Bai Shanshan was driven mad by Wen Yan, whose calm and composed demeanor throughout the entire ordeal felt utterly infuriating.
Just after “insulting” her, he now wanted her to work for him?
Was this something a decent person would do??
Her heart felt ready to explode with anger, yet her mind couldn’t help but wonder what Wen Yan could possibly come up with.
Bai Shanshan gritted her teeth and asked, word by word, “You’re looking for me to work for you?”
Wen Yan nodded politely. “Yes. On the train, you mentioned you’re a technical school graduate. I need a data recorder.”
The veins on the back of Bai Shanshan’s hands bulged as she was once again stunned by Wen Yan.
“After all that’s happened between us, you actually want me to work for you!!”
Wen Yan retorted, “It wasn’t a conflict. It was you making a mistake and correcting it.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Yan noticed Bai Shanshan’s head seemed to be steaming with anger.
Finally realizing it, he looked at Bai Shanshan and asked, “Are you… angry?”
Angry…?
No!
She was about to explode!
Bai Shanshan felt as if a fire were burning inside her, scorching her to the point of smoke coming out of her ears, and Wen Yan was the one constantly adding fuel to the flames.
She realized this must be Wen Yan’s way of getting back at her.
What a clever tactic!
No, she couldn’t lose!
Bai Shanshan desperately suppressed her anger, forcing a smile as she said, “I’m not angry. I’m not a petty person.”
“I just want to know why you’d ask me to work for you?”
Bai Shanshan gritted her teeth and smiled: She’d see how Wen Yan tried to explain himself. Playing the magnanimous one? Who couldn’t do that!
Seeing Bai Shanshan’s expression that seemed to say, “If you don’t give a proper explanation, you’re a liar,” Wen Yan fell silent.
His mentor had repeatedly reminded him: Only tell half the truth.
But Bai Shanshan insisted on hearing it… Well, fine.
Gu Qing suddenly had a bad feeling.
Sure enough.
Wen Yan took a step forward and said, “You’re the only educated youth I know. Finding someone else would require getting to know them again, which is a waste of time.”
“You have a diploma. When you made up lies on the train, you didn’t blush or panic, so you have good psychological resilience. If you work for me, you won’t see Jiang Baizhou. Gu Qing is your aunt, and Li is your uncle, so you have strong connections.”
“Cough, cough, cough—It’s fine, it’s fine. I choked on my saliva. Don’t mind me, keep talking.”
Gu Qing took two steps back, turned around, and tried to look up at the ceiling, her shoulders trembling slightly: Goodness, this is the first time I’ve seen such an honest girl.
Bai Shanshan’s face turned red, then pale, then green. She stared at Wen Yan in disbelief, stammering “you, you, you” for a while without managing to form a complete sentence.
Was this something you could just say out loud?!
Clearly, in Wen Yan’s world, it was. Not only that, Bai Shanshan even had the “illusion” that she had forced Wen Yan to say it.
To sum it up: Had she brought this upon herself??
Bai Shanshan felt her internal organs ache with anger.
After finishing, Wen Yan gave a polite smile, took two steps back, and glanced at his watch.
“Lunch break is thirty minutes. It’s 12:13 now. If you haven’t replied by 12:43, I’ll look for another recorder.”
With that, Wen Yan went to the front to get his meal.
Bai Shanshan’s worldview had been run over repeatedly by Wen Yan’s metaphorical giant truck. Dazed, she turned to look at her aunt, Gu Qing.
“Auntie—”
Gu Qing walked over and whispered sincerely, “Shanshan, tell me the truth. Are you still thinking about Jiang Baizhou?”
Bai Shanshan naturally understood her aunt’s meaning. Unwilling yet deflated, she said, “Auntie, I won’t cause you trouble. I really thought they were divorced when I said those things in the car.”
