After dinner, Jiang You drank some mung bean soup.
She brought the mung bean soup back to her room, opened the window, and sat at the desk by the window, picking up a book to read.
The moon was especially large and bright that night. The countryside at night was incredibly beautiful. The bright moon illuminated the earth, while countless stars filled the sky. One could even clearly make out the colors of the stars.
The sounds of insects filled her ears, and fireflies danced among the grass in front of her.
Before she knew it, Jiang You had become captivated by the night scenery. She rested her chin in both hands and looked up at the star-filled sky, her legs gently swinging beneath the desk.
“I have to say, this little view is actually pretty nice.”
It made her feel peaceful and allowed her to enjoy the present moment. It was incredibly comfortable and relaxing.
The small courtyards in their rural homes were built wall-to-wall, with each family enclosing a little yard in front of their house.
And in a place Jiang You knew nothing about, just a wall away, someone was leaning against a window, looking at the shadow of her figure by the window for a long time, until he heard her quiet murmur.
Xie Jin’an turned his head and listened, then looked up at the bright moon before turning his gaze back toward the shadow at her window.
“Wow.”
Suddenly, she moved, reached her hand out through the window, and a firefly landed on the back of her hand, drawing a soft exclamation of delight from her.
Seeing this, the corners of Xie Jin’an’s lips unconsciously lifted slightly. He quietly watched the scene until the light in the neighboring house went out and everything once again fell into darkness.
He then walked back to his bed and, as usual, lay down in the spot right against the wall—the place closest to her.
One had to admit, the village aunties and older sisters really were the best sources of information in the entire village.
The news she had only heard yesterday had already become reality today. The new educated youths were arriving.
The brigade leader had arranged for people to go pick them up, and Xie Jin’an was among them.
Since they might have to help carry luggage and other things, the brigade leader specifically chose young men from the village. The neighbor on the other side of the Jiang family was also among them. Including the brigade leader, four people went in total.
Jiang You watched the group leave to pick up the newcomers, her eyes shining with curiosity.
[Oh my, the female protagonist has gone down to the countryside, and the male protagonist has gone to pick her up.]
[The romance plot is starting! There’s going to be some sweet romance to enjoy! Watching the CP develop right in front of me should be so much fun! I really want to see what the female protagonist looks like!]
[Wait, no. I can’t think like that. Damn it, we don’t even know whether this world is a sweet romance or an angsty one. I’d better not start shipping them yet.]
[Ugh, I’m completely in the dark.]
066: ???
The system, which was hurrying back, suddenly heard its host’s inner complaints.
But before it could say anything, that annoying spatial-temporal turbulence appeared again!
It had almost made it into the small world! Hey! Where was it going to get dragged this time?
It had worked so hard just to find its way back!
It was seriously done with this!
Was it easy for it to come back and reunite with its host?
Unfortunately, Jiang You had absolutely no idea about the system’s miserable situation.
“Jin’an, what’s wrong?”
As a young man with plenty of strength, Jiang You’s older brother was naturally one of the people chosen to go. He was also part of the group picking up the newcomers.
Seeing that Xie Jin’an’s walking seemed inexplicably stiff, almost as though he were deliberately trying to look cool, Jiang You’s older brother found it strange.
“What?”
Xie Jin’an had been paying attention to Jiang You’s gaze from behind and hadn’t noticed that Jiang You’s brother was talking to him.
Seeing Xie Jin’an return to normal in an instant, Jiang You’s older brother scratched his head, rubbed it, and finally shook his head.
“Nothing.”
They drove two of the village’s ox carts out. Since they also had to pick up people from the neighboring brigade, they took two carts, with one of them carrying—
“Jin’an, you and Jiang Heng take one. Ling Xun and I will take the other.”
Ling Xun was the other neighbor of the Jiang family. No one objected to the brigade leader’s arrangement.
After traveling for more than two hours, they finally arrived at the train station.
“People from Qingshan Brigade, come over here! Those from Hongshan Brigade, come over too!”
The brigade leader had two signs with the names of the brigades written on them. He handed one to Xie Jin’an while holding the other one high above his head and calling out loudly.
Holding the sign, Xie Jin’an’s tall figure stood out among the crowd. Even without saying a word, he was already extremely conspicuous. With the sign held high in his hand, he could be spotted at a glance.
“Qingshan Brigade and Hongshan Brigade, come over here!”
