Mother An and Grandma Li finally stopped arguing. The two women couldn’t stand the sight of each other, so they turned away and went back to their own work, completely ignoring one another.
“Hey, what do you think happened to Qin Zhiqing? She was perfectly fine. How did she suddenly faint?”
“Who knows? Maybe she’s too delicate. She probably got heatstroke.”
“I don’t think so.”
Grandma Li glanced toward Mother An. There was something suggestive in her tone that immediately made everyone curious.
“What do you mean?”
Everyone’s curiosity was piqued.
“Li Guiying, Qin Zhiqing fainted. Why aren’t you going over to check on her? Aren’t you two always so close?”
Grandma Li looked at Mother An provocatively.
Don’t think she couldn’t see what was going on.
Qin Siyu clearly had feelings for An Jianjun. Otherwise, why would she always try so hard to curry favor with Li Guiying?
“Whether I go check on Qin Zhiqing or not has nothing to do with you!”
“When these educated youths first arrived, I saw that they’d left their families and come all the way here. I felt sorry for them, so I occasionally gave them some advice about life here. Qin Zhiqing would come to me whenever she had problems, and I admit that.”
“But what exactly are you implying?”
“Say it clearly in front of everyone today!”
Mother An rolled up her sleeves and confronted her.
At first, Mother An had only felt sorry for the young educated youths. They had just arrived in the countryside, didn’t know how to do anything, and were far away from home.
If she could help them, she would.
That’s why she had become relatively close to the educated youths. Whenever they had questions, they would come and ask her, and she always answered honestly.
But she had never once considered bringing an educated youth home as her daughter-in-law.
Later, she began noticing certain signs.
Qin Siyu would subtly ask about An Jianjun whenever she got the chance.
That’s when Mother An realized what the girl was thinking.
So she deliberately kept her distance and even began looking for suitable marriage prospects for her son, making it clear that she had no intention of taking an educated youth as her daughter-in-law.
At her age, Mother An had seen all kinds of people.
The social and family backgrounds between them were simply too different. If Qin Siyu married into their family, there would probably be endless trouble.
Besides, Qin Siyu seemed to have quite a few hidden thoughts of her own, and Mother An didn’t particularly like her.
Who could have expected that Wang Xiaofang would drug her son, leading to Feng Jiaojiao accidentally becoming her daughter-in-law?
Now that Feng Jiaojiao was already married to An Jianjun, Mother An had even more reason to avoid getting too close to Qin Siyu.
Everyone already knew that Qin Siyu and Feng Jiaojiao had been close friends, and rumors were flying everywhere.
She certainly didn’t want to get caught in the middle.
That damned Grandma Li really knew exactly where to poke.
“Do I really have to spell it out?”
“This whole love triangle involving three women and one man has already spread throughout the village.”
“Li Guiying, you’re pretty greedy, aren’t you? You’ve already got one in your bowl, yet you’re still looking at what’s in the pot.”
“You got close to the educated youths because you were trying to pick a suitable daughter-in-law for your son, weren’t you?”
“Now that you’ve found one, you’ve abandoned the others.”
“Bullshit!”
Mother An exploded.
“You twist everything I say into something filthy. I tried to do a good deed, and somehow I became the villain?”
“You think everyone is as petty and spiteful as you, always hoping to see other people humiliated?”
“I think this is karma for you. No wonder no young woman is willing to marry into your family. Your son deserves to stay single for the rest of his life!”
“Believe me, I can have my four sons smash your house to pieces. And every time they see that Li Tianci, they’ll beat him up!”
“If you keep spreading nonsense, I’ll have my sons report you to the authorities. How dare you spread rumors about a military officer? Who gave you the nerve?”
Mother An gave Grandma Li a thorough tongue-lashing.
Grandma Li’s face turned red with anger, but she couldn’t think of anything to say.
Li Guiying really was capable of doing exactly what she threatened.
She didn’t dare gamble on it.
Seeing that Mother An was genuinely furious, everyone else wisely kept their mouths shut.
They quietly returned to their own work.
“You female educated youths change her clothes and wipe her down. She might have heatstroke.”
Zhao Gang and several male educated youths had carried Qin Siyu back, while the female educated youths followed behind.
“Okay. Leave the rest to us.”
Wang Yan told Song Laidi to fetch some water, while Zhao Meili went to find Qin Siyu some clean clothes.
