Chapter 23.2

The more detailed she wrote, the more it would ease Li Xiufen’s worries.

She could already imagine how anxious Li Xiufen must be back home, likely so worried that she couldn’t sleep well at night.

At home, only Li Xiufen and Ye Mingqiang truly cared about her. She had to put their minds at ease.

After describing life at the farm, she also wrote about the reunion with Ye Yongzhen. It took her two full pages to finish.

Once she was done, she placed the letter into an envelope and affixed a stamp.

She had bought the envelope and stamps last time she went to town, at the post office.

Ye Mingqiang loved collecting stamps. Whenever he had free time, he would hang out at the mechanical factory’s reception room with Old Li. Whenever someone received a letter, he’d pester them to give him the stamp.

Once, he even got into a fight with another kid over a stamp. He won and got the stamp, but ended up covered in mud like a monkey. When he got home, Li Xiufen gave him a good beating.

Before taking the beating, he’d first remind Li Xiufen to hit him later—just enough time to put the stamp somewhere safe. Only after that would he pull down his pants and obediently lie down for the punishment.

After getting spanked, he’d rub his sore butt while carefully retrieving and sorting the stamps.

So, when Ye Huan came to the farm, she told him she’d send nice-looking stamps when writing home.

Ye Huan didn’t know which stamps were considered “good”—she simply chose ones that looked pretty to her. This time, she bought ones with goldfish. The goldfish looked lively and vivid. Ye Mingqiang would definitely like them.

After finishing the letter, she placed it on the table and asked Lian Yanmei to help bring it to the office tomorrow. Then she finally went to bed.

……

The next morning after breakfast, Zhao Pingtao called Ye Huan to go to work. Bai Yin came out of her room and said, “Wait for me, I’ll go with you.”

Zhao Pingtao was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the ground.

And it wasn’t just him. Everyone else looked at Bai Yin in surprise too.

One couldn’t blame them—it was just that Bai Yin had always been a loner. She had been at the farm for over a year and always worked alone. This was the first time anyone had heard her say she wanted to walk to work with others.

And she had volunteered it herself.

Ye Huan had a guess—she figured Bai Yin was probably afraid that Feng Shengli would ambush her on the way. Yesterday, when Feng Shengli had been dragged away by Zhao Pingtao and the others, he clearly said he would look for Bai Yin again.

If she went to work alone and ran into him midway, with Feng Shengli’s annoying persistence, she wouldn’t be able to shake him off. It would also sound bad if word got out.

But with Ye Huan and Zhao Pingtao around, Feng Shengli probably wouldn’t dare do anything.

Especially Zhao Pingtao—despite being young, he was taller and sturdier than Feng Shengli, which was enough to intimidate him.

So Ye Huan didn’t say anything. Who you walked with didn’t matter. If Bai Yin wanted to go together, then fine.

Ye Huan’s guess wasn’t wrong. The three of them hadn’t gone far before they saw Feng Shengli. This road was the only way to the worksite, and he was clearly waiting to block Bai Yin.

Ye Huan and Zhao Pingtao both turned to look at her.

But Bai Yin didn’t react much. She said to them, “You two go ahead. I’ll talk to him for a bit.”

Ye Huan had thought Bai Yin joined them to avoid being cornered by Feng Shengli.

But now that he had shown up, she was letting them leave first.

Ye Huan couldn’t figure out what Bai Yin was thinking anymore.

Still, it was obvious Bai Yin didn’t want them involved in her business with Feng Shengli, and neither of them liked sticking their noses into other people’s affairs, so they walked off.

They were already quite far away when Zhao Pingtao sighed, “I really don’t get what Bai Yin is thinking. After all that drama yesterday, I thought she’d cut ties with Feng Shengli for good. But now she’s acting like they made up. And here I thought I’d seen it all—I still can’t figure her out.”

Ye Huan said, “…How old are you exactly? And you’ve ‘seen it all’?”

Zhao Pingtao replied, “That’s not important. What’s important is that I really don’t get why Bai Yin would want to make up with Feng Shengli.”

Ye Huan said, “Maybe she’s not making up with him. She just said she was going to say a few words. Maybe she just wants to tell him not to bother her anymore…”

If it were her, she wouldn’t forgive Feng Shengli. They’d already said everything that needed to be said—there was no chance of reconciliation.

“You don’t know Bai Yin. If she doesn’t like someone, she won’t even look at them, let alone talk to them first. But just now, she did approach him and even smiled at him. That means she wants to make up. She just told us to go ahead because she didn’t want to lose face in front of us. This is what you call a slap followed by a sweet date—to coax him.”

Ye Huan, “…” She hadn’t noticed. Other than gardening, she wasn’t as observant—or as gossipy—as Zhao Pingtao.

……

Meanwhile, Bai Yin approached Feng Shengli. Before he could say anything, she spoke first.

“Feng Shengli, I want to apologize. Yesterday was my fault. I got a letter from home with some bad news, and I was in a terrible mood, so I lost my temper with you.”

Feng Shengli had stewed over his anger all night and was still fuming. That’s why he came early to confront her.

If she looked down on him, then he would deliberately pester her and see what she could do about it.

He had seen her earlier walking with Ye Huan and Zhao Pingtao and assumed she brought them as backup, since she normally kept to herself and never walked with others.