Following the calls, several figures carrying large and small bags soon squeezed their way over.
Among them, a young woman who had fallen behind was wearing a little white Western-style dress. Her hair had been curled into delicate waves, with a butterfly hair clip adorning it. She was also wearing little leather shoes.
Her fashionable and beautiful outfit immediately caught everyone’s attention.
Since she was walking toward them, everyone present saw her. A hint of amazement appeared in Ling Xun’s eyes.
Jiang You’s older brother also paused when he saw her. His eyes became fixed on the dress. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly raised his hand and patted Xie Jin’an on the shoulder.
“Jin’an, imagine how beautiful my little sister would look if she could wear a dress like that.”
His voice was filled with pride. His sister was already so beautiful. She would definitely look even prettier in a dress.
Xie Jin’an was slightly stunned when he heard this. After trying to imagine it for a moment, the corners of his lips secretly lifted.
“Mm.”
She would definitely look beautiful in one.
At the same time, the educated youths who had just gotten off the train were also sizing them up.
Several of the young women looked up at them, and their faces immediately flushed. Even the fashionable young woman stared at Ling Xun for a moment in surprise.
They hadn’t expected to find such handsome men in a place like this. All three men were exceptionally good-looking.
Jiang You and Jiang Heng were siblings born to the same mother. Jiang You was famous throughout the surrounding villages as an extraordinary beauty, so naturally, as her biological older brother, Jiang Heng wasn’t bad-looking either.
Ling Xun was also handsome and elegant. Unlike Xie Jin’an and Jiang Heng, his appearance was more refined and scholarly, but he was extremely aloof.
Each of the young men had his own distinctive features and was exceptionally attractive. Even in the city, the educated youths rarely saw men with such good looks.
The brigade leader glanced at the group of young people who had just been sent down to the countryside, then looked at the three young men he had brought with him.
He sighed inwardly.
I’m getting old.
“All right, is everyone here? If everyone’s here, let’s head back.”
After waiting for a while and taking attendance, the brigade leader saw that everyone had been accounted for, so he didn’t waste any more time. With a wave of his hand, he led everyone back.
“Those from Qingshan Brigade, follow us.”
“Those from Hongshan Brigade, follow these two young men. This is Xie Jin’an, and that’s Jiang Heng. They’ll take you to Hongshan Brigade later.”
They had picked up eight people in total: five young women and three young men.
Qingshan Brigade received two men and two women, while the remaining three women and one man belonged to Hongshan Brigade.
“Once you’ve delivered them, hurry home and have dinner. Someone from their village will take over from there.”
The two brigades were located in different directions, so they would have to split up halfway. After listening to the brigade leader’s instructions, Xie Jin’an and the others headed down another road.
The educated youths had brought quite a lot of luggage. With both the people and their belongings aboard, the ox cart was too heavily loaded to pull properly, so they took turns riding in the cart along the way. Most of the time, they walked.
They had originally assumed that these educated youths from the city would be like the ones before them and complain about everything. Unexpectedly, they didn’t hear a single complaint along the way.
Instead, the two of them were bombarded with all kinds of questions.
They asked about everything.
Xie Jin’an furrowed his brows and answered a couple of questions. After that, he remained silent for the rest of the journey.
Seeing his attitude, the educated youths didn’t have the nerve to keep pestering him. Instead, they turned their attention to Jiang Heng.
“Comrade Jiang, how old are you? How many people are there in your family? Do you have a job?”
One question came after another, asked so rapidly that it was almost overwhelming.
Was getting a job really that easy?
Jiang Heng was pestered until he could only scratch his head.
In the end, he simply followed Xie Jin’an’s example and stopped talking.
Seeing this, the female educated youths gave awkward smiles and wisely stopped asking questions. However, they still occasionally glanced in the two men’s direction.
“Heh.”
For some reason, the male educated youth looked at the situation and let out an inexplicable snort of laughter. Several of the female educated youths immediately glared at him.
Xie Jin’an paid no attention to any of this. Instead, he sped up the ox cart, intending to deliver them as quickly as possible and leave.
“People from the city are really strange. It’s like they’ve never seen another person before. They ask about absolutely everything.”
On the way back, Jiang Heng still couldn’t help complaining to Xie Jin’an.
Hearing this, Xie Jin’an turned around and glanced at him, not knowing what to say.