“Um… for dinner today, we only have half a fish each. We’ll have to make do.” Ning Yuan hesitated for a moment before reluctantly cutting off half the fish, placing it in a bowl, and handing it to him.
Everyone’s rations were already scarce, which was why she had gone fishing in secret.
Rong Zhaonan, however, didn’t take the fish. “I’m not hungry, you can have it,” he said flatly.
With that, he turned and went back into the room.
Ning Yuan was taken aback. Holding the bowl, she followed him in. “You worked all day too, how could you not be hungry!”
She placed the bowl on the table. “There’s no need to give it to me. We agreed that during our two years as a fake couple, you’d help me and I’d help you. Getting through this hardship together is what makes us partners.”
Rong Zhaonan looked at her slender back, then glanced at the fish in the bowl. An indescribable light flickered in his cool eyes.
Partners, huh… It seemed more like she was the one providing for him.
He sat down and ate the fish with slow, deliberate movements.
The night grew deep.
After her bath, she cleared her throat at Rong Zhaonan. “You go to bed first. I’m going to read for a bit and review my studies.”
She really wasn’t used to sleeping with a strange man.
Noncommittally, Rong Zhaonan watched Ning Yuan sit down at the old desk she had salvaged, all while drying his hair.
Then, she took out a notebook and a tattered language textbook from the drawer.
She began copying vocabulary from the high school language book, reviewing the lessons she once knew.
Ning Yuan knew very well that in her past life, her low level of education had led to others looking down on her in marriage, employment, and in terms of her worldview.
Now that she had a second chance at life, she had to fight for it no matter what.
At first, it was just to ease the awkwardness of sharing a room and a bed with a man who was practically a stranger.
But as she copied, Ning Yuan became completely engrossed.
By the time her wrist started to ache, she had already copied the vocabulary for nearly half the book’s exam material.
Ning Yuan stretched, looked at the two candle stubs beside her, and noticed the third was about to burn out. Only then did she realize how long she had been studying.
At the Educated Youth Spot, with several people living together, it was always noisy with all sorts of gossip, and she never had the peace of mind to read.
But now, her study efficiency had surprisingly soared.
Ning Yuan read for another half the night. Only after Rong Zhaonan was asleep did she, exhausted and hungry, climb into bed.
After a busy day, she was woken up in the middle of the night by her rumbling stomach.
“I’m starving…” She rubbed her belly and sat up groggily, deciding to get some water to fill her stomach.
But as soon as she got out of bed, Ning Yuan felt that something was not right.
She whipped her head around and saw that the bed next to hers was completely empty!
Rong Zhaonan was gone?!
The thought that this man had silently passed over her without her noticing at all sent a jolt through Ning Yuan, waking her up instantly.
The cowshed hut wasn’t large; Ning Yuan could see at a glance that there was no one in the room.
She thought for a moment, then uneasily put on her shoes and walked cautiously outside.
“Doctor Rong… Rong Zhaonan?” she called out softly after leaving the hut.
It was pitch black outside, with only a dim moon hanging in the sky. Ning Yuan searched all around.
There was no one in the latrine, and no one in the cowshed. The door was still bolted from the inside, so it didn’t look like anyone had gone out. She had no idea how Rong Zhaonan had left.
Surrounded by darkness, Ning Yuan felt a little scared. She quickly returned to the room, locked the door, and fumbled for the biscuit tin, distractedly stuffing a biscuit into her mouth.
Strange, where could Rong Zhaonan have gone?
As someone sent down for reform, he usually either worked in the fields, cleaned the cowshed and tended the cattle, or attended mandatory study sessions at night.
For the past few days, because he had ‘married’ her, the village party secretary had cut him some slack, exempting him from the study sessions and writing self-criticisms.
But for him to disappear in the middle of the night, what was he doing? Did he usually do this?
Ning Yuan sat on the edge of the bed, her mind racing with thoughts, and eventually, she drowsily fell asleep.
Until…
“Ning Yuan, Ning Yuan, wake up…” a man’s cool, slightly hoarse voice sounded.
Ning Yuan jolted and sat up abruptly.
It was Rong Zhaonan. He was back!
Then, she met a pair of cool, narrow eyes looking down at her, their gaze profound.
The round tip of her small nose happened to brush against the high bridge of his, and her lips were almost touching his.
“Ah—” She instinctively pushed him away and recoiled.
But she had forgotten she was sleeping on the outer side of the bed. The next moment, she felt her bottom hanging in the air, and then she was toppling headfirst off the bed.
With quick eyes and deft hands, Rong Zhaonan grabbed her wrist and yanked her back. “Careful.”
Ning Yuan was thus spared the fate of face-planting first thing in the morning, but she was also pulled directly into his arms.
The man’s broad chest was pressed against Ning Yuan’s face. She could even feel the contours of his muscles, and the warm sensation on her face made her blush instantly.
