Chapter 45 – With how Fu Mingze looks, who would dare be his partner…

Shen Mo’er’s first instinct was to raise her foot and kick him, but Fu Mingze reacted quickly and immediately backed away and sat back down. Shen Mo’er glanced at the half-plucked chicken lying awkwardly between them and suddenly found herself in a position where she neither wanted to advance nor retreat.

Fu Mingze looked up at her and, feeling guilty, stood back up. His dark eyes stared at her with an expression that seemed to say he was ready to take a beating or a scolding: “How about… you kick me once? I promise I won’t move.”

Shen Mo’er flushed red and cursed, “Scoundrel!”

Fu Mingze raised his eyebrows slightly. He thought to himself that Comrade Shen Mo’er was still quite refined—if it were someone else, they’d probably be yelling “pervert” right now. He couldn’t help but chuckle, then said leisurely, “Or… how about I let you kiss me back?”

Shen Mo’er: “…”

She really hadn’t realized before just how shameless and cheeky this man could be.

“Pluck all the chicken feathers clean!” she snapped, leaving that behind as she turned around and walked off. It wasn’t until she stepped into the kitchen that her wildly pounding heart began to calm down, though her face was still burning. She instinctively wanted to raise her hand to touch it, but quickly realized her hands were still wet.

Not just her hands—her wrist, which Fu Mingze had grabbed, was also damp. Warm, moist, as if his body heat still lingered there.

“So filthy.”

Shen Mo’er muttered under her breath, face still flushed as she poured some water and carefully washed her hands. She scrubbed with soap and lathered up a good amount of foam, finally washing her hands thoroughly.

She lifted her hands to her nose and sniffed. There was no strange smell, only the clean, fresh scent of soap.

Fu Mingze obediently plucked the chicken until it was perfectly clean. He even gutted and chopped it up, then quite consciously went to light the fire.

Shen Mo’er chopped up the cleaned scallions, ginger, and garlic, filled a pot with cold water, and added the chopped chicken pieces. Once the water boiled and the scum rose, she skimmed off the impurities, added fresh water, and then tossed in the sliced ginger, garlic, white parts of the scallion, and a small cloth pouch of herbs. Once it boiled again, she told Fu Mingze to remove two of the firewood logs, leaving just one to keep the stew simmering over a low flame.

Very soon, the rich, fragrant aroma of chicken soup began to spread through the air.

Fu Mingze stood up. “This chicken soup smells really—”

“Wow, are you really making chicken soup? It smells amazing!” Zheng Jiamin barged in noisily, exclaiming, “Comrade Shen Mo’er, is there anything I can help with? Need water fetched? Firewood chopped? Vegetables washed?”

Fu Mingze gave him a chilly sideways glance. Zheng Jiamin looked back, puzzled. “Mingze, why are you just standing there doing nothing? Get to work! We came over for a meal—can’t just freeload without helping.”

Fu Mingze: “…”

Who’s freeloading? I’m having a meal at my potential partner’s house. You’re the freeloader here.

Without a word, he pulled a hatchet from beside the stove. “You go chop firewood.” Then he grabbed a bucket, planning to fetch more water.

Since a wall had been built around the Shen family’s courtyard, the place looked much more organized, but it also meant it was now farther to go next door to get water. Before, with no walls on either side, they could walk in a straight line. Now they had to go around through the front gate.

Shen Mo’er carried an enamel basin to the well to wash vegetables. Fu Mingze returned with a bucket of water, poured it into the basin steadily without splashing a drop on her. Seeing there was still half a bucket left, he glanced toward the brigade office, which still had its door open, then took a half-step back and stood there, watching Shen Mo’er wash vegetables.

Shen Mo’er glanced at him. “Go fetch your water.”

Fu Mingze replied, “You still have to rinse it at least two more times. If I take the bucket, what will you use to wash?”

Shen Mo’er responded, “You could fetch one bucket first, then come back and pour it for me.”

Fu Mingze didn’t move at all and simply said, “I just want to stay here and keep you company.”

Shen Mo’er muttered, “Who asked you to,” and quickly rinsed the vegetables once. Just as she dumped the water out, Fu Mingze immediately stepped forward and poured fresh water from the bucket.

