The matter was thus settled. Tan Guihua and the others yawned and prepared to return to their rooms for an afternoon nap.
It wasn’t the busy farming season, so the work schedule wasn’t particularly tight. After lunch, there was still time for a short nap.
When it was time to go to work, Yang Erni still wanted to call Yao Kemei to join her.
Earning more work points meant her precious son could have an extra bite of good food.
However, Tan Guihua stopped her.
The child had just fallen into the water—how could they rush her to work like this?
“That lazy girl, always finding ways to avoid work,” Yang Erni cursed under her breath, but she didn’t dare disobey her mother-in-law’s order and had to give up.
The group didn’t linger and soon left the courtyard.
As for Yao Yunzhen, she was still sleeping soundly.
She didn’t need to work. Previously, she had to attend school, but now that she had graduated from high school, her life was even more relaxed. She spent her days either sleeping at home or strolling around the village.
After everyone had left, Yao Kemei glanced at Yao Yunzhen’s room, a shadow of gloom flashing in her eyes, before she too stepped out of the courtyard.
She knew her mother well—if there was a chance to extort Li Yunqi, she would never let it go.
And Yao Kemei herself was absolutely determined not to marry him again.
The best way to make her mother abandon this idea was for Li Yunqi to have another love interest—one her mother wouldn’t dare challenge.
And Yao Kemei had already chosen her target—
Yao Yunzhen.
Although Yang Erni treated her daughters harshly, she was mostly timid and submissive toward others. Having bent her back for so long, she no longer had the courage to stand up straight.
Moreover, Miao Cuilan had a fierce temper, and Yang Erni didn’t dare argue with her, at most cursing her a few times in private.
More importantly, Yao Kemei knew that not only did Yao Yunzhen like Li Yunqi, but Li Yunqi also had feelings for Yao Yunzhen.
In her previous life, after Li Yunqi was forced to marry her, he had repeatedly complained about her and even told her she wasn’t as good as Yao Yunzhen, blaming her for ruining his chance to be with Yao Yunzhen.
Back then, she had felt guilty because of this and tried to make it up to him by taking on all the household chores and responsibilities. Now, looking back, it was all just a pile of crap.
Since these two wretched people liked each other, she would fulfill them in this lifetime.
The memories from her past life were so overwhelming that they completely overshadowed the sparse memories of this life. Moreover, since her rebirth, everyone she had encountered was exactly the same as in her memories. Thus, Yao Kemei never thought to dig through the memories of the past eighteen years and compare them carefully with those from her previous life. Naturally, she didn’t realize that many things were different from how they had been in her past life.
Yao Yunzhen, of course, was unaware of Yao Kemei’s private scheming. So, when she went out for a stroll the next day, she was stopped by someone.
Yao Yunzhen looked up and saw it was none other than that pretty boy, Li Yunqi.
Recognizing him, Yao Yunzhen immediately furrowed her willow-leaf eyebrows and said rudely, “Why are you stopping me?”
Yao Yunzhen had a poor impression of Li Yunqi, so her attitude was naturally unfriendly.
Over the years, to avoid standing out too much, Yao Yunzhen had always worn a mask when going out for walks. She also deliberately let her bangs hang down to cover her forehead, leaving only her eyes visible.
Many villagers speculated that the Yao family’s daughter probably had some kind of sore on her face, which was why she covered up so thoroughly and avoided being seen.
Li Yunqi naturally assumed the same and felt rather disdainful in his heart.
Who would have thought that being glared at by Yao Yunzhen would actually make him nervous.
“I… I want to talk to you.”
Yao Yunzhen glanced around. They were currently standing on a small path.
The way forward was completely blocked by Li Yunqi, and the surrounding area was filled with wild grass up to their calves. Yao Yunzhen didn’t want to step through the overgrown grass—who knew what snakes, insects, rats, or ants might be hiding inside?
She also didn’t want to turn back, so she asked in a harsh tone, “What is it?”
Although her attitude was terrible, her voice remained delicate and melodious.
Li Yunqi’s heart stirred.
He had never spoken with Yao Yunzhen before and hadn’t expected her voice to be so pleasant.
What a pity she was so ugly.
Li Yunqi felt quite regretful inside, but none of it showed on his face.
He put on what he thought was a charming smile: “I know how you feel about me, and I feel the same way about you. So, we can give it a try.”
A flicker of confusion passed through Yao Yunzhen’s eyes: “What are you talking about?”
Li Yunqi smiled confidently: “Of course, I’m talking about us being together.”
He knew these village girls lacked confidence. Many of them only dared to have secret crushes on him without ever confessing their feelings.
Now that he was agreeing to be with her, it was natural for her to feel disbelief.
It didn’t matter—he would tolerate this flaw of hers.
Moreover, he hadn’t noticed before, but up close, he realized her eyes were actually quite beautiful.
Li Yunqi’s heartbeat suddenly quickened slightly, his resistance diminished considerably, and he became more willing.
If she continued to cover her face like this in the future, life together wouldn’t be impossible.
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
Yao Yunzhen was absolutely furious.
Her? In love with Li Yunqi?
This was the greatest insult she could imagine!
Li Yunqi, extremely confident and influenced by the anonymous letter he had received, was convinced that Yao Yunzhen was deeply in love with him. He didn’t notice her anger at all and mistook her reaction for shyness.
He raised his head slightly and looked down at her condescendingly: “Although I’m willing to be with you, we can’t get married for now. My mother wouldn’t approve of me marrying someone from the village, so you’ll have to put up with it temporarily. But don’t worry, I’ll treat you well and won’t let you suffer any hardship.”
He had been sent down to the countryside in 1966. Over the years, even with support from his family, life had been quite difficult.
After all, resources in the village were limited and couldn’t compare to the city. His family wasn’t wealthy either.
Even though some young women and married ladies secretly helped him out, what valuable things could a bunch of villagers possibly offer?
He couldn’t even receive eggs every day!
Plus, he had to do farm work daily, making his life miserable.
Originally, he hadn’t planned to settle for a village girl—he only intended to string these people along. But he truly couldn’t see any hope of returning to the city.
What’s more, one of his classmates who had been sent down with him married a local girl and, with his in-laws’ connections, became a primary school teacher in the village. His life immediately became much easier—no more farm work.
After surveying the village, Li Yunqi had set his sights on Yao Yunzhen.
The Yao family was related to the brigade leader and could pull some strings. Her father and uncle went to the city for temporary work every year. While their income couldn’t compare to formal workers, it was still better than most other families in the village.
Yao Yunzhen was doted on at home. He had seen her more than once holding pastries and candies in her hand. If he were with her, all these benefits would be his.
Perhaps through his relationship with Yao Yunzhen, he could even get her aunt in the city to help him find a job.
Li Yunqi believed he was far superior to those two peasants. If they could get temporary jobs, as a high school graduate and city dweller, was it too much to ask for a permanent position?
Moreover, once he was with her, that country woman Yang Erni would have no grounds to threaten him with charges of hooliganism.
Although Yao Kemei and Yao Yunzhen were both from the Yao family, their statuses were worlds apart.
Compared to Yao Kemei, he’d rather be with Yao Yunzhen, even if she was ugly.
Having considered all this, Li Yunqi didn’t hesitate to make his move after learning she had feelings for him.
Of course, marriage was out of the question, so he decided to string her along for now.
He was a city person after all – his wife could absolutely not be some country girl.