Chapter 26: Faking Illness

So handsome! So handsome!

How could there be such a handsome man in this world!!

Lin He saw Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye and fell silent: “……”

Great.

Here came two more people who completely crushed him in looks.

The ten newcomers were all captivated by Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye’s appearance, not even noticing Li Jianguo, the brigade secretary.

Li Jianguo turned around and saw Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye.

When he recalled their identities, his expression changed slightly, and his brows furrowed.

Since the new educated youths were present, he couldn’t show it too obviously.

He looked at the two of them and asked, “Comrade Lu, Comrade Zhou, what are you here for?”

Zhou Ye lifted the things in his hand slightly. “Buying some daily necessities.”

Li Jianguo glanced at them and said, “Alright then, once you’re done, head back to the brigade quickly.”

Lu Huaishen’s gaze swept coldly over Song Yue’s face before passing right over her, as if he had never seen her before.

Song Yue also glanced at Lu Huaishen but quickly looked away.

They both pretended not to know each other.

Lu Huaishen’s heart skipped a beat—this little girl was smart.

He withdrew his gaze and asked Li Jianguo, “Secretary Li, who are they?”

“They’re the newly arrived educated youths.”

Zhou Ye frowned as he looked at Song Yue. “Secretary Li, this female comrade doesn’t look well. Could she be sick?”

Li Jianguo looked at Song Yue and replied, “Comrade Zhou, Comrade Song just got carsick.”

Seeing her bundled-up belongings and her pale, almost ghostly complexion,

Li Jianguo turned to Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye. “Forget it, since you’re here, give Comrade Song a hand and help carry her things to the commune.”

“Comrade Song got carsick and isn’t feeling well. She can’t carry her things.”

Lu Huaishen looked at the bulging bundle in front of him, along with several smaller bags…

This idiot. She didn’t even think of mailing them!

With her small frame carrying so much, she was just making herself suffer.

Lu Huaishen restrained his emotions and said coolly, “All of these?”

Li Jianguo nodded. “Yes, all of them.”

Song Yue quickly stood up and refused. “Uncle Li, there’s no need.”

“I can carry them myself.”

After speaking to Li Jianguo, she turned to Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye. “Comrade Lu, Comrade Zhou, I can handle it myself.”

As she spoke, she reached out to grab her belongings.

But Lu Huaishen was quicker and picked them up before she could. “It’s no trouble at all.”

Zhou Ye immediately stepped forward to help.

The two of them picked up the bags and left, not giving Song Yue a chance to protest.

Li Jianguo called after them, “Comrade Lu, Comrade Zhou, just take them to the commune’s educated youth gathering point.”

Lu Huaishen replied indifferently, “Mm.”

Zhou Ye didn’t even turn back. “Secretary Li, we’ll head over first. Take your time.”

Li Jianguo withdrew his gaze and prepared to lead the other ten forward.

Then suddenly—

“Hiss~”

Li Mei’s voice rang out. “Liu Wei, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Song Yue looked at Liu Wei. Liu Wei was frowning, her expression slightly pained—

But it was clearly feigned. Everything else about her looked normal.

One look, and it was obvious she was faking it.

The others also turned their attention to Liu Wei.

Liu Wei shook her head. “It’s nothing, just—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Li Jianguo cut her off.

“If it’s nothing, then let’s go. We’re only a few steps away from the educated youth point, where there are chairs to sit on and hot water to drink.”

Liu Wei froze: “……”

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go!

Li Jianguo’s expression darkened slightly. She was already trying to slack off?

How would she behave once they started working?

Lin He rolled his eyes dramatically. Was she seriously faking this? Song Yue was actually feeling unwell, but Liu Wei had to pretend?

Unbelievable.

Li Jianguo turned to Zhang Shumin. “Your name is Zhang Shumin?”

Zhang Shumin hadn’t expected to be addressed suddenly. She was momentarily stunned before nodding. “Yes.”

Li Jianguo said, “I’ll help carry some of your things. Comrade Song isn’t feeling well—you help support her.”

Song Yue felt a bit touched. That candy was worth it.

Liu Wei, who had failed at faking illness, grew angry and anxious when she saw that Li Jianguo was actually helping Zhang Shumin instead!

Her voice rose in protest, “Uncle Li, don’t touch her things! She has—”

Zhang Shumin: “!”

Song Yue’s brow twitched. On her pale face, she forced a weak smile and interrupted Liu Wei in a feeble voice,

“Uncle Li, I can walk on my own. I’m fine.”

Li Jianguo ignored whatever Liu Wei was trying to say and nodded. “Alright then, let’s go.”

When he called the others to follow, his gaze completely bypassed Liu Wei. “Everyone, come with me.”

Liu Wei: “……”

Li Mei and the others gave Liu Wei a strange look. If she was really unwell, why was she speaking so loudly?

It was obvious she was faking it.

Li Xinyue sneered at Liu Wei in disdain before pulling Zhao Zirui away.

Even though she didn’t like Song Yue, she disliked people like Liu Wei even more.

At least Song Yue was genuinely unwell—it was written all over her face.

Besides, even she hadn’t faked being sick, yet Liu Wei had the nerve to do it?

Li Mei also felt Liu Wei wasn’t someone to get close to and subtly distanced herself.

The male comrades had been keeping their distance from the female comrades all along, so they didn’t comment.

Zhang Shumin stayed close to Song Yue, lowering her voice in gratitude. “Song Yue, thank you for just now.”

Song Yue kept her eyes ahead and said indifferently, “I can only help you once or twice. You need to stand up for yourself.”

“The more you try to hide, the easier it is for others to use that against you.”

After speaking,

Song Yue glanced meaningfully at Zhang Shumin.

Zhang Shumin stared at her in a daze, looking a bit lost. Then, she nodded.

Song Yue didn’t care if Zhang Shumin understood or not—she had said her piece.

The rest was up to Zhang Shumin.

A bag of peach crisp in exchange for looking out for her on the train, saving her once, and helping her out of trouble—

That was enough, right?

The group followed Li Jianguo for about twenty steps before arriving at the commune’s educated youth point.

As soon as they entered,

A middle-aged man walked out of the office. “Jianguo, about those two from your brigade earlier…”

But when he saw the ten newcomers, his tone changed. “Oh? More new educated youths? You brought them all back?”

“Perfect, the other brigades’ leaders and secretaries are all here.”

“Let’s have them pick their people.”

Song Yue noticed that her belongings were here—

But Lu Huaishen and Zhou Ye were nowhere to be seen.

Clearly,

They had left.

Since they were hiding their identities, and Uncle Li hadn’t mentioned them, Song Yue didn’t ask.

The others quickly set down their belongings and pulled the chairs lined up against the wall to sit.

Li Jianguo looked at Secretary Zhou. “Secretary, we agreed earlier—I get first pick since I went to fetch them.”

Secretary Zhou readily agreed. “Alright, you get first pick.”

He turned to the ten newcomers. “Go ahead, choose first. After that, I’ll let—”

Before he could finish speaking,

A voice rang out from outside. “Secretary, we all heard what you just said! How could you do this?”

Song Yue turned her head.

Four middle-aged men entered, varying in height. Years of labor had left their skin dark and weathered.

“That’s right.”

“……”

Li Jianguo looked at the tall man leading them and said,

“Deng Xuejun, when I asked you to come to town to pick them up, you refused. But now you’re here.”

“In the past few rounds of educated youths, didn’t you always snatch up the strongest workers?”

Deng Xuejun protested loudly, “Oh, come on, Jianguo, your brigade is already an advanced model. You have enough food to sustain more people. But we don’t!”