A creaking sound came from behind them. Zhou Mancang stepped out of the brigade office, about to lock the door. Shen Mo’er quickly looked up and gave Fu Mingze a meaningful glance, signaling him to leave quickly after pouring the water. Fu Mingze met her gaze calmly and remained completely still.

Before Shen Mo’er could say anything, Zhou Mancang had already locked the door and walked over. Seeing the two of them, he changed direction and approached. “Mo’er, Comrade Fu, what are you two doing?”

Shen Mo’er smiled and said, “Captain, why don’t you come over to my house for dinner tonight? Comrade Fu and Comrade Zheng are joining us for a meal.”

Zhou Mancang said, “Ah, so that’s where the chicken soup smell was coming from! It’s so fragrant, we could smell it all the way at the brigade office. But you all go ahead and eat—my family’s cooking, and they’re waiting for me to come home and start dinner.”
In times like these, how could anyone easily just go eat at someone else’s house?

He glanced at Fu Mingze. “Educated Youth Fu, you’re helping carry water, right? Let’s go together. I heard the test field at your educated youth point is doing well. Why don’t you tell me about it on the way?”

Fu Mingze stood there like his feet had been nailed to the ground. He didn’t move at all and said, “I need to stay here and help carry water. Captain, this matter isn’t something I can explain in just a few words. How about you come to the educated youth point tomorrow? We can go to the vegetable garden and take a proper look—then I can explain everything in detail.”

Zhou Mancang was about to say, “It’s just a girl washing vegetables, is it really necessary for you to stand there just to help carry water?” But he quickly caught on. His expression showed a hint of surprise. “Oh? You two are…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, just pointed at Fu Mingze, shook his head, and chuckled. “Alright then, after lunch tomorrow, I’ll drop by the educated youth point.”

Shen Mo’er’s face flushed red, even her ears were burning. Once Zhou Mancang was out of earshot, she glared at Fu Mingze. “What nonsense were you telling the Captain!”

Fu Mingze replied, “What nonsense? Helping carry water is nonsense now?”

Shen Mo’er snorted and said confidently, “If I say it’s nonsense, then it is!”

Fu Mingze rubbed his nose and nodded. “Mm, whatever you say, sweetheart.”

Shen Mo’er: “…”

With a partner like this, can she return him for a refund?

However, as soon as Shen Shaoyuan came home, the cheeky Educated Youth Fu became like a fox who had accidentally let his tail show and was now desperately trying to hide it again. He turned into the picture of honesty and propriety, not even daring to glance at her too much.

At the dinner table, he was overly attentive, pulling out a clean pair of chopsticks and constantly picking food for Shen Shaoyuan. Occasionally, he’d give Shen Mo’er a bite or two, but as soon as Shen Shaoyuan cast a glance his way, he obediently set his chopsticks down.

Zheng Jiamin wasn’t having it. “Mingze, I chipped in for this chicken too, didn’t I? Why aren’t you giving me any meat?”

Fu Mingze said coldly, “Are your hands broken? You need me to serve you food?”

Zheng Jiamin replied, “Well, Seventh Uncle and Comrade Shen Mo’er both have perfectly fine hands too. Sure, we’re freeloading a bit, but you can’t be so blatantly biased!”

Shen Shaoyuan gave the silly boy a look and couldn’t help but laugh.

After dinner, Fu Mingze automatically went to wash the dishes. Zheng Jiamin followed to help, and once things were mostly done, he brought out a small stool and sat under the eaves, chatting with Shen Shaoyuan. “Seventh Uncle Shen, when are you moving into the new house?”

Shen Shaoyuan leaned back against a repaired old chair and looked up at the crescent moon in the dark sky. He thought for a moment and said, “When the moon is full.”

Zheng Jiamin sighed, “Seventh Uncle Shen, I didn’t know you well before, but now that I do, you don’t seem like someone whose ancestors all tilled the soil. You’re more like one of those scholarly gentlemen from classical literature.”

Both Shen Shaoyuan and Shen Mo’er, who was sitting nearby, turned to look at him at the same time.

Just then, Fu Mingze came out of the kitchen. Following Shen Mo’er’s gaze, he looked at Zheng Jiamin, assuming he was spouting nonsense again, and said, “Zheng Jiamin, time to go.”

Zheng Jiamin protested, “You can’t just leave after eating. Let’s keep Uncle Shen company for a bit. What’s the rush? So we can go back and stare at that sneaky little scumbag Shi Wei?”

