qiuqiu’s mouth. His handsome face was so red it looked like it might bleed.
“Can you show some restraint?”
Shen Qiuqiu put on her clothes and rejected the idea with righteous conviction.
“Restraint is something you dog men use to trick little girls. I’m already married. What would I pretend to be restrained for?”
Gu Zhouye had a vague memory that Shen Qiuqiu hadn’t been like this before.
Maybe the girl had just been good at pretending?
Shen Qiuqiu reached out and poked Gu Zhouye’s chest.
“Men are the ones who should be restrained. Let me tell you, Gu Zhouye — if you dare go after other women, I won’t let you get away with it.”
Gu Zhouye gave Shen Qiuqiu a very helpless look.
“When did I ever go after you?”
Shen Qiuqiu stroked Gu Zhouye’s solid chest.
“Wearing clothes this tight on purpose — and you say you’re not seducing me? You men are so calculating.”
…
At Bai Xueying’s village clinic, Bai Xueying’s mother added firewood to the kang and looked up at her daughter’s haggard face.
“Daughter, that bastard won’t take responsibility. He has connections up above, and we can’t fight him. Why don’t you just marry Wang Cheng from the east end of the village?”
Bai Xueying broke into a violent coughing fit.
“Mom, he’s forty years old.”
“But you’re pregnant with someone else’s child. Who else is willing to marry you?”
Bai Xueying clenched her fists. “Mom, don’t worry. I’ll make Xiao Yi marry me.”
Every week, Xiao Yi went to town to study. These past few days, the heavy snow had blocked the mountain passes, so that had been delayed.
The snow had been too fierce lately for major outdoor work. The production brigade usually organized study sessions or rest days. But that bastard Gu Zhouye — because his marksmanship was extremely accurate — had been seconded to the army unit to go hunting.
The colder it got, the more animals had to come out to forage during the warmer daylight hours. That actually made it the perfect time for hunting.
Shen Qiuqiu couldn’t sit still. She came looking for Bai Xueying on purpose.
Bai Xueying had a secondary school diploma. She could have been assigned to the county, but her family had no connections, so she ended up as a barefoot doctor in Qingshantun.
That said, her job was still relatively respectable. At least she didn’t have to go to work every day to earn work points, and the pay was decent.
The moment Shen Qiuqiu walked in, she saw Bai Xueying crying.
“Oh, what’s with the tears? When pregnant women cry, it’s bad for their eyes.”
Before, Bai Xueying might have exchanged a few polite words with Shen Qiuqiu. But now she really wasn’t in the mood.
“What are you doing here? Come to gloat?”
Shen Qiuqiu sat down on the edge of Bai Xueying’s bed.
“Bai Xueying, I showed you some mercy back there. If I had told everyone that you gave me the drugs, you would have lost your job.”
At least as a village doctor, Bai Xueying had a salary. Even if people laughed at her, she wouldn’t starve to death. But if that secret got out, her job would be gone.
Her mother’s family had many mouths to feed. If she went back there with a child in tow, she would probably starve.
Shen Qiuqiu looked at Bai Xueying’s paper-white face, then smiled and took her hand.
“Xueying, does Xiao Yi know about you giving me the drugs?”
Bai Xueying shook her head.
“He only found out later.”
“Really? Are you sure you two didn’t plan it together? If this gets exposed, Xiao Yi won’t just lose his chance to return to the city — he could very well be shot.”
Bai Xueying froze for a moment.
“You mean… I should use this to threaten him?”
“At least your brain hasn’t completely turned to mush. You were almost just paving the way for someone else.”
Bai Xueying looked at Shen Qiuqiu suspiciously.
“You’re going to help me out of the goodness of your heart?”
Shen Qiuqiu looked around, then snatched the well-hidden jar of White Rabbit cream candies and stuffed it into her own pocket. Bai Xueying was so angry her teeth itched.
“Of course not. That bastard did me wrong, and he still thinks he’s going back to the city someday? Not a chance. I’m taking these. Consider it what you owe me.”
Shen Qiuqiu left cheerfully and was about to head back to her room to hole up when she saw Xiao Yi walking toward her with a dark expression.
This bastard seemed to have mustered up tremendous courage. He blocked Shen Qiuqiu’s path.
“Qiuqiu, I was wrong. Can you give me another chance?”
Shen Qiuqiu was stunned. For a moment, she couldn’t figure out how to even formulate a response.
“If you can persuade Gu Zhouye to give me the spot to return to the city, once I’ve got a foothold in the city, I’ll definitely come back for you.”
Shen Qiuqiu shook her head, then pointed at herself.
“Xiao Yi, look at me. Do I look like an idiot?”
“Huh?”
Shen Qiuqiu delivered a massive slap that sent Xiao Yi stumbling three meters back.
“You hit me again!”
“Looks like I haven’t hit you enough. What kind of nerve do you have to say something like that?”
Xiao Yi rubbed his face and finally lost his composure.
“I’m telling you, Shen Qiu — I have connections. Gu Zhouye’s family background is bad. Even if he goes back to the capital, he won’t make it there!”
The “connection” Xiao Yi was referring to was his cheap grandfather, a famous scientist in the capital. But Xiao Yi’s mother had been adopted by the man, had become independent and married at eighteen, and there was a huge rift between them.
Xiao Yi had been using this name to swindle people left and right.
But in reality, the famous scientist did have a real grandson. It was just that, due to various circumstances back then, the two had never been reunited.
“You’re full of crap. If you really had connections, would you be begging everyone and their grandmother — even abandoning your own child — and still not be able to go back to the city?”
Shen Qiuqiu’s voice was very loud. Quite a few educated youths who were hunkering down for the winter came out to watch the commotion. Bai Xueying also opened her door and looked at Xiao Yi, feeling an inexplicable chill in her heart.
One of the female educated youths started cursing Xiao Yi, and soon the crowd joined in.
Humiliated, Xiao Yi hung his head and hurried home — but not watching where he was going, he face-planted straight into a snowbank.
Shen Qiuqiu laughed so hard she sucked in several breaths of cold air. By the time Gu Zhouye returned that evening, Shen Qiuqiu was still coughing.
Gu Zhouye took off his coat, which was covered in snow, and pulled out a package of food from inside his jacket.
White, fluffy steamed buns stuffed with meat. Shen Qiuqiu’s eyes went wide at the sight of the good food.
In this era, the most important thing was food. She used to talk about losing weight all the time. Now she wished she could go back in time and slap herself.
Gu Zhouye handed the food to Shen Qiuqiu and said, “I heard you got into another fight with Xiao Yi?”
Shen Qiuqiu took a huge bite of the steamed bun.
“Me getting into fights? That’s completely normal.”
Gu Zhouye sighed.
“Why don’t you come hunting with me tomorrow?”
Shen Qiuqiu shot up excitedly.
“Your marksmanship really is good, and they can’t spare anyone from inside, but now we don’t have enough food either.”
These days, the educated youths were basically eating one meal a day, mostly wild vegetable wotou.
“Alright. I’ll go with you tomorrow!”