Chapter 14 The Male Lead is Here

Chang Suisui looked up and saw Xie Liye grinning at her.
“Comrade Chang, I came to help you pull weeds.”

“Uh…” Chang Suisui was visibly stunned—clearly, she had no clue who this person was again.

The boy didn’t look particularly outstanding, but his youthful energy and slightly naive demeanor added some charm.

Seeing her not respond, Xie Liye lowered his head and began pulling weeds beside her. While working, he made sure to mention Xie Yu.

“Comrade Chang, my uncle sent me to help. He said your family asked my dad to look after you in the countryside…”

As Xie Liye mumbled on beside her, Chang Suisui quickly pieced together his identity. If she remembered correctly, Xie Yu did have a die-hard fan… named Xie Liye.

He was Xie Jianguo’s younger brother, the third child in the family, with an older sister named Xie Xiaofang.

Like his brother, Xie Liye had joined the army, but unlike Xie Jianguo, his story didn’t end well.

Rather than just being Xie Jianguo’s younger brother, he was more like his complete foil.

One became a high-ranking official by riding the coattails of Xie Yu’s connections and goodwill.
The other died in battle, protecting his uncle’s honor.

Looking at Xie Liye from her seat on the field embankment, Chang Suisui suddenly felt a lot more fondness for this honest young man.

He could’ve made his way in the army on his own merit, but he chose a different path.

She chuckled softly and asked him, “Your name is Liye, right? Have you eaten breakfast?”

Xie Liye honestly shook his head. “No, it’s not harvest season, so my mom didn’t make any.”

He usually picked wild fruits from the mountain for breakfast, but since he promised his uncle to help Comrade Chang, he came to pull weeds first.

Hearing that, Chang Suisui handed him two wild vegetable steamed buns from her space.

“Here, these are for you.”

She didn’t like the taste of them, but couldn’t just waste food. Giving them to Xie Liye was at least putting them to good use.

Xie Liye looked embarrassed.
“Comrade Chang, I volunteered to help. I can’t take your food… I…”

He was worried that accepting her food would make his uncle lose face. But he also didn’t know how to reject her properly, so he looked a bit flustered.

Chang Suisui was amused by his expression. She grabbed a handkerchief and shoved the buns into his hands.

“I get it. I just can’t eat these veggie buns. Think of it as helping me out, will you?”

Seeing that she was completely sincere and not looking down on him, Xie Liye finally and carefully started eating.

Two wild vegetable buns were hardly filling for a teenage boy. But to someone who’d only had wild fruits for breakfast, they were practically a feast—especially since they came from Chang Suisui.

The way Xie Liye looked at her was practically like looking at a fairy.

It only strengthened his resolve to help his uncle win her over.

He finished the buns in just a few bites and then, energized, resumed furiously pulling weeds in the field.

Chang Suisui watched him and chuckled helplessly. Yep, still just a kid.

Thanks to Xie Liye’s help, the weeding of her assigned plot was nearly done.

Standing in the shade, Chang Suisui took a sip of her spring water and looked at the boy still working under the hot sun. She couldn’t help but admire how earnest he was.

She had just eaten a meat bun during her break and now, almost noon, she figured she’d roast a fish to reward hardworking Xie Liye.

With that thought, she stepped off the embankment and headed toward the river.

The river near their fields was full of fish—some big, some small, depending on one’s luck.

Judging by Xie Liye’s appetite, Chang Suisui took out a roughly ten-pound carp from her space.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to take a smaller one, but in the apocalypse, most animals mutated. They were edible, but huge.

This ten-pound carp was considered a baby fish by her standards. The fish in her space’s pond could easily weigh a hundred pounds—some even taller than a person. She definitely didn’t dare bring those out.

She was still thinking about how to cook the fish when she suddenly heard a sharp voice.

“Xie Liye, what are you doing here?!”

Xie Jianguo stood glaring at Xie Liye, who was bent over in the field, and his expression instantly darkened.

He had just come from his father’s place and gotten an earful about Chang Meili. He was full of anger.

He originally came to vent on Chang Suisui, but then spotted Xie Liye working in her field.

This was clearly her assigned plot—yet she had roped in Xie Liye to do the work while she hid to slack off?

Xie Jianguo’s face turned ugly.

He remembered Chang Meili saying that Chang Suisui used every trick to try and win him over.

She probably told Xie Liye she’d be his future sister-in-law or something. Hah! This woman really had no shame.

Xie Liye flinched at his brother’s voice. Just as he looked up, Xie Jianguo kicked him over.

“Are you stupid, Xie Liye?! Don’t you have enough chores at home? Why are you out here working for an outsider?!”

He gave him another two kicks.

Though Xie Liye was fifteen and a boy, his sweet-talking brother always got the family’s favor. Even when beaten, their mother never took his side.

So, he usually just tried to get away when attacked.

Thin and lanky, he rolled a full circle in the field from the kicks.

“Stop it!”

Chang Suisui’s crisp voice came from the embankment.

Xie Jianguo instinctively turned in her direction.

Xie Liye scrambled over to her on all fours. He knew how scary his brother’s temper was. If Comrade Chang got dragged into this, he’d be to blame.

Even scared, he stood firmly in front of her.

Xie Jianguo’s brow furrowed. He finally saw who was standing by the embankment.

Her cheeks were rosy, and her delicate features were quite pretty. Even though she was glaring at him, she looked stunning.

“Comrade Chang…”

Xie Liye’s voice snapped Xie Jianguo back to reality.

His brow arched and chin lifted. “So you’re Comrade Chang?”

When Chang Meili and Chang Suisui were sent to the countryside, it was his dad who picked them up. Since it had only been a month, he’d only paid attention to the woman he was supposed to marry and hadn’t noticed Chang Suisui at all.

He didn’t expect her to be this pretty.