At the Nan family home.
“Qianqian, stop crying. Look at your eyes. They’re swollen like walnuts.”
Nan Qianqian lay on the bed, the cold, hard surface beneath her stimulating her senses.
Originally, she had only wanted to fake-cry so that the Nan family wouldn’t believe Wu Yun’s nonsense.
Who would have thought that she would end up turning the act into reality and become unable to stop herself?
Perhaps… when she thought about how she had left her original world behind, she still felt a little sad.
“All right, Mom, go to sleep. I’m fine. Tomorrow morning, I still have to go with Dad to see Fu Nanxun.”
Nan Qianqian raised a hand and wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, her small, delicate nose twitching slightly.
She thought to herself that she needed to go to bed early. She still had to wake up early tomorrow to prepare.
After all, it would be her first time meeting Fu Nanxun. She had to leave him with a good impression.
“All right. Then go to sleep early. Mom will turn off the light for you, so don’t get up again.”
Seeing that her daughter had begun shooing her away, Li Cuihua didn’t say anything more.
She tucked Nan Qianqian’s blanket around her before turning helplessly and leaving the room.
The next day, Nan Qianqian woke up very early.
She didn’t know what time it was. There was neither a clock nor a watch in the house, so judging by the faint light outside, she estimated that it was probably around five or six in the morning.
Her delicate brows furrowed slightly.
It seemed that once she had money in the future, she would have to get herself a watch.
Nan Qianqian didn’t dwell on it any longer. She needed to see what clothes the original owner had.
Her eyes fell on the chest at the foot of the bed, the only place in the room that could be used to store clothes.
She figured the clothes should be inside, because apart from that chest, she hadn’t seen anywhere else that could hold things.
The original owner had several sets of clothes, but Nan Qianqian didn’t like a single one of them.
Looking at the gaudy clothes in her hands, she wondered what on earth these things were.
In the end, she reluctantly chose a pale yellow floral blouse and found a pair of black trousers.
After getting herself ready, she left the room.
In the countryside, everyone woke up very early because they had to go to the fields to work and earn work points. Only at the end of the year could they receive their share of grain.
**
Early in the morning, the Nan family sat around the table, drinking thin cabbage porridge with pickled vegetables and cornmeal steamed buns.
Nan Qianqian frowned.
People in this era really had it hard.
After she came back from seeing Fu Nanxun, she would have to start working in the fields too. She couldn’t spend every day eating and drinking for free like the original owner while taking it completely for granted.
The morning dew had yet to dry, but figures were already bent over working in the fields.
Nan Qianqian and her father walked for more than twenty minutes, passing countless dilapidated houses along the way.
She couldn’t help feeling emotional.
It was only 1975, and everyone was still living such tight, difficult lives.
There were still several years before the Reform and Opening Up. Only then would people’s lives gradually begin to improve. At the very least, they would be able to do some small business and the like.
However, when she reached the entrance of Fu Nanxun’s home, she was stunned.
Was this really a place fit for a person to live?
How could this even be called a house? It was clearly just a little straw hut. It was so tiny. Could anyone actually live in there?
Uh…
Fu Nanxun was inside, so obviously it was possible, but still…
“Ahem. Daughter, let’s go inside and take a look.”
When the village Party secretary saw his daughter’s jaw-dropping expression, he felt a little embarrassed.
Nanxun’s parents had died early, and he himself had always lived with the army. As a result, his family’s house had been taken over by the village and turned into the educated youth dormitory.
No one had expected him to suddenly be injured and sent back home, and there was no way to clear out the educated youth dormitory on such short notice.
The only vacant place was this thatched hut at the edge of the village, so the production team had temporarily placed Nanxun here.
He also felt that it was highly inappropriate, but at present, only Nanxun’s old family home could accommodate the dozen or so educated youths. Therefore, they could only arrange for Nanxun to stay here temporarily.
He had been so happy yesterday that he had completely forgotten about this matter.
It wasn’t until he had already brought his daughter to the doorstep that he suddenly remembered it.
“All right.”
Nan Qianqian’s delicate brows furrowed slightly, and she felt somewhat upset.
The two of them walked up to the thatched hut.
Seeing that the door was tightly shut, the village Party secretary called out, “Nanxun, Uncle came to see you.”
Not long afterward, Nan Qianqian heard the sound of something falling to the ground inside.
Then the door opened.
Nan Qianqian raised her eyes toward the doorway, and a tall, straight figure entered her sight.
The man was wearing an army-green shirt and a pair of dark navy trousers. One foot was inside a cloth shoe, while the other was wrapped in gauze.
Beneath his half-open shirt, a white undershirt could be seen. One hand supported himself with a wooden stick, while his sleeves were rolled up, revealing the powerful lines of muscle along his arms.
His short hair was clean and neat, his brows and eyes sharp, his nose high and straight, and his thin lips tightly pressed together.
