Chapter 6

Lu Lanlan heard Fu Chunian’s words and looked up at him.
“You just arrived and didn’t bring anything for this meal, so no one will say anything. But if we keep eating together later, people will start talking since we’re not related in any way.”

Fu Chunian chuckled. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“?”

After cleaning everything up and drying his hands, Fu Chunian glanced around. By now, most people had finished eating and were washing dishes.

The two of them walked to a large tree near the entrance of the educated youth housing.

This way, the others could see them but wouldn’t hear what they were saying.

“I heard the village chief’s son has been bothering you?” Fu Chunian asked.

“The village chief’s son?” Lu Lanlan frowned.

“I heard about it at the clinic,” Fu Chunian reminded her, realizing she hadn’t remembered who he was referring to.

Lu Lanlan suddenly understood. “Oh, him? Yeah, he tried to help me carry my luggage yesterday. You just got here and already heard about it?”

“Yeah, but that Gu Yu girl said she misunderstood, and others also helped explain,” Fu Chunian said.

Lu Lanlan glanced back at her room.

“Lu Lanlan, this isn’t school. Jokes here aren’t like the ones classmates make. Many female educated youths ended up staying in the countryside for various reasons,” Fu Chunian warned.

Lu Lanlan looked back at him. “Yeah, I know.”

She had never thought of this place as school. Society was always more brutal than school.

“To be honest, I encountered the same situation when I first arrived,” Fu Chunian said with a smile.

“Really?” Lu Lanlan didn’t believe it. He had barely been here a meal’s time, and girls were already confessing to him?

“Really. Right before you came back, a female educated youth asked to partner up for meals. I refused,” Fu Chunian said. “Why are you looking at me like that? I don’t look too bad, do I?”

At that, Lu Lanlan took another look at him. He wasn’t just “not bad”—he was very handsome.

A chiseled face, sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, and a tall build.

Back in school, at least seventy or eighty percent of the girls liked him.

“Don’t be too modest. At school, we were equally known for our looks. If you put yourself down, wouldn’t that mean I’m ugly too?” Lu Lanlan joked.

Fu Chunian laughed. “True, true.”

“Just like in school, I doubt the village chief’s son is the only one bothering you,” Fu Chunian said.

Lu Lanlan nodded.

The others at the educated youth station weren’t exactly pestering her, but every time they saw her, they would crowd around.

“I have a way to stop both of us from dealing with this annoyance. I just don’t know if you’d agree,” Fu Chunian said.

“Let’s hear it.”

“We should date.”

“?”

“Fake dating. We’ll tell everyone we’re in a relationship, so people will stop bothering us. But privately, I promise I won’t take advantage of you at all,” Fu Chunian quickly explained.

Lu Lanlan frowned. It was a solution, but it would ruin her reputation.

In this era, relationships weren’t casual. If they didn’t end up together, her reputation would suffer greatly.

But if she didn’t do this, people would still keep crowding around her, and her reputation wouldn’t be any better.

These people weren’t like schoolmates. In school, if you ignored someone with a cold expression, they’d leave you alone. But these people acted as if they didn’t understand. Even if she ignored them, they kept surrounding her. Even if she rejected them, they still followed her around.

Fu Chunian understood the downside of his idea and added, “You don’t need to worry too much. In a while, my family will arrange for me to be transferred back. I’ll have them help get you transferred too. Once we leave, no one will know we ever ‘dated.’”

Hearing about the transfer, Lu Lanlan was tempted. She had heard from classmates that Fu Chunian’s family had the connections to make it happen.

“Fu, it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that, look, we weren’t even that close in school. This whole thing only damages my reputation, but it won’t harm you at all,” Lu Lanlan said, smiling at him.

Fu Chunian smiled too. “I can write you a guarantee. And while you’re pretending to be my girlfriend, I’ll provide for your meals.”

“Provide for my meals?” Lu Lanlan raised an eyebrow.

“Fu, this offer sounds too good to be true. It’s a little scary.”

Fu Chunian had anticipated this reaction and explained, “The cost of your food isn’t much to me.”

Lu Lanlan thought about his family background and nodded. “That’s true.”

Food was a big deal for them, but for Fu Chunian, it was nothing.

“So, what do you think? Will you agree? Plus, I’ll cook, and you’ll only have to do the dishes,” Fu Chunian added.

“I have one last question. You’re a guy—if girls are bothering you, you can just tell them off. Girls are more sensitive; if you reject them once, they won’t keep pestering you. Why do you need me to pretend to be your girlfriend?” Lu Lanlan asked.

Fu Chunian sighed. “I’m not good at rejecting girls, especially when they cry in front of me. Today, I only managed to reject that one because she smelled so bad I couldn’t take it. I need someone to deal with these girls for me as my ‘girlfriend.’

Of course, if you agree, I’ll also handle the people bothering you.”

“Fine, I agree. But you need to write me a guarantee that you’ll get me transferred back,” Lu Lanlan said.

She didn’t ask why he chose her—because he only knew her here.

“Don’t worry,” Fu Chunian said, letting out a relieved sigh.

“Write down a time frame. How long until the transfer?” Lu Lanlan asked.

“Two years.”

“Alright.”

And just like that, they reached an agreement.

Fu Chunian quickly ran back to his room to write the guarantee.

Lu Lanlan returned to her room.

Gu Yu, her roommate, immediately turned away and faced the wall.

Lu Lanlan ignored her and sat down to read.

Not long after, Fu Chunian returned with the guarantee letter. “Take a look. Let me know if anything needs to be changed.”

Lu Lanlan read through it and shook her head. “It’s fine.”

Fu Chunian signed it in front of her and even stamped his fingerprint with ink.

“Keep it safe. From now on, we’re officially a couple,” he said with a smile.

Lu Lanlan smiled and put the guarantee letter away.

“Don’t go to the fields this afternoon. Around 3 or 4, come with me to the village supply store to buy some things,” Fu Chunian said.

Lu Lanlan nodded.

Now that Fu Chunian was covering her meals, she could save all her labor credits, so there was no rush to go to the fields.

Inside the room, Gu Yu had overheard everything and let out a cold scoff.