Around noon, Ning An was bored and idle, lying on the counter resting as she and Xiao Juza checked up on the male lead’s recent situation.
During the New Year, Li Changwei had fractured his leg. Since it takes a hundred days to heal an injury to the bones and tendons, the fellow spent three months recuperating at the Zhiqingyuan. The brigade leader was furious about it but could do nothing—you couldn’t very well make someone work while injured, could you? That would be far too inhumane.
Although the fellow earned no work points for not working, he still had to be given his per-capita grain ration. The brigade’s grain distribution was split fifty-fifty: half was per-capita grain, which everyone received simply for being a person, and the other half was work-point grain—the more you worked, the more you earned.
Since Li Changwei didn’t work, he wasn’t owed any work points, but he still had to be given his per-capita grain to make sure he didn’t starve to death.
The whole brigade looked at this fellow with displeasure. How long had he even been here? How could he trip and fall just from walking—and break his leg, no less! How unlucky could a person be? Was he a jinx?
Come to think of it, a creature who rushed to sever ties with his parents the moment they fell into trouble—what good could he possibly be?
The commune members of Erdaogou knew nothing of expedient measures; they only felt that Li Changwei’s actions had violated ethics and moral principles.
They sternly warned their own children to stay far away from that morally corrupt jinx!
This turn of events actually put Ning An at ease. Having dodged this calamity herself, she naturally didn’t want the other girls in the village to jump into a fire pit.
You have to understand—rural people had a natural envy of city folk. Even though Li Changwei had fallen on hard times, as long as he tidied himself up and sweet-talked his way through some excuses, he could still have deceived someone.
Now, though, everyone in the village looked at him as if he were some filthy thing, and not a single peach blossom remained.
After resting for three months, he came out just in time for the blazing spring plowing, followed by the wheat harvest. He had basically put in all the labor required of him.
Moreover, the injury Xiao Juza had inflicted wasn’t so easy to fully recover from. Even if it appeared healed, the pain would still cling to him like maggots on bone. Wind and rain, overcast skies and snow, exhausting work—whenever these came, he would suffer terrible pain, yet no cause could ever be found.
On the monitor, Li Changwei, who had been cutting wheat for half the day, was so exhausted he couldn’t straighten his back, his whole face carrying a gray, defeated air. The moment the copper gong sounded the end of the workday, he immediately dropped his sickle and dragged his legs back to the zhiqing station. He ate two steamed cornbread buns with cold water, then lay down on his bed without even the strength to boil some hot water.
The other four shared cooking duties, and their situation was slightly better than his.
Ning An said, “The male lead being in this state is just right. Going down to the countryside means working hard—no cutting corners allowed.”
“Right. In the original plot, they weren’t this tired. The brigade was quite considerate to these zhiqing, assigning them relatively easy tasks like bundling wheat or watching the threshing ground—jobs meant for half-grown kids. Now they’re all working like full-grown laborers, bending over to cut wheat, suffering far more than in the plot.”
Ning An was about to speak when she noticed someone entering the Gongxiaoshe. She looked up and saw a man in military uniform walk to the counter—tall and upright, with a steady, powerful stride, the two bars and two stars on his shoulders gleaming brightly.
Salesclerk Ning An immediately came online.
“Comrade, what can I get you?”
“A jar of malted milk, one jin of milk candies, and one jin of egg cake.”
“Okay, one moment.”
Ning An first took out the malted milk and set it on the counter, then began weighing the sugar and egg cakes.
Xiao Juza kept reminding her through their mental link, “Be serious, don’t smile, don’t talk too much with strangers. Put on the air of a Gongxiaoshe sales clerk. I’ve seen those clerks—all stern-faced, like everyone owes them money. You should be like that too!”
Ning An tried hard to keep a straight face, but her eyes were brimming with laughter.
Xiao Juza was always hostile toward good-looking men, because Ning An was a sucker for looks. Good-looking people automatically got a 60-point favorability score with her. In over half a year since coming to this world, this was the first man to make Lord Orange Cat raise his guard.
Ning An hadn’t even paid attention to the man’s appearance. He was just a customer buying things—was she supposed to stare at his face? Obviously not. She had only noticed his build and his shoulder insignia, the kind of obvious features you could catch at a glance. But with Xiao Juza making such a fuss, she stole a glance at his face: clean and fresh, with sword-like brows and starry eyes, an upright gaze, and resolute features.
Hmm… you can always trust Lord Orange Cat’s taste!
Reaching out with her consciousness, Ning An scratched the cat’s chin, successfully soothing the nervous Xiao Juza.
“Relax, Ju-baby. No one could ever surpass you in my heart.”
