Chapter 17: Confession

As soon as these words were spoken, Lian Xiuran, who had been suddenly named, furrowed his brows, his expression visibly displeased.

He carefully scrutinized Zhao Xiuzhu, then lowered his eyelids, rubbing his right thumb and index finger together as if trying to dispel his impatience.

The room fell silent, but Jiang Pan Yu wasn’t finished yet!

Zhao Xiuzhu’s face turned crimson. She wanted to stop Jiang Pan Yu, but Jiang suddenly began speaking rapidly, like a machine gun, exposing Zhao Xiuzhu’s feelings: “If you like Comrade Lian Xiuran, then just say it outright! Why take it out on Comrade Tan Yanlu? Are you going to intimidate every woman Comrade Lian Xiuran talks to from now on? You and Comrade Lian Xiuran aren’t even in a relationship yet, are you? Did he agree to this? But since everyone’s here today, why don’t you confess to him right now? If he accepts, then you can manage him however you like, and we won’t have any objections. Everyone here can witness that you like Comrade Lian Xiuran. Come on, Comrade Lian is right here. Hurry up and confess! Don’t dawdle; don’t delay our meal!”

Though there were over a dozen people at the table, they were all as silent as clay statues. Yet their eyes darted around rapidly, gleaming with curiosity and excitement.

Tan Yanlu, who had been angry earlier, was no longer upset. Jiang Pan Yu’s words and actions were as bold as ever, striking right at the heart of the matter—so fierce!

Shen Shilei, on the other hand, gave Zhao Xiuzhu a sympathetic glance. Once, she had been just as stubborn, but after being confronted by Jiang Pan Yu, Shen Shilei realized her head wasn’t as hard as she thought. She believed that Zhao Xiuzhu would never dare to provoke Jiang Pan Yu again. No, not just Zhao Xiuzhu—after this, few at the Educated Youth Residence would dare to confront Jiang Pan Yu head-on.

After all, it wasn’t as if she didn’t know that Jiang Pan Yu kept a pair of scissors under her pillow! If you offended her too much, she might just get up in the middle of the night and stab you. Who would you turn to for justice then?

By now, Zhao Xiuzhu wasn’t just red in the face—her ears, neck, and almost her entire body were flushed crimson. In this conservative era, even writing love letters was done with great subtlety. Public confessions were rare, and most people would find a private place to express their feelings. Who would openly talk about love or affection in front of others? Public declarations were almost unheard of.

And now, Zhao Xiuzhu’s secret feelings had been exposed by Jiang Pan Yu, who was practically forcing her to confess in front of everyone. Zhao Xiuzhu was both furious and embarrassed, unsure of where to put her hands and feet.

With over a dozen pairs of eyes staring directly at her, she was supposed to confess her feelings to Lian Xiuran in front of everyone. As a girl, and one who wasn’t particularly thick-skinned, Zhao Xiuzhu simply couldn’t bring herself to make her feelings public. But if she didn’t admit that she liked Lian Xiuran, she would be going against her own heart.

Even if she mustered the courage to confess, would Lian Xiuran accept her? They had only met that very morning. Unless Lian Xiuran had suddenly lost his mind, there was no way he would accept her.

For a moment, Zhao Xiuzhu was left speechless by Jiang Pan Yu’s words.

Zhao Xiuzhu thought to herself that it would be great if she could just faint right now, but unfortunately, her physical constitution was too good. She rolled her eyes for a long time but just couldn’t pass out.

In the end, it was Lian Xiuran who stepped in to defuse the situation. He proactively picked up some spicy stir-fried cabbage and started eating, then glanced at everyone as if nothing had happened: “Aren’t you all hungry? I’ll start eating first then.”

“Oh, right, right, I’m hungry too.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m starving. Let’s eat quickly so we can go to sleep.”

Lian Xiuran chewed the cabbage bite by bite. He didn’t really want to help Zhao Xiuzhu out, but Li Gaoyang kept giving him meaningful looks. Being new here, he felt he had to show some respect to the household head.

