Chapter 08: Jealous of Him

Lin Yingying immediately ran over, cutting off Huo Qingshan before he could explain. She stuffed the few pancakes wrapped in her handkerchief into Huo Qingshan’s satchel, patted his arm, and said, “Alright, go home and eat.”

Not only did she refuse to explain that she and Huo Qingshan had been making pancakes, she deliberately let Ye Manman misunderstand.

Huo Qingshan lowered his gaze. It was a large pale-blue handkerchief, embroidered with two little yellow flowers, and in flowing script, the character Ying. For some reason, he suddenly felt that the slanted strokes shooting outward were like a hook that snagged right onto the tip of his heart, leaving him unable to move.

He took the box of biscuits out of his satchel and placed it on the windowsill. Without saying another word, he strode away.

After a few steps, he still heard Lin Yingying’s cheerful, sweet voice drifting over. “Which plot are you going to harvest wheat in? I’ll come find you later! I’m telling you, you can’t hide from me, I’ll catch you!”

Huo Qingshan replied in a muffled voice, “By the river.”

Lin Yingying immediately understood—he meant the riverside where they had just washed the horse. She waved her hand. “See you in a bit.”

Only after Huo Qingshan’s tall, straight figure disappeared beyond the gate did Lin Yingying turn and cast a sidelong glance at Ye Manman, saying coldly, “What are you shouting about? Don’t you have any manners? What if you scare someone?”

Ye Manman was instantly choked by her own saliva. She stared at her in fright. “Sister Yingying, are… are you serious? You really want to marry… marry…”

A rough country man—although he was a company commander, given Lin Yingying’s conditions, even a regiment commander would not be considered much.

Lin Yingying shot her a glance and teased, “No, it’s fake.”

Ye Manman looked at her in confusion, then grew anxious. “Sister Yingying, you… you can’t do that. Company Commander Huo…”

Lin Yingying said, “What do you mean ‘Company Commander Huo’? He’s my Company Commander Huo. You should be saying your Company Commander Huo.”

Ye Manman was nearly thrown into confusion by her—one moment saying she wanted to marry him, the next saying it was fake, and then calling him my Company Commander Huo. “Sister Yingying, are you just fooling around? You can’t do that. It’s not good for you, for Huo… for your Company Commander Huo, or for Uncle and Auntie Lin.”

Lin Yingying tilted her head slightly, though her gaze was cool. “Then do you want me to marry him, or not?”

Ye Manman lowered her head a little, her eyes reddening, her slender fingers twisting the hem of her clothes. “Sister Yingying, I… I… I just want you to be well.”

Lin Yingying possessed beauty and qualities she could never hope to reach. As long as Lin Yingying wished, she could easily accomplish anything, easily win anyone’s heart. Back at home, how many people had been captivated by her beauty and willingly wanted to marry her?

If… if Lin Yingying were to marry someone with such conditions, then… Ye Manman herself could not even say whether she would be happy or unhappy.

Happy that although she was beautiful, she would be marrying into something no better than this? Or angry that she would be wasting such excellent qualities for nothing?

Seeing the changeable expression on her face, Lin Yingying paid her no further attention. She needed to go and dress up—later she would be accompanying Huo Qingshan to the fields to harvest wheat.

She first took out her loyal little canteen, filled it to the brim, and screwed the lid on. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the small, miniature enamel mug beside it.

That little enamel mug had been prepared for Ye Zhit­ing.

She and Ye Zhiting had grown up together, and if nothing unexpected had happened, she had once thought it would be nice to marry him when they grew up—after all, they knew each other inside and out.

Who would have thought that he and Ye Manman would become closer and closer, and instead spend all day blaming her for bullying Ye Manman? So she had given up that idea.

Hmph, as if she’d care about you~~ She unhooked that little enamel mug; there was no need to bring it along anymore.

Ye Manman’s gaze fell on the small enamel mug, her expression somewhat complicated—part expectation, part relief, yet also tinged with worry and concern. In the end, she let out a deep sigh.

Lin Yingying was the darling of heaven, a spoiled and willful young lady. Who would she ever truly care about?

From childhood to now, there had always been countless people revolving around her, yet she had never truly cared. Perhaps Huo Qingshan was just another toy to her.

Lin Yingying went into the inner room to change into work clothes for going to the fields. The dress she had worn earlier had been deliberately chosen for Huo Qingshan, to leave a stunning impression and wash away the image of her own disheveled state at their first meeting.

