Su Ying turned her head and saw Zhou Kuangye walking toward them, pushing his bicycle with one hand while holding an exquisite box in the other.
Oh no, how did he see us again?!
Am I going to be punished again?
Su Ying twisted her fingers together and trotted over to him, wrapping her arms around his arm. “A-Ye, where did you go? Why are you coming from the village entrance?”
Zhou Kuangye looked down at her ingratiating smile and immediately knew she had done something guilty again. He glanced at her sideways and said calmly, “Weren’t you fussing about wanting cream cake? I went to buy it for you. What are you doing here?”
Su Ying hadn’t expected him to return so quickly. Her eyes lit up with delight, and her smile became more genuine. “A-Ye, I was just waiting for you here. I was waiting especially for you.”
“Is that so? Then what were you just talking about with Lu Pingshu?”
“Tell me all about it.”
Su Ying’s heart sank. From his tone, she could tell he was definitely angry. If she didn’t come up with a reasonable excuse, she was done for.
“I…” Her eyes darted around nervously. “I was just cooling off by the river. He came over to me on his own. You can’t blame me—I’m innocent.”
Sorry, Lu Pingshu, you’ll have to take the blame for this one.
“Is that so? I’ve warned him many times not to come looking for you, and yet he still does. Looks like I’ll have to teach him a proper lesson.”
Zhou Kuangye kept his eyes fixed on her. Seeing that she didn’t react when he threatened to go confront Lu Pingshu, he felt a little better and walked over to Lu Pingshu.
“Lu Pingshu, you’ve been harassing my girlfriend again and again. What exactly are you trying to do?”
“I heard you got into university? If I write a letter reporting you for seducing someone else’s girlfriend, do you think you’ll still be able to attend?”
If this man refused to repent, then he couldn’t blame him for being ruthless.
“I didn’t do anything,” Lu Pingshu instinctively retorted. If Zhou Kuangye really reported him, all his hard work to get into university would be for nothing.
His eyes shifted to the right as he tried to justify himself. “I was just cooling off here too, and I happened to run into Su Ying. I didn’t say anything to her. There’s no need for you to be so tense.”
Afraid that Zhou Kuangye might actually go and send a letter, Lu Pingshu made up an excuse and left in a hurry.
Zhou Kuangye watched him scurry away and snorted disdainfully, his tone full of arrogance and mockery. “Hmph, what a coward.”
If Lu Pingshu had actually stood up to him, he might have respected him a little. But to back down so easily—what right did he have to compete with him?
Su Ying silently watched Lu Pingshu’s retreating figure and pouted. He really wasn’t that brave after all.
“Still looking? Why don’t you run after him and go back to the educated youth dorm together? I’ll just feed the cream cake to the pigs.”
Zhou Kuangye looked down and saw the woman staring at Lu Pingshu’s back. Annoyed, he clenched his jaw and pinched her soft cheek.
“Ouch, I wasn’t! I wasn’t looking at him. The cream cake is mine!”
Su Ying’s mouth was squeezed into a pout, and unable to break free, she could only reach out to scratch him.
“Good, you know what’s good for you. Let’s go home.”
Zhou Kuangye draped his arm over her shoulder, leaned on his small walking stick, and headed home.
Su Ying silently bore the weight of his heavy arm, huffing and puffing as she walked home. As she gazed at the golden wheat fields stretching as far as the eye could see, for some reason, her heart felt much lighter.
The sky gradually darkened, the summer night shedding a hint of the day’s heat. Su Ying walked to a large tree and couldn’t help but stop.
“A-Ye, I want to finish the cake before going back.”
“It’s too stuffy at home, not as cool as outside. The cake will melt if we leave it too long.”
This little woman was full of whims, but such a small request was hardly something Zhou Kuangye would refuse.
He simply parked the car by the roadside, wiped the stone beneath the tree with his sleeve, and said, “Sit here.”
Su Ying happily sat down, immediately opening the cake box. The snow-white cream was as pure as clouds in the sky. Unable to wait, she buried her face in it.
Her mouth and the tip of her nose were smeared with the snowy cream.
Finally tasting the treat she had longed for, and finding it exceptionally delicious, Su Ying’s eyes sparkled brightly. “So good!!”
Zhou Kuangye watched her greedy, kitten-like eating, the corners of his lips curling slightly. He brushed the cream from the tip of her nose with his fingertip, his tone carrying a tenderness he himself didn’t notice.
“Eat slowly, no one’s going to take it from you.”
Su Ying was selfish. This hard-won cream cake was going straight into her stomach.
Even the bit on Zhou Kuangye’s fingertip wasn’t spared. She leaned over and lightly licked it with the tip of her tongue, savoring it in her mouth.
She even guarded the cake jealously in her arms, not giving Zhou Kuangye a single bite.
It was all hers, and she was going to finish every last crumb!
The soft sensation brushing against Zhou Kuangye’s finger sent a jolt through his body like an electric shock.
His mind filled with the image of her sticking out her tongue to lick his finger, her rosy lips glistening, slightly parted, the pink tongue delicate and warm.
