Chapter 75: Furious and Exploited—Song Lanlan Takes Advantage

As soon as Song Lanlan heard that Qi Zhijun wanted to buy her hot water, she immediately stopped making a fuss.

She glanced outside the door and shooed away the onlookers who had gathered to watch the commotion.

Her eyes darted around, and after a moment of thought, she stretched out her hand, palm facing up, and demanded an outrageous price from Qi Zhijun, who was sitting on the kang bed. “One yuan! Hand it over now, or I’ll report you for stealing hot water!”

One yuan?!!

Qi Zhijun was about to explode with anger. This shrew was taking advantage of him in his time of need!

But, being someone who cared about his reputation, he reluctantly dug into his pocket, pulled out a one-yuan bill, and tossed it at her.

Song Lanlan’s eyes lingered on the stack of banknotes he had taken out. She swallowed hard and immediately felt a twinge of regret. Had she given up on him too soon? He actually seemed to have money.

Qi Zhijun, on the other hand, was utterly disgusted by her. Gritting his teeth, he snapped, “Are you done now? Get out!”

Song Lanlan took the opportunity to scan his room quickly, her gaze lingering on the radio for a moment.

So what if he had money? Didn’t he still have to do hard labor in the countryside?

Feigning indifference, she let out a cold snort before turning to leave.

However, as soon as she turned around, she exaggeratedly swayed her waist, as if trying to captivate him once more.

If Ming Dai had been there to witness it, she would have definitely given a thumbs-up. How did Song Lanlan even manage to pull that off?

Wearing those bulky cotton pants and a thick jacket, yet still executing such a difficult move—it seemed she did have some talent after all!

With every step, she twisted her body dramatically, happily returning to the kitchen to boil more water.

Inside the female educated youths’ room, Liu Yan let out a deep sigh of relief. Thankfully, Jun-ge hadn’t exposed her. Otherwise, Song Lanlan would have scratched her face into a mess!

Jun-ge must have feelings for her!

The only reason he had rejected her in public before was definitely because Ming Dai had been too blunt, making him embarrassed!

Once the commotion died down and the educated youth quarters returned to silence, Liu Yan carefully sneaked over to Qi Zhijun’s room.

She didn’t dare to enter. Instead, she stood at the open doorway, peeking inside.

Qi Zhijun was still trembling with rage from his encounter with Song Lanlan. He was sitting on the kang bed with his bare feet dangling over the edge. The floor was covered in water, and his feet were red from the cold.

Liu Yan was startled by the dark expression on his face and instinctively shrank back. In a pitiful voice, she murmured, “Jun-ge, I’m sorry… I really didn’t know that water was Song Lanlan’s. I thought Qin Fangfang had boiled it…”

She was just as frustrated. She had made sure to wait until the older educated youth took the first pot of hot water before using the second. How was she supposed to know that Song Lanlan had boiled the second pot herself?

If she had known, she wouldn’t have touched it even if someone beat her to death!

But Qi Zhijun was now fed up with her as well. With a cold snort, he said, “So all the hot water you’ve been bringing me before—those were also boiled by Qin Fangfang?”

Liu Yan was instantly exposed. She opened her mouth, struggling to explain, but after stammering for a while, she couldn’t come up with a response.

Qi Zhijun was exhausted, both physically and mentally. The veins on his forehead throbbed as he shoved his freezing feet into his soaked cotton shoes and got up to walk to the door.

“Comrade Liu, I’m going to sleep.”

With that, he slammed the door shut right in Liu Yan’s face.

Liu Yan flinched from the impact, shivering slightly. Staring at the tightly closed door, she felt utterly miserable, on the verge of tears.

In the kitchen, Song Lanlan took the last bit of water from the vat to boil again, leaving Qin Fangfang, who had been waiting in line, completely dumbfounded.

She stared at the now-empty vat, rubbing her sore shoulders in frustration. How was there no water again?

Luckily, Cai Mingcheng came in, barely visible in the dim light. In a low voice, he said, “I’ll go fetch water. You stay here and keep an eye on the fire—don’t let it go out.”

They didn’t even have extra matches. If the fire died, they’d have to borrow some from the older educated youths.

Better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Qin Fangfang nodded repeatedly, and in the end, the two of them worked together to boil a large pot of water, which they shared with Zhang Xiaojun and Liu Daye.

Meanwhile, Liu Yan, feeling guilty, didn’t even bother washing her feet before going straight to bed. Her ice-cold feet didn’t warm up until the middle of the night.

At last, peace returned to the educated youth dormitory. Everyone lay on the heated kang beds, letting their exhaustion seep into their limbs as they gradually drifted into sleep.

The next morning, Ming Dai slept in. By the time she woke up, it was almost 10 o’clock.

She went downstairs but didn’t see Zhou Sinian. Walking toward the small pasture behind the house, she found him there as expected.

The slender young man was dressed simply in a white shirt and black trousers, sitting on the wooden fence. His eyes were filled with tenderness as he gazed at the foolish roe deer grazing in the distance, a warm smile on his face.

If one ignored the way his Adam’s apple bobbed and how he occasionally swallowed hard, the scene might have looked even more poetic.

Ming Dai approached him. “Have you eaten breakfast?”

