Chapter 31: Educated Youth × Gangster

“Brother Gu, are you sure this will really work?”

“Yeah, Brother Gu, people say there are wolves and wild boars in the mountains. There are only three of us—can we handle it?”

“It’s fine. We’re not going deep into the mountains. I’ve set a few traps around here. Let’s see if we can catch some wild rabbits or pheasants.”

“Alright, we’ll follow your lead, Brother Gu.”

Gu Yin and the others split up and waited by the traps, watching for prey. Taking advantage of the spare time, Gu Yin called to the system, “Transmit the plot.”

The original host was a notorious gang leader in the surrounding ten-mile area, respected by many small-time thugs who called him “Brother Gu.”

He was the youngest son in the family. From a young age, he was lazy and unmotivated. At first, his parents treated him fairly well, letting him eat and drink at home. But after the eldest grandson was born and with the eldest daughter-in-law stirring up trouble, his parents began to see him as utterly useless, good for nothing but spending money, and eventually stopped caring about him altogether.

He was indeed a disappointment. He excelled at eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. In Tianyu Village, where people usually married at 18, he was already 21 and still hadn’t found a wife—until one day, he rescued Chu Wan’ning, who had been pushed into the river.

Chu Wan’ning was an educated youth sent down to the countryside. She was three years younger than Gu Yin and the most beautiful among the batch of educated youths. Her natural beauty attracted many suitors, but also sparked jealousy from others.

One of the girls who came down with her, Zeng Lin, liked Cheng Dong, the best-off male educated youth. However, Cheng Dong had always admired Chu Wan’ning. After being rejected several times, Zeng Lin bore a grudge. While they were doing laundry, she pushed Chu Wan’ning into the river when she wasn’t paying attention.

The original host happened to pass by and, just like that, ended up rescuing his future wife. He was thrilled. Though he was handsome, he didn’t do any proper work, didn’t earn work points in the fields, and no family was willing to marry their daughter to him.

After marrying Chu Wan’ning, the original host treated her quite well at first. But once the college entrance exams were reinstated and many educated youths began preparing to return to the city, he changed completely.

He made her do all the chores and refused to let her study. He even tore up the books she had painstakingly obtained. In the end, the once-spirited young woman was worn down until she had no energy or spirit left.

When Chu Wan’ning’s parents found out, they used all means to get her back to the city—only for it to become the beginning of another nightmare.

Chu Wan’ning hadn’t officially registered her marriage with the original host. After returning home, her parents arranged for her to marry a divorced deputy factory director with a son. When the original host found out, he made a huge scene at the deputy director’s workplace and even colluded with his son to bully Chu Wan’ning.

The deputy factory director had only been looking for someone to help raise his child. Seeing the trouble, he became very dissatisfied with Chu Wan’ning, constantly picking on her for no reason. His son even pushed her down the stairs while she was pregnant, resulting in both her and the baby’s deaths.

“Target: Chu Wan’ning. Please complete the protection mission. Side mission: Prevent Chu Wan’ning from being harmed by livestock. The reward from the previous mission has been distributed. Please check.”

Today was the second month since the original host’s wedding. Gu Yin’s parents had long given up hope of relying on him in old age, so they divided the family early. They gave him a small house.

Without his parents’ support, the original host had used his gambling winnings to host the wedding. But he had since eaten through the money, and now, broke, he shamelessly went home to ask his mother for more—only to be rebuffed by her and his sister-in-law.

In a rage, the original host shouted about cutting ties with the Gu family and swore they would regret it. Furious, he returned home and racked his brains for ways to make money. After discussing it with his two buddies, they decided hunting could earn them some cash—and with cash, he could go gamble again. That’s how this current venture came about.

“Brother Gu, we got one!” Wang Jie shouted excitedly.

“I got one too! Brother Gu, your traps really work.” Chen Ming looked at the two pheasants and was just as thrilled.

“Alright, I’ve got something too. Let’s divide it up and go home!”

The reward from the previous mission was a gourmet encyclopedia. Not only did it include recipes, but it could also identify food and attract prey. It seemed to be working quite well.

“Go home?” Wang Jie looked puzzled. “Brother Gu, didn’t we agree to sell it and go have some fun?”

“Have fun with what?” Gu Yin frowned. “I’m married now. I can’t keep messing around. You guys too—why waste your youth? Do something decent.”

“?” That’s not what Brother Gu said before. Why the sudden change of heart? Wang Jie scratched his head. “Brother Gu, it’s not like we can do anything decent.”

“Yeah, we don’t know farm work. We’re used to running the streets. No need to change just for a woman,” Chen Ming added, also confused.

