Tan Xuesong lowered his voice and said excitedly: “Educated Youth Song gave it to me. I already ate mine, this one was specially saved for you!”
The fingers holding the cigarette trembled slightly.
After a few seconds of silence, Tan Jinhe still asked: “Why did she give you candy?”
“Not just me, Xiao Jun and Xiao Hu got some too. Let me tell you, Fourth Uncle, Xiao Jun and Xiao Hu really like Educated Youth Song now. They say she’s pretty, looks good when she smiles, has a pleasant voice, and is generous! She’s gentle and cheerful with everyone!”
Was she like this with everyone…?
Smiling like that?
Looking at people like that?
Tan Jinhe had become so quiet that it was as if even the sound of his breathing had disappeared.
After praising Song Ziyao, Tan Xuesong raised his palm again and eagerly said: “Eat it, Fourth Uncle. It’s really delicious.”
“I don’t like candy. Take it away.”
“Ah?”
Tan Xuesong was somewhat stunned. Why did he feel that Fourth Uncle was not very happy?
“It’s already late. Get lost and go to sleep.”
Tan Xuesong scratched his head, puzzled by Fourth Uncle’s sudden temper.
He quietly placed the White Rabbit candy on the table in Tan Jinhe’s room before leaving.
Tan Jinhe took one final deep drag, then ruthlessly crushed the cigarette butt out with his fingers.
After a long while, a self-mocking cold laugh sounded in the air.
When Tan Jinhe got up the next day, he finally noticed the White Rabbit candy that Tan Xuesong had secretly left on his table.
After hesitating for a moment, he tossed the candy into the drawer and let it lie together with the others.
She still was not accustomed to the hard wooden bed. After getting up, Song Ziyao stretched and moved around for a while before the soreness eased.
While washing her face, Wen Xue looked at Song Ziyao and suddenly said in an envious tone: “How come you never get tanned?”
“Huh?”
Wen Xue pointed at her own face for Song Ziyao to see. “Look at me. My face and neck are obviously two different colors now, and my cheeks have even developed that bright red countryside flush.”
Wen Xue wailed: “It’s only been one day! If this goes on for a year, am I going to turn into a lump of charcoal?!”
Song Ziyao carefully examined Wen Xue’s face and discovered that it was indeed true.
Perhaps the sun was too harsh, and Wen Xue herself was already quite fair-skinned. After only one day under the sun, she had noticeably darkened.
If it were not for the spring water in the space, Song Ziyao estimated that she would have looked about the same as Wen Xue.
However, she did not know how to comfort Wen Xue. Anything she said would make it seem as though she were speaking from a position of privilege.
It was better to quietly listen to her complaints.
The task assigned to the new educated youths today was still weeding.
Perhaps because Song Ziyao had finished her task too quickly yesterday, the plot assigned to her today was obviously much larger.
…Did this count as lifting a rock only to drop it on her own foot?
However, with the space spring water, Song Ziyao was no longer afraid of the torment of ultraviolet rays. She simply put on a straw hat and went straight into the field.
As she worked, a sudden idea occurred to her.
She wanted to try planting some crops inside the space.
After furtively observing her surroundings and confirming that nobody was paying attention, she quickly pulled up a peanut plant.
The peanuts were not fully mature yet, but it did not matter. She would throw it into the space first.
After covering up the traces where the peanut plant had been pulled out and checking her surroundings again, Song Ziyao continued weeding as though nothing had happened.
No one came to help her today, so she could only work diligently by herself.
Wearing a straw hat, Song Ziyao squatted in the field. She was a tiny bundle, dressed in green clothes, and almost blended in with the peanut plants.
Yet Tan Jinhe spotted her at a glance.
She seemed very tired. Every now and then, she would pound her lower back.
Her hands also seemed to hurt. After a while, she would remove her gloves and blow on them.
…So delicate.
Tan Jinhe let out a scoff and strode away.
Two minutes later, he turned back.
A shadow suddenly fell beside her, startling Song Ziyao.
When she saw that it was Tan Jinhe, her shock instantly turned into delight.
“Why are you here?”
Tan Jinhe crouched down and began pulling weeds.
His movements were extremely fast, as though he did not need to distinguish which plants were weeds. His hands seemed to recognize them naturally.
Pressing a hand against her pounding chest, Song Ziyao softly asked: “Tan Jinhe, are you helping me?”
“Yes. The candy you gave yesterday was too valuable.”
The light in Song Ziyao’s eyes dimmed.
So that was the reason…
As if deliberately trying to oppose him, Song Ziyao said: “The candy yesterday was a thank-you gift for helping move things. You’re helping me weed today, so later I’ll have to give you another thank-you gift for weeding.”
Unexpectedly, Tan Jinhe replied without even turning his head: “There’s no need. Once I finish helping you pull the weeds, neither of us will owe the other anything.”
There was nothing obviously wrong with those words, yet Song Ziyao felt uncomfortable hearing them.
For a moment, she said nothing.
Tan Jinhe worked even more efficiently than Tan Xuesong and the others.
After working through the morning and then returning for another hour before noon, all the weeds had been cleared away.
When he left, he did not say a single word. Even when Song Ziyao called out to him, he never turned around.
…How had she offended him?