Chapter 35: Educated Youth × Hooligans 5

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha.” Chu Wanning laughed uncontrollably.

Goudan looked confused. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke up again, “Wanning sister, can’t you wait for me? I’m better than him, I can protect you.”

Goudan had already heard about this Brother Gu — uneducated, a womanizer, basically not a good man at all. His mom said he shouldn’t become that kind of person. Thinking this way, Goudan felt even more sorry for his Wanning sister.

“Wait for what?” Just then, Gu Yin happened to come out carrying a prepared cold dish.

“Wait for him to steal you away.” Chu Wanning smiled mischievously.

“You little brat! You’re even stealing me away.” Gu Yin raised his hand wanting to slap Goudan, but Goudan nimbly jumped away. The two started chasing each other inside the room.

“…” They don’t seem old at all—at least mentally.

After a while of bustling about, a table full of dishes was ready: braised fish, eggplant stewed with potatoes, stir-fried cabbage, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, cold mixed vegetables, and spinach soup.

The kids looked at the delicious-looking food and couldn’t help swallowing their saliva, but they all politely refrained from picking up their chopsticks.

Gu Yin gave each person a meat bun and a sweet cake, and only then did everyone start eating.

“Wow, this is so delicious.” Goudan took a bite of the meat bun, and his impression of Gu Yin improved instantly. It seemed you didn’t have to be a good man to win favor — a bad man who cooks well and makes big meat buns every day was also great.

The boys were better off; their homes had decent food. Besides thinking the dishes were especially tasty, rich with oil and fragrant, they didn’t think much else.

But Zhaodi and another girl were more reserved. When picking food, they didn’t dare take the fish or eggs. Even though they only ate the vegetables, their eyes were wide with amazement — it smelled so good.

Gu Yin and Chu Wanning noticed this and enthusiastically helped them get some dishes, so they could eat without feeling singled out. This meal was a pleasant gathering for both hosts and guests.

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This time, the teachers were chosen by votes from the brigade cadres. Several educated youths took turns doing trial lectures. Each cadre scored them, and finally, the two with the highest scores became the honored elementary school teachers, earning eight work points daily.

When Chu Wanning was about to take the stage, a shout came from outside the house: “Go Chu Wanning! Go Chu Wanning! Go Chu Wanning! Go Chu Wanning!”

“…” Chu Wanning covered her face. Who is Chu Wanning? Not me, not me.

“Heh.” Cheng Dong sneered at Gu Yin, who was leading the cheers. People from the countryside only had this kind of low-level skill. He clenched his fist but ultimately didn’t say anything, since this was their territory.

“Very popular, huh!” Lin Weiguo smiled kindly. He was optimistic about Chu Wanning. She didn’t cause trouble, treated the kids well, and had foresight — she would definitely be a good teacher.

“No, no,” Chu Wanning denied, mainly because she was too embarrassed.

“Alright, back to the topic, start your trial lecture.”

“Hello, students, … My trial lecture is finished, thank you.”

“Not bad.” Lin Weiguo nodded and exchanged glances with those around him. “Next.”

Sure enough, Chu Wanning was elected as a teacher at Tianyu Village Elementary with a high vote count. The other was Cheng Dong, who had Zeng Lin campaigning for him, plus a good family background and connections everywhere.

“Are you nervous?” Gu Yin ladled a bowl of fish soup for Chu Wanning. Seeing her prepare lessons so late and deep in thought even while eating made him want to laugh. He hadn’t expected her, usually so calm, to have this childlike side.

“Of course I’m nervous. This is my first time being a teacher, and those kids are my good friends. They not only trust me and support me, but also look forward to knowledge. Seeing their clear eyes like that, if I don’t teach well, I’ll feel terribly guilty.”

“Look at you, such a little chatterbox — starting to sound like a language teacher.” Tianyu Village Elementary only taught math and language. Cheng Dong was the math teacher; Chu Wanning was the language teacher.

The next day, Chu Wanning officially started work. The elementary classes weren’t many. Besides teaching and lesson preparation, she could study, giving her more free time.

She would be happier if Gu Chengfeng wasn’t in her class.

Gu Chengfeng was Gu Yin’s older brother’s son. This kid was just like his mom — scheming and always darting his eyes around, making people feel like he was always calculating something.

He was seven years old this year. Zhang Lan and Sun Miao, hearing that Chu Wanning had become a teacher, came to scold her. Gu Yin happened to come back and scolded the two, making them keep quiet for two days.

