There were two spare beds in the female educated youth dormitory. Originally, the women were supposed to sleep on those empty beds, but there were no bedding supplies. So, He Xiaoxiao, Deng Damei, and Zhang Yunxi squeezed onto one bed together, leaving the other two beds for the women.

Zhang Yunxi slept in the middle.

She felt like a meat sandwich.

Everyone was squeezing in.

Zhang Yunxi placed her hands on top of the quilt, trying to breathe in some fresh air.

By four in the morning, the rain finally began to ease. Zhang Yunxi slept until nine-thirty. Although she hadn’t stayed up all night, she had gotten up repeatedly, which was exhausting. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she noticed that the women had already left.

Deng Damei said, “They were called away by the brigade leader this morning. They’re going to borrow money from the brigade to repair their house.”

“They’ve had it rough.”

Zhang Yunxi sighed.

“Yeah, especially with the children suffering alongside them.”

Deng Damei had been able to ignore those people before, but after interacting with them last night, she realized how miserable they were and felt deeply sorry for them.

Zhang Yunxi sincerely hoped they could hold on for seven more years. After seven years, they would regain their freedom.

“Let’s go find the brigade leader later and get someone to fix our roof. I really don’t want to get up at night to empty buckets of water.”

“Well… if you don’t mind, I can ask Zhao Xiaobing to help us fix the roof,” Deng Damei said hesitantly.

Zhang Yunxi laughed. “I don’t mind, not at all.”

“Hey, you’re so annoying.”

Deng Damei blushed and glared at her, then stomped out to find Zhao Xiaobing.

Zhang Yunxi threw off the quilt, rubbed her sore arms, and got out of bed to wash up.

She was brushing her teeth when Deng Damei rushed in, excited. “Yunxi!!!”

Zhang Yunxi, squatting on the ground brushing her teeth, looked up and mumbled, “What?”

“The militia captain’s blind date is here to see him. Hurry, hurry, go take a look! I know you love gossip, so I rushed back to get you. Hurry, or the whole brigade will be crowded around.”

Zhang Yunxi’s eyes widened, glowing with the light of gossip. Her brushing speed increased dramatically.

As soon as she finished washing her face, Deng Damei plopped a bamboo hat on her head and dragged her outside by the wrist.

The muddy paths of the village after the rain couldn’t stop everyone’s curiosity. People were pouring out of their homes.

Zhang Yunxi stood on tiptoe, craning her neck and trying to push through the crowd. But everyone was just as curious, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make any progress.

“Little Aunt, come on, we’ll clear the way for you,” Zhao Mo said with a serious face. She was furious.

Er Gouzi was also furious.

The two of them wanted their little aunt to deal with the “other woman”!

“Wow, you’re amazing,” Zhang Yunxi said, using the path the two kids had cleared to squeeze to the front. Deng Damei followed closely behind, deeply impressed by the little ones. They were really good at squeezing through.

Once at the front, the two kids stood like bodyguards on either side of Zhang Yunxi, each holding a stick, ready to act on her command.

They waited and waited.

Zhao Mo: “???”

Isn’t Little Aunt angry at all?

Er Gouzi was also confused.

Little Aunt really isn’t angry?

He had clearly felt that Uncle Zhao treated Little Aunt differently from others.

What was going on?

Had his intuition been wrong?

The two looked up and saw Zhang Yunxi enjoying the spectacle more than anyone else.

So they whispered behind her.

Er Gouzi: “Little Aunt might really not like Uncle Zhao.”

Zhao Mo snorted, proudly saying, “I told you so! My little aunt doesn’t like Uncle Zhao. It’s just you always making up nonsense!”

Er Gouzi: “…”

If I hadn’t seen you charging over with a stick, gritting your teeth, I might have believed you.

“Whatever you say.”

He had been beaten too many times in the past few days and didn’t have the courage to argue.

At the center of the scene, Zhao Rencheng also saw Zhang Yunxi. Noticing her curious gaze, full of gossip and not a hint of jealousy, Zhao Rencheng’s thoughts swirled, and an inexplicable anger burned within him!!

His sharp jawline tightened, and his attitude toward Tao Lizhen became even more unfriendly. “I don’t have that kind of authority. You should leave.”

“Brother Zhao, please, just help me. If you help me, I’ll marry you and serve you like a slave!” Tao Lizhen’s eyes reddened, and she was so anxious she almost reached out to beg him.

Zhao Rencheng’s pupils trembled slightly, as if he had heard something utterly absurd. He really wanted to laugh.

If it weren’t for the fact that she was a young woman and her reputation mattered, Zhao Rencheng would have loved to snap back: Who cares if you marry me? It’s not like I don’t have someone I want to marry.

But the onlookers all gasped!

They hadn’t heard what Tao Lizhen had said earlier, but just the phrase “I’m willing to marry you and serve you like a slave” was shocking enough!

Many of the young men were jealous.

“Brother Zhao’s blind date is really something, willing to serve him like a slave.”

“She’s got a great figure and fair skin too.”

“She’s quite pretty, but I think Zhang Zhiqing shouldn’t be standing there. The comparison is a bit unfair.”

Everyone glanced at Zhang Yunxi’s face.

Then looked back at Tao Lizhen.

They fell silent.

Sure, Tao Lizhen was quite pretty, but with a stunning beauty like Zhang Yunxi standing right there, it was hard to feel anything for anyone else.

Sigh.

People really shouldn’t be compared like that.

Otherwise, none of them would ever get married.

They were all envious of Zhao Rencheng, having a girl come all this way to propose to him.

The scene grew noisy, and Zhao Rencheng’s attention wasn’t on Tao Lizhen anymore. “Your family’s issues have nothing to do with me. We’re just blind dates, not in a relationship.”

“But I…”

Tao Lizhen bit her lip, her eyes slowly filling with tears. She had mustered up all her courage to come find Zhao Rencheng, only to be rejected so quickly.

With so many people around, Tao Lizhen covered her face and crouched down, crying. Her thin back and pitiful sobs finally quieted the crowd.

Zhao Rencheng felt no sympathy, only irritation. “Cry if you want.”

With that.

He walked away.

The crowd instinctively made way for him.

Zhang Yunxi blinked.

Was it her imagination?

She thought she saw Zhao Rencheng glare at her just now. What was his problem?

He was the one being pursued, yet he glared at her. What kind of logic was that?

“Wuwuwu…”

Tao Lizhen was still crying.

Zhang Yunxi looked around. Everyone was exchanging glances, unsure of how to handle the situation.

Fortunately, Brigade Leader Zhao arrived.

He personally rode his bicycle to take the young girl home. He had never expected that the girl he had arranged for Zhao Rencheng would end up like this.

Tao Lizhen has two older brothers.

One of her brothers was in a relationship, but his girlfriend forced him to join the army. When he failed to do so, she married someone else.

Their family had no solution.

So, they set their sights on Zhao Rencheng.

They hoped Tao Lizhen could marry Zhao Rencheng in exchange for her brother’s chance to get married.

There was no other way—her brother had nearly died.

If she couldn’t get Zhao Rencheng to help, she would be the one responsible for her brother’s death.

Brigade leader Zhao frowned as he looked at Tao Lizhen’s entire family. “I had no idea—since when does Zhao Rencheng have the power to decide whether someone joins the army or not?”