Ma Xiaoping naturally also heard what An Yanyan said. When no one was looking, she curled her lips in disdain. She had never seen anyone with thicker skin than herself.
After a full day of work, everyone was completely exhausted. The educated youths quickly finished cleaning up and went straight to bed to rest.
..
Night fell completely
The sky had turned pitch black, and everything outside was dark. The village had gotten electricity years ago, but villagers were reluctant to spend money on electricity, so lights were rarely turned on at night. After dinner, they usually went straight to bed.
Jiang Jiyuan walked along a quiet path, carrying a wooden bucket in his hand.
He wasn’t alone—Wu Hongliang was with him. Wherever Wu Hongliang went, there was never silence. He kept talking nonstop about how beautiful the new educated youths were. Jiang Jiyuan felt like his ears were about to develop calluses.
“Brother Yuan, if you don’t believe me, I’ll take you to see them tomorrow.”
“No.”
Jiang Jiyuan refused without even thinking. He would rather spend the time working and earning more work points.
“Brother Yuan, I’ll be honest with you—don’t laugh at me. I think I’ve fallen for her.”
The “her” Wu Hongliang referred to was An Yanyan. He had only seen her from a distance in the fields that morning, but her face had already been deeply imprinted in his mind. It was the first time he had ever felt like this in his life.
That day, Jiang Jiyuan had been assigned to a remote work area, so he hadn’t seen the new educated youths at all—but he also wasn’t interested.
The two of them lived in different directions, so they soon parted ways.
Wu Hongliang thought he was too dull and unromantic. With a wooden block like him, when would he ever manage to get a wife?
..
Jiang Jiyuan carried the bucket home, locked the door, and skillfully poured the fish into a large vat in the yard.
Hearing the noise, his mother, Ji Peilan, walked out of the house. She saw her eldest son covering the vat with a wooden lid to prevent anything from stealing or eating the fish at night.
“I told you not to go fishing anymore. You already work so hard during the day,” she said, heart aching for him.
“It’s fine. It doesn’t take much effort. It was just on the way,” Jiang Jiyuan replied casually.
Not only had he gone fishing, he had also taken the chance to wash himself in the river. It was getting hot, and many men in the village were bathing there as well.
Ji Peilan knew her son was sensible—he fished to supplement their meals and take care of her and his younger brothers.
“Go to bed early,” she said.
“You should rest early too,” he replied.
After speaking, they returned to their rooms separately.
..
“Big brother! Why didn’t you call me when you went to the river to bathe today!”
Jiang Jiyuan had just entered when he heard his second younger brother, Jiang Jijing, complaining.
“You weren’t even home, you wild kid,” Jiang Jiyuan shot back without mercy.
Jiang Jijing knew he couldn’t win against his brother, so he snorted proudly and stopped talking to him.
The third brother, Jiang Jianan, secretly laughed on the side. In this household, the only person who could control the second brother was the eldest.
“Third brother, what are you laughing at!” Jiang Jijing immediately noticed.
Jiang Jianan quickly stopped smiling and said innocently, “I didn’t laugh.”
“I clearly saw you!”
Jiang Jiyuan spoke up coldly, “Are you all going to sleep or not?”
As soon as the eldest brother spoke, both younger brothers immediately fell silent.
Soon, all three of them fell asleep.
The next morning
After a full day of work, the new educated youths woke up with sore arms and legs.
Because Song Yunqiao had drunk the spiritual spring water, she was fine after a night’s rest.
An Yanyan had only worked half a day and didn’t do much, so she was also fine.
As for Ma Xiaoping, if it weren’t for food, she wouldn’t have gone to the fields again even if she were beaten to death.
In the morning, Song Yunqiao brewed herself a cup of malted milk drink. Seeing this, Ma Xiaoping quickly ran over.
“Xiaoqiao, let me have some of your malted milk too. You don’t know, my arms and legs are killing me right now. I really need something good to recover,” she said eagerly.
Song Yunqiao looked at her innocently and asked, “Didn’t you bring any from home?”
Ma Xiaoping’s expression immediately became awkward. Her family was poor, and even if they had bought malted milk, it wouldn’t have been given to her. But Song Yunqiao was different—she came from a good family and wasn’t stingy. That was why Ma Xiaoping had been relying on her for food and snacks.
“Xiaoqiao, are you mad at me for not helping you work yesterday? Don’t worry, I’ll definitely help you today. You just rest,” Ma Xiaoping said, thinking Song Yunqiao was upset about that.
Song Yunqiao didn’t buy it at all.
“No need. Just take care of yourself.”
“Xiaoqiao… did I do something wrong? If I did, tell me. I can change,” Ma Xiaoping said anxiously. She knew life in the countryside was hard, so she couldn’t afford to fall out with Song Yunqiao.
Since she insisted, Song Yunqiao finally said directly:
“Then I’ll make it clear. From now on, don’t think about getting food or drinks from me. We can’t be friends anymore. Let’s just keep our distance.”
Ma Xiaoping looked as if she had been struck hard emotionally. At that moment, An Yanyan happened to walk in from outside.
Song Yunqiao didn’t want to stay in the room anymore, so she took her cup and went outside.
Ma Xiaoping panicked. She didn’t understand why Song Yunqiao had suddenly changed—she had clearly been easy to manipulate before.
An Yanyan, for reasons unknown, walked up to Ma Xiaoping and said, “You treat her like a good friend, but she may not see you the same way. Why suffer for someone like that?”
Ma Xiaoping disliked both Song Yunqiao and An Yanyan, but she didn’t yet know An Yanyan’s background, so she didn’t dare to openly clash with her. Instead, she pretended to defend Song Yunqiao.
“Xiaoqiao and I have been friends for years. I must have done something wrong. Once she calms down, everything will be fine.”
Seeing this, An Yanyan said nothing more, only thinking Ma Xiaoping had no backbone.
Not long after breakfast, the work bell rang, and the educated youths headed to the fields together.
Song Yunqiao had asked He Suxia and the others and learned that the village was generally simple and honest, but every place had its troublemakers. As a newcomer, she felt it was safer to follow the older educated youths.
Wu Hongliang pulled Jiang Jiyuan, who was working hard nearby, and said, “Brother Yuan, look—those new educated youths are pretty, right?”
Today, Wu Hongliang had even asked his father to assign him work near the educated youths on purpose.
Jiang Jiyuan was busy working and barely paid attention, only responding casually.
Seeing his reaction, Wu Hongliang found it boring. After thinking for a moment, he grabbed his tool and walked toward An Yanyan.