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Su Niannian smiled as she took her water bottle from Gu Nan’s hand.
Then, she patted the spot beside her, signaling for Gu Nan to sit down.
Once Gu Nan had taken a seat next to her, Su Niannian tilted her head back and took a sip of water.
It tasted quite good—Gu Nan had made it for her.
“You have to take good care of yourself. Don’t let yourself get hurt,” Gu Nan said, gazing at the girl beside him, his eyes filled with affection.
“I will. You too—try not to get hurt in the future,” Su Niannian said. Although she knew that once Gu Nan returned to the military, he would surely face many dangerous situations, as long as she was around, she would do her best to keep him safe.
“Alright,” Gu Nan agreed.
Su Niannian handed her malted milk drink to Gu Nan, but he declined.
“It’s really good. Just try it,” Su Niannian said, bringing the bottle to Gu Nan’s lips. Unable to refuse, he finally took it and had a sip.
It was indeed tasty, but Gu Nan still felt that the water Su Niannian had given him tasted better.
By now, the sky had gradually darkened.
“Should we call them out to eat?” Gu Zhi asked. The food had already been ready for a while.
“I think we can wait a little longer,” Gu Ningning replied, putting on the air of a little grown-up.
“Well, the food won’t get cold in this weather, but if Niannian returns to the Educated Youth Center too late, wouldn’t that be inappropriate?” Gu Mother expressed her concern, worried it might affect Su Niannian’s reputation.
“Alright then, I’ll deliver Big Brother’s meal first, and then I’ll go call them,” Gu Ningning said, picking up the steamed buns and dishes that were already served and heading to Big Brother’s room.
Then she went to Second Brother’s door and called them out for dinner.
When the two of them came out, Su Niannian looked as composed as ever, still carrying herself with ease and confidence.
Gu Nan, on the other hand, had a faint redness on his ears and neck, showing a rare hint of shyness.
That was something neither Gu Zhi nor Gu Ningning had expected.
For dinner, Gu Zhi had made steamed buns using a mix of cornmeal and white flour, along with a stir-fried seasonal vegetable dish. She also reheated some braised pork offal they had leftover and brought it out to the table.
Everyone began eating, and along the way, Su Niannian even picked out dishes for the other three.
“Thank you, Sister Niannian,” Gu Ningning said sweetly. She especially loved the food Su Niannian made. Though her own mother’s cooking was tasty too, it still couldn’t compare to Su Niannian’s.
“You child, you’re so skinny—eat a little more,” Gu Zhi said, adding some braised meat to Su Niannian’s bowl.
“Alright.”
After they finished dinner, Gu Nan walked Su Niannian back to the Educated Youth Center.
On the way, Gu Nan deliberately kept a bit of distance between them.
Su Niannian understood Gu Nan. Their relationship hadn’t been made public yet, and he was worried her reputation might be affected.
As usual, Gu Nan stopped a few hundred meters away from the Educated Youth Center.
“I’ll wait here and watch you go back.”
“Alright,” Su Niannian responded softly, glancing around to check her surroundings.
Seeing that no one was around, she quickly wrapped her arms around Gu Nan and gave him a kiss on the neck.
“See you tomorrow.”
Then she jogged back to the Educated Youth Center.
Gu Nan watched Su Niannian’s retreating figure, his hand gently covering the spot where she had just kissed him.
A deep smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and his eyes brimmed with tenderness.
His girl—he really liked her.
When Su Niannian returned to the Educated Youth Center, many of the others were already washing up.
Song Zhaodi had saved some hot water for her.
“These hot waters are for you. Wash up quickly and get some rest.”
“Word about you saving that child by the river yesterday has spread. How are you so amazing? Not only can you cook, but you also know how to treat illnesses and save lives.”
“Today, the aunties were saying how incredible you are. Su Niannian, you’re just too outstanding!” Song Zhaodi continued to praise Su Niannian as soon as she saw her.
A few of the other female educated youths also joined in with their compliments.
Su Niannian took off her backpack and reached inside, pulling out some fruit candies. She handed them out to the girls.
“I just learned a bit from an old foot doctor before, and read some books, nothing special.”
“This is the candy I bought in the county. Everyone, have some.”
The few male educated youths outside also received a piece of candy from Su Niannian.
In Su Niannian’s room, Zhao Sulan, witnessing this scene, was so angry that her eyes reddened.
“Yingying, how did that Su Niannian, that little slut, become so popular? Tonight, all those aunties and women were praising her,” Zhao Sulan hissed, her voice full of resentment.
“Those girls and Su Niannian have a good relationship, that’s fine, but I even heard several of the male educated youths praising her.”
“We need to spread the word about her connections with those mud-legged people. We can’t just let her continue being so popular like this.”
Su Niannian hadn’t done anything to Zhao Sulan, but Zhao Sulan simply couldn’t stand her.
Huang Yingying looked outside through the window, and she too felt that the situation this time was quite different from the previous life.
In the past life, Su Niannian had not been this popular.
It seemed like it was time for her to take action.
Su Niannian sensed the unfriendly gaze behind her. Without even needing to turn her head, she already knew who it came from.
After washing up, Su Niannian headed toward the bathroom.
Once inside, she turned and entered the space.
The little one saw Su Niannian come in and joyfully leaped toward her.
Having learned from the previous experience, Su Niannian didn’t try to catch the little one’s flying hug head-on this time.
The little one now had quite a bit of strength.
After missing, the little one had an expression full of human-like disappointment.
It even made a small whimper, as if to say, “Master doesn’t love me anymore, Master is rejecting me.”
Su Niannian gently patted the little one’s head, “You’re so strong now, if you pounce on me like that, would I be okay?”
With Su Niannian’s comforting words, the little one seemed to understand.
After playing with the little one for a while, Su Niannian went to check on her ginseng and the chicks.
Now, all the chicks had hatched.
Su Niannian took a bunch of fresh vegetables from the storage, then mixed some cornmeal with spiritual spring water to make feed for the chicks. She placed it in the chicken coop for them to eat, and also filled a clean bowl with spiritual spring water for them to drink.
The little ginseng had thrived with the spiritual spring water, growing visibly better. It looked larger than when it was first transplanted.
Su Niannian manually poured some more spiritual spring water into the ginseng’s soil.
Then, she created a small space in the warehouse to serve as a shower room. After heating some water, she comfortably took a bath inside.
While it wasn’t impossible to bathe outside, Su Niannian preferred using the spiritual spring water in her space. She always felt a bit uneasy about the public bathhouse at the youth station.