“No wonder you two don’t have wives. Just grab your things and head home. Start acting right.”

With that, Gu Yin stuffed a rabbit and a pheasant into his backpack and went home.

Chen Ming and Wang Jie stood frozen, holding a rabbit in one hand and a pheasant in the other, looking lost.

“So, what now?”

“Let’s go home!” Chen Ming sighed. If even the boss had turned over a new leaf, what were they still fooling around for?

On his way home, Gu Yin ran into his mother, who was carrying sweet potatoes. Before he could say a word, Zhang Lan shot him a glance, clutched the sweet potatoes tighter, and hurried off.

“?” What, did she think he was some kind of monster? It was just a sweet potato! She even guarded against her own son. What a “great mom.”

Gu Yin shook his head and continued on. Unbeknownst to him, a group of gossiping aunties sitting at the street corner had witnessed the whole scene. As soon as he walked away, they started talking.

“Poor Gu Yin, even his own mother won’t help him!”

“Poor? What’s to pity? He never did anything useful. Always acting like a thug—giving him things is pointless.”

“Still, you can’t treat your son like that. Didn’t you see how Zhang Lan gave all the good stuff to the eldest son during the property split? Left Gu Yin with a far-off, leaky house!”

“His poor wife—so pretty, but what’s the use if she married the wrong man?”

“Exactly! When the man’s no good, the woman suffers.”

“Honey, look what I brought home!”

When Gu Yin arrived home, Chu Wan’ning had just finished work. She was fetching water and washing her hands. At his words, she glanced at him faintly.

At first, when he had saved her, Chu Wan’ning was full of gratitude. Despite his bad reputation, the fact that he had risked himself to save her proved he wasn’t all bad.

But lately, Gu Yin had done nothing but sleep and eat all day, never lifted a finger around the house, and got angry whenever she mentioned it. Chu Wan’ning had grown more and more disappointed in him.

Clang clang clang! Gu Yin laid out the cleaned pheasant and rabbit. “We’re having meat today, how about that?”

“Where did you get it?” Seeing how loudly he spoke, Chu Wan’ning immediately covered his mouth. Even though their house was far from others, she still worried someone might overhear.

“I went hunting in the mountains,” Gu Yin said proudly, clearly hoping for praise.

“I’ve been thinking about what I could do. You know I’m no good at farming, and no one ever taught me how to make a living. But I’m married now—I need to support my wife. I spent a few days figuring it out, and I realized I could catch wild game and sell it. I even got some recipes. Once I study them, I’ll definitely be able to make good money!”

Though Chu Wan’ning didn’t think her husband had the ability to make big money, his attitude gave her some comfort.

“It’s good you’re thinking that way. But won’t you get caught selling things like that? Better not go. I’ll talk to the team leader and ask him to give you an easy job like picking pigweed.”

Previously, the thugs had refused to work and caused a big scene with the team leader. In the end, he had only agreed not to punish them as long as they didn’t stir up trouble or extort villagers. If they went back now asking for work, it was unlikely he’d agree.

“I don’t want to do that.” Gu Yin lowered his head. “I never worked before and still got by just fine.”

“You used to mooch food and drink off others without shame. Can you still do that now?” Chu Wan’ning’s voice rose in anger. “Look at this house. Last time it rained, we were up all night catching leaks. What about next time? Still the same?”

“Don’t be mad, honey. I’ll make money. I’ll go hunting tomorrow and sell the game. I just don’t want to see my family—they drive me crazy.”

Gu Yin stood helplessly at the side, watching as Chu Wan’ning’s eyes filled with tears. He clumsily tried to wipe them away.

“Just give me some more time. I’ll change.”

“You said that last time too,” Chu Wan’ning said, brushing away his hand and wiping her tears. She looked completely wronged.

“I’ve changed, haven’t I? Look, now we even have meat to eat,” Gu Yin said as he brought the basket around to the front. “I’ll go cook it now, okay? It’ll help nourish your body.”

“Do you even know how to cook?” Chu Wanning choked up a little. She knew him too well—he didn’t know the first thing about cooking. “Don’t ruin a perfectly good chicken. I’ll do it.”

“I’ll do it. I’ve been doing some research lately. I even looked up a bunch of recipes. Just let me try, okay?”

“…Fine, I’ll help you,” Chu Wanning relented. She figured it wouldn’t hurt for him to learn a little. He couldn’t be helpless forever.

They stored the wild rabbit in the cellar to keep it cool and took the pheasant to the kitchen. This house was the Gu family’s ancestral home. Though old and somewhat shabby, it was well-equipped, with a separate kitchen. Plus, it was in a remote area, so they didn’t have to worry about the smell of cooking spreading.

