The next morning during breakfast, Su Wan impatiently asked, “Dad, among the educated youths who arrived yesterday, was there someone named Liu Rongrong?”
Su Wan’s heart was hanging in suspense. More than anything, she wanted to hear a negative answer.
Unfortunately, after swallowing the porridge in his mouth, Father Su nodded and replied, “Yes, there is a female comrade by that name.” Hearing his daughter suddenly ask about the educated youths, Father Su curiously asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly asking about them?”
Su Wan sighed inwardly in disappointment. Looks like there was no escaping this after all.
Hearing her father’s question, Su Wan quickly tried to think of a reason that would allow her to approach Liu Rongrong openly and naturally.
“I heard from a classmate before that one of her relatives was sent to our commune as an educated youth, so I wanted to ask if she came to our village.”
“I see.” Father Su nodded. “In a little while, I’m going to assign them their work tasks. Why don’t you come along and take a look?”
Su Wan’s heart immediately brightened with joy. She quickly nodded. “Sure!”
Then she added, “Dad, if there’s anything you need to tell the educated youths, you can just leave it to me.” Su Wan spoke with a completely serious expression.
Seeing his daughter act this way, Father Su laughed. “Why are you being so enthusiastic and proactive today?”
Hearing that, Su Wan’s face reddened slightly. She acted spoiled and said, “Dad, when have I ever not been hardworking? I’ve always been diligent. So are you agreeing or not?” She deliberately dragged out the word, “Daaad.”
“Alright, alright, I agree. Since my daughter wants to help me, how could I refuse?” Father Su quickly surrendered.
“Enough, the two of you. Stop chatting endlessly and hurry up and eat.” Seeing the father and daughter continue talking nonstop, Mother Su finally interrupted them.
The two immediately lowered their heads and obediently continued eating.
After breakfast, Su Wan nervously followed Father Su toward the educated youth residence.
Along the way, Su Wan’s mind was full of thoughts about what this lucky-koi female lead looked like and worries about whether she and Han Rui would survive.
The educated youth residence was located at the edge of the village. It had originally been servant housing belonging to a large landlord family, which was why it had not been demolished.
Su Wan was so lost in thought the entire way that she did not even notice they had already arrived.
“Su Wan, Su Wan.”
Father Su had been walking ahead. Seeing they had reached the residence, he called out to Su Wan. When no one answered, he turned around in confusion.
He saw Su Wan absentmindedly continuing to walk forward, clearly thinking about something.
Father Su laughed helplessly, gently tapped Su Wan on the head, and said, “What are you thinking about? Watch where you’re walking.”
Su Wan suddenly snapped back to reality and smiled ingratiatingly. “Nothing, I was just distracted.”
Then she noticed they had arrived at the educated youth residence. Holding onto Father Su’s arm, she said, “Dad, we’re here already. Let’s hurry over.”
“We’ve been here for a while. You were the one daydreaming and didn’t notice,” Father Su replied irritably.
The two walked to the entrance of the residence.
Father Su shouted inside, “Comrade Zhao! Comrade Zhao!”
Inside the courtyard, Zhao Guoqiang recognized the production team leader’s voice and said to the four newly arrived educated youths, “The production team leader is here. He’s probably here to assign your work. Let’s go.”
Standing beside Father Su, Su Wan nervously stared toward the doorway.
The first to come out was Zhao Guoqiang, followed by two male educated youths, one tall and one short. Behind them came the two female educated youths.
At a single glance, Su Wan recognized which one was Liu Rongrong.
This was how Liu Rongrong had been described in the novel:
She had almond-shaped eyes and round pupils that looked watery whenever she gazed at people. Her skin was fair, and she had a petite, delicate figure that made her look spoiled and innocent.
Liu Rongrong seemed to notice Su Wan examining her and looked back at her.
The moment their eyes met, Liu Rongrong gave Su Wan a gentle smile.
It was obviously an extremely soft and tender smile, yet her eyes carried a trace of absolute confidence and superiority that completely clashed with her innocent and delicate appearance.
A chill instantly ran down Su Wan’s back, and she hurriedly looked away.
After handing the newcomers over to the production team leader, Zhao Guoqiang quickly left for work.
After all, working in the fields was directly tied to how much grain ration they would receive after the autumn harvest. For educated youths who had been sent down for a long time and whose families were not wealthy, their families had long stopped mailing grain coupons and subsidies. Whether they could eat their fill now depended entirely on themselves.
One of the male educated youths, who looked particularly lively and talkative, smiled at Father Su and asked, “Production Team Leader, what work are we being assigned?”
“You’re Comrade Li Jun, right?”
“That’s right.” Li Jun nodded.
Father Su spoke gently to them. “You all just arrived, and in a few days it’ll be autumn harvest season. Right now things are relatively relaxed, so I won’t assign you any heavy work. You’ll just go pull weeds in the fields.”
Father Su led them toward the fields, while Su Wan followed beside them, occasionally stealing glances at Liu Rongrong from the corner of her eye.
As for Liu Rongrong, after learning that Su Wan was the production team leader’s daughter, she no longer paid much attention to her. Looking at Su Wan now, she hypocritically sighed inwardly:
If you weren’t the one holding this teacher position, maybe I would save you. What a pity…
When they reached the fields, Father Su marked out the area they were responsible for and said, “Today, each person needs to weed four fen of land. If you don’t finish, work points will be deducted.”
Then Father Su turned toward Auntie Li, who was working nearby, and said, “Auntie Li, later on, teach these educated youths how to weed properly. Don’t let them pull the wrong plants. Today I’ll have Jianjun record an extra work point for you.”
Hearing she would earn an extra work point, Auntie Li immediately beamed with happiness. “Alright! I’ll definitely teach them properly. Don’t worry.”
Father Su then turned back to the educated youths and continued, “Later, you’ll follow Auntie Li and learn.”
Then, seeing Su Wan standing behind them, he paused briefly before adding, “If you have any other questions, you can ask Su Wan.”
Hearing this, Su Wan ran over and smiled at them. “Hello. If you have any problems, just come find me. If I can’t solve it, or if it’s something important, I’ll tell my dad.”
Song Weiguo and the other three nodded and greeted Su Wan in return.
“Alright then, get to work. I’m leaving now.” Father Su turned and walked away.
Once everything had been explained, Auntie Li walked over and said, “You’re all newcomers, right? Just as expected from big city people, every one of you looks fresh and lively.”
She looked at Su Wan, then at the educated youths, and sighed emotionally. “I think Su Wan looks just like a city girl — even prettier, actually.”
Su Wan smiled awkwardly and said to Auntie Li, “Auntie, weren’t you going to teach them? You all go ahead and get busy. I’ll head back first.”
Auntie Li slapped her thigh. “Right, right, right. Let me tell you all, weeding may look simple, but you can’t just use brute force. You need skill to pull the roots out too. Also, you need to recognize clearly which plants are weeds so you don’t pull the wrong ones…”
As Su Wan slowly walked away, she kept turning back to look.
Liu Rongrong stood beside Auntie Li, listening attentively with a serious expression. On the surface, she did not seem strange at all.
But remembering that look in Liu Rongrong’s eyes earlier, Su Wan knew she still could not let down her guard.
Looks like she still needed to find an opportunity to see the black jade hanging around Liu Rongrong’s neck.