“Of course I trust you. We’re good friends, aren’t we?”
Qin Siyu thought for a moment before saying, “Since you trust me, why don’t you pretend to marry An Jianjun first? After some time has passed, you can find an excuse to divorce him.”
“You’ve always wanted to return to the city, haven’t you? Just beg your father and tell him how hard things have been for you. Ask him to bring you back. That way, it’ll be better for everyone. You won’t have to fall out with anyone, you’ll be able to get out of this marriage, and no one will have anything bad to say about you. Wouldn’t that solve everything at once?”
Feng Jiaojiao stared at Qin Siyu in surprise.
Qin Siyu thought to herself that this way, with Feng Jiaojiao as a comparison, An’s mother would be much more likely to accept an educated youth as her daughter-in-law.
She wasn’t stupid. How could she not see that An’s mother didn’t want an educated youth for a daughter-in-law?
During this period, Qin Siyu had gone out of her way to please An’s mother. An’s mother treated her quite well, but she had never considered her as a potential daughter-in-law.
She would rather choose Wang Xiaofang, a big, burly, uneducated woman, than someone like Qin Siyu, who was pretty and well-educated.
Qin Siyu understood exactly why.
An’s mother probably disliked educated youths and was prejudiced against them.
Now that this unexpected situation with Feng Jiaojiao had happened, perhaps it could become a breakthrough.
Besides, Feng Jiaojiao was easy to control and usually listened to her. As long as Qin Siyu could make her grow tired of the An family and An Jianjun, sooner or later she would end up demanding a divorce.
And Feng Jiaojiao had always wanted to return to the city. The two of them could never stay together for long.
Once An Jianjun became a divorced man, An’s mother might not be nearly as picky anymore. At that point, Qin Siyu could work on winning her favor again. With Feng Jiaojiao as a comparison, An’s mother would probably finally realize how good Qin Siyu was.
Oh my God, Feng Jiaojiao thought.
No wonder the original Feng Jiaojiao could never outplay the female lead. In the end, she died in childbirth and was written out of the story early, clearing the way for the female lead.
Qin Siyu has more tricks up her sleeve than a sieve has holes.
“Will that really work?” Feng Jiaojiao asked doubtfully.
“Jiaojiao, you’re my good friend. How could I possibly hurt you? Making a huge fuss over this now won’t do anyone any good. Besides… there must have been quite a few people who saw you coming back from the An family’s house, right? If you don’t marry him, your reputation will be ruined.”
Qin Siyu carefully explained the situation to Feng Jiaojiao.
She also blamed herself for acting impulsively earlier. She had run crying from the An family’s house, and quite a few people had probably seen her.
Now Feng Jiaojiao had also come out of the An family’s house. Anyone paying attention would definitely be able to guess that something had happened.
Qin Siyu knew this was the best solution available for now. Things had already reached this point. The only option was to let An Jianjun and Feng Jiaojiao get married first. Once the gossip died down, she could think of another way to deal with things.
Besides, even without Feng Jiaojiao, An’s mother had never intended to choose Qin Siyu as her daughter-in-law.
Now that Feng Jiaojiao had appeared, Qin Siyu would actually have more opportunities to visit the An family and get closer to them.
“But… what about you?” Feng Jiaojiao asked tentatively.
“Silly girl, it’s only An Jianjun. There’s really nothing between us. I just happen to have a little affection for him. Unlike you, I have a father who can help me. I can’t return to the city, so naturally, I’ve been hoping to marry into a good family.”
“Things have simply turned out this way. We just weren’t meant to be. You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t be angry with you anymore. You’re still my good friend.”
Qin Siyu took Feng Jiaojiao’s hand and comforted her.
Feng Jiaojiao shuddered.
If she couldn’t hear what Qin Siyu was really thinking, she might actually have believed her.
Once I move into the An family’s home, I absolutely have to stay away from the female lead. I’ll gradually cut ties with Qin Siyu.
“Then… all right. I’m a little tired. I’m going to rest for a while.”
Feng Jiaojiao pulled the quilt over herself and buried herself beneath it.
Seeing how exhausted Feng Jiaojiao looked, a trace of coldness flashed across Qin Siyu’s face. She immediately smiled and said, “Get some rest. I should go prepare dinner. I’ll come get you when it’s ready.”
