Upon arriving at Hongqi Commune, Lin Peiru didn’t even have time to tend to the blood blisters on her feet. Following her memory, she found the village committee.
In the courtyard, a dark-skinned middle-aged man with a deeply lined face was squatting on the ground weaving a basket.
He was the village head, Li Dashan.
Lin Peiru took a deep breath and walked over.
“Uncle, hello. Are you the village head?”
Li Dashan looked up, squinting as he sized up the girl in front of him.
Fair-skinned, beautiful, wearing a dacron shirt that only city people could afford.
No matter how he looked at her, she didn’t seem like someone from around here.
“I am. And you are…?”
“I’m the village head’s worker—no, I mean, I’m Lin Peiru, a sent-down youth assigned to our commune.”
Lin Peiru tried hard to make her smile look sincere and enthusiastic.
“What?!” Li Dashan shot up immediately, the bamboo strips in his hands falling to the ground.
“A sent-down youth? That’s not right!”
He circled around Lin Peiru twice in shock, as if she were some rare species.
“Weren’t the main group supposed to arrive in three days? Why… why did you come alone?”
Lin Peiru had already prepared her excuse. She straightened her back, her expression burning with almost fanatical revolutionary passion.
“Report, Comrade Village Head! I was just too eager for the vast countryside!”
“The thought of coming here to receive re-education from poor and lower-middle peasants, and to contribute bricks and tiles to building our great socialist new countryside, kept me so excited I couldn’t sleep all night!”
“So I didn’t wait for the main group—I came first! I can’t wait to start working!”
“……”
Li Dashan’s mouth hung slightly open for a long time without closing.
He looked at the city girl in front of him—eyes shining, full of enthusiasm—and only one thought remained in his mind.
This person…
Is she crazy?
He had been a village head for many years and had received several batches of sent-down youth.
He had seen those who cried and refused to come, and those who accepted their fate in numb resignation. But someone like this—someone who charged in like she was high on adrenaline, eager to suffer—was a first.
Li Dashan scratched his messy hair, suddenly feeling a headache coming on.
He looked at Lin Peiru with difficulty.
“Uh… Comrade Lin.”
“Your revolutionary enthusiasm is good. That’s commendable.”
“But…” He sighed heavily.
“But our village is very poor, as you can see. We don’t even have a proper office, and there’s no money to build dormitories for the sent-down youth.”
“The previous youths all stayed scattered in villagers’ homes.”
“You came alone ahead of time… we can’t let you sleep in the village committee office, right?”
He frowned in distress.
“How about this—I’ll go ask around and see which family has a spare room for you to stay in first?”
Before he even finished speaking, Lin Peiru’s eyes lit up.
She quickly stepped forward and cut in.
“Village Head, no need to trouble yourself going house to house!”
“I—I think I already saw a suitable place just now!”
Li Dashan froze. “What? Which house?”
Afraid he might refuse, she spoke rapidly.
“On the west side of the village!”
“The courtyard is a bit old, but it’s very clean!”
“There are two autumn begonia trees in the yard, and they’re beautiful!”
“And I even saw… a pretty little girl sweeping leaves in the yard!”
She put on an innocent, eager expression.
“Village Head, how about I stay there?”
West side of the village? A clean courtyard? A pretty little girl?
Li Dashan’s expression changed instantly as he ran through it in his mind.
His weathered face darkened, his eyes widening.
“What did you say?”
“The place you’re talking about… could it be the Huo family?!”
His voice carried shock and disbelief.
Lin Peiru’s heart skipped a beat, but her face remained innocent.
She blinked.
“Huo family? I don’t know.”
“I just think that courtyard looks nice, and the little girl seemed cute—I thought I’d get along with her.”
She leaned forward slightly, adding a bit of city-girl stubbornness and charm.
“Village Head, I want to stay there!”
“I’m staying there!”
Li Dashan looked at her and felt his head splitting in two.
Alright. Now he understood.
This wasn’t some enthusiastic revolutionary youth.
This was a spoiled city girl who didn’t know how harsh life in the countryside was—here to cause trouble.
He sighed heavily and waved his hand.
“Fine, fine.”
“I’ll take you to ask… but I’m warning you first, whether they agree or not is another matter.”
With that, he turned and led the way toward the west side of the village.
Lin Peiru knew the layout of the Huo family courtyard from her past life. Although no one lived there anymore, it had always been kept clean.
It was the only “home” Huo Yunshen had left in his heart before reuniting with her.
The courtyard was exactly as she remembered.
A simple mud-brick wall enclosed a small yard. Poor, but neat and orderly.
When they arrived, the gate was slightly ajar.
Just as Li Dashan raised his hand to knock, the wooden door of the main house creaked open from inside.
A tall figure stepped out of the dim room.
At that moment, Lin Peiru’s breath stopped.
The boy had just finished bathing. He wore a faded gray old jacket loosely, not even fully buttoned, revealing a strong, defined chest underneath.
His hair was still wet, jet black and shining. Water droplets slid along his sharp jawline, rolled over his prominent Adam’s apple, and disappeared into his open collar.
He had a face that was young, strikingly handsome, and intensely aggressive.
Sharp brows, bright eyes, a high nose bridge.
But those eyes were cold and deep, like an icy abyss—completely indifferent, keeping everyone at a distance.
It was him.
The man she had loved for half her life, carved into her bones—Huo Yunshen.
Lin Peiru’s heartbeat roared like thunder in her chest.
She was completely stunned, as if struck by lightning.
Li Dashan quickly forced an awkward smile when he saw him.
“Uh… Yunshen.”
He gestured toward Lin Peiru behind him.
“This is a new sent-down youth from the city, Lin Peiru.”
“The main group hasn’t arrived yet, so she came early… and she doesn’t have anywhere to stay.”
“She saw your courtyard is clean, so she’d like to stay at your place for a while…”
Huo Yunshen’s gaze finally shifted from Li Dashan to Lin Peiru.
It was cold—like a blade.
Measuring. Examining. And unmistakably rejecting.
He looked at her once, then darkened his expression and spat out three words:
“I disagree!”
Lin Peiru: “???”