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Everyone thought for a moment. That female Educated Youth wasn’t stupid. How could she possibly have gone out of her way to take some aphrodisiac meant for breeding pigs?
It was clear—this must have been the male Educated Youth with the surname Lu who had given it to the female Educated Youth with the surname Zhao.
From the look on Zhao Sulan’s face, it seemed the dose wasn’t small at all.
At this point, the group’s conversation quickly turned to criticizing Zhao Sulan, and their opinion of Lu Xingguang plummeted.
“With that, how could that female Educated Youth still want to get married to that male Educated Youth and get a marriage certificate? Really…”
“But their brains are really clever, right? This way, that male Educated Youth with the surname Lu doesn’t even have to face criminal reform labor, does he?”
“Yes, but that female Educated Youth, Zhao Sulan, still has to marry the man who forced her. Seems a bit unfortunate, doesn’t it?”
“Not necessarily. Maybe that female Educated Youth is willing. Isn’t the Lu family’s situation pretty good? If they get married, she’ll probably receive a decent bride price.”
Indeed, in this time when many people struggled to make ends meet, marrying into a family with a good financial background was considered quite a good deal.
“Enough, enough, stop discussing it. Too many things have happened in the village these past couple of days, and everyone’s enthusiasm for work has dropped.”
“Stop gossiping and get to work!” The village head, Lu Guofu, stepped forward and scolded everyone.
He then assigned tasks to everyone.
After receiving their assignments, the villagers broke off into small groups, leaving the threshing ground and heading to their respective work areas.
Su Niannian and Song Zhaodi were once again assigned to the sorghum field to pull weeds.
Gu Nan, as usual, worked with the stronger laborers on the more physically demanding tasks.
Now it was already the seventh month, and the crops had started to sprout and grow. The growth looked promising, and everyone’s enthusiasm for work had risen as well.
After the others left, Lu Guofu approached Jiang Aiguo.
“Those two Educated Youths’ issue, should we consider it resolved like this?” Lu Guofu stood with his hands behind his back, next to Jiang Aiguo.
“What else can we do? They’ve both agreed on the same story and are sticking to it. What else can we do?”
“Yeah, that’s true. Have they mentioned when they plan to get the marriage certificate?”
“Probably in the next couple of days. They’ll need to wait until their bodies are a bit better. When the time comes, they’ll come to me for a referral letter.”
Jiang Aiguo also planned to keep an eye on the two of them. If they didn’t come for the referral letter in a few days, or if Zhao Sulan suddenly changed her mind and accused Lu Xingguang of using force, Jiang Aiguo would definitely report it immediately, ensuring that Lu Xingguang would be arrested and sent for labor reform.
On the other side, Su Niannian and Song Zhaodi were working hard in the field.
Su Niannian thought to herself that once Gu Nan finished his work, he would definitely come to find her.
So, in order to avoid Gu Nan having to do more work, Su Niannian decided she would work a little harder today and finish her tasks early.
However, by the time it was already noon, Su Niannian had finished her work, but Gu Nan still hadn’t come.
Su Niannian couldn’t help but feel a bit upset.
“What’s wrong? Didn’t wait for Gu Nan to come? Feeling disappointed?”
At noon, Song Zhaodi and Su Niannian sat under a big tree to have lunch. Seeing that Su Niannian seemed a bit upset, Song Zhaodi tried to ask gently.
“A little,” Su Niannian replied honestly. She had truly thought that once Gu Nan finished his work, he would come to find her. But now it was already noon, and she hadn’t seen him at all.
Su Niannian broke off a piece of the carrot and mixed grain pancake that Song Zhaodi had made in the morning and stuffed it into her mouth.
“Maybe something came up and delayed him,” Song Zhaodi said, taking a big bite of her pancake.
Song Zhaodi’s words suddenly reminded Su Niannian.
That’s right—if nothing had happened, why wouldn’t Gu Nan come?
The more Su Niannian thought about it, the more she felt there might be some truth to this.
Su Niannian handed the pancake she was holding to Song Zhaodi, left her a pot of water, and then stood up, wiping the oil from her hands.
“I need to go check. If I’m not back by the afternoon, help me finish up the last half of the work,” she said.
“Don’t overdo it! I only need two tasks done!” Song Zhaodi replied.
Su Niannian nodded, then quickly jogged off.
Song Zhaodi took a bite of the pancake in her hand. “Did I say too much?”
She didn’t really mind helping Su Niannian with a little more work. After all, she earned just two yuan a day, and the remaining tasks were small enough that she could finish them in less than half an hour. However, Song Zhaodi did feel a bit worried about Su Niannian and just hoped that everything between her and Gu Nan was fine.
After finishing what she was eating, Song Zhaodi leaned back against the big tree to rest for a while. There wasn’t much work left, so there was no rush.
Su Niannian jogged away from the sorghum field and hurried towards Gu Nan’s house. When she arrived, she found Gu Zhi and Gu Ningning eating, but Gu Nan was nowhere in sight.
“Aunt, Ningning,” Su Niannian greeted as she walked into the yard.
“Ah! Niannian, you’re here! Have you eaten?” Gu Zhi quickly stood up and came over to pull Su Niannian towards the dining table.
“I’ve already eaten.”
“Aunt, where’s Gu Nan?” Su Niannian looked up and asked Gu’s mother.
Gu Zhi took a clean bowl and filled it with a bowl of cornmeal porridge for Su Niannian.
“He finished his work this morning and said he was going to the county town for a trip,” Gu Zhi replied, pointing to where the bicycle used to be.
The bicycle was no longer there, so it was clear that Gu Nan had ridden it to the county town.
“Oh, did he say what he was going to do in the county town?” Su Niannian asked, now feeling less worried upon hearing that Gu Nan had gone to the county town. As long as nothing bad had happened, it was fine.
Just a moment ago, Su Niannian had been anxious, but knowing Gu Nan’s skills, it seemed unlikely that anything serious would happen to him. She had been overthinking, driven by concern.
“You’ll know when he gets back,” Gu Zhi said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Her expression suggested that Gu Nan had gone to do something important and positive. Based on Gu Zhi’s expression, it didn’t seem like Gu Nan had gone to do anything bad.
“Still saying, I wanted to go with Big Brother, but he wouldn’t take me,” Gu Ningning pouted, taking a small sip of the cornmeal porridge.
“Why would you want to go with him? The backseat of the bicycle is already full with things for the trip,” Gu’s mother gently tapped Gu Ningning on the back.
Gu Ningning let out a small “hmph.”
It wasn’t that she was really upset. She just hadn’t been to the county town in a long time, and she wanted to go and take a look.
Su Niannian saw that Gu Ning Ning wasn’t angry anymore and smiled as she said, “Ningning, don’t be upset. In a few days, I’ll take you to the county town for a walk.”
“You’re still the best, Sister Niannian, unlike older brother.” Gu Ningning’s little pout softened as she smiled.
“I’ll always be with Sister Niannian from now on, not with older brother!” Gu Ningning’s tone was playful, but also full of the determination of a little girl.
Gu Ningning was so happy that her legs couldn’t stop swinging.
“You spoil Ningning too much,” Gu Zhi said with a laugh.
After all, Su Niannian was so good to Ningning, which made her happy as well.
“Yes, yes, Sister Niannian will always spoil me!” Gu Ningning said, as she picked up a piece of meat and passed it to Su Niannian. It was leftover chicken from the previous night.
Su Niannian patted Gu Ningning’s little head and smiled as she took the meat and put it in her mouth, then took a sip of the corn gruel.