Gu Zhouye was woken up by the village’s only rooster. He had spent the entire night having unspeakable dreams, with the woman sharing his bed clinging to him like an octopus.
His brain now felt as if it had been filled with several buckets of lead.
Shen Qiuqiu opened her eyes. The moment she saw that she wasn’t in her shabby rental apartment, her face lit up with the relief of someone who had narrowly escaped death. Then she looked at the strong, dazed man sitting beside her, and her smile grew even wider.
The protagonists in the novels she used to read were always university students who had never held a job, so they were always desperate to go home. But if she really had transmigrated into a book, who the hell would want to go back to working a corporate job?
Gu Zhouye frowned at Shen Qiuqiu.
“Why are you so happy? Aren’t you worried that Xiao Yi won’t want you anymore?”
Shen Qiuqiu replied nonchalantly. “That bastard? He can go die in a ditch somewhere as far as I’m concerned.”
Shen Qiuqiu stared at Gu Zhouye. Completely unbothered, she started putting on her own clothes. Gu Zhouye quickly turned his head away, the tips of his ears turning red again.
“What are you planning to say when the time comes?”
“I’ll just tell the truth. I’ll drag Bai Xueying and Xiao Yi down with me. It won’t affect your return to the city.”
“And what about you? Aren’t you worried about yourself?”
Shen Qiuqiu’s eyes lit up. She looked at Gu Zhouye with a pitiful expression.
“Worst case, I’ll go to prison. It’s just the crime of hooliganism. Maybe I’ll get disowned by my family. Spend the rest of my life in jail. If I’m unlucky, I’ll get shot. But in eighteen years, I’ll be a badass all over again.”
Gu Zhouye took a deep breath, threw on his coat, went outside to stoke the kang fire, then came back in and glanced at Shen Qiuqiu. His expression was incredibly awkward.
“Wait here. I’m going to the brigade to get the marriage application form.”
Shen Qiuqiu’s eyes widened. She hid her hands behind her back and pumped her fist in a triumphant “Yes!”
After Gu Zhouye left, Shen Qiuqiu stood up and inspected his shabby little cabin. In one drawer, she found a photo album containing only a few pictures.
The most striking was a family portrait. Gu Zhouye sat in the very center, surrounded by everyone like a star, wearing a well-tailored little suit. The background was a spacious courtyard house.
The original book had mentioned that the male supporting character had a deep and powerful background. It seemed to be true.
Before long, Gu Zhouye walked back in carrying an application form, a thick layer of snow dusting his shoulders. Shen Qiuqiu was about to fawn over him and brush off the snow when Gu Zhouye pulled out a warm sweet potato from inside his coat.
“Eat this, then fill out the form.”
Gu Zhouye’s face showed clear reluctance. He had once been the most outstanding young gentleman in the capital, but now he was stranded here, about to start a family with a woman like this, so simply and abruptly.
Gu Zhouye clenched his fists. Shen Qiuqiu took the sweet potato, split it in half, and handed one piece back to him.
“You eat too. We’re going to have to go out and do some arguing soon.”
This opportunity for Gu Zhouye to return to the city wasn’t just any ordinary place — it was the capital. If he missed it, who knew how long he would have to wait? He might end up like in his past life, enduring countless hardships before finally making it back home.
Gu Zhouye took the sweet potato and bit into it fiercely.
Shen Qiuqiu couldn’t resist asking gossipily. “Gu Zhouye, were you some big shot before? What did you do wrong to get sent down here?”
Gu Zhouye let out a cold snort and clearly had no desire to talk.
Shen Qiuqiu ate her sweet potato, feeling the room warm up. After finishing, she picked up a pen and started filling out her information. Once they had both completed the form, they put on their thick padded coats and headed to the brigade to submit their marriage report.
Qingshantun was completely surrounded by deep mountains. There was a forestry station here, and the villagers earned work points by going into the mountains to cut trees — all manual labor. Shen Qiuqiu had always been thin and frail to begin with, and her fiancé Xiao Yi never took care of her. Sometimes she didn’t even have food to eat, so there was no way she could handle such heavy work.
