Gu Zhouye went into the room first to heat it up. He also boiled a pot of water. When he opened the door, he saw Shen Qiuqiu chatting with Ding Rui. It was freezing cold outside, so Gu Zhouye called them both inside.
Ding Rui cleared her throat and continued, “Song Qiang’s girlfriend, Zhou Qian, gets along pretty well with me. She shares a room with Wang Lixia. You have no idea — Wang Lixia isn’t even eating anymore. She’s lost several pounds.”
Due to the inertia from her past life, Shen Qiuqiu instinctively wanted to claim the weight loss for herself, but then she touched her own stomach. There was truly no flesh left on it.
She was exactly the kind of paper-thin person described in books.
Ding Rui chatted a while longer, then reluctantly left. Gu Zhouye first fetched water for Shen Qiuqiu to wash her feet, then brought out clean clothes for her to change into.
After everything was settled, Gu Zhouye looked at Shen Qiuqiu, who had a hint of anticipation in her eyes, and asked softly.
“Are you still not going to tell me the truth?”
Shen Qiuqiu’s heart skipped a beat. She swallowed hard. She hadn’t expected Gu Zhouye to be so direct.
“I did hide something. Before, I thought it was necessary. Now, I don’t think it is anymore.”
Earlier, Shen Qiuqiu hadn’t believed that Gu Zhouye would stay by her side no matter what. But after everything that had happened, she finally saw just how reliable the man before her truly was.
Gu Zhouye stared at Shen Qiuqiu, as if he had many things to say. But in the end, he only said one thing.
“And now?”
Shen Qiuqiu took Gu Zhouye’s hand.
“Now, I don’t need it anymore. Because I’ve realized that you’re a truly reliable man.”
Shen Qiuqiu felt that this was a very sincere thing to say.
Gu Zhouye coughed lightly twice. He touched his nose, a little awkwardly.
“At the time, I just thought you must be scared.”
Shen Qiuqiu froze. Perhaps this man didn’t love her to the bone. Perhaps he was just a fundamentally good person. Even after being schemed against and used, even after being deceived and betrayed, the worst revenge he could come up with was simply to ignore the person.
In the original book, the villain hadn’t gone after the male and female leads immediately after being released from prison. It was only after the fake heiress Bai Kerou was defeated by them and committed suicide that he began to turn dark and seek revenge.
But the book never specified exactly how Gu Zhouye turned dark.
Maybe, from Gu Zhouye’s perspective, that was just revenge — revenge for his first love.
In truth, the original Shen Qiu had also been set up and killed by the male and female leads in the book, though it was only mentioned in passing.
Shen Qiuqiu wrapped her arms around Gu Zhouye’s neck and nuzzled against him.
“I’m not scared anymore. Right now, it feels like there’s a fire burning inside me, and I need a super strong, real man to put it out.”
Gu Zhouye found it both amusing and exasperating. He reached out and touched Shen Qiuqiu’s face. She took his finger into her mouth.
The warmth at his fingertip made his throat tighten.
“You really are… mmph…”
The rest of his words were swallowed by the wind and snow outside.
…
At Bai Xueying’s place, Xiao Yi took off his shoes and climbed onto the kang. Bai Xueying was hunched over, tending the fire. Her expression wasn’t good, and neither was Xiao Yi’s.
“You caused such a huge mess. Thankfully, Wang Lixia didn’t notice anything off. If she turns around and bites you back, what will we do then?”
These past few days, Xiao Yi had been very unhappy. He had written to the military big shot but received no reply. He couldn’t help but feel a little panicked. He had to return to the city. If he didn’t, that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity would go to someone else.
Xiao Yi had never told anyone this, but he and Gu Zhouye were actually cousins. Xiao Yi’s mother was Gu Zhouye’s aunt. But the two families had fallen out during that period of turmoil.
But during this time, his mother wrote to him saying that his maternal grandfather had been reinstated. Her grandfather was a renowned scientist who had risen to fame in his day. If he could get a letter of recommendation from him, he wouldn’t only enter a good workplace but could also directly solve his household registration problem.
But the most critical step was to return to the city.
Bai Xueying’s face was cold. She tossed the fire tongs aside and sat as far away from Xiao Yi as possible.
“You only think about your own future. You never consider me. Shen Qiuqiu has been stepping all over me, and as my man, not only do you not stand up for me, you drag me down. I was truly blind back then.”
Xiao Yi felt a wave of indescribable annoyance rising within him, but he still patiently walked over to Bai Xueying.
“Alright, alright, I was wrong. Once that person contacts me, once I have my spot to return to the city, I’ll definitely find a way to take you with me. I’ll take you back to the city to enjoy a good life.”
Bai Xueying nodded, satisfied.
“I went to see Wang Lixia yesterday. I think she’s about to die. She’ll take the secrets to her grave, and the gold chain matter will be over.”
In truth, it wasn’t that simple. They had already offended Village Chief Wang and Sun Yuming. She could only hope that the people of the educated youth production brigade didn’t find out and would still cast their votes. Then everything would be foolproof.
Early the next morning, Shen Qiuqiu specifically borrowed an egg from Auntie Li and went to Wang Lixia’s dormitory.
Everyone else was still asleep. Wang Lixia sat alone in the main room, her eyes vacant, looking as if she had gone dumb.
Shen Qiuqiu peeled the egg and handed it to Wang Lixia.
“Wang Lixia, if you just waste away like this, guess who’d be happiest?”
Wang Lixia stared at Shen Qiuqiu with eyes full of red veins.
“Obviously you.”
Shen Qiuqiu laughed.
“Why would I be happy? Your dear best friend Bai Xueying would be the one celebrating. Her husband is waiting for everyone to vote. Once the votes come in, she’ll be able to go back to the city with him. And you’ll be left all alone in Qingshantun, never able to leave for the rest of your life.”
Wang Lixia shuddered. She glared viciously at Shen Qiuqiu.
“Don’t try to drive a wedge between Xueying and me. She said she did what she did to force Sun Yuming to marry me. Even though I resent her for it, I’m not going to join forces with you to hurt her.”
“You’re really loyal, aren’t you? But did you know — Sun Yuming was actually planning to come clean with the Wang family and be with you. But Bai Xueying, in order to send me to jail, insisted on exposing the gold matter. Sun Yuming was afraid for his life. In a rage, he abandoned you.”
Shen Qiuqiu handed the egg to Wang Lixia.
“Eat the egg. Once you’ve got some nutrition in you, you’ll have the strength to hit someone later.”
Wang Lixia clenched her fists, her eyes bloodshot.
“I don’t believe you. Bai Xueying had no reason to do that.”
Shen Qiuqiu patted Wang Lixia’s shoulder.
“If you don’t believe me, go ask Sun Yuming yourself. He’s in Qingshantun right now.”
Without even putting on her coat, Wang Lixia ran out with the egg in her hand. Shen Qiuqiu laughed and shook her head.
Before long, Bai Xueying was dragged out of her house. Wang Lixia summoned all her strength and slapped Bai Xueying more than a dozen times.
The sound of the slaps echoed through the entire village of Qingshantun.