The ox cart stopped and started the entire way.
Just when Yun Hua felt like her legs were about to give out, the village chief’s voice suddenly sounded sweeter than ever.
“We’re here. Educated youths, unload your luggage. This is your educated youth point.”
Yun Hua watched everyone swarm toward their luggage bags. She had no choice but to walk over to the ox cart as well, preparing to summon all her strength to move her own luggage.
Suddenly, a tall figure appeared in front of her.
Yun Hua had to tilt her head back just to see the back of his head.
Judging by his height, he was around 1.9 meters tall. Just standing there, he gave off an imposing presence.
Yun Hua assumed he had come to help someone else with their luggage, so she stood there and waited for him to take his things first.
But then he turned around.
Yun Hua froze.
Why is he carrying my luggage?
She quickly came back to her senses.
He must simply be a kind-hearted person who liked helping others. Seeing her slender arms and legs, he had probably realized at a glance that she didn’t have much strength and decided to help her.
Yun Hua immediately smiled brightly, her eyes curving into crescents.
“Thank you, Comrade. My luggage is a little heavy. I’m really troubling you.”
It was only then that Yun Hua got a good look at his features.
She had already noticed his tall, broad-shouldered build from behind, but now that she could see his rugged, handsome face, she couldn’t help thinking that in modern times, he would have been the perfect male model.
His lips were relatively thin, making him look somewhat cold and aloof.
They said people with fuller lips tended to be more affectionate. She wondered whether that was actually true.
After all, Yun Hua was practically grinning at him, yet the man didn’t show even the slightest hint of a smile.
Yun Hua’s smile soon froze on her face.
She had smiled at him that obviously, and his expression hadn’t changed in the slightest.
So she stopped smiling too.
But she couldn’t help feeling a little intimidated.
Does this man always look like this?
He’s so cold.
I’d better stay away from him in the future.
When Wu Jianjun saw that Gu Huaian had beaten him to Yun Hua’s luggage, he assumed Gu Huaian felt guilty for not listening to the village chief and coming to help earlier. Now that he had run into the educated youths, he had simply decided to lend a hand.
“Brother An, what are you doing here? Uncle said you couldn’t come today because you had something to do.”
As Gu Huaian answered Wu Jianjun, he turned around and continued helping Yun Hua unload her second bag.
Yun Hua politely thanked him again.
Gu Huaian nodded at Yun Hua.
Yun Hua felt as though this man were some kind of emotionless robot. His face barely showed any expression at all.
Before long, the village chief saw that it was getting late and began giving everyone their instructions.
“It’s getting late. Go ahead and choose your beds. The male educated youths will share one room, and the female educated youths will share another. You can discuss the sleeping arrangements among yourselves. Also, tomorrow morning, you’ll have to get up at seven and earn work points. I’ll arrange for someone to take you there. If you can’t arrive on time and don’t earn enough work points to fill your stomach, don’t blame me.”
With that, the village chief drove the ox cart away.
When Wu Jianjun saw that Gu Huaian was about to leave, he glanced in Yun Hua’s direction. Seeing that she had already entered the female educated youth dormitory, he followed Gu Huaian.
As they walked, he kept recalling that fair, beautiful face and said to Gu Huaian,
“Brother An, wasn’t that female educated youth you helped carry the luggage for really pretty?”
Gu Huaian’s footsteps paused.
He answered as casually as he could.
“She was all right.”
Wu Jianjun looked at him in disbelief.
“Brother An, all right? That’s all you have to say? Your standards are way too high. The moment I saw Yun, I thought she looked like a fairy. She’s absolutely gorgeous.”
Seeing Wu Jianjun’s lovestruck expression, Gu Huaian couldn’t help pouring cold water on him.
“You just said she’s a fairy yourself, so stop having those ridiculous thoughts. Didn’t you see the way she was dressed? And look at how much luggage she brought. Her family obviously isn’t poor. She’ll definitely return to the city eventually.”
Gu Huaian didn’t know whether he was saying those words to Wu Jianjun or to himself.
Wu Jianjun fell silent.
How could he not know that he wasn’t good enough for her?
But he couldn’t control his feelings.
All he could do was try his best to keep himself in check and quietly treat her well.
After Wu Jianjun returned home, Gu Huaian slowly began thinking back over what had happened.
He had gone into the city that day to wander around.
That morning, his father had asked him to go to the train station and help pick up a group of educated youths.
But Gu Huaian had thought going into the city to have some fun would be more interesting, so he had said he had something else to do and couldn’t go.
He also knew that his father had later asked Wu Jianjun to help instead.
He hadn’t wanted to go anyway, so he hadn’t thought much of it.
He simply hadn’t expected to run into his father bringing a group of educated youths back to the village when he returned.
His eyes casually swept over the group.
He had originally planned to go straight home.
But then his gaze suddenly landed on someone.
And he couldn’t seem to look away.
It was the first time in his life that a girl’s presence had made his heart race.
He didn’t know what was happening.
Yun Hua was actually one of the two shortest female educated youths in the group, yet he had spotted her at a glance.
Her small, palm-sized face was fair and delicate. Her round almond-shaped eyes seemed to shimmer with moisture, complemented by a delicate nose and small cherry-red lips.
Even from a distance, he could tell that she was exceptionally beautiful.
He shook his head, trying to chase that image from his mind.
Then he focused on the road and continued walking home.
Meanwhile, Yun Hua and the other female educated youths had already finished deciding on their sleeping arrangements.
The female lead, Liu Xuejiao, had already become close friends with Wei Fang. The two insisted on sleeping next to each other, so they took the two beds farther inside.
That left only one bed in the middle and one near the door.
Li Jing was furious.
“Those two are awful. We could have drawn lots and divided the beds fairly, but they just had to pull this stunt and grab the two beds inside. The beds farther in aren’t as exposed to drafts and rain. They really know how to play little tricks.”
Yun Hua was unhappy about it too.
But after thinking about it, she realized that she didn’t particularly want to share a large communal sleeping area with a group of educated youths anyway.
Her space needed to remain private.
It would be great if she could move out and live somewhere else.
Ideally, she wanted a room all to herself.
But after recalling all the mud houses she had seen along the way, she felt that probably wasn’t realistic.
She looked at the bed near the door.
When it rained, it would probably leak.
If her guess was correct, no one could sleep there for very long.
So Yun Hua decisively told Li Jing to take the middle bed while she chose the one by the door.
She needed to seize any opportunity to move out.
That way, she’d have a good excuse to approach the village chief later.
But Li Jing refused her offer.
“No, I’ll sleep by the door. I’m strong and healthy. I’m not likely to get sick or catch a cold that easily.”
She couldn’t help looking Yun Hua over several more times.
With that delicate skin of hers, what would they do if the draft made her sick?
Inside the room, Liu Xuejiao glanced at Yun Hua several times.
Her eyes shifted, as though she were thinking about something.
Beside her, Wei Fang looked Yun Hua up and down several times before starting to make sarcastic remarks.
“Oh my, I wonder which rich family’s young lady came all the way to the countryside. And she even voluntarily gave up the better bed. I wonder if she’ll freeze herself stiff sleeping by the door.”
Wei Fang had noticed this educated youth named Yun Hua back at the train station.
Simply because Yun Hua was the prettiest.
She had never seen anyone so beautiful before.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true.
The village chief’s son was handsome too, but he looked difficult to approach and even harder to bully.
Sure enough, a refined young man like Yu Hongwei was much more attractive.
But he had actually been sneaking glances at Yun Hua.
Wei Fang couldn’t help feeling extremely unhappy about it.