The dozen or so people immediately buried their heads in their meals, and no one was staring at Zhao Xiuzhu anymore. Only then did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But she still felt extremely awkward, and the meal tasted like nothing to her.

Lian Xiuran quickly finished his meal and left, but Jiang Pan Yu wasn’t ready to let Zhao Xiuzhu off the hook yet, because she hadn’t received her mission reward!

Suddenly, Jiang Pan Yu asked Zhao Xiuzhu again: “Comrade Zhao, why didn’t you speak up earlier? It was such a good opportunity, what if Comrade Lian had agreed?”

“Cough, cough, cough!” Zhao Xiuzhu choked again at Jiang Pan Yu’s mention of the earlier incident, coughing non-stop.

Jiang Pan Yu leaned in close, staring at her eagerly, as if she wouldn’t leave until Zhao Xiuzhu gave her an answer.

Zhao Xiuzhu…

In the end, she could only stammer out: “What does a little kid like you know!”

She tried to dismiss Jiang Pan Yu with that one sentence, but how could that be possible?

Jiang Pan Yu indeed looked very young, with a standard baby face.

Coupled with her long-term malnutrition, her body hadn’t developed much at all, making her look no different from an elementary school student. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her one.

The Nerve Repairing Agent could only fix the defects in her body, but it wasn’t a nutritional supplement.

It couldn’t provide her with nutrients. Jiang Pan Yu would have to work hard on her own to improve her physical condition.

This did give her some advantages, though. For example, right now, Zhao Xiuzhu couldn’t really take her seriously.

Jiang Pan Yu, however, looked as if she had just had an epiphany: “Oh, so you don’t like Comrade Lian Xiuran, huh?

Then why are you targeting Tan Yanlu? Are you jealous of her good looks?”

Zhao Xiuzhu was almost driven mad by Jiang Pan Yu. When had she ever said she didn’t like Lian Xiuran?

And when had she ever said she was jealous of Tan Yanlu’s looks?

She clearly hadn’t said anything, okay?

Although Zhao Xiuzhu thought this in her heart, who told Jiang Pan Yu to voice her inner thoughts?

Wasn’t Jiang Pan Yu afraid of getting ambushed someday? This wicked kid!

Jiang Pan Yu shook her head and said: “Well, there’s nothing to be done about it. Looks are given by your parents. Being jealous of Tan Yanlu’s good looks is useless.

Sigh, so young, and yet you can’t understand such a simple truth!”

Everyone in the room, whether still at the dining table or those who had finished eating and were cooling off in the yard, fell into a stunned silence.

Several people suddenly lowered their heads, their lips twitching uncontrollably, clearly trying to hold back their laughter.

They hadn’t expected Jiang Pan Yu to so bluntly expose someone’s thoughts like that.

This girl was not to be trifled with. Just look at Zhao Xiuzhu, she was almost in tears.

Zhao Xiuzhu was so embarrassed and angry that she was on the verge of tears, her eyes brimming with jealousy towards Tan Yanlu. “Jiang Pan Yu, stop talking nonsense!”

Jiang Pan Yu, however, just giggled and nodded in a tone one might use to placate a child, “Yes, yes, you’re not jealous of Tan Yanlu, and you don’t like Comrade Lian Xiuran either. We all know that.”

As she spoke, Jiang Pan Yu piled a large helping of spicy stir-fried cabbage onto Zhao Xiuzhu’s plate. “Come on, eat up, eat up. You can’t be mad at me after eating the food I served you. You said it yourself, I’m still a child. If I’ve offended you in any way, please forgive me. And remember, getting angry all the time is bad for your health and can make you look older!”

Zhao Xiuzhu: …………

Zhao Xiuzhu burst into tears!

She didn’t want to cry, but she was so internally wounded. Jiang Pan Yu, that annoying little brat, why did she always twist her words?

She really, really couldn’t hold it in anymore. She hadn’t cried even once during the more than a year of hard farm work in the countryside.

But today, she was actually bullied to tears by Jiang Pan Yu. Where on earth could she find justice for this?