Chapter 7

Ji Yunchen was unwilling in his heart, but everyone knew about his relationship with He Yirou.

Gu Nian saw through his little schemes—he simply didn’t want to support He Yirou because having one more person meant more work to do.

“Comrade Ji, no way, no way! You’re not unwilling, right? Weren’t you and Comrade He in a relationship? Or have you broken up?”

“That won’t do, Comrade Ji. No matter how bad Comrade He is, you can’t just abandon her like that, right?”

Gu Nian’s words changed everyone’s perception of Ji Yunchen. They now saw him as a scumbag.

To save his reputation, Ji Yunchen had no choice but to agree. He Yirou was overjoyed. She had really thought he didn’t want to be with her, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case. It seemed that Ji Yunchen was just slow to warm up.

Since her goal was achieved, Gu Nian stopped talking. She had read the book and knew that Ji Yunchen actually had a fiancée in the city.

His family had arranged the engagement when they were young, and soon, this fiancée would come looking for him.

At that time, Ji Yunchen would definitely abandon He Yirou and return to the city. Gu Nian wanted to see what He Yirou would do when her dreams shattered.

“Congratulations, Host! You have completed the sixth task and unlocked half of the trading space.”

The system notification sounded at the right moment, but Gu Nian ignored it. The autumn harvest wasn’t over yet, and tonight, she planned to make mushroom stew with wild chicken to nourish herself.

Song Youyou and Fang Siyu always brought a bunch of food to meals, so Gu Nian decided to treat them to dinner today.

With the fragrant wild chicken stew, Song Youyou and Fang Siyu suddenly felt that the autumn harvest wasn’t so unbearable.

On the second day after Shen Yuling’s wedding, she went straight to the fields to work. It was rare in the village for a newlywed bride to go to work the very next day.

Yet, Erlai was nowhere to be seen. Wang Qini didn’t even make him work despite his new wife doing farm labor, showing just how much she spoiled her son.

The villagers looked at Shen Yuling with mixed thoughts. Some pitied her for marrying someone like Erlai.

Others, however, were thinking: If even someone like Erlai could marry a girl from the city, then our sons, who are much better, should definitely find a good match too.

Thus, the villagers began setting their sights on the educated youth.

This suited some of the educated youth just fine. Wu Anfei had been in the countryside for three years. After waiting so long without seeing any hope of returning to the city, she didn’t want to wait any longer.

She knew that if she grew old and lost her youth, it would be too late. It was better to find someone with good prospects while she was still young.

So when a matchmaker approached her, she agreed right away. She even dressed up carefully for the meeting.

She went to the neighboring village and was pleasantly surprised to find a man who worked in a county factory. Although he was just a regular employee, his monthly salary was more than twenty yuan.

There was also a chance that he could move to the city in the future.

For Wu Anfei, this was an irresistible temptation.

Without thinking too much, she agreed when the man suggested getting married quickly.

The older educated youth thought she was rushing too much. There was no need to be so hasty.

Jia Xueli, who had come to the countryside with Wu Anfei, had grown very close to her over the past three years and tried to persuade her.

“Anfei, are you really willing to stay in the countryside for the rest of your life? Once you get married, there’s no turning back.”

“I’ve thought it through, Xueli. I can’t endure this anymore. I’m not like you. You and Ye Qing love each other, and you’ll eventually be together. But I’m different. I can’t go back to the city, and I can’t do farm work. I might as well get married.”

“Besides, this man is really nice.”

Wu Anfei spoke with pride, thinking she had found a great opportunity.

Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. If something seems too good to be true, it’s probably a trap.

Seeing that Wu Anfei wouldn’t listen, Jia Xueli stopped trying to convince her. Everyone had their own choices to make.

She herself had considered marrying Ye Qing, but he said it wasn’t the right time yet.

“Xueli, Ye Qing has delayed marriage for so long. You should be careful—I have a bad feeling about him.”

Jia Xueli didn’t overthink it. She trusted Ye Qing—they had known each other for years.

“I know.”

—-

Finally, just when everyone was about to collapse from exhaustion, the autumn harvest ended. Wu Anfei had already started preparing for her wedding.

She had a good reputation among the educated youth, so when the harvest break came, everyone pooled their money and food ration tickets to buy her a hot water kettle.

Wu Anfei was touched. She hadn’t expected them to be so kind to her.

After returning to the village, it was time to distribute the grains—one of the happiest moments of the year for the villagers.

On the day of grain distribution, every household went early to the drying yard to wait.

Gu Nian arrived late and didn’t receive much. The other new educated youth were in the same situation.

The village head knew they wouldn’t have enough food and told them they could buy grain from the villagers if needed.

Most of the new educated youth came from good families, so they weren’t worried about affording food. But Ji Yunchen and He Yirou looked troubled.

He Yirou had no money, and Ji Yunchen was nearly out of cash. Once they ran out of food, they would have to starve.

At that moment, Ji Yunchen resented He Yirou deeply. If only he could get rid of this woman.

But He Yirou was completely unaware of his thoughts. She still saw him as her rock.

The older educated youth received more grain, and by eating frugally, they could make it last. Surprisingly, Jia Xueli, a girl, received more than even some of the boys.

After the grain was distributed, it was finally time for Wu Anfei’s wedding banquet.

On her wedding day, she packed up her belongings, leaving behind things she couldn’t take for Jia Xueli.

She had expected her groom to come on a bicycle at least, but to her disappointment, he came on foot.

She had wanted to make a grand scene for her wedding, but now that was impossible.

Still, since they were already getting married, Wu Anfei decided to put her disappointment aside, put on a smile, and happily left with the groom.

The educated youth brought two eggs each as wedding gifts. But then, someone from the groom’s side told them:

“There’s no need for you to come to the banquet. We don’t want outsiders attending.”

Although the educated youth found it strange, since they weren’t welcome, they simply didn’t go.

Gu Nian, taking advantage of the quiet moment, delivered warm cotton clothes to her parents and the two elderly professors.

Holding the warm clothes, the two professors and her parents were moved to tears.

“My daughter, did you make a cotton coat for yourself?”

Gu Nian reassured them. “I made one for all of us. I’ll bring you cotton gloves in a few days.”

Since their blankets were so thin, and winter in the east was no joke, she planned to buy them thick quilts from the system shop next time.

As she was leaving, she noticed He Yirou lurking nearby, watching something.

Gu Nian guessed that, since He Yirou had been reborn, she must have realized the true identities of her parents and the professors.

But it was pointless. Gu Nian wouldn’t let He Yirou get close to them.

—-

Before dawn the next day, the educated youth dorm was filled with the sound of wailing.

Wu Anfei had returned, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Xueli, I was deceived! It was all a lie!”

“What do you mean?”