Wang Xiangyun was afraid that if the villagers saw them eating together, they would gossip about them behind their backs.
So she deliberately found a more secluded place to eat.
Yun Hua didn’t think much of it.
Over at the educated youth compound, the cooking partners had already been assigned.
Liu Xuejiao and Yu Hongwei had been paired together. They really were a perfect match for the male and female leads.
On their first day earning work points, it was Liu Xuejiao and Yu Hongwei’s turn to prepare lunch.
The educated youths would return at noon to eat, then rest for a while before heading back to continue their farm work.
Liu Xuejiao and Yu Hongwei returned to the educated youth compound early to prepare the meal.
Yu Hongwei watched Liu Xuejiao bustling around in front of him.
Not bad. He wouldn’t have to lift a finger.
Of course, he couldn’t cook either.
Liu Xuejiao was so busy that she was practically frazzled, and she felt somewhat irritated. Yu Hongwei was still as arrogant as ever.
Back when the two of them had been together, she had tried to please him. She had gone from knowing nothing about housework to eventually keeping the entire household in perfect order.
Yes, Liu Xuejiao had a secret—she was reborn.
In her previous life, she had first met Yu Hongwei on a train.
At the time, she thought he was very handsome.
He had also come from the city. His family’s circumstances weren’t particularly good, but they weren’t bad either.
Although Liu Xuejiao was also from the city, her family actually didn’t have much money or many ration coupons.
Her father wasn’t in good health, and some of his relatives had helped them out. But if they kept relying on them for too long, or asked for too much, even relatives would eventually grow tired of it.
Because of her father’s poor health, the family had to spend money on his medical treatment, so they didn’t have much savings left.
She had no choice but to go to the countryside. She was the only child in her family.
She simply hadn’t expected that she would meet someone like Yu Hongwei.
Before that, the young men she had known were all immature, with minds like children’s.
When she saw Yu Hongwei, her heart immediately fluttered.
A man as gentle and refined as jade was exactly the kind of man worthy of her.
There was no way she was going to find a partner in the countryside.
So from the very beginning, she had set her sights on Yu Hongwei.
Judging by his clothes and the watch on his wrist, it was obvious that he didn’t come from a poor family.
And in her previous life, she had also obtained a piece of jade.
She had found the jade pendant on the floor of the educated youth dormitory. At the time, she thought it was pretty, so she simply slipped it into her pocket.
She planned to return it after she finished earning her work points and went back to the dormitory.
Who could have known that while harvesting rice, she would accidentally cut the palm of her hand?
Then, by sheer coincidence, her blood came into contact with the jade pendant.
As a result, she unexpectedly—and delightfully—obtained a spiritual spring space.
She had never imagined that something so bizarre could happen to her.
But she was incredibly excited.
With the help of her spiritual spring space, she thrived in the black market.
Although there was only enough space inside it to hold the equivalent of a basin of mineral water, she carefully accumulated the spiritual spring water and used it to cleanse and strengthen her body, improve her health, and enhance her beauty.
Not only did she acquire money and ration coupons, she also gained countless admirers.
But while living in the countryside, she still chose Yu Hongwei. At that time, however, both of them were rather inexperienced. They had been so shy even when they were dating that they hadn’t even kissed.
Later, after the two of them took the college entrance examination, they successfully returned to the city.
Because they hadn’t been admitted to the same university, and because she had other admirers around her, she eventually broke things off with Yu Hongwei.
Communication was inconvenient in those days, and Yu Hongwei didn’t come looking for her either, so the two of them lost contact for some time.
Later, perhaps it was fate, but they met again.
It seemed that the beautiful memories from their time in the countryside had been rekindled. On top of that, both of them were single at the time.
Once their old feelings reignited, they quickly ended up together.
Yu Hongwei wasn’t her first man.
After returning to the city, during her university years, she became increasingly beautiful under the nourishment of the spiritual spring water. There were countless men pursuing her.
So she chose the best among them and dated several men who came from good families and had good prospects.
She had done everything there was to do with them.
Those men had been generous, too, so she hadn’t lost out by being with them.
It was just that none of them could make her settle down and marry or have children.
That figure had always remained in the back of her mind.
Perhaps it really was true that what you couldn’t have was always the best.
So for a long time, she had missed him.
She never expected that she would meet him again when she was already wealthy.
At that point, she no longer needed to look for someone with better circumstances.
Yu Hongwei was the best choice.
So the two of them quickly registered their marriage.
After getting married, they had a son and a daughter.
For several years, they lived happily like that.
Later, however, their relationship gradually became one of appearances rather than genuine affection.
In front of outsiders, though, they always acted deeply in love.
Even their own children never noticed the cracks between them.
Privately, however, they each did as they pleased.
When they had first gotten married, she had told Yu Hongwei about the secret of her spiritual spring space. After learning about it, Yu Hongwei became even more devoted to her.
Even in bed, Yu Hongwei began paying more attention to her feelings. He was no longer like before, when he had only known how to use brute force without caring much about her.
But later, their feelings faded, and the passion between them disappeared.
So they came to an understanding: privately, they could each do whatever they wanted, and neither would interfere with the other.
Their lives were still quite comfortable.
After all, she had money and ration coupons, spiritual spring water, and young men to entertain her.
She had no interest in worrying about Yu Hongwei.
She had discovered that the older he got, the less appealing he became. Young men were still the best.
As for their children, they lacked neither money nor ration coupons. They attended the best schools in the capital, and their parents appeared loving and affectionate in public.
The children grew up carefree.
Liu Xuejiao had originally thought that living out her life like that would already be a kind of happiness.
But she had never expected that she would later see that man on television.
Gu Huaian.
The village chief’s son.
In her previous life, she had briefly been infatuated with him too, but he had never had any interest in her.
Later, she had told herself, What was he so arrogant about? Wasn’t he just a poor country boy?
She was from the city, after all, and she also had a spiritual spring space.
Gu Huaian refused to flatter her and even gave her a cold look every day.
Didn’t she have any pride?
Wasn’t the gentle and considerate Yu Hongwei much better?
But later, Gu Huaian actually appeared on television.
He had transformed into a successful entrepreneur and seemed to be doing quite well.
All she knew was that he had been very popular in the village, but he had never seemed to have a woman he liked.
Even by the time she died, she had never heard that Gu Huaian had a girlfriend.
Perhaps he had remained alone his entire life.
She wondered whether things would be different in this life if she took the initiative and tried to win him over.
If he still didn’t fall for her, she could always settle for Yu Hongwei instead.
After all, there was nothing wrong with living like they had in their previous life, each playing around with their own lovers.
The only problem was that she needed to find that jade pendant.
Without it, she wouldn’t have her spiritual spring space.
She wouldn’t be able to become beautiful or cleanse and strengthen her body.
She could still go to the black market, though.
Thinking about Gu Huaian’s appearance, Liu Xuejiao looked at Yu Hongwei in front of her.
Sure enough, he still fell short.
If she judged them solely by their looks, Gu Huaian was more handsome.
However, she couldn’t give up on Yu Hongwei.
What if Gu Huaian remained unmoved, just as he had in her previous life?
As for that beautiful female educated youth, she wasn’t worth worrying about.
Because in her previous life, it hadn’t been long before that woman had slipped and fallen off a cliff.
Whether it had actually been an accident or not, everyone had said it was an accident, so that was what it had been.
She had simply been careless.
A vicious glint flashed through Liu Xuejiao’s eyes.