Gu Qing stared at Bai Shanshan’s face. Considering she had voluntarily joined the reclamation team empty-handed to save rations for her younger siblings at home, she did have some selfish motives, but she wasn’t truly bad at heart.
Gu Qing squeezed Bai Shanshan’s hand firmly and said, “Auntie believes you! Shanshan, I think Wen Yan is a good person.”
Bai Shanshan frowned. “What? Her, a good person? What kind of nonsense is that!”
Gu Qing couldn’t help but smile as she recalled Wen Yan from earlier. Disagreeing, she said, “She spoke the truth. You’re still young and don’t understand—it’s not easy to meet someone who tells the truth.”
“All educated youth have to work. You’ve never done reclamation work, so you don’t know how tough it is here. Following Wen Yan now is an opportunity. Think about it yourself.”
Bai Shanshan wanted to argue but couldn’t find the words. She muttered, “She just arrived yesterday. Where did she find work?”
Gu Qing was taken aback. Right?
She hadn’t even thought of that question, instinctively believing Wen Yan was capable of doing something.
Both of them looked ahead, where Wen Yan had already finished getting her meal. Holding her enamel mug, she was talking to the canteen chef, though it was unclear what they were discussing.
Wen Yan took a bite of the stewed salted fish—chewy, salty, and fishy, but at least it was meat.
“Niu, do we have a lot of fish here?”
Niu replied casually, “Yeah, plenty. Like they say, you can beat a roe deer with a stick and scoop fish with a gourd.”
The main dish was stewed salted fish, accompanied by a stir-fry of dried pickled vegetables and potato slices that Wen Yan didn’t recognize. The staple was sweet potato flour steamed buns.
“Why don’t we raise some chickens, ducks, or geese?”
Wen Yan asked. Niu finally looked up, regarding her like a child. “It’s not that easy to raise them.”
That was all he said, nothing more.
Wen Yan was the type who wouldn’t turn back even after hitting a wall. She pressed on, “Why isn’t it easy? What’s the first difficulty?”
Niu grew a bit impatient with her questions. In his eyes, Wen Yan was just a child who knew nothing.
“Why do you care about this? Just eat your meal!”
“Step aside, don’t get in the way of my work.”
Niu ignored Wen Yan. She thought for a moment—he was indeed working.
“Sorry, please go ahead. I’ll talk to you later.”
With that, Wen Yan left.
Niu grunted dismissively, then suddenly looked up: What did she say?
Never mind, whatever she said.
Niu didn’t take Wen Yan seriously at all. If she hadn’t introduced herself as Commander Jiang’s wife right away, he wouldn’t have even bothered responding with those two sentences.
Half an hour later, Wen Yan finished her meal, closed her lunchbox, and prepared to continue working on the plow.
“Wen Yan!”
Bai Shanshan arrived.
Bai Shanshan had intended to act aloof, but Wen Yan didn’t say a word, simply looking at her directly.
Her expression—”If you don’t speak up, I’m leaving”—left Bai Shanshan with no room to assert herself.
Bai Shanshan took a deep breath and said, “I can be the recorder, but where did you get this job? It couldn’t be something you made up—”
“Comrade Wen, are you done eating? If so, let’s hurry back and continue working.”
Commander Zhu arrived with a few young soldiers, cutting Bai Shanshan off mid-sentence.
Wen Yan replied that she was finished and looked at Bai Shanshan. “I’m working on plows in the logistics department. We need a recorder.”
Commander Zhu, standing nearby, chuckled and vouched for Wen Yan. Bai Shanshan reluctantly said, “If that’s the case, then I’ll help you out.”
She was determined to find plenty of faults and shortcomings in Wen Yan!!
Wen Yan never dwelled on what others thought—as long as they could get the job done.
Her eyes lit up as she extended a hand toward Bai Shanshan.
“Welcome aboard. Comrade Bai’s first task is to go find Li and apply for work positions for both of us. Don’t forget to request some wages.”
Bai Shanshan: “…”