Chapter 22.1

Gu Sui walked into Qingxi Village. It wasn’t yet time for the afternoon work to end, and the people working in the fields all greeted him warmly.

“Gu Sui is back!”

“Was the journey smooth?”

“Ah, it’s really great to see you back. During this time you were away, we had to go to the Qingsong Brigade to see a doctor!”

“Are you not leaving this time?”

Gu Sui smiled gently: “I’m not leaving. If anyone needs to see a doctor, come find me at Educated Youth’s place later.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll go there soon.”

Gu Sui was chatting with someone when Yang Guozhu hurried over to find him. A middle-aged man, with years of exposure to the wind and sun, his face was sweating profusely at the moment.

Yang Guozhu wiped his sweat: “You’re back. Where’s Guan Yue? I remember the place you went and the place Guan Yue went to, Qingchuan, should be pretty close.”

“Mm, I met her, and we came back together. Right now, she’s already taken another road up the mountain.”

“Other than the one from our village, is there another way up the mountain?”

Gu Sui nodded, changing the subject: “How have you all been these last few months?”

“Pretty good. The insect repellent powder that Guan Yue gave was effective; there were fewer snakes in the house in the first half of the year. It’s just that there’s not much insect repellent powder left. After sharing, it’s even less, and it’s almost gone. Thankfully, you’re back.”

Gu Sui understood Yang Guozhu’s meaning: “Recently, it might not be enough. She has to prepare some medicine to send to her Teacher. If you need insect repellent powder, it’ll likely be after Dragon Boat Festival.”

“After Dragon Boat Festival is fine too.”

Gu Sui nodded: “Then I won’t chat with you anymore for now. After work later, everyone should go to the Educated Youth’s place to see a doctor. I need to go up the mountain to look for Guan Yue and get some materials to use first.”

“Go ahead, and mention the insect repellent powder to her while you’re at it.”

“Okay, I’ll get going now. You’re busy first.”

Yang Guozhu waved his hand.

As soon as Gu Sui left, Yang Guozhu loudly rallied everyone: “Gu Sui is back, Guan Yue is back! In the future, we won’t lack doctors or medicine, and life will be good. Everyone needs to work hard, plant more crops, and do more work to live up to the country’s care for us.”

“Okay! Let’s get to work!”

Wearing a hat, Li Tao stood up, stretched her back, and relaxed for a moment. Working bent over in the field all day was exhausting and unbearably hot.

Li Tao tried to take off her hat, but Lin Haiyin stopped her: “It’s way too hot right now. You can’t let your face get too dark.”

Zhang Cuihua shot her daughter a sharp look: “Listen to your Sister-in-law. You’re getting married to He Wen in the fall, and getting too dark won’t look good.”

Li Tao complained, “But it’s really hot! I’ve drunk two big jugs of water all afternoon.”

“You still need to keep that hat on properly,” Lin Haiyin said firmly.

Li Tao pouted; she wasn’t naturally fair-skinned, and even with the hat on, it didn’t do much good.

“Hmm, maybe I should ask Guan Yue if she has any whitening secrets. She’s fair-skinned, maybe she knows something.”

Wu Min’s mother, Liu Yufeng, who was working in another field nearby, heard the exchange between Li Tao and Zhang Cuihua. She smiled wryly, showing a relatively fair face: “You, born like that, a little darker or lighter doesn’t make much difference. Don’t overthink it.”

Since no one responded, she continued: “Being fair or dark is all about genetics. Look at how well my Wu Min turned out. Born fair-skinned, she’s got the destiny of living well in the city.”

She glanced at Li Tao and muttered, “Marrying a farmer’s son, what are you trying to look so decent for?”

Zhang Cuihua wasn’t one to be messed with, responding sharply: “People say, a dragon gives birth to dragons, a phoenix gives birth to phoenixes, and rats’ offspring dig holes. Just look at how you behave. In the future, your daughter will probably be just like this. And you think she’ll go to the city? With that look, would she end up being a servant to a landlord? Look who’s talking about my Li Tao? You think you’re Liu Yufeng?”