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Gu Chengfeng was clever. He didn’t talk much in class but quietly observed. Seeing Goudan, Zhaodi, and others get along well with Chu Wanning, he eavesdropped on their conversations, learning what they were up to.

He discovered that Chu Wanning was very wealthy, had lots of delicious food, and even invited Goudan and the others to eat.

He immediately reported this to Zhang Lan and Sun Miao. Zhang Lan was unhappy. Although Gu Yin had been a troublemaker before, he gave money to them and sometimes bought expensive supplements for her.

Now, after marrying a wife, he no longer cared for his birth mother, spending all the money on that little “bitch.”

Zhang Lan took Sun Miao and stomped over to Gu Yin’s house. Finding no one home, they pushed open the door and rushed inside, heading straight to the kitchen. Wow, rice, noodles, a full jar of oil.

She wanted to check the cellar and rooms for anything to take, but both were locked. Unable to enter, she scoffed and pillaged everything in the kitchen.

When Chu Wanning came home from class, she found the courtyard gate open. She frowned, feeling uneasy. She had prepared locks for the rooms, the cellar, and valuables because she kept money and game animals there. But they bought too few locks, and the kitchen was inconvenient to lock, so it remained unlocked.

Remembering this, she rushed into the kitchen to find a mess. Even the pots and pans were missing. She was so angry her hands trembled.

Storming out of the yard, she saw two middle-aged women sneakily peeking at her. She calmed herself and tried to soften her expression. “Aunt Yang, Aunt Wu, some of my things are missing. Did you see anything?”

The two women pulled her aside and whispered, “Your mother-in-law came to your house today. She stayed a long time and left with a lot of things.”

They had followed Zhang Lan out of curiosity, and saw her sneaky behavior. This was like moving the whole little son’s house out.

“Yes, and your eldest sister-in-law too. They went twice. Did they take everything from your house?”

Chu Wanning pretended to be helpless and nodded, following the story she had planned with Gu Yin.

“You know, Gu Yin and I got married but his family didn’t give us anything. We can’t live on our own, so we have to rely on my parents for money to survive. Now it’s all gone, there’s no way to live.”

She covered her face, looking like she was crying, then ran home, leaving the two gossip lovers silently planning how to spread the news.

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That day, Gu Yin finished work early. He specially went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy Chu Wanning some snow cream. Happily carrying it home, he went around the yard calling out, “Wife!”

After circling the yard twice without seeing Chu Wanning, he was confused. Seeing the kitchen door open, he frowned and went over. Wow, nothing was left.

He was about to find Chu Wanning to ask what was going on when he heard Goudan’s loud voice, “Old Gu! Old Gu!” This was the nickname they gave Gu Yin after fighting side by side.

“Goudan? What are you doing here?”

“Old Gu, bad news! Your mom and sister-in-law took everything from your house. Wanning sister went to ask for it back and almost got beaten by your mom. We’re helping her, and I came to find you, you have to come quick!”

Goudan was out of breath but finished telling the story.

Gu Yin immediately ran with Goudan to the Gu family. When they arrived, they saw Sun Miao holding a broom, about to hit Chu Wanning.

He rushed forward, pushed Sun Miao aside, and pulled Chu Wanning behind him. “You still want to hit someone?”

Gu Yin’s eyes were cold and sharp — after all, he had been in fights before. Sun Miao was a little scared. She looked at Zhang Lan and shook her head to signal Zhang Lan to step forward.

Zhang Lan put her hands on her hips, stood in front, and glared at Gu Yin. “What? You want to hit your own mother for that little bitch?”

“Mom, I respect you, and I hope you respect my wife,” Gu Yin said, narrowing his eyes. “Breaking into my house to steal things — is that how an elder should behave?”

“What stealing? You’re my son. What’s wrong with taking some things from your house?” Zhang Lan stuck out her neck, refusing to admit it.

“No asking, just taking is stealing.” Chu Wanning stared at the stubborn Zhang Lan and said firmly.

“Look at your wife, Gu Yin, is this how your wife talks to your mother?” Zhang Lan sneered.

“No use arguing, just return the stuff that belongs to my family.”

“You want me, your son, to be filial and give your mother something? Why should I give anything back?” Zhang Lan refused stubbornly.

Gu Yin laughed bitterly, nodded, and said, “Fine.”

Zhang Lan raised her eyebrows, glanced at Sun Miao with a triumphant look. Before she could enjoy her victory, she heard Gu Yin call for Gou Dan.

“Gou Dan, go find your grandfather. Today I’m cutting ties with the Gu family completely.”

