Chapter 11

He Xianqiu felt numb. She had just finished arguing with the people from the production brigade, and as soon as she returned to the educated youth spot, someone else came to pick a fight.

If Zhao Yaling were really her friend, she’d probably be eaten up with nothing left but bones.

He Xianqiu wasn’t some cannon-fodder supporting character—she wouldn’t treat Zhao Yaling as a friend. Besides, ever since this woman got together with Chen Changping and followed him to the countryside, she had held a big grudge against her. Back in the production brigade, she was always looking for trouble with her.

When He Xianqiu transmigrated here, she had planned to stay far away from the male and female leads. But the other side wouldn’t let her go, and no matter how good her temper was, she was getting annoyed by them constantly picking at her.

He Xianqiu had been here for a few days already. Last time she argued with Zhao Yaling, nothing much happened, but the only thing she genuinely feared was Zhao Yaling’s admirer.

After all, he was the one who strangled the cannon-fodder female character to death and threw her body in the river, where no one could even retrieve it in the end.

He Xianqiu absolutely could not accept dying so miserably herself.

So she needed to go on the offensive first—if he tried anything against her, she’d have him thrown in jail to shed tears behind iron bars.

But the problem was, she didn’t even know what he looked like—only that his name was Wu Laosan. He Xianqiu felt a headache coming on.

She didn’t want to keep getting entangled with the female lead and her people. She put down her chopsticks and looked at Chen Changping with an indifferent expression.

“She’s not my friend, and I haven’t done anything to her. Don’t get paranoid. Thanks.”

Then she turned to Zhao Yaling and, with an implied warning, said, “If you do this again next time, I won’t be so polite.”

Having said that, He Xianqiu turned around and left. She didn’t want to see Zhao Yaling’s aggrieved little white-lotus face, nor the mentally unbalanced male lead.

At this point, she didn’t even care anymore about trying to stay far away from the male and female leads—she simply couldn’t get away.

She was just trying to have a meal, yet they still managed to turn their spearheads toward her. And with the way they always spoke with hidden meaning, even He Xianqiu’s normally good temper couldn’t tolerate it anymore.

She wouldn’t go out of her way to provoke them, nor would she mess with them for no reason, but they, on the other hand, never stopped trying to make trouble for her.

Naturally, He Xianqiu would push back. She wasn’t the kind of person who would shrink away just because the other party was the female lead and then keep getting bullied without daring to fight back.

Dream on—she absolutely refused to live such a stifling life.

And every time they spoke to her, every word was laced with insinuation, clearly trying to make the other educated youths resent her. In severe cases, she could end up just like the original supporting character—isolated by everyone. Alone and with no one to help, she was dragged to some remote place and strangled to death. She died so young.

He Xianqiu really didn’t want to stay in the educated youth spot. She had already been in a foul mood after quarreling with the brigade, only to come back and have more people looking for trouble. She couldn’t get a moment’s peace.

First, there was calamity out of nowhere, and second, the female lead didn’t like her and picked fights over every little thing.

At first, she still held back somewhat—after all, the other party was the protagonist of this world. But now He Xianqiu didn’t care anymore. If they kept coming to her with nonsense, she’d just curse them out directly.

Besides, the only real threat to her was that man who had killed the supporting female character.

As long as she got rid of that threat, everything else would be manageable.

Otherwise, she might as well team up with the villain and wipe out the male and female leads altogether. They were driving her mad—scheming day after day.

And speaking of the villain, Ji Chen Zhou was really pitiful. He was the youngest child in his family, but neither his father nor mother cared for him. He had relied on himself to get a job at the factory, only for his awful mother to sell his position for money.

In the end, he was forced to return to the village to dig the fields. When he finally heard there was a spot available for the Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers University, and thought he had a chance, the male and female leads bribed people to steal it. That was his only hope of leaving the village.

Thinking about it, the villain and the cannon-fodder female character were equally tragic. The only difference was that she brought it on herself, while he was just purely unlucky.

Later, when he finally started a business, the male lead snatched his supply chain. With new and old grievances piling up, the villain eventually turned black-hearted.

And since he was the villain and opposed the male lead, he ended up in jail, with all his family property taken by the male and female leads.

As for how they took it, He Xianqiu didn’t know—but she truly sympathized with that villainous brother.

Lost in her thoughts, she unconsciously walked all the way to the foot of the mountain. She didn’t recognize the roads here at all and didn’t dare to go up the mountain alone.

So she found a clean patch of grass and sat down. It was still bright out, and from the foot of the mountain, she could see anyone approaching.

He Xianqiu lay there looking at the blue sky. Before long, she started to feel sleepy, but she didn’t dare to fall asleep, so she picked at the grass to stay awake.

She was sitting there alone, bored, pulling up blades of grass with her head down, completely unaware that someone had appeared next to her.

When she finally looked up and saw him, she jumped in surprise, then immediately brightened with delight.

“What are you doing up here, Xiao Ji?” she asked.

The young man standing before her was very handsome, with fair skin, peach-blossom eyes, and a high nose bridge. Even dressed in rough homespun clothes, his good looks couldn’t be hidden.

He replied to her, “I came to see if I could find any wild game.”

