22: Grand-Aunt
The appearance of the troublesome grand-aunt didn’t really affect the family’s mood too much. Since the task on Lu Guoguo’s interface still showed as incomplete, she continued studying diligently every day under Lu Zaiyang’s watchful eye.
Because Lu Zaiyang was unmarried, Educated Youth Chen rarely visited their home to avoid any suspicion. However, when working alongside Lu Guoguo in the fields, she would ask if there was anything Lu Guoguo didn’t understand, and Lu Guoguo would save some questions to discuss with her.
Huang Chunfeng noticed that she was getting close to Educated Youth Chen and specifically reminded her, “Do you know about Educated Youth Chen?”
“Know what?”
Lu Guoguo looked completely clueless.
Seeing she didn’t know, Qi Shenshen exchanged a glance with Huang Chunfeng, and the two pulled Lu Guoguo aside to a quiet spot to talk.
“When Educated Youth Chen first came to our production team, the team leader’s son, Li Dongcai, took a liking to her. At first, Educated Youth Chen didn’t reject Li Dongcai’s attempts to get close. Then, just when Li Dongcai’s grandmother announced she wouldn’t let him marry a sent-down youth, Educated Youth Chen suddenly rushed to the front near the end of a production team meeting and loudly declared that she and Li Dongcai were just fellow laborers…”
After that, people in the production team started saying that Educated Youth Chen had deliberately led Li Dongcai on, essentially wanting him to help her out without any intention of marrying him—that Li Dongcai had been played for a fool.
“Anyway, there are all kinds of rumors, but we don’t really know what kind of person she is. Our families don’t let us interact too much with the sent-down youths.”
In the minds of many in the production team, the sent-down youths didn’t truly belong here, they would eventually return to the cities sooner or later.
If a son married a sent-down youth, that was fine—his roots would still be here. But if a daughter married one and he later left for the city, what would become of her?
After hearing them out, Lu Guoguo thought for a moment and said, “From my interactions with Educated Youth Chen these past few days, I’ve gotten some sense of her character. She’s definitely not the type to lead someone on like people say. It’s much more likely that Li Dongcai attached himself to her, and Educated Youth Chen had no idea about his intentions, probably thought it was just ordinary helpfulness. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have publicly clarified their relationship at that meeting.”
That made sense, too.
Huang Chunfeng and the others didn’t say anything more.
They were simply worried that a friend might be taken advantage of. If the person wasn’t what people made her out to be, then there was no harm in interacting with her however they pleased.
The three didn’t notice someone not too far away overhearing them mention Educated Youth Chen. But since they weren’t very close and the three were speaking softly, they didn’t catch everything.
When Educated Youth Chen returned to the sent-down youth quarters, she was pulled into a room by a female youth who shared her accommodation. The other woman closed the door and said in a low voice, “Have you been getting close to that female comrade from the Lu family recently? Today I heard her mentioning you with two other female comrades. I don’t know what was said, but it must have something to do with that Li Dongcai business. Be careful, don’t let yourself be fooled.”
Hearing her mention Li Dongcai, Educated Youth Chen’s face showed disgust. “There’s nothing between Li Dongcai and me.”
“We here at the quarters know the truth, but outsiders just follow that old woman’s nonsense, don’t they? I’m just giving you a heads-up, it never hurts to be careful.”
Their relationship wasn’t particularly close, but Educated Youth Chen appreciated the gesture nonetheless.
That afternoon during work, Educated Youth Chen glanced at Lu Guoguo a couple of times. Lu Guoguo wasn’t stupid, and since Educated Youth Chen was the type who couldn’t hide things well, her expression revealed something was up. So, during break time, Lu Guoguo took the initiative to bring up Li Dongcai.
Seeing her openness, Educated Youth Chen knew she hadn’t misjudged this friend and proceeded to explain what had happened between her and Li Dongcai.
It was essentially that Li Dongcai had been fooling himself. When approaching Educated Youth Chen, he’d used the team leader as an excuse, claiming the team leader had told him to look after Educated Youth Chen since her health wasn’t great. Whenever Educated Youth Chen refused his excessive help, Li Dongcai would say he was only helping so she wouldn’t fall behind.
“You’re really brave.”
Lu Guoguo praised her, thinking of what she’d said at that meeting.
Hearing this, Educated Youth Chen smiled. “Thank you.”
Actually, at the time she’d rushed forward on impulse and later regretted it. But now, hearing Lu Guoguo praise her with such admiration in her eyes, Educated Youth Chen suddenly didn’t regret it anymore. She truly had been brave, and that bravery shouldn’t be worn down by life and gossip.