“No, no.” Zhang Lan panicked. This was her son after all—even if she didn’t like him, he was still the son who brought her good food and drinks.

“There’s no such thing as cutting ties in our village,” Zhang Lan said anxiously, still trying to save face.

“Then let the team leader judge this fairly.” Gu Yin refused to back down and pulled Chu Wanning aside to wait.

“Did she hit you?” Gu Yin looked over Chu Wanning from head to toe.

“No, don’t worry. I’m not the kind to not fight back or stay silent when insulted.” Chu Wanning noticed his worry and reassured him.

Gu Yin smiled with relief. Soon after, Gou Dan brought Lin Weiguo, who also gathered some other team officials.

“Gu kid, what trouble are you causing this time?”

“Uncle Lin, I’m not causing trouble. You all know when I got married, my family didn’t give a single cent or a thing, not even the house—just a leaky room from the family division. I didn’t make a fuss, I had to rely on my wife and her family to support us a bit.”

“That’s it, and yet while we weren’t home, they came to steal from my house and emptied the kitchen. I don’t want this family anymore, and I don’t recognize these family members.”

“What kind of family is this Gu family running?”

“Yeah, Gu kid can’t even keep a wife. Finally found one who doesn’t want a bride price, and they don’t appreciate it.”

“Shameless, we all know who Zhang Lan is.”

“Right, and her daughter-in-law too. Whoever gets stuck with her is unlucky.”

Gu Tu, who just came back, overheard Gu Yin’s words and the others’ gossip. He sighed quietly and stepped out from the crowd.

“Team Leader, it’s my wife causing trouble again. I’ll have her return everything. Gu Yin, don’t be mad. We’re family; if there’s a problem, we solve it at home.”

“Dad, you always wait to watch the drama before you speak up. It doesn’t help. Team Leader, I want to cut ties.” Gu Yin lowered his head, looking very sad.

“Ah!” Lin Weiguo sighed too. “Gu kid, if you’ve made up your mind, I won’t stop you. You’ve already divided the family’s property clearly before. This cut-off is not unprecedented in our village. You just write a letter of severance, we’ll witness it. From now on, no more sharing of wealth or hardship.”

“No way!” Gu Tu refused. “Team Leader, he’s our son, we raised him. If he says cutting ties, we won’t recognize it.”

“Fine, Dad, you’re right. You gave birth to me and raised me, so let’s settle this with a one-time buyout.”

Sun Miao whispered something to Zhang Lan. Zhang Lan nodded and said, “Okay, give us 500 yuan, then we’ll be done with this.”

“Five hundred?” Gu Yin laughed.

“Mom, you’re ruthless, asking for five hundred right off the bat. You did feed me when I was young, that’s true. But after I was thirteen, did you care for me? My schooling was supported by the government. For work, you spent money to get my brother into the transport team. As for me, you told me to leave it to fate. I went off to run wild, and you still supported me because you thought I could buy nutritional supplements for you to feed your precious grandson!”

“This Zhang Lan is really something.”

“Exactly! Gu Yin was a good kid when he was young. How did he turn out this way?”

“One hundred. Take it or leave it. If you don’t want it, I won’t give you a cent.”

“Deal.” Sun Miao said immediately, tugging on Zhang Lan. She had just told Zhang Lan that Gu Yan needed money to get promoted in the transport team.

“Alright, then it’s over!” Zhang Lan agreed. Gu Tu looked incredulous but seeing no one listened to him at home, he said nothing and sat down quietly.

Gu Yin and Zhang Lan signed the severance agreement, writing down the payment of 100 yuan and that all ties were broken. Both signed and stamped with their fingerprints. The team leader and secretary witnessed and signed. The matter was settled.

“I’ll bring you the money later. It’s a large sum, I need to borrow some first,” Gu Yin added, dispelling any thoughts that he had money.

“You must bring it today,” Sun Miao insisted.

“Fine.” Gu Yin gave her a cold smile.

Before leaving, Lin Weiguo pulled Gu Yin aside. “Gu Yin, you know this kind of severance agreement isn’t legally binding, but most villagers don’t know that. I can only help you so much.”

“Uncle Lin, I understand. Thank you.” Gu Yin knew, but at least with this, they were officially done in the village’s eyes.

Back at home, Gu Yin hugged Chu Wanning. “Sorry you got bullied.”

“It’s okay. You’re doing great. Don’t be upset. We’ll always be together. My parents and I are your family.”

Chu Wanning felt his sadness and gently patted his head.

“Yeah, always together.”