Chapter 48 : Falling into the Pit

“Alright,” Yun Siying said calmly, “you scared me, so I deserve some compensation. Hand over all the money you have.” She eyed the group, unsure how much cash they might be carrying.

“Okay, we’ll give it to you right away,” they said, gritting their teeth in pain as they moved. Trembling, they pulled out all the money from their pockets and handed it to her.

Yun Siying looked at the small pile of colorful banknotes and coins, 10-cent, 20-cent, and 50-cent bills, along with 1-cent, 2-cent, and 5-cent coins. Altogether, it added up to only 6 yuan and 20 cents. She looked at them in disdain. “Why is there so little? Are you sure this is everything?”

“That’s all we’ve got! We wouldn’t dare lie to you now.”

Even a mosquito is still meat, she thought, pocketing the small sum. Then, narrowing her eyes at them, she said coldly, “Remember who gave you those injuries today. If I don’t hear about Li Minglang getting hurt tomorrow, I’ll come to your houses and break your third leg.”

“Thank you, for being so generous and letting us go,” they said, standing up with great difficulty, fear written all over their faces. ‘Who would have thought such a beautiful educated youth could fight like that?’ They were all in agony and had learned their lesson: never mess with this woman again.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Do you want me to personally send you off?” Yun Siying said, disgusted by their pitiful appearance.

“We’re leaving now!” The five of them limped away, helping each other as they went.

Yun Siying looked at the few sticks of firewood in her backpack and sighed, she still needed to gather more. After confirming the others were gone, Nangong Ruochen and the other two climbed down from the tree.

“I didn’t expect Siying to be so good with a whip and she’s fast too,” Han Yuecheng said in awe.

“Well, she was trained by Mr. Shu. Even if the three of us teamed up, we might not be her match,” Chen Banghua added. “It’s a shame she didn’t join the army.”

“Let’s go,” Nangong Ruochen said quietly. His gaze lingered in the direction she’d gone, deep and unreadable. Then he turned and led the others deeper into the woods.

—

The next day, Yun Siying went to work in the fields as usual. She was still assigned to the same team as Lin Zikang, continuing the task of reclaiming barren land. This time, Lin Zikang was wearing gloves, but judging by the way he limped as he walked, it was clear he was still recovering from his first day of labor.

Unfortunately, their team was working right next to Shu Ruxue’s group. Yun Siying sighed internally, what bad luck. She noticed Shu Ruxue glaring at her while working hard, and Shen Subai was nearby too, clearing roots and stones from the field. He didn’t work quickly, but he was precise and focused, though his expression remained sullen.

She glanced around at the people working on the land reclamation, but didn’t spot Nangong Ruochen or the other two. All the other educated youths were present. A flicker of thought crossed her eyes, but she said nothing.

She alternated between working and lightly training. By noon, when she returned to the Youth Courtyard, Nangong Ruochen and the others were already there, and lunch was ready.

As they ate, Yun Siying asked casually, “What task did you get assigned to today? I didn’t see you out there.”

“Land reclamation,” Nangong Ruochen replied after a brief pause. “But our spot was at the foot of the mountain.”

“Oh,” Yun Siying responded nonchalantly, but a suspicion had already formed in her mind. She didn’t ask any more questions.

After the lunch break, everyone headed to the task site as usual.

“Siying, come have a cucumber. I grew it myself,” Li Hongying called out from behind.

Yun Siying turned to see Li Hongying walking up to her. She accepted the cucumber, took a bite, and found it sweet, crisp, and tender, truly delicious. “Aunt Hongying, Aunt Yunfeng, Aunt Cuifen, good afternoon. How come I don’t see Aunt Lianzhi?”

“Hello, Siying. Your Aunt Lianzhi took her son, Zhu Haiyang, to the neighboring village for a blind date today. They haven’t come back yet,” Aunt Cuifen replied with a smile.

“Then maybe we’ll be attending a wedding at her house soon?” Yun Siying joked, knowing that in this era, most marriages were arranged through matchmakers, and relationships were usually formalized after a first meeting. Free love was still rare.

“I think that’s going to be tough,” Aunt Yunfeng whispered. “Haiyang’s heart is set on Liu Qingqing, the educated youth living in your courtyard. But that girl’s no quiet one. She took all the gifts and favors from Haiyang, but also flirted with other male educated youths. That’s why Lianzhi is forcing him to go on a blind date to make him forget about Liu Qingqing.”

Yun Siying thought for a moment before remembering who Liu Qingqing was. She appeared to be a delicate beauty with soft manners and a gentle voice, always hovering around Chen Siming. Anyone observant enough could tell what she was after.

“Did you hear?” Li Hongying suddenly said, grinning, “Li Minglang accidentally fell into the toilet at noon and hit his head, there was blood everywhere. The stench wafted all the way to my yard. I couldn’t even finish my lunch.”

“How does a grown man fall into a toilet? Did he eat crap?” Fengying asked eagerly, amused and dying to hear the details.

“He must have,” Li Hongying said, holding back her gag reflex. “They said he fell headfirst into the pit. When they pulled him out, he was covered in filth. When he opened his mouth, he vomited feces and white worms!”

“Please stop talking, I’m going to lose my appetite,” Cuifen quickly interjected, trying to stop her.

Fengying burst out laughing. Although Yun Siying felt a bit nauseous, she couldn’t help but laugh too, and several other educated youths nearby also chuckled.

“Food is so scarce these days,” Li Hongying continued. “At least Cuifen might lose her appetite for a while, she’ll probably save a good amount of food this year.”

“Li Hongying, thank you so much for thinking of me,” Cuifen said, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

Yun Siying, however, felt that this whole incident wasn’t so simple. She suspected it was the doing of the five gangsters from the day before. The thought made her smile with satisfaction. “Was Minglang seriously hurt?”

“No idea,” Li Hongying replied. “Anyway, Li Gang and his wife boiled water for him to clean up, then took him to the county hospital. He hasn’t come back yet.”

Yun Siying recalled that when she was half-asleep earlier, she vaguely heard someone looking for Nangong Ruochen. When she got up from her nap, he was already gone. She had assumed he’d gone ahead to work but now she realized they had probably taken the tractor to drive Minglang to the county hospital.

When they arrived at the task site, Lin Zikang and Yun Siying were surprised, they thought they had gone to the wrong place. Several people were already working hard, reclaiming the wasteland.

Puzzled, Lin Zikang asked, “What are you guys doing?”