It happened on the third day.
In the three days since Su Qing arrived at the sent-down youth station, she had done three things.
First: Using the spiritual spring water, she restored her appearance from gaunt and sallow to glowing and ruddy.
The effect was instant.
On the first day, people only thought she was fair-skinned. By the third, it looked as if she was glowing from within.
Her skin was as smooth as a peeled egg, her lips a natural soft pink. Walking under the sun, she seemed to carry her own soft glow filter.
Other youths who had labored in the fields for months had shed three layers of sunburnt skin, yet here she was, growing more beautiful by the day.
Infuriating, wasn’t it?
Downright maddening.
Second: She fed herself into radiant good health with food from her storage space.
While others gnawed on coarse corn buns with pickled vegetables, she tucked into braised pork over fluffy white rice, hidden safely under her quilt.
Of course, she only ate it after everyone else had fallen asleep—but the rich scent lingered until the next morning, making the youth in the bunk next to her so hungry he nearly chewed through his own pillow.
Third: She quietly won everyone over with malted milk and itch-relieving herbal remedies.
Shortly after Ma Hongmei’s mysterious bout of itching, two more youths fell ill—one came down with sudden diarrhea, the other broke out in blisters on her feet.
All three had treated Su Qing poorly when she first arrived.
And all three were “coincidentally” nursed back to health by her carefully prepared herbs.
In just three days, the entire station’s attitude toward Su Qing had turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees. She was no longer seen as a soft, easy target for picking on, but as Comrade Su—someone who clearly had skills, was not to be trifled with, and was actually quite kind.
Su Qing was perfectly satisfied with this outcome.
Phase one: winning over the people, complete.
Late on the third afternoon.
Su Qing went to fetch water from the well at the village entrance.
The sun was dipping below the horizon, painting the sky in vivid tangerine and crimson, and turning the yellow earth to burnished gold under the afterglow.
She carried a wooden bucket as she walked along the ridge between the fields.
Footsteps sounded behind her.
Not one pair. Two.
Su Qing did not turn around.
Her hearing was keener than most—one of the enhanced senses brought on by the spiritual spring water.
Two people: one with heavy, dragging steps, the other deliberately lightening his tread.
“Well now, Comrade Su.”
The voice came from behind, thick with a greasy smirk.
Su Qing stopped and turned.
Two men stood there.
The leader was the same shifty-eyed loafer who had spied on her from behind the wall—the village’s notorious good-for-nothing, Zhao Goudan.
Behind him hovered a short, stout accomplice, hunching his shoulders like a mere backup for show.
Zhao Goudan stuffed his hands into his sleeves, tilted his head and looked her up and down, his gaze dragging slowly from her face down her neck, collarbone, and waist.
“Out fetching water all alone this late?” He licked his lips. “Want big brother here to carry that for you?”
Su Qing said nothing.
She lowered her head and set the bucket on the ground, moving slowly.
Zhao Goudan assumed she was too terrified to speak, and his courage swelled. He took a step forward.
“None of the girls round here hold a candle to you,” he muttered, narrowing his eyes. “How about you let big brother—”
“Are you done?”
Su Qing lifted her head.
Her tone was perfectly flat, as if asking if he had eaten his dinner.
Yet Zhao Goudan’s words died in his throat.
There was something wrong with her eyes.
Those fox-like eyes curved gently, and her lips still wore a smile—but there was not a trace of warmth in their depths.
Cold enough to prickle the hair on the back of his neck.
Zhao Goudan froze for a second, then flushed with shame and anger. He had run wild in this village for over ten years, and no little girl had ever dared to stare him down like that.
“Stop playing innocent,” he snapped. “Let me tell you something—”
He lunged forward to grab her wrist.
His fingers had barely brushed the edge of her sleeve—
A dull thud rang out.
Heavy, solid, and final.
Like a sack of flour dropped straight from the second floor onto hard earth.
Zhao Goudan left the ground entirely.
Or more accurately, he was sent flying by a single kick from a military boot.
From the side.
He never even saw who had struck—only felt a blow as heavy as Mount Tai slam into his ribs, hurtling him three meters across the ridge before he crashed hard into the dirt, spitting out mouthfuls of soil and blood.
His stout accomplice’s legs gave out entirely, and he collapsed straight to his knees.
………
Lu Zhanye withdrew his leg, a smudge of mud on his combat boot.
He shook his foot clean, his face impassive.
As if he had just crushed an ant under his heel.
He had not happened to pass by by chance.
The moment Su Qing stepped out of the courtyard, he had known—he had arranged for Xiao Zhao to report her movements every day.
It sounded a little obsessive, he supposed.
But Lu Zhanye did not see it that way. He simply needed to make sure his “source of relief” remained safe.
That was what he told himself, for now.
By the time Xiao Zhao came panting over from the jeep, it was all over.
If it could even be called a fight.