“Meow~”
Ning An finished weighing everything, wrapped it up, tied it with hemp twine, leaving a small handle for carrying with a finger, set it on the counter, and pushed it toward the man. “The malted milk is eight yuan three, plus one jin of sugar coupons; the milk candies are one yuan five, no coupons needed; the egg cakes are eighty cents per jin. That comes to ten yuan sixty and one jin of sugar coupons.”
Malted milk was considered a luxury in this era, much more expensive than milk powder.
The man took out a stack of money and coupons from his pocket, handed the money to Ning An first, then counted out five sugar coupons. Sugar coupons at this time came in two-liang and one-liang denominations. He gave all two-liang national general-use coupons.
Xiao Juza said, “This fellow is well-off in both money and coupons.”
Ning An: “Behave. We have money and coupons too.”
“He’s quite good-looking too. Though still a bit lacking compared to An’an, from my observation, his looks are already top-tier in this Small World.”
Ning An: “…”
She’d said it before—Xiao Juza had a bit of a doting-mother streak. He didn’t want his child to get married, yet feared the child would be lonely; he wanted the child to seal her heart off from love and care only about him, yet also hoped she’d marry a good man and enjoy the sweetness of romance. So contradictory. Besides, her romantic matches in the Small Worlds had basically all been arranged by Xiao Juza. Who knew if the cat had even realized this.
Ning An put the money and coupons into the cash box under the counter and said, “Alright, comrade, take care.”
“I’d like to pick out a few more things.”
Ning An: “Of course, comrade, take your time.”
“I’m going to visit my comrade’s parents. What other gifts do you think I should bring?”
Ning An: “…Play to their tastes. It depends on what your comrade’s parents like.”
“It’s my first visit, so I’m not really sure. Comrade, forgive me for asking, but what do your parents like? I’d like a reference.”
Ning An tilted her head up slightly and gave the man a look. “Comrade, everyone has their own tastes. My parents’ preferences can’t serve as a reference.”
“Sorry, that was presumptuous of me. My name is Zhou Yongchuan, 24 years old, an active-duty soldier, deputy regimental commander with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. If I’ve offended you, comrade, I ask for your understanding—please don’t hold it against me.”
Ning An: “…It’s fine. Also, I’m a sales clerk, not a police officer. I don’t check household registrations.”
Xiao Juza burst out laughing: “Serves you right! You big bad wolf!”
Zhou Yongchuan saw the slyness and teasing in the young woman’s eyes and awkwardly rubbed his nose. He might have come across as too eager and obvious, letting her see through his “ulterior motives,” but he couldn’t help it. The moment he walked into this Gongxiaoshe and saw her look up from behind the counter, he understood what “heart skipping a beat” meant.
This girl’s eyes were too bright—they seemed filled with shattered stars, and he fell into them at first glance.
Ning An asked Xiao Juza, “What’s this guy’s deal in the plot? Is he married? If so, forget it.”
“No. This guy is an unlucky soul. He went home to visit family, and one of his company commanders asked him to check on his parents. Even though they correspond regularly, they only see each other once every two or three years, so the commander was a bit worried. In this company commander’s village, there was an ambitious girl named Li Meihua who wanted to escape rural life and marry into a good family, and she happened to run into him. Li Meihua was quite ‘bold’ too. On the road back to town, after he left his comrade’s home, there was a reservoir where Li Meihua lay in wait. The moment she saw him coming, she pretended to slip and fall in, thrashing around and crying for help. He’s a soldier—he couldn’t just watch someone die. And once he saved her, she latched onto him.”
“Did they get married?”
“No. He refused. He felt he was just saving a life and shouldn’t have to sacrifice his whole future for doing a good deed, so he insisted on leaving. Li Meihua was fierce—she took her whole family and reported him straight to his military unit. The scandal blew up big. Zhou Yongchuan was stubborn too and refused to compromise. The Li family, humiliated and furious, filed complaints everywhere and ruined his reputation. In normal times, Zhou Yongchuan could have sued them for spreading rumors and slandering a soldier’s honor, but things are special right now and the situation is complicated. In the end, Zhou Yongchuan had no choice but to pay Li Meihua a sum of money, take off his uniform, and become a public security officer in a small border town. He never married his whole life.”
“His luck is about as bad as the original host’s.”
“Isn’t it just.”
“What about that company commander? What was his attitude after all this happened?”
“He did speak up for Zhou Yongchuan, but it didn’t help much.”
Ning An thought for a moment and said, “Keep an eye on things. Help him out—don’t let him end up in the situation from the plot. Whether or not I choose him, he shouldn’t have to suffer that kind of malice.”
“What if he jumps in to save her?”
“Then it means he acts without thinking things through, a bit reckless. In that case, I won’t choose him.”
“Okay. Got it.”