Song Yunqiao carried her basket and left the educated youth dormitory.
At this time, there weren’t many people on the road. Seeing the unfamiliar surroundings, she suddenly felt a little scared and quickened her pace as she walked.
“Comrade Song!”
Suddenly, a man jumped out from the roadside and blocked her path, startling her.
Li Gouzi showed a mouth full of yellow teeth and grinned lewdly.
“Comrade Song, don’t be afraid. I’m Li Gouzi. We’ve met before.”
Song Yunqiao frowned deeply when she saw him.
He Suxia had already told her this man was not a good person—and even without being told, she could tell at a glance.
“Please move aside. Comrade He is waiting for me up ahead,” she said deliberately, hoping to make him wary.
“I remember Comrade He and the others went to town today,” Li Gouzi said smugly.
He had personally seen the educated youths leave the village that morning. Not seeing Song Yunqiao among them, he had been wandering nearby. Even if she hadn’t come out today, he would have eventually gone to the educated youth dorm to check things out.
Song Yunqiao tightened her grip on the basket. She realized this Li Gouzi had clearly already figured out the situation at the dormitory.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m very gentle with girls,” Li Gouzi said, stepping closer boldly.
“Move aside, or I won’t be polite!” Song Yunqiao warned coldly.
Instead of being scared, Li Gouzi laughed even more recklessly.
“Oh? And how exactly are you going to be ‘not polite’?”
He knew there was no one around today and that this road was usually deserted, which made him even more brazen.
Song Yunqiao threw the basket at him and turned to run.
Li Gouzi dodged slightly and immediately chased after her.
She ran with all her strength. She didn’t run toward the educated youth dormitory—He Suxia and the others might not be back yet. If she failed to stop him there, she would be walking straight into danger. Even if nothing happened, if someone saw it, her reputation would be ruined beyond repair.
But Li Gouzi, being a rural man, quickly caught up to her.
Song Yunqiao grabbed a branch from the ground to defend herself.
“I advise you to behave. That way you’ll suffer less,” Li Gouzi said breathlessly, already thinking he had won.
“You dare? If I report you to the police, you’ll be charged with hooliganism and go to prison!”
“So what? If I can get a beauty like you, I don’t care about prison,” he said as he lunged at her.
The branch in her hand was useless. In trying to dodge him, Song Yunqiao twisted her ankle and fell to the ground.
Just as Li Gouzi was about to pounce on her, he was suddenly kicked flying.
Jiang Jiyuan stood two steps away from her. His tall figure loomed over her.
“Damn it! Which bastard kicked me!” Li Gouzi yelled, struggling to get up after being sent flying.
When he saw who stood there, his face turned pale.
“Bro… Brother Yuan… what are you doing here?”
Jiang Jiyuan said coldly, “Do I need to report where I go to you?”
Li Gouzi immediately panicked.
“No, no! You don’t need to tell me. I was just in your way. I’ll leave right now!”
As he spoke, he even tried to pull Song Yunqiao away with him.
At that moment, Song Yunqiao somehow gathered courage and hugged Jiang Jiyuan’s leg tightly, like she was clinging to a lifeline.
After running and falling, her clothes were covered in dirt, her hair was messy, and her originally fair face was smudged. Only her bright, tearful almond eyes looked up at him.
For a moment, Jiang Jiyuan’s heartbeat skipped.
He couldn’t see anything else—only those eyes filled with a silent plea for help.
Li Gouzi tried to take the chance to drag her away again, but when he met Jiang Jiyuan’s gaze, he immediately backed down. Realizing Jiang Jiyuan’s meaning, he reluctantly left, cursing under his breath as he walked away.
Seeing him leave, Song Yunqiao finally let out a breath of relief. She released Jiang Jiyuan and stood up.
“Thank you,” she said gratefully.
If not for him, she didn’t even dare imagine what would have happened.
“It’s nothing,” Jiang Jiyuan replied.
His tone was no longer as cold as before, though someone familiar with him could detect a slight awkwardness in it.
Right now, Song Yunqiao didn’t think about anything else—she just wanted to get back quickly. Only then did she realize she had run so far in panic that she didn’t even know where she was.
Seeing her confusion, Jiang Jiyuan said, “I’m heading back too. Follow me.”
“Thank you so much,” she said sincerely.
She felt like he had been sent by heaven to save her.
Jiang Jiyuan led her through the woods, and soon they returned to the educated youth dormitory.
He Suxia and the others hadn’t returned yet. After saying goodbye, Song Yunqiao went inside and locked the door tightly, then locked the women’s room from inside as well. Today’s incident had truly frightened her.
What she didn’t know was that Jiang Jiyuan had not left immediately—he stayed hidden nearby to make sure she was safe until all the educated youths returned, and only then did he leave.
He Suxia had a good day in town. In fact, all the educated youths were in good spirits—but she immediately noticed something was off with Song Yunqiao.
“Xiaoqiao, what’s wrong?”
“I’m fine,” Song Yunqiao replied weakly.
“Are you feeling unwell?” He Suxia asked, reaching out to touch her forehead.
“No fever…”
“I just sprained my foot,” Song Yunqiao said, not mentioning what had really happened.
“Let me take a look.”
Seeing her swollen and red ankle, He Suxia gasped.
“How did this happen?”
“I planned to go exchange eggs in the village, but I accidentally twisted it on the way out and also dropped your basket. I’ll buy you a new one once I recover,” Song Yunqiao said apologetically.
“It’s just a basket, you don’t need to replace it. You should apply medicine on your foot,” He Suxia said. “Wait here, I’ll go buy some medicine.”
She hurried out.
Song Yunqiao tried to call her back to give her money, but she had already rushed off. Still, seeing her concern made Song Yunqiao feel a little better.
Meanwhile, Ma Xiaoping had overheard everything. She curled her lips and left the room. She was no longer as eager to please Song Yunqiao as before, and even spoke ill of her behind her back. Now she had become close with An Yanyan instead.
He Suxia quickly returned with medicine and helped apply it. Then she suddenly remembered something and took out an envelope from her bag.
“This is a letter for you. I picked it up for you in town today.”