He had even mentally prepared to fight Zhao Pingtao.

But then Bai Yin surprised him by telling them to leave and even apologizing to him first.

She was the girl he liked. With her apologizing like that, his anger mostly vanished. When she mentioned her family troubles, it disappeared completely. Instead, he became concerned and asked, “What happened at home? Do you need money? If so, just tell me. I’ll figure something out.”

Bai Yin replied, “It’s not about money. Just some annoying family stuff. I lost control and took it out on you. I’m really sorry.”

With Bai Yin’s sincere attitude, Feng Shengli had no anger left. He waved it off generously, “It’s nothing. If you take your anger out on me, that means you trust me. If you ever need help, just say the word. I’ll definitely help if I can.”

Bai Yin sneered inwardly. In her past life, she had been fooled by these exact sweet words. She thought he’d protect her from the storms of life.

But instead, he was the storm.

No, he was a blizzard of blades, leaving her battered and bruised.

While cursing him silently, she still put on a grateful face. “I know you’re good to me. I remember everything. But I’ve been really busy lately—mainly because of Ye Huan. She’s young and new here, doesn’t know anything. We’re both in the gardening division, and Lian Yanmei asked me to mentor her in both work and life. So from now on, we’ll be together most of the time. It’ll be harder for us to meet.”

Feng Shengli had been so focused on his anger he hadn’t paid attention to anyone else. But now that he’d calmed down and Bai Yin mentioned Ye Huan, her image suddenly popped into his mind—pretty, delicate, and those long lashes fluttering when she blinked…

He was briefly lost in thought.

“Feng Shengli,” Bai Yin called.

He snapped back to reality. “You mean Comrade Ye? Yeah, she looks quite young. It must’ve been hard coming to the farm alone. How about this—since I’ve been here longer and know the place better, I’ll stop by more often. If she has any questions, she can ask me. I’ll help however I can.”

Afraid Bai Yin might overthink it, he quickly added, “That way you won’t have to worry as much either.”

Bai Yin sneered again inside. He’s only saying that because Ye Huan is pretty. If it were someone like Xu Aixian, would he say the same?

She cursed him eight hundred more times in her heart, but outwardly said, “Then I’ll thank you on Ye Huan’s behalf.”

Feng Shengli replied, “No need to thank me. Helping new comrades is the right thing to do.”

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head to work now.”

Feeling comforted by Bai Yin’s rare warmth, Feng Shengli said happily, “Alright, go ahead. I’ll come see you when I have time.”

Bai Yin smiled at him, making his heart flutter, then turned and left.

….

She didn’t go looking for Ye Huan and Zhao Pingtao, but soon spotted them at the entrance of Team Three’s courtyard, chatting with Yang Chengren. She was too far to hear what they were saying.

Her first thought was about the “flower” Ye Huan brought to the dorms yesterday. Was she trying to use that as an opportunity to transfer to Group Three?

If so, Ye Huan would probably be disappointed. Group Three was much easier than Groups One or Two, but it was full of expert horticulturists—not just anyone could join. Even with Ye Yongzhen backing her, Ye Huan wouldn’t get past Hu Chunsheng. That old man was famously stubborn and didn’t give face to anyone.

Yang Chengren was Group Three’s second-in-command. He wasn’t as stubborn as Hu Chunsheng, but she remembered him as petty and self-important—not exactly easy to deal with.

Ye Huan had just arrived and didn’t know how things worked. If she rashly asked to join Group Three, Yang Chengren would definitely mock her.

Normally, Bai Yin wouldn’t interfere in things that didn’t concern her, but in this case, she walked over anyway.

She figured since Ye Huan spoke up for her yesterday when Wang Guiying was giving her trouble, this was a chance to return the favor. She should at least advise Ye Huan to be realistic and just work hard in Group One.

Ye Huan and Zhao Pingtao were talking about the flower from yesterday—but not for the reason Bai Yin imagined.

Here’s what happened: As they were walking past Group Three’s courtyard gate, they ran into Yang Chengren.

Even though he had scolded them yesterday about the alpine rhododendron, since Zhao Pingtao said he was an expert, Ye Huan still respected him. So she followed Zhao Pingtao’s lead and greeted him with, “Teacher Yang.”

They were about to walk away when Yang Chengren called out, “That flower you two took yesterday—how’s it doing?”

Zhao Pingtao scratched his head awkwardly. “Teacher Yang, you saw that, huh?”

Worried Yang Chengren might accuse them of stealing, he rushed to explain, “We weren’t stealing public property. Since you said you were throwing it away, we just took it. We already agreed that no matter what, we’ll return it eventually.”

Then he nudged Ye Huan, “Right, Ye Huan?”

They had discussed it beforehand, so Ye Huan nodded and said to Yang Chengren, “I was planning to return it once it bloomed. But if you need it urgently, I’ll bring it back as soon as it sprouts.”

Zhao Pingtao, “…” Don’t make such bold promises! What if it never sprouts? You’re just handing him ammunition!

He had heard from the aunties on the farm that while Yang Chengren was skilled, he was also petty and sarcastic—his words could be sharp.

And sure enough, Ye Huan’s comment rubbed Yang Chengren the wrong way…