Chapter 24: There Will Always Be More Bad People Than Good Ones

Deng Siyue hadn’t expected Su Miaomiao to suddenly turn her head. For a moment, she couldn’t look away in time. Her expression turned a little awkward, and she lowered her head slightly.

Unexpectedly, it was the man standing beside her who smiled politely at Su Miaomiao.

Su Miaomiao ignored him, and the man didn’t seem to mind the cold shoulder. He just stood there calmly.

“Miaomiao, let me introduce you. These two are educated youths from the village center. This young man is Chen Haoqiang, and the young woman is Deng Siyue. Today, they’ll accompany you into the mountains to gather medicinal herbs. They’ve both studied a bit of medicine and can recognize some herbal plants, so they should be able to help you,” said Old Zhao with a smile, unaware of the tense undercurrents between the three.

“Alright,” Su Miaomiao nodded.

“Then head out early and try to come back by noon,” Old Zhao said, handing over three bamboo baskets he had prepared earlier.

“Mm.” Su Miaomiao picked up her tools and turned to leave.

“Grandpa Zhao, we’ll head out too then,” Chen Haoqiang said, greeting him before slinging a basket over his back and chasing after Su Miaomiao.

Deng Siyue didn’t say a word. She grabbed her things and followed silently.

Since the old man clearly didn’t welcome her, why should she bother being warm and friendly?

“Comrade Su,” Chen Haoqiang quickly caught up to Su Miaomiao once they were outside.

“Yes?” Su Miaomiao’s expression was extremely cold.

She wasn’t the type to easily make friends.

She understood all too well how dark and dangerous human nature could be.

Even though in this life, she had met people like the butcher Su and the Huo family…

Bad people still far outnumbered the good.

Otherwise, the Huo family wouldn’t have been exiled to a place like this.

“It’s nothing. Since we’re going into the mountains together, I just thought we should stick close—it’s safer that way,” Chen Haoqiang said, sensing her cold attitude but not minding it at all.

“Just follow me,” Su Miaomiao said, walking ahead on her own.

At first, Chen Haoqiang could keep up, but after a while, he began to struggle.

As for Deng Siyue—she had fallen far behind a long time ago.

“Comrade Su, maybe we should rest for a bit. Deng Siyue hasn’t caught up yet,” Chen Haoqiang said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

He had thought that not having to work in the fields today and still earning full points would be an easy day. He never expected to be hit with such a hard task right from the start.

Su Miaomiao glanced back. Deng Siyue, even with an empty basket, was panting heavily.

They’d been stationed in the countryside for a while now—how had they not built up any stamina?

If she’d known it’d be like this, she would’ve just come alone.

“You stay here and wait for her. I’m heading into the mountain,” Su Miaomiao said. She didn’t want to waste time.

She had far too much to do.

“But…” Chen Haoqiang wanted to say something more, but Su Miaomiao had already turned and walked away.

Her steps were steady and graceful, and even on such rough, uneven mountain paths, she moved as if walking on flat ground.

In just a moment, she had already disappeared from view.

At that point, even if Chen Haoqiang wanted to catch up, he couldn’t. More importantly, he did want to take a break.

So he sat down where he was and waited for Deng Siyue to catch up.

“Why are you the only one here? Where’s that woman?” Deng Siyue finally caught up, completely out of breath.

“Comrade Su already went ahead into the mountain. We should hurry and catch up,” said Chen Haoqiang, now rested and ready to move again.

“She went in alone? She didn’t wait for us?” Deng Siyue’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Comrade Su really has impressive stamina.”
Chen Haoqiang had been in the countryside for years, but aside from those women born and raised in the village, he had rarely seen a female comrade with such physical strength.

“What’s wrong with her?! We’re supposed to be here to assist her, and she just left us behind like that? Doesn’t she have any sense of collective honor?”
Deng Siyue was so angry she wanted to hit someone.

“Just stop complaining. If we don’t hurry now, we really won’t be able to catch up,” Chen Haoqiang said as he began walking forward.

Deng Siyue cursed in her heart, but with no other choice, she gritted her teeth and followed.

Su Miaomiao, on the other hand, didn’t care if they could keep up or not.

There were two of them—surely nothing serious would happen.

As soon as she entered the mountains, Su Miaomiao started digging for medicinal herbs.

She didn’t bother picking and choosing—she took everything. If it was a medicinal plant, she dug it up.

After all, the supply of herbs at the medicine hall was truly scarce.

With her sharp eyes and quick hands, she could move nimbly even through thorny forest paths.

She had been digging for almost half an hour before Chen Haoqiang and Deng Siyue finally showed up, dragging their feet.

“Comrade Su, we finally caught up to you,” Chen Haoqiang said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Deng Siyue dropped to the ground with a thud, staring at Su Miaomiao with eyes full of resentment.

“There are a lot of herbs around here. Let’s split up and meet back here at noon when the sun is at its highest,” Su Miaomiao said, completely ignoring Deng Siyue’s glare.

She had no patience for spoiled young ladies who had no real skills but carried a big attitude.

“But…” Chen Haoqiang tried to speak again, but Su Miaomiao had already slipped into a thicket and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Chen Haoqiang sighed deeply. He had already asked around the village about this Comrade Su.

He heard that not only had she cured the village chief’s grandson, but she’d also saved Wang Daniu’s wife during a difficult childbirth.

Once might be luck, but twice? That meant real skill.

And besides, the village chief had personally come to the educated youth station yesterday, asking him and Deng Siyue to accompany Su Miaomiao into the mountains to gather herbs.

That had never happened before.

He keenly sensed that there was definitely something going on between the village chief and Su Miaomiao.

So, early this morning, he’d put on his best clothes, washed his face and hair, even shaved—all in hopes of making a good impression on Su Miaomiao.

But from the beginning until now, this woman hadn’t even looked him in the eye once.

His looks were popular whether in the city or in the countryside—countless girls liked him.

And yet… she showed no reaction at all.

Could it be that she was playing hard to get?
Trying to use an unusual approach to catch his attention?

Staring in the direction where Su Miaomiao had disappeared, Chen Haoqiang’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

If Su Miaomiao knew what he was thinking right now, she definitely would’ve kicked him down the mountain.
And regretted ever speaking to him.

But at the moment, she was simply immersed in the joy of digging herbs.

By the time she had filled her entire basket, it was nearly noon. She picked it up with one hand and headed back to the meeting spot.

When she returned, she saw that Chen Haoqiang and Deng Siyue had already come back.

“Comrade Su.” Chen Haoqiang stood up and greeted her.

Su Miaomiao glanced at the baskets they carried, and her brows immediately furrowed.

Chen Haoqiang’s basket was only about one-third full. As for Deng Siyue, it was basically empty with only a few herbs at the bottom.

“We’re really sorry. There just weren’t many herbs in the area. We did our best,” Chen Haoqiang explained, noticing her gaze.