Gu Yin chopped the pheasant into pieces and poured a large amount of oil into the pan, which made Chu Wanning glare at him furiously. Gu Yin felt a chill run down his spine and asked cautiously while adding scallions, ginger, and garlic, “Wh-What’s wrong?”

Chu Wanning gave a tight-lipped smile. “Congratulations. You just used up the last of our cooking oil.”

“More oil makes it taste better,” Gu Yin mumbled as he hunched his shoulders, but he didn’t stop what he was doing. Once the oil reached medium heat, he added the chicken pieces and stir-fried them. Before long, a delicious aroma filled the kitchen.

Chu Wanning couldn’t help but swallow. Back home, they could eat meat occasionally, but not much. And ever since coming to the countryside, meat was practically a luxury. As educated youth, they only earned enough work points to catch a glimpse of meat during the New Year.

Once the chicken had changed color, Gu Yin added the dried chili peppers and bird’s eye chilies he had prepared earlier. He then added soy sauce, followed by green peppers and potatoes, and finally seasoned the dish with salt and sugar. A fragrant dry pot chicken was ready to serve.

Chu Wanning felt a pang of heartache—it was a great dish, but all their seasonings were gone.

Still, as she inhaled the rich aroma, she suddenly thought it was worth it. At worst, they’d just have to survive on cornbread every day afterward.

They reheated the leftover rice from lunch and sat down at the small kitchen table to eat.

“This is so good!” Chu Wanning’s eyes widened. “Since when did you get these skills?”

“Your man here is naturally gifted, you know?” Gu Yin bragged. The two of them polished off every last bite of the dish and sat for a long while afterward, still savoring the taste.

“Tomorrow I’ll go catch more stuff and take it to town to sell,” Gu Yin said as he patted his stomach. He knew they were running low on supplies at home and decided to start earning some money and buying things.

“Be careful.” Chu Wanning looked at him worriedly. “Don’t go too deep into the mountains. If you see danger, run. No being reckless.”

“I got it, I got it,” Gu Yin nodded obediently. He got up and started washing the dishes. “I’ll leave early tomorrow, and head to town directly from the back of the mountain. That way I won’t be easily spotted. But even if someone sees me, it’s fine—everyone knows I like going into town.”

“If you’re going to town, help me check if there’s any mail for me.”

Chu Wanning hadn’t been to town in a while. She had informed her parents about her fall into the river and her marriage, but she didn’t know how they had reacted.

“Okay, don’t worry. I’ll bring you back something tasty,” Gu Yin said, touching her fair cheek before taking her hand and leading her back inside.

The next morning, Gu Yin got up early. Seeing Chu Wanning groggily trying to get up too, he patted her gently. “Be good, go back to sleep. Wait for me to come back tonight—I’ll make you some stir-fried rabbit.”

Chu Wanning nodded and lay back down obediently, but even after Gu Yin left, she couldn’t fall asleep again.

She tossed and turned for a long time before finally getting up and tidying the house. It’s not like I’m worried about Gu Yin or anything! she thought to herself.

In the early morning mountain mist, Gu Yin walked slowly, glancing down every so often. Thanks to the bonus knowledge from his food encyclopedia, he quickly found two pheasants, three wild rabbits, and some wild vegetables. After processing them and burying the remains to avoid detection, he began searching for wild ginseng.

Ginseng was harder to find. After walking for a long time, Gu Yin finally spotted one with a good size and healthy appearance. He carefully dug it out and wrapped it in a cloth he had prepared in advance, then hurried off to town.

—

Meanwhile, Chu Wanning, feeling uneasy, showed up to work on time. As soon as she arrived, Zeng Lin gave her a scornful look.

“Well, if it isn’t Comrade Chu. Didn’t come with your man today?”

“What are you talking about, Comrade Zeng? Everyone knows her man never sets foot in the fields,” said another female educated youth, Wang Li, covering her mouth as she giggled. Chu Wanning was no longer on their level now.

“Poor Comrade Chu,” Wang Li continued mockingly. “A woman working the fields to feed her family—ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

Chu Wanning listened to the laughter around her without responding. She quietly went about her work. There was no point in arguing with petty people like them—her life was her own to live.

“Looks like Comrade Chu is feeling guilty. Well, she should be. If she’d behaved properly, she wouldn’t have ended up marrying a peasant!” Zeng Lin said, shooting a glance at Cheng Dong, whose expression was turning darker by the second, inwardly thrilled at the reaction.