Later, Liu Xuejiao decided to first see how things went with Gu Huaian.
At the very least, his father was the village chief.
Once she got into college in the future, Gu Huaian would become a young entrepreneur.
What if she couldn’t find the jade pendant and failed to obtain the spiritual spring space?
Gu Huaian was capable enough to ensure that she and her family would at least have enough to eat and wear.
Gu Huaian had remained single throughout her previous life, which showed that he wasn’t the type to fool around with women.
And as for herself, if she could have Gu Huaian, she wouldn’t mind giving up the entire forest for one tree.
After all, Gu Huaian certainly looked like he would be quite capable in that regard.
If she married him, he would be more than enough for her.
If Gu Huaian still wasn’t interested in her, she could come back and continue things with Yu Hongwei.
This time, she had to get together with Yu Hongwei as soon as possible.
Otherwise, going around in circles for several years would be a complete waste of time.
“Comrade Yu, could you help me tend the fire? I need to keep an eye on the pot, so it’s inconvenient for me to do both.”
Yu Hongwei was worried that tending the fire would dirty his clothes. But when he saw Liu Xuejiao asking him sweetly, he was afraid that the others would say he was bullying a female educated youth.
Meanwhile, Liu Xuejiao thought her coquettish act had worked.
The two of them worked together and finished preparing lunch.
The other educated youths returned to the educated youth compound according to schedule to eat.
It was the same as always: sweet potatoes, cornmeal buns, and pickles.
There wasn’t a trace of meat.
“Is Comrade Yun not coming back for lunch?”
Pan Yunxiang couldn’t help asking about Yun Hua.
When Li Jing saw Pan Yunxiang looking at her, she smiled and replied, “It’s fine. She brought her own food with her, so she won’t be coming back for lunch.”
Pan Yunxiang nodded after hearing that.
As an experienced educated youth, he still felt responsible for looking after the newcomers, especially the female educated youths. He was afraid they might suffer some kind of loss.
Wei Fang complained while eating, “Comrade Yun’s family must be pretty well-off. I saw her come down to the countryside with two whole packages. Who knows what kind of good things she has packed in there. Hey, Comrade Li, you two are close. Do you know what good things she brought?”
Li Jing’s hand paused as she shoveled rice into her mouth.
“How would I know? We only met after we came to the countryside. I don’t know anything about her family either.”
Wei Fang didn’t seem willing to let the topic drop.
She turned to look at Pan Yunxiang. “You can tell from Comrade Yun’s clothes and appearance that her family definitely isn’t poor. Maybe she’ll even be the first among us educated youths to return to the city.”
Pan Yunxiang tightened his grip on his chopsticks.
He had been longing to return to the city for a very long time.
He was among the earliest batches of educated youths sent to the countryside. Most of the female educated youths who had come before them had already gotten married.
Some of the male educated youths who had connections had also managed to return to the city.
He had neither connections nor money or ration coupons. He had only received a middle school education, so all he could do was endure and wait.
He missed his parents back home. He missed his younger sister, too.
She must have grown quite a lot over the past three years.
For these three years, the only contact he had with his parents and younger sister had been through letters.
He had been searching for an opportunity to return to the city all this time.
He didn’t know when there might be an opportunity to return through admission to a Workers’, Peasants’, and Soldiers’ University.
Other than that, he couldn’t think of any other way.
Everyone could tell that Yun Hua’s family was well-off.
It wasn’t impossible that she might use her family’s connections to secure a spot to return to the city ahead of the others.
However, Yun Hua looked like someone who wasn’t used to hardship.
Pan Yunxiang sighed inwardly.
Forget it. If that really was the case, he would accept it. Life wasn’t easy for the female educated youths either.
She was so fair and pretty. If some bad man from the countryside took a fancy to her, she could be in danger.
After his thoughts had gone in circles for a while, Pan Yunxiang spoke quietly.
“That kind of thing depends on how the village chief arranges it.”
