“Third Sister, those few people ahead are all from the Educated Youth Compound.”
Jin Yao leaned close to her ear, reminding her in a low voice. Jin Miao raised an eyebrow—her little sister’s observational skills were truly sharp. It was clear she was quite familiar with these people from her daily interactions.
She just didn’t know which one was Chen Anguo. In her previous life, she had been busy running her business and didn’t interact much with the villagers. Plus, her little sister was often out and about, so Jin Miao hadn’t had much contact with the Educated Youth Compound either. Later, when her little sister insisted on marrying Chen Anguo and secretly ran off with him back to the city, Jin Miao had never even met this Chen Anguo and had no impression of him at all.
Now, she was genuinely curious about what this man, who had so thoroughly bewitched her little sister, looked like.
Seeing the teasing glint in her third sister’s eyes, Jin Yao suddenly felt embarrassed. Not only were her little thoughts laid bare before her sister, but she could also clearly understand the mockery in her gaze.
She wanted to run away, but there was no escape!
“Third Sister, the one wearing the black worker’s jacket is Chen Anguo.”
Jin Miao looked over. Several men—no, actually, the vast majority of male and female comrades dressed in similar styles. However, these Educated Youth from the city paid more attention to their clothing and conduct. Moreover, being educated and cultured, their overall demeanor was quite different from that of the villagers.
No wonder they managed to enchant the young girls in the village who hadn’t seen much of the world.
As for whether Chen Anguo was particularly good-looking—not really. He could only be described as having regular features, a square face, and wearing glasses, which gave him a refined and scholarly appearance.
But in Jin Miao’s eyes, having seen so many beautiful women and handsome men, this guy was nothing special. Especially since he was a scumbag, playing multiple women at once, getting ambiguously involved with any girl who showed interest in him.
Ugh, what a piece of trash.
[Jin Miao: Why did we run into this trash? What bad luck. Disgusting thing. Ugh, wait—why would Fourth Sister suddenly point out this Chen Anguo to me? Could it be she wants to share her crush with me? I knew a love-struck brain couldn’t be cured.]
“Third Sister, don’t…” Jin Yao, hearing her inner thoughts, was nearly frantic with anxiety. Although she had indeed harbored some feelings for Chen Anguo in the past and felt somewhat attracted to him, that was all in the past! Now, after learning that this man was greedy and couldn’t keep his hands to himself, entangled with so many girls, if she still liked him, she’d really have something wrong with her head.
She desperately wanted to defend herself, but the words just wouldn’t come out. Her heart was racing with anxiety, so much so that she reached out and grabbed her sister’s arm.
Wei Shufen stepped in front of both of them, shielding her younger daughter most of all, vividly demonstrating what it meant to be a protective mother hen.
“Oh, no, it’s not that. It seems like they’re coming over to buy food.” Jin Yao’s face showed a hint of hesitation as she tentatively asked, “Should we sell to them?”
Jin Miao watched the approaching group and noticed their gazes were indeed fixed on the bamboo baskets in her mother and eldest brother’s hands. She raised an eyebrow.
“If they really are here to buy food, of course we’ll sell. Only a fool would turn down money.”
Suddenly it made sense—no matter who you’re upset with, don’t be upset with money!
Just then, several people approached from the distance. Though the sky was still dark, everyone understood the situation without words. The young man leading the group lowered his voice and asked, “Comrades, hello. Are you selling food here?”
Before anyone could respond, Chen Anguo must have spotted Jin Yao, his face lighting up with surprise.
“Comrade Jin Yao, it’s you! What a coincidence. Are you… also heading to town?”
Jin Yao felt nothing but annoyance. Several times before when she had tried to strike up a conversation with him, he had acted indifferent. Why was he now eagerly trying to cozy up to her just when she least wanted anything to do with him?
She chuckled inwardly, pursed her lips, and put on a serious expression as if facing something extremely troublesome, replying with a faint “Mm.”
Wasn’t that stating the obvious? So many people were walking along this road—it led straight to town. Where else could they be going?
Wei Shufen shifted her steps, blocking his line of sight. “You all are Educated Youth from our village, right? What a coincidence!”
As soon as she finished speaking, the Educated Youth became much more enthusiastic.
“Auntie, so we’re from the same village! What a wonderful coincidence!” It was clear this young man was outgoing and knew how to handle situations. “We’ve been working in the village every day but still haven’t gotten to know everyone. That’s our fault, our fault. From now on, we’ll remember you, Auntie.”
This young man certainly knew how to talk. With just a few words, he had Wei Shufen smiling.
He then introduced himself and the others. “My name is Xie Xuyang. We’re all from the Educated Youth Compound. They are Chen Anguo, Wang Hao, Li Ming, and the two female comrades, Xu Hong and Ding Minghui. Auntie, we got up quite early this morning, and we’re all starving—our stomachs are practically touching our backs. As we passed by, we caught a whiff of something delicious, and it made us so hungry we could hardly walk.”
These words truly delighted Wei Shufen. She lifted a corner of the gauze covering the bamboo basket, revealing the deep-fried, golden-brown, crispy youtiao inside, along with corn buns that smelled sweet and fragrant.
“I do have some food here. You kids set out quite early. Meeting like this is fate. If you all buy something, I’ll give you a discount.”
She pointed to the youtiao. “In town, youtiao costs six cents each plus one liang of grain ration coupons. Auntie won’t take coupons. If you want them, I’ll sell them to you for five cents each. These corn buns are made from this year’s tender corn—very sweet. Four cents each. My son’s bamboo basket also has mixed-grain steamed buns and vegetarian buns. Take a look and see what you’d like.”
The prices were genuinely reasonable. This auntie was truly giving them a discount because they were from the same village. Xie Xuyang naturally agreed immediately. “Auntie, you’re so kind. I’ll take one youtiao—it looks delicious.”
“Alright, here’s one for you.” She took a small square of cut newspaper, wrapped the youtiao, and handed it over.
The other Educated Youth with him stepped forward to choose what they wanted. Two youtiao and two corn buns were sold. Everyone except Chen Anguo made a purchase.
Those who bought the corn buns praised them wholeheartedly—the buns were truly delicious.
Someone asked curiously, “Anguo, aren’t you buying anything?”
Chen Anguo’s eyes were fixed intently on Jin Yao’s direction, and his opening words made Jin Miao want to smash his head in.
“Comrade Jin Yao, we are all from the same village. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate for you to make money off us like this? We used to help each other out, and everyone was united. What you’re doing now is just Capitalist mannerisms…”