He turned back to Shen Shaoyuan and said, “Uncle Shen, since we’re close now, I won’t hide this from you. That Shi Wei at our educated youth point—he’s no good. I saw him secretly going through Mingze’s stuff. As soon as I walked in, he jumped up and said he was trying to kill a cockroach he saw crawl in. Pfft, who’d believe that? I wear glasses—I saw it all, clear as day.”

Shen Shaoyuan looked at him and thought, What kind of relationship do we have that you’re telling me all this?

Zheng Jiamin continued, “But Mingze checked and said nothing was missing. I’ve been quietly keeping an eye on him these past two days. He keeps wandering over to Mingze’s bed for no reason. I don’t know what he’s up to.”

“You think he’s got a screw loose or something? I mean, Mingze is the poorest one at the entire point. If he wants to steal, he should come for me, right? Don’t you think?”

The other three: “…”

Shen Shaoyuan thought, This silly boy… he’s great at flattery, but not the brightest bulb. If he were in the imperial palace of Da Liang, he wouldn’t last three days.

“Maybe he’s not after money or things, but something else?” Shen Mo’er looked at Fu Mingze.

Fu Mingze looked back at her, eyes calm and reassuring. “It’s nothing.”

Shen Shaoyuan couldn’t bear seeing the two of them like that and stood up. “Alright, you two go home now.”

Shen Mo’er glanced at her father and immediately smiled. “Let’s go, let’s go. My dad has to get up early for work tomorrow.”

“Go, go, go. Uncle Shen, Comrade Shen Mo’er, you both rest early. Next time my family sends me some meat coupons, I’ll bring another chicken. That chicken soup today—mmm! It was even better than the one we had when the new house was being built!”

“We’ll invite you all over again sometime.”

Shen Mo’er got up to see them out, though in her heart she was thinking, We hadn’t even found those medicinal herbs back when the house was being built—how could it compare to this time?

“Uncle Shen, I’ll come again another day,” Fu Mingze said as he stood up too.

Shen Shaoyuan gave him a look and couldn’t even be bothered to speak. He just waved a hand to signal him to leave.

Shen Mo’er walked the two of them to the courtyard gate. Fu Mingze paused at the gate, looked deeply at her, and said, “See you tomorrow.”

Zheng Jiamin didn’t quite understand why he said that, but since they were all in the same village, he figured they might run into each other anyway. So he chimed in, “Yeah, yeah, see you tomorrow!”

Fu Mingze couldn’t hold it in anymore and kicked him. “Let’s go.”

*

The next day, Shen Mo’er was in the middle of class when a toddler who wasn’t even old enough for school came running to the classroom door, calling out in a soft, milky voice, “Teacher Shen—”

Shen Mo’er drew a simple sketch of a kitten on the blackboard and told her students to follow along, then stepped outside and patted the fuzzy little head of the toddler. “Who are you? I’ll walk you home.”

Before classes in the morning, there were always a few kids too young for school playing on the school grounds. Once class started, parents would take them home. She didn’t know whose kid this one was—his skin was a bit dark, but he had big eyes and was quite adorable.

“I’m from Uncle Qingguo’s house,” the child lisped as he sucked in a bit of drool.

Shen Mo’er thought for a moment and understood—it was Militia Captain Zhou Qingguo’s child.

She didn’t expect such a burly man like Zhou Qingguo to have such an adorable little daughter.

The toddler tugged on Shen Mo’er’s pant leg. “Outside, outside—someone…”

Shen Mo’er caught on. “Someone outside is looking for me?”

She bent down, scooped up the little one, and pulled a piece of fruit candy from her pocket to tuck into the child’s pinafore pocket. “Hey, you’ve already got two candies in here.”

The little girl grinned, showing off her tiny teeth.

As they approached the school gate, Shen Mo’er spotted Wang Qiutong standing there. She looked anxious, pacing around like an ant on a hot pan.

As soon as she saw Shen Mo’er, she rushed forward and blurted out, “Comrade Mo’er, hurry to the team office! A few people from the Commune Revolutionary Committee came to investigate Educated Youth Fu. We don’t know anyone else very well, so Educated Youth Zheng sent me to get you. He said your family background is good, and your father, Uncle Shen, knows some people at the commune. Maybe you can help speak on his behalf?”