Song Yunqiao carried her basket and went to the Jiang family’s house to knock on the door.
Today, Ji Peilan did not go to work in the fields.
Hearing the knock, she went to open the door.
Song Yunqiao smiled and asked politely, “Is this the home of Comrade Jiang Jiyuan?”
“Yes.”
Ji Peilan had seen her before and knew she was one of the new educated youths in the village, but she didn’t know why she had come knocking at their door.
“Comrade Jiang helped me before, so I came today especially to thank him,” Song Yunqiao said.
Ji Peilan paused in surprise. Her son had helped someone?
It wasn’t that she thought badly of her eldest son—in fact, Jiang Jiyuan was very good in her eyes. But she knew his personality well; he wasn’t someone who would take the initiative to help others, especially not educated youths.
Recovering, she said, “He’s out working. Come sit inside for a while.”
“No—”
Before Song Yunqiao could refuse, she was already pulled into the courtyard.
“Comrade Song, sit first. I’ll get you some water,” Ji Peilan said warmly.
“No need to trouble you, Auntie—”
But Ji Peilan had already gone inside.
Song Yunqiao hadn’t expected her to be so enthusiastic. Thinking of the basket in her hand, she lifted the cloth inside and took out the items, placing them on the stone table.
When Ji Peilan came out with a bowl, she saw the things on the table.
“Comrade Song, what are you doing?”
“These are just a small token of thanks. Last time Comrade Jiang helped me, and I didn’t get a chance to thank him properly,” Song Yunqiao said.
“That won’t do, take them back quickly,” Ji Peilan said, putting down the bowl and trying to return the items to the basket.
Song Yunqiao pressed her hand lightly. “Auntie, this is just my small token of appreciation.”
Although Ji Peilan stopped, she still couldn’t accept it.
“You young people already have a hard time in the countryside. Helping you is what he should do. You don’t need to give such valuable things.”
On the table were eggs, brown sugar, and biscuits—things that were not easy to obtain in this era.
“Auntie, please accept them. Compared to what Comrade Jiang did for me, this is still not enough,” Song Yunqiao insisted firmly.
Ji Peilan hesitated, unsure what exactly had happened between her son and Song Yunqiao.
After some back and forth, Song Yunqiao left the things behind and quickly left, afraid Ji Peilan would return them.
Watching her leave in a hurry, Ji Peilan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Among the newly arrived educated youths, there were two especially beautiful girls who were often talked about in the village. But this Song comrade was usually very low-key—people only said she was pretty and nothing more. Unlike the other one, who was rumored to have gotten close to the deputy team leader’s youngest son.
Jiang Jianan came out from the house and had seen and heard everything. He had met that beautiful older sister before.
When Jiang Jiyuan returned from work, he was called into the house by Ji Peilan, who told him what had happened that day.
He didn’t expect Song Yunqiao to come to his house—and even bring gifts.
Ji Peilan asked, “Ah Yuan, why did Comrade Song give you things?”
“Just helped her with a small matter,” Jiang Jiyuan replied flatly.
Although his tone and expression were cold, Ji Peilan could still sense something different in him—like he was slightly irritated.
“So what about these things?” she asked cautiously.
“Keep them,” he said, then turned and walked out.
This confirmed to Ji Peilan that he really was in a bad mood.
Jiang Jiyuan himself also felt increasingly unsettled. After a long while, he realized he was actually angry—but he didn’t even know why. He just felt a tightness in his chest when he thought about Song Yunqiao bringing gifts, as if she only did it to settle things cleanly between them.
Song Yunqiao, however, didn’t know any of this. She had sincerely come to thank him. Not only that, she even wanted to help him—at least to prevent him from going to jail. Thinking of this, she tried hard to recall the novel’s plot.
But no matter how she thought, she couldn’t remember why Jiang Jiyuan would end up in prison. She only remembered it was somehow related to the male and female leads. If she had known she would transmigrate, she would have read the book properly instead of skipping chapters.
In the afternoon, rumors suddenly spread that the team leader’s wife had brought gifts to the educated youth dormitory to propose marriage, but was rejected by An Yanyan. The story quickly became more and more exaggerated.
In the end, An Yanyan couldn’t stand the gossip and accusations anymore. She threw down what she was holding and ran back to the dormitory.
Wu Hongliang wanted to chase after her, but Jiang Xueming stopped him. Without hesitation, Wu Hongliang punched him. Jiang Xueming took the hit, then quickly retaliated, and soon the two were fighting.
Everyone nearby saw it clearly. By the time people reacted, they were already rolling on the ground.
A woman ran off to inform the team leader’s family.
Male educated youths and villagers rushed in to break up the fight.
When Wu Desheng arrived, Jiang Xueming and Wu Hongliang had already been separated, both injured.
On the way there, he had already heard that the fight was because of a woman.
He glared at Wu Hongliang in anger. This brat caused trouble every day!
“You two neglected work hours and fought, disrupting order. I’m deducting three days of work points!”
Neither Jiang Xueming nor Wu Hongliang cared about the punishment.
“Something’s wrong!” Jiang Xueming suddenly shouted and ran off.
“Where is he going?” someone asked.
He Suxia realized he was running toward the direction where An Yanyan had gone earlier. They had all focused on stopping the fight and forgotten the original cause.
“Comrade An!” someone called out.
Hearing this, Wu Hongliang immediately ran faster than anyone.
Wu Desheng cursed and followed.
Ma Xiaoping, who hated working, quickly joined in since she could watch the drama instead.
He Suxia and Sun Xiuzhen exchanged a look and followed as well.
More and more villagers joined in out of curiosity, thinking something serious had happened. Before long, a huge crowd gathered—an entire group of onlookers formed.
After lunch, everyone had gone back to work. Song Yunqiao was on sick leave and alone in the dormitory. After waking up from a nap, she was thinking about doing some light work when the door suddenly opened.
An Yanyan stormed in angrily.
“Song Yunqiao, what do you mean by this?!”
Song Yunqiao looked completely confused.
“What did I do?”
Seeing her reaction, An Yanyan became even angrier.
“Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you for you to spread rumors about me like this? How can your heart be so black-hearted?!”