That evening after dinner, Lu Guoguo leaned against Sun Zhaodi and quietly brought up the matter. Sun Zhaodi laughed and said, “Li Dongcai is the team leader’s youngest son, so naturally he’s been somewhat spoiled at home. He’s really just an overgrown child. Seeing that Educated Youth Chen was pretty, he went and attached himself to her. Then when his family scolded him, he didn’t dare make a peep. It was clearly him who pursued Educated Youth Chen, yet she’s the one getting blamed.”
“Someone who could use the team leader’s name to get close to Educated Youth Chen, what kind of responsible person could he be?”
It was rare for Lu Zaiyang to join in their casual gossip.
“Exactly! Brother’s right! But how come I’ve never seen this Li Dongcai person?”
There was no such person in the original owner’s memory.
“After that incident, once the team leader found out what really happened, he was furious. Coincidentally, they needed workers for canal repairs over in town, so he sent Li Dongcai there. He probably won’t be back until the end of the year.”
As they were talking, Second Aunt-in-law showed up at their door.
She was a straightforward person and got straight to the point as soon as she sat down. “Someone came seeking a match for Xiaofen. That’s not unusual since Xiaofen is of marriageable age, but the matchmaker said this whole thing was arranged by Guoguo’s grand-aunt. I came to ask, why would Guoguo’s grand-aunt be matchmaking for Xiaofen?”
She was genuinely curious. After all, since Eighth Sister-in-law had married into the family, she rarely participated in such matters. Not knowing whether Eighth Sister-in-law was aware of this, Second Aunt-in-law worried she wouldn’t sleep well over it, so she simply came over to ask.
Sun Zhaodi’s expression shifted repeatedly, clearly not pleased.
She explained in detail her relationship with the grand-aunt to Second Aunt-in-law, who listened in bewilderment and finally spat, “Then I’d really like to see what she’s plotting!”
As Lu Zaiyang listened, he suddenly asked, “Which production team is Xiao Shi’s grandmother’s maiden family from?”
“Shifeng Production Team,” Second Aunt-in-law said.
Sun Zhaodi’s mouth twitched. “Guoguo’s grand-aunt’s maiden family is from that same production team.”
Lu Guoguo immediately started thinking conspiratorially. “Second Aunt-in-law, you absolutely can’t agree to this! Sister Xiaofen deserves a better family!”
Hearing this, Second Aunt-in-law beamed with delight. “Don’t you worry, there’s more than one family seeking a match with your Sister Xiaofen.”
After chatting a bit longer, Second Aunt-in-law finally picked up her oil lamp and headed home.
Seeing her return at last, Second Uncle Lu couldn’t help grumbling a couple of complaints. “What took you so long? I was almost asleep.”
“Ended up chatting with Eighth Sister-in-law for a while,” Second Aunt-in-law said after lying down, telling him about the grand-aunt and Big Sister-in-law being from the same maiden production team. “Eighth Brother told us to be careful and not get tricked.”
Second Uncle Lu had already sat up when he heard they were from the same production team. “Do they think we’re easy to bully? Picking on us like this!”
Early the next morning, Second Uncle Lu brought a few brothers to Lu Laoba’s house. After some hushed discussion, they each went back to their own homes.
Lu Guoguo watched their departing figures curiously.
“What are you staring at?”
Lu Zaiyang walked over.
“Just wondering what Second Uncle and the others were talking about.”
“What else could it be? If she’s involved in this somehow, it definitely won’t end well.”
Lu Zaiyang hung up the clothes he had just washed.
“Brother, how did you know Grand-aunt and Eldest Aunt-in-law are from the same place?”
“It just came to me. When Dad and the others were talking about Grand-aunt the other day, didn’t they mention her maiden production team?”
Lu Zaiyang had genuinely recalled, seemingly out of nowhere, that Eldest Aunt-in-law’s maiden family seemed to be from that same place. It was indeed somewhat coincidental, so he mentioned it.
“Brother, your memory is really good.”
Lu Guoguo praised him.
“Yeah, I also remember you haven’t memorized the key points I marked for you.”
“…I’m going to make breakfast.”
Memorizing texts wasn’t actually difficult; the hard part was that some passages were too awkwardly phrased and clashed ideologically with her era’s thinking. With two sets of knowledge swirling around in her head, she was really afraid she’d mix them up if she kept reciting.
Watching her run into the kitchen, Lu Zaiyang smiled. Turning around, he found himself facing Lu Laoba’s thoughtful expression. Lu Zaiyang cleared his throat lightly. “Dad, something on your mind?”
**