In front of her, she’s pretending!
She directly pinched a fold of skin on Tang Erya’s arm and twisted hard.
“Aaaaah!!”
Tang Erya screamed and immediately stopped pretending.
“Faint, huh? I’ve got plenty of ways to make you wake up,” Aunt Liu sneered.
Tang Erya: “……”
With no other choice, she could only get up and continue working.
Now her arms hurt, her shoulders hurt—her whole body hurt.
At that moment—
Si Chengchen came out of the grove.
In his hands, besides the wooden stick, he was holding a tree stump, and in the other hand were several strings of wild fruits.
When he reached Aunt Liu, he handed her the stump.
“Auntie, use this to sit on. Sitting on the ground is uncomfortable.”
“Oh my, this is good!”
Aunt Liu was pleasantly surprised.
Indeed, sitting directly on the edge of the field was uncomfortable.
With a tree stump, it was much better.
Originally planning to leave soon, Aunt Liu now completely decided to stay.
Only she was a bit thirsty.
Just as she was thinking this—
another string of fruit was handed to her.
She looked up.
It was Si Chengchen’s wild fruit.
Aunt Liu was confused.
Was the Si family’s eldest son actually this warm-hearted?
They had barely spoken before—just a simple greeting—and he had always been cold and distant. She had thought he was an aloof type.
Thinking this, she wiped the fruit on her sleeve and started eating.
She was really thirsty.
Before long, she had finished the entire string.
Then her eyes unconsciously drifted to the two remaining large strings of fruit in Si Chengchen’s hand. For some reason, they looked redder and bigger than the ones she had just eaten.
As if noticing her gaze, Si Chengchen shifted his hand slightly and said in a low voice:
“Auntie, these are for someone.”
Aunt Liu: “……”
She was just looking, she really wasn’t trying to eat them.
“Who are they for?” a voice suddenly cut in between them.
Si Chengchen’s body stiffened at the sound.
But Aunt Liu felt relieved instead.
The Si family boy, though blind, had quite a lot of presence when he looked at people. It was a bit stressful.
She was also curious who those carefully protected fruits were meant for.
“Girl, why are you back?” Aunt Liu quickly turned around and smiled at Mu Qinqin. “It’s so hot outside—why didn’t you go back to the educated youth compound to cool off? Go rest. I’ve got things under control here.”
Mu Qinqin followed Aunt Liu’s gaze and glanced at Tang Erya in the field, just in time to meet her glare. She smiled lightly at her.
And immediately saw Tang Erya almost chop her own foot with a hoe in anger.
“Thank you so much for helping me this morning, Auntie.” Mu Qinqin took out a bowl from her small basket, poured water from her flask, and handed it over. “Auntie, drink some water. It’s so hot outside—you should head back soon.”
She was genuinely grateful to this kind stranger.
She didn’t want the aunt to suffer heatstroke here.
Aunt Liu thought it was just plain water and gulped it down in one go.
The moment it went down, her eyes widened and she nearly spat it out—but realizing it was sweet water, she forced herself to swallow it.
Cough cough cough!
“Girl!” Aunt Liu looked at the bowl in her hand, then at Mu Qinqin, heart aching. “You put sugar in this? Sugar is so precious—why would you add it for me?”
“For you to have something sweet,” Mu Qinqin said with a smile.
Even when Aunt Liu glared at her, she still smiled sweetly. “You’ve been standing here helping me in this heat. Isn’t it fine for me to give you a bowl of water?”
Her eyes were bright and lively.
Her already pretty face looked even more charming, and her tone carried a hint of soft sweetness.
How could Aunt Liu resist that?
She immediately gave in. “Alright, alright, you’re thoughtful.”
“Then Auntie, try my cooking too,” Mu Qinqin said, smoothly taking out another bowl.
This time it wasn’t water—it was eight or nine soft little steamed buns.
The buns were still steaming hot, freshly made, white and fluffy, with a faint sheen of oil on the surface.
They looked incredibly appetizing.
Aunt Liu was stunned.
She was still holding two bowls and didn’t know what to do.
She looked at the buns and sighed inwardly.
This girl was too honest—just watching the field and she was being given sugar water and buns. She was probably being taken advantage of in the educated youth compound.
“I’m not hun—hungry! I just happen to be hungry!”
Before she could finish, Mu Qinqin looked a little disappointed. “Is it because I didn’t make them well?”
How could Aunt Liu refuse after that?
She immediately drank the sugar water and grabbed a bun, eating it in one bite.
It looked simple, but the taste made her eyes widen.
“Girl, your cooking is really something.”
“As long as Auntie likes it,” Mu Qinqin said, casually glancing at the man beside her, then asked, “Auntie, what were you talking about with Comrade Si just now?”
Aunt Liu reluctantly held onto the remaining buns, thinking of bringing them back for her family.
“Oh, earlier that Si boy got me a tree stump to sit on and gave me a string of fruit.”
Mu Qinqin had actually heard it already, but—
seeing the man’s slightly unnatural expression, she still asked deliberately, “I heard Comrade Si said the fruit was for someone?”
“Yes,” Aunt Liu laughed. “I just took one look at them and he was already guarding them like treasure, afraid I’d snatch them. Probably for a girl he likes.”
“Oh… I see.”
Mu Qinqin drew out her tone deliberately and glanced at the man who was already starting to feel restless, trying not to laugh.
“That girl will definitely be very happy.”
Seeing that the man was about to become too flustered to stand still, she decided to stop teasing him.
Time to go.
“Auntie, eat the buns while they’re hot, and go back early to cool off.”
Aunt Liu looked at the buns, then at Tang Erya in the field who dared not slack off at all. She hesitated.
She wanted to bring the buns home for her granddaughter.
But if she left, what if that girl started slacking again?
Thinking of this, Aunt Liu walked back toward Tang Erya.
Tang Erya stiffened when she saw her coming.
“What are you doing?!”
“I’m going home for a meal! If I come back and see you slacking again, I’ll skin you alive!”
Tang Erya hated her to death, but she had no choice but to keep working.
After warning her again, Aunt Liu returned.
She didn’t really want to accept Mu Qinqin’s buns, but the moment she tried to refuse, the girl looked wronged again.
So she had no choice but to take them.
“Girl, Auntie will shamelessly accept these buns,” she said. “Later I’ll bring you a few cabbages. I grew them myself—fresh and juicy.”