Chapter 13

Zhao Jiayun wore a hat, and when she arrived at Luo’s house, her clothes were wet. She was anxious to go to Luo’s house and establish a good relationship with Aunt Luo, and did not notice the looks others gave her.

When it rains, everyone likes to open the door and sit under their own eaves to work. Many old ladies saw Zhao Jiayun like this.

“Oh, it’s raining so hard, where is that young woman going?”

“Look at the direction. There are only a few houses to the east. Isn’t that Zhao Zhiqing? The one who works slowly.”

Zhao Jiayun sneezed with her eyes narrowed. She didn’t know that the old lady was talking about her behind her back. When she arrived at Luo’s house and knocked on the door, a sarcastic voice came from inside.

“Who is it? What are you knocking for?”

Zhao Jiayun lowered her head and wanted to leave, but then she remembered that she was already here, so she pinched her throat and shouted, “Auntie, it’s me, Jiayun.”

The old lady in the room had a sullen face and walked at a brisk pace. When she opened the door and saw Zhao Jiayun, she didn’t look happy either. “Female educated youth, what do you want?”

She didn’t even know Zhao Jiayun’s name. Zhao Jiayun was so embarrassed that she didn’t know what to do. Her mind was blank, but she still managed to force a smile, “Auntie, I got something for you, please don’t be disgusted.”

Someone sent me something? Aunt Luo’s dead fish eyes instantly lit up, and she quickly snatched the oil paper bag with her hands. Her eyes were squeezed into two thin slits, and she turned sideways with a smile: “Come on, let’s go into the house and talk. Auntie will pour you some water.”

Zhao Jiayun really followed in with a blushing face. Aunt Luo came up to smell the oil paper bag like a mouse, and weighed it with her hand. Noting that it was not light, she nodded with satisfaction.

No matter why this female educated youth came to her house, just because she brought things for her, Luo Yiping’s mother wanted to worship her.

After all, there are very few people who are so stupid nowadays.

Zhao Jiayun followed Luo Yiping’s mother around, and the two of them were arranging the firewood pile in the kitchen, watching each other’s absent-minded thoughts.

Luo Yiping’s mother asked, “Female educated youth, what can I do for you?”

How could Zhao Jiayun have the nerve to say that she came to see Luo Yiping? They had never met each other before. Besides, in this era, people took relationships between men and women very seriously. If she said it out loud, she would feel like she was being disrespectful.

She shook her head and smiled shyly: “Auntie, I’m fine, I just saw that you are so kind, just like one of my family members.”

She was not lying. Zhao Jiayun’s mother and Luo Yiping’s mother had the same personality, competitive and sarcastic. Their faces were very similar.

Not knowing whether Luo Yiping’s mother believed her words or not, Xiaoxiao didn’t say anything. Suddenly, she thought of Chu Sangning from the Youth League Institute, and her heart was filled with jealousy.

So he came up to her and asked casually, “Do you get along well with Chu Zhiqing from your institute?”

“Ah?” Zhao Jiayun looked up in surprise, with a look of astonishment on her face. She frowned irritably, but she had to pretend to be calm. “It’s okay.”

Aunt Luo then asked: “How is she?”

Zhao Jiayun smiled bitterly and said vaguely: “What do you mean? It’s just like that, but…”

“Just what?”

“It’s just that she’s very extravagant when it comes to food and drink. She even has to order two dishes when she’s eating alone.”

Chu Sangning always ate in the house, so how could Zhao Jiayun know what she ate? But she said that just to make Luo Yiping’s mother have a bad impression of Chu Sangning.

Luo Yiping’s mother pursed her lips and nodded without saying anything else. Zhao Jiayun thought that what she said had worked, and her brows relaxed with joy.

After staying at Luo’s house for a long time without seeing anyone, Zhao Jiayun went back disappointed.

It was still raining outside. On her way home, Zhao Jiayun accidentally sprained her ankle. She walked towards the educated youth institute grimacing in pain. When she opened the door, she found that her cabinet had been moved.

She subconsciously looked at He Yueyang, who was lying on the bed covered with a quilt. He was motionless, as if he had fainted in sleep.

Zhao Jiayun counted the food coupons and money he had hidden away anxiously. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and slowly moved to the bed to rest.

He Yueyang seemed to be sleeping soundly with even breathing under the quilt, but in fact he was squinting his eyes and secretly observing Zhao Jiayun’s every move. When he found that she opened the cabinet, He Yueyang was so nervous that he dared not breathe.

Seeing that she didn’t notice that there was one piece missing, He Yueyang felt a little regretful. If she had known this would happen, she would have been bold enough to take two more pieces.

The other dirty things happening in the Youth League Institute could not disturb Chu Sangning. She was alone in the room, feeling free and at ease. She thought about what Pan Wenlan had said in the morning, asking her to go home for lunch at noon.

Chu Sangning was a little confused. She supported her chin and played with the candy in her hand in distress. Even after thinking about it for a long time, she still didn’t figure it out.

Touching the jade pendant on his neck, Chu Sangning lay peacefully on the bed, looking at the dark ceiling boredly.

She listened to the rain outside getting heavier and heavier, and sighed: “If it keeps raining like this, the roof might leak in two days.”

Unexpectedly, his words came true. At noon, when Chu Sangning rolled up his sleeves to start cooking to reward his stomach, there was a burst of screams outside. Chu Sangning thought something had happened.

Without caring about what was in the pot, he hurried out with chopsticks in his hand and found that the noise came from He Yueyang and Zhao Jiayun’s room, and the one who was screaming was also Zhao Jiayun.

He Yueyang ran out of the room hugging her quilt. Wu Guangqian almost knelt down in front of them. It had only been a few days, why were they making trouble again?

“What happened?” Wu Guangqian regretted coming to this remote place and also regretted volunteering to be the team leader of the educated youth. He asked helplessly with one hand on his waist.

He Yueyang pointed at the house and said, “It’s leaking. Jiayun’s things are all wet.”

There was a big hole in the roof, right above the bed. When He Yueyang was lying on the bed, he found something wrong around him. Where did the rain come from?

Then he cleverly got out of bed, hugging his quilt. Zhao Jiayun sprained his ankle and had no time to pay attention to the roof. The next second, heavy rain fell from the hole in the roof, and Zhao Jiayun was soaked like a drowned chicken.

Even her quilt and clothes were all wet.

Wu Guangqian didn’t expect this to happen. “I’ll go ask the captain what to do. Don’t worry.”

He turned around to comfort Chu Sangning, but found that she was smiling with chopsticks in her hand, looking heartless. Wu Guangqian really admired her.

She was the one who remained calm and composed in the face of danger, but…she didn’t live with Zhao Jiayun and the others, so the leaky house had nothing to do with them.

When Jiang Zong Zheng learned that the information had been leaked in the Youth League’s house, he patted his head and quickly thought of a solution.

It was his wife Li Chunfen who asked, “Comrade Wu, whose house is leaking?”