Chapter 42: Joyful Arrival, Sorrowful Departure

“Speaking of which,” Yan’s mother continued, using Zhou Xiaoyu’s mother as a comparison, “You heard about the woman who hanged herself in Zhoujia Village two months ago, right? She gave birth to a son and a daughter for that man, but she still couldn’t escape being abandoned. Later, the man forced her out of her home, leaving her with no way to live, so she took her own life. How pitiful, she left behind two young children. I heard her daughter is already 16. Such a heartless man, what won’t he do? He could sell his daughter to get a dowry. The younger boy is only eight or nine years old, he’s just a little kid. Qingqing, you can’t trust men outside. I raised you, you’re like my own daughter. I just hope you marry Yan Jin and live a good life. At least you’ll be under my care here, no one can bully you…”

Yan’s mother said a lot, every word was for her own good.

Li Qing wasn’t ungrateful.

But her heart ached. Yan Jin’s attitude had always been clear, he only saw her as a sister. Now that she had said so much, what could she do?

When they were young, they often played together and had a good relationship. Yan Jin protected her as a sister. They were young then, without many thoughts, and she felt very happy.

It was only when they were fifteen or sixteen that people in the village started teasing them, saying she was Yan Jin’s little adopted daughter, that they would get married and have children when they grew up.

She was three years younger than Yan Jin. When he was fifteen, she was only twelve, a little girl who didn’t understand anything.

But Yan Jin understood everything. He said he only saw her as a sister and wouldn’t marry her.

Later, he even distanced himself from her. To avoid her, he secretly joined the army and didn’t come back for several years until he was discharged last year.

He still didn’t like her. She wasn’t without trying to follow him, but he would avoid her whenever she bothered him, making it impossible for Li Qing to find him.

Yan Jin came to Zhoujia Village with excitement. Not far from Jiang Nian’s house, he specially got off his bike and tidied up his appearance. After making sure everything was fine, he pushed his bike forward.

Through the fence, he saw Ye Zhiqiu studying diligently in the courtyard.

“Little girl, I’m here to deliver the medical fees. Where’s your teacher?”

Taking advantage of his position, he had learned a lot from Zhou Village Chief yesterday, and he was even more proud.

It was no wonder she was the girl he liked. Not only was she capable, but she was also kind-hearted, helping a poor little girl in her spare time.

Ye Zhiqiu immediately recognized the man in front of her, as Jiang Nian had told her about him yesterday. She put down her book and stood up, becoming a little restrained. “Director Yan, hello. My teacher went to the mountains to collect herbs. You can just give me the medical fees, I’ll settle the accounts for you.”

Even though the fees were cheap, many people owed money. This showed how difficult life was in the countryside.

Jiang Nian’s ledger was already half full, and the amounts were not large, three or five cents, one or two yuan, some were obviously in trouble, she simply didn’t charge them or directly waived half of the fee.

Of course, she also encountered people who deliberately took advantage of her and didn’t pay, but this was a minority, and she would put them on a blacklist and never treat them again.

She also had a principle for owing money: those who didn’t pay their previous debts couldn’t owe again, unless they had a certificate from the village proving that they were in real trouble.

Yan Jin was very disappointed.

He had clearly said yesterday that he would come to settle the medical fees today, but she wasn’t here, which meant that his love at first sight was just his own idea, she didn’t have any other thoughts about him.

But he still obediently gave her the medical fees and asked, “I remember… your name is Zhou Xiaoyu, right?”

“Ye Zhiqiu.” She looked at him very seriously, her tone even more serious as she emphasized.

Yan Jin immediately understood. This was also an interesting and determined girl. He just wondered where the surname Ye came from. After all, the suicide incident in Zhoujia Village was a big deal, he, as the director, couldn’t have not heard about it, but her mother didn’t seem to be surnamed Ye either.

“Comrade Ye Zhiqiu, I have some things I want to discuss with your teacher in detail, about the future development of the Zhoujia Village clinic. So, when will she usually be back?”

“It’s uncertain, she might be back in the afternoon, or she might be back at night.” Ye Zhiqiu told the truth. “Director Yan, if you have anything specific, you can tell me, and I’ll tell her when she comes back.”

“You can’t decide this, I’ll come back again when your teacher is back.” Yan Jin smiled kindly. “How about this, you tell her for me, I’ll come back tomorrow to talk to her about it.”

“But we’re going to town tomorrow, we don’t know what time we’ll be back.” Ye Zhiqiu said.

Yan Jin raised his eyebrows. This teacher and student, it was quite difficult to have a conversation with them.

However, they didn’t curry favor with him even though they knew his identity, their character was good.

“It’s not urgent anyway, how about the day after tomorrow?” If the little girl hadn’t looked so serious, he would have suspected she was being deliberate, so he was very patient. “You two will be free the day after tomorrow, right?”

Ye Zhiqiu shook her head. “There’s nothing scheduled for now.”

“That’s fine, then I’ll trouble you to tell her, I’ll come over the day after tomorrow.” Yan Jin said as he got up.

Jiang Nian was almost home when she took out a skinned leg of lamb and a large piece of lamb chop from her space.

Seeing Zhou Xiaohua at the gate, taking care of her younger brother, she smiled and waved to her.

Zhou Xiaohua asked Da Wang to watch Xiao Wang and ran over with a smile. “Sister Jiang, did you need something?”

She looked at the meat in Jiang Nian’s hand, trying to avoid her gaze, not wanting to seem greedy, but her eyes wouldn’t listen.

Jiang Nian had already handed the meat to Ye Zhiqiu, who was about to take it, and instructed her, “Cut half of the lamb chop and give it to Xiaohua to take back.”

“Okay.” Ye Zhiqiu agreed and went to the kitchen.

Jiang Nian then patted Zhou Xiaohua’s head and said, “I met a wild mountain goat on the mountain today. Take some meat back and have your mother cook it for you to eat. It’ll help you grow taller.”

The children in the village were generally short and thin, especially the girls. Malnutrition could affect their development.

For example, Ye Zhiqiu, she was already 16 years old and hadn’t started her period yet, it was because of malnutrition.

Of course, she didn’t just give her meat for that reason.

Her place and the village chief’s house were the closest, and the village chief’s family could smell anything cooked in her house. She was eating delicious food every day, while her neighbors were struggling to get enough to eat, so she naturally had to give them some benefits occasionally to shut their mouths.

Ye Zhiqiu took the meat out, Zhou Xiaohua thanked her politely, then took the meat home and explained the situation to her family.

Shiliu couldn’t help but be curious. “Xiaohua, did you see how much meat Doctor Jiang took back?”

Zhou Shitou’s face immediately turned unpleasant, and he questioned her. “What are you snooping around for? If she gave it to us, we take it. If she didn’t give it to you, don’t be greedy. Don’t forget, Doctor Jiang has been kind to us.”

Shiliu felt a little embarrassed. “I wasn’t being greedy, I was just curious. What’s wrong with us talking about it in our own home?”

Xiaohua sighed. “It wasn’t much meat, just a leg and a piece of meat. She gave us half of it.”

Shiliu muttered, “How could a sheep only have one leg? It must have at least four. She only brought back so little meat, did she throw the rest away?”

That would be such a waste, they couldn’t even afford to eat meat.

Thinking about it, Shiliu had another idea. “Father, Doctor Jiang is so skilled, why don’t we find her a husband? She’s a girl, alone and without family here. She’ll have to get married sooner or later. Let’s find her a reliable one, it’s better to keep the good things in the family. It’ll also give her someone to rely on here.”