Chapter 2

Ruan Mingfu walked back to the educated youth camp, visibly displeased.

He ran off so fast—does he think he’s the only one with long legs?

Feeling frustrated, she plucked a wildflower from the roadside, pouting as she muttered, “I haven’t even complained about how fierce he is.”

Opportunities like this don’t come by often. Who knows where to find Xie Yanzhao next time?

So annoying!

Could it be that the original owner was unattractive?

Ruan Mingfu quickly leaned over to a nearby small ditch, looking at her reflection in the water. Only then did she feel relieved. The original owner looked almost exactly like her, except for a tiny teardrop mole under her left eye. Otherwise, she might have thought she had traveled through time herself.

Seeing this, Ruan Mingfu grew even more irritated.

What kind of man is Xie Yanzhao, to be so indifferent to such beauty?

Ruan Mingfu angrily crushed the flower in her hand and threw the pieces into the ditch in frustration.

The local tyrant’s uncle was the head of the G Committee. No matter how beautiful Ruan Mingfu was, no one wanted to offend the county’s top official over a woman. Xie Yanzhao, being a soldier with a high rank, was her ticket out of this place through marriage.

Giving up was not an option—this plan needed to be pushed forward…

Ruan Mingfu refused to believe that with her charm, she couldn’t win over Xie Yanzhao.

*

Just as Ruan Mingfu was pumping herself up with determination, she heard voices as she approached the entrance to the educated youth camp.

“… Disappeared early in the morning…”

“Probably out seducing another male comrade.”

Ruan Mingfu’s beautiful face had made her the talk of the nearby villages ever since she arrived in the countryside, with male comrades flocking to her with favors. However, her inability to navigate social dynamics had made her a target of covert and overt hostility from the other female comrades.

“Today, the Wu family’s son is getting married. She probably went to join the fun.”

One of the educated youth girls with two long braids snorted, “You believe that?”

Ruan Mingfu recognized this girl as Hu Lihong. Though plain-looking, Hu Lihong’s straightforward personality made her popular with everyone, and she was always the first to know any news in the village.

“What do you mean?”

Hu Lihong smiled mysteriously, “The Wu family’s son is a soldier. He came back to get married and brought several comrades with him.”

“Tsk, but they’re all married…” The disappointment in this voice was palpable.

The soldiers had barely arrived at the Wu family’s home and hadn’t even warmed their seats when the mothers of marriageable daughters in the village started showing up. Soldiers were the most sought-after bachelors at that time—the equivalent of a winning hand in the matchmaking game!

But to their dismay, most of them were already married.

The enthusiasm of these mothers was quickly extinguished.

Hu Lihong shot her a glance, “Who said that? There’s still one who isn’t married!”

“Who?”

With no hope of returning to the city, these girls knew that their lives would be easier with the allowance provided by their families. For others who wanted a better life, marriage was the only option left. Compared to marrying a local villager, they much preferred the soldiers.

“Oh, hurry up and tell us.”

Hu Lihong cleared her throat before finally revealing, “The tallest one.”

The educated youth girls thought for a moment, then seemed startled, their bodies shuddering.

“That one looks so fierce.”

“Yeah, I bet he hits people…”

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

The crowd’s eyes are sharp indeed. Xie Yanzhao looked so fierce that if she had any other choice, she wouldn’t be so hung up on him.

“Bah!” Hu Lihong spat at them, “They’ve all killed people on the battlefield. Of course, they look fierce.”

“That makes sense… But what does this have to do with Ruan Mingfu?”

Hu Lihong: “…”

She has no sensitivity to gossip at all. If she weren’t so desperate to find someone to chat with, she wouldn’t bother talking to these girls.

“Didn’t Zhou Peng have his eye on Ruan? So why is she still trying to seduce other men? Shameless!”

“Her skin is thicker than all of ours put together.”

“… Why is she so popular with the male comrades?”

“Because she’s loose…”

The girl who said this sounded as sour as a lemon.

“Could she really be a reincarnated fox spirit…”

“Soldiers are righteous men. They wouldn’t fall for her tricks, would they?”

“Hard to say. Just look at how those male comrades flock to her like flies to honey.”

It was clear that the girl who spoke harbored significant resentment toward Ruan Mingfu, as every word she said was meant to disparage her.