Zhou Sinian nodded. “I heated up some lamb offal soup and ate it with a rolled pancake.”

For someone who just woke up, he had quite an appetite—definitely not one to treat himself poorly.

Ming Dai glanced at the clueless roe deer that had curiously gathered around her. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Catch one and slaughter it. We’re having deep-fried roe deer meat for lunch!”

Zhou Sinian sprang up and shot toward the foolish roe deer like an arrow. In an instant, he had captured the one he had been eyeing for a long time.

The poor creature froze in terror, its limbs stiff. As it was carried away from its herd, its big, watery eyes blinked in confusion, still unaware of what had just happened. Moments later, the excited Zhou Sinian had already hung it up on the rack.

Leaving him to handle the butchering, Ming Dai went back inside to wash up and have breakfast.

Before long, Zhou Sinian returned, carrying a large basket filled with neatly processed roe deer meat.

She picked out two thick, sturdy legs while the rest was stored away in the warehouse for preservation.

She then instructed Zhou Sinian to debone the legs and cut the meat into strips—one finger wide and three fingers long—for later use.

Checking the time, she placed the meat in running water to soak before she and Zhou Sinian changed clothes and stepped out of the space.

Ming Dai felt like she hadn’t had a moment’s rest since arriving in the countryside. She was constantly busy and hadn’t even had time to tend to the barren land inside her space.

Right now, aside from a small pasture and the trees surrounding the villa, the space remained empty. With the new year just two months away, she decided it was time to plant some vegetables.

Her plan for the day was to visit Aunt Huang’s house and ask for some chive roots and vegetable seeds.

As they were about to leave, Zhou Sinian carefully put on his neatly folded red headscarf again. Standing in front of the mirror, he tied a perfect bow, adjusted it from side to side, and only when he was fully satisfied did he step outside—leaving Ming Dai speechless as she waited to lock the door.

Outside, the snowfall had stopped. Every household had already cleared narrow paths in front of their doors for easy passage.

It was then that Ming Dai realized—they hadn’t gotten up early to shovel snow.

Glancing around, she saw that the rooftops of the other houses were clean as well, and even the educated youth quarters had been cleared of snow.

She made a mental note that when they returned, they would have to clear their own rooftop and pathway too. Even though their roof was made of stacked tiles, there was still a risk of it collapsing under the weight of the snow.

On the road, most of the people they saw were children playing in the snow. Their little faces were flushed red from the cold, and even with runny noses, they refused to go back inside, running around wildly without a care.

As soon as they spotted the two approaching—especially the unmistakable sight of the “madman” with his signature red headscarf—they immediately scattered and ran away.

Before long, they arrived at the brigade leader’s house. From a distance, they could already hear her scolding someone.

“You wasteful woman! Why are you using so much oil? Are you trying to ruin us? Do you want to starve?!”

“What? Xiao Ming said more oil makes it taste better?”

“Fine, just this once! If you dare scoop out that much oil again, I’ll twist your ears off!”

Ming Dai hadn’t expected to hear gossip about herself the moment she arrived. She sighed in resignation.

Stepping up to the wooden gate, she knocked and called out, “Auntie, it’s Ming Dai. I came to visit.”

Before Aunt Huang in the kitchen could respond, the sound of excited footsteps came rushing toward them, followed by a cheerful shout.

“Auntie Xiao Ming is here! Auntie Xiao Ming is here!”

Then came the sound of the wooden latch being pulled back. The door swung open, revealing Goudan’s flushed little face. His bright, eager eyes sparkled as he looked at her, while Tiedan stood behind him, smiling a little shyly.

Before Ming Dai could say a word, Zhou Sinian had already slipped past her, squeezing past Goudan and heading straight for the stable in the courtyard.

Goudan, who had been pushed aside, covered his mouth and didn’t dare make a sound. Tiedan shrank his neck a little, glancing sympathetically toward his little uncle, who was feeding the horses.

Liu Laifa was in the middle of chopping up dried hay that had been stored since autumn to feed the horses. When he turned his head, he saw the “madman” staring at him and the basket of hay in his hands without blinking.

Liu Laifa froze under Zhou Sinian’s unblinking stare, neither of them moving as they silently faced off.

Meanwhile, Ming Dai patted Goudan’s little sheepskin hat and handed both him and Tiedan a piece of fruit candy. “Here, have some.”

“Candy!!”

Goudan excitedly took the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth without hesitation.

Tiedan, baring his small teeth in a grin, politely said, “Thank you.” Then, the two boys turned to Aunt Huang, who had just stepped out, shouted that they were going out to play, and dashed off so fast that they disappeared in an instant.

Aunt Huang chuckled as she welcomed Ming Dai. “Xiao Ming, come in, come in! Sit on the heated brick bed—it’s nice and warm.”

Ming Dai waved her hand. “No need, Auntie. I actually came to ask if you could spare me some chive roots. I remember you mentioned keeping some.”

Aunt Huang nodded with a smile. “Yes, yes, I stored them in the cellar. Do you need them now? They grow best if planted in early spring.”

Ming Dai nodded. “Yes, Auntie, I want to see if I can grow them in winter. My father once grew some indoors during the cold season.”

Aunt Huang looked surprised. “You can grow crops in winter?”