Chapter 28

Wang Jing Breaks Down

The next morning, the bathroom echoed with screams, sounding as if pigs were being slaughtered. “Someone’s been killed! Someone’s been killed! Hurry, someone come!”

Summer Wan Yang had accomplished two major things last night and was sleeping soundly. The sudden noise woke her up, and her irritation immediately flared. “So annoying, can’t a person get some sleep this early in the morning?” She rubbed her eyes and sat up, then remembered that Wang Jing was in the bathroom. She stuck out her tongue apologetically.

She woke up fully in about ten seconds, then pretended like nothing was wrong and followed everyone outside.

The one screaming was Xu Jiaojiao, who was standing in the yard, her face pale with fear, trembling as she looked to the others for support. She rushed over, saying, “There’s someone lying in the bathroom, looks like it’s Wang Jing. She’s on the floor and doesn’t seem to be breathing!”

Gu Xiuyuan, Zheng Yu, and the braver ones went into the bathroom. In a short while, they came out carrying Wang Jing.

Wang Jing’s body was covered in blood, mixed with yellowish, unidentifiable substances, and reeked of an awful smell. If her chest weren’t still rising and falling, she would have looked dead.

There was no time to think; they quickly untied the ropes. Li Damao and Li Ermao, the brothers, were quick on their feet and ran to Zhang Heping’s house to report.

Li wanted to head to Zhou’s family to get the tractor. Wang Jing’s life was hanging by a thread, and she needed to be sent to the city hospital.

Soon, Li Damao and Li Ermao returned with Zhang Heping and Zhang Shiye. They looked anxious, their faces tight with worry.

Zhang Shiye had beads of sweat forming on his forehead, his breathing was heavy, and his chest heaved with each breath, clearly struggling after the run. When he saw Summer Wan Yang standing in the crowd, a flash of relief crossed his eyes, and he let out a deep breath, as if a heavy weight had finally been lifted from his chest.

Zhang Heping, looking at Wang Jing lying on the ground, sucked in a breath. “Who does she have such a huge grudge against? Her hair’s giving off the smell of urine, and one of her slippers is missing. But wait… why does Wang Jing only have four toes?”

“Quick, let’s get her to the health center and pay upfront,” Zhang Heping directed the male youths and his eldest son. But Zhang Shiye’s eyes seemed almost glued to Summer Wan Yang—what was going on there?

“Ahem, Shiye, you should help out too!” Zhang Heping called to his son.

Zhang Shiye reluctantly withdrew his gaze, and calmly said, “Dad, I just remembered I still have some work to finish at the office. I’ll head back now.”

He said this while casually glancing at Summer Wan Yang again.

Inside her mind, Summer Wan Yang was thinking: *He’s looking at me. He cares about me. Does he still like me, just like in my past life?*

The male youths quickly lifted Wang Jing onto the tractor, with the senior workers Li Huaguang and Sang Qing following. The rest of the group had no use in going, so they all went back to wash up and prepare for work.

Summer Wan Yang finished a bowl of porridge and put down her chopsticks. “I’m done, everyone eat slowly.” She then went back to her room.

“Ha, of course, back to your room to secretly eat the good food. You bring so much but never share. It’s so hot, aren’t you afraid it’ll go bad?” Xu Jiaojiao said with a mocking tone.

Li looked up and mimicked her tone. “Xu Jiaojiao, I remember you brought a lot of candy. Why don’t you take it out and share it with everyone?”

Xu Jiaojiao immediately responded, “Why should I? Why does my food have to be shared with everyone?”

Li wasn’t angry. He just smiled and said, “What’s yours is yours, but what Sister Yang brings is for everyone! Have you eaten too much lotus root? All eyes and no heart!”

“You! You’ve been Summer Wan Yang’s lackey since childhood, and I’ve never seen her give you anything good to eat. Be careful not to flatter her too much or you’ll end up hitting your own foot with the horse’s hoof!”

“Well, you don’t need to worry about me. It’s better you mind your own business!”