“I hope the military comrades won’t be fooled by that flirtatious fox…”

“Oh, come on. Have you ever seen anyone escape her grasp? I bet she’ll have them wrapped around her finger in no more than seven days. Do you believe it?”

“How can she be so shameless!”

“Heh, what does she have to be ashamed of? She lures those male comrades into a daze, completely losing their sense of propriety. Just look at how wild she is—she’s probably already been taken advantage of by those men.”

“Oh my goodness…”

Hearing the increasingly inappropriate comments from behind, Ruan Mingfu’s face darkened. She pushed the door open and walked inside. The young people in the courtyard saw her figure and immediately fell silent, like chickens with their necks being wrung.

Caught talking behind someone’s back, even Hu Lihong’s thick skin couldn’t handle it.

“Mingfu’s back,” Hu Lihong saw Ruan Mingfu’s hand and was startled. “What happened to your hand?”

Xie Yanzhao’s grip had left deep marks, and the longer it had been, the more pronounced the bruises became.

Ruan Mingfu replied coolly, “I got into a fight with some people who were gossiping, and this is what happened.”

Hu Lihong: “…”

So it’s like that.

Ruan Mingfu didn’t even glance at them, turning back to her room. As she was about to enter, she paused slightly and looked back, “I heard everything you said just now. Don’t worry, I’ll do my best.”

With that, the door closed behind her. The young woman who had been grumbling about Ruan Mingfu rolled her eyes, threw the washed shoes into the water, and grumbled:

“Acting all high and mighty. Bitch! She’ll get criticized sooner or later.”

The educated youth next to her tugged at her sleeve, “Hurry up and clean those. We still have work tomorrow.”

Only then did the young woman stop complaining.

The educated youth camp was converted from an old landlord’s house. The conditions weren’t great—there were plenty of rooms, but they were divided into separate front and back courtyards for men and women, with the dining area shared.

Fortunately, Ruan Mingfu had been assigned a small room where she could live alone.

The room was very simple.

When she first arrived, there was only a shabby bed. To address this, she had found a carpenter in the village to make a small table and a wardrobe.

Ruan Mingfu opened the wardrobe, which contained all of the original owner’s belongings. She took out an iron box, which contained some sewing supplies and a few pieces of money.

After counting, there was about four thousand yuan left, along with some scattered receipts.

The original owner had been sent down to the countryside by her parents, who had given her all the money they had. Adding it up, there had been over five thousand yuan. The original occupant had spent extravagantly, so only this amount remained after buying things to send to her parents.

Ruan Mingfu put the iron box back in its place and locked the wardrobe.

*

The next morning, at dawn, Ruan Mingfu woke up.

The bed was only covered with a thin mat, and the bed board was very hard, making her extremely uncomfortable and barely able to sleep. Hearing noises outside, she found it impossible to stay asleep.

Outside, a female educated youth was busy. She was momentarily surprised to see Ruan Mingfu up so early, as this pampered young lady usually slept until mealtime and never got up before that.

“Educated Youth Ruan, you’re up so early?”

The young woman looked kind and even smiled at her.

Ruan Mingfu felt somewhat reassured.

She wasn’t some universally despised figure, after all.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I got up.”

The young woman’s smile widened, “Ruan Mingfu, the month is ending soon. Will you still need me to cook for you next month?”

In the educated youth camp, everyone ate from the same pot, with two people assigned to cook each day.

But the original owner never cooked.

One reason was that she had never cooked before and her food was terrible. Another was that she could pay someone else to do it.

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

No wonder she was smiling so kindly—she was the privileged client.

“…Yes.”

The original owner couldn’t cook, so did that mean she could?

Ruan Mingfu, having never cooked before, didn’t even know where her family’s kitchen was. Thinking about how she had boasted about her cooking skills before, she felt a bit guilty.

She went back to her room and found some canned goods the original owner had bought and handed them over.

Private transactions were not allowed, so Ruan Mingfu certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to give money directly.

The young woman received the cans with a smile, and her gaze towards Ruan Mingfu became even warmer.

She was small and couldn’t earn many work points, so life was tough. Trading the cans for some eggs would at least help her get some nutrition.

Breakfast consisted of a bowl of thin porridge that reflected one’s image and two fist-sized sweet potatoes.