Soon, Feng Jiaojiao was alone in the room.
“Phew!”
Who said acting was easy? This is exhausting.
She carefully climbed off the kang and made sure the door was securely latched.
Qin Siyu had gone to cook. She probably wouldn’t return for at least an hour.
In the countryside, cooking required lighting the large stove, so preparing a meal took quite a while.
Feng Jiaojiao quickly went over to inspect her luggage, checking whether everything she remembered was still there.
This Feng Jiaojiao was seriously extravagant.
Five suitcases were lined up neatly against the wall, with two smaller packages on top of them. She had a total of seven pieces of luggage all to herself.
Even all the luggage belonging to the other female educated youths combined wasn’t as much as hers.
When her luggage had first been transported here, even the production team’s donkey had struggled to pull it. It had been exhausted and brayed miserably, leaving the brigade leader heartbroken and green in the face.
The women in the production team had been even more astonished.
She had become famous the moment she arrived.
But this was her capital for survival.
Everything Feng Jiaojiao owned was inside these bags.
Sure enough, the passbook was still wrapped up safely inside.
With this money, she could finally relax.
She quickly put everything back in order, making sure Qin Siyu wouldn’t discover anything.
Then she quietly unlatched the door.
There was no one outside, so she planned to lie down on the kang and take a short nap.
Several of the female educated youths had gone over to help.
“Siyu, have you and Feng Jiaojiao made up?”
Wang Yan was worried that the two had fallen out badly. After all, they lived in the same courtyard and saw each other every day. Their quarrel made everyone else uncomfortable too.
If the two of them really fought, whose side were the others supposed to take?
Earlier, they had heard the male educated youths say that Feng Jiaojiao had been sent back by An Jianjun, and they had all been stunned.
After all, didn’t Educated Youth Qin like An Jianjun?
She was always hanging around An’s mother, and she frequently visited the An family.
They weren’t stupid. How could they not see what was going on?
All the female educated youths here were already in their twenties.
If they had been living in the city, they would have reached the age when their families started arranging introductions for marriage long ago.
But they had kept postponing things. Many of them were now considering finding a suitable man in the brigade and getting married.
Of course, there were also plenty who firmly believed they would eventually return to the city and refused to settle down and marry just anyone.
An Jianjun was one of the few outstanding young men in the brigade.
Who wouldn’t want to win over such an excellent man?
“We’re fine. We just had a little disagreement.”
Qin Siyu would never let the others see what she was really thinking, so she continued working as though nothing had happened.
“No way. Qin Siyu, you’re way too timid! Someone stole your man and you can still put up with it? If it were me, I would’ve scratched her face to pieces. Let’s see if she’d still dare to flirt with men everywhere!”
Zhao Meili loved watching a good show and had no problem adding fuel to the fire.
Zhao Meili had always considered herself pretty enough.
She never expected Qin Siyu and Feng Jiaojiao to arrive and completely outshine her.
Feng Jiaojiao especially annoyed her.
All she had to do was cry, and there would always be some softhearted fool willing to help her, allowing her to get away without working.
When Zhao Meili had first arrived, she hadn’t been used to the hard labor and had cried from exhaustion.
But everyone had criticized her. Not a single person had offered to help.
It was obvious that they treated people differently.
Feng Jiaojiao dressed up beautifully every day, looking like some seductive little fox.
“Zhao Meili, I suggest that if you have some free time, you should spend it taking better care of yourself. Your skin is so rough you could practically use it to plant rice seedlings, and you still have time to meddle in other people’s business.”
Qin Siyu certainly wasn’t going to indulge Zhao Meili.
“Ah! What did you say?!”
Zhao Meili covered her face and shouted. She immediately pulled the little mirror from her pocket and checked her reflection.
She spent every day exposed to the wind and sun, working in the fields, and never used any skincare products.
How could her skin possibly stay smooth?
“All right, Laidi. Take Meili back to the room and let her rest for a while. Siyu and I can handle things here. Tomorrow will be your turn to cook again.”
Wang Yan immediately told Song Laidi to take Zhao Meili away.
The other pair had only just stopped arguing. She didn’t want these two to start fighting again.
“What? Third Son, you’re going to marry Educated Youth Feng?!”
The entire An family erupted into chaos.