Snow half as tall as a person had piled up all over the tiny village of Qingshantun. Not many people were up and about early in the morning. Shen Qiuqiu followed behind Gu Zhouye, looking at the man’s tall, broad back, her mind already scheming.
No wonder those novels were always going on about “broad shoulders and a narrow waist.” Even wearing an army greatcoat, he still looked good.
Shen Qiuqiu, on the other hand — though one could tell she had pretty features — was far too thin. Her complexion was poor too. She had the look of someone who wasn’t long for this world.
Before long, they arrived at the village committee headquarters. Not that it was much of a headquarters — it was actually just the village chief’s home. Chief Wang Daquan’s house was the only one in Qingshantun with three kangs. The whole place was toasty warm as soon as they walked in. Gu Zhouye took off his coat, took Shen Qiuqiu’s hand, and led her into the inner room, where Old Village Chief Wang Daquan was sitting cross-legged on the kang.
The old chief bore a three-tenths resemblance to Wang Dayong — no prize for guessing they were father and son. Gu Zhouye explained their business in a few brief sentences. Wang Daquan squinted his triangular eyes.
“So sudden. You’re about to head back to the city, aren’t you? Why the rush to get married?”
It was obvious that Wang Dayong hadn’t had a chance to tell his father about what happened yet. After all, the security team fell under the forestry station’s management. He had probably been on duty last night. That gave the two of them some breathing room to work with.
Gu Zhouye glanced at Shen Qiuqiu and squeezed out a few words between his teeth.
“Our hearts are aligned. I’ve decided to take her back to the city with me.”
Shen Qiuqiu’s eyes went wide. She had assumed Gu Zhouye would marry her just to get her spot and then leave her behind in the village — that was what most men did in this era. She hadn’t expected Gu Zhouye to be so honorable and loyal.
Wang Daquan looked equally stunned.
“So many educated youths who go back to the city end up marrying new wives there. I didn’t expect you to be so devoted. Alright, I’ll process your marriage application for you.”
Shen Qiuqiu waited for the old village chief in the main hall. Just then, a round-faced young woman in a floral-padded jacket with two pigtails emerged from the inner room. When she saw Shen Qiuqiu, she rolled her eyes so hard they nearly disappeared into her skull.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Educated Youth Shen Qiu. What’s the matter — finally stopped chasing after Xiao Yi’s backside?”
This young woman was the village chief’s daughter, Wang Dahua, and Bai Xueying’s best friend. Of course she couldn’t stand Shen Qiuqiu. As the female lead, Bai Xueying’s name naturally stood out among a sea of “Flowers,” “Grasses,” and “Jades.”
According to the original novel, Bai Xueying was actually the long-lost biological daughter of an aristocratic family. Just that melodramatic.
Seeing that Shen Qiuqiu wasn’t taking the bait, Wang Dahua grew frustrated.
“Say something! Cat got your tongue?”
Shen Qiuqiu rolled her eyes right back at Wang Dahua.
“What are you doing, following Bai Xueying around all day — sniffing her farts? At least I was chasing a man. Why are you, with nothing better to do, chasing a woman?”
Wang Dahua froze. The usual Shen Qiu was a total doormat. She wouldn’t even squeak if someone hurled ten insults at her. But now she’d actually learned to talk back?
“How dare you mock me?!”
Wang Dahua had good food at home and was quite plump. When she got angry, her whole face looked even more ridiculous.
“So what if I mock you? You fat pig.”
Shen Qiuqiu’s lifelong philosophy of winning arguments had only one rule: insult a woman’s looks and insult a man’s masculinity. No one ever failed to break down.
Just then, Gu Zhouye came out of the inner room with the letter of introduction and the application receipt. Shen Qiuqiu, quick as a flash, grabbed Gu Zhouye’s hand and hurried them both out of the village chief’s house.
Wang Dahua was still processing what had just happened. By the time she snapped out of it, Shen Qiuqiu and Gu Zhouye were already gone.
Wang Dahua ran out of the house, tripped, and fell flat on the ground.
“Shen Qiu — just you wait!”
Her voice was so loud that it sent every chicken and dog in the village into an uproar.