Chapter 19

Under He Ting’s signal, Lu Baiwei opened the metal box. Inside, apart from a bunch of colorful tickets, she counted and found over 160 yuan in cash.

Besides the various tickets He Ting had saved up, the 160 yuan plus the dowry money He Ting had given her, along with the red envelopes she had received at the wedding banquet today, Lu Baiwei now had nearly 400 yuan in her hands.

This was definitely a huge amount of money.

With so much money on hand, Lu Baiwei felt that even if something happened to He Ting’s family, it wouldn’t matter. It should be enough to support his nephews and nieces.

Just as she was thinking this, He Ting mentioned that the 1,500 yuan his father had forced him to take when he went to the countryside was all gone, and the rest of the money was in this box.

Lu Baiwei, still immersed in the joy of suddenly becoming rich, heard that He Ting had 1,500 yuan when he went to the countryside. Her habit of calculating things from her previous life quickly made her realize something was off with the money.

The receipt for the purchase of the “three-turn one-sound” was also in the metal box, which had cost 872 yuan.

He Ting had also given her 188 yuan in dowry money.

This added up to 1,060 yuan.

There was still over 160 yuan left in the box.

So where had nearly 300 yuan gone?

Buying wedding candy, fabric, and the banquet food would only cost a few dozen yuan at most.

This meant that the young master, who had been in the village for less than three months, had already spent over 200 yuan.

City workers only earned a few dozen yuan a month, yet the young master she married was spending nearly 100 yuan a month.

So the 300 yuan she had saved up wouldn’t last long at all!

Based on the young master’s spending of nearly 300 yuan in three months, the money she had now would only last a few months.

He Ting’s family was about to run into trouble. How could this small amount of money help support his nephews and nieces, or care for his family sent to the farm?

Indeed, heaven doesn’t give everything to one person.

The man she married had wealth, looks, and a good family background, and at first glance, he seemed perfect. But in reality, he was a big spender who would be a burden to support.

Lu Baiwei shot him a look of disdain.

When Zhou Yanfeng gave her a 10-yuan red envelope, Lu Baiwei had been continuously amazed, looking like she was struck by surprise.

He Ting thought that by giving his little money-loving wife some money, he would see her delight and excitement.

Instead, all he got was a look of disdain.

Wasn’t she the one who liked money?

Now that she had it, was she turning her back on him?

Did she think giving her money was humiliating her?

Did she think that giving her money was humiliating her?

Lu Baiwei held the metal box without saying a word, giving him a disdainful glance. He Ting was completely puzzled.

Women’s hearts are like needles at the bottom of the sea!

He had no idea how he had upset Lu Baiwei.

While He Ting was still guessing what was going on in her mind, Lu Baiwei’s gaze landed on his face, following the smooth contours of his face and down his neck.

The weather was too hot!

He Ting, feeling the heat, unbuttoned the top of his shirt to cool off.

Through the open corner of his shirt, Lu Baiwei caught a glimpse of the alluring view beneath.

With his face and his firm, well-toned body, Lu Baiwei thought that even if he continued to spend money carelessly, she could make enough to support him for a while.

As if unable to do anything about He Ting, Lu Baiwei sighed and said, “How about this? The rice fields in the village are almost plowed, and tomorrow they’ll officially start planting the seedlings. After three days, things should settle down.”

“At this time every year, my cousins go up the mountain to see if they can catch some wild game for a feast or something.”

“My cousin and I also go up the mountain to gather herbs.”

Lu Baiwei discussed with He Ting: “How about you come along with us?”

He Ting only heard the part about getting some wild game, and when he heard about going up the mountain to hunt, his blood immediately started to boil.

Although summer wasn’t the best season for hunting, it didn’t diminish a man’s love for catching wild game.

He Ting’s eyes lit up instantly, and he eagerly suggested, “Can we bring Zhou Yanfeng along too?”

Why not?

Zhou Yanfeng was an easy target for taking advantage of.

He could help with the work without needing to be paid, and once they got food from the mountain, he’d definitely be happy to join for a meal.

“Alright, we’ll bring Zhou Yanfeng.”

Lu Baiwei reminded him, “But you need to tell him beforehand. We’ll be staying on the mountain overnight, and a trip up the mountain usually takes two or three days.”

“This is your first time going up the mountain. There are lots of snakes, insects, rats, and ants up there. I’ll try to gather some herbs after work these next two days and make a few medicine packs to repel the bugs and snakes.”

Zhou Yanfeng’s mouth had been trained by Lu Baiwei.

After eating her cooking, he couldn’t stomach the food that He Yan and the others made at the youth station.

At first, he had thought that Lu Baiwei wasn’t worthy of He Ting, because He Ting had been the brightest and most outstanding one in their compound since childhood, whether in academics or in martial arts.

Such a high and unreachable flower, yet it was plucked by a country girl. He felt sorry for He Ting.

Such a high and unreachable flower, yet it was plucked by a country girl. He felt it was not worth it for Ting Ge.

However, after tasting Lu Baiwei’s cooking, Zhou Yanfeng’s stomach was conquered, and he began to feel a special closeness to her.

These past few days, the village was busy with planting rice, and Zhou Yanfeng stuck closely to Lu Baiwei and He Ting, working alongside them.

This second young master was experiencing rice planting for the first time, and it was even more embarrassing than the female youth workers.

Bending down in the water to plant rice, his legs covered in mud, itching and a little painful, he looked down and saw blood seeping from his feet, but that wasn’t the problem. A soft, limp insect had attached itself to his leg, half of its body already burrowed into his flesh.

Zhou Yanfeng was terrified of soft, limp things. He couldn’t stand it and let out a horrified scream.

Lu Baiwei was still admiring He Ting’s posture as he bent down to work. In this hot weather, people would be drenched in sweat, but luckily, the mountain breeze was blowing, providing some relief from the heat.

Good-looking people were different; even their hair was especially good.

As He Ting bent down to plant rice, the wind blew through his glossy, dark hair, as if stirring up waves of rice in the field.

Just as he straightened up to untie the straw binding the rice seedlings, Lu Baiwei quietly stole a glance at He Ting, but was startled by Zhou Yanfeng’s scream and almost fell into the rice field.

Turning around, she saw blood seeping from his foot, his mud-covered calf with a grayish, limp thing attached to it. Lu Baiwei realized he had been bitten by a leech.

She waded through the muddy water to him, her expression calm, and slapped his foot a few times. The leech dropped off his leg.

Zhou Yanfeng jumped up three feet in the air, splashing mud everywhere.

Once the danger was over, he shouted, “Sister-in-law, what on earth is that thing?”

“A leech. Its scientific name is a water leech. This little thing burrows into your skin and sucks blood. Don’t pull it off forcefully; just slap a few times above the bite, and it will fall off.”

Zhou Yanfeng looked at the leech that Lu Baiwei had slapped off, its body wriggling in the muddy water. Goosebumps rose on his skin.

“Sister-in-law, you’ve literally saved my life. What if it burrowed into my skin and laid eggs? That thing is terrifying.”

“Sister-in-law, you’ll always be my real sister-in-law.”

He Ting couldn’t bear to watch.

Back in the compound in Beijing, Zhou Yanfeng had always been following him around, flaunting his power.

Now, in Xiangyang village, he had been taken down by a little bug.

“Wewwei is your real sister-in-law. You’ve said that before,” He Ting remarked.

Lu Baiwei was helping Zhou Yanfeng with the leech, and He Ting didn’t like it.

He gave Zhou Yanfeng a look of disdain and scolded him, “You’re scared of a little bug like that? Pathetic. Stay away from me and your sister-in-law from now on.”