“What did you say?” Lin Mingyuan was stunned.
“I said, let’s get married.” This was an idea that had just flashed into Li Baoling’s mind, but at this moment, she felt quite certain.
Leaving the youth point was the best solution she could think of right now.
First of all, the Lin family’s conditions were definitely better than the youth point. She might even get a room of her own—or at least one shared only with Lin Mingyuan. Most importantly, she wasn’t from this era. She might inadvertently say strange things or do odd things; once people started paying too much attention to her, she’d be finished.
Another thing was that she had no other hobbies besides eating. She really didn’t want to have to be all sneaky every time she wanted something good to eat. In this era, if she was eating big steamed buns today and braised pork tomorrow, who knows what people would say.
Plus, she knew some of the plot points. If she wanted to make money and eat well, Lin Mingyuan could help her. At worst, she’d just give him a share.
It really was an excellent plan.
However, Lin Mingyuan hadn’t processed it yet. Why jump straight to marriage? He hadn’t even been in a relationship before.
“No, no way. Marriage is such a big deal; we can’t just decide like this.”
Li Baoling had anticipated Lin Mingyuan’s refusal, so she wasn’t in a hurry. “Listen to my analysis.
“First, neither of us belongs to this era. Our behavior and mannerisms are bound to be different from the locals. Once someone notices, we can cover for each other.
“Second, at your age, isn’t your family starting to set you up on blind dates? I don’t need to tell you how intense pressure to marry is in the future; it’s only going to be worse now. Compared to marrying some girl you’ve only met twice, it’s better to marry me. Just look at it as a partnership. We’ll tough out these few years, and once the College Entrance Exam is reinstated and we get into university—or if one of us finds someone they actually like—we can have a peaceful divorce at any time.
“Useless people like us definitely can’t handle farming forever, so we need to study in secret before the exams. Two people are better than one, right? My university back then wasn’t half bad.”
Lin Mingyuan wanted to say his university wasn’t bad either, but Li Baoling didn’t give him the chance.
“Most importantly, do you want to live a better life? To be able to eat meat? Then you have to follow me. I’m telling you, this isn’t just a simple transmigration—we’ve transmigrated into a book!” Li Baoling then told him what was written in the story.
“Why do we want to go back? Isn’t it because we feel life here is too hard, especially not having enough to eat? So, we’ll make money in secret. I remember some of the methods the male lead in the book used to make money. He’s a piece of work anyway, so we can just intercept his opportunities. Won’t we be able to live the good life then? Regardless, two people are definitely better than one.”
Lin Mingyuan hadn’t even finished digesting the marriage proposal, and now he was being told he was in a book. This was overwhelming!
Also, if he was transmigrated here, why wasn’t he the male lead!
“But…”
“No ‘buts.’ There’s a high probability that getting married will make our lives better than they are now. But if I’m still suffering at the youth point and you’re still sneaking around just to eat an egg… well, just think about that kind of life.”
Lin Mingyuan went silent because he felt Li Baoling actually had a point. She had read the novel, so she was definitely ahead of him.
He also knew Li Baoling wanted to marry him to have more personal space, but she could probably manage even without it; it would just be more troublesome. So, looking at it this way, he was the one benefiting!
Lin Mingyuan was very good at brainwashing himself.
And as she said, if they got married, they could cover for each other and solve many problems. Most importantly, it wasn’t a “real” marriage; they could always divorce later.
The more Lin Mingyuan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Finally, he made up his mind. Let’s do it!
“Fine. I’ll find a chance to bring it up when I get home. But what reason should I give? As far as everyone knows, we only met when you fell into the river, right?” Lin Mingyuan searched his memories but couldn’t think of a reason that would convince his family.
This was indeed a problem. Li Baoling thought for a moment and then had it!
“How about this: say you fell in love with me at first sight when I first arrived in the countryside, but you felt I was too good for you and that you weren’t a match. That also explains why you were able to jump in and pull me out so quickly—because you’d been silently watching me from the shadows. Then the question is, why did I agree?
“I was moved by your heroic act of saving me? A life for a life, a hand in marriage? Or maybe I ran into you on the road and while I was thanking you, I was struck by your handsome face and realized I liked you too? Oh, just make something up! Actually, use all those reasons. Regardless, everyone will think my motives for marrying you aren’t pure anyway, so it doesn’t matter why I agreed. You just need to act like you’re deeply in love with me!”
After Li Baoling finished her spree of words, Lin Mingyuan was shocked. How could she be so smart?
“Did you hear me?” Seeing him in a daze, Li Baoling couldn’t help but ask.
“I… I heard you. But what if I’m not very good at acting?” Lin Mingyuan scratched his head.
“Have you ever been in a relationship?”
Lin Mingyuan shook his head.
“Have you ever liked a girl?”
He shook his head again.
“Do you have a favorite female celebrity?”
Still a shake of the head.
“Wait, then who do you like?” For a grown man to not even have someone he liked—Li Baoling thought of herself; the number of people she’d liked since childhood required more than two hands to count.
“Myself,” Lin Mingyuan said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Then can you act like you’re deeply in love with me? It’s easy for me to get married; my family doesn’t have the final say, and my household registration has been moved here. But you’re different. In this place, you’re basically a ‘second-generation official.’ Your parents definitely won’t agree easily.”
Li Baoling never thought there would come a day when she’d be worried about how to get someone to marry her.
Lin Mingyuan chuckled. A “second-generation official”—she really knew how to put it.
“You are good-looking. You look even better when you smile.” Lin Mingyuan had a small dimple when he smiled; it wasn’t obvious, but it was very cute if you looked closely. When he smiled, he looked so sunny that Li Baoling felt the sky had turned even bluer.
