That evening, Gu Huaian came to help Yun Hua move her luggage.
Cuihua’s son, Ma Dong, came to help Li Jing move hers.
As for the other female educated youths, since the villagers they were staying with hadn’t come to help them, they had no choice but to ask the male educated youths to carry their luggage.
Wang Meimei, as capable as ever, didn’t say a word. She simply carried her own luggage away.
Watching Wang Meimei’s tall, sturdy back, Wei Fang, Liu Xuejiao, and Liang Ying looked at one another, none of them knowing what to say.
Wei Fang swallowed. “Wang Zhizhi is really something. Will she ever find a husband? Any man standing in front of her would probably feel ashamed of himself.”
Liang Ying nodded, then shook her head. “She really is impressive. No, wait. There’s one person she definitely can’t beat.”
Wei Fang grew curious. “Who?”
Liang Ying lowered her head and answered softly, “The village chief’s son.”
Hearing that, Liu Xuejiao’s heart inexplicably began to beat faster.
Just now, when she saw Gu Huaian coming to pick up Yun Hua and take her to his house, she had already felt uneasy.
She had a feeling that Yun Hua was becoming more and more of an obstacle to her.
What was the name of the country bumpkin who had killed Yun Hua in her previous life?
It seemed to be something like Dacheng.
If that was the case, she didn’t mind speeding up Yun Hua’s fate.
If she could turn back time, Liu Xuejiao would definitely regret the decision she was making at this moment.
Meanwhile, Yun Hua followed closely behind Gu Huaian.
Looking at her luggage, she knew that although she had secretly put some things into her space earlier, the educated youths on the train had already seen how much luggage she had brought.
So after arriving at the educated youth settlement, she couldn’t put any large items into her space without arousing suspicion.
She had only put some valuables inside.
Looking at the tall, broad-shouldered figure in front of her, Yun Hua felt an inexplicable sense of security.
She didn’t know why she suddenly felt this way.
In her previous life, she had basically struggled on her own. She was extremely independent in life. Although she wasn’t very good at housework, her inner world had always been rich.
She had spent most of her time studying.
Whenever she was tired or felt wronged, she would sometimes go to the director of the welfare home and pour out her grievances.
But the director had grown old. She no longer had a tall, strong figure that could shelter Yun Hua from the world.
Yun Hua had slowly grown up and gradually become stronger.
She felt that she had already become strong enough to stand on her own.
From childhood to adulthood, the people around her came and went.
The only person who had remained by her side was herself.
The friends she had grown up with at the welfare home had gradually drifted apart after they each went their separate ways as adults.
By the time Yun Hua was still insisting on staying on the path of education, they were probably already walking different roads.
They had entered society early and were working hard for their futures.
So later, whenever they had something they needed help with and came to the hospital to find her, she would do her best to help.
Everyone had their own path to walk.
They had simply traveled together for part of the journey before choosing different roads and losing touch.
When they met again later, there was still some affection between them, but not much.
Yun Hua helped the people from the welfare home mostly because of the director.
As she looked at Gu Huaian’s back, Yun Hua’s thoughts wandered.
Gu Huaian could feel the heated gaze fixed on his back from behind him, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.
Yun Hua, walking behind him, didn’t notice.
Walking in silence like this was a little awkward. It was still quite a distance from the educated youth settlement to the village chief’s house.
Yun Hua took the initiative to start a conversation.
“Comrade Gu, I have quite a lot of luggage. Thank you for helping me.”
Gu Huaian carried the luggage bag over his shoulder. His steps were steady, and he wasn’t even breathing heavily.
“It’s no trouble. It’s not heavy.”
Huh?
“By the way, Auntie Xiangyun came to see me today, but I didn’t really get a chance to talk to her. I wonder what she’s doing now.”
Yun Hua thought she was clever. By bringing up Auntie Xiangyun, she was sure he would be interested in the topic.
Sure enough—
“She’s at home making dinner. You can talk to her slowly when we get back.”
“Okay. Thank you for taking me in. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known where to move.”
Gu Huaian’s fingers tightened slightly around the luggage.
“It’s getting dark. Watch your step. The roads in the countryside are already difficult to walk on, and it just rained.”
She hadn’t expected him to have such a considerate side.
“Okay, I will.”
The two of them continued walking, exchanging a few words here and there.
When they passed people from the village, no one said anything. Everyone knew Gu Huaian was simply helping an educated youth move her belongings.
By the time Yun Hua and Gu Huaian arrived at the village chief’s house, Wang Xiangyun had already finished cooking.
When she saw the two of them enter one after another, Wang Xiangyun grinned so widely that she could hardly contain her delight.
“Yun Zhizhi, come in quickly. Wash your hands and get ready for dinner.”
Yun Hua stood at the doorway, feeling a little awkward.
This was the first time she had visited someone’s home since arriving in this world.
After taking a deep breath, Yun Hua followed Gu Huaian inside.
Actually, on her first day in the village, she had wanted to give the village chief’s family some things as a gift. But she had been afraid someone would see and start gossiping, and that both she and the village chief would end up worse off for it.
After thinking it over carefully, she had decided against it.
Now that Wang Xiangyun had invited her to stay at their home, she definitely needed to show some appreciation.
As soon as Gu Huaian entered, he carried the luggage bag into a room.
After putting it down, he came straight back out without closing the door.
“This was my sister’s room before she got married. She rarely comes home now, so you can stay here.”
Yun Hua walked to the doorway and looked inside.
The room wasn’t very big, but it was clean and tidy.
There was a simple bed, and by the window stood a desk. Although it was somewhat old, it was obvious that someone regularly took care of it.
The wardrobe was also the old-fashioned kind.
But Yun Hua was already more than satisfied.
The conditions here were far better than those at the educated youth settlement.
Besides, it didn’t really matter whether the room was good or bad. Once she closed the door, she could enter the villa in her space and do whatever she wanted.
Who would know what she was doing behind a closed door?
Yun Hua nodded and turned to walk toward Wang Xiangyun.
In the kitchen, Wang Xiangyun had already served all the dishes into enamel basins.
Enamelware was widely used during this era.
Yun Hua helped Wang Xiangyun carry the enamel basins outside to the dining table.
As soon as she smelled the food, Yun Hua shamefully felt like she was about to drool.
Was everyone in the village chief’s family really this good at cooking?
Yesterday’s sweet potato cakes had already left her craving more, and today they had made something even more tempting.
Seeing the meat in the basin, Yun Hua suddenly realized that it seemed like she hadn’t eaten meat in a very long time.
“Auntie Xiangyun, this meat smells so good.”
Wang Xiangyun looked at the food on the table, then at Yun Hua. She leaned closer and lowered her voice.
“Yun Zhizhi, now that you’re staying with our family, there are some things I shouldn’t hide from you. I’m only telling you because I trust you. This is rabbit meat. A wild rabbit. My son secretly hunted it this evening. Pork is too expensive. Sometimes, when we want a little meat, we can only go into the mountains and hunt something ourselves. You have to keep this a secret, all right?”
Yun Hua’s heart leaped with joy.
Of course she had to keep it a secret!
“Auntie Xiangyun, definitely. I absolutely won’t say a word about it to anyone.”
She wasn’t stupid. If she stayed with the village chief’s family, she’d get to eat meat!
Besides, she loved rabbit meat, chicken, and things like that.
If it was wild game, it would definitely taste even better.
“By the way, Auntie Xiangyun, why did you tell me not to say anything when you came to see me today?”