Thus, breakfast ended amidst Li Xiang and Xu Jiaojiao’s bickering.

Spring planting was about to begin, and the veteran youths were getting nervous. Only the newcomers, who didn’t know their place, still had the energy to argue about trivial things!

Summer Wan Yang was actually quite excited. She was afraid she couldn’t control her emotions and others would notice, so she quickly went back to her room to calm down.

However, as soon as she entered her room, she jumped onto the bed like a rabbit, rolling back and forth, trying to calm herself through this motion.

After rolling around for a few circles, Summer Wan Yang regained a bit of her composure, but her heart was still racing, as if it might leap out of her chest. Then, she suddenly remembered Zhang Shiye’s gaze from the morning, full of deep affection and tenderness, which made her blush and her heart race.

Thinking of this, Summer Wan Yang’s face flushed bright red, like a ripe apple, but she didn’t stay shy for long. Instead, a sly smile appeared on her face.

After forty minutes, the tractor arrived at the city hospital. The doctor examined Wang Jing and said, “It’s not serious, just a concussion. She’ll be fine once she wakes up, but the wound might have gotten contaminated with something, and with the hot weather, there’s a risk of infection. She’ll need to stay here for a few days.”

Li Huaguang paid for the hospital stay, then returned to the village with the tractor. It wasn’t convenient to leave a female worker there, so Sang Qing stayed behind. Before leaving, the team leader promised to credit her with eight work points daily, even though she didn’t have to work, which made her very happy.

Soon, Wang Jing slowly regained consciousness after the medication kicked in. Looking around, she realized she was in the hospital. The pain in her head snapped her back to reality, and she quickly looked down at her feet. Oh no!

“Sister Sang, how did I end up here? What’s that smell in the hospital?” Wang Jing croaked, her voice hoarse.

Sang Qing glanced at Wang Jing and pursed her lips. “Wang Jing, did you fall when you went to the bathroom last night? We found you in there this morning, and you hit your head. We brought you to the hospital, and the team asked me to stay here and take care of you.”

Wang Jing only heard the word ‘everyone’ and quickly looked down at her thin clothes, then at her feet, which she had forgotten to wear socks on after her bath the previous night. She almost sat up in panic. “Sister Sang, did many people see me like this?”

Sang Qing nodded. “The comrades from the youth team all came out to help, and even Team Leader Zhang and Accountant Zhang came!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Wang Jing broke down in tears. “What should I do? How can I let Accountant Zhang see me like this? Have a lot of people touched me? What should I do? My reputation is ruined!”

Sang Qing was confused. “Wang Jing, no one took advantage of you. You were lying face down in the bathroom. Everyone was just trying to help because they were worried you might really be hurt. And so what if Accountant Zhang saw you? Isn’t it normal for him to come when something happens with the youth team? He’s here with his dad.”

Wang Jing didn’t bother to explain, tears and snot covering her face, and her sobs could be heard by half the people in the hospital. Sang Qing was speechless. She would have rather gone back to work. At her age, this was the first time she had been so embarrassed.

Summer Wan Yang didn’t know or care about what happened in the city. Wang Jing had pushed her once and talked back a few times, and she had hit Wang Jing’s head in return, which she considered payback. From now on, they would leave each other alone. As long as Wang Jing didn’t provoke her again, she had no interest in dealing with her.

Under the old locust tree, Zhang Shiye handed her breakfast: a warm scallion pancake.

Summer Wan Yang didn’t take it. “Zhang Shiye, I don’t want it. You keep it. You saved me, so how could I take your food? Yesterday, I didn’t react in time!”

Zhang Shiye furrowed his brows slightly. “You don’t like this?”

Summer Wan Yang waved her hand. “No, it’s not that. You have so many brothers and your wife at home. If you keep bringing me food from your house, over time, your wives might get upset!”

She lowered her voice and said with a grin, “Besides, if I take food from you, there should be some kind of understanding between us, right?”

Zhang Shiye’s eyes were filled with amusement. “What did you say? Understanding?”