Shankou Village, at the production brigade.
It was currently the busy farming season. Everyone in the village who was able to work was out in the fields, working hard to earn work points.
A slender figure walked out from the village. She wore a simple, well-fitting blue cloth shirt paired with black pants. Her long, jet-black hair was braided into a single plait that rested over one shoulder.
Jiang You carried tea that had been chilled with well water. Her fair skin had turned slightly red from the scorching sun, and a faint smile adorned her face. She was pretty and radiant, beautiful enough to attract everyone’s attention.
Along the way, the young men in the village kept stealing glances at her. Afraid of being caught, they would quickly look away with flushed faces. Of course, there were also some bolder ones who greeted her with red faces, eager to curry favor with her.
“Comrade Jiang You, are you taking that up to the mountain? Let me help you.”
The young man was quite good-looking and proper, but the moment he finished speaking, the tips of his ears turned red. As he spoke, he even reached out to help carry the tea. Jiang You quickly took a few steps back to avoid him.
“No need. I can carry it myself.”
Just as Jiang You finished speaking, the tall and sturdy figure of her older brother blocked her path. He casually took the water jug from her before looking at the young man.
“Help who? Have you finished your own work? And you still have time to help others? Are you that free?”
“Don’t worry. My little sister has me to help her. You should go take care of your own work.”
After saying that, Jiang You’s older brother didn’t even wait for the other man to respond. He immediately pulled Jiang You around and walked away. As they went, he couldn’t help complaining to her.
“These little brats really never learn their lesson.”
His sister was still so young, yet they already dared to set their sights on her?
Every single day, there was no peace. He couldn’t even chase them all away.
“Youyou, don’t pay any attention to them next time, okay?” After complaining, he still didn’t forget to remind Jiang You, his face full of worry. He was afraid that if he wasn’t careful, some outsider’s pig would end up trampling his family’s precious cabbage.
It wasn’t that he was being overly protective. His little sister was simply too beautiful. She had inherited all the best features of eighteen generations of their Jiang family.
Her skin was fair and tender, her eyes were bright and lively, and her eyelashes were like little fans. In short, there wasn’t a single part of her that wasn’t pretty.
He was a rough man and couldn’t come up with many flowery descriptions, but he could guarantee that in the entire town, he had never seen anyone prettier than his little sister.
This precious little treasure was dearly cherished by the entire Jiang family. There was no way they could let some outsider whisk her away so soon.
“I know.”
Jiang You obediently agreed. She had already heard those words at least eight hundred times.
Looking at the backs of the two siblings, the young man behind them stretched out his hand like a pleading figure.
“Hey!”
The Jiang siblings didn’t turn around or pay him any attention. Instead, the group of young men nearby who had been watching the spectacle began imitating Jiang You’s older brother and teasing him.
“Go take care of your own work.”
“Are you really that free?”
“Hahahahaha!”
The young man’s face reddened as he listened.
“What are you guys yelling about? You were all the same before. None of you has any right to criticize me.”
Well, that hit a nerve.
The group of young men immediately fell silent.
Jiang You, the youngest daughter of the Jiang family, was famous throughout the surrounding villages as the local beauty. Plenty of people had their eyes on her.
They were simply among those who had a crush on her. Of course, they were also among those who had been rejected. Some had even been beaten up by Jiang You’s older brother.
The Jiang family cherished this little girl dearly. It was still far too early for outsiders to start thinking about her.
“Dad, Mom, you two drink some water and rest for a while. I’ll go back to my section and work.”
After bringing the water over to where her parents were working, Jiang You didn’t stay any longer.
She had been assigned work too and needed to earn work points.
Her mother said, “All right. Take it easy and don’t rush. Once your brother finishes, have him come help you.”
“Okay.”
Jiang You answered, put on her straw hat, and turned around, intending to go down to the sloping field to pull weeds.
Just before leaving, she suddenly remembered something and turned back to her older brother.
“I noticed Big Brother Xie and the others don’t seem to have any water. Brother, give them some.”
It was extremely hot. Working outside under the sun without drinking some water was unbearable.
“All right.”
Her older brother gulped down a large cup of water and answered absentmindedly. Seeing that their parents had finished drinking, he took the water jug and cups over with him.
Not far from Jiang You, a man was holding a hoe and turning over the soil. To keep cool, he had exposed his arms, revealing clearly defined muscles filled with strength and tension.
