Chapter 17: She Was Cut Off

That day, he was busy with his own work and also doing chores for Jiang Nian. By the time he finished writing his plan, he was already exhausted and fell asleep immediately.

They had all been working in the same area. During their break, Li Rui pulled Niu Aixiang aside and whispered to her for a long time, clearly enjoying their conversation.

Zhao Heping ignored Niu Aixiang, which made her feel bad.

She was a hopeless romantic and had a straightforward personality. She was completely lacking in confidence. “Heping, I don’t know what I’ve done to upset you, but please don’t ignore me like this. If I’ve done something wrong, tell me. This is really making me feel bad.”

Zhao Heping’s furrowed brows relaxed slightly. He sighed. “Aixiang, I’m doing this for your own good. Li Rui is a good boy. And judging by his family’s conditions, they must be well-off. Unlike me, I’m burdened by my family. I’ll probably never be able to make a name for myself in this life. You… just go ahead and like him. Don’t worry about me.”

“So that’s why. Are you jealous?” Niu Aixiang thought it was a sign that Zhao Heping liked her. Maybe he had liked her all along, but he had been hesitant because of his fiancée, who had a childhood sweetheart. Now, he was afraid of dragging her down, so he had been so cold to her.

“Heping, don’t be angry. Don’t you know how I feel? I’ve only ever liked you since I was a child. I was talking to Li Rui because he had something to ask me. You don’t know, he has a great idea. If it’s really implemented, it would be a great thing for the people. It might even be a good opportunity for us educated youth…”

…

Jiang Nian thought she was lucky. Someone in the village was going to town to repair farm tools, and she got a free ride on the ox cart.

Zhou Shitou could now walk slowly. Everyone admired her medical skills. They thought she was even better than the doctors at the city hospital. They were very polite to her.

When they got to town, they asked about the time they would be leaving and then went their separate ways to do their own things.

There was no post office in town, so calling was out of the question.

Fortunately, there was a mail collection point. She didn’t have to go all the way to the city.

The town of Bali was deserted. The main street was short and there was nothing interesting to see.

She went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative.

As soon as she entered, she bumped into a child who was eating a freshly bought snail. He was sucking on it, making a slurping sound. The air was filled with the aroma of spicy and fragrant flavors, making her mouth water.

His friend was watching eagerly. “Give me one. I’ll buy you one next time.”

“No way. If you want one, buy your own.” The child’s happy figure quickly disappeared from Jiang Nian’s sight.

This was just a small incident.

When Jiang Nian came, Jiang Qinghe had prepared everything she needed, whether she needed it or not. He had also given her two hundred yuan and told her that he would send her a package every month. Plus, Zhu Xianglan had secretly given her two hundred, and Jiang Wan Zhou had given her one hundred. And the original owner had saved some pocket money over the years. Altogether, she had six hundred yuan, which was a considerable sum of money.

She walked around the supply and marketing cooperative. Compared to Su City, the supplies here were indeed much scarcer. Many things were unavailable, and the ones that were available were cheaper. This showed that the consumption level of the villagers was generally low.

Fortunately, there was still an iron pot, and it wasn’t cheap. It cost her seven yuan and two industrial coupons.

She didn’t know if it was because the child had eaten the snails so deliciously, but she thought the snacks looked quite good.

She bought two bags of snails and a few bags of crispy dates and dried plums. She also added a bag of sunflower seeds to make up two cents.

The snails were still warm. The saleswoman was wrapping them in brown paper at the counter. They had clearly just been cooked and cooled down.

She could tell at a glance. “Comrade, you must be an educated youth who just came here.”

Jiang Nian raised her eyebrows. “Is it that obvious?”

“The clothes you’re wearing are different. We don’t have such good materials or such bright colors here. Only educated youth from big cities would dress like this when they first arrive.”

After a while, they would gradually get used to it and their clothing and food would be assimilated. Except for their accents, which would be different from the locals, they wouldn’t look any different.

“Your eyes are sharp, sister. I’ve only been here for less than a month. I’m in Zhoujia Village.”

She still had time before her appointment, and she didn’t have anything else to do, so she simply stood there and chatted with the saleswoman.

“Zhoujia Village, huh? I heard that the educated youth who came to their village this time is a doctor. She’s really good at medicine. She cured the village chief’s son, whose leg was broken and couldn’t be cured by the big hospital in the city. Is it true?”

Jiang Nian didn’t expect her reputation to be so widespread in such a short time.

She smiled helplessly. “It’s true. If I’m not mistaken, the doctor you’re talking about is me!”

“Oh, really? I didn’t realize. You’re so beautiful, and you’re so skilled. Heaven is so unfair. It gives all the good things to one person. What are we ordinary people supposed to do?”

Jiang Nian liked this place even more.

The saleswoman knew she was the doctor. She quickly put down her work, took a stool for her to sit on, and gave her a handful of unwrapped snails to eat.

These things weren’t expensive. It just took some effort to make them.

The snails were collected by her children from the pond. She cleaned them, cooked them, and sealed them. She sold them for two cents a bag to the children as snacks, so they could have a treat every now and then.

Seeing that it was almost time, Jiang Nian got up to leave. The saleswoman warmly invited her to come back and play sometime. Jiang Nian smiled and agreed.

She left early in the morning and returned to the village at noon.

From afar, she saw Li Rui standing outside her courtyard, wiping away tears.

“Li Rui, what are you doing at my door?”

As she walked over, Li Rui quickly turned his back and wiped away his tears. But he didn’t know that his red eyes couldn’t be wiped away.

“You weren’t here, so I didn’t go in. I just sat at the door for a while.” Li Rui’s voice was thick with a heavy nasal tone, making it unclear, but he still asked her, “Did you buy the iron pot? I’m free now. I’ll help you paste it up.”

Pasting an iron pot wasn’t difficult. The stove was already built. You just had to mix some mud and fill the gaps between the iron pot and the stove.

Jiang Nian handed him the pot and watched him paste it. He wasn’t very skilled at doing it. When he finished, he was covered in mud.

She gave him a slice of watermelon and then asked, “Now, tell me what happened. Did they reject your literacy class?”

It shouldn’t be that difficult. It was just teaching people to read and write in their spare time. She wasn’t charging them tuition.

Li Rui shook his head. He couldn’t help but shed tears again. He wiped them away angrily and stubbornly.

“Zhao Heping, that bastard, stole it from me. I knew he wasn’t a good person, but I didn’t expect him to be such a scumbag. He takes advantage of everything. He fools Niu Aixiang, that idiot, all the time. Now, he’s even taking advantage of me. I beat him up, but it turned out to be my fault.”