Chapter 21

Chen Suihuan grabbed Gao Yue tightly. Seeing that Gao Yue’s clothes were mostly intact, just a bit messy and torn, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she pushed her behind herself, her face darkening as she looked at the two men across from them.

After spending so many days in the Shengli Brigade, Chen Suihuan had almost memorized everyone in the Production Brigade, but these two men were completely unfamiliar to her.

So, either these two men were not from the Shengli Brigade, or they had never shown up for work before—that was why Chen Suihuan didn’t know them.

“Oh! Another one! Little sister, are you here to join us? Come, come, let big brothers treat you nicely.” one of the men said with a lecherous grin.

The two men showed no fear; they exchanged a glance and then leered as they advanced toward Chen Suihuan and Gao Yue.

Gao Yue shivered and tried to hide further behind Chen Suihuan.

As they got closer, Chen Suihuan finally got a clear look at the two men. One had a face full of pockmarks and was short in stature; the other had a sharp, monkey-like face and was as skinny as a stick.

Just by their looks, Chen Suihuan knew they were no good.

Chen Suihuan put her basket down on the ground so Gao Yue could see, then stretched her body and said: “Come on, brothers, I’ll play with you.”

Hearing Chen Suihuan call them “brothers” in a soft, sweet voice, the two men’s hearts melted, and they immediately lunged forward unable to restrain themselves.

Chen Suihuan smiled sweetly but her eyes were cold and terrifying. She raised her hand and punched the pockmarked man right in the face.

The pockmarked man was punched flying two meters away, his neck bent unnaturally, and he collapsed to the ground, motionless.

The skinny man stared at the scene with his eyes nearly popping out. He timidly turned his head toward Chen Suihuan, only to find a fist coming straight at him.

Three seconds later, both the pockmarked man and the skinny man lay unconscious on the ground.

“Suìhuān, I was so scared when I saw you just now!” Gao Yue said, relieved to see Chen Suihuan so bravely handle the two men.

“How did you end up here? This place is so remote, you must never come here again.” Chen Suihuan said, scanning Gao Yue once more.

Gao Yue nodded. “The Old Educated Youth said you went up the mountain, but by mealtime, you hadn’t come back. It was almost dark, so Qin Fei said he’d come find you. Then the two of us set out separately; he went to the village entrance and I went to the village end. I didn’t expect to run into these two right away.”

Chen Suihuan felt a warmth in her heart. Then she pointed at the two men lying on the ground and said: “They’re still lying here now. They wanted to bully you just now. You have to get revenge—go beat them up.”

Chen Suihuan was afraid this incident would cause Gao Yue psychological trauma, so she wanted her to vent her anger properly.

Gao Yue nodded firmly and then went over to the two men, raising her foot and kicking them.

Chen Suihuan clenched her teeth, thinking Gao Yue was actually crueler than her. Gao Yue’s kicks weren’t random—they aimed straight for their most vulnerable parts.

The two unconscious men twitched in their sleep, their faces twisted in pain.

Chen Suihuan gave Gao Yue a thumbs-up but then stopped her, saying: “That’s enough. Don’t disable them completely. If this escalates, it won’t be good.”

Only then did Gao Yue reluctantly stop and pull Chen Suihuan away.

“I’m strong and powerful. Next time I go up the mountain, you don’t need to come find me. I’ll definitely come back safe. This whole thing was because of me, but you came back in time to stop a big problem. Gao Yue, thank you, and thank Qin Fei too.”

On the way back, Chen Suihuan thanked Gao Yue warmly.

By then, Gao Yue’s mood had already settled. She laughed again, carefree like before. “Well, you’re so strong, there’s no way anything could happen to you.

You don’t need to thank me; I should be the one thanking you. If you hadn’t arrived in time, I definitely—”

“Then let’s stop with the thanks. From now on, we’re comrades who would die for each other.” Chen Suihuan said, putting her arm around Gao Yue’s neck.

“Suìhuān, you’re back? Why did you stay on the mountain so long? Don’t do that again next time.” Qin Fei came jogging up just as they were talking.

Chen Suihuan and Gao Yue told Qin Fei what had just happened.

“From now on, when night is about to fall, don’t leave the Educated Youth Site. I can protect myself. You two just wait for me to come back.” Chen Suihuan said with concern, reminding Qin Fei again.

After hearing the whole story, Qin Fei’s face darkened. “How can they do such things?”

Chen Suihuan’s expression also turned cold. “Isn’t it always like this? In places like here, thugs like those just do whatever they want.

Many girls in the village must have been taken advantage of by them. These things can’t be openly talked about or exposed, which naturally emboldens them.”

Seeing that Gao Yue was unharmed and in good spirits, Qin Fei finally breathed a sigh of relief. “If they dare come again next time, I’ll make sure to put them in jail.”

Over the past few days, from Qin Fei’s scattered words, Chen Suihuan realized that Qin Fei’s family background was probably influential.

Coming from the capital, her background must be significant. Being sent here to the countryside by her family, she must have people looking after her.

So Chen Suihuan believed that Qin Fei had the capability.

The three of them returned to the Educated Youth Site. On the way, Chen Suihuan said: “I picked a lot of mushrooms and wild vegetables on the mountain. We can fry them to eat tomorrow.

I also know there are jujube and chestnut trees up there. In about a month, they’ll be ripe. We can go pick some then.

In winter, we definitely need to stockpile a lot of food, or we won’t make it through.”

“Really? Is it fun up on the mountain? Why don’t you take us with you next time?” Qin Fei asked, clearly interested.

Gao Yue also looked eager but a bit worried. “There should be wolves on the mountain, right? Could we run into them?”

Chen Suihuan said: “We’ll go during the day with more people. Probably nothing will happen.

This time I want to scout the mountain first, so I won’t bring you. Once I figure out the exact spots, I’ll take you both.”

The two girls nodded happily.

Back at the Educated Youth Site, the female educated youths all came out to check on Chen Suihuan. They were quite happy to see that she had gathered so many mushrooms.

Guo Lan smiled and said: “There are a lot of mushrooms on the mountain, but we’re all afraid, so we don’t dare to go pick them.

You actually dared to go up and came back with so many. That’s great! Tomorrow we can eat fried mushrooms.”

Chen Suihuan nodded. “There really are a lot of mushrooms on the mountain. These are for the Educated Youth Site; we’ll eat together tomorrow.”

Guo Lan’s smile faded a little when she heard that, but she didn’t say anything more.

Chen Suihuan’s meaning was clear—this time it was for the Educated Youth Site, but next time might be different.