His dark eyes were deep, and his handsome features naturally carried a cold, intimidating aura. At this moment, his complexion was slightly pale, giving him a faintly sickly appearance.
Nan Qianqian couldn’t help marveling at how handsome this man was.
He was even better-looking than the male celebrities on television.
With his height of around one hundred and eighty-five centimeters and that handsome, unsmiling face, if he were dressed in a suit, he would be the very image of a domineering CEO.
“Nanxun, have you eaten breakfast yet?”
“I have, Uncle.”
The man’s voice was deep and slightly hoarse. His low tone carried a lazy drawl at the end, giving it a faintly seductive quality.
Nan Qianqian followed her father inside and couldn’t help looking around.
There was a puddle of water on the floor beside the bed, and an enamel mug lay nearby.
It seemed its owner had accidentally knocked it onto the floor while hurriedly getting up.
Fu Nanxun limped as he led them inside.
Seeing the young girl staring at the floor, he finally remembered the enamel mug he had accidentally knocked over just now.
Nan Qianqian walked forward and bent down, reaching out to pick it up, when the man’s deep voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.
“Don’t. I’ll do it myself.”
Hearing this, Nan Qianqian still reached out and picked it up.
However, when she straightened, a “wall” had suddenly appeared in front of her.
She instinctively took a step backward, but her foot caught on something, causing her body to fall backward.
Just as she thought she was about to become intimately acquainted with the floor, a pair of large, dry, warm hands grabbed her.
Her body suddenly pitched forward, and her little face slammed solidly into a scorching-hot chest.
“Are you all right, Qianqian? You girl, you’re always so careless.”
Seeing this, the village Party secretary hurried over.
“I-I’m fine.”
Nan Qianqian’s pretty face flushed slightly.
She hurriedly took several steps backward, not daring to look at Fu Nanxun. She could only awkwardly turn her gaze aside.
Fu Nanxun’s expression remained unchanged, his thin lips pressed tightly into a straight line.
Only the tips of his ears slowly turned red.
His heart was pounding violently, as though something were about to burst out of his chest.
His palm and his chest seemed to still retain the warmth of her body, scorching him until it almost hurt.
He raised his eyes.
The young girl was wearing a yellow floral blouse, and her black hair had been tied into two braids that rested over her shoulders.
Her snow-white, oval-shaped face was now flushed red, making her look like a delicious apple.
Fu Nanxun’s breathing grew slightly hurried.
He quickly withdrew his gaze and invited them to sit down.
“Uncle, did you come here today because something happened?”
Fu Nanxun asked, yet his eyes no longer dared to glance at that lovely figure again.
The room was extremely simple. There was only a wooden plank bed, two stools, and a wooden table.
Nan Qianqian looked at the man.
Although his leg was injured, his body remained perfectly upright as he sat.
Suddenly remembering what had just happened, she felt mortified.
Their very first meeting, and she had already embarrassed herself to death.
This was just too much!
Speaking of which, she had been single since birth for twenty years, and this was the first time she had ever had such close physical contact with a man!
And just like that, the moment was already over before she even had time to properly experience it.
Although it had only been a brief hug!
“It’s nothing much. I just came to see you. Nanxun, let Uncle introduce someone to you. This is my daughter, Nan Qianqian. You can call her Qianqian.”
The village Party secretary enthusiastically pulled his daughter forward and introduced her.
Afterward, he introduced Fu Nanxun to Nan Qianqian.
“Qianqian, this is Nanxun. The two of you can spend more time together in the future. Nanxun is injured right now, isn’t he? When you have time, you can come over and visit him more often.”
Nan Qianqian secretly glanced at Fu Nanxun.
She couldn’t help rolling her eyes inwardly.
Wasn’t her father being a little too direct?
Wasn’t he basically acting as a matchmaker in disguise?
Wasn’t this the era when even holding hands could get someone accused of hooliganism?
Yet here he was, encouraging his own daughter to spend more time with a single man.
Fu Nanxun’s expression suddenly turned cold.
His dark eyes examined the person standing before him.
Nan Qianqian?
So she was the village Party secretary’s daughter that the plump auntie who had delivered his breakfast this morning had mentioned?
He had heard that her father wanted to marry her to him, but she had made such a huge fuss that she had even tried to kill herself by smashing her head against a wall.
He had also heard that the person she liked was that educated youth from the city.
Fu Nanxun’s sword-like brows knitted tightly together.
When he had heard about it this morning, he hadn’t cared.
But now that he thought about it, he inexplicably felt somewhat stifled inside.
His gaze fell on Nan Qianqian.
Only then did he notice the red swelling on her fair forehead, partially hidden beneath her hair.
The slight heat that had just risen in his heart instantly vanished without a trace, as though it had never existed.
Fu Nanxun couldn’t help sneering inwardly.
Just yesterday, this woman had made a huge fuss, despising him for being a cripple.
Yet today, she had come knocking on his door herself, even putting on a shy and bashful act…
How utterly…
Shame…
Less!