Zhao Goudan lay groaning on the ground, unable to get up—he had clearly broken at least two ribs. His accomplice knelt trembling so hard his whole body shook.
Lu Zhanye stood before Su Qing, his back to the two men on the ground, and looked down at her.
The setting sun spilled behind him, wrapping his frame in dark gold light.
His expression was cold as ever.
But Su Qing noticed—when he saw she was unharmed, something deep in his gaze loosened, just for an instant. It was gone so fast she might have imagined it.
“Alright?”
Not a single word more than needed.
“I’m fine.” Su Qing nodded obediently.
His gaze lingered on her face for two seconds before he turned away. He did not spare Zhao Goudan a glance, fixing his eyes instead on Village Secretary Old Liu, who had hurried over at the noise.
“I’m taking these two.”
It was not a request. It was a statement of fact.
Old Liu’s face drained of color. “L-Leader, these are villagers—”
“Assaulting Comrade Su,” Lu Zhanye said, his tone as neutral as if reciting a regulation. “Charged with harassment.”
He paused.
“Next time, it won’t be just a kick.”
Old Liu swallowed hard.
Word had spread fast; a crowd had gathered at a distance, watching in dead silence, too afraid to breathe too loud.
………
Xiao Zhao dragged Zhao Goudan into the jeep’s trunk like a sack of potatoes.
Lu Zhanye did not get in right away. He turned back to Su Qing.
By the station gate, a ring of onlookers had gathered: Ma Hongmei, the other sent-down youths, and several village women—all eyes darting back and forth between him and Su Qing.
He did not care. In front of everyone, he spoke clearly, his voice quiet but carrying perfectly to every ear.
“Comrade Su is a specially appointed medical consultant for the military region, responsible for local health and epidemic prevention work.”
He had made it up. Just half an hour ago, in fact.
“As of today, her safety falls under the full protection of the military region.”
“And anyone who harms her—”
His gaze swept across the crowd, lingering briefly on Su Qing’s face.
“—is attacking the military region itself.”
Dead silence. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Su Qing stood among the crowd, looking wide-eyed and innocent, as if the title of “specially appointed military medical consultant” had nothing whatsoever to do with her.
But her fingers curled slightly at her sides.
Specially appointed by the military region. That was more than enough to let her walk tall in this village.
Lu Zhanye settled his cap firmly on his head and strode toward the jeep. As he passed Su Qing, he did not look at her—but his lips moved, so softly only she could hear.
“Don’t go out alone after dark from now on.”
Su Qing tilted her head just so. He had already walked past, his boots thudding steadily on the yellow earth.
She watched his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and straight, unyielding spine—like a sword drawn from its sheath.
A faint smile curved her lips.
It was not gratitude.
It was the satisfied calculation of a hunter appraising a prize catch.
This man—his status, his strength, his authority, and his very physical reliance on her—was the perfect shield she could have asked for.
And he was easy on the eyes, too.
Not a bad deal at all.
………
That night, in the crowded dormitory bunks, Ma Hongmei spoke to Su Qing first, for the very first time.
“Su Qing?”
“Mm?”
“About your bunk… would you like to move further in? The spot by the window is warmer.”
Su Qing peeked out from under her fluffy quilt, her face pale and smooth as jade, and blinked.
“Thank you, Sister Ma. But I’m fine right here.”
“By the way—has that blister on your foot healed? If it still hurts, I can make up some more medicine for you tomorrow.”
Ma Hongmei opened her mouth, but no words came. This girl—she herself had gone out of her way to make things hard for Su Qing, and yet Su Qing was still looking after her. Either she was truly kind, or…
She did not dare finish the thought.
“…Thanks.” Ma Hongmei turned over in bed. After a long pause, she added quietly, “If you need anything at all, just let me know.”
Su Qing smiled to herself under the covers. Number two at the sent-down youth station was now firmly in her corner.
Thousands of miles away, in the Lu family mansion in Beijing.
A woman in a tailored wool coat walked into the sitting room, her heels clicking sharply and arrogantly across the terrazzo floor. She sank into a sofa, crossed her legs, and curled her red lips into a confident smile.
“I heard Zhanye has been posted to the Northwest?”
The butler bowed respectfully. “Yes, Miss Lin. Young Master Lu was transferred to the Northwest Military Region three months ago.”
“Three months and not a single letter.” Lin Wanqing flicked a strand of curled hair behind her ear, her tone laced with unmistakeable possessiveness. “Once he’s back, we’ll have to finalize our engagement.”
“The Lu and Lin families are perfectly matched. Everyone in Beijing knows I’m Lu Zhanye’s fiancée.”
She picked up the tea the butler had poured and took a slow sip, her eyes gleaming with absolute certainty.
She had no idea—
That thousands of miles away, on the dusty yellow plains, the man she called her fiancé had just mobilized the full weight of the military to protect a quiet, unassuming sent-down youth.