Chapter 15: Medical discounts

“What’s wrong?”

Jiang Nian was busy moving. She hadn’t taken out much of her stuff to begin with, so she just had to repack a thin blanket and her toiletries.

“Didn’t Zhao Heping get injured when we first arrived? He didn’t work with us. Even you said he was fine, but he keeps pretending to be in pain to slack off. Niu Aixiang has to do more than half of his work. You wouldn’t believe how tired she is!”

Jiang Nian had been busier than anyone else lately. She hadn’t noticed Niu Aixiang’s situation, and she hadn’t seen her in days.

But listening to Li Rui, she understood.

She smiled silently, her lips slightly upturned. “Zhao Heping is willing to pretend to be sick, and Niu Aixiang is willing to help him with his work. What are you worried about? Do you like Niu Aixiang?”

Li Rui looked like he had constipation. “Don’t joke around. How could I possibly like a fool like her? I just feel sorry for her because Zhao Heping is stringing her along, and she’s still so naive. I’m just speaking up for her as a friend.”

“I’m sure you’ve tried to talk to her. Since you can’t convince her, I’ll have the same result.”

In the two years she had traveled the world, Jiang Nian had seen a lot of girls who were excellent but couldn’t see clearly when it came to men. They ended up being cheated out of their money, their bodies, and even their lives.

These girls usually had one characteristic in common: they were very soft-hearted towards men. They wouldn’t turn back even if they hit a wall. They wouldn’t give up their lives, but they wouldn’t give up men either. Their parents and friends couldn’t compare to a man they had only known for a short time.

They called it love!

Based on the limited information she had, she could tell that Zhao Heping was the one who needed to go to the countryside, and Niu Aixiang had followed him out of so-called love.

Moreover, before this, Zhao Heping’s family had suffered a change in fortune, and even his fiancée had abandoned him.

Under these circumstances, Niu Aixiang could still do this. It was clearly true love.

The power of true love is strong. It can’t be broken by external forces. It might even make the other person rebellious, making them cling even tighter.

Jiang Nian was too busy with her real work to deal with these trivial matters.

Obviously, Li Rui didn’t think so. He was still trying to persuade her.

Just as Jiang Nian finished packing her things, she asked him, “Are you very free?”

Li Rui was confused by her sudden question. He shook his head. “Not really. It’s just the break time at noon. We just arrived, and we’re not familiar with the work. Others finish in half a day, but I have to work for a whole day. I have to go to the fields soon.”

“That’s perfect. I’m moving today. You have nothing to do right now. Help me move my luggage to my place.”

Jiang Nian unceremoniously placed her large sack in front of him. She picked up the other one and walked ahead.

There was a ready-made laborer right in front of her. Why not use him? It would solve his annoying nagging and save her a trip.

Li Rui sighed and carried the sack, following Jiang Nian’s footsteps.

There were three rooms in total, one on each side, east and west. The east side was the kitchen, the west side was the clinic, and the room facing the front door was the bedroom. It had a heated kang, and the kitchen stove had been built. She just had to buy pots.

After the Great Leap Forward, iron products were especially valuable. You needed industrial coupons to buy them.

Country people didn’t have these coupons. Village Chief Zhou wanted to get her a clay pot for cooking, but Jiang Nian refused. She said she had brought industrial coupons when she came to the countryside. She would go to town to buy an iron pot and ask them to help her paste it up when she got back.

It was a simple task. Village Chief Zhou wouldn’t refuse.

“Jiang Nian, you’re so smart. It’s so comfortable to live here alone.”

Li Rui’s family was also well-off. If he hadn’t argued with his family, he wouldn’t have come here. Now, it was too late to regret it. He could only endure it.

In the half month he had been in the countryside, his standards of living had been lowered again and again, until they reached the bottom. He had a deeper understanding of how he had been living a life of luxury without knowing it.

“Use your brain, use your strengths, and focus on important things. Don’t spend all day thinking about love. You can be comfortable too.”

Niu Aixiang was foolish, and Li Rui wasn’t much smarter.

To be precise, they weren’t really stupid. They were just young and inexperienced, still retaining the naive and foolish qualities of youth.

People need to experience things to mature. They can’t be persuaded by a few simple words from others.

But Jiang Nian actually liked being around people like them because she didn’t have to think too hard.

Zhoujia Village was a good place too. The people were simple and honest. They didn’t bully them because they were outsiders. The young men in the village always looked at her, but they weren’t creepy. They were actually quite innocent.

Of course, this was just her current feeling. There might be a bad side, but she hadn’t encountered it yet, so she wouldn’t comment.

“I’m not particularly outstanding. I do have some knowledge about art, but in this broken place, it’s hard to even eat enough. Who would want to do that?” Li Rui thought hard for a long time before realizing that he was just like his father said. He didn’t have anything to offer.

“Forget it. I don’t want to think about it anymore. It’s just annoying.” Li Rui waved his hand and asked her, “Since I’m here, do you need anything else tidied up? Although I don’t have any skills, I’m a man after all. I have some strength.”

“Everything that needs to be tidied up is clean. If you’re not in a hurry, will you accompany me to the neighboring village to pick up the table and wardrobe I ordered?”

She had started ordering furniture when the house was first built. She wanted to move out of the village chief’s house as soon as possible.

It wasn’t that they were bad people, but their living habits were different, and she was staying with them. Jiang Nian didn’t want to feel uncomfortable.

Especially that water tank that she couldn’t bear to look at. Even if it was washed clean, she couldn’t accept using water from a tank that had been used to bathe someone, especially a middle-aged man’s bathwater.

Heaven knows, she had been racking her brains to avoid eating these past few days. She would go to the mountains for half a day at least every day, using the excuse of collecting herbs, before daring to come back.

“Okay, let’s go.”

It was just a matter of working a little later and coming back a little later. There was also Niu Aixiang, who worked late into the night for others, to keep her company. It wasn’t lonely.

There was an old carpenter in the village next to Zhoujia Village. Private trading wasn’t allowed, but they could barter, and the prices were very reasonable.

Jiang Nian asked Li Rui to borrow the village chief’s cart. She packed a basket of wild eggs and went out to meet him.

The basket of wild eggs was covered with grass. Li Rui jokingly asked her, “Doctor Jiang, do you want to sit in the cart? I’ll pull you?”

Jiang Nian didn’t hesitate. She sat down. “Young man, you have good eyesight. I’ll give you a discount on your next visit.”