Wei Fang was annoyed that no one had paid much attention to what she said. But when she glanced at Yu Hongwei sitting beside her, her mood improved considerably.
Sure enough, seeing the person you liked was enough to put you in a good mood.
She had noticed Yu Hongwei the moment she got off the train.
He was completely different from those rough country men.
The more time she spent around him, the more attracted she became to his air and demeanor.
There was something special about him. She simply liked men like that.
However, she had no idea who Yu Hongwei liked.
She really wanted to find a chance to ask him.
But she didn’t dare.
She only dared to be loud and aggressive with other people.
When it came to the man she liked, she became shy and gentle.
Yu Hongwei noticed several female educated youths repeatedly sneaking glances at him, but he couldn’t be bothered to pay them any attention.
The only woman he was interested in was Yun Hua.
She was beautiful, her family was well-off, and she was from the city.
In just these two days since arriving in the village, not only had the female educated youths been giving him shy smiles, even the young village girls had been secretly flirting with him.
He wasn’t the kind of man who would take just anyone.
It wasn’t as though he could find every woman attractive.
It was just that Yun Hua didn’t seem particularly interested in him.
How was he supposed to hint at his feelings?
He had always been popular with women. Why wasn’t it working with Yun Hua?
Yu Hongwei was rather troubled by this.
If he dated Yun Hua, once she became his woman, wouldn’t her money and ration coupons become his too?
He could learn more about her family later. If her family really was well-off, he could marry her.
That way, he wouldn’t be doing himself a disservice.
With his qualifications, it was only right that he find himself a young, beautiful, wealthy wife.
Yu Hongwei glanced again at the female educated youth secretly watching him and immediately felt confident again.
Perhaps Comrade Yun was simply more reserved?
Looks like he’d have to give her a few hints.
He certainly couldn’t be the one to lower his head first. He had to make her come looking for him.
Everyone at the educated youth compound was eating together, but every person had a hundred different thoughts running through their minds.
Meanwhile, Yun Hua’s side was lively and bustling.
After finishing lunch, the other aunties came back to get ready to resume work.
But when they saw Wang Xiangyun resting beneath a tree with Yun Hua, they came over as well.
Their eyes kept sweeping over Yun Hua’s face and body, looking her up and down.
They had noticed the fairest and prettiest one among the educated youths when everyone had gathered that morning.
It was this Comrade Yun.
Judging by the way she dressed, there was no doubt that her family was well-off.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, several aunties immediately started gossiping.
“Xiangyun, this girl is Comrade Yun, right? The village chief really knows how to arrange things, putting one of his own family members in charge of looking after her. You can tell at a glance that Comrade Yun is easy to get along with.”
Wang Xiangyun didn’t understand what they meant.
“What? Are the educated youths you were assigned difficult to deal with?”
As soon as Wang Xiangyun brought that up, the aunties immediately remembered their own experiences.
“You don’t know about that Comrade Wei. Her mouth never stops running. She grumbles and curses the whole time she’s working. I don’t even dare talk to her too much. I’m afraid she’ll suddenly lose her temper and hit me.”
“The Comrade Liu I’m looking after is something else. She’s completely silent. I thought she was concentrating on working, but it turns out she only works for a few minutes before squatting down to rest. Then she’ll rest for half a day before moving again. I even told her that if she kept this up, she wouldn’t earn enough work points and would end up going hungry, but she still wouldn’t change.”
“Let me tell you, that Comrade Liu isn’t very healthy. Forget having children—she might not even be able to handle that kind of thing. She’s not short, but she’s so thin that she looks like a utility pole. Someone like Comrade Yun is much better.”
“Exactly. Comrade Yun is so pretty, and her skin is fair, smooth, and delicate. None of the other female educated youths have skin this good. I wonder what she uses on her face.”
“I’m actually more curious about whether Comrade Yun already has a boyfriend.”
The aunties exchanged glances and were just about to speak when Wang Xiangyun said,
“Comrade Yun, the aunties are curious about why your skin is so fair and smooth and what you use on your face.”