Su Ying’s eyes glistened, but she turned away stubbornly. “I don’t want it. I like potatoes.”
Lin Yan’s face hardened. “Don’t lie to me you know potatoes make your stomach ache for days. Here, take it.” She swapped the potato for her sweet potato.
Just behind them, Shazhu caught up, hoe over his shoulder and basket on his back. Glancing around, he pressed a warm egg into Su Ying’s hand. She looked up at his honest, familiar face remembered how he’d always stood by her. Orphaned young, raised by his uncle and aunt, he’d protected her from bullies who taunted them both. In the original story, she’d relied on him perhaps even loved him.
“I hid it for you,” he grinned shyly.
She tried to give it back, but he shifted away, afraid of being seen. The egg was still warm in her palm. Someone here truly cared. “Shazhu, you eat it you work so hard.”
His smile faltered. She used to call him Brother Zhu. He strode ahead, hurt.
Lin Yan nudged her. “He’s sweet on you. You could do worse.”
Su Ying’s heart twinged echoes of the original girl’s feelings. “Yan, I won’t marry. No one can give me what I need. A woman can only truly rely on herself. One day I’ll take you and him far away from here.”
Lin Yan laughed. “Sure take us to the sea beyond the mountains!”
The villagers made their way up the path poor, yet bright with laughter and contentment. Su Ying alone felt the weight.
At the clearing, thick weeds covered the ground. They set to work clearing, digging roots, turning soil, gathering stones. Su Ying’s hands were raw; sores split as she worked, stinging and itching. Painful toil or no work points she gritted her teeth.
The team leader noticed Su Xiuxiu missing. “Where’s your Xiuxiu?”
Tian Cuifen smiled falsely. “Not feeling well sent her to the clinic.”
His look was sharp. More like ending a pregnancy. The village whispered about her and Wang Liang. “Best get it seen to wouldn’t want trouble.” He walked on. Tian Cuifen spat at his back.
Lin Yan leaned in. “Is it true about her and Wang Liang?”
“She’s pregnant.”
Lin Yan’s eyes widened. Served her right after all those years of cruelty.
Su Ying hauled stones, heavy despite their size. Her body ached from poor nutrition. After hours under the warming sun, she sat resting with Lin Yan when Song Min approached, looking fragile and tearful.
“May I speak with you, Yingzi?”
Su Ying broke her cold sweet potato. “Say it Yan’s family.”
Song Min glanced toward Jiang Xiaofei. “I want to give Jiang Xiaofei back. I didn’t mean it he pursued me. I know you won’t believe me, but I never led him on. You’ve had such a hard life… he’s a good match. I’ll step aside so you can have security.”
Su Ying nearly laughed. What a performance. “Enough. You’re educated so am I, just differently. The truth is you were found together in bed. Do you think I’d take back trash? You keep him he’s yours. Men aren’t things to be passed around. Keep your ‘good match’ I wouldn’t touch him in this life or the next.”
Song Min’s face flushed pale then dark. When had Su Ying grown so sharp? Lin Yan clapped in delight her Yingzi was magnificent. Song Min burned with humiliation, a city girl cut down by a villager.
Su Ying bit into her sweet potato, satisfied then heard Jiang Xiaofei shouting in the distance.