Chapter 10: Just One Look and You Know He’s Impressive in That Way

Yi An’an frowned and stepped forward, but Zhan Nanhui grabbed her arm.

“Your father wants you to live peacefully for a few days, and right now, you’re in no position to help him!” Zhan Nanhui said in a low voice.

But if her father handed everything over, that Wang Guihua would definitely get rid of him quickly.

“If you want to protect others, you must be strong enough yourself!” Zhan Nanhui said quietly. “Right now, neither of us can even protect ourselves.”

Yi An’an frowned. Zhan Nanhui made sense — she really couldn’t protect herself right now.

Yi An’an remembered that her father had died at the end of the previous year. Wang Guihua thought it was unlucky to have a funeral during the New Year, so she hadn’t arranged anything decent. She wanted to just wrap him in a mat and bury him outside the village. But due to the village’s mandatory cremation policy, it caused quite a stir. Unfortunately, Yi An’an had just become pregnant at the time and was locked at home by Yan Dabao, so she couldn’t even attend, let alone help.

In less than a month, Zhan Nanhui would take the college entrance exam. Right now, her only hope was to help him get into university, earn some money, and then find a way to rescue her father.

Wang Guihua, seeing her goal achieved, immediately told Yi Daping to carry Yi Datong back home.

Yi An’an couldn’t escape anyway. She would squeeze every bit of use out of Yi Datong first.

That afternoon, Yi Jixiang arrived at the entrance of Yi An’an’s shack, flaunting herself. She wore a white shirt, black pants, and a flowery cotton jacket, bringing along a few of her girlfriends.

Yi An’an recognized the outfit under the jacket — it was the uniform from the township supply and marketing cooperative.

Yi Jixiang stood at the door, looking around at the shabby hut and sneering, “Sister, you could’ve lived a good life. Why’d you go for someone like that fool Yan A’ni? Sure, the man looks good — but can you eat looks, drink them?”

“Exactly, your sister must be blind. Even refused to be the village head’s wife!” one of the girlfriends chimed in.

“Yan Dabao doesn’t have nearly the skills that troublemaker does! Look at those long legs and that slim waist — you can tell he’s great in that department just by looking!” another giggled.

Yi Jixiang laughed along with them, gossiping and whispering words like “pregnant” that drifted just within earshot.

Yi An’an stopped her work, frowning slightly.

No wonder Yi Jixiang later became someone’s mistress in town — she had always hung out with these indecent types!

“Is this the place?” Suddenly, loud voices rang out. A group of four or five sturdy women approached from not far off, clearly strong and burly. As they headed for the shack, they cursed loudly, “What a dump! My legs are about to fall off walking here. When we find that woman, we’re definitely gonna…”

“There! That’s her!” The big, burly woman leading the group spotted Yi An’an sweeping in front of the shack. She strode up and grabbed Yi An’an’s collar, shouting, “Finally found you! I’ve been looking everywhere!”

Yi Jixiang tried to block their path, but another large woman grabbed her, pointed at Yi An’an, and asked, “You know her?”

Seeing the situation, Yi Jixiang immediately backed off. “We’re here to confront her too. You go ahead!”

The woman gave her a fierce glare, and Yi Jixiang quickly stepped aside, watching Yi An’an gleefully, hoping for a good show.

The commotion drew other women doing laundry by the river, who gathered around to watch.

“Who are these women? What did Yi An’an do?”

“I know that one! She’s from the town’s scrap recycling station. Tough as nails. Can beat up three or four young guys easy!”

“Oh dear, how did little Yi An’an get on the wrong side of the ‘Scrapyard Trio’?”

…

Hearing all that, Yi Jixiang got even smugger. Looked like she wouldn’t even need to lift a finger today — Yi An’an was going to get it!

Yi An’an recognized the big, burly woman as Sister Fan from the recycling station. She quickly stepped forward and asked, “Sister Fan, what’s going on?”

“Look at this perm you gave me!” Fan Dani pointed at her head.

She removed her hat to reveal a full head of voluminous, lovely curls.

Yi An’an paused. “Isn’t it nice? You don’t like it?”

Without saying anything, Fan Dani slapped her on the shoulder so hard Yi An’an nearly fell.

“I love it. It’s amazing! That’s why I brought my girlfriends here!” Fan Dani leaned in and whispered, “I had a super successful blind date today — all thanks to this hairstyle!”

Yi An’an finally relaxed and said helplessly, “Sis, bringing so many people like this scared me to death! I thought you were coming to settle a score!”

“Well, I do have a bone to pick with you,” Fan Dani’s expression turned serious. “You told me you worked at a state-owned salon, but when I went there, they said they never heard of you! Luckily, I remembered you said your hometown was here — otherwise I’d never have found you!”

Yi An’an gave a wry smile. She had written Fan Dani an IOU that day just to get more notebooks and pencils for Zhan Nanhui — and it had cost her.

“I don’t care if you’re state-owned or not,” Fan Dani said, opening the snakeskin bag she carried, revealing piles of books and pencils. “Your hairstyling is legit. Today, each of my sisters wants a custom look. Let’s trade — okay?”

Yi An’an pretended to hesitate. “Honestly, those few notebooks and pencils from before were enough for me. I don’t need that much…”

“Then what do you want?” Fan Dani asked. “Just name it.”

Yi An’an whispered something into her ear.

Fan Dani nodded. “We’ve got plenty of stuff on our end — factory and government office leftovers from the town. Come by anytime, take whatever you like. We’ve got the say.”

Yi An’an was reassured by her promise and quickly invited the women inside for tea.

Yi Jixiang and the crowd outside were left stunned. They had expected a brawl, maybe even a beating — and instead, the women went in chatting happily over tea.

“Hey! Weren’t you here to get even with Yi An’an?!” Yi Jixiang yelled, trying to follow them.

One of the large women at the rear casually raised a hand and shoved Yi Jixiang, knocking her to the ground — right onto a pile of cow dung, which stained her new work uniform.

Yi Jixiang screamed in rage.

“What are you yelling for, you damn pickled veggie seller?” the hefty woman snapped, recognizing the uniform. “Yell again and I’ll rip that mouth off your face!”

Yi Jixiang, half the woman’s size, immediately shut up in fear.

At that moment, Zhan Nanhui, just finishing his shift, returned home. Seeing the crowd around the shack, he tensed and rushed forward quickly.