Shen Qinghe worked through several big dishes in one go: spicy stir-fried dried chicken, braised pork, braised fish, green peppers stir-fried with mixed small fish, spicy crayfish, and a pork-rib soup. After tasting them, she nodded in satisfaction—looks like her cooking skills hadn’t gone rusty after all.
Dabao, Erbao, Sanbao, Sibao, and Wubao—five little bean sprouts—crowded around her, staring eagerly. She handed each of them a crayfish and told them to suck out the flavor. Wubao was so辣 that he kept hissing and panting, yet couldn’t stop licking it anyway, making Zhao Huiru laugh uncontrollably.
“Xiao He, your cooking’s really improved,” Zhao Huiru said. “Forget the kids—even I want to eat just from the smell.”
“Exactly,” another woman chimed in. “Sister-in-law and I were just whispering about it. Little sister’s cooking is almost on par with the chefs at the state-run restaurant.”
“You’re exaggerating,” Shen Qinghe said with a smile. “There’s more meat and oil today—of course it tastes good.”
Liu Lanying shook her head. “Mom used to cook too, and it’s not like she never made braised pork. It just never tasted as good as this.”
Zhao Huiru laughed. “If Mom hears that, she’ll be heartbroken.”
Everyone laughed together.
“Time to serve the dishes.”
Besides the meat dishes, Shen Qinghe had also stir-fried two or three vegetable dishes. The staples were steamed white rice and wheat-flour mantou. For a rural household, this was an exceptionally lavish spread—about as good as it got even for New Year.
The table was completely filled. Xu Chenfeng inhaled the aroma and swallowed hard. So fragrant! These past few days, eating at Shen Hongwei’s place, his mouth had been so bland it might as well have grown feathers. But rural families didn’t have much to eat to begin with, so he’d been too embarrassed to make requests. All he could do was try his luck at the supply and marketing cooperative—if he managed to buy some meat, that counted as improving his meals.
But how could that meat compare to what was on the Shen family’s table?
He glanced at Huo Yanxiu, who looked expressionless, and complained inwardly—showing off. As if he didn’t know who it was that hadn’t eaten much these past two days.
“Comrade Huo, Comrade Xu, don’t be shy—eat up!” Zhou Chunfeng said cheerfully.
“That’s right,” someone added. “It’s hot these days; the food won’t keep overnight. If we don’t finish it, it’ll be wasted. You must eat it all!”
“Then we won’t stand on ceremony, Auntie.”
“Don’t stand on ceremony at all!”
Shen Xingqing even brought out his treasured bottle of baijiu. But Huo Yanxiu and Xu Chenfeng couldn’t drink, so only Shen Xingqing and the father-and-sons duo Shen Qingshan and Shen Qingsong each poured themselves a small cup.
Halfway through the meal, someone suddenly called from outside, “Is Qinghe here?” It was a young woman’s voice.
“Who is it?” Shen Qingsong frowned. Showing up at mealtime was extremely rude in their village—it practically screamed here to freeload.
“I’ll go take a look,” Shen Qingbai said, standing up.
Others might not know who the visitor was, but Shen Qinghe knew all too well. She lowered her eyes and clenched her fists—it was that bitch Lin Yingxue!
Huo Yanxiu glanced at her, then quickly looked away.
Before long, Shen Qingbai returned with a grim expression, followed by a pale-faced Lin Yingxue.
The Shen family’s faces all darkened. Though they had no concrete proof, they were convinced this Lin woman had something going on with Gu Lichuan. Otherwise, why would he abandon the woman he was discussing marriage with and rush off to save her instead?
Huo Yanxiu and Xu Chenfeng were guests; naturally, they said nothing. The room fell into an awkward silence.
Lin Yingxue seemed oblivious to the atmosphere. She went straight to Shen Qinghe. “Qinghe, after I fell into the water, I was unconscious for a long time. I just woke up today. I came to thank you—thank you for saving me.”
As she spoke, she lifted the items in her hand. “These are for you, to help you recover.”
Zhou Chunfeng snorted lightly and shot back sarcastically, “Comrade Lin, you’ve got the wrong person. It was Gu Lichuan who saved you. If you want to say thanks, you should be thanking him!”
Lin Yingxue’s eyelashes trembled. She said cautiously, “I’m sorry, Qinghe. I don’t know why Comrade Gu saved me either. Maybe it’s because he knew you could swim? Qinghe, please don’t blame Comrade Gu, and don’t let me affect the relationship between the two of you.”
Shen Qinghe had already steadied her emotions. She looked at Lin Yingxue and said, “Comrade Lin, we’re not familiar with each other. Please don’t call me Qinghe—that’s a name only my family uses. I’ll accept the things you brought. As for matters between Gu Lichuan and me, that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with you, does it?”
Embarrassment flashed across Lin Yingxue’s face. She seemed to glance at Huo Yanxiu unintentionally before explaining, “Q-… Comrade Shen, I didn’t mean it like that. I just—”
“No matter what you meant, it has nothing to do with you. Understand? We’re eating. If you have nothing else, Comrade Lin, please leave.”
Zhou Chunfeng was just as blunt. “We didn’t cook enough food, so we won’t be keeping you.”
Lin Yingxue dug her nails into her palm. Country people are country people—no manners at all!
Once she left, Shen Xingqing looked apologetically at Huo Yanxiu. “Comrade Huo, let’s continue eating.”
……
In the grove near the educated-youth compound.
Lin Yingxue curled into the arms of a tall, handsome man, tears brimming. “Lichuan, don’t blame Qinghe. She really was wronged today.”
“I heard your marriage talks fell through. It’s all my fault…”
Gu Lichuan shook his head and said in a low voice, “It has nothing to do with you. Shen Qinghe is just making a big deal out of nothing. Don’t worry—tomorrow I’ll go over and coax her a bit. She’ll be fine.”
Lin Yingxue’s expression stiffened. “Really…?”
“Mhm. Don’t worry.”
Gu Lichuan knew very well how satisfied Shen Qinghe was with him. In Shenjia Bay, where else could she find a better match than him? She would definitely still marry him. Right now she was just putting on airs. That was why he hadn’t taken today’s incident seriously at all.
This time, he had indeed gone too far and hurt her feelings. Tomorrow, if he went to her house and said a few nice words to coax her, that should settle it.
Although he didn’t like Shen Qinghe—he thought she was too calculating and vain—she truly was the most suitable marriage partner for him.
Not only was her family well-off, she was also capable. She would surely help him take good care of his grandfather, his widowed mother, and his younger sister.
And now he’d thought it through: Grandpa was right. If he married Lin Yingxue, his future would be over. At only twenty, he was already a deputy company commander, with boundless prospects ahead. Did he really want to spend his whole life as nothing more than a deputy company commander?
Of course not.
So no matter how much he liked Lin Yingxue, he couldn’t marry her right now. But in other ways, he could make it up to her more.
Gu Lichuan was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly heard a soft sob. He lowered his head and saw Lin Yingxue’s face streaked with tears, crying pitifully.
“Xiaoxue, what’s wrong?”