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In the morning, Gu Zhi made breakfast, a basic corn porridge along with the leftover yellow steamed buns from yesterday and some braised pig offal.
During breakfast, both Gu Zhi and Gu Ningning noticed that the corner of Gu Nan’s mouth was constantly curved in a smile.
The usually emotionless, perpetually ice-cold face was surprisingly holding a smile.
Though the smile was faint, it still felt quite unusual.
There was this strange feeling, as if Gu Nan had gone hunting in the mountains last night and had been possessed by some strange, bizarre creature.
Otherwise, how could someone who is usually so indifferent seem so happy?
Gu Ningning couldn’t hold back and directly asked.
“Second Brother, why are you grinning like a fool today? Did something good happen?”
Gu Zhi recalled that Li Ergou had come over yesterday and wondered if Gu Nan had hunted something big last night and made a lot of money.
But then she remembered that her second son often went hunting, and he too had hunted large game and earned money, yet she had never seen him smile like this.
“Could it be that he’s seeing someone?” Gu Zhi muttered casually.
This, however, startled Gu Ningning.
“No way, Second Brother with that standoffish demeanor? How could he find someone? The women who were interested in him before, didn’t they all get scared off by him?”
Hearing Gu Ningning’s words, Gu Zhi also felt helpless. It was indeed true.
Especially since their situation at home wasn’t great. The educated youth girls who originally showed some interest in Gu Nan didn’t know about his family’s background. Once they found out that his family had been sent down to the countryside, every one of them kept their distance.
Su Niannian was an exception!
But such a good girl, she probably wouldn’t be interested in her awkward son.
However, Gu Ningning suddenly seemed to think of something. Her eyes curved into a smile as she laughed.
“Why are you smiling too? Can a smile be contagious?” Gu Zhi looked at her younger daughter, staring at Gu Ningning.
“If Second Brother is seeing someone, could it be Sister Niannian? She doesn’t seem to mind our family’s situation at all.”
“The other day, when she helped me, she already knew that our family situation wasn’t great. She kept telling me that it wasn’t my fault and that I shouldn’t care too much about other people’s opinions.”
“Mom, I really like sister Niannian. If she could be my second sister-in-law, that would be great.”
Just the thought of having Su Niannian as her second sister-in-law made Gu Ningning feel inexplicably happy.
Upon hearing Gu Ningning’s words, Gu Zhi, of course, also hoped for this, but in the end, it came down to the fact that their family wasn’t worthy.
“Hurry up and eat, or it’ll get cold!” Gu Zhi spoke, interrupting the conversation.
“Mm! After I finish eating, I’ll make some more medicine for you, Mom.” Gu Ningning noticed something surprising—after drinking the traditional medicine that Su Niannian had prepared last night, her mother had barely coughed throughout the entire night.
The previous night, her mother had coughed frequently, and Gu Ningning had been woken up several times by it.
At first, she would ask how her mother was doing.
But later on, she realized that whenever she asked, her mother would try to avoid making her worry, often brushing it off or even suppressing her cough, which only made things worse.
So, after some time, even if she was woken up by her mother’s coughing in the night, Gu Ningning no longer asked.
Instead, she would secretly observe for a while, making sure nothing unusual was happening, and then continue sleeping.
On the other side, after leaving the house, Gu Nan ran into Li Ergou.
Seeing that Gu Nan seemed to be in a good mood, Li Ergou quickly approached with a smile.
“Brother, why didn’t you come find me last night? I had the donkey cart all ready.”
“I didn’t get anything last night. I’ll go tonight.” Gu Nan suppressed the smile at the corner of his mouth.
This smile was indeed too unusual. If anyone saw it, they would surely start to overthink.
However, as soon as that little girl appeared in his mind, he couldn’t help but feel a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
What should he do? Why did it feel so blissful and happy?
This was an unfamiliar sensation, and he could only force himself not to think about that little girl.
But what should he do if he couldn’t control his thoughts?
“Oh… I thought with how happy you are today, you must’ve caught something and left it in the cave on the back mountain…” Li Ergou said, a bit disappointed.
The reason being, every time Gu Nan caught wild boars or other game, he would have li Ergou take it into the county town to sell.
Gu Nan was very generous, always giving Li Ergou a share of the money.
Li Ergou, in turn, was always grateful to Gu Nan for this kindness.
On the other side, at the educated youth station, Su Niannian got up to wash up, feeling like Huang Yingying was sneakily glancing at her.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that this person was up to no good.
She noticed Huang Yingying and Zhao Sulan whispering to each other, their voices lowered.
After hearing something, Zhao Sulan’s eyes widened in shock.
It was as if they had just heard some earth-shattering gossip.
“Tsk tsk tsk, she really has no self-respect, sneaking out in the middle of the night to meet a man.”
“What a pity, you didn’t see who the man was! No idea if he’s some country bumpkin or maybe even an educated youth?”
Zhao Sulan lowered her voice and asked Huang Yingying.
But Huang Yingying had no idea, though she was sure that Su Niannian must have some man outside. Who it was didn’t matter!
What was important was that her reputation would be ruined, and then she wouldn’t be able to keep thinking about Gu Nan anymore.
Moreover, now that she knew Su Niannian was so reckless with her reputation, she had to keep a close eye on her and completely ruin Su Niannian’s name.
That way, any possibility of her being with Gu Nan would be gone forever.
At breakfast at the educated youth station, the big pot of food was still corn porridge and steamed buns with pickled vegetables.
Zhao Sulan and Huang Yingying made dumpling soup, but it was far from as tasty as the one Su Niannian had made before.
It didn’t even smell appetizing.
On Su Niannian’s side, she used the leftover braised pork soup from yesterday and added some noodles.
Song Zhaodi sat on the bench, slurping the noodles in her hand, her smile wide and eyes curved in delight.
“Niannian, you’re just too amazing! Everything you make tastes so good!”
“I really feel lucky to have met you,” Song Zhaodi said, looking at Su Niannian with eyes full of happiness, speaking seriously.
“Eat quickly! After you’re done, go to work!”
Su Niannian also slurped up her noodles happily.
From the moment she woke up today, Su Niannian felt in high spirits because her relationship with Gu Nan had taken a significant leap forward.
The other educated youth nearby couldn’t help but envy Song Zhaodi and Su Niannian. The difference between eating the big pot rice and their own meals was like heaven and earth.
After finishing their meal, Song Zhaodi and Su Niannian washed the dishes and got ready to head to the threshing field to pick up today’s work quota.
Just as they stepped out of the educated youth compound, Lu Xingguang quickly put down his chopsticks and chased after them.
“Song Zhaodi, Su Niannian, wait up!” The voice of Lu Xingguang came from behind them. Both of them stopped in their tracks and turned around to look.
When Su Niannian saw Lu Xingguang jogging toward them, a cold gleam passed through her eyes.