She armed herself from head to toe, but as she turned to leave, she hesitated for a moment, then pulled off the protective sleeves and changed her long-sleeved shirt for a short-sleeved one, revealing her slender, snow-white arms.

There were still obvious bruises on her arms, marks left by the spooked ox.

When Ye Manman saw her put a handful of candies into her small handbag, she reminded her, “Sister Yingying, working in the fields is tiring and you’ll sweat a lot. You should drink more water—don’t put candies in there again.”

Lin Yingying replied, “Just mind your Brother Ting, why bother with me?”

Ye Manman’s face instantly flushed red. “N-no, it’s not like that. Sister Yingying, don’t misunderstand, I don’t… I’m not with Brother Ting…”

Lin Yingying said impatiently, “I’m not misunderstanding.” She shot Ye Manman a sidelong glance. “You’re not even injured, yet you spend every day not going to the fields, just lazing around. I’m more diligent than you!”

She let out a proud little snort, which left Ye Manman’s eyes turning red.

Thinking of Huo Qingshan’s tall stature, Lin Yingying changed her flat cloth shoes for a pair of beige cloth wedges. Then she put on a sun hat with little pink and purple flowers, slung her canteen over her shoulder, carried her small handbag, and cheerfully set off to find Huo Qingshan.

Ye Manman watched her wilful figure disappear into the distance, her gaze indescribably complicated, her feelings equally so.

Lin Yingying had originally planned to go straight to the fields to find him, but she caught sight of Huo Qingshan outside the wall of the brigade office.

He had changed into long trousers and a shirt, his tall frame and long legs, with his straight back, standing there as upright and striking as a green pine.

The more Miss Lin looked at him, the more she praised her own taste as truly excellent. She ran over to him happily, tilting her head up with a faint, breathless flush. “Are you waiting for me?”

Huo Qingshan’s expression was cold. “No. I came to take care of something.”

In his left hand he held a sharp sickle, with a satchel slung over his back and an old military canteen with chipped paint, its strap so worn it had been mended with coarse cloth. Compared to her delicate and pretty little canteen, his looked unbearably rough.

He swept his gaze over her. She wore a pair of altered military trousers—the calves were tapered, but the thighs and hips were generously cut, while above that her waist was cinched so tightly it could be encircled with one hand. Yet on top, she had on a ruffled short-sleeved blouse, pale blue, cool and airy, revealing two slender, fair arms, marred by unsightly bruises.

“Dressed like this to harvest wheat?” His thick brows furrowed. “Do you not want your arms anymore?”

Lin Yingying immediately pouted, peach blossom eyes shimmering with moisture. “My protective sleeves… they got worn out yesterday.” She held out her arms to him, speaking in a spoiled tone. “Look, my arms got all banged up like this—the sleeves were already in tatters.”

Huo Qingshan quickly averted his gaze.

She, however, thought he was being impatient, and pouted in grievance, pushing her arm forward again. “Look~~”

Huo Qingshan said helplessly, “Alright, if you want to.”

Lin Yingying instantly brightened up. He had said before, “I won’t marry you,” and in the next breath it became “If you marry me.” He had said, “You have to work in the fields,” and now it was “If you want to.”

Heh heh.

Huo Qingshan took a pale-blue handkerchief from his satchel and handed it back to her.

Lin Yingying took it, sniffed it, and smiled. “You washed it for me, didn’t you?” It carried the scent of ordinary soap.

Huo Qingshan said, “No.”

Lin Yingying let out a soft laugh but didn’t expose him. Like a light, graceful little butterfly, she walked at his side, the bow sewn onto her sun hat trailing two ribbons that fluttered down, making her look all the more charming and delightful.

As they went along, more and more people saw them and greeted them with smiles.

Huo Qingshan’s face remained stern, and he showed no sign of a smile even when returning greetings. However, he kept a certain distance from Lin Yingying, preventing her from touching him casually.

Along the way, Lin Yingying asked how many days of family leave he had, and how many days he could get if he applied for marriage leave, and so on.

Huo Qingshan answered them all, but always as briefly as possible—if something could be said in one word, he would not use two.

Lin Yingying didn’t mind in the least. In the beginning, he hadn’t even looked at her, but now, hadn’t he already shown that look of amazement the very moment he saw her?

Lin Yingying had been beautiful for two lifetimes, so of course she knew exactly what the look in a man’s eyes meant when he saw her. No matter how well he hid it, she just knew.

He liked her.

Huo Qingshan was home on family leave, which was technically a vacation, but he couldn’t sit idle. Naturally, he had to help his family harvest wheat to earn work points. To avoid trouble, he didn’t take Lin Yingying to the field his family was responsible for, nor to any crowded area. Instead, he brought her to the wheat fields by the river, which hadn’t yet reached their turn for harvesting.