Liu Yufeng, humiliated publicly after a lifetime of being one-upped by Zhang Cuihua, was ready to fight back.

In their village, there wasn’t a Women’s Head or a similar role; it was in charge of the Qingsong Brigade, where Yang Guozhu’s wife temporarily served in the position. She hurried over to mediate.

“Are you not tired enough from working? Why are you arguing? If you have time to bicker, why not finish your work early and go rest?”

Liu Yufeng, still angry and unwilling to listen, lashed out: “What do you know, just a regular member of the commune? Who says your business is to interfere in mine? Focus on your own daughter—she’s not getting any younger, still getting dumped. If you’re going to talk, talk about that instead!”

Guo Chuanbin, Yang Xiaomei’s boyfriend, had caused a stir in Daqing Mountain the previous year. After an injury and the ensuing fallout, the relationship ended. His Big Brother and older sister, when visiting home for the holidays, heard about it and arranged for a breakup. Guo Chuanbin’s family didn’t raise any issues about Yang Xiaomei personally, but the message was clear—marriage wasn’t on the cards given his need for a temporary job in the city, working days and attending night school at night, needing to graduate from night school to get a permanent job and housing. Without those, there was no way to get married.

In short, it’s not fair to let Guo Chuanbin’s actions waste Yang Xiaomei’s youth; after all, the girl is at marrying age now, and it’s probably better this way to part ways.

Other people from the brigade and village who didn’t know the full story just thought the Guo family handled things well.

People in Qingsong Brigade and Qingxi Village who remembered last year’s incident knew exactly why Guo Chuanbin and Yang Xiaomei broke up when they put two and two together.

Among the same brigade, it’s one thing to gossip behind closed doors, but even the sharpest minds wouldn’t bring it up to the people involved. Yang Guozhu’s family chose to pretend they didn’t know.

This incident exposed Liu Yufeng’s true nature to everyone. Yang Guozhu’s wife’s face turned various colors in anger, and if she hadn’t remembered her husband was the village chief, she might have jumped on Liu Yufeng and torn her apart.

Yang Guozhu’s wife said firmly, “One bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch. If you keep disturbing everyone’s work, I’ll just dock your points!”

“Pfft! You think you’re a big deal?” Liu Yufeng shot back.

Wu Min’s father, Old Wu, heard his wife’s outburst and came over to mediate. Hearing this, he slapped Liu Yufeng across the face: “Do you not know how to talk? If you can’t speak properly, keep quiet and stop pissing people off!”

Liu Yufeng, usually sharp-tongued, deflated in front of her husband like a punctured balloon.

Old Wu: “Go back to work!”

Liu Yufeng glared at Zhang Cuihua and bit back her frustration, turning to go back to work in silence.

Zhang Cuihua scoffed and then turned to Li Tao: “See that? Never try to argue over a little pride—it’s just asking for trouble. Liu Yufeng got nothing out of trying to make me laugh and sneer at me.”

Lin Haiyin glanced at Old Wu’s retreating back: “Old Wu Min’s dad hitting his wife isn’t exactly a good thing. He doesn’t even care what people think about his reputation now that his son can’t find a wife.”

“Other people’s business is none of our concern. Let’s get back to work and finish up so we can rest.”

Li Tao nodded: “I just heard Gu Sui say Guan Yue is back. I’ll go find her up the mountain later.”

“Better not go now; she’s probably exhausted from the trip back. Go tomorrow.”

“I’ll listen to my sister-in-law.”

Zhang Cuihua said: “Go tomorrow, and take the homemade wine up to Guan Yue while you’re at it.”

There were plenty of people around the fields, and there was one thing Zhang Cuihua didn’t say out loud—let Li Tao and Lin Haiyin go up the mountain and have Guan Yue take their pulse.

“Alright!”

Disputes between women in rural areas aren’t really a big deal. Yang Guozhu heard it and quickly forgot, but his wife and Yang Xiaomei weren’t happy about it at all.

Yang Guozhu’s wife pinned all the blame on Liu Yufeng, while Yang Xiaomei laid it on Wu Min and Guan Yue’s shoulders.