Ruan Mingfu looked around and saw that everyone ate the same. Only the male educated youth had larger portions, with a couple more sweet potatoes.

The sweet potatoes were just out of the pot, still steaming.

Ruan Mingfu carefully picked one up.

Her hands, as delicate as white jade, made the sweet potato look even more appealing. The male educated youth stared, and one of them was pinched hard by the female educated youth sitting next to him.

“Does it look good?”

The male educated youth, initially about to nod, quickly shook his head.

“No… it doesn’t look good.”

“Really?”

“Of course, really.”

The female educated youth snorted, then released her grip on the male educated youth’s flesh, and gave Ruan Mingfu a fierce look, cursing her silently.

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

These two educated youth had been dating for a while. Their parents had been informed, and they were just waiting to get married at the end of the year.

After breakfast, as Ruan Mingfu was about to leave, someone called out to her.

“Educated Youth Ruan, since you didn’t eat much this morning, let me give you this boiled egg.”

Everyone who had not yet left the educated youth camp turned their attention to her.

The female educated youth who had scolded Ruan Mingfu yesterday sneered at this and gestured to the others with a look of disdain.

Ruan Mingfu’s refusal was on the tip of her tongue but was swallowed.

“Thank you.”

The male educated youth’s face turned red, and he shyly looked down, awkwardly scratching his head.

“No… don’t mention it.”

She accepted the egg and glanced at the female educated youth, who glared at her with an angry expression.

Ruan Mingfu smiled brightly, and the female educated youth was so angry that she fell backwards.

Noticing the tense atmosphere, the team leader quickly spoke up, “We should get back to work.”

The first crop of rice had already been planted this year, avoiding the hassle of transplanting seedlings. Ruan Mingfu knew that there were leeches in the rice paddies that latch onto legs and suck blood.

During the transplanting process, with bare legs in the water, it didn’t take long for these leeches to attach themselves. If unlucky, they might even burrow into the skin…

Ruan Mingfu shivered at the thought.

Just imagining it was terrifying.

Ruan Mingfu was assigned to weed.

It was a field of rapeseed flowers that had already fallen, leaving behind tender green pods. After the recent spring rains, the weeds had grown as tall as the rapeseed plants.

Ruan Mingfu, petite in stature, was barely visible as she crouched to pull weeds.

The soil, softened by the rain, made it easy to pull up the tender weeds. Ruan Mingfu quickly gathered large handfuls, and soon a thick pile of weeds had accumulated behind her.

She felt a bit proud.

Farm work wasn’t so difficult after all, though the grasshoppers jumping around in the weeds were a bit annoying.

“…The son of my sister’s nephew’s next-door neighbor’s relative beat his wife to death…”

“Is that true?”

“Of course it’s true. They even dug up the body.”

“I heard his previous wife was beaten and ran away, but he was unlucky with this one and ended up killing her.”

Ruan Mingfu quietly listened in.

“Doesn’t he have any children?”

“They’ve only been married for six months. How could there be children?”

“It’s such a pity…”

A few women lamented for a while before changing the subject.

“Have you heard? The old Zhou family has their eyes on a female educated youth. They’re waiting for Zhou Peng to come back and then they’ll find someone to propose.”

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

The old Zhou family?

The local tyrant who had his eyes on her was named Zhou Peng.

“Didn’t Old Zhou’s wife have her eyes on Yujiao? What happened to that?”

“Old Zhou’s wife can want what she likes, but it’s up to the son’s preference. Zhou Peng wants to marry this female educated youth no matter what, and Old Zhou’s wife can’t do anything about it.”

“Yujiao is better. She’s both hardworking and pretty.”

“Boys like beauty, but as they get older, they’ll know who’s better.”

“You haven’t said which female educated youth it is?”

“It’s that one who’s very attractive… the prettiest. Her name is Ruan… Anyway, her name has something like…”

Ruan Mingfu didn’t listen closely to the rest of the conversation. Her mind was consumed with the thought of Zhou Peng coming back to propose to her.

If she married into the Zhou family, it would be disastrous.

Zhou Peng had a twisted and problematic personality. The way he looked at her was like assessing an item, which made her feel disgusted. She always thought Zhou Peng had antisocial tendencies. If she married such a person, she might not even know how she died.

No, she had to find a way to escape!

**