However, when they arrived at the field, seven or eight young men quickly came running over, grinning as they looked at Lin Yingying.

Huo Qingshan’s expression darkened slightly.

A baby-faced youth with small tiger teeth ran up. “Brother Qingshan, come on, let’s split into teams and see who can harvest the most!”

The young men immediately split into teams. When Lin Yingying saw a scrawny young man shamelessly trying to be on her Huo Qingshan’s team, she immediately said, “I’m on the same team as Huo Qingshan.”

The baby-faced youth burst out laughing. “Educated Youth Lin, we’re not making fun of you, but don’t end up holding Brother Qingshan back.”

Lin Yingying said, “Our Qingshan doesn’t mind, right, Brother Qingshan?”

That “Brother Qingshan” came from her lips like the call of a delicate oriole, sweet and lingering, enough to make half a person’s body go numb. Huo Qingshan tightened his grip on the sickle handle and said in a deep voice, “Stop fooling around. Get to work.”

With that, he stepped to the side and began cutting wheat with his sickle.

Another young man with a long face, whose smile looked somewhat forced in Lin Yingying’s eyes, chuckled. “Qingshan, looks like your luck is turning. Such a fine peach blossom fortune—where did you pray for it?”

Huo Qingshan’s gaze grew cold. “Revolutionaries do not worship Buddha or gods. We believe in communism.”

The long-faced youth’s smile took on a sly, mocking edge. “I believe in it too, so how come I don’t get this kind of luck? Just don’t know if this lady’s fate is strong enough…”

Huo Qingshan turned his head, giving him a cold look. Reflected in his gaze, the sickle appeared bright and razor-sharp. “Don’t let it happen again.”

One more word of nonsense and he would slap him across the face.

The long-faced youth immediately smiled and apologized. “I was joking, brother, don’t take it to heart. Let’s get on with the wheat-harvesting competition.”

Lin Yingying didn’t even have a sickle in hand—what divine wheat was she supposed to be harvesting? Several of the young men were secretly chuckling.

Huo Qingshan harvested the wheat and piled it in heaps, telling her to tie them up.

Lin Yingying squatted on the ground and began learning how to bundle the wheat, but the wheat refused to cooperate. She gathered it together and tried to bind it with a small handful of straw, only for it to fall apart again.

While cutting wheat, Huo Qingshan kept glancing at her from the corner of his eye. He had worked his way far down the row, and she was still fussing over that one bundle of wheat.

The young men let out good-natured chuckles.

Lin Yingying felt neither shy nor embarrassed, but she knew how to act spoiled. “Ying ying ying^[1]In Chinese, “嘤嘤嘤” (yīng yīng yīng) is an onomatopoeic expression mimicking the sound of a delicate, whimpering cry, often associated with acting spoiled, coquettish, or seeking sympathy. … Continue reading…” Her arms itched and stung from being pricked.

Huo Qingshan silently set down his sickle and began tying the wheat bundles. His movements were quick and deft—he swept the pile of wheat into his arms, pulled out a handful of straw, looped it around in one motion, gave it a twist, and a neat bundle stood upright, five to a cluster.

Before long, he had caught up to where Lin Yingying was.

Lin Yingying gazed at him in admiration. “Brother Qingshan, you’re amazing!”

Who could possibly resist such a soft, slightly willful girl looking up at them with eyes full of admiration?

Huo Qingshan said, “I’ll teach you once.” He explained the key points of tying a wheat bundle and let Lin Yingying try making one herself.

Lin Yingying softly murmured the steps under her breath and, with some effort, managed to tie one up. Although it was quite ugly, that didn’t stop Miss Lin from proudly puffing out her chest. “See, your wife can do it! Even if tying wheat bundles is a bit of a waste of my talents, I can handle it.”

Huo Qingshan couldn’t stand seeing her so smug. “Stand up.”

Lin Yingying sprang to her feet, standing as straight and proud as a little white poplar.

Huo Qingshan: “………” He motioned for her to squat down, pointing at the bundle. “Make it stand up.”

Feeling a little deflated, Lin Yingying touched her nose, her bright eyes glancing up at him. Confidently, she propped the bundle upright—only for it to promptly collapse with a “swish,” refusing to give her any face.

Huo Qingshan watched as the young girl before him, like a startled rabbit, instantly widened her eyes. In those beautiful large eyes, a shimmer of moisture slowly began to gather.