If it weren’t for Wu Min’s instigation and Guan Yue’s lack of mercy, Yang Xiaomei wouldn’t have broken up with Guo Chuanbin. If they hadn’t broken up, it was almost certain Guo Chuanbin would take her to the city sooner or later.

Yang Xiaomei’s hatred for these two grew, she couldn’t help but gnash her teeth in frustration.

Just after finishing work, Yang Xiaomei saw Gu Sui coming down the mountain with a bag in hand. Her mind went blank, and she charged straight up the mountain.

Gu Sui had prepared dinner for Guan Yue, and after a simple meal, he took some medicine and went down the mountain, ready to help everyone with their health needs. Guan Yue, after finishing her meal, was in no hurry to move, just lounging in a chair, enjoying the mountain breeze in the woods.

Xiao Hei crawled up from Guan Yue’s wrist to a tree in front. A newly hatched brood of doves was there, and he went as a temporary playmate while their mother was away.

Suddenly, Xiao Hei shrank back and shot down the tree, wrapping around Guan Yue’s wrist with lightning speed.

Guan Yue blinked, and a few minutes later, Yang Xiaomei appeared in front of her.

Yang Xiaomei’s father was the village chief, and even she couldn’t escape the work in the fields all day. As she stood there, she could smell the sweat on her body—farming all day had that effect. But Guan Yue, in contrast, was clean and leisurely, sitting there enjoying the wind.

Yang Xiaomei’s jealousy and frustration were almost overwhelming her.

Had she really become so inferior compared to a mere girl?

In a world where she was used to killing and scheming, Yang Xiaomei’s shallow jealousy barely made a ripple. Guan Yue raised an eyebrow: “What do you want?”

There was so much she wanted to say, so much on her mind, but those were things she couldn’t bring herself to say. How could she, as a ‘decent’ person, voice those undignified thoughts?

In the end, she blurted out, “Who are you really? Where did you come from? Are you really not a spy?”

Yang Xiaomei’s mind raced, and a thought came to her—something to unnerve Guan Yue.

Guan Yue laughed softly, complimenting her: “Not bad, despite your different background from Wang Lu, your mind is on the same level.”

The mention of Wang Lu took Yang Xiaomei by surprise. What was she implying?

Guan Yue didn’t want to get into an argument with her. Instead, she just said, “Wang Lu thought I was a spy too, and tried to have me arrested. Do you know where Wang Lu is now?”

“Where?”

“Should be in a re-education camp on a northern farm,” Guan Yue replied casually.

Yang Xiaomei was stunned: “You’re lying! Wang Lu is from Beijing!”

“Yeah, Wang Lu is indeed from Beijing; her dad and brother are officials,” Guan Yue replied, her voice still calm and composed. “But what does that prove?”

“You have no evidence,” Yang Xiaomei retorted.

“I don’t need to prove anything to you,” Guan Yue responded, a chilling smile on her face. “I’m just reminding you—don’t mess with me. Once your dad’s goodwill runs out with me, you’ll have to weigh your own options.”

She said this with a smile, but as her eyes swept over Yang Xiaomei, the girl felt a chill run down her spine, feeling genuinely scared by the woman before her.

Moments later, Yang Xiaomei didn’t even know how she got down the mountain so quickly.

After Yang Xiaomei left, Guan Yue stood up, stretching her body and poking Xiao Hei’s leaves as she spoke. “Alright, time to go back to sleep.”

Guan Yue jumped up into a tree and headed deeper into the mountains, not to her treehouse but to find her pig—it had been left in the woods when she left for Qingchuan City. She had no idea if it was still alive.

Before leaving for Qingchuan, Guan Yue had acquired a piglet through Yang Guozhu, but after she left, she couldn’t feed it. She had left it in the forest to fend for itself.

Guan Yue figured the little, white, fat pig was probably eaten by a pack of wolves or some other predator.

After searching the pigsty’s two-kilometer radius, she found no pig and no remains that could suggest it had been there.

No pig means she’ll need to expand her search area tomorrow. If it’s still not found, she’ll have to buy another piglet.

She wondered where Gu Sui bought the piglet last year.