“You’re very good-looking too.” Lin Mingyuan wasn’t just returning the compliment because he had been praised; the girl in front of him really was beautiful.
Though she had said she was malnourished, perhaps she had been even more beautiful before.
Even now, one could clearly see that Li Baoling had an excellent bone structure. Her eyes were curved like crescents; although her nose wasn’t particularly high-bridged, it was delicately shaped with a slightly upturned tip, making her look very cute.
Especially those eyes—apricot eyes like a little deer. No matter who she spoke to, they sparkled with a clear, vivid spirit.
Lin Mingyuan was still thinking of how to praise her further when Li Baoling interrupted him.
“Of course I know I’m good-looking.” Wasn’t that obvious? Throughout her life, the number of people who liked her couldn’t be counted on two hands—it would take two feet as well. Besides, while the previous Li Baoling was a bit malnourished, she was just a thinner version of herself, and still quite beautiful.
Wait, Li Baoling, if you keep focusing on looks, you’ll be stuck at the youth point for the rest of your life!
“Quick, take a good look at me so you can describe me better when you go back and talk to your family.” Li Baoling suddenly leaned in close to his face.
Lin Mingyuan was startled by the move. He had never been in such close proximity to a girl before. He instinctively backed away slightly, but once he calmed down, he began to look closely.
She really was beautiful. With her eyes widened slightly, she looked even more like a deer. When his parents had taken him to the zoo, he had always liked the deer the most.
“Are you done looking?” Li Baoling didn’t care if he was done or not; she pulled back. Being that close made her feel a bit self-conscious too.
“I… I’m done.” Lin Mingyuan stuttered slightly.
“Then when you go home and find an opportunity, say exactly what we planned. Remember?” Seeing him look so silly, Li Baoling felt a bit uneasy. Could he really pull this off?
“Don’t worry, I can definitely do it.” Seeing that Li Baoling seemed to doubt him, Lin Mingyuan immediately stood his ground.
“Then our bright future depends on you!” Li Baoling patted his shoulder, then thought of something else. “By the way, do you have anything to eat?”
The food back at the youth point was bound to be terrible, and her biscuits were running low. Li Baoling had to find food for herself.
Lin Mingyuan thought for a bit and shook his head. “My mom probably secretly boiled another egg for me, but I didn’t take it out.”
At the time, he was only thinking about jumping into the river. He thought if he went back, the modern world would have everything, and eating that egg would be a waste—it should be left for the “real” Lin Mingyuan.
“It’s hidden in my room. Do you want it? I can sneak it out for you.” Yes, even though he hadn’t eaten it, he had hidden it just in case he didn’t succeed.
Li Baoling shook her head. Better not.
“Hurry back.” She had to go back too.
After bidding farewell, the two parted ways. Li Baoling returned to the youth point.
She saw the food Zhang Lihua had left for her: a small pancake not even the size of her palm, plus a bit of green vegetables.
Li Baoling wanted to ask: was this even enough to get stuck in her teeth?
Zhang Lihua looked a bit uncomfortable. Today, each person was supposed to get more than two pancakes, but since Li Baoling wasn’t there, no one cared. In fact, if Zhang Lihua hadn’t wanted to talk to her, she wouldn’t have even thought to save her any.
Geng Jiajia said even less; after all, she had been the most vocal opponent when it came to saving food.
“Sister Baoling, let’s go to work together this afternoon. Otherwise, the team leader will definitely be unhappy,” Zhang Lihua said, refusing to give up.
Between making a good impression on her future father-in-law or forcing herself to work on such a small amount of food and fainting in the fields, Li Baoling didn’t hesitate to choose the latter. “With this little food, am I going to work, or am I waiting to go to my own funeral?
“I’m not going. Don’t ask again. Oh, Xiujuan, if the team leader asks, please help me mention it again.”
Ever since Li Baoling started asking Shen Xiangyang for money, Bai Xiujuan hadn’t quite been able to understand this trio. Nevertheless, she nodded.
Zhang Lihua’s expression turned sour again, but Li Baoling didn’t care. This afternoon, she needed to take a proper inventory of her current assets and figure out exactly how much Shen Xiangyang had borrowed from her.
Then, if Lin Mingyuan was effective, she’d be able to bail soon.
Lin Mingyuan was indeed effective. When he got back, everyone had just started eating. After being scolded by his team-leader father, Lin Mingyuan, who had “worked” all morning, was finally qualified to sit at the table.
“How come I hear people gossiping about our Little Fourth and that youth named Li?” Wang Hongmei, the second sister-in-law, suddenly spoke up.
“Who dares to gossip? Our Little Fourth did a ‘courageous deed.’ Anyone who dares say otherwise, I’ll slap them across the face!” Sun Zhaodi was very direct.
“Even though Fourth is usually unreliable, he did the right thing this time. He saved a life. Second’s wife, if you hear anyone else talking, remember who it is and come back and tell your mother.” It wasn’t that Lin Guoqing hadn’t heard of female youths in some villages being forced to marry their rescuers because of gossip after falling into water, or even women falling in on purpose. But here, he would absolutely not allow two children to be tied together just because of something like this.
It was too absurd.
“Exactly, tell me.” Sun Zhaodi was happy to hear her son being praised, especially by the old man.
“Um, since everyone is on the subject, I have something to say too.” Lin Mingyuan hadn’t expected them to start the conversation themselves. This saved him the trouble of opening it.
When Lin Mingyuan finished speaking, everyone just kept eating and drinking. As for Lin Mingyuan, what “big” thing could he possibly have?
“I want to marry Li Baoling.”
Everyone at the table stopped their chopsticks. What did this little brat just say?
Lin Mingyuan didn’t forget to add: “The female youth I saved.”