Chapter 41 : Reminiscence

Shu Ruxue smelled the delicious aroma and said jealously, “Siying is so popular. Comrade Nangong and the others treat her so generously, and now she gets to eat such delicious dumplings. Brother Subai, you grew up in the same compound with them, and they didn’t invite you to share when they have something tasty. That’s just too much.”

“Hmph! I don’t care. Once the money my parents sent arrives, we can have dumplings too,” Shen Subai said firmly, not wanting to lose face. He hated when people compared him unfavorably to Nangong Ruochen

—

“I didn’t expect mustard green dumplings to taste this good,” Nangong Ruochen said as he ate the dumplings in his bowl, sighing in appreciation. He’d been living in the countryside for a year and had never come across this delicacy, what a pity.

“Mhm, these are really delicious,” Yun Siying said contentedly, her brows arching in delight as she swallowed the dumpling in her mouth.

Han Yuecheng and Chen Banghua nodded in agreement. They were also surprised at how good the dumplings were. None of them had expected that mustard greens and oil residue could make such tasty dumplings nor had they expected Yun Siying to cook so well.

Each of the three men, Nangong Ruochen and the two others ate about fifty dumplings. Yun Siying had thirty. Even after that, there were still 150 dumplings left uncooked. Nangong Ruochen said, “I’ll cool the dumplings in the well. We’ll have them again for breakfast tomorrow.”

“Okay. What time do people in the village usually start working?” Yun Siying put down her bowl and chopsticks, wondering what her first day of work would be like and whether it would be exhausting.

“Six in the morning. We gather at the brigade headquarters, and the team leader assigns the tasks. Work starts around six twenty. You just need to wake up at five thirty. Remember to bring your own water, the water in the fields isn’t clean,” Nangong Ruochen reminded her.

“So early!” Yun Siying sighed.

Nangong Ruochen cleaned the pot and boiled a pot of hot water. Han Yuecheng, being considerate, offered to wash the dishes. Meanwhile, Nangong Ruochen had already prepared two buckets of warm water and placed them in the bathroom he had paid to renovate. He told Yun Siying, “The bath water is ready. Go ahead and use the bathroom.”

“Okay, thank you.” Yun Siying’s cheeks flushed a little. She quickly went back to her room, gathered her toiletries and a change of clothes into a mesh bag, and went into the bathroom. She happily began washing her body and hair, it felt wonderful to be cared for by someone.

In her previous life, she had never experienced romantic love not until a few days after the apocalypse began, when the son of her parents’ friend came to seek shelter at their house. Her parents had always protected the two of them. One day, while shielding them from a zombie attack, her parents were bitten. To ensure their daughter’s survival, they arranged for the two of them to be engaged.

Her fiancé had agreed readily at the time, promising to protect her no matter what. Along the way, they met her best friend, and the three of them formed a team. At some point, she accidentally discovered her spatial ability and awakened both wood and spiritual powers.

She protected her fiancé and best friend all the way until they awakened their own abilities. Even after that, she continued to care for them, while they simply enjoyed the fruits of her labor and did little in return. She was naïve, fooled by the small bits of affection they pretended to show her.

At the time of their engagement, they were only fourteen or fifteen. They survived the apocalypse together for eight years. Her fiancé never crossed any lines, not even holding her hand. When she turned eighteen, he told her that a woman’s body matures most fully at twenty-two, and that he didn’t want to hurt her. He said he could wait until then.

At the time, she was moved by his words.

Only when they tried to kill her and take her space ability did she realize the truth: he hadn’t touched her because of her best friend. The two of them had been secretly together all along.

Now, she understood that a person’s kindness is not shown through words, but through actions. She decided that from now on, Nangong Ruochen would be like a true brother to her, and she would treat him well.

Shu Ruxue and Shen Subai ground 40 kilograms of corn. By the time they finished, it was completely dark. Their backs ached from exhaustion. After boiling water and taking a bath, the older educated youths reminded them to replenish the firewood they had used on another day. They went to bed feeling frustrated.

After Yun Siying finished washing, she walked out of the bathroom and looked at the well in the yard and the clothesline, thinking about how to keep others from discovering she hadn’t actually washed her clothes by hand.

Suddenly, an idea came to her. Everyone here went to bed early, so she could wash her clothes using the washing machine. Once everyone had gone to sleep, she could hang them outside in the yard to dry. That way, everyone would assume she had washed them late at night.

When Nangong Ruochen saw Yun Siying coming out of the bathroom, she looked like a freshly bloomed flower refreshing and graceful. Her eyes were still moist, bright and intelligent, filled with a pure calmness, as though she had just rinsed away all the fatigue and worries of the day. A faint smile lingered on her brow, making her appear gentle and lovely. Her damp hair hung over her shoulders, carrying a light fragrance and adding a touch of feminine softness.

Seeing her like this, Nangong Ruochen’s face warmed slightly. Not wanting others to see her in such a captivating state, he quickly handed her a fresh towel and said with concern, “It’s cold outside. You should go inside and dry your hair with a towel before resting. Don’t catch a cold.”

“Thank you.” Yun Siying smiled radiantly as she accepted the towel and began to dry her hair.

He gave a soft hum in reply, carried the water he had prepared for bathing into the bathroom, shut the door quickly, and let out a breath. But the fragrance lingering in the bathroom stirred up those repressed and strange feelings in him once again.

Yun Siying happily returned to her room, entered her space, dried her hair with a blow dryer, and tossed her dirty clothes into the washing machine. She checked on the rice she had planted earlier and saw that green sprouts had already emerged. It seemed that plants in her space didn’t grow at super speed like in QQ Farm, but followed a growth cycle similar to the real world. She also checked the other seeds she’d planted in the field they, too, had just begun to sprout.

After leaving the space, she began writing under the dim light, preparing to submit a novel to help boost her visible income.

Time ticked by as she wrote, and she eventually finished around 6,000 words. Then she released her mental energy to scan the area, and once she confirmed that everyone at the educated youth camp had gone to bed, she hung the washed clothes from her space on the clothesline in the yard. Satisfied, she returned to her room, lit mosquito-repellent incense, and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

The next morning, Yun Siying woke to the sound of the brigade bell. She quickly got up and dressed. Remembering that she had to go to the fields today, she retrieved a set of gray cotton-linen long-sleeved clothes and black pants from her space. They were summer clothes, breathable and cool. She also put on thin cotton socks and a pair of military green canvas shoes.

She took out a military green sun hat, braided her hair into a single plait, filled her bottle with well water, and went outside to wash up. At the same time, the other educated youths also came out . Most of them still looked groggy and half-asleep.

“Siying, come have breakfast after you’ve washed up,” came Nangong Ruochen’s gentle voice.