He Xianqiu stood up and patted the dust off her pants. Hearing he was hunting, she became interested. “Can I go with you? I don’t dare go up the mountain alone, but it’s so boring sitting here.”

Her peach-blossom eyes gazed at him expectantly, clearly hoping he would agree.

He Xianqiu was very beautiful—bright and dignified like a vivid, splendid rose, a flower of wealth and grace that others could never reach.

Being looked at so expectantly, Ji Chen Zhou’s ears turned a little red. He nodded slightly. “Sure.”

Hearing the answer she wanted, He Xianqiu was overjoyed. She stuck close to him as they walked up the mountain together.

He was quiet and didn’t say much. The whole time, it was He Xianqiu doing most of the talking. Occasionally, he’d say a sentence or two. The atmosphere felt warm and pleasant, and she enjoyed chatting with him.

Ji Chen Zhou only carried a basket on his back. All their things were inside it. He took out a sickle to chop some bamboo, then shaved it into strips and wove it into a frame. After arranging it a bit, he set up a simple trap.

He Xianqiu watched him, wide-eyed with curiosity. “Xiao Ji, how long does it take for this to catch small animals?”

Ji Chen Zhou answered, “It depends. Sometimes all day, sometimes you catch something right away.” Then he asked curiously, “But—why do you call me Xiao Ji? We aren’t classmates.”

He Xianqiu smiled, revealing small canine teeth. “Ji Laosan doesn’t sound nice, so I call you Xiao Ji. It’s my special nickname for you.”

Ji Chen Zhou froze for a moment. The corners of his lips lifted. “I see.”

He Xianqiu lowered her head to look at the cage, reaching out to touch it. Ji Chen Zhou caught her hand. She looked up, puzzled.

He explained, “The bamboo strips have a lot of splinters. If you’re not careful, you’ll get pricked.”

He Xianqiu understood. “Oh, I see.”

Realizing he was holding her hand, Ji Chen Zhou quickly let go, flustered.

He Xianqiu didn’t think anything of it. To her, it was perfectly normal.

She crouched there watching him. Ji Chen Zhou, feeling awkward, suggested, “Let’s go pick some mushrooms.”

He Xianqiu didn’t notice his discomfort. She nodded cheerfully.

Last time she’d come, she’d only picked some wild vegetables, but they were a bit bitter—like bitter melon. She didn’t think they tasted good.

Hearing they could pick fresh mushrooms, she was very interested. Mushrooms were delicious in soup.

Eager and excited, she followed Ji Chen Zhou step by step wherever he went.

When they reached an area thick with mushrooms, He Xianqiu exclaimed, “Wow, there are so many! But I don’t know which ones are edible.”

Ji Chen Zhou smiled. “No one else knows about this spot, so there are a lot here.” Then he added, “I can teach you.”

“Okay! Since no one else knows, I won’t tell anyone either. It’ll be our secret.”

Standing nearby, she listened carefully as Ji Chen Zhou explained which mushrooms were safe to pick. She nodded now and then, very attentive.

At one point she even burst out, “Red cap, white stalk—eat it, and we’ll both end up on a wooden plank.” (1)

Ji Chen Zhou agreed, “That one definitely isn’t edible. But—is that something you folks say? I’ve never heard it back in the brigade.”

He Xianqiu nodded. “Yeah, that’s from my place. It’s a song, but I only remember that part.” Indeed, it was something from her time, though it hadn’t become popular until decades later.

It was a reminder: if the mushroom cap is red and the stalk is white, you’d better not eat it—or you’d end up in a coffin.

While picking mushrooms, Ji Chen Zhou said, “Just remembering that line is enough. It’s mainly to warn people about this kind.”

He Xianqiu nodded and bent down to pick more mushrooms. After that, they didn’t have any more conversation and each focused on gathering mushrooms, but the atmosphere wasn’t awkward at all.

Their heads drew closer as they picked, and eventually they bumped into each other.

He Xianqiu rubbed her head, hissing softly. They looked at each other, both clutching their foreheads. He Xianqiu found it funny and burst out laughing.

Ji Chen Zhou had been worried she was hurt, but when he saw her laughing so freely, he pressed his lips together and smiled as well.

In front of other people, He Xianqiu always maintained her elegant image. She never expected she’d slip up in front of Ji Chen Zhou.

Strictly speaking, they’d only met a few times. She probably shouldn’t have trusted him enough to go up the mountain together—after all, you never truly knew someone’s heart.

But He Xianqiu just trusted him. She felt certain he wouldn’t do anything bad to her, that he was a good person.

They picked a huge pile of mushrooms. He Xianqiu asked, “Xiao Ji, is this enough?”

Ji Chen Zhou adjusted the basket on his back and nodded. “It’s enough. Let’s go check the trap, then find a place to wash everything and roast the mushrooms.”

Hearing this, He Xianqiu’s eyes lit up. “I’ve never eaten roasted mushrooms! They must be delicious.”

“They’re all right.”

When they returned to the trap, from a distance they could already see a furry white bundle wiggling around inside.

It looked like a rabbit—so cute. But rabbit meat was delicious, and no matter how cute it was, it wouldn’t be spared. He Xianqiu was already reaching her hands out toward it.

Ji Chen Zhou gestured for her to wait there. She nodded obediently.

She stood in place, watching Xiao Ji work the trap and secure the rabbit inside.