Sweat slid down the side of his face and continued downward. His Adam’s apple moved gently as he swallowed, creating an inexplicably alluring sight.
As if sensing something, he suddenly raised his head and looked toward Jiang You.
He had a high, straight nose, sword-like brows, and bright, starry eyes. His thin lips were lightly pressed together. His features were striking and masculine, giving him an intensely wild and intimidating presence.
But the coldness in his expression lasted only for an instant before he quickly returned to normal. He smiled gently at Jiang You, who seemed to sense his gaze and turned her head at the same moment.
Jiang You clearly hadn’t expected their eyes to meet. She paused for a moment before politely returning his smile.
Then she saw that her older brother had already walked over, so she withdrew her gaze.
“Here.”
Jiang You’s older brother walked up to the man and handed him the water.
“Those guys are always up to no good, trying to curry favor with you. They really are getting annoying. Jin’an, if you see them again, remember to call me.”
That’s right. It was Xie Jin’an who had just reported those guys to Jiang You’s older brother.
“Mm.”
The two had been playmates since childhood and were very close. Xie Jin’an didn’t stand on ceremony when Jiang You’s older brother handed him the water. He calmly withdrew his peripheral gaze from that petite figure and answered.
Afterward, he turned around and handed the water to the little boy behind him.
The little boy looked about six or seven years old. Small and skinny, he stood obediently beside Xie Jin’an.
Meanwhile, after Jiang You saw her older brother deliver the water to Xie Jin’an and the others, she didn’t look over again.
Jiang You was a novice transmigrator who specialized in quick-transmigration missions. After dying in a car accident in her previous life, she became bound to the Quick-Transmigration System of the Supporting Female Character Department.
The supporting female characters in this department were not limited to one particular type. Rather, it covered every female character other than the female lead.
For example, the second female lead, third female lead, female antagonist, vicious supporting female character, scheming supporting female character, the male protagonist’s white moonlight, and even nameless female passersby. Some were good, while others were bad.
As a newcomer, Jiang You’s first mission was naturally to be sent to a beginner’s world.
She was assigned the role of the male protagonist’s kind neighbor. All she had to do was be a good neighbor throughout his childhood and adolescence, occasionally helping him out.
Whenever the plot required it, she could also act as a spectator who supported the male and female leads. As long as she survived until the male and female leads got married and the novel reached its happy ending, her mission would be considered complete.
It was just a minor role. It shouldn’t be difficult.
However, the system had pulled a little trick on her during her first mission. At the time, it had only brought her into the small world, turned her into a baby, and then left.
All it left her with was one sentence:
[The male protagonist is your neighbor. Take good care of him.]
The system claimed that their System Bureau had an emergency to deal with. It didn’t even explain whether the male protagonist lived to her left or right, nor did it provide her with any information about the relevant plot.
Jiang You only knew that the male protagonist was her neighbor and that the female protagonist was an educated youth sent down from the capital city. Other than that, she knew nothing.
It was as if she had been given a mission while being completely blind to everything else.
And ever since then, Jiang You had never seen the system again.
Still, maintaining her principle of treating both sides fairly, Jiang You remained friendly toward both sets of neighbors.
The circumstances of both neighboring families were rather heartbreaking. They were all unfortunate people who had lost their parents at a young age.
The neighbor on the left had been forced to live under someone else’s roof, and life wasn’t easy.
The neighbor on the right had to shoulder heavy responsibilities at a very young age and raise his younger brother, which was equally difficult.
However, the neighbor on the left had repeatedly taken her family’s kindness for granted. Every time they tried to help, they were met with indifference.
The Xie Jin’an family on the right was completely different. Not only was he easy to get along with, but he was also exceptionally handsome, with thick brows, large eyes, and strong, masculine features. He had the classic striking type of appearance, was hardworking and capable, and had solid morals.
He was kind and righteous and had helped her family quite a lot. At first glance, he looked exactly like a male protagonist.
So after maintaining friendly relations with both sides for a while, Jiang You gradually stopped bothering with the neighbor on the left after realizing that her kindness continued to be met with cold indifference.
She hadn’t fallen out with them, either. She simply treated them as ordinary neighbors with whom she exchanged very few words.
Besides, as an ordinary girl from a poor family, there wasn’t much she could do to “protect” the male protagonist.
At most, she could do things like have her older brother bring them water during times like this, give them some extra vegetables from their family’s private plot of land, or help look after the male protagonist’s younger brother when he was busy.