Especially when she noticed a flash of regret in Mu Qinqin’s eyes after glancing at the hoe on the ground, she became even more frightened, her face turning pale. She was afraid Mu Qinqin would pick up the hoe and swing it at her arm.
Mu Qinqin really…
didn’t have that intention.
She just found Tang Erya annoying for constantly jumping around in front of her.
Now that someone was doing her work for her, Mu Qinqin simply found a nearby shady spot to rest.
While she was enjoying the cool shade, she suddenly heard a coy voice.
The reason it sounded “coy” was because the speaker’s voice should have been loud and clear, but now it was deliberately lowered, making it uncomfortable to hear.
“Comrade Song, I boiled this mung bean soup from home. I made a lot—come have some to cool down.”
Mu Qinqin recognized her immediately.
Wasn’t this her former “good friend,” the supporting character who used to back up the original female lead, Chang Qiuyue?
She disappeared after running off last time.
And now she was here, not far away in the field.
In front of her was a male educated youth from the commune, Song Qing. Song Qing was the refined type—wearing glasses, gentle and scholarly, looking like an educated man.
But…
Rummaging through her memory…
Mu Qinqin rested her chin on her hand and gave a soft “hm.”
It seemed this Comrade Song had some unusual feelings toward her—no, toward the original host?
No wonder Chang Qiuyue disliked her so much.
“Um… no, thank you. Sorry for the trouble.” Song Qing refused, but after glancing at something to the side, he still smiled and nodded politely at Chang Qiuyue.
“You’re welcome.” Chang Qiuyue’s face flushed as she looked at his refined features. She twisted her clothes nervously. “Comrade Song, if you like it, I can bring it to you every day.”
She was about to ask what he was having for lunch when she realized the person was already gone.
Confused, she turned around and followed his direction, only to find he was walking toward the shady spot where Mu Qinqin was sitting.
Mu Qinqin was happily enjoying the gossip.
And in the blink of an eye, the “melon” landed on her.
“…”
“Comrade Mu, you look quite hot. I have mung bean soup.” Song Qing smiled at her. His smile was noticeably more genuine than the one he gave Chang Qiuyue.
“I’m not hot,” Mu Qinqin replied bluntly.
Song Qing: “…”
Mu Qinqin then took out her water bottle from her waist. “I brought water. Thanks, you keep it for yourself.”
Her water bottle was huge.
She clearly wasn’t short of water.
The atmosphere turned awkward.
“Mu Qinqin!”
Mu Qinqin glanced ahead without surprise as Chang Qiuyue stormed toward her, anger burning in her eyes as if she wanted to set her on fire.
She was just sitting there, yet trouble came from the sky.
It was her!
Song Qing was someone Chang Qiuyue liked. She didn’t dare blame him, so she pinned everything on Mu Qinqin, thinking she had seduced him.
And when she got closer, seeing how fresh and clean Mu Qinqin looked made her even more furious.
Why was she still so pretty even after working in the fields?
Chang Qiuyue hadn’t worked, but the walk over had made her sweat in the heat. With her darker skin, her sweaty face looked greasy.
“Mu Qinqin! Everyone is working hard! Why are you the only one resting? Your behavior is clearly improper—I’m going to—”
She tried to find fault with Mu Qinqin for not working.
But Mu Qinqin simply pointed at Tang Erya in her field, who was working herself to exhaustion, and said with a smile, “Our educated youth group is very united. Comrade Tang ate a lot of my grain before, so she voluntarily helped me with my work.”
Chang Qiuyue was left speechless, her face turning red.
She had eaten her grain.
In this era, food was precious.
If someone ran out of food in the village, neighbors helping them was a big deal, and they would remember it for life. Let alone that Tang Erya had eaten a lot of Mu Qinqin’s food.
Chang Qiuyue was so frustrated she could not speak, thinking Mu Qinqin was mocking her.
Mu Qinqin simply didn’t want to waste time dealing with a crazy woman.
With that time, she might as well go find some reed grass to weave something—maybe she could give it to Si Chengchen to make him happy.
Thinking of this, she smiled slightly in a good mood.
Then she casually glanced behind Song Qing.
And froze.
Her eyes widened suddenly.
Si Chengchen?
When did he get here? She had been distracted and didn’t notice.
And…
Seeing the water bottle in the man’s hand, she blinked and instantly understood.
“Hi, Comrade Si, just passing by?” she greeted warmly, waving at him.
Completely ignoring Chang Qiuyue and Song Qing.
“Mm.”
Si Chengchen paused slightly.
His gaze swept over Song Qing and Chang Qiuyue.
He could tell one was a man.
As for the other figure…
Though it was a girl, among the three, he still recognized Mu Qinqin by her faint silhouette.
The children beside Si Chengchen looked confused.
Wasn’t brother specially here to find Sister Mu?
On the way, he suddenly turned back and oddly went to make mung bean soup.
He even chilled it in well water.
Why was he now saying he was just passing by?
Mu Qinqin smiled brightly.
Then—
When she looked at Song Qing again, her expression changed.
“Comrade Song, it’s almost noon. You haven’t finished your field work yet, right?”
Song Qing paused, looked at her, then at Si Chengchen. After meeting Si Chengchen’s calm dark eyes, he seemed to relax slightly and smiled gently at Mu Qinqin.
“Then I’ll go back to work first.”
Once Song Qing left, Chang Qiuyue naturally followed, but not before glaring fiercely at Mu Qinqin.
Mu Qinqin didn’t care.
Right now, nothing mattered more than Si Chengchen.
With no one else around, she smiled brightly at the man and leaned a little closer.
“Just passing by?”
As if knowing why she asked again, Si Chengchen spoke after a brief silence:
“No, not passing by.”
The two kids behind him immediately chimed in:
“Brother specially came to bring Sister mung bean soup!”
“Yeah! He even chilled it specially!”
“He carried it very carefully on the way!”
They sold their brother out completely.
“Pfft.”
Mu Qinqin couldn’t help laughing.
“You two might as well work as his translators.”
“Come on, I’ll talk to your brother—you go play.”
She handed them a few candies from her small bag.
After sending the kids away, she looked at the slightly embarrassed man.
The sound of candy wrappers rustled.
Si Chengchen felt something hard placed by his lips, and the sweet scent of milk candy filled his nose, followed by her familiar voice:
“You too.”
The rich milk fragrance and sweetness spread in his mouth.
“Don’t I get the mung bean soup?”