Rong Zhaonan quickly let her go and looked down at the red-faced Ning Yuan. “Did I scare you? I saw it was time to go to work.”
Ning Yuan scrambled up, flustered, and coughed. “It’s nothing, cough, cough…”
Just when did this person climb over her and get back to sleeping on the inner side of the bed?
As Ning Yuan hurried to wash up, she asked nonchalantly, “I didn’t eat enough yesterday. Did you wake up from hunger during the night?”
Rong Zhaonan changed his clothes, put some rice and sweet potatoes in a pot to make congee, and said lightly, “You get used to it, then you don’t wake up hungry. Our rations were already less than yours to begin with.”
Ning Yuan’s hand, which was brushing her teeth, paused. Of course, she knew that with the scarcity of resources, no one could really eat their fill, and the rations for Reform Through Labor Elements like Rong Zhaonan were even less than theirs.
She felt a little sheepish and said no more.
It seemed Rong Zhaonan had no intention of letting her know what he was doing when he disappeared in the middle of the night.
After eating the sweet potato congee, the two went their separate ways to work.
Ning Yuan had just arrived at the fields carrying water when she heard Huang Xuehong’s sarcastic voice from behind her. “Well, well, who’s this? Isn’t it our Ning Zhiqing? Finally willing to come out of the cowshed?”
Ning Yuan turned her head and saw Huang Xuehong, Tang Zhenzhen, and a few others walking over with hoes on their shoulders.
She couldn’t be bothered with them and turned to leave with her water buckets.
Tang Zhenzhen, having suffered a great loss at her hands, couldn’t possibly not hold a grudge. Her eyes darted around, and she sneered at Huang Xuehong, “Who knows? She was already climbing into a bad element’s bed before marriage. Now that she’s married, she probably can’t even get out of bed. Shameless…”
Splash! Ning Yuan suddenly put down her carrying pole, grabbed a water bucket, and flung its contents over Tang Zhenzhen and the others.
The girls shrieked and scattered, but they still couldn’t avoid getting splashed!
“What are you doing!” Tang Zhenzhen, with water splashed all over her face, shrieked and glared furiously at Ning Yuan.
Ning Yuan clapped her hands and said with a grin, “Oh, my apologies. I saw how filthy your mouths were and just wanted to help you wash them. Don’t thank me too much!”
Having lost both money and face, Tang Zhenzhen already hated Ning Yuan to the bone, and now Ning Yuan had splashed water on her.
Trembling with anger, she, along with Huang Xuehong, charged forward to grab Ning Yuan’s hair. “I’ll beat you, you shameless hussy!”
“Like I’m afraid of you!” Ning Yuan was not the pushover she was in her past life. She grabbed her carrying pole and faced them.
But the next moment, Hua Zi quickly brought some men to block their way. “What are you Educated Youth doing? No fighting!”
Several other Male Educated Youth also rushed over to help separate the girls who were about to start tearing at each other.
Seeing that she hadn’t gotten the upper hand, Tang Zhenzhen’s eyes turned red as she pointed at Ning Yuan and shouted angrily, “As soon as she married a bad element, her ideology became corrupt! She skips work every other day. If she doesn’t have enough work points at the end of the year, our Educated Youth Team will have to share our grain with her. On what grounds!”
At these words, the other Male Educated Youth looked at each other. It was the truth.
Wang Jianhua was still lying at home with a broken head, unable to work. Now Ning Yuan wasn’t working either, so their work points would be even lower.
When it came time to settle accounts at the end of the year, the grain would be distributed based on the team’s total work points. Those like them who worked more would suffer a greater loss.
“That’s right, it’s not fair.”
“Isn’t Ning Yuan married? I heard that the work points of married educated youth like Sister Manhua are counted in the village team, not the Educated Youth Team.”
Thus, several of the Male Educated Youth began to chime in.
Ning Yuan understood. So this was what they were waiting for.
She simply looked at Hua Zi. “Hua Zi Ge, I’m married now and my household registration is in our village. Is it possible for me not to be counted as part of their Educated Youth Team? I don’t want to take advantage of them.”
Hua Zi looked at Ning Yuan’s determined expression and hesitated for a moment. “You can apply to our team later. Should your work points for this year be recorded under our village team?”
Being recorded under the village team meant work points were calculated by household. Since Ning Yuan and Rong Zhaonan were married, they would be considered one household.
Educated Youth received preferential treatment and were in a high tier for work points. A demoted element like Rong Zhaonan was in the lowest tier.
So, Ning Yuan would be at a great disadvantage. When it came time to exchange for grain at the end of the year, she would get much less.
Seeing that her goal of driving Ning Yuan out of the Educated Youth Team had been achieved, Tang Zhenzhen sneered, then swaggered off with Huang Xuehong and the others.