He swallowed hard, clenching that hand tightly, sitting with his legs spread wide beside the woman.
As she ate, Su Ying asked curiously, “A-Ye, how did you manage to buy the cake? You need coupons for this kind of cake.”
Over the past two years at the educated youth outpost, only she and Zhou Kuangye had never received letters from home, as if abandoned by their families.
She naturally grouped Zhou Kuangye with herself—both were unfavored children at home, with no connections or influence. Otherwise, they would have found a way back to the city long ago.
So, his ability to buy the cake so quickly was nothing short of miraculous.
Zhou Kuangye recalled the past.
His parents had likely sensed trouble brewing, so during their last visit, they gave him plenty of coupons and money. Even after being implicated and sent to the countryside,
given his performance in the military, not all his belongings were confiscated, which was how he had the coupons to buy her the cake.
But these matters were not honorable, and he didn’t want her to know.
His eyes fixed on the cake, a playful glint flashed. “Give me a bite.”
Su Ying reacted as if startled, covering the cake protectively. She turned her little bottom, presenting her back to him, her curiosity gone as she snapped fiercely, “No!”
Her possessive, selfish yet adorable demeanor made Zhou Kuangye lean back comfortably against the tree. He gazed at the high-hanging moon, listening to the woman beside him munching on the cake.
His heart felt a lightness and joy he had never known before.
Only after Su Ying had polished off every last crumb of the cake did she return home, thoroughly satisfied.
That night, the two miraculously didn’t fuss, sleeping peacefully through the night. Zhou Kuangye watched her adorable sleeping face, staying awake to fan her tirelessly with a palm-leaf fan.
Watching the woman sleeping beside him and listening to her steady breathing, he felt an unusual sense of peace.
“Boom—!” A muffled roar came from the west of the village, so loud that the ground trembled twice. Zhou Kuangye instantly sprang up, alert—what was that commotion?
The village lit up in an instant, and the noise outside grew louder. Zhou Kuangye was about to go out and investigate.
Su Ying was also startled awake. Timid by nature, she threw herself into the man’s arms, clinging tightly to his waist. “A-Ye, don’t go. I’m scared.”
Zhou Kuangye had no choice but to comfort her first, patting her slender shoulders. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here. Let me go check, and I’ll be back soon.”
“No, I don’t want you to go.”
Su Ying draped one leg over him, sitting in his lap, refusing to let him leave.
Soon, someone knocked on the courtyard gate. “Comrade Zhou, a wild boar came down the mountain and knocked over a house at the west end of the village. Let’s go check it out!”
Zhou Kuangye recognized the voice—it was Wang Changgang, who lived next door.
Looking at the woman stubbornly clinging to him, he whispered gently, “Ying Bao, be good. Get up first. I’ll go take a look and be back soon.”
When Su Ying heard it was a wild boar, she held him even tighter, trembling all over, her voice filled with fear.
“Wild boars are terrifying. They have long tusks that can gore people’s stomachs open. A-Ye, don’t go.”
Zhou Kuangye felt his heart soften at her concern. He held her tightly and reassured her, “Don’t be afraid. Your man is strong enough to take down a wild boar. Be good. I’ll be back soon. Just rest easy.”
But Su Ying refused to listen, pressing her full weight onto his legs. “No, no! Anyone else can go, but not you. If you get gored to death by a wild boar, who will protect me? You can’t go!!”
Zhou Kuangye thought about simply moving her aside, but as he gripped her soft, fleshy arm, his resolve wavered.
“Kuang Ye, hurry up! The Brigade Leader is already gathering the village’s strong men to hunt the wild boar.” Wang Changgang kept knocking on the door, wondering why Zhou Kuangye, who was usually so quick to act, hadn’t come out yet.
If the Brigade Leader was mobilizing people, the situation must be serious. Zhou Kuangye didn’t want to stand by and do nothing, so he made a move to peel the woman off him.
Feeling the man’s force, Su Ying began to sob pitifully. “Waaah, I don’t want you to go. I can’t bear to let you.”
“Waaah, there are so many people in the village. They don’t need you. Don’t go.”
Seeing tears quickly streaking her face, Zhou Kuangye sighed helplessly. “Ying Bao, can you be good for me?”
In the educated youth compound, the other educated youths had also woken up from the commotion. In the women’s dormitory, Wu Yan suddenly sat up. She remembered this wild boar incident—it had been quite serious.
The village’s able-bodied men, including Zhou Kuangye, had all gone to hunt the wild boar. But in the darkness, the boar was fast, and no one noticed there were actually two of them.
While chasing one boar, the other suddenly charged out from the shadows, knocking a villager to the ground. Zhou Kuangye tried to pull him up but was bitten on the arm by the boar, nearly crippling his entire hand.
That night, they didn’t manage to kill a single boar. It wasn’t until the next day, after regrouping, that they found and successfully killed both boars.
If she could stop him from going this time and save him, he would surely remember this favor.
Thinking this, Wu Yan felt a surge of excitement. She immediately slipped on her cloth shoes and hurried toward the west side of the village.
Wen Zi also knew about this plot in the book and immediately put on her shoes, following behind Wu Yan.