“What are you standing there for? Go!”
Wang Yan became anxious when she saw Zhao Meili standing motionless.
“Tsk. We have to take care of her every single day. It’s like we’re indebted to her.”
Zhao Meili went to find some clothes for Qin Siyu.
“We’re all educated youths. How can we not help one another when we’re away from home?”
Wang Yan was warm-hearted by nature. She always helped whenever someone needed something.
She was also the oldest among the female educated youths, so she had gradually taken on the role of the group’s big sister.
Zhao Meili liked making sarcastic comments and complaining, but she knew Wang Yan was a good person. She had benefited from Wang Yan’s help herself, so she stopped complaining.
“How did she suddenly faint like that?”
Wang Yan sighed.
Zhao Meili came back with a change of clothes.
“Hmph. If you ask me, she’s probably fainted from being upset.”
“The man she liked ended up marrying her best friend. Who could accept that?”
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
Wang Yan immediately stopped her.
“If someone hears you, what do you think will happen to her reputation?”
“Besides, this has nothing to do with Feng Zhiqing. She was dragged into this mess innocently. Something like this happened to her, and she’s just a young girl. What could she have done?”
Wang Yan knew Zhao Meili didn’t get along with Feng Jiaojiao, but that was no excuse to slander her behind her back.
It wasn’t just gossip—it could ruin a girl’s reputation.
As far as Wang Yan was concerned, this was probably the best possible outcome.
As for Qin Zhiqing, her feelings had always been one-sided.
An Jianjun had never really interacted with her beyond the occasional encounter.
And she wasn’t the only woman who had her eye on him.
Wang Yan dared say that almost every unmarried young woman in the village had once imagined marrying An Jianjun.
Who wouldn’t want to marry into a good family?
But love and marriage weren’t things anyone could force.
Now that An Jianjun was married, Qin Siyu should simply move on and find another relationship.
There was no reason to torture herself over it.
Qin Siyu was only half-conscious.
She vaguely heard someone mention Feng Zhiqing.
Feng Jiaojiao?
Wasn’t she already dead?
Why were they talking about her?
Sometimes Qin Siyu felt that her entire life had been a ridiculous joke.
Even until the day she died, she had never been able to defeat a dead woman.
Everyone thought she had lived a happy life.
But only Qin Siyu knew that An Jianjun’s heart had never belonged to her.
There had always been polite distance between them.
To him, she was nothing more than a nanny he had married to help take care of the children.
His love belonged to the woman who had already died—and to their daughter.
The most ridiculous part was that Qin Siyu’s own child had only been conceived when An Jianjun was drunk.
Even then, he had been calling out one name over and over:
“Jiaojiao…”
When he sobered up, his reaction broke her heart.
She saw regret in his eyes.
From that day onward, he never touched her again.
Qin Siyu couldn’t accept it.
She found a way to drive their daughter away because she couldn’t stand looking at her.
The girl looked too much like her mother.
Sure enough, after the daughter went abroad, she never returned.
But that only pushed An Jianjun farther away from Qin Siyu.
The two of them spent the rest of their lives together in a distant, lukewarm marriage.
Qin Siyu slowly opened her eyes.
“Siyu, you’re awake! That’s wonderful!”
Wang Yan was delighted when she saw Qin Siyu regain consciousness.
As long as she had woken up, she should be fine.
Otherwise, Wang Yan would have had to find the local barefoot doctor and ask for medicine.
“What is this?”
Qin Siyu stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings in disbelief.
I…
I’ve come back.
I’m back to the time when I had just arrived in the countryside.
Then… does that mean everything can still be changed?
Can I pursue An Jianjun all over again?
For Qin Siyu, winning An Jianjun’s love had already become an obsession.
“Siyu, what’s wrong with you? Are you in shock?”
“You fainted while working in the fields just now. You scared all of us!”
Zhao Meili felt that Qin Siyu seemed different somehow, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what had changed.
She looked around the room.
There was no sign of Feng Jiaojiao.
Her brows furrowed.
“Where’s Feng Jiaojiao?”
“I think you’ve really lost your mind.”
“She already got married. Why would she still be here?”
Zhao Meili looked at Qin Siyu as though she were an idiot.
Why is she acting so strangely?
“What?”
Qin Siyu stood there in stunned disbelief.