Chapter 18

Seeing Wu Laosan still looking cold, Ning Mei grew even angrier. “Those educated youth are all polite and eloquent, unlike the dull boys from our village. Isn’t it normal for girls to have some feelings for them? You see, you’ve made the child feel bad. I think that Gu Zhenghong is pretty good; wouldn’t he be a great match for Fangzi?”

Wu Laosan shook his head, “They all think too highly of themselves. It’s good, but our Fangzi can’t handle that kid. Do you know where his family is from? They’re from the capital city. How would he stay here in our village?”

Ning Mei replied, “Isn’t that perfect? Then our daughter could go to the capital with him, and she’ll become a city person. Who knows, maybe we can even enjoy city life too.”

“You two mothers are dreaming. Do you think Gu Zhenghong would fall for a village girl? He’s been here for years, and I haven’t seen him show any special interest in any girl. He’s always acting like he’s trying to avoid being attached to anyone. This kid is deep-thinking, even I can’t see through him. So, don’t bother thinking about it.”

Wu Laosan paused before lightly adding, “Tell Fangzi not to worry about Wu Xiaoxiao. As long as Wu Xiaoxiao is in our village, she won’t escape my arrangements. When it’s time for her to get married, I’ll take care of it for her.”

Ning Mei’s heart trembled at these words. For a girl, isn’t marriage the most important thing in life?

Wu Xiaoxiao no longer had a father, and Wu Laosan was her third uncle, the most capable among the older generation. Wu Xiaoxiao’s marriage was something he could decide.

Arranging a sweet and bitter marriage for Wu Xiaoxiao wasn’t difficult at all.

“Anyway, you two stop making a fuss. Wu Xiaoxiao isn’t someone easy to fool. About the incident when she fell into the water, Fangzi even had the nerve to say it had nothing to do with her. With the look in Fangzi’s eyes, I don’t need to ask to know what happened. You take care of Fangzi. Don’t let her keep playing these petty tricks. And she’s an unmarried young woman who keeps hanging around men—what kind of behavior is that?”

—-

After finishing, Wu Laosan lit a cigarette and walked away, heading to the commune office to handle more important matters. He didn’t have time to deal with these trivial things.

Ning Mei stood in the room for a while, thinking it over. Finally, she went after her daughter. No matter what, the words of the child’s father were right—she couldn’t let her daughter keep going to the educated youth site every day. It didn’t look right.

After finding her daughter, who was still sulking, Ning Mei sternly gave her instructions.

Wu Ningfang wasn’t happy but reluctantly agreed.

She didn’t think her parents were right. Although the educated youth still hadn’t returned to the city, she had definitely entertained the thought of going to the city with Gu Zhenghong.

But recently, despite her frequent visits to the educated youth site, she hadn’t seen Gu Zhenghong treat her any differently. No matter how passionately her heart burned, being ignored like this left her feeling hurt. So, she reluctantly agreed to her parents’ request and stopped going to the site every day.

Wu Ningfang wandered aimlessly along the field ridge, and before she knew it, she had reached the area where Wu Xiaoxiao and the others were working.

Seeing Wu Xiaoxiao working efficiently in the field, a wave of discontent suddenly surged in her heart.

How come Wu Xiaoxiao hasn’t gotten any darker after being out in the sun for over half a month?

Not only is she still not darker, but she actually seems even more radiant. Suppressing her impatience, Wu Ningfang waved from a distance and called out to Wu Xiaoxiao, “Hey, Xiaoxiao, come up and chat for a bit.”

Wu Xiaoxiao was taken aback. Why was Wu Ningfang looking for her?

Although confused, she climbed up the ridge and asked, “What’s up? Why did you look for me?”

Wu Ningfang grabbed her hand and softened her tone. “Xiaoxiao, are you still mad at me? What happened last time was my fault, and I apologize. Please don’t be angry anymore. After all, we’re cousins, and we’ve been close since we were little. How could we let something like this ruin our relationship?”

From the memories of the original owner, Wu Xiaoxiao didn’t think their relationship was close at all. Leaving aside the events of the past two years, even when they were younger, Wu Ningfang had often bullied her.

But there was no need to bring this up. After so many years in the apocalypse, Wu Xiaoxiao had long learned one thing: there’s no need to waste time talking with such people. Just wait for the right moment and strike decisively.

She left her work to talk to Wu Ningfang because she wanted to see what her intentions were. However, it seemed that Wu Ningfang didn’t have any special plans—she just wanted to chat.

After a while, Wu Ningfang casually said, “Hey, Xiaoxiao, don’t you feel uncomfortable being out in such hot sun every day?”

Wu Xiaoxiao replied, “No, not at all. I actually feel pretty good. It’s not that hot right now, and the sun doesn’t bother me.”

“Others wear hats or scarves to block the sun, and they still get darker. But you haven’t worn anything, and you’re still so fair? Actually, you look even fairer than before. How do you do it? Teach me!”

Wu Ningfang leaned in closer to Wu Xiaoxiao, blinking her large eyes curiously. In fact, Wu Ningfang wasn’t bad-looking. With her round face and innocent-looking big eyes, she had a somewhat cute charm.

Too bad her heart wasn’t as good as her looks—she was a classic example of being sweet on the outside but malicious on the inside.

Wu Xiaoxiao quickly realized what Wu Ningfang was up to. After all that talk, she was only here to ask about this. She chuckled and said, “It’s probably just natural. You can see my mom is pretty fair, and my dad too. Maybe your aunt isn’t very fair, so you didn’t inherit the good skin from the Wu family.”

Wu Ningfang was so angry she almost toppled over.

But Wu Xiaoxiao spoke with such innocent seriousness, with no trace of mockery, making it impossible for her to argue back.

“Ah, never mind. I really envy your skin.” Wu Ningfang, unable to do anything about it, had no choice but to awkwardly change the topic. “By the way, I heard that you’re quite popular in our brigade lately. Several teams want to invite you, and even Uncle Wu Changfa wants to take you to the orchard.”